Birds of a Feather Flock Together: The Inclusive Effect of Similarity Patterns in Equity Crowdfunding

Crowdfunding is helping to drive financial inclusion by expanding the availability of funds to traditionally excluded and underserved groups of individuals, such as ethnic minority and female entrepreneurs. This study verifies how ethnic and gender similarity between investor and entrepreneur can affect the invested amount in an equity crowdfunding campaign. Using an integrated approach with linear regression and Shapley decomposition, we analyze 8600 investments made by 5996 unique personal shareholder investors in 81 equity crowdfunding campaigns. Results show that similarity patterns seem to significantly influence the amount invested in a campaign but their effects change according to investor’s gender and ethnic origin. In fact, even if female investors give a higher amount to men-led companies, their preference changes if the company is run by a female founder belonging to the same ethnic minority group. Results emphasize equity crowdfunding’s potential as a tool for the financial inclusion of ethnic minority groups of investors and entrepreneurs

Il difficile bilanciamento tra esigenze cognitive e negozialita' nel rito patteggiato.

L'elaborato, partendo dalle esigenze di efficienza del sistema giudiziario, procede all'analisi del rito patteggiato quale esempio di giustizia negoziata e possibile strumento atto al perseguimento dell'ideale di ragionevole durata dei procedimenti penali. Nel corso della trattazione, inoltre, è stato dato particolare rilievo al rapporto intercorrente tra le parti del rito alternativo, ossia tra il potere giurisdizionale del giudice e i contrapposti poteri dispositivi delle parti

“Todo por esa violencia”

María Luisa tiene 79 años. Hoy ella recuerda que en 1958 arrancó, con su esposo Justiniano, para la región del Carare, ubicada en la zona suroccidental del departamento de Santander. Todo inició el día que Manuel, el hermano de Justiniano, lo llamó para hacerle una oferta de trabajo:— Hay una tierrita pa’ abrir ¿se anima

Microcystin Contamination in Sea Mussel Farms from the Italian Southern Adriatic Coast following Cyanobacterial Blooms in an Artificial Reservoir

An experimental study was performed in 2009-2010 to investigate the polluting effect of eutrophic inland waters communicating with the sea coast. The study was planned after a heavy and long-lasting Planktothrix rubescens bloom occurred in the Lake Occhito, an artificial reservoir. The waters of the reservoir flow into the southern Adriatic Sea, near several marine breeding of Mytilus galloprovincialis mussels, a typical seafood from the Apulia region (Southern Italy). A monitoring study of water and mussels from the sea coast of northern Apulia region and on the Occhito reservoir was carried out over twelve months, to get more information regarding the contamination by cyanobacteria and related cyanotoxins. Elisa immunoassay analyses estimated total microcystin amounts from 1.73 to 256 ng/g in mussels, up to 0.61 μg/L in sea water and up to 298.7 μg/L in lake water. Analyses of some samples of free-living marine clams as well as of marine and freshwater fish proved microcystin contamination. Selective confirmatory analyses by LC/ESI-Q-ToF-MS/MS on some mussel samples identified the microcystin desMe-MC-RR as the major toxin; this compound has been reported in the literature as a specific marker toxin of Planktothrix rubescens blooms. Our study describes for the first time the direct relationship between environmental pollution and food safety, caused by seafood contamination from freshwater toxic blooms

Microcystin Contamination in Sea Mussel Farms from the Italian Southern Adriatic Coast following Cyanobacterial Blooms in an Artificial Reservoir

An experimental study was performed in 2009-2010 to investigate the polluting effect of eutrophic inland waters communicating with the sea coast. The study was planned after a heavy and long-lastingPlanktothrix rubescensbloom occurred in the Lake Occhito, an artificial reservoir. The waters of the reservoir flow into the southern Adriatic Sea, near several marine breeding ofMytilus galloprovincialismussels, a typical seafood from the Apulia region (Southern Italy). A monitoring study of water and mussels from the sea coast of northern Apulia region and on the Occhito reservoir was carried out over twelve months, to get more information regarding the contamination by cyanobacteria and related cyanotoxins. Elisa immunoassay analyses estimated total microcystin amounts from 1.73 to 256 ng/g in mussels, up to 0.61 μg/L in sea water and up to 298.7 μg/L in lake water. Analyses of some samples of free-living marine clams as well as of marine and freshwater fish proved microcystin contamination. Selective confirmatory analyses by LC/ESI-Q-ToF-MS/MS on some mussel samples identified the microcystin desMe-MC-RR as the major toxin; this compound has been reported in the literature as a specific marker toxin ofPlanktothrix rubescensblooms. Our study describes for the first time the direct relationship between environmental pollution and food safety, caused by seafood contamination from freshwater toxic blooms

