An Altered Derivatives Marketplace: Clearing Swaps Under Dodd-Frank

Though over a year has passed, the impact of the Dodd Frank Act remains unclear. This Note examines the provisions of the Act that relate to swap transactions within the context of pre-reform and postreform markets. In order to reduce the uncertainties inherent in unregulated swap transactions, the Act employs a comprehensive framework, which includes mandatory clearing through derivative clearing organizations, extensive reporting requirements, margin requirements, and position limits. This Note argues that, in doing so, the Dodd Frank Act addresses the fundamental failures of pre-reform derivative markets. However, the importance of the role for derivative clearing organizations under this framework creates a risk that these organizations will become systemically significant, mirroring problems with under-capitalized and over-exposed financial institutions in the downturn

Medical Liability: Review of a Whole Year of Judgments of the Civil Court of Rome

Background: Complaints about medical malpractice have increased over time in Italy, as well as other countries around the world. This scenario, perceived by some as a "malpractice crisis", is a subject of debate in health law and medical law. The costs arising from medical liability lawsuits weigh not only on individual professionals but also on the budgets of healthcare facilities, many of which in Italy are supported by public funds. A full understanding of the phenomenon of medical malpractice appears necessary in order to manage this spreading issue and possibly to reduce the health liability costs. Methods: The retrospective review concerned all the judgments drawn up by the Judges of the Civil Court of Rome, XIII Chamber (competent and specialized section for professional liability trials) published between January 2018 and February 2019. Results: The analysis of data concerning the involved parties showed that in 84.6% of the judgments taken into account, one or more health facilities were sued, while in 58.2% of cases, one or more health workers were present among the defendants. When healthcare providers are the only ones to be summoned, it is dentists and aesthetic doctors/plastic surgeons who undergo most of the claims. In the overall period analyzed, the amount paid was 23,489,254.08 EUR with an average of 163,119.82 EUR. Conclusion: The evidence provided by the reported data is a useful tool to understand medical malpractice in Italy, especially with regard to the occurrence of the phenomenon at a legal level, an aspect still hardly mentioned by existing literature

Antiandrogens as Therapies for COVID-19: A Systematic Review.

In 2019, the breakthrough of the coronavirus 2 disease (COVID-19) pandemic, caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), represented one of the major issues of our recent history. Different drugs have been tested to rapidly find effective anti-viral treatments and, among these, antiandrogens have been suggested to play a role in mediating SARS-CoV-2 infection. Considering the high heterogeneity of studies on this topic, we decided to review the current literature. We performed a systematic review according to PRISMA guidelines. A search strategy was conducted on PUBMED and Medline. Only original articles published from March 2020 to 31 August 2023 investigating the possible protective role of antiandrogens were included. In vitro or preclinical studies and reports not in the English language were excluded. The main objective was to investigate how antiandrogens may interfere with COVID-19 outcomes. Among 1755 records, we selected 31 studies, the majority of which consisted of retrospective clinical data collections and of randomized clinical trials during the first and second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. In conclusion, we can state that antiandrogens do not seem to protect individuals from SARS-CoV-2 infection and COVID-19 severity and, thus, their use should not be encouraged in this field

Evolution of spectral function in a doped Mott insulator : surface vs. bulk contributions

We study the evolution of the spectral function with progressive hole doping in a Mott insulator, $La_{1-x}Ca_xVO_3$ with $x$ = 0.0 - 0.5. The spectral features indicate a bulk-to-surface metal-insulator transition in this system. Doping dependent changes in the bulk electronic structure are shown to be incompatible with existing theoretical predictions. An empirical description based on the single parameter, $U/W$, is shown to describe consistently the spectral evolution.Comment: Revtex, 4 pages, 3 postscript figures. To appear in Phys. Rev. Let

On-site correlation in valence and core states of ferromagnetic nickel

We present a method which allows to include narrow-band correlation effects into the description of both valence and core states and we apply it to the prototypical case of nickel. The results of an ab-initio band calculation are used as input mean-field eigenstates for the calculation of self-energy corrections and spectral functions according to a three-body scattering solution of a multi-orbital Hubbard hamiltonian. The calculated quasi-particle spectra show a remarkable agreement with photoemission data in terms of band width, exchange splitting, satellite energy position of valence states, spin polarization of both the main line and the satellite of the 3p core level.Comment: 14 pages, 10 PostScript figures, RevTeX, submitted to PR

Study of Phase Stability in NiPt Systems

We have studied the problem of phase stability in NiPt alloy system. We have used the augmented space recursion based on the TB-LMTO as the method for studying the electronic structure of the alloys. In particular, we have used the relativistic generalization of our earlier technique. We note that, in order to predict the proper ground state structures and energetics, in addition to relativistic effects, we have to take into account charge transfer effects with precision.Comment: 22 pages, 7 figures. Accepted for publication in JPC

