Indebtedness, macroeconomic conditions and banks’ loan losses: evidence from Italy

The Basel II capital accord has fostered the debate over the financial stability of the aggregate banking sector. There is a large empirical literature focused on the effects of macroeconomic disturbances on the banking system. Specifically, loan losses are an important factor for the banking stability and a stream of research in this field aims to identify explanatory variables for this critical indicator. This paper focuses on Italian banks data over the period 1990-2007 and investigates the relationship between the ratio of non-performing loans to total loans, the business cycle and firms’ indebtedness so as to test the impact of both real and financial fragility on banks’ default losses. We use a regression model with an interaction term representing the joint effect of real and financial fragility, which to our knowledge has never been applied before to Italian default data. The results show that the impact of financial fragility on default losses is enhanced by adverse economic conditions

A new method to detect event-related potentials based on Pearson's correlation

Event-related potentials (ERPs) are widely used in brain-computer interface applications and in neuroscience. Normal EEG activity is rich in background noise, and therefore, in order to detect ERPs, it is usually necessary to take the average from multiple trials to reduce the effects of this noise. The noise produced by EEG activity itself is not correlated with the ERP waveform and so, by calculating the average, the noise is decreased by a factor inversely proportional to the square root of N, where N is the number of averaged epochs. This is the easiest strategy currently used to detect ERPs, which is based on calculating the average of all ERP's waveform, these waveforms being time- and phase-locked. In this paper, a new method called GW6 is proposed, which calculates the ERP using a mathematical method based only on Pearson's correlation. The result is a graph with the same time resolution as the classical ERP and which shows only positive peaks representing the increase-in consonance with the stimuli-in EEG signal correlation over all channels. This new method is also useful for selectively identifying and highlighting some hidden components of the ERP response that are not phase-locked, and that are usually hidden in the standard and simple method based on the averaging of all the epochs. These hidden components seem to be caused by variations (between each successive stimulus) of the ERP's inherent phase latency period (jitter), although the same stimulus across all EEG channels produces a reasonably constant phase. For this reason, this new method could be very helpful to investigate these hidden components of the ERP response and to develop applications for scientific and medical purposes. Moreover, this new method is more resistant to EEG artifacts than the standard calculations of the average and could be very useful in research and neurology. The method we are proposing can be directly used in the form of a process written in the well-known Matlab programming language and can be easily and quickly written in any other software language

Importance of Sexual Function Assessment in Multidimensional Evaluation of AGHD Patients: Results from the MAGHD Study.

Background: Adult growth hormone deficiency (AGHD) is a debilitating clinical condition leading to decreased quality of life (QoL). The impact of reduced muscle mass, weakening and loss of vitality on QoL have been well characterized in AGHD. The impact of AGHD on sexual function, a recognized factor able to modify well-being, has never been investigated. Aim: To investigate the prevalence of sexual dysfunction in AGHD patients referring to a single endocrinological center and grouped according to their his- tory of r-hGH therapy.Methods: The Management of Adult Growth Hormone Deficiency (MAGHD) Study is a pro- spective, real-life trial aiming to improve management of AGHD patients through a smartphone app (MAGHD App)and a wearable device. The 83 AGHD enrolled patients (31 Females, 52 Males, mean age 56.27 + 14.68 years) were divided in 3 groups (G) according to r-hGH therapy: on long-term r-hGH therapy (G1, n=32), previously treated with r-hGH (G2, n=20), never treated (G3, n=31). Within the first phase of the study, a large database was created collecting clinical, biochemical and psychological data. In addition to QLS-H and QoL-AGHDA routinely used to as- sess QoL, IIEF-15 and FSFI were employed to evaluate sexual function in males and females, respectively. The nonparametric Kruskal-Wallis test was used for compar- ison among 3 groups.Results: Here only baseline data of the MAGHD Study are presented.According to IIEF-15 results, the prevalence of erectile dysfunction (ED) in male AGHD cohort was 60%. Erectile function (EF) score was signifi- cantly higher in G1 compared to both G2 and G3 (p < 0.05) with an ED prevalence of 35% in G1, 75% in G2 and 75% in G3. Even excluding patients with serum testosterone lower than 2 ng/ml and older than 65 years, ED prevalence did not change significantly in the 3 groups. Moreover, EF do- main was inversely and directly correlated to age (R20.130, β-0.360) and IGF1 levels (R20.156, β0.395), respectively. The prevalence of female sexual dysfunction according to FSFI was 89.3%. Even though desire, arousal, lubrication and overall scores were significantly higher (better results) in G1 compared to G2 and G3 (p < 0.05), no correlation resulted between FSFI domains and IGF1 levels. Instead an inverse correlation resulted between desire domain and age.Conclusions: This study, performed in a real-life clinical setting, demonstrates a high prevalence of sexual dysfunc- tion in AGHD patients and that r-hGH treatment seems to be associated to better sexual outcomes. These results suggest that the evaluation of sexual function should be in- tegrated in the global assessment of AGHD patients since sexual activity is a fundamental domain able to influence both well-being and QoL

