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Ethnic diversity and political participation: the role of individual income
No full textWe exploit a unique dataset merging data on individual socio-economic characteristics and political participation in an Italian municipality to investigate the relationship between ethnic diversity in residential neighborhoods and individuals' propensity to vote. We document a sizable negative impact of diversity on overall electoral turnout which reflects differential effects at the individual level, depending on household equivalent income. Specifically, we show that ethnic heterogeneity in the neighborhood reduces the political participation of the poor, while it fosters that of the more affluent. These results highlight a potential democratic deficit stemming from reduced and unequal electoral turnout in increasingly ethnically heterogeneous neighborhoods
PERCEIVE project - Deliverable D3.3 "Descriptive report on the specific role of new media in EU financed projects' communication strategies"
Get PDFIn this report, we inquire the role of new social media as a communication tool of EU Cohesion
Policy. Practitioners in the feld of public policy communication in general and Cohesion Policy in
particular tend to agree on the need to increase the prominence and effectiveness of new media as
key channels of strategic communication of both central institutions and national/local managing
authorities.
Social media in particular tends to be associated with the possibility of reaching the youngest
population (see for example the results of our interviews and survey in PERCEIVE Deliverables 3.1 and
3.2). However, their potential impact on communication strategies goes much beyond this point and
encompasses changes in the segmentation of target audiences (i.e. communities rather than the
general public) on the one hand, and in the way Cohesion Policy ‘stories’ are told on the other hand
(i.e. interactivity with audiences).
In spite of the potential impact of new and especially social media on strategic policy
communication, based on our experience in the feld as well as on a review of both academic and
practice-oriented literature, we argue that much is still to be learnt about how to realise this
potential. This is especially true given the scarce attention of academic research to the specifcities of
Cohesion Policy, among other public policies.
Therefore, in order to extend current knowledge on the communication issues highlighted above, we
present the results of empirical analysis we have performed with the aim of describing the new
(social) media presence of different key actors in the institutional feld of EU Cohesion Policy
communication in the current report
Long-lived nonthermal electron distribution in aluminum excited by femtosecond extreme ultraviolet radiation
Get PDFWe report a time-resolved study of the relaxation dynamics of Al films excited by ultrashort intense free-electron
laser (FEL) extreme ultraviolet pulses. The system response was measured through a pump-probe detection
scheme, in which an intense FEL pulse tuned around the Al L2,3 edge (72.5 eV) acted as the pump, while a
time-delayed ultrafast pulse probed the near-infrared (NIR) reflectivity of the Al film. Remarkably, following the
intense FEL excitation, the reflectivity of the film exhibited no detectable variation for hundreds of femtoseconds.
Following this latency time, sizable reflectivity changes were observed. Exploiting recent theoretical calculations
of the EUV-excited electron dynamics [N. Medvedev et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 107, 165003 (2011)], the delayed
NIR-reflectivity evolution is interpreted invoking the formation of very-long-living nonthermal hot electron
distributions in Al after exposure to EUV pulses. Our data represent the first evidence in the time domain
of such an intriguing behavior
The clonal evolution of two distinct T315I-positive BCR-ABL1 subclones in a Philadelphia-positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia failing multiple lines of therapy: a case report
Get PDFBACKGROUND:
The treatment of Philadelphia chromosome-positive Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (Ph+ ALL) patients who harbor the T315I BCR-ABL1 mutation or who have two or more mutations in the same BCR-ABL1 molecule is particularly challenging since first and second-generation Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitors (TKIs) are ineffective. Ponatinib, blinatumomab, chemotherapy and transplant are the currently available options in these cases.
CASE PRESENTATION:
We here report the case of a young Ph+ ALL patient who relapsed on front-line dasatinib therapy because of two independent T315I-positive subclones, resulting from different nucleotide substitutions -one of whom never reported previously- and where additional mutant clones outgrew and persisted despite ponatinib, transplant, blinatumomab and conventional chemotherapy. Deep Sequencing (DS) was used to dissect the complexity of BCR-ABL1 kinase domain (KD) mutation status and follow the kinetics of different mutant clones across the sequential therapeutic approaches.
