DISTRIBUTION CHANNELS AND FINANCIAL ADVERTISING IN THE ITALIAN ASSET MANAGEMENT MARKET

Advertising has a major effect on individual investors' decisions. Financial instruments tend to be advertised more when market sentiment is high, as investors are more willing to buy. Mechanisms affecting the relationship between market sentiment and advertising activity remain unexplored in the finance literature. Using a novel dataset of advertisements for mutual and exchange-traded funds from the main Italian financial newspaper, we show that the effect of market sentiment on financial advertisements depends upon the distribution channel. Sentiment matters only for products directly traded by the investors, such as exchange-traded funds. Conversely, for financial products - like mutual funds - distributed through a captive distribution network (bank branches and tied agents), financial advisers' actions mitigate the effect of market sentiment on advertising activity. Overall, our findings provide some evidence of the persuasive power of financial advisers in investors' decisions, which arguably requires increased attention from financial market regulators

La Direttiva (UE) 2019/770: i dati personali quale corrispettivo nei contratti di fornitura di contenuti e servizi digitali e le inerenti ricadute sul diritto della privacy

Con l’approvazione della direttiva (UE) 770/2019, il legislatore dell’Unione europea ha espressamente disciplinato, per la prima volta, l’operazione negoziale - già diffusa nella prassi economica - dello scambio tra contenuto o servizi digitali e fornitura di dati personali da parte dell’utente, in un’ottica di apparente gratuità della prestazione ricevuta. Il presente contributo, dopo aver posto l’attenzione sulla natura e sui requisiti del trattamento dati, analizza le potenziali interferenze tra i profili di privacy e di diritto contrattuale, anche alla luce dei rimedi previsti per l’ipotesi di difetto di conformità. La lettura sistematica della direttiva ne conferma la posizione di continuità, in chiave contrattuale, con la “doppia anima” già propria del GDPR, alla ricerca di un bilanciamento tra la logica mercantilistica della commodification dei dati personali, e la visione personalistica, orientata alla tutela della privacy come diritto fondamentale

Robustness Analysis of Historical Timber Roofs: A Case Study of the Gaggiandre Shipyard at the Arsenale of Venice

In this work, a deterministic approach is adopted to analyze the robustness of the timber roof of the Gaggiandre shipyard at the Arsenale of Venice. The capacity of the traditional timber truss to withstand the design loads as a result of the damage in the strut-tie node is evaluated according to the alternative load path method. Two layouts of the trusses are analyzed and compared: before and after the Austrian retrofitting intervention, performed in the late 1800s. For both configurations, robustness analyses are carried out by using linear 2D numerical models that consider the effective rotational capacity of the structural nodes in relation to the construction methods of the timber joints. For the configuration subject to the 19th-century restoration, the 3D response of the roof is also analyzed to verify the additional contribution provided by the longitudinal bracing system to the activation of alternative load paths (bridge effect). The results obtained with the differentanalyses are thoroughly evaluated, providing an indication of the deterministic robustness index of the roofing system based on different assumptions. The outcomes of this work allow to draw some general considerations on the method that could be used for the robustness assessment of historical wood systems

Captive rearing technologies and survival of pheasants (Phasianus colchicus L.) after release

Studies have repeatedly emphasized the limited survival of pheasants reared using traditional methods compared to the wild one. For this reason we performed a field trial to compare survival rates, home ranges and habitat uses of pheasants artificial hatched and reared (traditional method) with pheasants artificial hatched and reared by fostering mothers (hens). A total of 117 artificially hatched pheasants, 57 artificially brooded after hatch and 60 brooded by fostering hens, were equipped with a radio necklace tag or a poncho tag. Both groups were localized two-three times a week after their release in the wild. The survival rates of the brooded-by-hen pheasants showed an improvement of survival rates, either poncho or radio tagged (P<0.05), 90.0% vs 57.1% and 35.0% vs 21.1%, respectively. The average maximum dispersion was 390 and 426 m and the home range were 12.0 and 11.6 ha in artificially brooded and brooded-by-hen pheasants, respectively. The land use showed that the woods were less represented than the available in the home range of every pheasant. For this reason the woods can be reduced in the agricultural areas interspersed with natural Mediterranean vegetation

