Rational Addiction, Cointegration and Tobacco and Alcohol Demand

In this paper we embed the Almost Ideal Demand System within a dynamic disequilibrium model, and derive a set of interrelated Euler equations which characterizes optimal consumption allocations under adjustment costs. It is argued that when applied to alcohol and tobacco expenditure, the proposed specification features the rational addiction hypothesis, as both forward-looking rational behaviour and habit formation are explicitly accounted for. The suggested estimation approach controls for potential nonstationarity in the underlying time-series. Results relative to UK tobacco and alcohol demand support the adopted specifications and highlight the degree of complementarity between addictive goods.Cointegration, Forward-looking behaviour, Rational Addiction, VAR model Cointegrazione, Comportamento forward-looking, Dipendenza Razionale, Modelli VAR

Rational Addiction, Cointegration and Tobacco and Alcohol Demand

In this paper we embed the Almost Ideal Demand System within a dynamic disequilibrium model, and derive a set of interrelated Euler equations which characterizes optimal consumption allocations under adjustment costs. It is argued that when applied to alcohol and tobacco expenditure, the proposed specification features the rational addiction hypothesis, as both forward-looking rational behaviour and habit formation are explicitly accounted for. The suggested estimation approach controls for potential nonstationarity in the underlying time-series. Results relative to UK tobacco and alcohol demand support the adopted specifications and highlight the degree of complementarity between addictive goods

La creazione di riserve idriche tramite sbarramenti: implicazioni ambientali e finanziarie

[ES] Los autores exponen algunas consideraciones sobre las necesidades de agua por diferentes usos posibles, los problemas ambientales y los problemas financieros y sociológicos asociados a la construcción de grandes presas. Se enfatiza la necesidad de planificar las grandes presas desde la óptica de la gestión integrada territorial de necesidades y recursos. Se defiende la realización de grandes presas debido, por un lado, a la irregularidad del ciclo hidrológico y por el otro, por el incremento de la demanda. Se citan en el texto algunos ejemplos de gestión ambiental apropiada.Fanelli, M.; Fanelli, M.; Niccolai, C. (2000). La creazione di riserve idriche tramite sbarramenti: implicazioni ambientali e finanziarie. Ingeniería del Agua. 7(4):375-390. https://doi.org/10.4995/ia.2000.2853SWORD37539074Buston, John. Alternative financing techniques for energy projects balancing risk and reward. OPET Central UnitR.A.Brealey, S.C.Myers, Principi di finanza aziendale -McGraw-HillThayer Scudder. Social Impacts of Large Dam Projects - In: Large Dams, learning from the past, looking at the future-Workshop proceedings (Gland, Switzerland, April 1997) Goldsmith & Hildyard - The Social and Environmental Effects of Large Dams -Sierra Club BooksFanelli, Michele - Estimaciòn del grado de seguridad en las presas: pràctica y crìtica. Ingeniería del agua, Vol. 4, N° 2, Junio 1997ICOLD - "Position Paper", web-site http:/www.icold-cigb.orgWORLD COMMISSION ON WATER - Draft Report, 1999 (visible on the Internet at http://www.icold-cigb.org./)Bonnin, Jacques: "L'eau dans l'antiquité", ed. Eyrolles, Paris, 1984Fanelli M., Fanelli, M., C. Niccolai: Paper R 15, Q 72, XIX° Congresso ICOLD, Firenze, Maggio 1997L'Acquedotto della Romagna - Consorzio Acque per le Province di Forlì e Ravenna - Ed. Morandi, 1991Fanelli Michele - General Report on Q. 68 (Safety Assessment and Improvement of Existing Dams), ICOLD XVIIIth Congress on Large Dams, Durban, 1994Colombo, Umberto e Lanzavecchia, Giuseppe, Ecologia: sviluppo sostenibile, Saggio monografico in "Enciclopedia del Novecento", vol. X, Istituto Treccani, 1998Niccolai, Carlo, Dalla città necessaria alla città sostenibile? Appunti per qualche ragionamento conclusivo, in "Il tempo della qualità", Gr.Ed. Faenza Editrice, 1999Niccolai, Carlo, Gli affidamenti, le speranze e anche le sublimi ambiguità di una città "necessaria', in "La città necessaria", Fi Gr.Ed. Faenza Editrice, 1998Niccolai, Carlo, Il progresso tecnologico: un interlocutore obbligato nel dialogo essenziale e difficile fra acqua e città, in "Continuità, sperimentazione, innovazione", Gr.Ed. Faenza Editrice, 199

