Safer Ones Research Articles

Determinants of individual investment decisions in investment‐based crowdfunding

AbstractWe investigate determinants of investment decisions in investment‐based (equity and bond) crowdfunding campaigns, using a novel investment‐, investor‐ and campaign‐level database, where equity refers to investments in entrepreneurial start‐ups and bonds to large real estate projects. We find that investors who have higher social interactions invest more. Social interactions are important in an equity crowdfunding context but do not affect participation in bond investments. This is consistent with the view that investors' social networks help reduce information asymmetry. Women invest less in the riskiest (equity) investments but more in safer ones (bonds). These findings are better explained by differences in risk aversion than differences in overconfidence between men and women. Overall, the findings contribute to the understanding of how investment‐based crowdfunding can be a viable source of entrepreneurial finance and how entrepreneurs' campaign decisions affect investor participation in this new form of entrepreneurial finance.

Leverage Limits and Bank Risk: New Evidence on an Old Question

Banks are regulated more than most firms, making them good subjects to study regulatory arbitrage (avoidance). Their latest arbitrage opportunity may be the new leverage rule covering the largest U.S. banks; leverage rules require equal capital against assets with unequal risks, so banks can effectively relax the leverage constraint by increasing asset risk. Consistent with that conjecture, we find that banks covered by the new rule shifted to riskier, higher yielding securities relative to control banks. The shift began almost precisely when the rule was finalized in 2014, well before it took effect in 2018. Security-level analysis suggests banks actively added riskier securities, rather than merely shedding safer ones. Despite the risk-shifting, overall bank risk did not increase, evidently because the banks most constrained by the new leverage rule significantly increased leverage capital ratios.

Development Green Spectrophotometric Method for Determination of Sulfamethoxazole in Pure and Pharmaceutical Formulations

Green analytical chemistry is considered as a branch of the green chemistry and the main its goal is to achieve more green analysis in quality control laboratories through different direction, such as replacing or minimizing toxic reagents and modify or replace analytical techniques or methods with safer ones. We develop a simple, accurate and sensitive spectrophotometric procedure for determination of Sulfamethoxazole (SMX) using phenoxazine (PNZ) as green analytical reagent. The method is based on oxidation in aqueous mildly acidic medium primary amine group of SMX and coupling with PNZ in the prescient iron (III) to form a stable color having maximum absorption at 520 nm. Beer's law was obeyed in the range concentration of 0.1-6 mg/l and molar absorptivity 6.105 × 104 L.mol-1.cm-1. Sandell’s sensitivity 0.003 μg.cm-2 and detection limit (DL) 0.021 ppm. The direct determination of SMX in pure form and in its pharmaceutical formulations method successfully applied with very good recoveries 98.70%-101.5%. Green spectrophotometric analytical analyses become unique when the pharmaceutical drugs reagents combine with low concentration to determinate or estimate pharmaceutical drugs.

Green Synthesis of Pyrrole Derivatives

Background: Pyrroles are organic cyclic compounds with an extensive and fascinating chemistry. These compounds have a wide structural variety and they are an important basis in technological development as they can be used as drugs, dyes, catalysts, pesticides, etc. Therefore, the production of these heterocyclic compounds by efficient clean methodologies is a great achievement in contemporary chemistry. In this paper, we show recent green procedures in the synthesis of pyrrole derivatives such as Hantzsch, Knorr and Paal- Knorr syntheses, as well as new eco-friendly synthetic procedures with high efficiency and low environmental impact. Objective: This work focusses on the recent advances in the pyrrole synthesis using clean techniques like ultrasound (US), microwaves (MW), high speed vibration milling (HSVM), catalysts use, solvent replace and other methodologies applied to common reactions to obtain the pyrrole core which follow the green chemistry principles. Conclusion: The main challenge of Green Chemistry is to gradually eliminate the generation of hazardous or harmful materials or replace them with less toxic and safer ones. However, this process must be driven by scientific developments. Its application in the synthesis of heterocyclic compounds such as pyrrole derivatives involves multiple economic and social benefits due to the biological importance of these compounds and their direct impact on the pharmaceutical industry. Although many processes are still under investigation using novel methodologies of green activation such as microwaves, ultrasound and HSVM, as well as synthetic processes in continuous flow and processes at room temperature, promising results such as cost and waste reduction and greater efficiency are achieved.

