Neural Empathic Response in Drug-Addicted Mothers.

Several studies showed that a history of substance abuse can compromise mothers\u2019 competences of caring for their children (i.e., parenting). Indeed, it has been shown that neural circuits associated with parental behavior overlap with circuitry involved in addiction; in this vein, substance abuse may subtract neural resources for parenting. According to the neurocognitive model, empathy is the ability of sharing and understanding others\u2019 emotional states. At a neural level, these two aspects result to be dissociable at an either functional and temporal level. Empathy is a fundamental element of parental abilities as it allows to response properly to children\u2019s needs. Empathy deficits might explain the failure reported by drug addicted mothers in caring for their children. In the present study, we monitored event-related potentials (ERPs) during a pain decision task, which is classically used to activate an empathic response, with the aim to track the time-course of neural activity of mothers with (i.e., clinical) and without history of drug addiction (i.e., control group). Stimuli were pictures of adults\u2019 and children\u2019s hand depicted with a harmful tool either hurting the hand or placed nearby. At a behavioral level, drug addicted mothers showed a reduced reactivity to pain when compared to the control group. This difference has been corroborated at a neural level by ERPs results, starting from an early time-window. The neural reaction to pain in the control group correlated with some self-report scales of empathy, reinforcing the idea that the clinical group might report a lack of empathy when compared to a control group. These results are discussed in light of the two components of empathy proposed by the neurocognitive model

Absolutely Continuous Spectrum for Parabolic Flows/Maps

We provide an abstract framework for the study of certain spectral properties of parabolic systems; specifically, we determine under which general conditions to expect the presence of absolutely continuous spectral measures. We use these general conditions to derive results for spectral properties of time-changes of unipotent flows on homogeneous spaces of semisimple groups regarding absolutely continuous spectrum as well as maximal spectral type; the time-changes of the horocycle flow are special cases of this general category of flows. In addition we use the general conditions to derive spectral results for twisted horocycle flows and to rederive certain spectral results for skew products over translations and Furstenberg transformations

Attachment Theory and Maternal Drug Addiction: The Contribution to\ua0Parenting interventions.

Children\u2019s emotional and relational development can be negatively influenced bymaternal substance abuse, particularly through a dysfunctional caregiving environment. Attachment Theory offers a privileged framework to analyze how drug addiction can affect the quality of adult attachment style, parenting attitudes and behaviors toward the child, and how it can have a detrimental effect on the co-construction of the attachment bond by the mother and the infant. Several studies, as a matter of fact, have identified a prevalence of insecure patterns among drug-abusing mothers and their children. Many interventions for mothers with Substance Use Disorders have focused on enhancing parental skills, but they have often overlooked the emotional and relational features of the mother\u2013infant bond. Instead, in recent years, a number of protocols have been developed in order to strengthen the relationship between drug-abusing mothers and their children, drawing lessons from Attachment Theory. The present study reviews the literature on the adult and infant attachment style in the context of drug addiction, describing currently available treatment programs that address parenting and specifically focus on the mother\u2013infant bond, relying on Attachment Theory

Study supporting the interim evaluation of the innovation principle. Final Report November 2019

