1,720,983 research outputs found

    Social pressure and home bias in football: evidence from Italy

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    In this paper, we follow an Instrumental Variable (IV) estimation strategy to assess the impact of crowd effects on the outcomes of the Italian Serie A matches. We use weather conditions to instrument for crowd attendance. We verify the validity of our identification strategy by taking advantage of matches played during the COVID-19 outbreak in Italy. We find that crowd effects have a positive impact on the home team performance

    Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis

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    The present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed

    Carbon dioxide therapy: effects on skin irregularity and its use as a complement to liposuction

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    For a successful conventional or superficial liposuction, it is necessary to consider the competence of the surgeon who is to administer the procedure necessary for this type of surgery as well as the physical and psychological evaluation of the determined patient. A poor result often is related to the persistence of adipose tissue irregularity in the form of fatty tissue accumulation. This complication, common to this type of surgery, has called for research to determine methods for its treatment. Carbon dioxide (CO2) therapy refers to the transcutaneous and subcutaneous administration of CO2 for therapeutic purposes. This treatment originated at the Royal Spas of France in 1932 with the treatment of patients affected by obliteration of arteriopathies. Recent studies have demonstrated the effect of subcutaneous CO2 therapy performed to improve local parameters of circulation (performed by Doppler, laser-Doppler, and trans-cutaneous partial pressure of oxygen determination), and to reduce localized adiposities (verified reporting variations in maximum circumference and performing histologic studies). With these results, the absence of toxicity, and the relevant side effects related to this treatment taken into consideration, the Plastic Surgery Unit of Siena has been committed to researching the role that CO2 therapy can play in the treatment of skin irregularity and as a complement to liposuction. The authors report their experience using Carbomed programmable automatic CO2 therapy apparatus and 30GA1/2 0,3X13 microlance needles for the treatment of patients with adipose tissue accumulations located on the thighs and knees. In their study, 42 patients were divided into three groups: A, B, and C. In Group A, only liposuction was performed. In group B 3 weeks after liposuction CO2 therapy was administered in two weekly subcutaneous applications of CO2 for 10 consecutive weeks. In group C, CO2 therapy alone was administered with the same contingencies used for group B (two weekly subcutaneous applications of CO2 for 10 consecutive weeks). The objective was to assess the effectiveness of CO2 therapy for skin irregularity and as a complement to liposuction for adipose tissue accumulation by reporting variations in circumference and skin elasticity monitored by the Cutometer SEM 474 in all treated areas. The data obtained were analyzed statistically. Values of p less than 0.05 were considered significant. The authors report their experience and the results achieved from the stud

    Ectonucleoside triphosphate diphosphohydrolase-1/CD39 affects the response to ADP of female rat platelets

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    There is evidence that an imbalance of extracellular purine levels may be associated with increased cardiovascular risk. Platelets play a pivotal role in vascular homeostasis and thrombosis and are important source of purine nucleotides and nucleosides. Hydrolysis of nucleotides ATP and ADP is regulated by two ectonucleotidases, triphosphate diphosphohydrolase-1 (NTPDase-1/CD39) and ecto-5’-nucleotidase (ecto-5’-NT/CD73). CD39 enzyme is expressed on the endothelium, circulating blood cells, and smooth muscle cells; there is evidence that changes in CD39 expression and activity affects the potential thrombogenic of a tissue. Gender difference in the cardiovascular risk has been extensively observed; however, while the age-dependent difference in the prevalence of cardiovascular events between men and women has been attributed to the loss of the protective effect of estrogens in the postmenopausal period, the physiological mechanism behind gender disparity is still unclear. Here, we evaluated comparatively male and female rat platelet reactivity and considered the possible role of CD39 at the basis of difference observed. We found a reduced in vitro response to ADP (1–30 μM) of female compared to male platelets, associated to increased platelet CD39 expression and activity. Platelet response to ADP was strongly increased by incubation (10 min) with the CD39 inhibitor, ARL67156 (100 μM), while male platelet response was unaffected. Rat treatment with clopidogrel (30 mg/kg, per os) inhibited ex vivo platelet aggregation. Bleeding time was prolonged in female compared to male. Taken together, our results suggest that platelet ATPase and ADPase activity might be a reliable predictor of platelet reactivity

    Autologous fascial graft in the treament of third degree congenital blepharoptosis [Innesto autologo di fascia lata nel trattamento della blefaroptosi congenita di terzo grado]

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    The treatment of ptosis of the eyelid depends on type of lesion, its pathogenesis and severity. In congenital cases, which are generally linked to impairment of the levator palpebrae superioris, surgery is necessary and has the purpose of reinforcing or replacing the deficient function. This paper reports the outcomes of 8 patients, admitted to surgery owing to severe monolateral congenital ptosis of the eyelid. Surgery involved suspension of the tarsal plate to the musculus frontalis, through application of an autologous fascial graft. The choice of an autologous fascial graft as suspension material was prompted by its relative versatility and reliability. Moreover, its very low or absent reactivity made this material preferable to synthetic biomaterials. Considering the positive results achieved, the adopted method proved to be simple, versatile and effective
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