How Does a Firm’s Focus on ESG Factors Affect its Cost of Debt? Investigating Regional and Industry level ESG Materiality Factors and their Effect on Firm Cost of Debt.

As ESG risk and ESG materiality concepts become increasingly important to firm and lender-level decision making, our paper aims to investigate the dynamic factors affecting industry and regional-level materiality. Our paper is the first to construct a materiality map on a regional level and contrasts this with the SASB sector-level materiality map. We use ESG incident frequency as a proxy for firm ESG performance and find evidence for industry-level materiality, which is largely consistent with findings by Khan et al. (2016). We also compare the effects of regional and industry material ESG incidents against overall ESG incidents, which include material and immaterial topics, and find that industry materiality related ESG incidents are the most important factor in increasing a firm’s cost of debt. For MNE’s developing ESG policies, we suggest a global versus local approach to ESG performance based on industry-level standards.nhhma

Basal ganglia stroke due to mild head trauma in pediatric age - clinical and therapeutic management: a case report and 10 year literature review

Ischemia of the basal ganglia as an immediate consequence of minor head injury in children is rare (< 2% of all ischemic stroke in childhood) and is due to vasospasm of the lenticulostriate arteries. The clinical history of these lesions is particularly favourable because they are usually small, and also because the facial-brachial-crural hemiparesis typical of this pathology usually regresses after a period ranging from several weeks to several months, despite the persistence of an ischemic area on MRI. This is due to the well known neuronal plasticity of the CNS, in particular, of the primary motor cortex. The most effective therapeutic approach appears to be the conservative one, although the best treatment regimen is still not well defined

LITERATURA INFANTIL E LUDICIDADE: A IMPORTÂNCIA DAS DIFERENTES ESTRATÉGIAS DIDÁTICAS NA FORMAÇÃO DOS ALUNOS DA EDUCAÇÃO BÁSICA

Sabe-se o quanto é importante buscar estratégias didáticas que estimulem o aluno a aprender. Assim, a literatura infantil trabalhada a partir de livros literários, através da ludicidade e da interdisciplinaridade permite aos alunos aprenderem de forma prazerosa imprimindo significado a essa ação. O uso do livro em sala de aula na educação infantil e nos anos iniciais do ensino fundamental tem como objetivo formar cidadãos críticos e reflexivos, capacitados a compreender sua realidade, vivenciando ideias de níveis simbólicos para compreender suas ações e razões de experiências representadas pelo mundo do faz de conta. A prática de estágio com a presente temática ocorreu na Escola Educação Básica Padre Bruno e no Centro Municipal de Educação Infantil Euclides José Biasi (Videira- SC), visando a facilitar, através da literatura infantil a da interdisciplinaridade, a formação integral dos alunos da educação básica. A prática do estágio proporcionou experiências significativas para o desenvolvimento do educando em seus aspectos afetivo, cognitivo e social; e as estratégias utilizadas a partir da literatura e da ludicidade, proporcionaram vivências que podem transformar a realidade que vivem, mediadas por propostas interdisciplinares que oportunizaram o senso crítico e reflexivo, ao mesmo tempo que a aprendizagem por intermédio de vivências no seu dia a dia, facilitando assim, a construção de aprendizagens significativas

KCa3.1 channel inhibition sensitizes malignant gliomas to temozolomide treatment

Malignant gliomas are among the most frequent and aggressive cerebral tumors, characterized by high proliferative and invasive indexes. Standard therapy for patients, after surgery and radiotherapy, consists of temozolomide (TMZ), a methylating agent that blocks tumor cell proliferation. Currently, there are no therapies aimed at reducing tumor cell invasion. Ion channels are candidate molecular targets involved in glioma cell migration and infiltration into the brain parenchyma. In this paper we demonstrate that: i) blockade of the calcium-activated potassium channel KCa3.1 with TRAM-34 has co-adjuvant effects with TMZ, reducing GL261 glioma cell migration, invasion and colony forming activity, increasing apoptosis, and forcing cells to pass the G2/M cell cycle phase, likely through cdc2 de-phosphorylation; ii) KCa3.1 silencing potentiates the inhibitory effect of TMZ on glioma cell viability; iii) the combination of TMZ/TRAM-34 attenuates the toxic effects of glioma conditioned medium on neuronal cultures, through a microglia dependent mechanism since the effect is abolished by clodronate-induced microglia killing; iv) TMZ/TRAM-34 co-treatment increases the number of apoptotic tumor cells, and the mean survival time in a syngeneic mouse glioma model (C57BL6 mice implanted with GL261 cells); v) TMZ/TRAM-34 co-treatment reduces cell viability of GBM cells and cancer stem cells (CSC) freshly isolated from patients.Taken together, these data suggest a new therapeutic approach for malignant glioma, targeting both glioma cell proliferating and migration, and demonstrate that TMZ/TRAM-34 co-treatment affects both glioma cells and infiltrating microglia, resulting in an overall reduction of tumor cell progression

