Democracy and Human Development in Former Socialist countries

Over the decades, many scholars have tried to study the relationship between democracy and human development, even though the results are not unique. According to this context, and considering the political changes occurred in the early ‘90s in the former socialist countries, the aim of this paper is to evaluate – empirically - whether and to what extent, the level of democracy affected the level of HD in these countries. Using data on Polity II and HDI, we find evidence of a positive relationship between democracy and HD. The results are robust also when we checked for a set of control variables as growth rate, unemployment, the degree of openness trade and log population. Moreover, descriptive statistics shows that the impact of democracy on HD was higher effects on HD in the first fifteen years of democracy, after that, as these countries became consolidated democracies, this effect was less evident

Money and conflicting claims theories of inflation

O obxectivo deste traballo consiste en demostrar que, contrariamente ó que se argumenta con frecuencia, existen modelos de inflación baseados no conflicto que consideran explicitamente aspectos monetarios. Para iso preséntanse diversos tipos de modelos nos que a oferta monetaria se considera altemativamente como esóxena e endóxenaThis papar attempts lo show that, contrary lo what it is often claimed, there are inflation models based on conflict which explicilly consider monetary aspects. In arder to do this, several kinds of models are presentad where monetary supply is considerad either exogenous or endogenousS

Weekly versus three weeks chemotherapy for advanced ovarian cancer. A meta-analysis

Aim: Three weeks paclitaxel and carboplatin has been considered the standard of care for primary treatment of ovarian cancer (OC). Whether weekly therapy will further improve the clinical outcomes or not is still unclear. We conducted a meta-analysis to compare the two regimens. Method: Articles were selected with a systematic approach, using PubMed databases. Trials concerning comparison between carboplatin plus weekly paclitaxel (dose-dense regimen) and carboplatin plus paclitaxel every 3 weeks were considered. Outcomes included overall survival (OS), progression free survival (PFS) and severe acute toxicity. Results: Dose-dense regimen was associated with significant improvement of PFS compared with standard schedule, with HR of 0.73 (95% CI 0.61-0.88, p = 0.001). There was no difference in OS between treatment regimens (HR 0.95, 95% CI 0.77-1.16, p=0.06), as well as in term of severe acute toxicity. Conclusion: Dose-dense regimen is superior to standard schedule in terms of PFS. Further studies are necessary to firmly confirm this evidence in advanced OC treatment

L’Impresa Sociale in Italia Identità, ruoli e resilienza

Questo IV rapporto sull'impresa sociale in Italia descrive il ruolo e le dimensioni del fenomeno, riporta esperienze significative e di resilienza di fronte alle difficoltà della pandemia. In esso si mette in risalto i modi innovativi attraverso i quali queste imprese sono riuscite ad attraversare la difficile stagione 2020-2021 dimostrando di essere un pilastro fondamentale della ricostruzione economica e sociale del paese

Dwarf spheroidal satellites of M31: I. Variable stars and stellar populations in Andromeda XIX

We present B,V time-series photometry of Andromeda XIX (And XIX), the most extended (half-light radius of 6.2') of Andromeda's dwarf spheroidal companions, that we observed with the Large Binocular Cameras at the Large Binocular Telescope. We surveyed a 23'x 23' area centered on And XIX and present the deepest color magnitude diagram (CMD) ever obtained for this galaxy, reaching, at V~26.3 mag, about one magnitude below the horizontal branch (HB). The CMD shows a prominent and slightly widened red giant branch, along with a predominantly red HB, which, however, extends to the blue to significantly populate the classical instability strip. We have identified 39 pulsating variable stars, of which 31 are of RR Lyrae type and 8 are Anomalous Cepheids (ACs). Twelve of the RR Lyrae variables and 3 of the ACs are located within And XIX's half light radius. The average period of the fundamental mode RR Lyrae stars ( = 0.62 d, \sigma= 0.03 d) and the period-amplitude diagram qualify And XIX as an Oosterhoff-Intermediate system. From the average luminosity of the RR Lyrae stars ( = 25.34 mag, \sigma= 0.10 mag) we determine a distance modulus of (m-M)$_0$=$24.52\pm0.23$ mag in a scale where the distance to the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) is $18.5\pm0.1$ mag. The ACs follow a well defined Period-Wesenheit (PW) relation that appears to be in very good agreement with the PW relationship defined by the ACs in the LMC.Comment: accepted for publication in Ap

Does democracy improve human development? Evidence from former socialist countries

Between the end of the 80s and the beginning of the 90s, the changes in the political regimes in the Eastern European countries have enabled millions of people to have access to new political, economic and civil liberties. According to several economists, political and social sciences, the transition from a dictatorship to a democratic political regime has positive effects on Human Development (HD). However, recent studies do not provide strong empirical evidence in favour of this hypothesis. Therefore, the debate about the relationship between democracy and HD is still open. Considering the case of former Socialist countries, the aim of this paper is to empirically analyse whether and to what extent democracy affected the level of HD in these countries during the transition period. Using data on Polity IV and Human development index for 18 former Socialist countries from 1990 to 2014, we find evidence of a positive relationship between democracy and HD. Also, the results were robust when we checked for a set of control variables as growth rate, the degree of trade openness and log population

Computed tomography findings of pneumatosis and portomesenteric venous gas in acute bowel ischemia.