CONCLUSIONS:
This case presents several peculiar and remarkable aspects: i) distinct clones may acquire the same amino acid substitution via different nucleotide changes; ii) the T315I mutation may arise also from an 'act' to 'atc' codon change; iii) the strategy of temporarily replacing TKI therapy with chemo or immunotherapy, in order to remove the selective pressure and deselect aggressive mutant clones, cannot always be expected to be effective; iv) BCR-ABL1-mutated sub-clones may persist at very low levels (undetectable even by Deep Sequencing) for long time and then outcompete BCR-ABL1-unmutated ones becoming dominant even in the absence of any TKI selective pressure
Processi integrati di video-analisi individuale e collaborativa sull’insegnamento. Questioni metodologiche
No full textMisurare o semplicemente esplorare i processi di acquisizione delle conoscenze degli insegnanti e l'integrazione tra teoria e pratica didattica è ritenuto parte fondamentale della formazione degli insegnanti, siano essi ancora in formazione, siano essi già in servizio ed esperti. Attraverso un approfondimento comparativo su ricerche basate su video si propone una riflessione metodologica su processi di video-analisi e il ruolo della video-annotazione per promuovere consapevolezza sull’apprendimento degli insegnanti. La dimensione integrata di analisi individuale e collaborativa su video tratti da personali ed altrui esperienze didattiche in classe potrebbe favorire l’esplicitazione cognitiva sulla professione e sull’insegnamento
Un mixed-method study sui percorsi di successo scolastico degli studenti di origine migrante nella scuola secondaria in Italia
No full textIl presente contributo si propone di studiare quale processo permetta di supportare percorsi di successo scolastico in particolare negli studenti di origine migrante. Si è adottato un disegno di ricerca misto bifasico quan->QUAL coerente con il Mixed Methods Sequential Explanatory Design per poter approfondire attraverso una Grounded Theory critica alcuni elementi emergenti da una prima fase esplorativa di analisi dell’Anagrafe dello Studente in Trentino, riferibile a 1.325 studenti di origine straniera, con una ricostruzione di 6 anni a ritroso della loro carriera scolastica. La fase di ricerca qualitativa è stata contestualizzata in 4 Scuole Secondarie di Primo Grado in Trentino. I risultati mostrano 269 differenti e complesse traiettorie negli studenti migranti, con una predestinazione formativa e la presenza di microprogetti spesso sterili per promuovere il successo scolastico. Verranno discussi e approfonditi gli aspetti metodologici e i limiti del presente studio
La valutazione degli interventi di prossimità. Uno studio pilota
No full textNonostante negli ultimi anni le attività di prevenzione dell’addiction da sostanze e da comportamenti si siano moltiplicate, nella maggior parte dei casi per tali attività, e per gli interventi di prossimità in particolare, non vengono attuati adeguati processi di valutazione. Ciò anche a causa della mancanza di sistemi di valutazione e di modelli teorici di riferimento condivisi. Il presente studio costituisce il primo passo di un progetto di ricerca più ampio finalizzato alla valutazione degli effetti degli interventi di prossimità. Lo studio descrive, in particolare, i rapporti esistenti tra frequenza di assunzione della sostanza o di attuazione del comportamento problematico, stadio del cambiamento e fattori di vulnerabilità e di protezione. Lo studio dimostra, inoltre, che il sistema di valutazione adottato è in grado di rilevare le differenze esistenti tra momenti diversi del percorso di cambiamento, in cui la frequenza di attuazione del comportamento problematico assume significato in relazione a variabili psicologiche e di contesto
Intangible Assets and the Organization of Global Supply Chains
No full textThis paper introduces the concept of intangible assets in sequential supply chains and the importance of their appropriability in the organizational decision of firms. We focus on the quality of intellectual property rights (IPR) institutions, which on top of the hold-up problem between a supplier and the final producer entails an additional risk of imitation as technology may leak to competing producers in the market. The level of IPR enforcement in the location of a supplier can therefore play a crucial role in determining the decision of a final good producer whether to outsource or integrate a particular stage of production. The analysis is performed with Antràs and Chor (2013) in the background, where the position of the input along the supply chain, i.e. its upstreamness, and the degree of sequential complementarity of stage-specific inputs influence the organizational strategy of firms through the incentive structure of supplier investments. Our findings show that introducing intangible assets in sequential supply chain may have the opposite effect of contractibility on outsourcing decision, where only tangible property rights are considered. We argue therefore that the risk of imitation is a relevant feature that needs to be accounted for in the incomplete contract literature. Our theoretical predictions are validated on Slovenian firm-level data
The impact of non-cognitive skills and risk preferences on rural-to-urban migration: Evidence from Ukraine
No full textThis paper provides evidence on the impacts of non-cognitive skills and attitudes towards risk on the decision to migrate from rural to urban areas. Our analysis is based on a unique four-wave panel of Ukrainian Longitudinal Monitoring Survey for the period between 2003 and 2012. Adopting the Five Factor Model of personality structure, and using it in the evaluation of non-cognitive skills, our results suggest that such personality traits as openness to new experience and the willingness to take risks increase the probability of migration. On the other hand, the non-cognitive skills conscientiousness and extraversion are found to be negatively associated with the propensity to migrate. The effects are statistically and quantitatively significant, and mainly driven by movements from rural areas into cities. Our results are robust to several sensitivity checks, including tests for reverse causality
Language as purposeful: functional varieties of text. 2nd Edition
No full textThis second edition of Language as Purposeful: Functional Varieties of Text, first published in 2004, is an across-the-board revision of that first edition – one that was motivated by our teaching and research experience over the years, but also by explicit student observations. The volume now offers an even more comprehensive introduction ‘about and around’ register theory and analysis. The theoretical input has been substantially fleshed out, as well as thoroughly reworked, as have the practical samples of register analysis. Further changes are detailed in the Preface to the new edition.
But some things remain the same. Our approach to functional varieties of text is still, as it has always been, unapologetically Hallidayan. Indeed, today we are more than ever convinced that the ideal model for educating our NNS of English to language awareness is his functional grammar (FG, Halliday 1985/1994/2004/2014). The reasons for this are, of course, many. To begin with, with what better tool could we carry on our relentless efforts to explode those die-hard myths that would see the study of grammar as a boring and/or elitist enterprise, even one that is basically meaningless? Indeed, FG sets its sights high: to “observe the humanity of our communication processes, not just their form” (Martin 2010: 1-2, our emphasis), or as Christie puts it, to explore “some of the most important and pervasive of the processes by which human beings build their world” (1985/1989: v).
We ultimately aim to guide our students to observing/exploring these processes. And one crucial way to do this is by furnishing them with the tools that FG provides for understanding how language use is not a minor or ‘neutral’ player in the social fields of everyday life (Williams 2016: 339), as well as – why not? – encouraging them to investigate how such awareness can best be put to worthwhile social use. After all, FG is an exceptionally ‘appliable linguistics’ (e.g., Halliday 2002 [2009]: 3), one that successfully challenges the boundaries between theory and practice. And of course, as Halliday insists, “the value of a theory lies in the use that can be made of it” (1985b: 7)