SISTEMA DE ESCOLHA DO DIRETOR ESCOLAR NA REDE ESTADUAL DE SANTA CATARINA: DESAFIOS À GESTÃO DEMOCRÁTICA

Neste artigo propõe-se um estudo sobre o sistema de escolha dos diretores escolares implantado pela rede pública estadual do Estado de Santa Catarina. Tomaram-se como base preceitos regulamentares que orientaram as mudanças operadas a partir do ano 2014. Problematizaram-se os princípios de regulação normatizados considerando diferentes possibilidades de acesso à gestão das escolas, analisando aspectos da elaboração dos Planos de Gestão Escolar (PGEs) enquanto instrumento para a consolidação de uma gestão democrática nas escolas da rede pública estadual. Discorreu-se sobre o roteiro de preparação, avaliação e seleção dos PGEs, destacando percepções de gestores acerca do processo implantado no Estado catarinense. Concluiu-se enfatizando desafios na implementação da gestão democrática na rede pública estadual catarinense.Palavras-chave: Gestão democrática. Escolha do gestor escolar. Rede estadual de Santa Catarina

Impacts of air pollution on human and ecosystem health, and implications for the National Emission Ceilings Directive. Insights from Italy

Across the 28 EU member states there were nearly half a million premature deaths in 2015 as a result of exposure to PM2.5, O3 and NO2. To set the target for air quality levels and avoid negative impacts for human and ecosystems health, the National Emission Ceilings Directive (NECD, 2016/2284/EU) sets objectives for emission reduction for SO2, NOx, NMVOCs, NH3 and PM2.5 for each Member State as percentages of reduction to be reached in 2020 and 2030 compared to the emission levels into 2005. One of the innovations of NECD is Article 9, that mentions the issue of “monitoring air pollution impacts” on ecosystems. We provide a clear picture of what is available in term of monitoring network for air pollution impacts on Italian ecosystems, summarizing what has been done to control air pollution and its effects on different ecosystems in Italy. We provide an overview of the impacts of air pollution on health of the Italian population and evaluate opportunities and implementation of Article 9 in the Italian context, as a case study beneficial for all Member States. The results showed that SO42− deposition strongly decreased in all monitoring sites in Italy over the period 1999–2017, while NO3− and NH4+ decreased more slightly. As a consequence, most of the acid-sensitive sites which underwent acidification in the 1980s partially recovered. The O3 concentration at forest sites showed a decreasing trend. Consequently, AOT40 (the metric identified to protect vegetation from ozone pollution) showed a decrease, even if values were still above the limit for forest protection (5000 ppb h−1), while PODy (flux-based metric under discussion as new European legislative standard for forest protection) showed an increase. National scale studies pointed out that PM10 and NO2 induced about 58,000 premature deaths (year 2005), due to cardiovascular and respiratory diseases. The network identified for Italy contains a good number of monitoring sites (6 for terrestrial ecosystem monitoring, 4 for water bodies monitoring and 11 for ozone impact monitoring) distributed over the territory and will produce a high number of monitored parameters for the implementation of the NECD

Knowledge and training of Italian students in Healthcare Settings on COVID-19 vaccines and vaccination strategies, one year after the immunization campaign

