TESTING HABITS IN AN ASSET PRICING MODEL

We develop a model of asset pricing assuming that investor's behavior is habit forming. The model predicts that the effect of consumption growth shocks on the risk premium depends on the business cycle phase of the economy. This empirical implication is tested with a Markovswitching VAR model on the US postwar economy. The results show that the response of the risk premium to shocks to consumption is not significantly different over the business cycle phases of the economy. We interpret this as evidence against the habit formation hypothesis of the investor's behavior.Habit formation, Equity premium, Business cycle, Markovswitching VAR models

L'Africa di Francesco Petrarca. Con particolare riferimento al libro VI tradotto e commentato

La tesi si divide in tre parti: nella prima, l''Introduzione', si offre una presentazione dell'opera e di tutte le più evidenti questioni che la riguardano; si riprende il tema della grande lacuna tra IV e V libro e si offrono nuove chiavi di lettura che riconducono il testo a una qualche unità, giustificando l'esistenza della stessa; si definiscono poi più chiaramente le fasi di stesura del VI libro rettificando una tesi che fu già di Guido Martellotti; si discorre della storia del testo e si offre una rassegna completa delle versioni tentate nel corso dei secoli. Nella seconda parte, la traduzione del libro VI, si legge appunto una resa in versi liberi (preceduta da un capitolo in cui si enunciano i criteri di traduzione). L'ultima e più ampia parte, il 'Commento', affronta questioni di ordine storico, filologico, di analisi delle fonti, di comparazione con la restante produzione petrarchesca (latina e volgare) e di ordine esegetico

Morphologic Criteria of Lesion Activity in Neovascular Age-Related Macular Degeneration: A Consensus Article

Intravitreal antivascular endothelial growth factor drugs represent the current standard of care for neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD). Individualized treatment regimens aim at obtaining the same visual benefits of monthly injections with a reduced number of injections and follow-up visits, and, consequently, of treatment burden. The target of these strategies is to timely recognize lesion recurrence, even before visual deterioration. Early detection of lesion activity is critical to ensure that clinical outcomes are not compromised by inappropriate delays in treatment, but questions remain on how to effectively monitor the choroidal neovascularization (CNV) activity. To assess the persistence/recurrence of lesion activity in patients undergoing treatment for nAMD, an expert panel developed a decision algorithm based on the morphological features of CNV. After evaluating all current retinal imaging techniques, the panel identified optical coherent tomography as the most reliable tool to ascertain lesion activity when funduscopy is not obvious

Ground Deformation Imagery of the May Sichuan Earthquake

The magnitude Mw = 7.8 earthquake that struck China's Sichuan region on 12 May 2008 (Figure 1a) has been imaged by the Italian Space Agency's (ASI) Constellation of Small Satellites for the Mediterranean Basin Observation (COSMO)‐SkyMed radar Earth observation satellites. Five images were available—two preseismic spotlight mode images and three strip‐map mode images, two of which are preseismic and one of which is postseismic. We used two strip‐map images (acquired 1 month prior to and 3 days after the earthquake) to generate the first ever X‐band (i.e., microwave frequency domain, corresponding to about 3‐ centi meter wavelength) coseismic interferogram, which clearly shows part of the strong ground deformation caused by the fault dislocation. We also performed a change detection analysis of the same data that highlighted several changes in the radar response, presumably due to strong seismic damage, as far as 80 kilo meters away from the epicenter

The Novel hDHODH Inhibitor MEDS433 Prevents Influenza Virus Replication by Blocking Pyrimidine Biosynthesis

The pharmacological management of influenza virus (IV) infections still poses a series of challenges due to the limited anti-IV drug arsenal. Therefore, the development of new anti-influenza agents effective against antigenically different IVs is therefore an urgent priority. To meet this need, host-targeting antivirals (HTAs) can be evaluated as an alternative or complementary approach to current direct-acting agents (DAAs) for the therapy of IV infections. As a contribution to this antiviral strategy, in this study, we characterized the anti-IV activity of MEDS433, a novel small molecule inhibitor of the human dihydroorotate dehydrogenase (hDHODH), a key cellular enzyme of the de novo pyrimidine biosynthesis pathway. MEDS433 exhibited a potent antiviral activity against IAV and IBV replication, which was reversed by the addition of exogenous uridine and cytidine or the hDHODH product orotate, thus indicating that MEDS433 targets notably hDHODH activity in IV-infected cells. When MEDS433 was used in combination either with dipyridamole (DPY), an inhibitor of the pyrimidine salvage pathway, or with an anti-IV DAA, such as N(4)-hydroxycytidine (NHC), synergistic anti-IV activities were observed. As a whole, these results indicate MEDS433 as a potential HTA candidate to develop novel anti-IV intervention approaches, either as a single agent or in combination regimens with DAAs

Magnetic features of the magmatic intrusion occurred in 2007 eruption at Stromboli Island (Italy.)

Significant changes in the local magnetic field marked the resumption of the eruptive activity at Stromboli volcano on February 27, 2007. After differential magnetic fields were filtered from the external noise by adaptive filters and from the seasonal thermic noise using temperature data, we highlighted step-like changes of 1-4 nT coincident with the eruptive fissures opening in the upper part of the Sciara del Fuoco. The magnetic variations detected at 2 stations are closely related to the propagation of a shallow NE-SW magmatic intrusion outside the summit craters area . These observations are consistent with those calculated from piezomagnetic models, where stress-induced changes in rock magnetization are produced by the magmatic intrusion. No significant magnetic changes were observed when the first fractures opened along the NE crater rim. Indeed, the stress-induced magnetization caused by this magmatic activity is expected to be too low because of the structural weakness and/or thermal state of the summit area. The continuous long-term decay characterizing the post-eruptive magnetic pattern was related to a time-dependent relaxation process. A Maxwell rheology was assumed and the temporal evolution of the piezomagnetic field was evaluated. This allowed for the estimate of the rheological properties of the medium, in particular an average viscosity ranging between 1016 and 1017 Pas was achieved involving a relaxation time τ of about 38 days

Identification of Human Dihydroorotate Dehydrogenase Inhibitor by a Pharmacophore-Based Virtual Screening Study

Human dihydroorotate dehydrogenase (hDHODH) is an enzyme belonging to a flavin mononucleotide (FMN)-dependent family involved in de novo pyrimidine biosynthesis, a key biological pathway for highly proliferating cancer cells and pathogens. In fact, hDHODH proved to be a promising therapeutic target for the treatment of acute myelogenous leukemia, multiple myeloma, and viral and bacterial infections; therefore, the identification of novel hDHODH ligands represents a hot topic in medicinal chemistry. In this work, we reported a virtual screening study for the identification of new promising hDHODH inhibitors. A pharmacophore-based approach combined with a consensus docking analysis and molecular dynamics simulations was applied to screen a large database of commercial compounds. The whole virtual screening protocol allowed for the identification of a novel compound that is endowed with promising inhibitory activity against hDHODH and is structurally different from known ligands. These results validated the reliability of the in silico workflow and provided a valuable starting point for hit-to-lead and future lead optimization studies aimed at the development of new potent hDHODH inhibitors