Showing papers by "Libera! published in 2006"

Reading skills and phonological awareness acquisition in Down syndrome.

Abstract: Background Although reading abilities play a fundamental role in the acquisition of personal autonomy, up until now studies investigating these abilities in Down syndrome (DS) are aimed at defining educational or rehability acquisition. However, studies describing the relationship between reading and phonological awareness in individuals with DS by comparing them to typically developing children often report contradictory results. The aim of this study is to explore reading and phonological awareness skills in a group of participants with DS. Methods We administered reading and phonological processing ability tests to 17 DS individuals and to 17 reading-age-matched typically developing children. Results Concerning reading abilities, participants with DS were impaired on non-word reading and on interpreting accuracy of non-homographic homophones. Their passage comprehension was also limited. Comparable ability was reported in the two groups on irregular word reading and passage reading tasks. Regarding phonological awareness ability, individuals with DS showed lower performances on several tasks, such as rhyming, deletion and syllable segmentation. Conclusions People with DS show particular failure on non-word reading, a task where correct decoding is only partially influenced by lexical access or semantic context. Correct non-word reading mainly requires the use of the grapheme–phoneme conversion process. This process is based on the efficiency of phonological awareness abilities, which are partly impaired in people with DS. The rehabilitative implications of these findings are discussed.

Pricing Risky Bank Loans in the New Basel II Environment

Abstract: Recently, banking literature has had a quest for appropriate pricing of bank loans under the new Basel II rules and has been in pursuit of possible outcomes for undertaking such credit risk. In this paper, we propose a simplified formula to price bank's corporate loans, aiming at making bank managers aware of the creation/destruction of shareholder value. We show that the mathematical treatability of the proposed formula and its easy feeding with internal and market inputs allow simple implementation by the final user.

The effect of verbalization strategy on Wisconsin Card Sorting Test performance in schizophrenic patients receiving classical or atypical antipsychotics.

Abstract: A number of reports showed en encouraging remediation in some patients' executive deficits thanks to the use of 'information processing strategies'. Moreover the impact of antipsychotics on cognitive functions of the schizophrenics is an important issue, especially if an integrated psychosocial treatment is needed. The aim of this paper is to evaluate different executive performance and response to verbalization, a strategy of the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST) remediation, in subjects on classical vs atypical antipsychotic (AP) treatment. Sixty-three schizophrenic subjects undertook the WCST under standard and modified (verbalization) administration. Subjects were stratified by the kind of WCST response (i.e. good, poor and remediable) and AP treatment (i.e. atypical vs. classical). Subjects on atypical APs showed a better performance than those on classical ones. More poor performers who did not remediate were seen in the sample with classical Aps while subjects who remediated the performance were seen in the subgroup with atypical APs only. An increase of perseverative and total errors was seen in poor performers subjects on classical APs. Subjects on atypicals showed a better cognitive pattern in terms of WCST performance. Since the naturalistic assignment of medication we cannot draw conclusions about its effect on cognitive performance and its interaction with cognitive remediation potential. However the data lead us to hypothesize that subjects with potential room for remediation did so with the atypical APs.

Afghanistan – The End of the Bonn Process

Abstract: The Afghanistan of the new millennium represents a significant test of the latest attempts to allow the coexistence of Western law principles and Islamic law – an issue that has been accompanying the East–West relations since the first colonial relations. The meaning of the path followed by Afghanistan is fully and clearly outlined when we consider that from 1996 to 2001 the Talibans turned this country into an emblem of the strict enforcement of the shari'a and of a radical contrast to Western countries. The presence of Osama bin Laden turned Afghanistan into the base of a global network of Islamic extremism, which interpreted religion as a motive and a justification for the most heinous actions, aiming at countering global powers. After 11 September 2001, and the subsequent rapid repulse of the Talibans, the international community undertook to support the reconstruction of a country devastated by 23 years of war, immediately giving back the country sovereignty to the representatives of the Afghan people. The still undergoing process of reconstruction of democratic state structures was not therefore entirely ``imposed'' from outside of Afghanistan; it was rather mediated by a national political class that is acquiring increasing legitimacy through the carrying out of democratic elections. A reconstruction process of Afghanistan on a sound basis cannot but take into consideration the history of a population that always and successfully opposed foreign rules, and that twice in the 20th century, in 1929 and in 1973, rejected the state visions inspired to the experiences of other countries. The history of Afghanistan is strewn with moments of confrontation and fight against ``modernity'', in which ethnic and tribal dynamics always prevailed. These dynamics, although fragmented, were marked by a strong national identity, also based on the religious bond. However, it must be recalled that the constitution passed on January 2004, in compliance with the guidelines provided for in the Bonn Agreement of December 2001, represents the seventh constitutional charter Afghanistan has adopted over the last 80 years (1923, 1931, 1964, 1977, 1987 and 1990). The country therefore owns a remarkable judicial inheritance that also includes a significant tradition of protection of rights.

