BASEL III: Long-term impact on economic performance and fluctuations

We assess the long-term economic impact of the new regulatory standards (the Basel III reform), answering the following questions. (1) What is the impact of the reform on long-term economic performance? (2) What is the impact of the reform on economic fluctuations? (3) What is the impact of the adoption of countercyclical capital buffers on economic fluctuations? The main results are the following. (1) Each percentage point increase in the capital ratio causes a median 0.09 percent decline in the level of steady state output, relative to the baseline. The impact of the new liquidity regulation is of a similar order of magnitude, at 0.08 percent. This paper does not estimate the benefits of the new regulation in terms of reduced frequency and severity of financial crisis, analysed in Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS, 2010b). (2) The reform should dampen output volatility; the magnitude of the effect is heterogeneous across models; the median effect is modest. (3) The adoption of countercyclical capital buffers could have a more sizeable dampening effect on output volatility. These conclusions are fully consistent with those of the reports by the Long-term Economic Impact group (BCBS, 2010b) and Macro Assessment Group (MAG, 2010b).Basel III, countercyclical capital buffers, financial (in)stability, procyclicality, macroprudential policy.

MosChito rafts as effective and eco-friendly tool for the delivery of a Bacillus thuringiensis-based insecticide to Aedes albopictus larvae

Adult mosquito females, through their bites, are responsible for the transmission of different zoonotic pathogens. Although adult control represents a pillar for the prevention of disease spread, larval control is also crucial. Herein we characterized the effectiveness of a suitable tool, named "MosChito raft", for the aquatic delivery of a Bacillus thuringiensis var. israelensis (Bti) formulate, a bioinsecticide active by ingestion against mosquito larvae. MosChito raft is a floating tool composed by chitosan cross-linked with genipin in which a Bti-based formulate and an attractant have been included. MosChito rafts (i) resulted attractive for the larvae of the Asian tiger mosquito Aedes albopictus, (ii) induced larval mortality within a few hours of exposure and, more importantly, (iii) protected the Bti-based formulate, whose insecticidal activity was maintained for more than one month in comparison to the few days residual activity of the commercial product. The delivery method was effective in both laboratory and semi-field conditions, demonstrating that MosChito rafts may represent an original, eco-based and user-friendly solution for larval control in domestic and peri-domestic aquatic habitats such as saucers and artificial containers in residential or urban environments

Development of a molecular technique for microsatellite instability for use in colon cancer

El Cáncer Colorrectal (CCR) es la segun-da causa de muerte por cáncer en Argentina, con más de 11.000 nuevos casos por año. Entre el 3 y el 8% de los casos son producidos por mutaciones heredables. El síndrome más común es el Síndrome de Lynch o Cán-cer Colorrectal Hereditario no Polipósico (CCHNP). Los pacientes afectados tienen un riesgo superior al 80% de desarrollar cáncer de colon y en mujeres, el riesgo de cáncer de endometrio es de 60%. También se encuentra incrementado el riesgo de padecer cáncer de estómago, ovario, intestino delgado, vías biliares y riñón. La patogé-nesis del CCHNP se relaciona con fallas en el sistema de reparación del ADN que lleva a la acumulación de muta-ciones de nucleótido único y cambios en la longitud de secuencias repetitivas, fenómeno conocido como Inesta-bilidad de Microsatélites (MSI). Alta Inestabilidad de mi-crosatélites (MSI-High) se presenta en más del 85% de casos de CCHNP. Además, puede detectarse en el 10-15% de los casos de CCR no asociados a CCHNP debido a metilación de los genes de las enzimas de reparación del ADN. Los tumores colorrectales con MSI tienen carac-terísticas histológicas definidas, mejor pronóstico que los tumores sin MSI y diferente respuesta a la quimioterapia. El descubrimiento de MSI en CCR ha incrementado el co-nocimiento de la diversidad de los CCR y colabora en el diagnóstico, tratamiento y asesoramiento genético. Objetivo: diseñar una técnica molecular para el análisis de MSI de bajo costo y adecuar los algoritmos para me-jorar el diagnóstico de Síndrome de Lynch en la región

Gold nanocages for imaging and therapy of prostate cancer cells

Gold nanocages (AuNCs) have been shown to be a useful tool both for imaging and hyperthermia therapy of cancer, thanks to their outstanding optical properties, low toxicity and facile functionalization with targeting molecules, including peptides and antibodies. In particular, hyperthermia is a minimally invasive therapy which takes advantage of the peculiar properties of gold nanoparticles to efficiently convert the absorbed light into heat. Here, we use AuNCs for the selective targeting and imaging of prostate cancer cells. Moreover, we report the hyperthermic effect characterization of the AuNCs both in solution and internalized in cells. Prostate cancer cells were irradiated at different exposure times, with a pulsed near infrared laser, and the cellular viability was evaluated by confocal microscopy

A global analysis of Y-chromosomal haplotype diversity for 23 STR loci

In a worldwide collaborative effort, 19,630 Y-chromosomes were sampled from 129 different populations in 51 countries. These chromosomes were typed for 23 short-tandem repeat (STR) loci (DYS19, DYS389I, DYS389II, DYS390, DYS391, DYS392, DYS393, DYS385ab, DYS437, DYS438, DYS439, DYS448, DYS456, DYS458, DYS635, GATAH4, DYS481, DYS533, DYS549, DYS570, DYS576, and DYS643) and using the PowerPlex Y23 System (PPY23, Promega Corporation, Madison, WI). Locus-specific allelic spectra of these markers were determined and a consistently high level of allelic diversity was observed. A considerable number of null, duplicate and off-ladder alleles were revealed. Standard single-locus and haplotype-based parameters were calculated and compared between subsets of Y-STR markers established for forensic casework. The PPY23 marker set provides substantially stronger discriminatory power than other available kits but at the same time reveals the same general patterns of population structure as other marker sets. A strong correlation was observed between the number of Y-STRs included in a marker set and some of the forensic parameters under study. Interestingly a weak but consistent trend toward smaller genetic distances resulting from larger numbers of markers became apparent.Peer reviewe