Empirical evidences on voluntary delisting phenomenon

The paper studies what drives firms to voluntary delist from capital markets and what differs in firms’ behavior and fundamentals between public-to-private transactions and M&A deals with listed corporations. Moreover, I study the relationship between ownership percentage in controlling shareholders’ hands and cumulative returns around the delisting public announcement. I perform my tests both for the Italian and the US markets and I compare the findings to better understand how the phenomenon works in these different institutional environments. Consistent with my expectations, I find that the likelihood of delisting is mainly related to size, underperformance and undervaluation, while shareholders are more rewarded when their companies are involved in PTP transactions than in M&As with public firms.NSBE - UN

INVESTIGATING THE METABOLIC PROGRESSION OF GLIOBLASTOMA WITH HYPERPOLARIZED MAGNETIC RESONANCE

Rapid diagnosis and therapeutic monitoring of aggressive diseases such as glioblastoma (GBM) can improve patient survival by providing physicians the time to optimally deliver treatment. This includes early in development, while the tumor is still manageable, or following initial therapy, when alternative treatments should be considered. The main goal of this project was to determine whether metabolic imaging with hyperpolarized magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) could detect changes in tumor progression more rapidly than conventional anatomic magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in patient-derived GBM murine models. To comprehensively capture the dynamic nature of cancer metabolism, in vivo pyruvate-to-lactate conversion with hyperpolarized MRI, ex vivo metabolite pool size with nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, and ex vivo protein expression with immunohistochemistry (IHC) were measured at several time-points throughout tumor progression (tumor development, regression, and recurrence). Hyperpolarized MRS was capable of detecting significant changes in pyruvate-to-lactate conversion throughout tumor progression, whereas tumor volume measured with anatomic MRI was not significantly altered during regression or recurrence. This was accompanied by alterations in amino acid and phospholipid lipid metabolism and MCT1 expression. It is discussed how hyperpolarized MRS can help address clinical challenges such as identifying malignant disease prior to aggressive growth, differentiating pseudoprogression from true progression, quantifying treatment response, and predicting relapse. The individual evolution of these metabolic assays as well as their correlations with one another provides context for further academic research. In addition to investigating GBM tumor progression, preliminary and supporting metabolic profiling data acquired with NMR spectroscopy is presented in the context of immunometabolism. Specifically, metabolic events associated with the licensing process of natural killer cells as well as macrophage polarization are analyzed. Collectively, this work demonstrates the value of interrogating the metabolism of GBM and tumor-associated immune cells with hyperpolarized MRS and NMR spectroscopy

A New Approach to Polymorphism in Molecular Crystals: Substrate-Mediated Structures Revealed by Lattice Phonon Dynamics

The issue of polymorphism in molecular crystals is discussed, taking into account the substrate-mediated structures, that is, structures grown at the interface of different substrates. Bulk and thin films of a compound both share the potentiality to display different crystal forms. However, unlike bulk polymorphs, whose structures are determined by their different molecular packing, thin film structures depend very much on the molecular organization of the organic layers on the substrate, which may, or may not, lead to an ordered structure, depending on the nature of the interface and on the growth conditions. Based on large part in some of the authors' recent works, these thin film structures are classified as distorted bulk, substrate-selected and substrate-stabilized polymorphs, with some subtle differences which may yield a polymorph to belong not exclusively to a single one of these categories. Some experiments are then focused upon, involving charge transport at the interface, as well as how far the effect of the surface goes. Furthermore, the authors comment on how the surface-mediated structures evolve to the single crystal phase in the cases of pentacene and alpha-sexithiophene. Finally, the transition from a 3- to a 2D regime of growth is shortly discussed in terms of low-dimensional disorder

Terahertz Raman scattering as a probe for electron-phonon coupling, disorder and correlation length in molecular materials

