Proceedings from the ECFIN Workshop "The budgetary implications of structural reforms" - Brussels, 2 December 2005

Most of the reforms discussed within the framework of the Lisbon strategy will benefit public finances in the long term. However, in the short-term, there could a trade-off between some structural reforms and budgetary discipline. This possible tension between reforms and fiscal discipline was identified by academic economists as a possible drawback of the Stability and Growth Pact since its inception.budgetary discipline, Stability and Growth Pact, Lisbon strategy, fiscal discipline, Deroose, Flores, Turrini

Habitable Planet Formation in Binary-Planetary Systems

Recent radial velocity observations have indicated that Jovian-type planets can exist in moderately close binary star systems. Numerical simulations of the dynamical stability of terrestrial-class planets in such environments have shown that, in addition to their giant planets, these systems can also harbor Earth-like objects. In this paper, we study the late stage of terrestrial planet formation in such binary-planetary systems, and present the results of the simulations of the formation of Earth-like bodies in their habitable zones. We consider a circumprimary disk of Moon- to Mars-sized objects and numerically integrate the orbits of these bodies at the presence of the Jovian-type planet of the system and for different values of the mass, semimajor axis, and orbital eccentricity of the secondary star. Results indicate that, Earth-like objects, with substantial amounts of water, can form in the habitable zone of the primary star. Simulations also indicate that, by transferring angular momentum from the secondary star to protoplanetary objects, the giant planet of the system plays a key role in the radial mixing of these bodies and the water contents of the final terrestrial planets. We will discuss the results of our simulation and show that the formation of habitable planets in binary-planetary systems is more probable in binaries with moderate to large perihelia.Comment: 27 pages, 11 figures, submitted for publicatio

Camera re-calibration after zooming based on sets of conics

We describe a method to compute the internal parameters (focal and principal points) of a camera with known position and orientation, based on the observation of two or more conics on a known plane. The conics can even be degenerate (e.g. pairs of lines). The proposed method can be used to re-estimate the internal parameters of a fully calibrated camera after zooming to a new, unknown, focal length. It also allows estimating the internal parameters when a second, fully calibrated camera observes the same conics. The parameters estimated through the proposed method are coherent with the output of more traditional procedures that require a higher number of calibration images. A deep analysis of the geometrical configurations that influence the proposed method is also reported

Diversity of a phosphate transporter gene among species and isolates of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi

Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) are a key group of beneficial obligate biotrophs, establishing a mutualistic symbiosis with the roots of most land plants. The molecular markers generally used for their characterization are mainly based on informative regions of nuclear rDNA (SSU-ITS-LSU), although protein-encoding genes have also been proposed. Within functional genes, those encoding for phosphate transporters (PT) are particularly important in AMF, given their primary ability to take up Pi from soil, and to differentially affect plant phosphate nutrition. In this work, we investigated the genetic diversity of PT1 gene sequences and sequences of the taxonomically relevant SSU-ITS-LSU region in two isolates of the species Funneliformis coronatus, three isolates of the species Funneliformis mosseae and two species of the genus Rhizoglomus, originated from geographically distant areas and cultured in vivo. Our results showed that partial PT1 sequences not only successfully differentiated AMF genera and species like ribosomal gene sequences but also highlighted intraspecific diversity among F. mosseae and F. coronatus isolates. The study of functional genes related to the uptake of key mineral nutrients for the assessment of AMF diversity represents a key step in the selection of efficient isolates to be used as inocula in sustainable agriculture

Model checking ω-regular properties for quantum Markov chains

© Yuan Feng, Ernst Moritz Hahn, Andrea Turrini, and Shenggang Ying. Quantum Markov chains are an extension of classical Markov chains which are labelled with super-operators rather than probabilities. They allow to faithfully represent quantum programs and quantum protocols. In this paper, we investigate model checking !-regular properties, a very general class of properties (including, e.g., LTL properties) of interest, against this model. For classical Markov chains, such properties are usually checked by building the product of the model with a language automaton. Subsequent analysis is then performed on this product. When doing so, one takes into account its graph structure, and for instance performs different analyses per bottom strongly connected component (BSCC). Unfortunately, for quantum Markov chains such an approach does not work directly, because super-operators behave differently from probabilities. To overcome this problem, we transform the product quantum Markov chain into a single super-operator, which induces a decomposition of the state space (the tensor product of classical state space and the quantum one) into a family of BSCC subspaces. Interestingly, we show that this BSCC decomposition provides a solution to the issue of model checking ω-regular properties for quantum Markov chains

Comportamentos Afetivo-motivacionais e de Autorregulação em Pré-escolares Nascidos Prematuros e com Baixo Peso: Avaliação e Intervenção em Estratégias Metacognitivas