A Quantum Monte Carlo algorithm for non-local corrections to the Dynamical Mean-Field Approximation

We present the algorithmic details of the dynamical cluster approximation (DCA), with a quantum Monte Carlo (QMC) method used to solve the effective cluster problem. The DCA is a fully-causal approach which systematically restores non-local correlations to the dynamical mean field approximation (DMFA) while preserving the lattice symmetries. The DCA becomes exact for an infinite cluster size, while reducing to the DMFA for a cluster size of unity. We present a generalization of the Hirsch-Fye QMC algorithm for the solution of the embedded cluster problem. We use the two-dimensional Hubbard model to illustrate the performance of the DCA technique. At half-filling, we show that the DCA drives the spurious finite-temperature antiferromagnetic transition found in the DMFA slowly towards zero temperature as the cluster size increases, in conformity with the Mermin-Wagner theorem. Moreover, we find that there is a finite temperature metal to insulator transition which persists into the weak-coupling regime. This suggests that the magnetism of the model is Heisenberg like for all non-zero interactions. Away from half-filling, we find that the sign problem that arises in QMC simulations is significantly less severe in the context of DCA. Hence, we were able to obtain good statistics for small clusters. For these clusters, the DCA results show evidence of non-Fermi liquid behavior and superconductivity near half-filling.Comment: 25 pages, 15 figure

Diagnostic Performance of PET or PET/CT Using ¹⁸F-FDG Labeled White Blood Cells in Infectious Diseases: A Systematic Review and a Bivariate Meta-Analysis.

Diagnostic performance of positron emission tomography using white blood cells labeled with fluorine-18-fluorodeoxyglucose ( <sup>18</sup> F-FDG-WBC PET or PET/CT) in patients with suspicious infectious diseases has been evaluated in several studies; however, there is no consensus about the diagnostic accuracy of this method. Therefore, a systematic review and meta-analysis was carried out on this topic. A comprehensive computer literature search screening PubMed/MEDLINE, Embase and Cochrane library databases through March 2019 was performed. Pooled sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative likelihood ratios (LR+ and LR-), and diagnostic odds ratio (DOR) of <sup>18</sup> F-FDG-WBC PET or PET/CT in patients with infectious diseases were calculated. Eight studies on the use of <sup>18</sup> F-FDG-WBC PET or PET/CT in suspicious infectious diseases were discussed in the systematic review. The meta-analysis of seven studies (236 patients) provided these pooled results on a per patient-based analysis: sensitivity was 86.3% [95% confidence interval (95%CI) 75-92.9%], specificity 92% (95%CI 79.8-97.1%), LR+ 6.6 (95%CI: 3.1-14.1), LR- 0.2 (95%CI: 0.12-0.33), DOR 43.5 (95%CI: 12.2-155). A statistically significant heterogeneity was not detected. Despite limited literature data, <sup>18</sup> F-FDG-WBC PET or PET/CT demonstrated a good diagnostic accuracy for the diagnosis of infectious diseases; nevertheless, larger studies are needed

How Photogenerated I2 Induces I-Rich Phase Formation in Lead Mixed Halide Perovskites

Bandgap tunability of lead mixed halide perovskites (LMHPs) is a crucial characteristic for versatile optoelectronic applications. Nevertheless, LMHPs show the formation of iodide-rich (I-rich) phase under illumination, which destabilizes the semiconductor bandgap and impedes their exploitation. Here, it is shown that how I2 , photogenerated upon charge carrier trapping at iodine interstitials in LMHPs, can promote the formation of I-rich phase. I2 can react with bromide (Br- ) in the perovskite to form a trihalide ion I2 Br- (Iδ- -Iδ+ -Brδ- ), whose negatively charged iodide (Iδ- ) can further exchange with another lattice Br- to form the I-rich phase. Importantly, it is observed that the effectiveness of the process is dependent on the overall stability of the crystalline perovskite structure. Therefore, the bandgap instability in LMHPs is governed by two factors, i.e., the density of native defects leading to I2 production and the Br- binding strength within the crystalline unit. Eventually, this study provides rules for the design of chemical composition in LMHPs to reach their full potential for optoelectronic devices

Dynamical Mean-Field Theory

The dynamical mean-field theory (DMFT) is a widely applicable approximation scheme for the investigation of correlated quantum many-particle systems on a lattice, e.g., electrons in solids and cold atoms in optical lattices. In particular, the combination of the DMFT with conventional methods for the calculation of electronic band structures has led to a powerful numerical approach which allows one to explore the properties of correlated materials. In this introductory article we discuss the foundations of the DMFT, derive the underlying self-consistency equations, and present several applications which have provided important insights into the properties of correlated matter.Comment: Chapter in "Theoretical Methods for Strongly Correlated Systems", edited by A. Avella and F. Mancini, Springer (2011), 31 pages, 5 figure