Terahertz (or low-frequency) Raman spectroscopy has been shown to be a quite useful tool to infer important information on some key properties of molecular materials, like polymorphism, phase purity and phase transitions. Based on some of our recent studies, we present promising new directions and possible development of the technique for the characterization of electron-lattice phonon coupling, disorder and correlation length in systems of low-dimensionality. The relative strength of electron-lattice phonon coupling can be extracted from the intensities of the Raman bands in the pre-resonance Raman regime, as exemplified in the charge-transfer (CT) crystal N,N-dimethylphenazine-tetracyanoquinodimethane (M2P-TCNQ). Disorder is instead reflected in the Raman bandwidth, which we analyze with polarized light for systems of reduced dimensionality. The sample system studied for the one-dimensional case is the tetramethylbenzidine-tetrafluoroTCNQ CT crystal. As an example of a quasi two-dimensional (2D) system we address pentacene, the classical case of a monomolecular material widely studied for its application in organic electronics. Here the discussion is mostly related to the dispersion of the phonon branches, eventually leading to peculiar spectral profiles depending on the 2D or 3D regime of the films grown under different deposition conditions

La Rinuncia alla Proprietà Immobiliare

LA RINUNCIA ALLA PROPRIETÀ IMMOBILIARE Abstract Il persistente contesto di crisi economica e la crescente difficoltà di sostenere gli oneri finanziari connessi al diritto dominicale hanno contribuito a sviluppare e a rendere particolarmente attuale nella comunità scientifica il dibattito in ordine al tema della Rinuncia alla Proprietà Immobiliare. Proprio da tale stimolante confronto dottrinario trae spunto il presente lavoro che, articolato in tre capitoli, ha lo scopo precipuo di indagare il tema dell'ammissibilità o meno della rinuncia del diritto di proprietà in considerazione del possibile contrasto con l'art. 42 Cost. e con la funzione sociale della proprietà che verrebbe a configurarsi qualora, a seguito della dismissione dell'immobile, i costi relativi alla manutenzione e le relative diseconomie o esternalità negative, legate anche ad un minore gettito fiscale, vadano a riversarsi sulla collettività e, dunque, sullo Stato. Nel capitolo centrale, infatti, dopo l'esposizione delle diverse argomentazioni a sostegno dell'una e dell'altra tesi, l'indagine si sofferma, oltre che sui profili di responsabilità ex art.2051 e 2053 cod.civ. eventualmente ricadenti sul soggetto pubblico, anche sul meccanismo acquisitivo a favore di quest'ultimo ex art. 827 cod.civ. e sul raffronto di tale norma con l'art.586 cod.civ. in materia di devoluzione dei beni allo Stato in mancanza di successibili, nonchè sulle differenze con l'art.923 cod.civ. che, viceversa, per i beni mobili prevede la possibilità di occupazione a seguito di cd.derelictio. Al contempo, sempre nel suddetto capitolo, si è colta l'occasione di creare un interessante raffronto tra l'istituto privatistico e la configurabilità del medesimo nel campo del diritto amministrativo, in seguito ad importanti pronunce rese sul tema dal Supremo Consesso della giustizia amministrativa nel corso del 2020. La comparazione tra i due settori dell'ordinamento giuridico è apparsa particolarmente stimolante e ha consentito anche di approfondire le ragioni che hanno portato la giurisprudenza amministrativa a negare ingresso, proprio in ambito pubblicistico, all'istituto della rinuncia abdicativa alla proprietà, in seguito alla occupazione illegittima e alla irreversibile trasformazione del fondo. Diversamente, in ambito privatistico, è possibile constatare che la posizione della dottrina prevalente propende per l'ammissibilità della rinuncia alla proprietà e, proprio in questo quadro, si colloca