Risk Factors for Immediate and Delayed-Onset Fever After Percutaneous Transhepatic Biliary Drainage

Objectives To prospectively investigate the pre and intraprocedural risk factors for immediate (IF) and delayedonset (DOF) fever development after percutaneous transhepatic biliary drainage (PTBD). Methods Institutional review board approval and informed patient consent were obtained. Between February 2013 and February 2014, 97 afebrile patients (77 at the Sapienza University of Rome, Italy and 20 at the Sun Yatsen University of Guangzhou, China) with benign (n = 31) and malignant (n = 66) indications for a first PTBD were prospectively enrolled. Thirty pre- and intra-procedural clinical/radiological characteristics, including the amount of contrast media injected prior to PTBD placement, were collected in relation to the development of IF (within 24 h) or DOF (after 24 h). Fever was defined as C37.5 C. Binary logistic regression analysis was used to assess independent associations with IF and DOF. Results Fourteen (14.4 %) patients developed IF and 17 (17.5 %) developed DOF. At multivariable analysis, IF was associated with pre-procedural absence of intrahepatic bile duct dilatation (OR 63.359; 95 % CI 2.658–1510.055; P = 0.010) and low INR (OR 4.7 9 10-4 ; 95 % CI 0.000–0.376; P = 0.025), while DOF was associated with unsatisfactory biliary drainage at the end of PTBD (OR 4.571; 95 % CI 1.161–17.992; P = 0.030)

Percutaneous Treatment of Malignant Jaundice Due to Extrahepatic Cholangiocarcinoma: Covered Viabil Stent Versus Uncovered Wallstents

To compare clinical effectiveness of Viabil-covered stents versus uncovered metallic Wallstents, for palliation of malignant jaundice due to extrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma, 60 patients were enrolled in a prospective and randomized study. In half of the patients a bare Wallstent was used, and in the other half a Viabil biliary stent. Patients were followed up until death. Primary patency, survival, complication rates, and mean cost were calculated in both groups. Stent dysfunction occurred in 9 (30%) patients in the bare stent group after a mean period of 133.1 days and in 4 (13.3%) patients in the covered stent group after a mean of 179.5 days. The incidence of stent dysfunction was significantly lower in the covered stent group (P = 0.046). Tumor ingrowth occurred exclusively in the bare stent group (P = 0.007). Median survival was 180.5 days for the Wallstent and 243.5 days for the Viabil group (P = 0.039). Complications and mean cost were similar in the two groups. Viabil stent-grafts proved to be significantly superior to Wallstents for the palliation of malignant jaundice due to extrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma, with comparable cost and complication rates. Appropriate patient selection should be performed prior to stent placement

Management of malignant biliary obstruction: Technical and clinical results using an expanded polytetrafluoroethylene fluorinated ethylene propylene (ePTFE/FEP)-covered metallic stent after 6-year experience

To evaluate the efficacy and safety of an expanded polytetrafluoroethylene- fluorinated ethylene-propylene (ePTFE/FEP)-covered metallic stent in the management of malignant biliary obstruction. Eighty consecutive patients with malignant common bile duct strictures were treated by placement of 83 covered metallic stents. The stent-graft consists of an inner ePTFE/FEP lining and an outer supporting structure of nitinol wire. Clinical evaluation, assessment of serum bilirubin and liver enzyme levels were analyzed before biliary drainage, before stent-graft placement and during the follow-up period at 1, 3, 6, 9 and 12 months. Technical success was obtained in all cases. After a mean follow-up of 6.9±4.63 months, the 30-day mortality rate was 14.2%. Survival rates were 40% and 20.2% at 6 and 12 months, respectively. Stent-graft patency rates were 95.5%, 92.6% and 85.7% at 3, 6 and 12 months, respectively. Complications occurred in five patients (6.4%); among these, acute cholecystitis was observed in three patients (3.8%). A stent-graft occlusion rate of 9% was observed. The percentage of patients undergoing lifetime palliation (91%) and the midterm patency rate suggest that placement of this ePTFE/FEP-covered stent-graft is safe and highly effective in achieving biliary drainage in patients with malignant strictures of the common bile duct. © 2008 European Society of Radiology

