The Price Index Effect and Macroeconomic Inefficiency

In the Dixit-Stiglitz model of monopolistic competition the effects of individual pricing decisions on the aggregate price index are neglected. Tliis paper studies the implications of this approximation in terms of the efficiency of macroeconomic equilibria. We show that allowing for the price-index effect, makes the degree of inefficiency positively correiated with the number of agents; it also reduces the scope for New Keynesian outcomes, such as price rigidity and multiple equilibria.New Keynesian economies, aggregate demand externalities, nominal rididity

Beyond the Uniform Distribution: Equilibrium Prices and Qualities in a Vertically Differentiated Duopoly

The paper proves the existence of a subgame perfect Nash equilibrium in a vertically differentiated duopoly with uncovered market, for a large set of symmetric and asymmetric distributions of consumers, including, among others, all logconcave distributions. The proof relies on the ’income share elasticity’ representation of the consumers’ density function, which ensures the analytical tractability of the firms’ optimality conditions at a high level of generality. Some illustrative examples of the solution are offered, in order to assess the impact of distributive shocks on the equilibrium market configuration

Isolation and molecular characterisation of Halicephalobus gingivalis in the brain of a horse in Piedmont, Italy

Background: A fatal case of meningoencephalitis was reported in a 13-year-old Koninklijk Warmbloed Paard Nederland stallion, suspected of West Nile virus (WNV) infection, in the Piedmont region of Italy. Clinical signs included right head tilt and circling, depression alternated with excitability, fever and lateral strabismus. Combined treatment consisting of dimethylsulfoxide, dexamethasone, sulphonamides and sedative was administered, but because of the poor conditions the horse was euthanatized and submitted for necropsy. Results: At post-mortem examination no skin lesions were observed, all organs appeared normal on gross evaluation and only head and blood samples were further investigated. Neuropathological findings consisted of granulomatous meningoencephalitis and larvae and adult females of Halicephalobus gingivalis were isolated and identified from the digested brain. Frozen brain was submitted to PCR amplification and 220 bp multiple sequence alignment was analysed by Bayesian phylogenetic analysis. Conclusions: Phylogenetic inference revealed that the isolate belongs to H. gingivalis Lineage 3. WN surveillance can help to deepen our knowledge of horse neurological disorders investigating their causes and incidence. Moreover, it can help to understand the geographic distribution of the H. gingivalis, to unravel epidemiological information, and to estimate risk for humans

TCT-332 A study comparing a paclitaxel drug-eluting balloon with a paclitaxel-eluting stent in diabetic patients with small coronary vessels disease: a sub-study of the the BELLO (Balloon Elution and Late Loss Optimization) Trial

n/

Percutaneous mitral valve repair with the MitraClip system: acute results from a real world setting

This study sought to evaluate the feasibility and early outcomes of a percutaneous edge-to-edge repair approach for mitral valve regurgitation with the MitraClip((R)) system (Evalve, Inc., Menlo Park, CA, USA).Patients were selected for the procedure based on the consensus of a multidisciplinary team. The primary efficacy endpoint was acute device success defined as clip placement with reduction of mitral regurgitation to < 2+. The primary acute safety endpoint was 30-day freedom from major adverse events, defined as the composite of death, myocardial infarction, non-elective cardiac surgery for adverse events, renal failure, transfusion of > 2 units of blood, ventilation for > 48 h, deep wound infection, septicaemia, and new onset of atrial fibrillation. Thirty-one patients (median age 71, male 81%) were treated between August 2008 and July 2009. Eighteen patients (58%) presented with functional disease and 13 patients (42%) presented with organic degenerative disease. A clip was successfully implanted in 19 patients (61%) and two clips in 12 patients (39%). The median device implantation time was 80 min. At 30 days, there was an intra-procedural cardiac tamponade and a non-cardiac death, resulting in a primary safety endpoint of 93.6% [95% confidence interval (CI) 77.2-98.9]. Acute device success was observed in 96.8% of patients (95% CI 81.5-99.8). Compared with baseline, left ventricular diameters, diastolic left ventricular volume, diastolic annular septal-lateral dimension, and mitral valve area significantly diminished at 30 days.Our initial results with the MitraClip device in a very small number of patients indicate that percutaneous edge-to-edge mitral valve repair is feasible and may be accomplished with favourable short-term safety and efficacy results