360 research outputs found
Circular economy, stock volatility, and resilence to the COVID-19 shock: evidence from European companies
Background. By decoupling economic growth from an intensive use of resources, preventing the impairment of natural capital, and enhancing resilience to system-wide shocks, Circular Economy (CE) is a powerful opportunity to hedge against “linear” risk factors. In fact, it helps shielding against the risk of assets becoming stranded, can generate fresh and non-speculative demand for investments, and can improve investment results at both individual and portfolio level. Problem. Therefore, equity investors into circular undertakings could benefit from (H1) reduced stock return volatility, as well as (H2) a greater ability to withstand exogenous negative events. Approach. For testing these hypotheses, we constructed a sample of 644 listed companies across EU-15 countries, plus Switzerland, and 17 different industries. We retrieved their market data in 2019-20, as well as their accounting fundamentals in 2018-19. By controlling for the latter, we investigated whether equity risk — either in total terms (i.e., the standard deviation of returns) or circumscribed to the systematic component thereof (i.e., the Beta against a European or global market index) — may be explained by a company’s degree of circularity, measured by the Circularity Score (CS). This is a novel indicator originally proposed by Zara and Ramkumar (2022), based on Refinitiv ESG data, the methodology whereof we significantly amended. As a core innovation, in weighting an entity’s performance on a CE framework, we assessed the latter’s ‘financial materiality’ (i.e., relevance to the company’s business) at sub-industry level, applying the SASB Materiality Maps. Via OLS estimation, we tested our hypotheses (i) over the whole-time horizon, in a panel model; (ii) on specific timeframes, in a standard cross-sectional model. The latter was applied to either the entire 2020 or subperiods thereof: namely, with respect to the COVID-19 outbreak, we distinguished between a pre-shock, a shock and a post-shock phase. Our quest was refined to conduct a deeper investigation into the Oil & Gas industry, which is intrinsically the most exposed to linear risks and, also, did experience the widest volatility in 2020. Findings. Both H1 and H2 received widespread confirmation. The CS was found to exert a negative, significant and robust effect on all the three risk measures, over the whole timespan as well as in subperiods (particularly the post-shock phase). Also, amplifying effects were recorded as of the Oil & Gas industry. Conclusions. Our results lend remarkable support to the idea that the CE is a powerful enabler of de-risking, also in case of a severe shock, with a view to mitigating the negative consequences and building back better. They call on firms and policymakers to foster the circular transition, thereby accelerating economic recovery in the aftermath of the pandemic crisis
Prediction of Kick Count in Triathletes during Freestyle Swimming Session Using Inertial Sensor Technology
Monitoring sports training performances with automatic, low cost, low power, and ergonomic solutions is a topic of increasing importance in the research of the last years. A parameter of particular interest, which has not been extensively dealt with in a state-of-the-art way, is the count of kicks during swimming training sessions. Coaches and athletes set the training sessions to optimize the kick count and swim stroke rate to acquire velocity and acceleration during swimming. In regard to race distances, counting kicks can influence the athlete’s performance. However, it is difficult to record the kick count without facing some issues about subjective interpretation. In this paper, a new method for kick count is proposed, based on only one triaxial accelerometer worn on the athlete’s ankle. The algorithm was validated on data recorded during freestyle training sessions. An accuracy of 97.5% with a sensitivity of 99.3% was achieved. The proposed method shows good linearity and a slope of 1.01. These results overcome other state-of-the-art methods, proving that this method is a good candidate for a reliable, embedded kick count
Effects of a Randomized Home-Based Quality of Movement Protocol on Function, Posture and Strength in Outpatients with Obesity
The aim of this study was to determine the effects of two different home-based training interventions on functional parameters and body composition in obese patients. Significant interactions and main effects of time (p < 0.0001) were found in MQ compared to CT in the functional parameters, while muscular strength and body composition variables improved similarly in both groups with a main effect of time (p < 0.05). These findings suggest that a home-based movement quality training is effective in ameliorating postural control and movement efficiency with similar improvements in muscular strength and body composition compared with a mere traditional resistance training
Size resolved aerosol respiratory doses in a Mediterranean urban area: From PM10 to ultrafine particles