Abstract Introduction: COVID-19 vaccines represent an important opportunity for defeating the disease, as long as high vaccination acceptance rates are achieved. Healthcare workers (HCWs) have a relevant role in the promotion of immunization. The aim of the study is to assess the knowledge of medical and pharmaceutical area students regarding COVID-19 vaccination and the impact of a specific Elective Teaching Activity (ETA), one year after the immunization campaign in Italy. Methods: Students’ knowledge was tested with a questionnaire before and after attending the course. Descriptive statistical methods were used to analyse the results obtained. Student’s t-tests for paired data were used. Results: Overall, 387 students at the University of Florence attended the course and took the same test before and after the ETA on COVID-19 vaccines. Despite achieving satisfactory average scores in the pre-course test (26/32±4.0), all students were able to significantly enhance their final score (+17.1%; p&lt;0.001), indicating that the ETA was highly effective in improving their knowledge of COVID-19 vaccination. Medical students demonstrated a better comprehension of the role of the medical specialist in public health in the COVID-19 vaccination campaign, while some uncertainties were revealed regarding the role of pharmacists. &nbsp;Conclusions: The results of this study confirm that specific training activities on vaccination are effective for implementing the knowledge of future health professionals

EGFR Inhibition Abrogates Leiomyosarcoma Cell Chemoresistance through Inactivation of Survival Pathways and Impairment of CSC Potential

Background: Tumor cells with stem-like phenotype and properties, known as cancer stem cells (CSC), have been identified in most solid tumors and are presumed to be responsible for driving tumor initiation, chemoresistance, relapse, or metastasis. A subpopulation of cells with increased stem-like potential has also been identified within sarcomas. These cells are endowed with increased tumorigenic potential, chemoresistance, expression of embryonic markers, and side population(SP) phenotype. Leiomyosarcomas (LMS) are soft tissue sarcomas presumably arising from undifferentiated cells of mesenchymal origin, the Mesenchymal Stem Cells (MSC). Frequent recurrence of LMS and chemoresistance of relapsed patients may likely result from the failure to target CSC. Therefore, therapeutic cues coming from the cancer stem cell (CSC) field may drastically improve patient outcome. Methodology/Principal Findings: We expanded LMS stem-like cells from patient samples in vitro and examined the possibility to counteract LMS malignancy through a stem-like cell effective approach. LMS stem-like cells were in vitro expanded both as "tumor spheres" and as "monolayers" in Mesenchymal Stem Cell (MSC) conditions. LMS stem-like cells displayed MSC phenotype, higher SP fraction, and increased drug-extrusion, extended proliferation potential, self-renewal, and multiple differentiation ability. They were chemoresistant, highly tumorigenic, and faithfully reproduced the patient tumor in mice. Such cells displayed activation of EGFR/AKT/MAPK pathways, suggesting a possibility in overcoming their chemoresistance through EGFR blockade. IRESSA plus Vincristine treatment determined pathway inactivation, impairment of SP phenotype, high cytotoxicity in vitro and strong antitumor activity in stem-like cell-generated patient-like xenografts, targeting both stem-like and differentiated cells. Conclusions/Significance: EGFR blockade combined with vincristine determines stem-like cell effective antitumor activity in vitro and in vivo against LMS, thus providing a potential therapy for LMS patients. \uc2\ua9 2012 Sette et al

[The new 15-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine for the prevention of S. pneumoniae infections in pediatric age: a Health Technology Assessment]

Questo capitolo sintetizza gli aspetti più rilevanti emersi dalla valutazione HTA del vaccino coniugato antipneumococcico 15-valente (PCV15) per la prevenzione delle infezioni da S. pneumoniae in età pediatrica

Differential cross section measurements for the production of a W boson in association with jets in proton–proton collisions at √s = 7 TeV

Measurements are reported of differential cross sections for the production of a W boson, which decays into a muon and a neutrino, in association with jets, as a function of several variables, including the transverse momenta (pT) and pseudorapidities of the four leading jets, the scalar sum of jet transverse momenta (HT), and the difference in azimuthal angle between the directions of each jet and the muon. The data sample of pp collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 7 TeV was collected with the CMS detector at the LHC and corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 5.0 fb[superscript −1]. The measured cross sections are compared to predictions from Monte Carlo generators, MadGraph + pythia and sherpa, and to next-to-leading-order calculations from BlackHat + sherpa. The differential cross sections are found to be in agreement with the predictions, apart from the pT distributions of the leading jets at high pT values, the distributions of the HT at high-HT and low jet multiplicity, and the distribution of the difference in azimuthal angle between the leading jet and the muon at low values.United States. Dept. of EnergyNational Science Foundation (U.S.)Alfred P. Sloan Foundatio