International networks in cultural industries: the case of agencies for opera artists in the immediate post-COVID-19 period

This study presents an empirical investigation into the internationalization processes within the opera performing arts industry, which represents a critical component of the broader creative industries. By utilizing data from Operabase, a comprehensive online database of opera-related information, we employ social network analysis to delineate the network of connections established between nations through the mobility of opera artists, mediated by the agencies that represent them. Moreover, the research assesses the influence of factors such as geographical proximity, cultural affinity, market dominance, and reciprocity on these international networks. Our findings provide a nuanced understanding of the internationalization of opera, emphasizing the significance of geographical proximity, reciprocity, and (partially) tradition/dominance in the opera market as key drivers of global interconnectedness in this domain

Le inchieste di sicurezza relative agli incidenti degli aeromobili unmanned

Nel campo aviazione civile, le inchieste di sicurezza rappresentano uno dei principali strumenti per migliorare i livelli della sicurezza del volo. Esse sono disciplinate principalmente dall’Annesso 13 ICAO “Aircraft Accident and Incident Investigation”, al quale ampiamente si richiama il regolamento Ue n. 996/2010 sulle inchieste e la prevenzione di incidenti e inconvenienti nel settore dell’aviazione civile. Il contributo, in particolare, si sofferma sulle inchieste di sicurezza relative agli incidenti e agli inconvenienti gravi occorsi ad aeromobili unmanned, evidenziandone le principali differenze con le inchieste di sicurezza relative ad eventi occorsi ad aeromobili manned. Al riguardo, vengono richiamate le modifiche apportate al citato Annesso 13 ICAO, per renderlo compatibile con la nuova realtà degli aeromobili unmanned. Tali modifiche riguardano, soprattutto, le definizioni di incidente e di inconveniente grave e la previsione dei casi in cui, verificandosi uno dei predetti eventi, diventi obbligatorio, ex Annesso 13 ICAO, condurre l’inchiesta di sicurezza.Safety investigations play a fundamental role in increasing the levels of flight safety in civil aviation. They are mainly regulated by ICAO Annex 13 “Aircraft Accident and Incident Investigation”, which is widely referred to in regulation EU 996/2010 on the investigation and prevention of accidents and incidents in civil aviation. This paper focuses on safety investigations relating to accidents and serious incident involving unmanned aircraft, highlighting the main differences with the safety investigations relating to events involving manned aircraft. In this regard, the changes made to the aforementioned ICAO Annex 13 are recalled, to make it compatible with the new reality of unmanned aircraft. Above all, these changes concer the definitions of accident and serious incident and the provision of cases in which it becomes mandatory to conduct a safety investigation pursuant to ICAO Annex 13 when one of the aforementioned events occurrs

A Bioprinted Hydrogel Patch With Bioactive Glass: A New Frontier in Chronic Wound Healing

A wound, defined as a disruption in the continuity of the skin, is among the most common issues in the population and poses a significant burden on healthcare systems and economies worldwide. Despite the countless medical devices currently available to promote wound repair and skin regeneration, there is a growing demand for new skin devices that incorporate innovative biomaterials and advanced technologies. Bioglasses are biocompatible and bioactive materials capable of interacting with biological tissues. Due to their ability to promote fibroblast proliferation, angiogenesis, collagen production, and evade antibacterial activity, they have been suggested as key players in the skin regeneration process. Since their initial introduction, various compositions have been proposed depending on the clinical goal to be achieved. Recently, a novel bioglass composition named Bio_MS was found to exhibit significant bone regenerative potential. Given its peculiar composition characterized by strontium and magnesium, Bio_MS could also play a role in skin healing. In the present work, an innovative patch was designed by combining the attractive characteristics of Bio_MS with bioprinting technology. The regenerative potential of the Bio_MS patch was tested in an ex vivo cutaneous model using human skin in which an experimental wound was induced by sodium dodecyl sulfate incubation. After injury, the Bio_MS patch was able to restore skin architecture and enhance the epidermal barrier function. Additionally, the Bio_MS patch demonstrated therapeutic effects in both the epidermis and dermis, making it suitable not only for superficial lesions but also for deep wounds

Doppler ultrasound, a noninvasive tool for the study of mesenteric arterial flow in systemic sclerosis: a cross-sectional study of a patient cohort with review and meta-analysis of the literature

Gastrointestinal involvement (GI) is a frequent and troublesome complication of systemic sclerosis (SSc), whose etiology is poorly understood, though it is hypothesized that autoimmunity and progressive vasculopathy may play a role. Vasculopathy is considered one of the main pathogenetic pathways responsible for many of the clinical manifestations of SSc, and, therefore, studying the principal splanchnic vessels (i.e., superior mesenteric artery-SMA and inferior mesenteric artery-IMA) with Doppler Ultrasound (DUS) may provide further insights into measuring the progression of vasculopathy, evaluating its possible association with SSc GI symptoms, and determining whether it plays a role in the development or severity of SSc GI disease. A cohort of SSc patients consecutively recruited underwent DUS examination, and associations with GI (UCLA-GIT 2.0 questionnaire) and extraintestinal SSc characteristics were evaluated. Semiquantitative DUS parameters (resistive index-RI and pulsatility index-PI), were applied for splanchnic vessel assessment in SSc patients and healthy subjects (HS). Moreover, a review and meta-analysis of the literature to understand which the values of the main semiquantitative DUS parameters (RI and PI) are both in SSc patients and HS has been conducted. Seventy-eight patients completed DUS examinations and clinical assessments. 30 (39%) were classified as diffuse cutaneous SSc (dcSSC), 35 (45%) as limited cutaneous SSc (lcSSc) and 13 (17%) as sine scleroderma. A significant difference was found both for SMA RI (p for trend = 0.032) and SMA PI (p for trend = 0.004) between patients with sine scleroderma, lcSSc and dcSSc, with lower values observed in the sine scleroderma and lcSSc groups. IMA RI and PI were significantly correlated with GI symptoms such as fecal incontinence (rho - 0.33, p = 0.008 and rho - 0.30, p = 0.021, respectively). By multivariate analysis, significant associations were confirmed between SMA RI and SMA PI and mRSS (beta 0.248, p = 0.030 and beta 2.995, p = 0.004, respectively) and with bosentan (beta 0.400, p = 0.003 and beta 3.508, p = 0.001, respectively), but not with anticentromere antibody (ACA). No significant differences were found between the weighted median values of SMA RI and SMA PI of SSc patients compared to those of HS that were derived from the meta-analysis of the literature (p = 0.72 and p = 0.64, respectively). This cross-sectional study confirms that the splanchnic vasculature of SSc patients can noninvasively been studied with DUS. Vascular splanchnic involvement correlates with the presence and/or severity of specific clinical features in SSc, including GI. Larger and prospective studies are needed to confirm these preliminary observations and to examine the role of DUS in SSc-risk stratification and GI progression and to obtain definitive data regarding both HS and SSc patients splanchnic DUS parameters

Political elections and market reactions: the ‘Trump effect’ on green stocks

The election of Donald Trump as the 45th president of the United States and his sceptical positions on climate threaten the fight against climate change, potentially weakening investors’ green concerns. Through an event study approach, we aim to analyse the reaction of the U.S. stock market to the latest presidential election, exploring the investors’ reactions across sectors. We find a strong heterogeneous reaction across sectors. Moreover, we show that the worst performance in the short period is attributable to companies with better performance on environmental issues, which could mean an adjustment of investors’ assessment criteria in anticipation of President Trump's anti-climate policies, reduced transition risk for "brown" firms and lower benefits for firms excelling in environmental performance