Italian Co-operative Law Reform and Co-operative Principles

A reform of Italian co-operative law was passed in 2003 and came into force in 2004. This paper presents the principal characteristics of the new Italian co-operative law and seeks to evaluate the relationship of some of its main provisions to traditional co-operative principles. From this perspective, the paper deals in particular with the definition of the Italian co-operative as a company with a “mutual purpose”; the distinction between “mainly mutual” co-operatives and “other” co-operatives (and the relationship between mutuality and profit-making in co-operatives); the regulation of voting in the assembly (the “one member, one vote” principle and its exceptions); the available governance systems (“tripartite”, “dualistic”, “monistic”); and co-operative finance solutions (investor members and financial instruments). Using the Italian reforms as a starting point for debate, this paper puts forth the possibility of generalising a modified approach to co-operative regulation and principles, taking into account efficiency issues, while preserving the co-operative identity. Paper presented at the symposium “Co-operatives, legislation and public policy” (Sobey School of Business, Saint Mary’s University, Halifax, Canada, 19-21 June 2009) (Nel 2003 è stata approvata in Italia e poi nel 2004 entrata in vigore una nuova riforma legislativa sulle imprese cooperative. Il presente articolo presenta le principali caratteristiche della nuova legge e tenta di valutare il rapporto tra alcuni dei principali provvedimenti stabiliti dalla legge e i principi tradizionali delle cooperative. Da questo punto di vista, l’articolo affronta in particolare la definizione di cooperativa vigente in Italia, che la inquadra come una impresa a “finalità mutualistica”. Vengono inoltre affrontati il tema della distinzione tra cooperative a mutualità prevalente e altre cooperative (e la relazione tra mutualità e raggiungimento di profitti nelle cooperative), la regolazione dei meccanismi di voto (nel rispetto del principio ‘una-testa-un-voto’ e con le sue eccezioni), i sistemi di governance (tripartito, dualistico e monistico), le soluzioni introdotte per il sostegno finanziario delle cooperative (con la figura dei soci sovventori o investitori ed alcuni strumenti finanziari). L’articolo utilizza quindi la riforma giuridica introdotta per aprire il dibattito ed allargare alla possibilità di approcciarsi alla regolamentazione e ai principi delle cooperative in un approccio nuovo che tenga conto della questione dell’efficienza pur preservando l’identità cooperativa.)Italian cooperatives, cooperative principles, mutual purpose, governance systems, corporate governance, Italian law

Anti-Powers in Infinite Words

In combinatorics of words, a concatenation of $k$ consecutive equal blocks is called a power of order $k$. In this paper we take a different point of view and define an anti-power of order $k$ as a concatenation of $k$ consecutive pairwise distinct blocks of the same length. As a main result, we show that every infinite word contains powers of any order or anti-powers of any order. That is, the existence of powers or anti-powers is an unavoidable regularity. Indeed, we prove a stronger result, which relates the density of anti-powers to the existence of a factor that occurs with arbitrary exponent. As a consequence, we show that in every aperiodic uniformly recurrent word, anti-powers of every order begin at every position. We further show that every infinite word avoiding anti-powers of order $3$ is ultimately periodic, while there exist aperiodic words avoiding anti-powers of order $4$. We also show that there exist aperiodic recurrent words avoiding anti-powers of order $6$.Comment: Revision submitted to Journal of Combinatorial Theory Series

Anti-Powers in Infinite Words

In combinatorics of words, a concatenation of k consecutive equal blocks is called a power of order k. In this paper we take a different point of view and define an anti-power of order k as a concatenation of k consecutive pairwise distinct blocks of the same length. As a main result, we show that every infinite word contains powers of any order or anti-powers of any order. That is, the existence of powers or anti-powers is an unavoidable regularity. Indeed, we prove a stronger result, which relates the density of anti-powers to the existence of a factor that occurs with arbitrary exponent. From these results, we derive that at every position of an aperiodic uniformly recurrent word start anti-powers of any order. We further show that any infinite word avoiding anti-powers of order 3 is ultimately periodic, and that there exist aperiodic words avoiding anti-powers of order 4. We also show that there exist aperiodic recurrent words avoiding anti-powers of order 6, and leave open the question whether there exist aperiodic recurrent words avoiding anti-powers of order k for k=4,5

Effects of the dose of erythropoiesis stimulating agents on cardiovascular events, quality of life, and health-related costs in hemodialysis patients: the clinical evaluation of the dose of erythropoietins (C.E. DOSE) trial protocol

