Internationalization of business angel investments: The role of investor experience

In this study, we examine business angels (BAs)’ appetite for investing abroad and the role played by investment and entrepreneurial experience. To investigate BAs’ propensity to internationalize their investments, we study cross-border deals and culturally distant investments. Using an international sample of US and European BA deals, we find that both individual investment and entrepreneurial experience foster the internationalization of BAs’ investments, consistent with the predictions based upon the local bias theory. When splitting experience into domestic and foreign, we find that the former increases while the latter decreases local bias. When we separate US and European BAs, we find that the experiential background of BAs does not matter in the same way in Europe and in the US: while the general results are confirmed in Europe, both investment and entrepreneurial experience have a reduced impact in the US. We interpret these results in light of the reduced risk aversion of US BAs that lowers transaction costs

Tea, Flavonoids, and Nitric Oxide-Mediated Vascular Reactivity

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Organizing for inbound open innovation: how external consultants and a dedicated R&D unit influence product innovation performance

Firms increasingly acquire technological knowledge from external sources to improve their innovation performance. This strategic approach is known as inbound open innovation. The existing empirical evidence regarding the impact of inbound open innovation on performance, however, is ambiguous. The equivocal results are due to moderating factors that influence a firm’s ability to acquire technological knowledge from external sources and to transform it into innovation outputs. This article focuses on a relevant yet overlooked category of moderating factors: organization of R&D. It explores two organizational mechanisms, one informal and external-oriented (involvement of external consultants in R&D activities), and one formalized and internal-oriented (existence of a dedicated R&D unit), in the acquisition of technological knowledge through R&D outsourcing, a particular contractual form for inbound open innovation. Drawing on a capabilities perspective and using a longitudinal dataset of 841 Spanish manufacturing firms observed over the period 1999-2007, this article provides a fine-grained analysis of the moderation effects of the two organizational mechanisms. The involvement of external consultants in R&D activities strengthens the impact of inbound open innovation on innovation performance, by increasing marginal benefits of acquiring external technological knowledge through R&D outsourcing. Moreover, it reduces the level of inbound open innovation to which the highest innovation performance corresponds. Instead, the existence of a dedicated R&D unit makes the firm less sensitive to changes in the level of inbound open innovation, by reducing marginal benefits of acquiring external technological knowledge through R&D outsourcing, and increases the level of inbound open innovation to which the highest innovation performance corresponds. The results regarding the role of informal and formalized R&D organizational mechanisms contribute to research on open innovation and absorptive capacity, and also inform managers as to what organizational mechanism is recommended to acquire external technological knowledge, depending on the objectives that the firm pursues

Using machine learning to map the European Cleantech sector

This paper is the introductory chapter of a series of analyses that will result from the CLEU1 project, a collaboration between the universities of Politecnico di Torino, Politecnico di Milano and Università degli Studi di Bologna. The project focuses on Cleantech, an industry sector that develops and deploys sustainable and environmentally friendly solutions for various target applications. It aims to: i) analyse the actions that are undertaken by European Cleantech firms to engage in transformative climate and innovation actions to align with the European Green Deal-inspired policies; ii) examine the association of environmental innovation and the number of new investments made by venture capital (VC) investors in Cleantech companies on environmental indicators; iii) analyse the enabling factors for the development of European Cleantech firms, with a focus on EU-level and country-level targeted policies and regulations and the different sources of financing; iv) analyse the extent to which the implementation of policies and regulations affect both the propensity of cleantech firms to seek external equity financing and the equity offering by VC funds

Follow-up after bariatric surgery: is it time to tailor it? Analysis of early predictive factors of 3-year weight loss predictors of unsuccess in bariatric patients

Bariatric surgery (BS) is the most effective treatment strategy for obesity. Nevertheless, a subset of patients does not reach a successful weight loss or experience long-term weight regain. Conflicting evidence exists regarding predictors of BS outcomes. We aimed to define the early factors linked to 3 year unsuccessful weight loss in order to promote a tailored close follow-up. We enrolled 443 patients who underwent BS from January 2014 to December 2018 with a 3 year follow-up. An unsuccessful BS outcome was defined as a percentage of total weight loss (%TWL) <20. We compared the characteristics between successful and unsuccessful patients in order to identify predictor factors of unsuccess after surgery. We found that the proportion of patients with unsuccessful weight loss progressively increased from one to three years after BS. In a multiple regression model, only 1 month %TWL and sleeve gastrectomy (SG) were significantly associated with 3 year unsuccessful weight loss. We stratified our cohort in four groups according to the risk of BS unsuccess, in terms of 1 month %TWL and type of surgery (SG vs gastric bypass). Interestingly, groups showed a significant difference in terms of %TWL at each follow-up point. Patients submitted to SG with lower 1 month %TWL must be considered at higher risk of future weight regain; consequently, they require a tailored and closer follow-up.[GRAPHICS]. © 2022, The Author(s)

Secondary Somatic Mutations in G-Protein-Related Pathways and Mutation Signatures in Uveal Melanoma

Background: Uveal melanoma (UM), a rare cancer of the eye, is characterized by initiating mutations in the genes G-protein subunit alpha Q (GNAQ), G-protein subunit alpha 11 (GNA11), cysteinyl leukotriene receptor 2 (CYSLTR2), and phospholipase C beta 4 (PLCB4) and by metastasis-promoting mutations in the genes splicing factor 3B1 (SF3B1), serine and arginine rich splicing factor 2 (SRSF2), and BRCA1-associated protein 1 (BAP1). Here, we tested the hypothesis that additional mutations, though occurring in only a few cases (\u201csecondary drivers\u201d), might influence tumor development. Methods: We analyzed all the 4125 mutations detected in exome sequencing datasets, comprising a total of 139 Ums, and tested the enrichment of secondary drivers in Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathways that also contained the initiating mutations. We searched for additional mutations in the putative secondary driver gene protein tyrosine kinase 2 beta (PTK2B) and we developed new mutational signatures that explain the mutational pattern observed in UM. Results: Secondary drivers were significantly enriched in KEGG pathways that also contained GNAQ and GNA11, such as the calcium-signaling pathway. Many of the secondary drivers were known cancer driver genes and were strongly associated with metastasis and survival. We identified additional mutations in PTK2B. Sparse dictionary learning allowed for the identification of mutational signatures specific for UM. Conclusions: A considerable part of rare mutations that occur in addition to known driver mutations are likely to affect tumor development and progression