Innovation processes and industrial districts

In this survey, we examine the operations of innovation processes within industrial districts by exploring the ways in which differentiation, specialization, and integration affect the generation, diffusion, and use of new knowledge in such districts. We begin with an analysis of the importance of the division of labour and then investigate the effects of social embeddedness on innovation. We also consider the effect of forms of organization within industrial districts at various stages of product and process life, and we examine the negative aspects of embeddedness for innovation. We conclude with a discussion of the possible consequences of new information and communications technologies on innovation in industrial districts

Manufacturing and services in Italian labour market areas in an historical perspective (1981-1996)

The basic hypothesis of this paper is the existence of strong territorial disparities in services development. In many areas a strict integration emerges between manufacturing production and endowment of tertiary functions; in other regions the sparse presence of services may result in belated development or slow growth. From a sectoral point of view, the analysis goes beyond the classical tripartition of industries, proposing a classification of services based both on the nature of the service given and the features of their users. From a geographical point of view, a territorial grid based on local labour market areas as proposed by Istat [1997] is adopted. The long-term analysis - based on Census data from 1981 to 1996 - allows to identify territorial regularities in development patterns across LLMAs, with respect to manufacturing and services and to different growth paths (convergence, externalisation, integration, ...).

Multiple Baseline Study Of The Effects Of Left Visual Field Stimulation During Emotion Recognition Training Among Four Male Children With Autism Spectrum Disorders

Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) are characterized by social deficits in emotional comprehension. Research has demonstrated that for the neurotypical population, recognizing, and reacting to facial emotions improve when using the left visual field by employing the right brain hemisphere\u27s configural processes. Behavioral, physiological, and neuroimaging findings suggest an opposite pattern within the autistic population - left hemisphere activation contributing to a right visual field preference for analyzing and assessing facial affect. The present study attempted to activate and strengthen the right hemispheric neural pathway responsible for emotion recognition using modified eyewear to contrive left visual field stimulation during an empirically supported emotion recognition intervention designed for the ASD population, The Transporters DVD series. A multiple baseline design across four male participants (Mean Age = 9.23) with similar verbal and autistic levels was used to investigate improvements in emotion recognition over the course of a 6-week intervention with the four participants viewing The Transporters for 3 weekly 30-minute sessions while wearing the modified eyewear for 0, 2, 4, and 6 weeks, respectively. Pre- and post-intervention tasks assessing emotion vocabulary and situation-expression matching corroborated the previously reported efficacy for The Transporters and provided evidence of greater gains for participants who viewed the intervention with the modified eyewear. Improvement in performance on emotion recognition tasks administered during each session supported an effect of lateralized left visual field stimulation via modified eyewear. However, an additive effect was not clearly defined. Clinical implications may include using lateralization eyewear with other social-emotional interventions to enhance social skills in children with ASD

Adopting multiview pixel mapping for enhancing quality of holoscopic 3D scene in parallax barriers based holoscopic 3D displays

The Autostereoscopic multiview 3D Display is robustly developed and widely available in commercial markets. Excellent improvements are made using pixel mapping techniques and achieved an acceptable 3D resolution with balanced pixel aspect ratio in lens array technology. This paper proposes adopting multiview pixel mapping for enhancing quality constructed holoscopic 3D scene in parallax barriers based holoscopic 3D displays achieving great results. The Holoscopic imaging technology mimics the imaging system of insects, such as the fly, utilizing a single camera, equipped with a large number of micro-lenses, to capture a scene, offering rich parallax information and enhanced 3D feeling without the need of wearing specific eyewear. In addition pixel mapping and holoscopic 3D rendering tools are developed including a custom built holoscopic 3D displays to test the proposed method and carry out a like-to-like comparison.This work has been supported by European Commission under Grant FP7-ICT-2009-4 (3DVIVANT). The authors wish to ex-press their gratitude and thanks for the support given throughout the project