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Our analysis compares multi–factor models with Italian stock market data for the period 1990–2000. The first, the simple CAPM, is the relevant benchmark because of its simplicity. The second, the extended Fama–French model (including the momentum portfolio), is the best candidate for substituting the one–factor model. The third is a multi–factor model including sectors; and the fourth is a multi–factor model including the change in short–term interest rates as an extra factor. The results of our research are mildly positive. The Fama–French multi–factor model behaves rather well in time series tests. However, in the cross–section, the average premia are not significantly different from zero, supporting the idea that they are not able to explain the cross–section of returns in the Italian market. Moreover, there is weak evidence that the factor portfolios have predictive power for macroeconomic variables characterizing the state of the economy. What may explain the results? There are two main components: first is the presumably large size of shocks to returns in the Italian case, which makes it difficult to explore the relation among expected returns; second is the presence of extra factors which are not accounted for in our analysis. (J.E.L.: G11, G12). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Community resilience is a community's ability to maintain functioning (ie, delivery of services) during and after a disaster event. The Composite of Post-Event Well-Being (COPEWELL) is a system dynamics model of community resilience that predicts a community's disaster-specific functioning over time. We explored COPEWELL's usefulness as a practice-based tool for understanding community resilience and to engage partners in identifying resilience-strengthening strategies. In 2014, along with academic partners, the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene organized an interdisciplinary work group that used COPEWELL to advance cross-sector engagement, design approaches to understand and strengthen community resilience, and identify local data to explore COPEWELL implementation at neighborhood levels. The authors conducted participant interviews and collected shared experiences to capture information on lessons learned. The COPEWELL model led to an improved understanding of community resilience among agency members and community partners. Integration and enhanced alignment of efforts among preparedness, disaster resilience, and community development emerged. The work group identified strategies to strengthen resilience. Searches of neighborhood-level data sets and mapping helped prioritize communities that are vulnerable to disasters (eg, medically vulnerable, socially isolated, low income). These actions increased understanding of available data, identified data gaps, and generated ideas for future data collection. The COPEWELL model can be used to drive an understanding of resilience, identify key geographic areas at risk during and after a disaster, spur efforts to build on local metrics, and result in innovative interventions that integrate and align efforts among emergency preparedness, community development, and broader public health initiatives.

The presence of products containing nanoparticles or nanofibers is rapidly growing. Nanotechnology involves a wide spectrum of industrial fields. There is a lack of information regarding the toxicity of these nanoparticles in aqueous media. The potential acute toxicity of ZnO NPs using two marine crustacean species: the copepod Tigriopus fulvus and the amphypod Corophium insidiosum was evaluated. Acute tests were conducted on adults of T. Fulvus nauplii and C. insidiosum . Both test species were exposed for 96 h to 5 increasing concentrations of ZnO NPs and ZnSO 4 H 2 O, and the endpoint was mortality. Statistical analysis revealed that the mean LC50 values of both ZnO NPs and ZnSO 4 H 2 O (ZnO NPs: F = 59.42; P < 0.0015; ZnSO 4 H 2 O: F = 25.57; P < 0.0015) were significantly lower for Tigriopus fulvus than for Corophium insidiosum . This result confirms that the toxic effect could be mainly attributed to the Zn ions, confirming that the dissolution processes play a crucial role in the toxicity of the ZnO NPs., (Copyright © 2020 Vimercati, Cavone, Caputi, De Maria, Tria, Prato and Ferri.)

Knowing which demographic groups have higher rates of preventable hospitalizations can help identify geographic areas where improvements in primary care access and quality can be made. This study assessed whether preventable hospitalization rates by neighborhood poverty decreased from 2008 to 2013 and whether the gap between very high and low poverty neighborhoods changed. We examined trends in age-adjusted preventable hospitalization rates and rate ratios by neighborhood poverty overall and by sex using JoinPoint regression. Prevention Quality Indicators (PQIs) developed by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality were applied to inpatient hospitalization data from the New York State Department of Health's Statewide Planning and Research Cooperative System. PQIs were classified into composites. From 2008 to 2013, preventable hospitalization rates per 100,000 adults across each poverty group decreased. For very high poverty neighborhoods (ZIP codes with ≥30 % of persons living below the federal poverty level (FPL)), there were significant decreases overall (3430.56 to 2543.10, annual percent change [APC] = -5.91 %), for diabetes (676.15 to 500.83, APC = -5.75 %), respiratory (830.78 to 660.29, APC = -4.85 %), circulatory (995.69 to 701.81, APC = -7.24 %), and acute composites (928.18 to 680.17, APC = -5.62 %). The rate ratios also decreased over time; however, in 2013, the rates for very high poverty neighborhoods were two to four times higher than low poverty neighborhoods (ZIP codes with <10 % of persons below the FPL). While preventable hospitalization rates have decreased over time, disparities still exist. These findings underscore the need to ensure adequate access to quality and timely primary care among individuals living in high poverty neighborhoods.