Green Analytical Chemistry, Opportunities for Pharmaceutical Quality Control

This review article summarizes the opportunities for utilizing the green analytical chemistry (GAC) techniques and principles in the field of quality control (Q.C) of the pharmaceuticals. Green analytical chemistry is considered a branch of the green chemistry which is based on principles overlap with the sustained development ultimate goals. General definitions of quality and quality control, principles of Green Analytical Chemistry, proposals for greener sample pre-treatment, and greener chromatographic method of analysis to be applied in QC laboratories are herein discussed. The main goal is achieving more eco- friendly analysis in QC laboratories through different strategies and techniques replace the toxic reagents, and to modify or replace analytical methods and/or techniques with safer ones, making it possible to dramatically reduce the amounts of reagents consumed and waste generated. General definitions for quality and quality control: There are Several definitions of the term “quality”, yet one of them is of top importance to the perception of “Managing for Quality” concept. This definition describes product quality as “those features of products which meet customer needs and the freedom from deficiencies hereby provide customer satisfaction”. Managing for quality makes extensive use of three managerial processes: 1- Quality planning; 2- Quality control; 3- Quality improvement.

Comprehensive Investigation on the Thermal Stability, Biodegradability and Fire-Induced Hazards of Pyrrolidinium-Based Ionic Liquids

One of the viable option to meet the stringent safety requirements of large-format LIBs is to replace the existing highly flammable/combustible, state-of-the-art organic based, electrolytes with safer ones. In this regard, the use of room temperature ionic liquids, RTILs, as advanced electrolytes in electrochemical energy storage devices has been one of the most enticing and emerging option. Though some imidazolium and chiefly pyrrolidinium based ILs are hailed as safer electrolytes, overcoming the limitations imposed by the highly volatile/combustible carbonate based electrolytes, the full scale and precise appraisal of their global (thermal stability, biodegradability, fire-induced) safety levels under abuse conditions remain to be fully addressed. With the aim of providing the requested level of information on the safety aspects of ILs, we embarked on a detailed investigation of the short and long term thermal stability, combustion behavior and biodegradability tests of various pyrrolidinium-based ILs, synthesized in our laboratory. ILs enlisting the effect of alkyl chain length, [Pyr1A] + (A=3-10), anion, Pyr14 (TFSI, FSI and BETI), cation, [Pyr14]+/ [Pyr12O1]+ [TFSI] and salt addition (e.g. LiTFSI/Pyr14TFSI) were methodically investigated. Through the use of myriad of techniques, i.e. ramped/isothermal thermogravimetric analysis, oxygen bomb calorimetry and multi-purpose fire propagation apparatus (FPA, ISO12136), key parameters governing the thermal and fire induced hazards such as ease of ignition, heat release rate, effective heat of combustion and fire induced toxicity (CO, Soot, THCs, SO2, HF, NO, N2O, and HCN) were determined. A number of biodegradability tests including Modified Sturm, Manometric Respirometry, and Zahn-Wellens/EMPA were conducted. The thermal stability,combustion and biodegradability tests of pyrrolidinium - based ILs are specific to the nature of the anion, cation, alkyl chain length as well the addition of lithium salt. In general, our detailed study provides a new systematic approach towards understanding the thermal stability, biodegradability and fire-induced hazard evaluation of large families of pyrrolidinium based ILs as well as access to data needed for a performance based approach of the evaluation of their safety benefits.

Enhancing Older Drivers' Safety: On Effects Induced by Stereotype Threat to Older Adults' Driving Performance, Working Memory and Self-Regulation.