Oral contraceptives combined with interferon β in multiple sclerosis

Objective: To test the effect of oral contraceptives (OCs) in combination with interferon b (IFN-b) on disease activity in patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS). Methods: One hundred fifty women with RRMS were randomized in a 1:1:1 ratio to receive IFNb-1a subcutaneously (SC) only (group 1), IFN-b-1a SC plus ethinylstradiol 20 mg and desogestrel 150 mg (group 2), or IFN-b-1a SC plus ethinylestradiol 40 mg and desogestrel 125 mg (group 3). The primary endpoint was the cumulative number of combined unique active (CUA) lesions on brain MRI at week 96. Secondary endpoints included MRI and clinical and safety measures. Results: The estimated number of cumulative CUA lesions at week 96 was 0.98 (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.81–1.14) in group 1, 0.84 (95% CI 0.66–1.02) in group 2, and 0.72 (95% CI 0.53–0.91) in group 3, with a decrease of 14.1% (p 5 0.24) and 26.5% (p 5 0.04) when comparing group 1 with groups 2 and 3, respectively. The number of patients with no gadoliniumenhancing lesions was greater in group 3 than in group 1 (p 5 0.03). No significant differences were detected in other secondary endpoints. IFN-b or OC discontinuations were equally distributed across groups. Conclusions: Our results translate the observations derived from experimental models to patients, supporting the anti-inflammatory effects of OCs with high-dose estrogens, and suggest possible directions for future research

Fungal diversity, woody debris, and wood decomposition in managed and unmanaged Patagonian Nothofagus pumilio forests

Fungal diversity, woody debris, and wood decomposition were assessed in Nothofagus pumilio forests with and without forest management (controls) in Argentina, and were related with the forest structure and microclimate. We established a wood decomposition assay to determine mass loss of branches and twigs in two decay classes (1, incipient and 2, intermediate decay stage), and used generalized linear mixed-effects models to evaluate whether fungal diversity and mass loss differed between treatments (managed forests and controls). We found no differences in richness nor in abundance between treatments, and their community composition was similar. However, Botryobasidium vagum, Phanerochaete velutina, and Sistotrema brinkmanii were more abundant in managed forests, and Amyloathelia aspera was more abundant in controls. Branches in the intermediate decay stage showed greater mass loss in managed forests than in controls, but mass loss of the other debris types did not differ between treatments. The volume of coarse woody debris was greater in managed forests than in controls, and had a positive effect on fungal richness. Our results indicate that N. pumilio forest management did not generate evident changes in fungal diversity, or in wood decomposition after 20 years of the forest management. However, the higher mass loss of branches in the intermediate decay stage observed in managed forests suggests that there were some factors operating in those forests in the past which may have accelerated decomposition. This highlights the need for studies evaluating changes in canopy cover, microclimate, and fungal community, including potential key species, in the short term and the long term after forest management.Fil: Gallo, Ana Laura. Centro de Investigación y Extensión Forestal Andino Patagónico; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Silva, Patricia Valeria. Centro de Investigación y Extensión Forestal Andino Patagónico; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: López Bernal, P.. Universidad Nacional de la Patagonia "San Juan Bosco"; ArgentinaFil: Moretto, Alicia Susana. Universidad Nacional de Tierra del Fuego; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Greslebin, Alina Gabriela. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Patagonia Norte. Centro de Investigación Esquel de Montaña y Estepa Patagónica. Universidad Nacional de la Patagonia "San Juan Bosco". Centro de Investigación Esquel de Montaña y Estepa Patagónica; Argentin

Global existence and collisions for symmetric configurations of nearly parallel vortex filaments

We consider the Schr\"odinger system with Newton-type interactions that was derived by R. Klein, A. Majda and K. Damodaran [18] to modelize the dynamics of N nearly parallel vortex filaments in a 3-dimensional homogeneous incompressible uid. The known large time existence results are due to C. Kenig, G. Ponce and L. Vega [17] and concern the interaction of two filaments and particular configurations of three filaments. In this article we prove large time existence results for particular configurations of four nearly parallel filaments and for a class of configurations of N nearly parallel filaments for any N\geq 2. We also show the existence of travelling wave type dynamics. Finally we describe configurations leading to collision.Comment: 21 page