Business groups manage credit risk by reshuffling resources amongst units

William H. Beaver, Stefano Cascino, Maria Correia and Maureen F. McNichols untangle the knot to predict bankruptc

A Single-Center Retrospective Analysis of 14 Head and Neck AVMs Cases Treated with a Single-Day Combined Endovascular and Surgical Approach

Arteriovenous malformations (AVMs) are rare congenital defects of vascular development whose treatment remains challenging. The paper presents a retrospective single-center study of 14 patients with AVMs of the head and neck region undergoing combined endovascular and surgical treatment in a single day. AVM architecture and therapeutic strategies were determined on the basis of angiographic studies, while the psychological involvement of each patient was assessed by means of a questionnaire. Most of the 14 patients achieved satisfactory clinical results with no recurrences, good aesthetic and functional results, and most patients reported improved quality of life. The combined endovascular and surgical approach is an effective treatment for AVMs of the head and neck and performing it on the same day is a possible option often accepted by patients which guarantees operative advantages for the surgeon

Group affiliation and default prediction

Using a large sample of business groups from more than one hundred countries around the world, we show that group information matters for parent and subsidiary default prediction. Group firms may support each other when in financial distress. Potential group support represents an off-balance sheet asset for the receiving firm and an off-balance sheet liability for the firm offering support. We find that subsidiary information improves parent default prediction over and above group-level consolidated information possibly because intra-group exposures are netted out upon consolidation. Moreover, we document that the improvements in parent default prediction are decreasing in the extent of parent-country financial reporting transparency which suggests that within-group information matters most when consolidated financial statements are expected to be of lower quality. We also show that parent and other group-firms’ default risk exhibits predictive power for subsidiary default. Lastly, we find that within-group information explains cross-sectional variation in CDS spreads. Taken together, our findings contribute to prior literature on default prediction and have direct relevance to investors, credit-rating agencies and accounting regulators

Our supramicrosurgical experience of lymphaticovenular anastomosis in lymphoedema patients to prevent cellulitis

OBJECTIVE: Aim of this paper is to present our reduction of the frequency of cellulitis before and after supramicrosurgical lymphaticovenular anastomosis (s-LVA) in lymphoedema patients, and discuss the possibility to perform this technique outside Japan. PATIENTS AND METHODS: 37 patients affected by lymphoedema were enrolled. All patients received preoperative indocyanine green lymphography. Under local anaesthesia s-LVA was performed on all patients. All patients were followed for 1 year. Lymphoedema was staged using the lymphoedema staging classification recommended by the International Society of Lymphology. Cellulitis rate was recorded for all patients the year before and after the s-LVA. A t-test was used to evaluate differences in the frequency of cellulitis the year before surgery and the year following surgery. RESULTS: Cellulitis incidence decreased in all patients, with a mean 1.7 cases the year before s-LVA and 0.1 the year after s-LVA. A significant difference between preoperative and postoperative cellulitis rate was found (p = 0.0012). CONCLUSIONS: This study reports our s-LVA case series of lymphoedema patients. With the proper learning curve, s-LVA may be reproduced and lymphoedema patients may gain a better quality of life and a reduced cellulitis rate

Genome-wide mega-analysis identifies 16 loci and highlights diverse biological mechanisms in the common epilepsies

sem informaçãoThe epilepsies affect around 65 million people worldwide and have a substantial missing heritability component. We report a genome-wide mega-analysis involving 15,212 individuals with epilepsy and 29,677 controls, which reveals 16 genome-wide significant91sem informaçãosem informaçãosem informaçã

Auditory hallucinations and migraine of possible brainstem origin

10.1007/s10194-011-0355-zJournal of Headache and Pain125573-57

Primary and malignant cholangiocytes undergo CD40 mediated Fas dependent Apoptosis, but are insensitive to direct activation with exogenous fas ligand