Experimental and numerical investigations on the shear behavior of existing masonry structures

The great damages experienced by existing masonry constructions during the recent seismic events have highlighted the need of a systematic vulnerability assessment of this building typologies. One of the crucial aspect is the evaluation of the mechanical properties of the materials, which can be achieved through the execution of experimental tests. On existing buildings, it is often unpracticable to perform tests or, when they are performed, their reduced number and local nature do not allow to obtain reliable estimation of the mechanical parameters. Therefore, it is fundamental to identify experimental procedures having the minimum impact on the construction, obtaining, simultaneously, representative results. The scope of this work is to investigate the shear behavior of masonry structural elements, both from the experimental and the numerical point of view. In the first part of the research, an experimental campaign was conducted, in which slightly-destructive and destructive tests were performed on eight masonry buildings, damaged by the 2012 Emilia earthquake. The main objective was to evaluate the most suitable techniques applicable to get reliable information on the material properties. The tests results are analysed and discussed, focusing on the strength parameters obtainable from each test type and on the construction of appropriate failure domains. In the second part of the research, the shear-sliding failure mechanism was studied in detail through numerical simulations of triplet tests and shove tests, using a simplified micro-modeling strategy. The scope was to investigate factors that could affect the shear-sliding behavior of masonry. The results of the numerical analyses allowed to gain a better interpretation and understanding of the outcomes of the shear tests considered. The numerical models were validated through comparisons with experimental results. The understanding gained from the numerical simulations allowed to propose improvements of the testing procedure and of the results interpretation

Deep Learning Forecasting for Supporting Terminal Operators in Port Business Development

Accurate forecasts of containerised freight volumes are unquestionably important for port terminal operators to organise port operations and develop business plans. They are also relevant for port authorities, regulators, and governmental agencies dealing with transportation. In a time when deep learning is in the limelight, owing to a consistent strip of success stories, it is natural to apply it to the tasks of forecasting container throughput. Given the number of options, practitioners can benefit from the lessons learned in applying deep learning models to the problem. Coherently, in this work, we devise a number of multivariate predictive models based on deep learning, analysing and assessing their performance to identify the architecture and set of hyperparameters that prove to be better suited to the task, also comparing the quality of the forecasts with seasonal autoregressive integrated moving average models. Furthermore, an innovative representation of seasonality is given by means of an embedding layer that produces a mapping in a latent space, with the parameters of such mapping being tuned using the quality of the predictions. Finally, we present some managerial implications, also putting into evidence the research limitations and future opportunities

Albumin nanoparticles for glutathione-responsive release of cisplatin: new opportunities for medulloblastoma treatment

Redox-responsive nanoparticles were synthesized by desolvation of bovine serum albumin followed by disulfide-bond crosslinking with N, Nʹ-Bis (acryloyl) cystamine. Dynamic light scattering and transmission electron microscopy studies revealed spherical nanoparticles (mean diameter: 83 nm, polydispersity index: 0.3) that were glutathione-responsive. Confocal microscopy revealed rapid, efficient internalization of the nanoparticles by Daoy medulloblastoma cells and healthy controls (HaCaT keratinocytes). Cisplatin-loaded nanoparticles with drug:carrier ratios of 5%, 10%, and 20% were tested in both cell lines. The formulation with the highest drug:carrier ratio reduced Daoy and HaCaT cell viability with IC50 values of 6.19 and 11.17 μg mL-1, respectively. The differential cytotoxicity reflects the cancer cells’ higher glutathione content, which triggers more extensive disruption of the disulfide bond-mediated intra-particle cross-links, decreasing particle stability and increasing their cisplatin release. These findings support continuing efforts to improve the safety and efficacy of antineoplastic drug therapy for pediatric brain tumors using selective nanoparticlebased drug delivery systems

Metastatic Group 3 Medulloblastoma in a Patient With Tuberous Sclerosis Complex: Case Description and Molecular Characterization of the Tumor