il presente lavoro, sebbene si condivida un'ottica di rinunciabilità controllata secondo cui è necessario pur sempre valutare la meritevolezza in concreto dell'operazione dismissiva posta in essere dal proprietario. Proprio il necessario vaglio di ragionevolezza e proporzionalità della medesima implica una valutazione necessariamente in concreto incentrata sulla causa della stessa e consente di rifuggire da soluzioni aprioristiche relative all'istituto e di adottare un approccio casistico e individuale. Del resto, il giudizio di meritevolezza ex art. 1322 cod. civ. comporta una verifica di coerenza dell'atto di autonomia privata con i valori dell'ordinamento giuridico latamente inteso, e, dunque, non solo alla stregua del sopra citato parametro costituzionale di cui all'art. 42 Cost., ma anche, alla stregua dei nuovi parametri europei di cui all'art. 1 Prot. Add. CEDU e all'art. 17 della Carta dei Diritti fondamentali che, secondo autorevole dottrina, impongono un recupero del "nucleo di libertà" insito nel diritto dominicale di cui è titolare l'individuo. Proprio per tale motivo, la parte conclusiva del lavoro, unitamente all'esame di interessanti spunti di matrice comparatistica, è dedicata, in chiave sovranazionale, ad una riflessione sulla nozione europea del diritto di proprietà che andrebbe a bilanciare l'ottica marcatamente pubblicistica della funzione sociale della proprietà nell'ambito della ponderazione degli interessi coinvolti nella fattispecie concreta. In altri termini, il recupero della dimensione del diritto di proprietà come libertà individuale consentirebbe un più equo e attento bilanciamento degli interessi privati coinvolti in concreto nella fattispecie abdicativa immobiliare in una logica compensativa rispetto alle istanze pubblicistiche sottese alla funzione sociale della proprietà di cui all'art.42 Cost. Fatti salvi i casi di abuso del diritto che, egualmente richiedono una valutazione in concreto delle modalità di esercizio del diritto di rinuncia, si ritiene che quest'ultimo rappresenti la più ampia facoltà o "libertà" accordata al proprietario che non può essere di per sé aprioristicamente negata per contrasto con l'art. 42 Cost. in quanto l'ottica convenzionale europea consente all'operatore del diritto di ampliare il proprio ambito di valutazione dell'istituto in esame proprio attraverso il vaglio di meritevolezza rivolto alla causa in concreto dell'operazione. La valorizzazione della moderna teoria sulla causa in concreto nell'economia del presente lavoro implicano a monte l'adesione alla tesi della rinuncia come atto negoziale causale nonché alla polivalenza funzionale della stessa di cui vengono, altresì, esaminate la natura, la struttura e l'oggetto nel capitolo introduttivo. All'interno dello stesso, peraltro, l'ambito di indagine viene esteso anche ai diritti reali immobiliari, passando in rassegna le singole ipotesi specificamente previste al fine di comprendere se sia possibile affermare l'esistenza nel nostro ordinamento di un principio generale di rinunciabilità degli stessi, il principale dei quali va individuato proprio nel diritto di proprietà. In particolare, viene approfondito l'istituto dell'abbandono liberatorio di cui all'art.1070 cod.civ. che, unitamente agli art. 882 e 1104 cod.civ., rappresentano ipotesi di cd. rinuncia liberatoria, di conseguenza, si esamina il tema della rinuncia alla quota di comproprietà con particolare attenzione all'effetto accrescitivo a favore degli altri comproprietari non rinunzianti, e, infine, quello della rinuncia alla multiproprietà con l'esame delle principali posizioni dottrinarie e giurisprudenziali al riguardo, relative all'operatività del divieto di cui all'art.1118 co.2° cod. civ. così come novellato per effetto della riforma legislativa del 2012

On the Development of Catholic Moral Teaching (Chapter 1: Halakhic Precedent)