In a study concerned with driving behaviors of older drivers (mean age 70 years) in a driving simulator, our findings indicate that telling older drivers that they are more at risk of accidents because of their age and their driving performance-related decline (i.e., exposing them to a stereotype threat concerning older drivers) severely impairs their self-regulatory skills. Moreover, our results show that this is at least partly due to exhaustion of the executive resources (older drivers under stereotype threat tended to contradict the stereotype of being slow by driving faster), appearing also through working memory overload (older drivers under stereotype threat performed markedly less well in a modular arithmetic task than drivers in the control condition). We thus complete the existing evidence that older drivers’ performance may be affected by socially-grounded factors, suggesting that simply being investigated may be enough to tax many capabilities in older people. We also propose that stereotype threat might be at least a partial explanation for why older drivers sometimes have poorer self-regulation performances after attending rehabilitation programs designed to make older drivers safer ones.

Green analytical chemistry: Opportunities for pharmaceutical quality control

This review article summarizes the opportunities for utilizing the green analytical chemistry (GAC) techniques and principles in the field of quality control (QC) of pharmaceuticals. Green analytical chemistry is considered a branch of the green chemistry based on the principles overlapping with the goals of sustainable development. General definitions of quality and quality control, the principles of GAC, proposals for greener sample pretreatment and greener chromatographic method of analysis applied in QC laboratories are discussed herein. The main goal is to achieve more eco-friendly analysis in QC laboratories through different strategies and techniques, replace toxic reagents, and modify or replace analytical methods and/or techniques with safer ones, making it possible to dramatically reduce the amounts of reagents consumed and waste generated.

Effects of PREPARE, a Multi-component, School-Based HIV and Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) Prevention Programme on Adolescent Sexual Risk Behaviour and IPV: Cluster Randomised Controlled Trial.

Young South Africans, especially women, are at high risk of HIV. We evaluated the effects of PREPARE, a multi-component, school-based HIV prevention intervention to delay sexual debut, increase condom use and decrease intimate partner violence (IPV) among young adolescents. We conducted a cluster RCT among Grade eights in 42 high schools. The intervention comprised education sessions, a school health service and a school sexual violence prevention programme. Participants completed questionnaires at baseline, 6 and 12 months. Regression was undertaken to provide ORs or coefficients adjusted for clustering. Of 6244 sampled adolescents, 55.3 % participated. At 12 months there were no differences between intervention and control arms in sexual risk behaviours. Participants in the intervention arm were less likely to report IPV victimisation (35.1 vs. 40.9 %; OR 0.77, 95 % CI 0.61–0.99; t(40) = 2.14) suggesting the intervention shaped intimate partnerships into safer ones, potentially lowering the risk for HIV.

How Does Bank Capital Affect the Supply of Mortgages? Evidence from a Randomized Experiment

We study the effect of bank capital on the supply of mortgages. We fully control for endogenous matching between borrowers, loan contracts, and banks by submitting randomized mortgage applications to the major online mortgage broker in Italy. We find that: higher bank capital is associated with a higher likelihood of application acceptance and lower offered interest rates; banks with lower capital reject applications by riskier borrowers and offer lower rates to safer ones. Finally, nonparametric estimates of the probability of acceptance and of the offered rate show that the effect of bank capital is stronger when capital is low.

Determinants of Individual Investment Decisions in Investment-Based Crowdfunding

We investigate determinants of investment decisions in investment-based (equity and real estate) crowdfunding, using a novel investment-, investor- and campaign-level database. We find that this market is a man's world, with nearly 93% of investments made by men. Consistent with behavioral and finance theories, we find that women invest less in the riskiest investments but more in safer ones. Further analyses show that these findings are better explained by differences in risk aversion than differences in overconfidence between men and women. Investors located in an area considered more "sociable" (socially friendly) also invest more, but only if the investor is a woman. Overall, the findings contribute to our understanding of how investment-based crowdfunding can be a viable source of entrepreneurial finance and how entrepreneurs' campaign decisions affect investor participation.

Cationic nanocarriers induce cell necrosis through impairment of Na(+)/K(+)-ATPase and cause subsequent inflammatory response.