The European Commission has recognised the importance of a more innovation- oriented EU acquis, gradually exploring the ways in which EU rules can support innovation. The ‘innovation principle’ was introduced to ensure that whenever policy is developed, the impact on innovation is fully assessed. However, as further discussed in this Study, the exact contours of the innovation principle have been shaped very gradually within the context of the EU better regulation agenda: originally advocated by industry in the context of the precautionary principle, the innovation principle has gradually been given a more articulate and consistent role, which aims at complementing the precautionary principle by increasing the salience of impacts on innovation during all phases of the policy cycle. This Study presents an evaluation of the current implementation of the innovation principle, limited to two of its three components, i.e. the Research and Innovation Tool included in the Better Regulation Toolbox, and the innovation deals. As a preliminary caveat, it is important to recall that the implementation of the innovation principle is still in its infancy, and thus the Study only represents a very early assessment of the extent to which the innovation principle is being correctly implemented, and whether changes would be required to make the principle more effective and useful in the context of the EU better regulation agenda. The main finding is that the innovation principle has the potential to contribute to the quality and future-proof nature of EU policy, but that significant changes and effort will be needed for this potential to fully materialise. The most evident areas for improvement are related to the lack of a clear legal basis, the lack of a widely acknowledged definition, the lack of awareness among EU officials and stakeholders, and the lack of adequate skills among those that are called to implement the innovation principle. As a result of these problems, the impact of the innovation principle on the innovation-friendliness of the EU acquis has been limited so far. The Commission should clarify in official documents that the Innovation principle does not entail a de- regulatory approach, and is not incompatible with the precautionary principle: this would also help to have the principle fully recognised and endorsed by all EU institutions, as well as by civil society, often concerned with the possible anti-regulatory narrative around the innovation principle in stakeholder discussions. Apart from clarifications, and further dissemination and training, major improvements are possible in the near future, especially if the innovation principle is brought fully in line with the evolving data-driven nature of digital innovation and provides more guidance to the Commission on how to design experimental regulation, including inter alia so-called ‘regulatory sandboxes’. Finally, the Commission should ensure that the innovation principle is given prominence with the transition to the Horizon Europe programme, in particular due to the anticipated launch of ‘missions’ in key domains

Parabolic Flows Renormalized by Partially Hyperbolic Maps

We consider parabolic flows on 3-dimensional manifolds which are renormalized by circle extensions of Anosov diffeormorphisms. This class of flows includes nilflows on the Heisenberg nilmanifold which are renormalized by partially hyperbolic automorphisms. The transfer operators associated to the renormalization maps, acting on anisotropic Sobolev spaces, are known to have good spectral properties (this relies on ideas which have some resemblance to representation theory but also apply to non-algebraic systems). The spectral information is used to describe the deviation of ergodic averages and solutions of the cohomological equation for the parabolic flow.Comment: Comments welcom

Revisiting the one type permanent shocks hypothesis: Aggregate fluctuations in a multi-sector economy

This paper relies on sectoral-level data to interpret aggregate fluctuations of labor productivity and employment in US as due to exogenous disturbances. A shock determining permanent effect on the real investment good price may reasonably be interpreted as an investment-specific technology shock, since it mainly produces long-run effect on labor productivity in the durable goods producing sector. A transitory shock on the real investment price may instead be interpreted as a sectorneutral disturbance since it homogeneously affects the labor productivity across sectors. Finally, sectoral evidence suggests that the near-zero correlation between aggregate productivity and employment growth rates may be explained as the overall outcome of positive and negative correlations within, respectively, the durable and nondurable goods producing sectors.Technology shock, Dynamic Factor Model, Long-Run Restrictions, Sectors

Labor Market Dynamics and the Business Cycle: Structural Evidence for the United States

We use a 12-dimensional VAR to examine the dynamic e®ects on the labor market of four structural technology and policy shocks. For each shock, we examine the dynamic effects on the labor market, the importance of the shock for labor market volatility, and the comovement between labor market variables and other key aggregate variables in response to the shock. We document that labor market indicators display ”hump-shaped” responses to the identified shocks. Technology shocks and monetary policy shocks are important for labor market volatility but the ranking of their importance is sensitive to the VAR specification. The conditional correlations at business cycle frequencies are similar in response to the four shocks apart from the correlations between hours worked, labor productivity and real wages. To account for the unconditional correlations between these variables, a mixture of shocks are required.Structural VAR, labor market dynamics, the Beveridge curve

Labor Market Dynamics and the Business Cycle: Structural Evidence for the United States

We use a 12-dimensional VAR to examine the dynamic effects on the labor market of four structural technology and policy shocks. For each shock, we examine the dynamic e®ects on the labor market, the importance of the shock for labor market volatility, and the comovement between labor market variables and other key aggregate variables in response to the shock. We document that labor market indicators display "hump-shaped" responses to the identified shocks. Technology shocks and monetary policy shocks are important for labor market volatility but the ranking of their importance is sensitive to the VAR specfication. The conditional correlations at business cycle frequencies are similar in response to the four shocks apart from the correlations between hours worked, labor productivity and real wages. To account for the unconditional correlations between these variables, a mixture of shocks are required.Structural VAR, labor market dynamics, the Beveridge curve