The Old and the New Stability and Growth Pact along with the Main Proposals for Its Reform: An Assessment

Abstract: In this paper I compare the old and new stability and growth pact along with the main proposals to reform it using the principal component analysis and cluster analysis. Two intuitive questions arise from the analysis. Does the new pact represent a worsening with respect to the old one? Could some reform proposals, timely adopted, have saved the old pact, i.e., could the original fiscal rules of the European Monetary Union have been maintained by reducing or correcting the pact's main flaws? I conclude that if my evaluation of the proposals is reliable, the answer regarding the comparison between the old and the new pact is somewhat complex, but, under a reasonable assumption, the new pact represents a backward step compared with the old one. Moreover, starting from 2001, when the first problems became evident, up to the adoption of the new pact in 2005, more than one hundred proposals have been formulated, and according to our results of a principal-component analysis, many of them were close to an ``ideal pact'', so we can suppose that the original fiscal rules of the European Monetary Union could have been saved by a timely reform.

Who Uses Equity Capital Among SMEs? Evidence from Survey Data

Abstract: This paper utilizes the information collected in three Surveys on Italian Manufacturing Firms to make inferences about the characteristics of those enterprises using equity capital as the only source of finance when funding their investments. In fact, while the role of external bank debt to the growth of small firms has been widely discussed, little is known about the uses of equity capital by majority of small firms in Italy. We find that firms using exclusively equity capital are not export-oriented (thus, focused on domestic market); are steadily profitable; have a low-risk profile; are not innovative and do not invest in RD have a family-based corporate governance structure; are located in the Northern and Central part of Italy; and are pro-cyclical in their use of internal equity capital.

How To Prepare the EU Integration: Banking System, Monetary Policy, and Exchange Rate in Macedonia

Abstract: The significant progress in the reform of the financial sector, including the amendments to the banking law and the reinforcement of the deposit insurance scheme, has been reflected in increased confidence in the Macedonia banking sector. Monetary policy and exchange rates represent a crucial aspect for the countries of Southeast Europe which would like to position themselves on the threshold of negotiations on their accession to the European Union. In the case of Macedonia, which has already formally applied for EU membership, a very cautious approach has to be taken in order to facilitate the stability of the economic system as a whole. Such a policy will make an important contribution to the stabilization of the whole West Balkan area and in particular to the quadrangle of Albania, Kosovo, Montenegro, and Serbia. The preparation of a favourable ground for EU membership negotiations leads first and foremost through a strict monetary and exchange rate policy, which the National Bank is pursuing firmly. Macedonia is now facing optimal conditions for creating the prerequisites for a faster negotiation with less rigorous internal repercussions of the pre-adhesion period. One should not forget the indirect impact of the shadow economy in the general context of efficiency of the instruments of economic and monetary policy. Finally, there is the question to be answered on the interrelation existing between transmission mechanisms linking productivity to the real exchange rate in Macedonia. At first glance, the stylized facts – low labor productivity growth and a trend of real depreciation – could even suggest that a Balassa–Samuelson effect is in play. But the depreciation of the real exchange rate could reflect mainly the behaviour of prices in the tradable sector and a prolonged transition associated with slow technological growth and the low quality of the country's tradable-goods basket.