Nanocarriers with positive surface charges are known for their toxicity which has limited their clinical applications. The mechanism underlying their toxicity, such as the induction of inflammatory response, remains largely unknown. In the present study we found that injection of cationic nanocarriers, including cationic liposomes, PEI, and chitosan, led to the rapid appearance of necrotic cells. Cell necrosis induced by cationic nanocarriers is dependent on their positive surface charges, but does not require RIP1 and Mlkl. Instead, intracellular Na+ overload was found to accompany the cell death. Depletion of Na+ in culture medium or pretreatment of cells with the Na+/K+-ATPase cation-binding site inhibitor ouabain, protected cells from cell necrosis. Moreover, treatment with cationic nanocarriers inhibited Na+/K+-ATPase activity both in vitro and in vivo. The computational simulation showed that cationic carriers could interact with cation-binding site of Na+/K+-ATPase. Mice pretreated with a small dose of ouabain showed improved survival after injection of a lethal dose of cationic nanocarriers. Further analyses suggest that cell necrosis induced by cationic nanocarriers and the resulting leakage of mitochondrial DNA could trigger severe inflammation in vivo, which is mediated by a pathway involving TLR9 and MyD88 signaling. Taken together, our results reveal a novel mechanism whereby cationic nanocarriers induce acute cell necrosis through the interaction with Na+/K+-ATPase, with the subsequent exposure of mitochondrial damage-associated molecular patterns as a key event that mediates the inflammatory responses. Our study has important implications for evaluating the biocompatibility of nanocarriers and designing better and safer ones for drug delivery.

Properties for sourcing Nigerian larvicidal plants.

Aedes aegypti is the primary vector of chikungunya, yellow and dengue fevers. Dengue fever is the major cause of child morbidity and hospitalisation in some Asian and African countries, while yellow fever is prevalent in Nigeria. The development of resistance to the available insecticides has necessitated the continued search for safer ones from plants. Eighteen plant extracts with ethnomedical claims of or demonstrated febrifuge, antimalarial, insecticidal and insect repellent biological activities were tested for activity against the fourth instar larvae of Aedes aegypti. About 61% of the eighteen extracts demonstrated high to moderate larvicidal activity. Extracts of Piper nigrum and Abrus precatorius seeds were the most active and the larvicidal constituent(s) of the latter should be determined.

Do Risky Microfinance Borrowers Really Invest in Risky Projects? Experimental Evidence from Bolivia

This paper reports the results of an experiment testing a fundamental assumption in Stiglitz and Weiss’ (1981) model of credit rationing: that defaulting borrowers are associated with investment in risky projects. Through an artefactual field experiment with 200 Bolivian microfinance borrowers, we observe that subjects from real-world delinquent borrowing groups do not prefer risky projects to safer ones significantly more than subjects from repaying groups. Instead, our results support more recent behavioural theories of credit market failure. Implications are that defaulting microfinance borrowers may be those who take too little investment risk rather than those who take too much.

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Knowledge and beliefs about HIV/AIDS. Impact of knowledge on having risky sexual behaviors among men who use methadone and among men who use drugs intravenously

BackgroundHIV infection is a general problem of people who are addicted to psychoactive substances taken as intravenous injections and among patients of methadone programs. Surveys concerning knowledge and beliefs about HIV/AIDS are important because they are the base for preventive HIV/AIDS programs. Drug users do not obey the rules of safer sexual intercourse, because they do not have enough knowledge in that field. Materials and methodsThis study comprised 101 men (51 who use drugs intravenously and 50 who use methadone). In this study an authorial questionnaire was used. ResultsIt was discovered that the people who use methadone have higher knowledge about HIV/AIDS than the people who use drugs intravenously. Moreover it was discovered that the people in both groups have similar beliefs about risky sexual behaviors. There was not any significant relationship between HIV/AIDS knowledge and having sexual behaviors. ConclusionsThe study discovered that it is very important to broaden the knowledge about HIV/AIDS among drug addicted people. However a high level of knowledge is insufficient to change risky sexual behaviors for much safer ones; psychotherapy is necessary to dissipate emotional problems of people who are addicted to drugs.