This paper proposes 1) that Matthew 16:19 refers to the practice of halakha (in Judaism, the application of the Torah’s moral, legal, and ceremonial precepts to real-life cases), and thus confers on the apostles—and their successors in the Catholic Church—the authority to apply and adapt Christian moral teaching to new situations and 2) that the rules and norms of halakha provide the Catholic Church with a way of reconciling development and even revision of Catholic moral teaching with the Church’s claim to infallibility in matters of faith and morals. Especially given the recent controversies regarding the German Synodal Way, my paper may serve as a means of bridging the seemingly irreconcilable positions of the German bishops and the Vatican. My paper will start by establishing the connection between Jesus’ words in Matthew 16:19 and halacha. Then, it will explore how Orthodox and Conservative Jewish organizations have navigated the tension between halakhic “tradition and change.” After that, the paper will draw from the Orthodox and Conservative perspectives to provide a philosophy of revision to Jewish law (i.e., a justification for revising previous halakhic rulings): namely, that more information always leads to a more precise moral judgment (i.e., a more precise application of the moral law). From there, my paper will demonstrate how Jewish communities in ancient and medieval times applied and elaborated upon this philosophy, and how the Catholic Church can apply this philosophy without either undermining its claims to infallibility or “rashly revising” its moral teachings

Security in IoT pairing & authentication protocols, a threat model and a case study analysis

The Internet of Things has changed the way we interact with the environment around us in our daily life, and it is increasingly common to find more than one IoT device in our home. However, the current design approaches adopted by the vendors are more oriented towards customer usability than to security. This often results in more and more devices exposing serious security problems. This work focuses on the security implications, i.e. the threats and the risks, of the current IoT pairing mechanisms and represents a step forward in the definition of our automated penetration testing methodology. In addition to the general threat model for a general IoT pairing process, we present the analysis of a QR code-based pairing mechanism implemented by a class of devices taken from the real market, which led to the identification of two vulnerabilities, one of which publicly disclosed as CVE-2021-27941

Integrating Gemcitabine-Based Therapy With AdipoRon Enhances Growth Inhibition in Human PDAC Cell Lines

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) accounts for 90% of all pancreatic cancers. Albeit its incidence does not score among the highest in cancer, PDAC prognosis is tremendously fatal. As a result of either aggressiveness or metastatic stage at diagnosis, chemotherapy constitutes the only marginally effective therapeutic approach. As gemcitabine (Gem) is still the cornerstone for PDAC management, the low response rate and the onset of resistant mechanisms claim for additional therapeutic strategies. The first synthetic orally active adiponectin receptor agonist AdipoRon (AdipoR) has recently been proposed as an anticancer agent in several tumors, including PDAC. To further address the AdipoR therapeutic potential, herein we investigated its pharmacodynamic interaction with Gem in human PDAC cell lines. Surprisingly, their simultaneous administration revealed a more effective action in contrasting PDAC cell growth and limiting clonogenic potential than single ones. Moreover, the combination AdipoR plus Gem persisted in being effective even in Gem-resistant MIA PaCa-2 cells. While a different ability in braking cell cycle progression between AdipoR and Gem supported their cooperating features in PDAC, mechanistically, PD98059-mediated p44/42 MAPK ablation hindered combination effectiveness. Taken together, our findings propose AdipoR as a suitable partner in Gem-based therapy and recognize the p44/42 MAPK pathway as potentially involved in combination outcomes

Thorough investigation on the high-temperature polymorphism of dipentyl-perylenediimide: thermal expansion vs. polymorphic transition

N,N′-Dipentyl-3,4,9,10-perylendiimide (PDI-C5) is an organic semiconducting material which has been extensively investigated as model compound for its optoelectronic properties. It is known to be highly thermally stable, that it exhibits solid-state transitions with temperature and that thermal treatments lead to an improvement in its performance in devices. Here we report a full thermal characterization of PDI-C5 by combination of differential scanning calorimetry, variable temperature X-ray diffraction, hot stage microscopy, and variable temperature Raman spectroscopy. We identified two high temperature polymorphs, form II and form III, which form respectively at 112 °C and at 221 °C and we determined their crystal structure from powder data. Form II is completely reversible upon cooling with low hysteresis, while form III revealed a different thermal behaviour upon cooling depending on the technique and crystal size. The crystal structure features of the different polymorphs are discussed and compared, and we looked into the role of the perylene core and alkyl chains during solid-state transitions. The thermal expansion principal axis of PDI-C5 crystal forms is reported showing that all the reported forms possess negative thermal expansion (X1) and large positive thermal expansion (X3) which are correlated to thermal behaviour observed