Revisiting the comovement puzzle: the input-output structure as an additional solution

We propose an additional solution to the comovement puzzle by developing a two-sector monetary model with housing production and an input-output structure. The model generates comovement between consumption and residential investment for large range of shocks hitting the economy. Consistent with previous work, we find that our model produces highly persistence responses in aggregate consumption, aggregate output and residential investment. We show that the results are highly robust to different policy rule specifications. We find that the lower the labour shares, the higher the relative volatility of residential investment. The model with an IO structure is works under different specifications of the period utility function. We extend the model to allow for wage rigidities and show that our proposed solution can perfectly work alongside previous ones

Milk temperature influences esophageal motility in the newborn lamb

Esophageal dysmotility is common in infants. We aimed to evaluate the influence of milk temperature on esophageal motility using multichannel intraluminal impedance-pH monitoring (MII-pH). Five healthy lambs, ages 2 to 3 days, underwent a MII-pH whereas bottle-fed randomly with 50 mL of ewe milk at 26 °C, 38.5 °C, and 41.5 °C. Impedance motility parameters were studied on 5 swallows at each temperature. At 38.5 °C we noted a higher total propagation velocity and a shorter total bolus transit time (TBTT) (P < 0.05). These unique results suggest a potential role of milk temperature alterations in improving oral feeding in infants with esophageal dysmotility

Personality differences of sophomore junior college talented achievers and underachievers

Are there personality characteristics statistically significant and of relatively large enough differences to make distinctions between talented achievers and underachievers? Would an identification of those personality characteristics be a necessary value to the institution of remedial procedures that might assist them in the realization of their maximal potential? What are the means by which a talented student is to be measured, aside from intellectual diagnostic procedures, that indicate this particular potential in certain areas or his ability to achieve in academic subjects by G.P.A. designation? The factors that produce achievement and underachievement are recognized in the light of success or failure in the peripheral structure encompassing the subject field itself. The achiever is an achiever only if he can meet the problems existing in the academic subject and solve them according to prescribed criteria. The underachiever, if he falls below the arbitrary standards set for the academic subject, is given a grade that evaluated his lack of performance only as it affects the actual involvement with extrinsic material. These evaluations offer no clues or information as to the specific personality characteristics that are part of the personality matrix of the talented achiever or underachiever that negate or stimulate students’ achieving or underachieving in an academic environment. The problem does not perforce exist in the academic sphere since the situation can be resolved by giving specific grade value to different performance levels. It does exist however, in the means by which certain conditions can be identified as residing in the student, and his social-interaction environment. This social-interaction environment intrudes the classroom as well as his relationships in the social milieu. Therefore, if achievement and underachievement are to have any dimensional values the forces that produce them must be understood not in the terms of a specific G.P.A. but in terms of acceptance or rejection of the procedures that would bring about these end results

Site- and Location-Adjusted Approaches to Adaptive Allocation Clinical Trial Designs

Response-Adaptive (RA) designs are used to adaptively allocate patients in clinical trials. These methods have been generalized to include Covariate-Adjusted Response-Adaptive (CARA) designs, which adjust treatment assignments for a set of covariates while maintaining features of the RA designs. Challenges may arise in multi-center trials if differential treatment responses and/or effects among sites exist. We propose Site-Adjusted Response-Adaptive (SARA) approaches to account for inter-center variability in treatment response and/or effectiveness, including either a fixed site effect or both random site and treatment-by-site interaction effects to calculate conditional probabilities. These success probabilities are used to update assignment probabilities for allocating patients between treatment groups as subjects accrue. Both frequentist and Bayesian models are considered. Treatment differences could also be attributed to differences in social determinants of health (SDH) that often manifest, especially if unmeasured, as spatial heterogeneity amongst the patient population. In these cases, patient residential location can be used as a proxy for these difficult to measure SDH. We propose the Location-Adjusted Response-Adaptive (LARA) approach to account for location-based variability in both treatment response and/or effectiveness. A Bayesian low-rank kriging model will interpolate spatially-varying joint treatment random effects to calculate the conditional probabilities of success, utilizing patient outcomes, treatment assignments and residential information. We compare the proposed methods with several existing allocation strategies that ignore site for a variety of scenarios where treatment success probabilities vary

D2.4 Co-design methodology evaluation

This report has been submitted by Fondazione scuola di pace di Monte Sole as deliverable D2.4 within the framework of H2020 project "SO-CLOSE: Enhancing Social Cohesion through Sharing the Cultural Heritage of Forced Migrations" Grant No. 870939.The goal of this deliverable is to infer the evaluation of the co-creation methodology starting from the design of it, illustrated in D2.3, and from the context and the premises of the So-Close project design and Consortium. The text develops an introduction as a short analytical framework and it then suggests a web of questions to be answered to verify if the deployment of the participative, cooperative and collaborative methodology was effectively put in action

The Psychological Impact of Remote Communication on Body-Image Perception: Cosmetic Surgery on the Rise.

