Consumers’ Attitudes on Services of General Interest in the EU: Accessibility, Price and Quality 2000-2004

The research question addressed by this paper is a simple one: are European consumers happy with the services provided by the utilities after two decades of reforms? We focus on electricity, gas, water, telephone in the EU 15 Member States. The variables we analyse are consumers’ satisfaction with accessibility, price and quality, as reported in three waves of Eurobarometer survey, 2000-2002-2004, comprising around 47,000 observations. We use ordered logit models to analyze the impact of privatization and regulatory reforms, as represented by an OECD dataset, controlling for individual and country characteristics. Our results do not support a clear association between consumers’ satisfaction and a standard reform package of privatization, vertical disintegration, liberalization.Consumers’ Satisfaction, Gas, Electricity, Telephone, Water, Eurobarometer

Sensory-motor integration in focal dystonia.

Traditional definitions of focal dystonia point to its motor component, mainly affecting planning and execution of voluntary movements. However, focal dystonia is tightly linked also to sensory dysfunction. Accurate motor control requires an optimal processing of afferent inputs from different sensory systems, in particular visual and somatosensory (e.g., touch and proprioception). Several experimental studies indicate that sensory-motor integration - the process through which sensory information is used to plan, execute, and monitor movements - is impaired in focal dystonia. The neural degenerations associated with these alterations affect not only the basal ganglia-thalamic-frontal cortex loop, but also the parietal cortex and cerebellum. The present review outlines the experimental studies describing impaired sensory-motor integration in focal dystonia, establishes their relationship with changes in specific neural mechanisms, and provides new insight towards the implementation of novel intervention protocols. Based on the reviewed state-of-the-art evidence, the theoretical framework summarized in the present article will not only result in a better understanding of the pathophysiology of dystonia, but it will also lead to the development of new rehabilitation strategies

Beyond variability: Subjective timing and the neurophysiology of motor cognition.

Movement simulation helps increasing the chances to reach goals. A cognitive task used to study the neuro-behavioral aspects of movement simulation is mental rotation: people mentally re-orient rotated pictures of hands. However, the involvement of the primary motor cortex (M1) in mental rotation is largely controversial. Such inconsistency could arise from potential methodological flaws in experimental procedures and data analysis. In particular, until now, the timing of M1 activity has been computed in absolute terms: from the onset of mental rotation (onset-locked), neglecting intra- and inter-subject variability. A novel phase-locked approach is introduced to synchronize the same phases of cognitive processing among different subjects and sessions. This approach was validated in the particular case of corticospinal excitability of the motor cortex during mental rotation. We identified the relative time-windows during which the excitability of M1 is effector-specifically modulated by different features of mental rotation. These time windows correspond to the 55%-85% of the subjective timing. In sum, (i) we introduce a new method to study the neurophysiology of motor cognition, and (ii) validating this method, we shed new light on the involvement of M1 in movement simulation

Alternative strategies to inhibit tumor vascularization

Endothelial cells present in tumors show different origin, phenotype, and genotype with respect to the normal counterpart. Various mechanisms of intra-tumor vasculogenesis sustain the complexity of tumor vasculature, which can be further modified by signals deriving from the tumor microenvironment. As a result, resistance to anti-VEGF therapy and activation of compensatory pathways remain a challenge in the treatment of cancer patients, revealing the need to explore alternative strategies to the classical anti-angiogenic drugs. In this review, we will describe some alternative strategies to inhibit tumor vascularization, including targeting of antigens and signaling pathways overexpressed by tumor endothelial cells, the development of endothelial vaccinations, and the use of extracellular vesicles. In addition, anti-angiogenic drugs with normalizing effects on tumor vessels will be discussed. Finally, we will present the concept of endothelial demesenchymalization as an alternative approach to restore normal endothelial cell phenotype

Ownership and performance in the market for corporate control: the role of state-owned enterprises

Despite a wave of privatizations in the past three decades, several governments own major corporations in industries such as energy, mining, telecommunications, transport, banking, manufacturing, in emerging economies as well as in some developed ones. Contemporary state\u2010owned enterprises (SOEs) are increasingly active players in the international and domestic markets for corporate control, through mergers and acquisitions. This paper contributes to a new strand of literature on SOEs form the angle of the market for corporate control. Do the SOEs, behave as their private counterparts when purchasing other firms? The standard prediction of the \u201cinefficient management hypothesis\u201d is that firms that perform well will buy firms of inferior managerial quality (Manne, 1965). An alternative prediction is offered more recently by Rhodes\u2010Kropf and Robinson (2008), who suggest that for US listed companies \u201clike buys like\u201d. To test both the alternative views and the research question on how public ownership has an impact on the market for corporate control, we build a new dataset from Zephyr and Orbis, two databases developed by the Bureau Van Dijk since early 2000s. Our sample is composed by 25,332 deals worldwide, of which around 10% are performed by a SOE acquirer. By focusing on the difference of the return on sales between the acquirer and the target firm, and controlling for different factors, we find that the Rhodes\u2010Kropf and Robinson (2008) prediction is more likely for listed companies, but not for the others; SOEs tend to buy \u201clower\u201d relative to their own performance than private companies do, while their behavior converges towards the private benchmark when the SOEs are listed. We conclude that mergers and acquisitions by SOEs in the years we consider are not as much at variance with the \u201cinefficient market hypothesis\u201d as private firms

Consumers’ Attitudes on Services of General Interest in the EU: Accessibility, Price and Quality 2000-2004

The research question addressed by this paper is a simple one: are European consumers happy with the services provided by the utilities after two decades of reforms? We focus on electricity, gas, water, telephone in the EU 15 Member States. The variables we analyse are consumers\u2019 satisfaction with accessibility, price and quality, as reported in three waves of Eurobarometer survey, 2000-2002-2004, comprising around 47,000 observations. We use ordered logit models to analyze the impact of privatization and regulatory reforms, as represented by an OECD dataset, controlling for individual and country characteristics. Our results do not support a clear association between consumers\u2019 satisfaction and a standard reform package of privatization, vertical disintegration, liberalization

Aristotle's Illusion in Parkinson's Disease: Evidence for Normal Interdigit Tactile Perception.

Sensory alterations, a common feature of such movement disorders as Parkinson's disease (PD) and dystonia, could emerge as epiphenomena of basal ganglia dysfunction. Recently, we found a selective reduction of tactile perception (Aristotle's illusion, the illusory doubling sensation of one object when touched with crossed fingers) in the affected hand of patients with focal hand dystonia. This suggests that reduced tactile illusion might be a specific feature of this type of dystonia and could be due to abnormal somatosensory cortical activation. The aim of the current study was to investigate whether Aristotle's illusion is reduced in the affected hand of patients with PD. We tested 15 PD patients, in whom motor symptoms were mainly localised to one side of the body, and 15 healthy controls. Three pairs of fingers were tested in crossed (evoking the illusion) or parallel position (not evoking the illusion). A sphere was placed in the contact point between the two fingers and the blindfolded participants had to say whether they felt one or two stimuli. Stimuli were applied on the affected and less or unaffected side of the PD patients. We found no difference in illusory perception between the PD patients and the controls, nor between the more affected and less/unaffected side, suggesting that Aristotle's illusion is preserved in PD. The retained tactile illusion in PD and its reduction in focal hand dystonia suggest that the basal ganglia, which are dysfunctional in both PD and dystonia, may not be causally involved in this function. Instead, the level of activation between digits in the somatosensory cortex may be more directly involved. Finally, the similar percentage of illusion in the more affected and less or unaffected body sides indicates that the illusory perception is not influenced by the presence or amount of motor symptoms