BACKGROUND: To use more representative sample size to evaluate whether computed tomography (CT) scan evidence of the concomitant presence of pneumatosis and portomesenteric venous gas is a predictor of transmural bowel necrosis. METHODS: Data from 208 patients who were referred for a diagnosis of bowel ischemia were retrospectively reviewed. Only patients who underwent a surgical intervention following a diagnosis of bowel ischemia who also had a post-operative histological confirmation of such a diagnosis were included. Patients were split into two groups according to the presence of histological evidence of transmural bowel ischemia (case group) or partial bowel ischemia (control group). CT images were reviewed for findings of ischemia, including mural thickening, pneumatosis, bowel distension, portomesenteric venous gas and arterial or venous thrombi. RESULTS: A total of 248 subjects who underwent surgery for bowel ischemia were identified. Among the 208 subjects enrolled in our study, transmural bowel necrosis was identified in 121 subjects (case group), and partial bowel necrosis was identified in 87 subjects (control group). Based on CT findings, including mural thickening, bowel distension, pneumatosis, pneumatosis plus portomesenteric venous gas and presence of thrombi or emboli, there were no significant differences between the case and control groups. The concomitant presence of pneumatosis and porto-mesenteric venous gas showed an odds ratio of 1.95 (95%CI: 0.491-7.775, P = 0.342) for the presence of transmural necrosis. The presence of pneumatosis plus porto-mesenteric venous gas exhibited good specificity (83%) but low sensitivity (17%) in the identification of transmural bowel infarction. Accordingly, the positive and negative predictive values were 60% and 17%, respectively. CONCLUSION: Although pneumatosis plus porto-mesenteric venous gas is associated with bowel ischemia, we have demonstrated that their co-occurrence cannot be used as diagnostic signs of transmural necrosis

Haemostatic and fibrinolytic changes in obese subjects undergoing bariatric surgery: the effect of different surgical procedures.

Background Little is known about effects of different bariatric surgery procedures on haemostatic and fibrinolytic parameters. Material and methods Consecutive obese subjects undergoing gastric bypass (GBP) or sleeve gastrectomy (SG) were enrolled. In all patients, levels of haemostatic factors (FII, FVII, FVIII, FIX, FX, vWF, fibrinogen), fibrinolytic variables (PAI-1, t-PA and D-dimer) and natural anticoagulants (AT, protein C and protein S) were evaluated before and 2 months after surgery. Results A total of 77 GBP and 79 SG subjects completed the study. At baseline no difference in coagulation parameters was found between the two groups. After both GBP and SG, subjects showed significant changes in haemostatic and fibrinolytic variables and in natural anticoagulant levels. The Δ% changes in FVII, FVIII, FIX, vWF, fibrinogen, D-dimer, protein C and protein S levels were significantly higher in subjects who underwent GBP than in those who underwent SG. Multivariate analysis confirmed that GBP was a predictor of higher Δ% changes in FVII (β=0.268, p=0.010), protein C (β=0.274, p=0.003) and protein S (β=0.297, p<0.001), but not in all the other variables. Following coagulation factor reduction, 31 subjects (25.9% of GBP and 13.9% of SG; p=0.044) showed overt FVII deficiency; protein C deficiency was reported by 34 subjects (32.5% of GBP vs 11.4% of SG, p=0.033) and protein S deficiency by 39 (37.6% of GBP vs 12.6% of SG, p=0.009). Multivariate analyses showed that GBP was associated with an increased risk of deficiency of FVII (OR: 3.64; 95% CI: 1.73–7.64, p=0.001), protein C (OR: 4.319; 95% CI: 1.33–13.9, p=0.015) and protein S (OR: 5.50; 95% CI: 1.71–17.7, p=0.004). Discussion GBP is associated with an increased risk of post-operative deficiency in some vitamin K-dependent coagulation factors. Whereas such deficiency is too weak to cause bleeding, it is significant enough to increase the risk of thrombosis

PARP inhibition: a promising therapeutic target in ovarian cancer

Ovarian cancer is burdened by the highest mortality rate among gynecological cancers. Gold standard is represented by the association of platinum-taxane -based chemotherapy and radical surgery. Despite several adjustments occurred in cytotoxic drug in last decades, most patients continue to relapse, and no significant enhancement has been reached in the overall survival. The development of drug resistance and the recurrence of disease have prompted the investigations of other targets that can be used in the treatment of ovarian cancers. Among such targets, polyadenosine diphosphate-ribose polymerase (PARP) represents a novel way to target specific patways involved in tumor growth. PARP accelerates the reaction of the polyADP-ribosylation of proteins implicated in DNA repair. PARP inhibitors have shown activity in cancers with BRCA mutations, with other deficient DNA repair genes or signaling pathways that modulate DNA repair, or in association with DNA damaging agents not involved in DNA repair dysfunction. A number of inhibitors for PARP has been developed, and such drugs are under investigation in clinical trials to identify their impact in the treatment of ovarian cancers. This review aims to summarize the recent researches and clinical progress on PARP inhibitors as novel target agents in ovarian cancer