Timing and modality of the sclerosing agents binding to the human proteins: laboratory analysis and clinical evidences

Sclerosing agents (SA) are blood inactivated. Nevertheless, investigations concerning the interaction among SA and blood components have never been deeply investigated. Aim of the study is to precisely identify SA blood ligands, to determine their binding time and to highlight the clinical consequences. Thirty-one blood samples were collected from chronic venous disease patients and tested by capillary and agarose gel (AGE) electrophoresis before and after adding polidocanol (POL) and sodiumtetradecylsulphate (STS). The two different types of electrophoresis allowed an evaluation of the blood proteins binding with the sclerosing agents, with a reaction time lower than 8 seconds for the AGE. Subsequently six patients underwent foam sclerotherapy and then were subdivided in group A (4 patients) and B (2 patients). In group A blood sample was obtained from the ipsilateral brachial vein immediately before (T0) and repeated 1, 3, 5, and 10 minutes after injection of STS 3% injection into the GSV. In group B, the same procedure was performed with the same timing from the ipsilateral femoral vein. Free STS (fSTS) and total proteinbound STS (bSTS) were measured. POL mainly binds to β-globulins (11%), while STS to albumin and α-globulins (62.6% and 30.7%) on the protidogram, respectively. Both in the brachial and in the femoral vein, the average fSTS was always 0. STS binds to albumin (62.6%) and α-globulins (30.7%), while POL is bound mainly by the b-globulins (11%). The present paper demonstrates how the vast majority of the sclerosing agent is bound to the blood proteins, suggesting the need to look for possible sclerotherapy complications factors also in the used gas and/or in the subsequent cathabolites release

Early Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy (CRT) improves the outcome in Heart Failure (HF) patients with Left Bundle Branch Block (LBBB)

Not available

Work environment, volume of activity and staffing in neonatal intensive care units in Italy: results of the SONAR-nurse study

Neonatal units' volume of activity, and other quantitative and qualitative variables, such as staffing, workload, work environment, care organization and geographical location, may influence the outcome of high risk newborns. Data about the distribution of these variables and their relationships among Italian neonatal units are lacking

The +276 G/T Single Nucleotide Polymorphism of the Adiponectin Gene Is Associated With Coronary Artery Disease in Type 2 Diabetic Patients

OBJECTIVE —Two single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) at the adiponectin locus (+45T>G and +276G>T) have been associated with low circulating adiponectin levels, insulin resistance, and type 2 diabetes. We investigated whether these genetic markers are determinants of coronary artery disease (CAD) in type 2 diabetic patients. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS —A total of 376 consecutive type 2 diabetic patients were studied: 142 case subjects with coronary stenosis >50% or previous myocardial infarction and 234 control subjects with no symptoms, no electrocardiogram (ECG) signs of myocardial ischemia, and a normal ECG stress test ( n = 189) and/or ( n = 45) with coronary stenosis ≤50%. RESULTS —No association with CAD was observed for the +45 SNP ( P = 0.48). By contrast, a significant association was observed for the +276 SNP, with T/T homozygotes having a lower risk of CAD than carriers of other genotypes (adjusted odds ratio [OR] 0.13 [95% CI 0.037–0.46], P = 0.002). A similarly protective effect of the +276 T/T genotype was observed in 110 case and 45 control subjects for whom the CAD status had been determined by angiography (0.04 [0.006–0.30], P = 0.002).  Serum adiponectin, although clearly related to several features of the proatherogenic/insulin-resistant phenotype, was not different between control subjects and CAD patients (26 ± 17 vs. 25 ± 13 μg/ml). CONCLUSIONS —In conclusion, the +276 G>T polymorphism is a determinant of CAD risk in type 2 diabetic patients. This marker may assist in the identification of diabetic individuals at especially high risk of CAD, so that preventive programs can be targeted at these subjects