The perverse effects of hiring credits as a place-based policy: Evidence from Southern Italy

This paper evaluates the wage effects of a tax credit policy on new hirings in Southern Italy. We use high-quality administrative data and propose a latent class inverse probability weighting method as a strategy to account for workers' unobserved heterogeneity. We find an unexpected negative effect of the tax cut on the wages of treated workers, which is more marked for women. Our results also provide new insights on the job-segregation dimension of the gender gap. We provide a theoretical model with worker and firm fixed effects to analyse the impact of employer tax cuts as a place-based policy in lagging regions

New Roll‐to‐Roll Processable PEDOT‐Based Polymer with Colorless Bleached State for Flexible Electrochromic Devices

Conjugated electrochromic (EC) polymers for flexible EC devices (ECDs) generally lack a fully colorless bleached state. A strategy to overcome this drawback is the implementation of a new sidechain-modified poly(3,4-ethylene dioxythiophene) derivative that can be deposited in thin-film form in a customized high-throughput and large-area roll-to-roll polymerization process. The sidechain modification provides enhanced EC properties in terms of visible light transmittance change, Δτv = 59% (ΔL* = 54.1), contrast ratio (CR = 15.8), coloration efficiency (η = 530 cm² C−1), and color neutrality (L* = 83.8, a* = −4.3, b* = −4.1) in the bleached state. The intense blue-colored polymer thin films exhibit high cycle stability (10 000 cycles) and fast response times. The design, synthesis, and polymerization of the modified 3,4-ethylene dioxythiophene derivative are discussed along with a detailed optical, electrochemical, and spectroelectrochemical characterization of the resulting EC thin films. Finally, a flexible see-through ECD with a visible light transmittance change of Δτv = 47% (ΔL* = 51.9) and a neutral-colored bleached state is developed

L-Proline Induces a Mesenchymal-like Invasive Program in Embryonic Stem Cells by Remodeling H3K9 and H3K36 Methylation

SummaryMetabolites are emerging as key mediators of crosstalk between metabolic flux, cellular signaling, and epigenetic regulation of cell fate. We found that the nonessential amino acid L-proline (L-Pro) acts as a signaling molecule that promotes the conversion of embryonic stem cells into mesenchymal-like, spindle-shaped, highly motile, invasive pluripotent stem cells. This embryonic-stem-cell-to-mesenchymal-like transition (esMT) is accompanied by a genome-wide remodeling of the H3K9 and H3K36 methylation status. Consistently, L-Pro-induced esMT is fully reversible either after L-Pro withdrawal or by addition of ascorbic acid (vitamin C), which in turn reduces H3K9 and H3K36 methylation, promoting a mesenchymal-like-to-embryonic-stem-cell transition (MesT). These findings suggest that L-Pro, which is produced by proteolytic remodeling of the extracellular matrix, may act as a microenvironmental cue to control stem cell behavior

Evaluation of Fermi Read-out of the ATLAS Tilecal Prototype

Prototypes of the \fermi{} system have been used to read out a prototype of the \atlas{} hadron calorimeter in a beam test at the CERN SPS. The \fermi{} read-out system, using a compressor and a 40 MHz sampling ADC, is compared to a standard charge integrating read-out by measuring the energy resolution of the calorimeter separately with the two systems on the same events. Signal processing techniques have been designed to optimize the treatment of \fermi{} data. The resulting energy resolution is better than the one obtained with the standard read-out

The perverse effects of hiring credits as a place-based policy: Evidence from Southern Italy

This paper evaluates the wage effects of a tax credit policy on new hirings in Southern Italy. We use high-quality administrative data and propose a latent class inverse probability weighting method as a strategy to account for workers' unobserved heterogeneity. We find an unexpected negative effect of the tax cut on the wages of treated workers, which is more marked for women. Our results also provide new insights on the job-segregation dimension of the gender gap. We provide a theoretical model with worker and firm fixed effects to analyse the impact of employer tax cuts as a place-based policy in lagging regions

Feasibility and Clinical Roles of Different Substaging Systems at First and Second Transurethral Resection in Patients with T1 High-Grade Bladder Cancer

BACKGROUND: Decision making in T1 high-grade bladder cancer patients remains a challenging issue in urologic practice. OBJECTIVE: To assess the feasibility and potential prognostic role of three different substaging systems in specimens from both primary and second transurethral resection (TUR) of the bladder in T1 high-grade bladder cancer patients. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: A total of 250 consecutive, confirmed pure transitional T1 high-grade bladder tumors submitted to second TUR entered the retrospective study. OUTCOME MEASUREMENTS AND STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: Feasibility of two already clinically tested microstaging systems (anatomy-based T1a/T1b/T1c and micrometric T1m/T1e with 0.5-mm thresholds of invasion) and that of a micrometric substage designed by the authors and based on a 1-mm threshold of invasion (Rete Oncologica Lombarda [ROL] system) was assessed by five independent uropathologists on both first and second TUR specimens. Univariable Cox proportional hazards models were attempted to identify significant independent predictors of recurrence and progression after TUR. Kaplan-Meier curves were plotted to compare different substaging methods analyzing recurrence and progression. Results and limitations: The ROL system proved to be feasible in nearly all cases at both first and second TUR. Median follow-up was 60 mo. The univariate Cox regression analysis documented the ROL substage (ROL2 vs ROL1) to be the only statistically significant predictor of progression (hazard ratio: 2.01; 95% CI, 1.03-3.79; p<0.03). For the first time to our knowledge, the substage was investigated and used to assess T1 tumors found at second TUR, registering a high rate of feasibility. Conclusions: T1 microstaging using different procedures is feasible on both primary- and second-TUR specimens. A high rate of feasibility may be expected for T1m/T1e and ROL systems. The clinical role of microstaging on second TUR remains to be defined. Patient summary: The Rete Oncologica Lombarda system showed feasible results in T1 high-grade bladder tumors. Our substratification was predictive of progression of disease

High serum ferritin levels in newly diagnosed patients with myelodysplastic syndromes are associated with greater symptom severity

We examined the association between serum ferritin (SF) levels and patient-reported functional aspects and symptoms, as measured by the EORTC QLQ-C30, in newly diagnosed patients with myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS). Analysis was conducted on 497 MDS patients who were classified in two groups based on the SF value of 1000 ng/mL. Clinically relevant differences of patient-reported functional and symptom scales were evaluated and classified as small, medium and large, based on established thresholds. Multivariable linear regression analysis was performed to account for potential confounding factors. Patients with SF of ≥ 1000 ng/mL reported statistically significant and clinically relevant worse outcomes across various health domains. Dyspnea was the symptom indicating the largest difference and mean scores of patients with higher and lower SF levels were 40 and 24.3, respectively (p = 0.005), indicating a large clinically relevant difference (Δ = 15.7). Further research is needed to better understand the relationship between SF levels and specific health-related quality of life domains