In the framework of the 2017 "carbonaceous aerosol in Rome and Environs" (CARE) experiment, particle number size distributions have been continuously measured on February 2017 in downtown Rome. These data have been used to estimate, through MPPD model, size and time resolved particle mass, surface area and number doses deposited into the respiratory system. Dosimetry estimates are presented for PM10, PM2.5, PM1 and Ultrafine Particles (UFPs), in relation to the aerosol sources peculiar to the Mediterranean basin and to the atmospheric conditions. Particular emphasis is focused on UFPs and their fraction deposited on the olfactory bulb, in view of their possible translocation to the brain. The site of PM10 deposition within the respiratory system considerably changes, depending on the aerosol sources and then on its different size distributions. On making associations between health endpoints and aerosol mass concentrations, the relevant coarse and fine fractions would be more properly adopted, because they have different sources, different capability of penetrating deep into the respiratory system and different toxicological implications. The separation between them should be set at 1ʵm, rather than at 2.5ʵm, because the fine fraction is considerably less affected by the contribution of the natural sources. Mass dose is a suitable metric to describe coarse aerosol events but gives a poor representation of combustion aerosol. This fraction of particles, made of UFPs and of accumulation mode particles (mainly with size below 0.2ʵm), is of high health relevance. It elicited the highest oxidative activity in the CARE experiment and is properly described by the particle surface area and by the number metrics. Such metrics are even more relevant for the UFP doses deposited on the olfactory bulb, in consideration of the role recognized to oxidative stress in the progression of neurodegenerative diseases. Such metrics would be more appropriate, rather than PMx mass concentrations, to correlate neurodegenerative pathologies with aerosol pollution
Ergatandromorphism in the Ant Myrmica lobulicornis Nylander, 1857 (Formicidae: Myrmicinae)
Ergatandromorphism is the result of an aberrant development in which part of the body of a social insect shows the traits of the worker caste, while the other resembles a male. It is considered a specific case of gynandromorphism. Specimens with these characteristics have rarely been collected in different ant lineages across the world. Here, we provide the first description of ergatandromorphism in the ant Myrmica lobulicornis Nylander, 1857: an ergatandromorphous specimen was recovered during an arthropod sampling campaign across altitudinal and ecological gradients on the Italian Alps (Stelvio National Park), together with 480 workers and 4 queens of the same species, which expressed the normal phenotype
Social Parasite Ants in the Alps: a New Site of the Vulnerable Myrmica myrmicoxena and New Uppermost Altitudinal Limit for M. microrubra
We conducted a survey on the Alpine fauna of one of the largest Natural Park of the Italian Alps (Stelvio National Park) in the framework of a broad ecological monitoring of Alpine biodiversity. A two-years standardized sampling employing pitfall traps along a 1200 m altitudinal gradient led to the discovery of two interesting inquiline social parasite ants of the genus Myrmica: M. myrmicoxena Forel, 1895 and M. microrubra Seifert, 1993. Myrmica myrmicoxena, which is classified as Vulnerable according to the IUCN Red List, was so far known from only three sites across a narrow geographic range between Italy and Switzerland. Our data support the previous hypothesis over its ecology and host association. Myrmica microrubra is considered an incipient species of high evolutionary interest, sometimes regarded as an intraspecific form of M. rubra. While having a wide distribution in Europe, its presence in Italy was hitherto known only from a single site, and our record extends its altitudinal distribution limit in Europe upwards by about 600 m
Absolute monocyte count at diagnosis could improve the prognostic role of early FDG-PET in classical Hodgkin lymphoma patients
Recently published international guidelines suggested that
positron emission tomography (PET)-computed tomography
(CT) could be utilized for response assessment using the
Deauville criteria in fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG)-avid lym-
phomas (Meignan et al, 2012). Interim PET (I-PET) scan-
ning seems highly predictive of treatment failure in Hodgkin
Lymphoma (HL) patients.
We recently showed that the absolute monocyte count
(AMC) has prognostic value in patients with classical HL
(cHL) (Tadmor et al, 2015). Here, we show that the com-
bined use of I-PET and AMC at diagnosis enables a more
accurate projection of patient outcome in cHL.
The present study is an ancillary branch of the analysis
reported by Tadmor et al, (2015). Patients with histopatho-
logical diagnosis of cHL previously enrolled in the Gruppo
Italiano Studio Linfomi trials were eligible if data on all clini-
cal and laboratory features and treatments, reported I-PET
results, treatment response and follow-up were available.
Response was defined according to the revised International
Working Group guidelines (Cheson et al, 1999). An absolute
lymphocyte count <06 9 10
9
/l and AMC > 075 9 10
9
/l
were used as cut-off points. I-PET was performed after 2
cycles of treatment. A positive or negative I-PET was defined
by the local investigators’ interpretation of the nuclear physi-
cian’s scan report, which was based on a visual qualitative
assessment.
The principal end-point of the study was the impact of
I-PET and AMC on progression-free survival (PFS); their
impact on overall survival (OS) was the secondary end-point.
Survival functions were estimated using the Kaplan–Meier
method. Statistical comparisons between curves were per-
formed with log-rank test, and the effect of the covariate was
reported as hazard ratios (HR), from Cox regression.
