Wnt/β-catenin signaling in the early mammalian anterior foregut endoderm

We prove a lower bound expressed in the increment se- quence on the average-case complexity of the number of inversions of Shellsort. This lower bound is sharp in every case where it could be checked. A special case of this lower bound yields the general Jiang-Li-Vitányi lower bound. We obtain new results, for example, determining the average- case complexity precisely in the Yao-Janson-Knuth 3-pass case

Opening the black box of distance: evidence from Italy, 1862-1938

Historical studies of international trade have firmly established that distance was an important determinant of bilateral trade during the last two centuries. Despite the distance effect being one of the most robust results in trade history, we do not know much about how this effect changes over time, trade flows, across trading partners or traded goods. This paper examines the effect of distance on Italian bilateral trade comparing two periods: the first globalisation and the interwar years. Using a structural gravity model and data on Italian exports and imports by country and product and a new series of freights for the period 1862 to 1938, we find that the size and significance of the distance effect was highly contingent on the period and product composition of trade. While the trend in the effect of distance on trade during the first globalisation reflected the conventional story of the decline of transport costs during this period, the 1920s displays opposite trends for exports and imports. Further analysis of imports on the product-level reveals a similar heterogeneity of effect by product class. The distance elasticities of manufactured and industrial products reflected the overall trend, while those of raw materials and fuels did not seem to follow any clear pattern. We generate time series of trade to distance elasticities on the four-digit product category level and regress these on measures of trade costs and substitutability. We find that the distance effect at the product-level is explained by shifts in Italy's transport costs and the (gamma) elasticity of substitution across products

Does War Make States? Military Spending and the Italian State‐Building, 1861–1945

We present empirical evidence on the relationship between military spending and the expansion of other government budgetitems and tax revenues from the unification of Italy (1861) up to the end of World War II. Until 1922, investments in educationand social transfers to families mainly moved in step with defence spending. This means that increases in defence spendingimply an increase in both education spending and transfers. Moreover, transfers also play a compensatory role during recessions.Increases in defence spending do not crowd out investment in capital expenditure, while disinvestment in defence is associatedwith an increase in investment in capital. The pro-cyclical behaviour of tax revenues is compatible with the debt-financing dy-namic of much government expenditure. Although our analytical narrative is not universally valid, it does support the persistentcentrality of external wars in the discontinuous growth and expansion of central government in the Italian state, with someexceptions explained by historical events

Does War Make States? Military Spending and the Italian State building, 1861-1945

We present empirical evidence on the relationship between military spending and the expansion of other governmental budgetary heading and tax revenues from the Unification of Italy (1861) up to the end of World War II. Mainly in the years preceding 1922, investments in education and social transfers to families moves together with the defense spending. That is, positive changes in defense implies both an increase in education and in transfers. Moreover, transfers also have a compensatory role during recessive phases. Positive changes in defence do not crowd out the investment in capital spending, while disinvestments in defense are associated with an increase in the investment in capital. The pro-cyclical behavior of the tax revenues is compatible with a debt financing dynamic of many government expenditures. Although our analytic narrative is not universally valid, it can support the persistent centrality of external war in the discontinuous development and expansion of the Italian central State, with some exceptions explained by the historical experience

Does War Make States? Military Spending and the Italian State building, 1861-1945

We present empirical evidence on the relationship between military spending and the expansion of other governmental budgetary heading and tax revenues from the Unification of Italy (1861) up to the end of World War II. Mainly in the years preceding 1922, investments in education and social transfers to families moves together with the defense spending. That is, positive changes in defense implies both an increase in education and in transfers. Moreover, transfers also have a compensatory role during recessive phases. Positive changes in defence do not crowd out the investment in capital spending, while disinvestments in defense are associated with an increase in the investment in capital. The pro-cyclical behavior of the tax revenues is compatible with a debt financing dynamic of many government expenditures. Although our analytic narrative is not universally valid, it can support the persistent centrality of external war in the discontinuous development and expansion of the Italian central State, with some exceptions explained by the historical experience

Finance and Economic Development in Italy, 1870-1913

This paper analyses the impact of different sources of financing (foreign capital, migrants’ remittances, and domestic banks intermediation) on Italy’s economic development between 1861 and the World War I. Existing literature has analysed the role of these channels of financial intermediation separately, while this paper for the first time considers them in conjunction. Using IRF from a Cholesky identification structure of a VAR model and relying on an original dataset that combines the most recent series of several financial and economic aggregates, this paper shows that investment in Italy was fueled by a plurality of sources of funding. A crucial role was played by national saving mobilized by domestic banks and also remittances had a significant impact. Our evidence is instead weaker for foreign capital

Incerteza de medição – método proposto para a análise da conformidade do produto.

Durante a avaliação da conformidade do produto, o cálculo da incerteza de medição é um importante parâmetro para a definição do nível de qualidade das medições. Este trabalho propõe o uso de um método simplificado que pode ser utilizado na verificação desta conformidade, no chão de fábrica. Para isso foram identificados os métodos disponíveis na literatura e os procedimentos praticados nas indústrias. Foi verificado que o cálculo da incerteza de medição na indústria é utilizado, principalmente, para auxiliar a seleção do instrumento de medição compatível com o nível de qualidade adequado para seus processos de fabricação e que a relação entre a incerteza de medição e a tolerância de fabricação é o parâmetro mais utilizado para selecionar o processo de medição adequado ao controle geométrico de um processo de fabricação. Os procedimentos de cálculo de incerteza destes métodos foram analisados, resultando na indicação de um método considerado adequado para execução do cálculo e avaliação da incerteza dos processos de medição de grandezas geométricas no nível operacional. O método foi recomendado com base na sua facilidade de execução e na adequação aos diversos níveis de incerteza exigidos para diferentes processos metrológicos no nível operacional. Com a definição do método a ser usado, foram realizados ensaios no laboratório de metrologia da Universidade Federal de Itajubá - UNIFEI, para que fosse verificada a variação das componentes das incertezas. Essa verificação forneceu dados para a elaboração das equações que foram usadas na simulação e confirmação ao método proposto. A simulação permitiu estabelecer o coeficiente que estabelece a razão entre o valor da incerteza do Guia para Expressão da Incerteza de Medição (ISO GUM) e o valor da incerteza do método proposto