Market-Based Lobbying: Evidence from Advertising Spending in Italy

We analyze a novel lobbying channel: firms attempting to influence businessmen- politicians through business proxies. In particular, when a politician controls a business, firms shift their spending towards the politician's business in the hopes of securing favorable regulation. We investigate this channel in Italy where government officials are not required to divest business holdings. We examine the evolution of advertising spending by firms between 1993 and 2009, a period in which Silvio Berlusconi was prime minister three separate times, while maintaining control of Italy's major private television network, Mediaset. We develop a theoretical model of this channel and, in the context of this model, hypothesize that firms shift their advertising budget towards Mediaset when Berlusconi is in power and that this shift is particularly pronounced for regulated rms. Consistent with these hypotheses, we document a significant pro Mediaset bias in the allocation of advertising spending during Berlusconi's political tenure, and this pattern is especially pronounced for companies operating in more regulated sectors. Using these estimates, we estimate that Mediaset profits increased by one billion euros during this period and that regulated firms anticipated sizeable returns, stressing the economic importance of this lobbying channel. These findings provide an additional rationale for rules on conflict of interest

Author Correction: 3D measurement techniques for the hindfoot alignment angle from weight-bearing CT in a clinical population

Cone-beam CT (CBCT) scans now enable accurate measurements on foot skeletal structures with the advantage of observing these in 3D and in weight-bearing. Among the most common skeletal deformities, the varus/valgus of the hindfoot is the most complex to be represented, and a number of measure proposals have been published. This study aims to analyze and to compare these measurements from CBCT scans in a real clinical population with large such deformity. Ten patients with severe acquired adult fatfoot and indication for surgery underwent CBCT scans (Carestream, USA) while standing on that leg, before and after surgical correction. Corresponding 3D shape of each bone of the distal shank and hindfoot were defned (Materialise, Belgium). Six diferent techniques from the literature were used to calculate the varus/valgus deformity, i.e. the inclination of the hindfoot in the frontal plane of the shank. Standard clinical measurements by goniometers were taken for comparison. According to these techniques, and starting from a careful 3D reconstruction of the relevant foot skeletal structures, a large spectrum of measurements was found to represent the same hindfoot alignment angle. Most of them were very diferent from the traditional clinical measures. The assessment of the pre-operative valgus deformity and of the corresponding post-operative correction varied considerably. CBCT fnally allows 3D assessment of foot deformities in weight-bearing. Measurements from the diferent available techniques do not compare well, as they are based on very diferent approaches. It is recommended to be aware of the anatomical and functional concepts behind these techniques before clinical and surgical conclusions

Impact behaviour of a new Hemp/Carbon sandwich structure

Abstract This paper aims to present a new sandwich structure comprising of a grid hemp core and carbon skins. Two typology of hemp cores (7 and 8 mm in thickness) that mainly differ in the density values (0.36 and 0.63 g/cm3) were produced by an ad hoc manufacturing process and adopted to produce the sandwich structures under investigation. Aiming to extend the use of natural fibre composites (NFCs) for applications where high impact resistance is required and to replace common materials used as cores with more eco-friendly ones like the proposed hemp core, low velocity impact (LVI) tests and non-destructive (ND) tests were carried out

Estimating Jupiter's Gravity Field Using Juno Measurements, Trajectory Estimation Analysis, and a Flow Model Optimization

The upcoming Juno spacecraft measurements have the potential of improving our knowledge of Jupiter's gravity field. The analysis of the Juno Doppler data will provide a very accurate reconstruction of spatial gravity variations, but these measurements will be very accurate only over a limited latitudinal range. In order to deduce the full gravity field of Jupiter, additional information needs to be incorporated into the analysis, especially regarding the Jovian flow structure and its depth, which can influence the measured gravity field. In this study we propose a new iterative method for the estimation of the Jupiter gravity field, using a simulated Juno trajectory, a trajectory estimation model, and an adjoint-based inverse model for the flow dynamics. We test this method both for zonal harmonics only and with a full gravity field including tesseral harmonics. The results show that this method can fit some of the gravitational harmonics better to the "measured" harmonics, mainly because of the added information from the dynamical model, which includes the flow structure. Thus, it is suggested that the method presented here has the potential of improving the accuracy of the expected gravity harmonics estimated from the Juno and Cassini radio science experiments

Current trends in the real-life use of dalbavancin: report of a study panel.