All patients had a diagnosis of cHL; 76% of cases had the
nodular sclerosis (NS) subtype. Seventy-six patients (64%)
were treated with classical ABVD (doxorubicin, bleomycin,
vincristine, dacarbazine), and 23 (19%) and 19 (16%) with
the more intensive BEACOPP (bleomycin, etoposide, doxoru-
bicin, cyclophosphamide, vincristine, procarbazine, pred-
nisone) and COPPEBVCAD (cyclophosphamide, lomustine,
vindesine, melphalan, prednisone, epidoxirubicin, vincristine,
procarbazine, vinblastine, bleomycin) regimens (Federico
et al, 2009), respectively. Of the entire cohort, 104 patients
(88%) achieved complete remission. Twenty-six patients had
a positive I-PET (22%) and 28 (24%) had AMC > 075 9
10
9
/l at diagnosis.
The median follow-up of the entire cohort was 88 months
(range 5–142 months). The estimated 5-year OS was 91%
(95% confidence interval [CI]: 84–95%). The 5-year PFS was
80% (95% CI: 71–86%). Patients with positive I-PET showed
a worse PFS compared to patients with negative I-PET (51%
and 88%, respectively; HR 587 [95% CI: 256–135]).
Patients with AMC > 075 9 10
9
/l at diagnosis had a worse
PFS compared to patients with AMC ≤ 075 9 10
9
/l (58%
and 87%, respectively; HR 373 [95% CI: 161–864]). Multi-
ple Cox proportional hazards (PH) regression, adjusted for
International Prognostic Score 3–7, confirmed the prognostic
role of I-PET (HR 532 [95% CI: 230–123]; P < 0001) and
AMC >075 9 10
9
/l (HR 319 [95% CI: 132–768];
P = 0010). Figure 1A, B shows the PFS for I-PET and AMC,
and Table I shows the uni- and multivariate Cox PH regres-
sion for PFS. The prognostic role of I-PET and AMC on OS
was also confirmed.
Given the strong predictive value of both I-PET and
AMC, we stratified patients by positive or negative I-PET
and AMC > 075 9 10
9
/l or ≤075 9 10
9
/l into 3 groups
with different levels of risk. The low risk level (negative I-
PET and AMC ≤ 075 9 10
9
/l; n = 73, 62%) had a 5-year
PFS of 90% (95% CI: 80–96%), the intermediate level
(I-PET positive or AMC > 075 9 10
9
/l; n = 36, 51%) had a
5-year PFS of 73% (95% CI: 55–85%), and the high risk level
(I-PET positive and AMC > 075 9 10
9
/l; n = 9, 8%) had a
5-year PFS of 17% (95% CI: 1–49%). The log-rank test
between the intermediate and low levels and between the
high and intermediate levels were significant (P = 0 007,
P = 0001, respectively). For OS, the difference between the
intermediate and low risk levels tended to narrow
(P = 0232), while the difference between the high and inter-
mediate levels was significantly different (P < 0001). Fig-
ure 1C, D shows the PFS and OS stratified by risk group.
The test for trend in PFS and OS was significant
(P < 0001).
The rationale for using AMC as a prognostic parameter in
cHL is relevant because immunohistochemical and molecular
data, including the gene expression profile, have identified a
key role for monocytes and macrophages in the biology of
cHL (Steidl et al, 2010; Porrata et al, 2012; Tan et al, 2012;
Koh et al , 2015; Tadmor et al, 2015). It might therefore bepossible that AMC is associated with the number of tumour-
associated macrophages (TAMs) in the microenvironment. If
so, then it could be considered as a biomarker of reactive
cells that is easily detectable in peripheral blood. The FDG-
PET scan is currently considered the most precise staging
method and may also be used to provide an early prediction
of treatment efficacy There is a strong suggestion that reactive cells are respon-
sible for the increased FDG uptake at baseline, as they
account for 99% of Hodgkin tumours (Gallamini, 2010).
Furthermore, early responses to treatment have been sug-
gested to demonstrate the elimination of reactive cells, or at
least the disappearance of their activity, and are indirect
surrogates of tumour chemo-sensitivity (Gallamini &
Kostakoglu, 2012). Thus, the FDG-PET scan could be
considered a biomarker of the extent and activity of the
tumour microenvironment.
However, in clinical practice, patients with negative I-PET
can rapidly progress during induction treatment, while other
patients with positive I-PET may eventually achieve a CR.
Therefore, there is a need to further improve the predictive
power of I-PET. By combining the AMC at diagnosis with
the I-PET results, we showed that it is possible to increase
the discriminatory power of I-PET alone in identifying cHL
patients with poor PFS and OS. We are fully aware that our
study has many weaknesses, such as its retrospective nature,
the small number of patients and the lack of use of the
Deauville criteria. However, our results suggest that it is pos-
sible to further improve the already high predictive power of
PET by combining it with a simple and inexpensive surrogate
biomarker of reactive cells that are easily detectable in
peripheral blood
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