Mapping and Multivariate Analysis for a Rapid Evaluation of New Green Solvents Characteristics and Efficiency

Current regulations require the substitution of toxic solvents by safer ones. Succinic acid diesters, which are among promising bio-based candidates, have been compared to petrochemical solvents through two complementary approaches. The first one deals with a prediction of solvents dissolution power based on Hansen Solubility Parameters (HSP). HSP values obtained with the model developed by Stefanis-Panayiotou showed good agreement with experimental miscibility maps. The second one explores the physicochemical properties with multivariate statistical methods. Principal Components Analysis and Agglomerative Hierarchical Clustering led to a partition of green solvents into clusters together with toxic solvents, suggesting favourable substitutions in further applications.

Pesticides and Other Chemicals: Minimizing Worker Exposures

ABSTRACT Pesticides, ammonia, and sanitizers, all used in agricultural production present ongoing risks for exposed workers. Pesticides continue to poison workers despite elimination of some of the most toxic older products. Obligatory reporting of pesticide poisonings exists in 30 states and surveillance of poisoning occurs in only 12. Estimates of poisoning numbers have been based on sampling but funding for this is scant and in constant jeopardy. There appears to be a downward trend in poisonings nationally based on SENSOR data. Newer more pest-specific pesticides are generally less toxic and present less health risks but may have unpredicted health effects in humans that may not emerge until used widely. Internationally, older cheaper chemicals continue to be used with serious consequences in many developing countries. Monitoring workers for overexposure to pesticides broadly is impractical with the exception of the cholinesterase inhibitors. We can learn much from monitoring systems. Unfortunately, monitoring tools are economically inaccessible for most other chemical groups. New technologies for toxicity testing will necessitate new biomonitoring tools that should be supplied by the producers of these chemicals and made available for protecting worker and the public. Protection of workers from pesticides is primarily based on personal protective equipment use, which presents significant hardship for workers in hot environments and is generally considered the least effective approach on the hierarchy of controls in worker protection. Isolation through the use of closed systems has been employed, though rarely studied as to effectiveness in field use. Substitution or replacing harmful substances with safer ones is underway as more pest specific chemicals enter the pesticide portfolio and older ones drop out. This paper summarizes the panel presentation, “Minimizing Exposures to Pesticides and Other Chemicals,” at the Agricultural Safety and Health Council of America/National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health conference, “Be Safe, Be Profitable: Protecting Workers in Agriculture,” Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas, January 27–28, 2010. The panel presented several different aspects of agrochemicals and health. The discussion aimed at identifying important practical opportunities to begin to decrease agricultural worker overexposure.

Why Do Firms Offer Risky Defined-Benefit Pension Plans?

Even risky pension sponsors could offer essentially riskless pension promises by contributing a sufficient level of resources to their pension trust funds and by investing those resources in fixed-income securities designed to deliver their payoffs just as pension obligations are coming due. However, almost no firm has chosen to fund its plan in this manner. We study the optimal funding choice for plan sponsors by developing a simple model of pension financing in which the total compensation offered to workers must clear the labor market. We find that if workers understand the implications of pension risk, they will demand greater compensation for riskier pension promises than for safer ones, all else equal. Indeed, in our model, pension sponsors maximize their value by making their pension promises free of risk. We close by positing some explanations for why no real-world firm follows the prescription of our model.

Do Markets 'Discipline' All Banks Equally?

This paper investigates whether the bond market disciplines all banks equally in the sense of demanding the same relative risk premium across banks of different risk over time. To test this hypothesis the paper compares the difference between the credit spreads in the primary market of bank and firm bonds with the same credit rating issued during expansions with that same difference of spreads for bonds issued during recessions. Our results show that the bond market is relatively tougher on riskier banks than on safer ones. This is an important issue because otherwise a bond-issuance policy aimed at promoting market discipline will affect the relative funding costs of banks. Further, the information that can be extracted from the credit spreads on bank bonds will vary across banks for reasons unrelated to their risk.