In recent times the number of requests for teleconsultations with plastic surgeons in private practice (70% in the UK and 64% in the USA) has increased. The correlation between this increase and the concept of "Zoom Boom" changing how we perceive our image is under speculation. However, this could also be linked to the psychological impact of the pandemic on patients' moods. This study investigated the correlation between the pandemic era and seeking cosmetic surgery while focusing on the psychological impact of the pandemic on body-image perception. An anonymous web-based poll was distributed through social networks in Italy and the UK to patients seeking cosmetic surgery. The questions gathered responses on: 1. patient demographics; 2. cosmetic procedures requested; 3. motivations; 4. delays to cosmetic surgery caused by the pandemic; 5. pandemic effects on mood; 6. influence of video conferencing on body-image perception. A total of 159 respondents completed the online poll. Patients were more inclined to undergo cosmetic surgery during the pandemic citing the wish to improve their "lockdown face" (61%) and also the benefits of home recovery during smart working (36%). Eighty-one percent of respondents stated that video conferencing had impacted on their body-image perception, 95% indicated lower mood due to backlogs and surgery delays, while 72% of participants noted declined body-image perception during the pandemic. Data suggest that although video conferencing appears to play a key role in rising requests for cosmetic surgery consultations, a patient's negative self-perception is also likely linked to the psychological impact of the pandemic on mood levels. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE V: This journal requires that authors assign a level of evidence to each article. For a full description of these Evidence-Based Medicine ratings, please refer to the Table of Contents or the online Instructions to Authors www.springer.com/00266

D2.3 Co-design methodology template

This report has been submitted by Fondazione scuola di Pace Monte Sole (Italy) as deliverable D2.3 within the framework of H2020 project "SO-CLOSE: Enhancing Social Cohesion through Sharing the Cultural Heritage of Forced Migrations" Grant No. 870939.The goal of this report is to illustrate the co-creation methodology as a natural consequence determined by the context and the premises of the SO-CLOSE project design and Consortium.The text develops firstly an introduction as a short analytical report of the project framework, both in terms of scientific competences and interactional practices present in the Consortium and it turns then to a critic review of literature and experiences about co-creation. Finally, it presents the co-design methodology template, elaborated as a result of the work carried out throughout WP2, which has included training workshops, Focus Groups and a validation survey

Strategies against nonsense: oxadiazoles as translational readthrough-inducing drugs (TRIDs)

This review focuses on the use of oxadiazoles as translational readthrough-inducing drugs (TRIDs) to rescue the functional full-length protein expression in mendelian genetic diseases caused by nonsense mutations. These mutations in specific genes generate premature termination codons (PTCs) responsible for the translation of truncated proteins. After a brief introduction on nonsense mutations and their pathological effects, the features of various classes of TRIDs will be described discussing differences or similarities in their mechanisms of action. Strategies to correct the PTCs will be presented, particularly focusing on a new class of Ataluren-like oxadiazole derivatives in comparison to aminoglycosides. Additionally, recent results on the efficiency of new candidate TRIDs in restoring the production of the cystic fibrosis transmembrane regulator (CFTR) protein will be presented. Finally, a prospectus on complementary strategies to enhance the effect of TRIDs will be illustrated together with a conclusive paragraph about perspectives, opportunities, and caveats in developing small molecules as TRIDs

Holocene slip rate variability along the Pernicana fault system (Mt. Etna, Italy): Evidence from offset lava flows

The eastern flank of the Mount Etna stratovolcano is affected by extension and is slowly sliding eastward into the Ionian Sea. The Pernicana fault system forms the border of the northern part of this sliding area. It consists of three E-W−oriented fault sectors that are seismically active and characterized by earthquakes up to 4.7 in magnitude (M) capable of producing ground rupture and damage located mainly along the western and central sectors, and by continuous creep on the eastern sector. A new topographic study of the central sector of the Pernicana fault system shows an overall bell-shaped profile, with maximum scarp height of 35 m in the center of the sector, and two local minima that are probably due to the complex morphological relation between fault scarp and lava flows. We determined the ages of lava flows cut by the Pernicana fault system at 12 sites using cosmogenic 3He and 40Ar/39Ar techniques in order to determine the recent slip history of the fault. From the displacement-age relations, we estimate an average throw rate of ∼2.5 mm/yr over the last 15 k.y. The slip rate appears to have accelerated during the last 3.5 k.y., with displacement rates of up to ∼15 mm/yr, whereas between 3.5 and 15 ka, the throw rate averaged ∼1 mm/yr. This increase in slip rate resulted in significant changes in seismicity rates, for instance, decreasing the mean recurrence time of M ≥ 4.7 earthquakes from ∼200 to ∼20 yr. Based on empirical relationships, we attribute the variation in seismic activity on the Pernicana fault system to factors intrinsic to the system that are likely related to changes in the volcanic system. These internal factors could be fault interdependencies (such as those across the Taupo Rift, New Zealand) or they could represent interactions among magmatic, tectonic, and gravitational processes (e.g., Kīlauea volcano, Hawaii). Given their effect on earthquake recurrence intervals, these interactions need to be fully assessed in seismic hazard evaluations