Medulloblastoma is the most common pediatric brain tumor. We describe a child with tuberous sclerosis complex that developed a Group 3, myc overexpressed, metastatic medulloblastoma (MB). Considering the high risk of treatment-induced malignancies, a tailored therapy, omitting radiation, was given. Based on the evidence of mammalian target of rapamycin mTORC, mTOR Complex; RAS, Rat sarcoma; RAF, rapidly accelerated fibrosarcoma (mTOR) pathway activation in the tumor, targeted therapy was applied resulting in complete remission of disease. Although the PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling pathway plays a role in MB, we did not find TSC1/TSC2 (TSC, tuberous sclerosis complex) mutation in our patient. We speculate that a different pathway resulting in mTOR activation is the basis of both TSC and MB in this child; H&E, haematoxilin and eosin; Gd, gadolinium

Home range e utilizzo del territorio in pernici rose (Alectoris rufa rufa L.) nate in allevamento e allo stato selvatico

RIASSUNTO In Italia sono state ricostituite numerose piccole popolazioni di pernici rosse (Alectoris rufa L.) in areali dove la specie era estinta. Allo stato attuale, poiché la dimensione delle popolazioni ricostituite non raggiunge la dimensione minima necessaria per preservare la specie da una nuova estinzione, devono essere programmati interventi di sostentamento con rilascio di animali di altra provenienza. Al fine di utilizzare pernici nate in allevamento è quindi indispensabile effettuare una ricerca per valutare la capacità di integrazione, la sopravvivenza, l’uso dell’habitat e gli home-range di tali animali liberati in aree occupate da neopopolazioni selvatiche. All’interno di una Zona di Ripopolamento e Cattura (Petroio-Vinci-Firenze) dove è presente una popolazione stimata di 60 pernici selvatiche sono state immesse 350 pernici allevate nel mese di agosto. In gennaio sono state quindi catturate 6 pernici allevate e 21 pernici selvatiche. 6 soggetti per tesi (allevate o selvatiche) sono stati quindi radiocollarati e localizzati bisettimanalmente fino a luglio 2006. La mortalità osservata degli animali radiocollarati è risultata identica (50% =3 soggetti per ciascuna tesi) fra i soggetti selvatici ed i pochi soggetti allevati ricatturati che avevano superato l’inverno (mortalità stimata post-rilascio = 95,1%). I soggetti allevati sopravvissuti all’inverno sono stati in grado di integrarsi in brigate miste con quelli selvatici ed anche gli animali allevati sono stati in grado di riprodursi: delle 3 nidiate osservate, 1 apparteneva alla tesi selvatiche e 2 a quella allevate. L’habitat più frequentato dalle pernici è risultato il vigneto non lavorato, mentre l’aumento significativo della distanza dai punti di alimentazione artificiale sussidiari durante la cova ha fornito l’indicazione gestionale di aumentare e disperdere maggiormente le mangiatoie in primavera per compensare la dispersione delle coppie legata alla territorialità naturale. La distanza dalle abitazioni e gli home-range non sono risultati infine differire fra pernici selvatiche e allevate. SUMMARY In Italy several small populations of red-legged partridges (Alectoris rufa L.) has been reconstituted in areas where the species was extinguished. In these areas release of different animals must be programmed, since the dimension of the reconstituted populations does not catch up the minimal dimension required to guard the species from a new extinction. We have thought therefore indispensable to carry out a research in order to estimate the integration ability of the released raised-partridges with the wild population, the survival rates, the use of the habitat and the home-ranges of both populations. In a protected area of Central Italy (Petroio-Vinci-Florence), where an estimated population of 60 wild partridges is estimated, 350 raised partridges were released during the August month. In January 6 raised partridges and 21 wild partridges has been captured by traps. 6 subjects for each thesis (raised or wild) have been therefore equipped with radio necklaces and localised biweekly until July 2006. No difference in mortality rates (50% = 3 birds each) was observed between wild or raised partridges that had survived to the winter (estimated mortality after release = 95.1%). Raised partridges, that survive after their release in the wild, were able to integrate themselves in mixed brigades with the wild partridges. Also the raised partridges were able to breed (of the 3 observed broods of the radiotagged birds 2 belonged to the raised and 1 to the wild). Vineyards with interlined grass were the habitat most frequented (more than 25% of the localizations). The distance from the subsidiary artificial feeding points significantly increased during broods showing the necessity to increase the number and dispersion of the supplementary feeders in spring, to help the animals from an alimentary point of view. The distance from the houses and home ranges surfaces did not differ between wild and raised partridges