A note on exogenous changes in incentives for and deterrence of corruption

Bureaucrats, Corruption, Government failure, Incentives, Market failure, Public goods, K13, D23, H41,

Adenosine blood level : a biomarker of white matter damage in very low birth weight infants

Background: Very low birth weight infants are at risk of developing periventricular white matter lesions. We previously reported high blood adenosine levels in premature infants and infants with low birth weight. We asked whether blood adenosine levels could be related to the vulnerability of the maturing white matter to develop lesions. The present study aims at finding a biomarker for the early detection of brain white matter lesions that can profoundly influence the neurodevelopmental outcome, whose pathophysiology is still unclear. Methods: Dried blood spots were prospectively collected for the newborn screening program and adenosine concentration measurements. Fifty-six newborns who tested four times for blood adenosine concentration (at days 3, 15, 30, and 40 post-birth) were included in the program. All infants underwent brain MRI at term equivalent age. Neurodevelopmental outcomes were studied with Griffiths Mental Development Scales (GMDS) at 12 ± 2 months corrected age. Results: Blood adenosine concentration increased over time from a median of 0.75 μM at Day 3 to 1.46 μM at Day 40. Adenosine blood concentration &gt;1.58 μM at Day 15 was significantly associated with brain white matter lesions at MRI (OR (95 % CI) of 50.0 (3.6-688.3), p-value &lt; 0.001). A moderate negative correlation between adenosine at 15 days of life and GMDS at 12 ± 2 months corrected age was found. Conclusion: These findings suggest a potential role for blood adenosine concentration as a biomarker of creberal white matter lesions in very low birth weight infants.</p

Corruption, Exogenous Changes in Incentives and Deterrence

In this article we apply and extend the model elaborated by Acemoglu and Verdier in their seminal paper (2000), to examine how the economy represented in their theoretical framework responds to an exogenous change in the agent's incentive. In particular, we focus on the consequences of a famous sentence of the Italian Supreme Court in plenary session, no. 500 of 1999, in which a revolutionary interpretation of civil liability rules is introduced, allowing private agents of our economy to appear before the court to demand reimbursement for the damages suffered as a consequence of illicit behavior of the public administration. This is one of the few cases in which the judex substantially makes law in a system of civil law, and the modification in incentive whether or not to be corrupted comes from an authority that is not part of the game (the jurisdictional power). Basing our affirmations on the model, we can say that corruption may have declined in Italy since the year 2000, as a result of a change in the incentives for both private agents and bureaucrats

Le privatizzazioni

Sommario dei contenuti: 1. Il carattere polisemico del termine privatizzazione. — 2. La privatizzazione formale, le varie ipotesi classificatorie, i modelli e le relative criticità: 2.1. La privatizzazione sostanziale o privatizzazione dell’assetto proprietario; 2.2. La privatizzazione c.d. reale o deregulation. — 3. Il diritto europeo e le privatizzazioni. — 4. La privatizzazione di enti pubblici economici a livello nazionale: la prima fase: 4.1. (Segue). La seconda fase: 4.1.1. Il modello della public company e quello del c.d. nocciolo duro; 4.1.2. Il limite massimo al possesso azionario, il voto di lista ed il voto per corrispondenza. — 5. La disciplina applicabile alle procedure di alienazione delle partecipazioni azionarie dello Stato e degli altri enti pubblici. — 6. Le privatizzazioni in alcuni Paesi europei: 6.1. Le privatizzazioni in Gran Bretagna; 6.2. Le privatizzazioni in Francia. 6.3. Le esperienze a confronto: le peculiarità dell’esperienza italiana.—7. Golden share e poteri speciali dello Stato.—8. Normative nazionali in tema di privatizzazioni, principio di libera circolazione dei capitali e diritto di stabilimento. — 9. Privatizzazioni delle imprese pubbliche locali a livello locale: cenni

Razionalizzazione periodica delle partecipazioni pubbliche

L’art. 20 del d.lgs. n. 175/2016 prevede un regime ordinario di ricognizione e riassetto delle partecipazioni societarie, direttamente o indirettamente detenute dalle amministrazioni pubbliche, che si sostanzia nell’obbligo in capo alle stesse di adottare, con cadenza annuale, una serie di atti vòlti alla razionalizzazione di tali partecipazioni. Il contributo si presenta quale commento sistematico all'articolo di legge e offre un'analisi degli incombenti che devono affrontare le amministrazioni nella redazione dei piani di riassetto, esaminando anche i rapporti con le norme previste nel 2014 in materia di spending review; si individuano, inoltre, le criticità sollevate dalla norma soprattutto in materia di sanzioni per la mancata redazione dei piani di riassetto o la mancata implementazione degli obiettivi di razionalizzazione posti

Study on psychoeducation enhancing results of adherence in patients with schizophrenia (SPERA-S): Study protocol for a randomized controlled trial

Background: Poor adherence to pharmacotherapy negatively affects the course and the outcome of schizophreniaspectrum psychoses, enhancing the risk of relapse. Falloon and coworkers developed a Psychoeducation Program aimed at improving communication and problem-solving abilities in patients and their families. This study set out to evaluate changes in adherence to pharmacotherapy in patients diagnosed with schizophrenia-spectrum psychoses, by comparing one group exposed to the Falloon Psychoeducation Program (FPP) with another group exposed to family supportive therapy with generic information on the disorders.Methods: 340 patients diagnosed with schizophrenia and related disorders according to standardized criteria from 10 participating units distributed throughout the Italian National Health System (NHS), will be enrolled with 1:1 allocation by the method of blocks of randomized permutations. Patients will be reassessed at 6, 12 and 18 months after start of treatment (duration: 6 months). The primary objective is to evaluate changes in adherence to pharmacotherapy after psychoeducation. Adherence will be assessed at three-month intervals by measuring blood levels of the primary prescribed drug using high pressure liquid chromatography, and via the Medication Adherence Questionnaire and a modified version of the Adherence Interview. Secondary objectives are changes in the frequency of relapse and readmission, as the main indicator of the course of the disorder. Enrolled patients will be allocated to the FPP (yes/no) randomly, 1:1, in a procedure controlled by the coordinating unit; codes will be masked until the conclusion of the protocol (or the occurrence of a severe negative event). The raters will be blind to treatment allocation and will be tested for blinding after treatment completion. Intention-to-treat will be applied in considering the primary and secondary outcomes. Multiple imputations will be applied to integrate the missing data. The study started recruitment in February 2013; the total duration of the study is 27 months.Discussion: If the psychoeducation program proves effective in improving adherence to pharmacotherapy and in reducing relapse and readmissions, its application could be proposed as a standard adjunctive psychosocial treatment within the Italian NHS. Trial registration: Protocol Registration System of ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01433094; registered on 20 August 2011; first patient was randomized on 12 February 2013. © 2013 Petretto et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd