The Use of Risk Assessment to Decide the Control Strategy for Bluetongue in Italian Ruminant Populations

The affiliation, assessment and management of risks is a traditional part of veterinary medicine. In the past, veterinary services involved in this type of activity usually assessed risks qualitatively. However, since the 1990s, quantitative methods have become increasingly important. The establishment of the World Trade Organization in 1994, and the promulgation of its Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (the "SPS Agreement") led to an increased application of import risk analysis and to significant improvements in the methodology of risk analysis as applied to international trade policy for animals and animal products. However, there was very little development of risk analysis in veterinary fields other than international trade and management of health risks to consumers of animal products and little has been published on its use in the choice and definition of control or prophylaxis strategies for animal diseases. This article describes a quantitative risk assessment, which was undertaken in Italy to help choose an appropriate national response strategy following an incursion of bluetongue, an infectious disease of sheep and goats. The results obtained in this study support the use of risk analysis as a tool to assist in choosing an appropriate animal disease management strategy. The use of risk analysis in the evaluation of disease management strategies also offers advantages in international trade. It makes easier the comparison of different strategies applied in the various countries, and thus facilitates the assessment of equivalence of the guarantees provided by different strategies.     

Single-cell antisense RNA amplification and microarray analysis as a tool for studying neurological degeneration and restoration

Neurodegenerative diseases typically affect subpopulations of neurons. Characterizing these vulnerable cells and identifying the factors that make them susceptible to damage while neighboring cells remain resistant are essential to the understanding of molecular pathogenesis that underlies neurodegenerative diseases. Classically, molecular analysis of the central nervous system involves the identification and isolation of an anatomic region of interest; next, the relevant tissue is pulverized, and the resulting homogenate is analyzed. Although this method provides useful data, its effectiveness diminishes when used in areas of high cellular diversity or in instances in which one cell type is lost as a consequence of selective cell death or quiescence. A technique that affords the ability to assess molecular events in a very precise anatomical site would provide a powerful tool for this research discipline. In this review, we discuss the amplification of messenger RNA from single neural cells and the subsequent use of the RNA to probe DNA microarrays in an effort to create cell-specific molecular profiles. Specifically, recent work in single-cell expression profiling in Alzheimer's and Huntington's diseases is discussed. We also review some new work with neural stem cells and their application to restorative neurobiology. Finally, we discuss the use of cell-specific molecular profiles to better understand the basics of neuronal cell biology.     

Validity and reliability of the Italian Gambling Functional Assessment–Revised

Problem gambling is a growing phenomenon in Italy, and there is increasing interest in studying the reasons for gambling in the Italian community. The Gambling Functional Assessment–Revised (GFA-R) was developed to assess two contingencies maintaining gambling behaviour: positive reinforcement and escape. The study hypothesized that the GFA-R could be translated and adopted in the Italian context. The main purpose of this study was to test the factor structure of the Italian version of the GFA-R by means of confirmatory factor analysis, its internal consistency and validity, in a sample of 667 Italian-speaking adults, recruited at universities, banks, of?ces, industries, markets, public parks and shops in five regions: Piemonte, Veneto, Lazio, Calabria and Puglia. The study found that the scale was internally consistent, and results showed that the original two-factor model fitted the data well. It also found moderate correlations between the GFA-R-I and both SOGS scores and GRCS scores. These results will allow Italian psychologists, educators and policymakers to identify specific contingencies maintaining gambling behaviour (positive reinforcement vs. escape) in the Italian community, detecting people more at risk of developing disordered gambling, with significant improvements in terms of prevention and clinical intervention.     

The role and effect of controlling shareholders in corporate governance

This paper examines two potentially contradictory effects of the presence of controlling shareholders. Controlling shareholders have been shown to be beneficial, as they generally have a long-term interest in the firm and are willing and able to monitor the actions of senior managers closely and decrease agency costs between shareholders and management (agency costs of Type I). However, they are also in a position to expropriate the firm’s assets, especially when they are actively involved in management (agency costs of Type II). More specifically, this article reviews how regulatory and legislative bodies have tried to curb the consumption of private benefits by controlling shareholders while preserving the beneficial aspects of their long-term interest and their monitoring role, the effect controlling shareholders on the application and effectiveness of corporate governance best practices as well as on the executive and board member remuneration.     

Female Labor Participation in the Arab World: Evidence from Panel Data in Morocco

Female Participation Rates (FPRs) in the Arab world are low compared with the level of economic development of Arab countries. Beyond anecdotal evidence and cross‐country studies, there is very little evidence on what could explain this phenomenon. This paper models FPRs in Morocco using the richest set of panel data available for any Arab country to date. It finds marriage, secondary education, and GDP per capita to lower FPRs. These findings are robust to different estimators, endogeneity tests, specifications of the FPR equations, and sources of data. The explanation seems to reside in the nature of economic growth and gender norms. Economic growth has not generated jobs for women with secondary education and this factor reinforces the institution of marriage as a permanent alternative to work.     

Internal corporate governance mechanisms as drivers of firm value: panel data evidence for Chilean firms

The paper analyses to what extent ownership structure, capital structure, and dividend policy as corporate governance mechanisms drive the firm value. From a data panel of publicly quoted Chilean firms for the years 2002–2010, we find that there is an inverse U-shaped relationship between ownership concentration and firm value. The positive slope is supported by the supervision hypothesis; whilst the negative relation between ownership concentration and firm value is supported by the expropriation hypothesis. We also find that there is a positive impact of both leverage and the dividend pay-out on the firm value. In this case, these two mechanisms reduce the free cash flows which otherwise might be used opportunistically by managers in their own interests (free rider problem). Contrary to the previous empirical literature in Chile, it is found that the mere fact that a firm is affiliated to a business group/conglomerate impacts positively its value. This positive effect is basically driven by the development of intragroup capital markets, and the governance imposed by the rules of the conglomerate.     

On time and money donations

This paper investigates the importance of two forms of ‘impure’ altruism (“warm glow” and reputational concerns) as potential determinants of both time and money gifts. We first develop a comprehensive behavioral model which accounts for both types of donations, as well as for decisions about domestic and market hours of work. We then provide an empirical test of these drivers for giving using survey data for Italy. Results suggest that, according to the theoretical predictions, proxies for ‘impure’ altruism are important determinants of donations. Moreover, the unobservable determinants driving money and time donations are positively correlated, suggesting a certain degree of complementarity between the two decisions. Our findings also stress the importance of considering a behavioral model accounting for a full set of time and income uses to better characterize individual decisions to donate.