Creazione Di Valore Per Gli Shareholders E Gli Stakeholders: Una Fondazione Analitica Dei Principali Indicatori Di Valore (Creating Value for Shareholders and Stakeholders: An Analytical Foundation of the Main Indicators of Value)

Abstract: Lo scopo di questa nota e quello di presentare un modello analitico che dimostri come la presupposta contraddizione tra creazione di valore per gli azionisti e per i diversi portatori di interesse nei confronti dell’impresa (stakeholders) possa essere riconciliata. Nell’ambito di un modello stocastico vengono infatti utilizzati i piu recenti e avanzati modelli di gestione aziendale basati sulla creazione di valore, sviluppati sia a livello accademico sia dalle piu importanti societa di consulenza, per provare, sotto determinate ipotesi, che la creazione di valore per gli shareholders e quella per gli stakeholders sono obiettivi solo apparentemente antitetici.The purpose of this note is to present an analytical model that demonstrates that the supposed contradiction between value creation for the shareholders and for the various stakeholders can be reconciled. Under a stochastic model are in fact used the latest and most advanced business models based on value creation, developed both in academia and by leading consulting firm, to prove, under certain assumptions, that the creation of value for the shareholders and for the stakeholders are objectives only apparently antithetical.

The Work of Roberto Busa SJ: Open Spaces between Computation and Hermeneutics

Abstract: A review of the achievements of Fr. Busa over the course of his 60 years of work in the area of computational linguistics: internal hypertexts, the systematization of allographs, lemmatization, homographs and typologies; the lexical system; the laws of economy for graphemes, for semantic typology, for heterogeneity among terms, and of the two lexical hemispheres. Finally, the project of disciplined languages is mentioned, a response to the linguistic challenge resulting from informational globalization.

In cerca di Sicurezza. L'Europa e il Mediterraneo nella nuova geopolitica dell'energia (In Search of Security. Europe and the Mediterranean in the New Geopolitics of Energy)

Abstract: La mattina del 1° gennaio 2006, dando corpo alle previsioni degli analisti e ai timori dei governi europei, la compagnia di stato russa Gazprom annunciava l’interruzione della fornitura di gas naturale all’Ucraina. L’episodio ha contribuito notevolmente a risvegliare l’attenzione dell’opinione pubblica per la sicurezza degli approvvigionamenti energetici. Una soluzione che garantisca ai paesi europei la sicurezza degli approvvigionamenti energetici dipendera dalla capacita dei governi europei di diversificare i paesi fornitori. Uno dei teatri decisivi sara il Mediterraneo, che potrebbe ritornare ad essere, come negli anni ’50-’60, il baricentro della politica energetica mondiale, dopo circa un trentennio in cui la sua importanza era stata relativamente ridimensionata. On the morning of January 1st, 2006, giving substance to analysts' forecasts and fears of European governments, the Russian state company Gazprom announced the interruption of the supply of natural gas to Ukraine. The episode has contributed greatly to awaken public attention to the security of energy supplies. A solution that guarantees to European countries the security of energy supplies will depend on the ability of European governments to diversify their supplier countries. One of the decisive theaters will be the Mediterranean, which could come back to be, like in the '50s and '60s, the center of gravity of global energy policy, after almost thirty years in which its importance had been relatively resized.

Aortal pressure controlling device

Abstract: An aortal pressure controlling device (1) comprising a variable volume member (2) by blowing gas inside of it and adapted to be inserted within the aorta, a gas reservoir (3) connected by means of a cannula (4) to the variable volume member (2), blowing means (5) for the gas from the gas reservoir (3) to the variable volume member (2), an aortal pressure measurer (6) and a control unit (7) connected both to the pressure measurer (6) and to the blowing means (5). The control unit (7) receives information from the measurer (6) and consequently controls said blowing means (5).

Relativism and Dissent: An Individualistic Interpretation of Terrorism

Abstract: Terrorism is an incredibly dramatic problem of our times. The remedies taken so far do not seem to be able to solve the problem. This paper gives an alternative reading of the phenomenon: apart from the origin of a single terrorism and the specific means it may use, every terrorism simply represents, from an individualistic point of view, the measure of the ability of a system of rules to absorb the changes without anyone choosing a violent option.