The aim of our study is to determine the effectiveness in reducing workplace accidents in agriculture using preventive interventions including awareness and effective knowledge of hazards with workers who followed training-informative programs. On the basis of the data reported in the 11 studies three categories we identified: Reduction in the number of workplace accidents: comparison between groups; Reduction in the number of workplace accidents: before-after comparison; Self-rating of injuries risk reduction. The second category showed significant statistical differences in the subgroup who followed preventive intervention compared to subgroup who did not follow this intervention. The third category showed a significant statistical increase of the Consciousness Index of the agricultural workers who followed the training-informative programs. The results suggested the need to use assessment models more suitable to the nature of the examined variables. A promising area is the evaluation of knowledge of risks achieved by workers exposed to formative-informative programs.

With the legislative decree 81/08 and s.m.i. it's explicitly defined a model of management and corporate organization that can contribute to prevent security risks in work environments. The realization of the model is not obligatory, but desirable because the result of its implementation is a decrease of company's risks and costs for safety. Our study group has developed the structure of an organizational and management model for corporate safety and the tools necessary for its realization. The realization of a model is structured in various phases: initial exam, safety policy, planification, implementation, monitoring, system retest and improvement. Such a model, in continuous evolution, is based on the responsibilities of the different corporate figures through an accurate analysis of the measured risks and the measures adopted.

Background: According to scientific literature, burnout can be described as a multi-dimensional syndrome with three fundamental dimensions: emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and reduced personal accomplishment., Objectives: Since attention for this phenomenon is increasing, with a large number of articles published in scientific journals in recent years, we set out to evaluate the scientific evidence on this topic by applying the meta-analytical method., Methods: All comparative studies performed on burnout were identified and examined in order to compute the Effect Size of the results. Forty studies complied with the inclusion criteria of this analysis for a total of 2,031 burnout cases versus 1,950 controls., Results: Our results revealed a significant disparity in the methods of selecting subjects with burnout. This problem emphasizes the lack of a standardized definition of burnout as a univocal clinical entity and, consequently, the lack of a unanimously agreed procedure for the identification of patients to be included in this diagnostic category., Conclusions: The wide heterogeneity between studies thus considerably reduces the possibility of comparing them and generalizing the results.

The suggested potential for therapeutic use of nerve growth factor (NGF) in the treatment of toxic and degenerative disorders of the nervous system indicates a need to determine its pharmacokinetics. To this end, murine NGF was administered to adult rats and multiple blood samples were withdrawn at intervals. NGF levels, determined in plasma samples by a two-site enzyme immunoassay, were used to determine the pharmacokinetics of NGF. These studies demonstrate that murine NGF has a distribution half-life of about 5.4 min and an elimination half-life of 2.3 h following intravenous injection. When administered by subcutaneous (sc) injection, the elimination half-life is prolonged to 4.5 h. Administration of NGF by sc continuous infusion, using mini-osmotic pumps, provides stable, dose-related levels of circulating NGF within few days from pump implantation. Upon removal of the pump, NGF levels show a rapid decay (t1/2 about 1.5 h) followed by a slow elimination phase (t1/2 about 150 h). These pharmacokinetic parameters might serve for selection of an appropriate administration route and dose regimen that would optimize schedule-dependent expression of NGF therapeutic activity.

The effect of nerve growth factor (NGF) on muscarinic receptor subtypes was investigated in a primary culture of telencephalic neurons prepared from neonatal rats. The treatment with 100 ng/ml of NGF significantly enhanced choline acetyltransferase (ChAT) activity and intracellular acetylcholine (ACh) content during cultivation. The same treatment induced an early transient increase of the number of muscarinic cholinergic receptors (mAChR), as measured by [3H]quinuclidinyl benzilate binding to cell homogenate, that was followed by a dramatic decrease of the receptor density from the 9th day of culture. Atropine completely prevented the decrease of the maximal number of muscarinic recognition sites induced by NGF. Prolonged exposure of telencephalic neurons to NGF also induced a significant reduction of the relative content of the messenger RNA (mRNA) encoding m1 and m3 receptors, while the m4 transcript was increased by the treatment. We suggest that the prolonged stimulation of cholinergic neurons by NGF induces a downregulation of m1 and m3 mAChR and their mRNAs on the postsynaptic site, while it increases the synthesis of the functionally distinct m4 receptor subtype, which might be presynaptically localized on cholinergic neurons. The transient increase of the receptor number that occurs at the first days of culture was not paralleled by changes in the relative content of mAChR mRNAs and might be associated with the trophic activity of NGF on cholinergic synapses during early development.

Brucellosis is as yet an unsolved problem in view of its persistent occurrence in spite of government-sponsored prophylactic campaigns in animals. Environmental, social, economic and behavioral factors prevent the eradication of brucellosis from our country. The authors report epidemiological data of animal and human brucellosis during the last ten years, and stress the need for the vaccination of animals, hoping for an increased sensitivity among breeders and for a more efficient and consequent control by the responsible health authorities, as well as for appropriate and comprehensive control of foodstuffs, above all of milk and milk products.