Introduction Cholangiocarcinoma is a rare malignancy of the biliary tract, the incidence of which is rising, but the pathogenesis of which remains uncertain. No common genetic defects have been described but it is accepted that chronic inflammation is an important contributing factor. We have shown that primary human cholangiocyte and hepatocyte survival is tightly regulated via co-operative interactions between two tumour necrosis family (TNF) receptor family members; CD40 and Fas (CD95). Functional deficiency of CD154, the ligand for CD40, leads to a failure of clearance of biliary tract infections and a predisposition to cholangiocarcinoma implying a direct link between TNF receptor-mediated apoptosis and the development of cholangiocarcinoma. Aims To determine whether malignant cholangiocytes display defects in CD40 mediated apoptosis. By comparing CD40 and Fas-mediated apoptosis and intracellular signalling in primary human cholangiocytes and three cholangiocyte cell lines. Results Primary cholangiocytes and cholangiocyte cell lines were relatively insensitive to direct Fas-mediated killing with exogenous FasL when compared with Jurkat cells, which readily underwent Fas-mediated apoptosis, but were extremely sensitive to CD154 stimulation. The sensitivity of cells to CD40 activation was similar in magnitude in both primary and malignant cells and was STAT-3 and AP-1 dependent in both. Conclusions 1) Both primary and malignant cholangiocytes are relatively resistant to Fas–mediated killing but show exquisite sensitivity to CD154, suggesting that the CD40 pathway is intact and fully functional in both primary and malignant cholangiocytes 2) The relative insensitivity of cholangiocytes to Fas activation demonstrates the importance of CD40 augmentation of Fas dependent death in these cells. Agonistic therapies which target CD40 and associated intracellular signalling pathways may be effective in promoting apoptosis of malignant cholangiocytes

Risk and resilience factors for specific and general psychopathology worsening in people with Eating Disorders during COVID-19 pandemic: a retrospective Italian multicentre study

Purpose: The COVID-19 pandemic restrictions had negative impact on the psychopathology of people with Eating Disorders (EDs). Factors involved in the vulnerability to stressful events have been under-investigated in this population. We aimed to assess which factors contributed to COVID-19-induced worsening in both general and specific psychopathology. Methods: Three-hundred and twelve people with a clinically defined diagnosis of an ED and undergoing a specialist ED treatment in different Italian ED services before the spreading of COVID-19 pandemic filled in an online survey. ED specific and general psychopathology changes after COVID-19 quarantine were retrospectively evaluated. Factors related to COVID-19 concerns (financial condition, fear of contagion, perceived social isolation/support, satisfaction in peer, family or sentimental relationships), illness duration and treatment-related variables (type of treatment provided, type of access to care, satisfaction with therapeutic relationships) were included as predicting factors in a structural equational model, which included latent variables consisting of general and ED psychopathology items as outcomes. Results: A perceived low quality of therapeutic relationships, fear of contagion and increased isolation were positively associated with psychopathology worsening. Reduced satisfaction with family and with friends’ relationships and reduced perceived social support were associated with ED and general symptoms deterioration, respectively. No significant effect emerged for intimate relationships, illness duration, economic condition and type of treatment. Conclusions: This study provides a comprehensive evaluation of clinical variables associated with psychopathological changes during the COVID-19 lockdown period highlighting potential risk and resilience factors and, possibly, informing treatment as well as prevention strategies for EDs. Level of evidence IV: Evidence obtained from multiple time series analysis such as case studies

Risk and resilience factors for specific and general psychopathology worsening in people with Eating Disorders during COVID-19 pandemic: a retrospective Italian multicentre study

Purpose: The COVID-19 pandemic restrictions had negative impact on the psychopathology of people with Eating Disorders (EDs). Factors involved in the vulnerability to stressful events have been under-investigated in this population. We aimed to assess which factors contributed to COVID-19-induced worsening in both general and specific psychopathology. Methods: Three-hundred and twelve people with a clinically defined diagnosis of an ED and undergoing a specialist ED treatment in different Italian ED services before the spreading of COVID-19 pandemic filled in an online survey. ED specific and general psychopathology changes after COVID-19 quarantine were retrospectively evaluated. Factors related to COVID-19 concerns (financial condition, fear of contagion, perceived social isolation/support, satisfaction in peer, family or sentimental relationships), illness duration and treatment-related variables (type of treatment provided, type of access to care, satisfaction with therapeutic relationships) were included as predicting factors in a structural equational model, which included latent variables consisting of general and ED psychopathology items as outcomes. Results: A perceived low quality of therapeutic relationships, fear of contagion and increased isolation were positively associated with psychopathology worsening. Reduced satisfaction with family and with friends\u2019 relationships and reduced perceived social support were associated with ED and general symptoms deterioration, respectively. No significant effect emerged for intimate relationships, illness duration, economic condition and type of treatment. Conclusions: This study provides a comprehensive evaluation of clinical variables associated with psychopathological changes during the COVID-19 lockdown period highlighting potential risk and resilience factors and, possibly, informing treatment as well as\ua0prevention strategies for EDs. Level of evidence IV: Evidence obtained from multiple time series analysis such as case studies