Comportamentos afetivo-motivacionais relacionados à metacognição de regulação na idade pré-escolar podem mediar o desempenho de crianças em risco de problemas no desenvolvimento, como nos casos de prematuridade e baixo peso ao nascimento (PTBP), tema desta pesquisa, realizada com 3 estudos. No Estudo 1, aplicou-se o Checklist para Avaliação do Comportamento Afetivo-Motivacional Infantil (ACAMI) em 15 crianças do G1-PTBP, durante uma prova cognitiva assistida (CATM, com fases Sem Ajuda-SAJ, Assistência-ASS, Manutenção-MAN, Transferência-TRF), mostrando diferenças significativas nos comportamentos não-facilitadores em todas as fases do CATM, especialmente no Engajamento na Tarefa e Estados Emocionais, quando comparadas com 15 crianças nascidas a termo (G2-AT), aos 5 anos de idade. Os resultados corroboram a literatura relacionando fatores afetivo-motivacionais e desempenho cognitivo, e a prematuridade e o baixo peso com riscos para problemas de comportamento. No Estudo 2, 34 crianças do G1-PTBP (17) e do G2-AT (17) responderam a 2 subtestes da de uma prova metacognitiva assistida - Application of Cognitive Functions Scale (ACFS). Os comportamentos durante a ACFS foram registrados pela Behavior Observation Rating Scale (BORS). Ambos os grupos, na fase SAJ, tiveram dificuldades em verbalizar estratégias mnemônicas; usando mais frequentemente a estratégia de Repetição. Mas, tiveram aumento significativo na média de acertos nos 2 subtestes, comparando-se as fases SAJ e MAN. Na BORS, houve diferenças significativas a favor do G2-AT em Autorregulação, Persistência e Tolerância à Frustração, confirmando a diferença entre os grupos. O Estudo 3 analisou os efeitos de um programa de promoção de estratégias metacognitivas (PPEM) no desempenho linguístico, acadêmico, cognitivo, metacognitivo e comportamental das crianças PTBP, em delineamento quase-experimental. No pré-teste, 17 crianças do G1-PTBP e 17 do G2-AT foram avaliadas no desempenho: a) cognitivo tradicional (Raven-MPC) e assistido (CATM e ACAMI); b) metacognitivo assistido (ACFS); c) linguístico receptivo (TVIP) e expressivo (LAVE); d) acadêmico (IAR); e) problemas de comportamento (CBCL-1½-5 anos). Foram submetidas ao PPEM 13 crianças do G1-PTBP (15 sessões, 2 vezes/semana), intervindo-se em: (a) autorregulação comportamental, (b) aprendizagem social e (c) sequência e padrões cognitivos. G1-PTBP (13) e G2-AT (16) passaram pelo pós-teste. No seguimento (após 6 meses), G1-PTBP (9) respondeu as provas assistidas: cognitiva (CATM) e metacognitiva (ACFS). No pré-teste, G2-AT foi significativamente melhor em: repertório pré-alfabetização (IAR); comportamentos internalizantes (CBCL); cognição (CATM - níveis de mediação), nos comportamentos afetivo-motivacionais (ACAMI) e na metacognição de regulação (autorregulação, persistência e tolerância à frustração- ACFS). Após a aplicação do PPEM, houve efeito compensatório, ficando sem diferenças em: problemas de comportamento, repertório pré-alfabetização, níveis de mediação e autorregulação. No seguimento, G1-PTBP melhorou nos comportamentos afetivo-motivacionais (ACAMI). O PPEM permitiu o desenvolvimento de habilidades básicas para escolarização, nesse grupo de risco para fracasso escolar. Como Apêndice, um capítulo de livro ilustra 2 casos do G1-PTBP, destacando o papel dos comportamentos afetivo-motivacionais e de autorregulação, como fatores de risco e de proteção capazes de mediar os efeitos potenciais do risco ao desenvolvimento. Palavras-chave: Educação Metacognitiva; Pré-escolares; Nascimento prematur

A Simple Method for Detecting Periodic Signals in Sparse Astronomical Event Data

We present a simple method to detect periodic signals in sparse astronomical event data. The method is particularly appropriate for gamma-ray astronomy where the number of available photons is sparse in time and Poissonian noise dominates the statistics. It is based on an autocorrelation function, which provides phase independence. We have implemented and successfully applied this method on simulated data. This paper presents some numerical results and a description of the model used to generate the synthetic data along with a formal definition of the signal-to-noise ratio in the generated time series

Gene expression in Rhizoglomus irregulare at two different time points of mycorrhiza establishment in Helianthus annuus roots, as revealed by RNA-seq analysis

Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) play a fundamental role in plant growth and nutrition in natural and agricultural ecosystems. Despite the importance of such symbionts, the different developmental changes occurring during the AMF life cycle have not been fully elucidated at the molecular level. Here, the RNA-seq approach was used to investigate Rhizoglomus irregulare specific and common transcripts at two different time points of mycorrhizal establishment in Helianthus annuus in vivo. Four days after inoculation, transcripts related to cellular remodeling (actin and tubulin), cellular signaling (calmodulin, serine/threonine protein kinase, 14-3-3 protein, and calcium transporting ATPase), lipid metabolism (fatty acid desaturation, steroid hormone, and glycerophospholipid biosynthesis), and biosynthetic processes were detected. In addition to such transcripts, 16 days after inoculation, expressed genes linked to binding and catalytic activities; ion (K+, Ca2+, Fe2+, Zn2+, Mn2+, Pi, ammonia), sugar, and lipid transport; and those involved in vacuolar polyphosphate accumulation were found. Knowledge of transcriptomic changes required for symbiosis establishment and performance is of great importance to understand the functional role of AMF symbionts in food crop nutrition and health, and in plant diversity in natural ecosystems