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Anemia is a risk factor for death, adverse cardiovascular outcomes and poor quality of life in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). Erythropoietin Stimulating Agents (ESA) are commonly used to increase hemoglobin levels in this population. In observational studies, higher hemoglobin levels (around 11-13 g/dL) are associated with improved survival and quality of life compared to hemoglobin levels around 9-10 g/dL. A systematic review of randomized trials found that targeting higher hemoglobin levels with ESA causes an increased risk of adverse vascular outcomes. It is possible, but has never been formally tested in a randomized trial, that ESA dose rather than targeted hemoglobin concentration itself mediates the increased risk of adverse vascular outcomes. The Clinical Evaluation of the DOSe of Erythropoietins (C.E. DOSE) trial will assess the benefits and harms of a high versus a low fixed ESA dose for the management of anemia in patients with end stage kidney disease.</p> <p>Methods/Design</p> <p>This is a randomized, prospective open label blinded end-point (PROBE) trial due to enrol 2204 hemodialysis patients in Italy. Patients will be randomized 1:1 to 4000 IU/week versus 18000 IU/week of intravenous epoietin alfa or beta, or any other ESA in equivalent doses. The dose will be adjusted only if hemoglobin levels fall outside the 9.5-12.5 g/dL range. The primary outcome will be a composite of all-cause mortality, non fatal stroke, non fatal myocardial infarction and hospitalization for cardiovascular causes. Quality of life and costs will also be assessed.</p> <p>Discussion</p> <p>The C.E.DOSE study will help inform the optimal therapeutic strategy for the management of anemia of hemodialysis patients, improving clinical outcomes, quality of life and costs, by ascertaining the potential benefits and harms of different fixed ESA doses.</p> <p>Trial registration</p> <p>Clinicaltrials.gov NCT00827021</p

Beni comuni. Quarto rapporto sulla cooperazione sociale in Italia

A dieci anni dalla prima edizione, il quarto rapporto sulla cooperazione sociale aggiorna e amplia il quadro conoscitivo su uno dei più innovativi fenomeni imprenditoriali, che ha contribuito ad arricchire il panorama delle istituzioni sociali del paese.- Indice #5- Premessa di Marco Demarie #13- Presentazione di Corrado Passera #15- Prefazione di Vilma Mazzocco e Johnny Dotti #21- Cap.I La cooperazione sociale in Italia: tendenze evolutive e scenari di sviluppo, Flaviano Zandonai #33- Cap.II Un quadro teorico sull’impresa sociale, Carlo Borzaga #55- Cap.III Le traiettorie di sviluppo della cooperazione sociale, Gianfranco Marocchi #75- Cap.IV Imprenditorialità sociale tra innovazione e controllo dei mercati, Nereo Zamaro #107- Cap.V Cooperazione sociale e Mezzogiorno, Marco Musella #139- Cap.VI Le culture organizzative della cooperazione sociale: identità in movimento, Luca Fazzi e Sandro Stanzani #151- Cap.VII La cooperazione sociale nella rete del welfare locale, Sergio Pasquinelli #187- Cap.VIII I benefici individuali dei lavoratori svantaggiati nelle imprese sociali, Carlo Borzaga, Monica Loss e Domenico Zalla #207- Cap.IX Cooperazione sociale e qualità dei servizi, Giuseppe Scaratti #237- Cap.X La cooperazione sociale in una prospettiva di genere, Barbara Moreschi #265- Cap.XI Cooperativa sociale come impresa sociale? Le condizioni di imprenditorialità nel terzo settore, Michele Andreaus #285- Cap.XII Oltre il contracting out: nuove forme di relazione con le amministrazioni pubbliche, Franco Dalla Mura #319- Cap.XIII Finalità e organizzazione delle cooperative sociali: alcune indicazioni dal nuovo diritto societario, Antonio Fici #349- Cap.XIV L’impresa sociale in Italia: una quantificazione del fenomeno, Stefano Cima #377- Cap.XV Le condizioni di sviluppo delle imprese sociali nelle regioni del Centro-Nord, Carlo Borzaga e Mariangela Mongera #405- Cap.XVI Dal volontariato all’impresa sociale, Gabriella Bartolomeo e Flaviano Zandonai #439- Cap.XVII L’impresa sociale in Europa: alcuni spunti di comparazione, Paola Iamiceli #457- Cap.XVIII La nuova legge sull’impresa sociale, Felice Scalvini #485- Bibliografia #49