Dalbavancin is a novel lipoglycopeptide antibiotic with a chemical structure similar to teicoplanin. Dalbavancin has been approved and marketed since 2014 in the USA and 2015 in the European Union for the treatment of acute bacterial skin and skin-structure infections (ABSSSIs) caused by Gram-positive cocci. ABSSSIs include infectious syndromes such as erysipelas, cellulitis, major cutaneous abscesses that require incision and drainage, and both surgical and traumatic wound infections. In current clinical practice, dalbavancin is also used for cardiac implantable electronic device-related soft tissue infection and other prosthetic infections, and therefore when the presence of biofilm is a concern. In this review, we aimed to highlight our experience with the use of dalbavancin for some of the most hard-to-treat Gram-positive infections, as well as a promising strategy in terms of pharmacoeconomic effectiveness. We describe our current real-life clinical practice with the use of dalbavancin, depicting a few representative clinical cases in order to share our own practice in the hospital setting

Along-Path Evolution of Biogeochemical and Carbonate System Properties in the Intermediate Water of the Western Mediterranean

A basin-scale oceanographic cruise (OCEANCERTAIN2015) was carried out in the Western Mediterranean (WMED) in summer 2015 to study the evolution of hydrological and biogeochemical properties of the most ubiquitous water mass of the Mediterranean Sea, the Intermediate Water (IW). IW is a relatively warm water mass, formed in the Eastern Mediterranean (EMED) and identified by a salinity maximum all over the basin. While it flows westward, toward and across the WMED, it gradually loses its characteristics. This study describes the along-path changes of thermohaline and biogeochemical properties of the IW in the WMED, trying to discriminate changes induced by mixing and changes induced by interior biogeochemical processes. In the first part of the path (from the Sicily Channel to the Tyrrhenian Sea), respiration in the IW interior was found to have a dominant role in determining its biogeochemical evolution. Afterward, when IW crosses regions of enhanced vertical dynamics (Ligurian Sea, Gulf of Lion and Catalan Sea), mixing with surrounding water masses becomes the primary process. In the final part of the investigated IW path (the Menorca-Mallorca region), the role of respiration is further masked by the effects of a complex circulation of IW, indicating that short-term sub-regional hydrological processes are important to define IW characteristics in the westernmost part of the investigated area. A pronounced along-path acidification was detected in IW, mainly due to remineralization of organic matter. This induced a shift of the carbonate equilibrium toward more acidic species and makes this water mass increasingly less adequate for an optimal growth of calcifying organisms. The carbonate buffering capacity also decreases as IW flows through the WMED, making it more exposed to the adverse effects of a decreasing pH. The present analysis indicates that IW evolution in the sub-basins of the WMED is currently driven by complex hydrological and biogeochemical processes, which could be differently impacted by coming climate changes, in particular considering expected increases of extreme meteorological events, mainly due to the warming of the Mediterranean basin

Changes of microenvironment in an in vitro co-culture system

For the enhanced understanding of fundamental cancer biology and improving molecular diagnostics and therapeutics, the role of the microenvironment during the initiation and progression of carcinogenesis is thought to be of critical importance (1, 2). The aim of this study was to establish an in vitro model based on a co-culture of healthy human fibroblasts (HFs) and human osteosarcoma cells (MG-63s) to simulate the microenvironment including tumor and healthy cells. The HFs and MG-63s were in vitro co-cultured for a period of time ranging from 24h to 7 days. Cell morphology and organization were studied by phase contrast microscopy while the expression of Human Cartilage Glycoprotein 39 (YKL-40), Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF), Matrix Metalloprotease 1 (MMP1) and IL1 alpha was investigated by Real Time PCR and Western Blotting. To better correlate the role of YKL-40, VEGF, MMP1 and IL1 alpha, siRNA knockdown of YKL-40 in MG-63 cells was performed, and changes in protein expression in the co-cultures were analyzed. Results showed a characteristic disposition of tumor and healthy co-cultured cells in columns which are not visible in tumor and healthy cells grown singularly. The expression of YKL-40, VEGF and MMP1 significantly changed in co-cultured cells compared to HFs and MG-63s separately cultured. siRNA knockdown of YKL-40 was responsible of a down-regulation of VEGF expression on HFs, and an increase of IL1 alpha expression in MG-63s. These results suggest that the tumor microenvironment has an influence on the protein expression of the healthy surrounding tissues and the process of tumorigenicity