61 research outputs found
IAS/IFRS mandatory adoption and cross-border M&A
This study investigates the effect of the mandatory implementation of IAS/IFRS on
cross-border M&A activity. I test the hypothesis that the improvement in the
comparability of financial statements among the adopting countries facilitates crossborder
transactions. According to the expectations, I find support for enhanced crossborder
M&As following the mandatory adoption of IFRS due to a likely increase in the
comparability of financial reports. Additionally, listed targets from IFRS adopting
countries do experience stronger positive influence on foreign M&A transactions than
unlisted target from adopting countries and listed targets from IFRS non-adopting
countries
Consistency of holonomy-corrected scalar, vector and tensor perturbations in Loop Quantum Cosmology
Loop Quantum Cosmology yields two kinds of quantum corrections to the
effective equations of motion for cosmological perturbations. Here we focus on
the holonomy kind and we study the problem of the closure of the resulting
algebra of constraints. Up to now, tensor, vector and scalar perturbations were
studied independently, leading to different algebras of constraints. The
structures of the related algebras were imposed by the requirement of anomaly
freedom. In this article we show that the algebra can be modified by a very
simple quantum correction, holding for all types of perturbations. This
demonstrates the consistency of the theory and shows that lessons from the
study of scalar perturbations should be taken into account when studying tensor
modes. The Mukhanov-Sasaki equations of motion are similarly modified by a
simple term.Comment: 5 page
Male Bilateral Risk-Reducing Mastectomy: Report of a Case
Male prophylactic mastectomy is described only in sporadic cases and always performed in men with BRCA mutation with a contralateral breast cancer diagnosis. This case may suggest that we need to tailor counseling and decision‐making process for males carrying BRCA mutation and take into consideration risk‐reduction surgery when wished and strongly motivated by the consultant or in the presence of multiple risk factors in addition to gene mutation
Phenotypic and functional characterisation of CCR7(+ )and CCR7(- )CD4(+ )memory T cells homing to the joints in juvenile idiopathic arthritis
The aim of the study was to characterise CCR7(+ )and CCR7(- )memory T cells infiltrating the inflamed joints of patients with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) and to investigate the functional and anatomical heterogeneity of these cell subsets in relation to the expression of the inflammatory chemokine receptors CXCR3 and CCR5. Memory T cells freshly isolated from the peripheral blood and synovial fluid (SF) of 25 patients with JIA were tested for the expression of CCR7, CCR5, CXCR3 and interferon-γ by flow cytometry. The chemotactic activity of CD4 SF memory T cells from eight patients with JIA to inflammatory (CXCL11 and CCL3) and homeostatic (CCL19, CCL21) chemokines was also evaluated. Paired serum and SF samples from 28 patients with JIA were tested for CCL21 concentrations. CCR7, CXCR3, CCR5 and CCL21 expression in synovial tissue from six patients with JIA was investigated by immunohistochemistry. Enrichment of CD4(+), CCR7(- )memory T cells was demonstrated in SF in comparison with paired blood from patients with JIA. SF CD4(+)CCR7(- )memory T cells were enriched for CCR5(+ )and interferon-γ(+ )cells, whereas CD4(+)CCR7(+ )memory T cells showed higher coexpression of CXCR3. Expression of CCL21 was detected in both SF and synovial membranes. SF CD4(+ )memory T cells displayed significant migration to both inflammatory and homeostatic chemokines. CCR7(+ )T cells were detected in the synovial tissue in either diffuse perivascular lymphocytic infiltrates or organised lymphoid aggregates. In synovial tissue, a large fraction of CCR7(+ )cells co-localised with CXCR3, especially inside lymphoid aggregates, whereas CCR5(+ )cells were enriched in the sublining of the superficial subintima. In conclusion, CCR7 may have a role in the synovial recruitment of memory T cells in JIA, irrespective of the pattern of lymphoid organisation. Moreover, discrete patterns of chemokine receptor expression are detected in the synovial tissue
Axillary Ectopic Carcinoma of the Breast. Report of Two Cases with Different Clinical Presentation and Review of the Literature.
Aims: Primary ectopic breast cancer (PEBC) is a rare and often misdiagnosed condition. Through the discussion of two clinical
cases, we want to focus on clinical presentation, outcomes and treatment of PEBC, to lead clinicians to awareness and optimal
management.
Methods: We present the case of a 47-year-old patient, with a 30 mm axillary mass, that was diagnosed as a PEBC (infiltrating
lobular carcinoma, triple negative). The patient underwent systemic staging: diffuse metastatic bone lesions and leptomeningeal
metastasis were found.
The second patient is a 73-year-old woman with personal history of right breast tumor. She came to our attention for a 9 mm left
axillary mass, suspicious for a metastatic lymph node. A fine-needle cytology revealed the absence of lymphoid cells but the presence of atypical epithelial cells, as in a primary breast carcinoma. She was treated with local excision and sentinel node biopsy.
Results: The first patient presented with metastatic disease at the time of diagnosis and she deceased after three months from the
diagnosis, despite systemic chemotherapy. The diagnosis was performed at an early stage in the second patient. She underwent
surgery, complementary endocrine therapy and radiotherapy. She has no evident disease after two years from surgery.
Conclusion: Primary ectopic breast cancer is a rare clinical entity, often misdiagnosed or diagnosed with a long delay. The treatment of PEBC is analogous to that of orthotopic breast cancer, but we strongly recommend to approach the patient with a multidisciplinary team to provide the best staging workout and therapie
Escherichia coli Is Overtaking Group B Streptococcus in Early-Onset Neonatal Sepsis
The widespread use of intrapartum antibiotic prophylaxis (IAP) to prevent group B streptococcus (GBS) early-onset sepsis (EOS) is changing the epidemiology of EOS. Italian prospective area-based surveillance data (from 1 January 2016 to 31 December 2020) were used, from which we identified 64 cases of culture-proven EOS (E. coli, n = 39; GBS, n = 25) among 159,898 live births (annual incidence rates of 0.24 and 0.16 per 1000, respectively). Approximately 10% of E. coli isolates were resistant to both gentamicin and ampicillin. Five neonates died; among them, four were born very pre-term (E. coli, n = 3; GBS, n = 1) and one was born full-term (E. coli, n = 1). After adjustment for gestational age, IAP-exposed neonates had ≥95% lower risk of death, as compared to IAP-unexposed neonates, both in the whole cohort (OR 0.04, 95% CI 0.00-0.70; p = 0.03) and in the E. coli EOS cohort (OR 0.05, 95% CI 0.00-0.88; p = 0.04). In multi-variable logistic regression analysis, IAP was inversely associated with severe disease (OR = 0.12, 95% CI 0.02-0.76; p = 0.03). E. coli is now the leading pathogen in neonatal EOS, and its incidence is close to that of GBS in full-term neonates. IAP reduces the risk of severe disease and death. Importantly, approximately 10% of E. coli isolates causing EOS were found to be resistant to typical first-line antibiotics
Data-driven clustering of combined Functional Motor Disorders based on the Italian registry
Functional Motor Disorders (FMDs) represent nosological entities with no clear phenotypic characterization, especially in patients with multiple (combined FMDs) motor manifestations. A data-driven approach using cluster analysis of clinical data has been proposed as an analytic method to obtain non-hierarchical unbiased classifications. The study aimed to identify clinical subtypes of combined FMDs using a data-driven approach to overcome possible limits related to "a priori" classifications and clinical overlapping
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