EEG correlates of social interaction at distance

This study investigated EEG correlates of social interaction at distance between twenty-five pairs of participants who were not connected by any traditional channels of communication. Each session involved the application of 128 stimulations separated by intervals of random duration ranging from 4 to 6 seconds. One of the pair received a one-second stimulation from a light signal produced by an arrangement of red LEDs, and a simultaneous 500 Hz sinusoidal audio signal of the same length. The other member of the pair sat in an isolated sound-proof room, such that any sensory interaction between the pair was impossible. An analysis of the Event-Related Potentials associated with sensory stimulation using traditional averaging methods showed a distinct peak at approximately 300 ms, but only in the EEG activity of subjects who were directly stimulated. However, when a new algorithm was applied to the EEG activity based on the correlation between signals from all active electrodes, a weak but robust response was also detected in the EEG activity of the passive member of the pair, particularly within 9 – 10 Hz in the Alpha range. Using the Bootstrap method and the Monte Carlo emulation, this signal was found to be statistically significant

La traduction dans une perspective de genre. Enjeux politiques, éditoriaux et professionnels

Cet ouvrage s’inscrit dans le cadre théorique de la traduction conçue dans une perspective de genre, un contexte qui sous-tend que la langue n’est jamais neutre, et que tout acte de langage a une dimension politique et des retombées du point de vue culturel et social. Les essais qu’il propose abordent quelques sujets majeurs dans ce domaine. Le livre s’ouvre avec une réflexion de nature générale sur la circulation difficile au niveau transnational de la terminologie et de certains concepts des études de genre ainsi que sur les problèmes posés par leur traduction. Dans le cadre d’une réflexion attentive à la dimension professionnelle, l’expérience de Barbara Bray, médiatrice interculturelle pour la BBC, est ensuite présentée comme un acte politique d’engagement d’une traductrice d’exception. La question du “gender bias” dans la traduction automatique, un enjeu qu’il est désormais indispensable d’affronter, fait l’objet d’une analyse visant à en cerner les causes et à suggérer des solutions possibles. Ces essais sont suivis d’études qui se penchent sur l’édition de textes littéraires traduits et s’intéressent en particulier aux enjeux de la traduction du langage non binaire, ainsi qu’aux politiques éditoriales de diverses maisons d’édition de littérature jeunesse. Ces deux domaines, qui n’ont été abordés par les études de genre que très récemment, ouvrent des perspectives de recherche nouvelles et fécondes

Ricerca e identificazione morfologica di Strongili broncopolmonari di cervo (Cervus elaphus hippelaphus) e bovino (Bos taurus) nella Regione Valle d’Aosta

Le strongilosi broncopolmonari nei ruminanti domestici e selvatici sono sostenute da nematodi del genere Dictyocaulus spp, agenti eziologici della bronchite parassitaria e causa di importanti danni economici in diversi Paesi del mondo. La conoscenza di questi parassiti, quindi, risulta fondamentale ai fini della salvaguardia del patrimonio zootecnico e faunistico; tuttavia la letteratura disponibile riguardo le strongilosi polmonari, in particolare nei ruminanti selvatici dell\u2019arco alpino, risulta essere limitata. Uno degli obiettivi di questo studio \ue8, pertanto, quello di fornire un panorama sulla presenza delle strongilosi broncopolmonari nel bovino (Bos taurus) e nel cervo rosso (Cervus elaphus) su territorio nazionale e, in particolare nella Regione Valle d\u2019Aosta. Per la ricerca di Strongili sono stati presi in esame i polmoni di 100 bovini di razza Valdostana e di 104 cervi rossi. I bovini sono risultati tutti negativi, mentre 23 cervi sono risultati positivi per la presenza di Strongili polmonari, con una prevalenza di infezione del 22%. Altro punto cardine di questa ricerca \ue8 rappresentato dall\u2019identificazione su base morfologica della specie di Strongilo rinvenuta nel cervo rosso. Per questo sono state effettuate le misure dei caratteri utili ai fini dell\u2019identificazione morfologica e queste sono state confrontate, sia con la specie riconosciuta da tempo nel cervo rosso, Dictyocaulus eckerti, che con la nuova specie recentemente identificata in Polonia: Dictyocaulus cervi n. sp (Pyziel et al, 2017). Queste due specie si distinguono per le misure di diversi caratteri chiave per l\u2019identificazione morfologica. I risultati hanno messo in evidenza una corrispondenza tra i valori delle misure degli Strongili polmonari prelevati e quelle riportate per D. cervi, il che permette di avanzare l\u2019ipotesi secondo cui questa specie sia presente anche in Italia. Questo potrebbe rappresentare, quindi, il primo caso di identificazione di D. cervi n. sp. nel cervo in Italia e non fa altro che confermare la necessit\ue0 di approfondire la ricerca di questi parassiti per risolvere l\u2019annosa questione relativa alla loro tassonomia. Nel tempo diversi studi hanno messo in discussione l\u2019ipotesi secondo cui il cervo possa rappresentare un serbatoio di infezione per il bovino (Divina et al, 2000, Pyziel et al, 2015) e i risultati di questa ricerca forniscono un ulteriore supporto alla tesi secondo cui le strongilosi broncopolmonari siano ad eziologia specie-specifica e non via sia, in natura, la possibilit\ue0 di cross-infezione. Dai parassiti sono stati, inoltre, prelevati campioni da sottoporre a PCR, al fine di confermare o escludere l\u2019ipotesi avanzata dall\u2019indagine morfologica