Why Social Enterprises Are Asking to Be Multi-stakeholder and Deliberative: An Explanation around the Costs of Exclusion.

The study of multi-stakeholdership (and multi-stakeholder social enterprises in particular) is only at the start. Entrepreneurial choices which have emerged spontaneously, as well as the first legal frameworks approved in this direction, lack an adequate theoretical support. The debate itself is underdeveloped, as the existing understanding of organisations and their aims resist an inclusive, public interest view of enterprise. Our contribution aims at enriching the thin theoretical reflections on multi-stakeholdership, in a context where they are already established, i.e. that of social and personal services. The aim is to provide an economic justification on why the governance structure and decision-making praxis of the firm needs to account for multiple stakeholders. In particular with our analysis we want: a) to consider production and the role of firms in the context of the “public interest” which may or may not coincide with the non-profit objective; b) to ground the explanation of firm governance and processes upon the nature of production and the interconnections between demand and supply side; c) to explain that the costs associated with multi-stakeholder governance and deliberation in decision-making can increase internal efficiency and be “productive” since they lower internal costs and utilise resources that otherwise would go astray. The key insight of this work is that, differently from major interpretations, property costs should be compared with a more comprehensive range of costs, such as the social costs that emerge when the supply of social and personal services is insufficient or when the identification of aims and means is not shared amongst stakeholders. Our model highlights that when social costs derived from exclusion are high, even an enterprise with costly decisional processes, such as the multistakeholder, can be the most efficient solution amongst other possible alternatives

Nonlinear Schroedinger equation with two symmetric point interactions in one dimension

We consider a time-dependent one-dimensional nonlinear Schroedinger equation with a symmetric potential double well represented by two delta interactions. Among our results we give an explicit formula for the integral kernel of the unitary semigroup associated with the linear part of the Hamiltonian. Then we establish the corresponding Strichartz-type estimate and we prove local existence and uniqueness of the solution to the original nonlinear problem

High-order Harmonic Generation and Dynamic Localization in a driven two-level system, a non-perturbative solution using the Floquet-Green formalism

We apply the Floquet-Green operator formalism to the case of a harmonically-driven two-level system. We derive exact expressions for the quasi-energies and the components of the Floquet eigenstates with the use of continued fractions. We study the avoided crossings structure of the quasi-energies as a function of the strength of the driving field and give an interpretation in terms of resonant multi-photon processes. From the Floquet eigenstates we obtain the time-evolution operator. Using this operator we study Dynamic Localization and High-order Harmonic Generation in the non-perturbative regime

Correlation energy, pair-distribution functions and static structure factors of jellium

We discuss and clarify a simple and accurate interpolation scheme for the spin-resolved electron static structure factor (and corresponding pair correlation function) of the 3D unpolarized homogeneous electron gas which, along with some analytic properties of the spin-resolved pair-correlation functions, we have just published. We compare our results with the very recent spin-resolved scheme by Schmidt et al., and focus our attention on the spin-resolved correlation energies and the high-density limit of the correlation functions.Comment: 8 pages, 3 figures. Proceedings of the conference on Statistical Mechanics and Strongly Correlated Systems (Bachelet, Parisi & Vulpiani Eds.) to appear as a special issue of Physica A (Elsevier, Amsterdam 2000

Bifurcation and stability for Nonlinear Schroedinger equations with double well potential in the semiclassical limit

We consider the stationary solutions for a class of Schroedinger equations with a symmetric double-well potential and a nonlinear perturbation. Here, in the semiclassical limit we prove that the reduction to a finite-mode approximation give the stationary solutions, up to an exponentially small term, and that symmetry-breaking bifurcation occurs at a given value for the strength of the nonlinear term. The kind of bifurcation picture only depends on the non-linearity power. We then discuss the stability/instability properties of each branch of the stationary solutions. Finally, we consider an explicit one-dimensional toy model where the double well potential is given by means of a couple of attractive Dirac's delta pointwise interactions.Comment: 46 pages, 4 figure

Parameters affecting ion intensities in transmission-mode Direct Analysis in Real-Time mass spectrometry

A survey of the effect of temperature, transmission module material and analysis time on ion intensities in transmission mode direct analysis in real time mass spectrometry is presented. Ion intensity profiles obtained for two related compounds are similar when analysed separately but are very different when analysed as a mixture

Evidence for coupling between collective state and phonons in two-dimensional charge-density-wave systems

We report on a Raman scattering investigation of the charge-density-wave (CDW), quasi two-dimensional rare-earth tri-tellurides $R$Te$_3$ ($R$= La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Sm, Gd and Dy) at ambient pressure, and of LaTe$_3$ and CeTe$_3$ under externally applied pressure. The observed phonon peaks can be ascribed to the Raman active modes for both the undistorted as well as the distorted lattice in the CDW state by means of a first principles calculation. The latter also predicts the Kohn anomaly in the phonon dispersion, driving the CDW transition. The integrated intensity of the two most prominent modes scales as a characteristic power of the CDW-gap amplitude upon compressing the lattice, which provides clear evidence for the tight coupling between the CDW condensate and the vibrational modes

PEGylated helper-dependent adenoviral vector expressing human Apo A-I for gene therapy in LDLR-deficient mice

Helper-dependent adenoviral (HD-Ad) vectors have great potential for gene therapy applications; however, their administration induces acute toxicity that impairs safe clinical applications. We previously observed that PEGylation of HD-Ad vectors strongly reduces the acute response in murine and primate models. To evaluate whether PEGylated HD-Ad vectors combine reduced toxicity with the correction of pathological phenotypes, we administered an HD-Ad vector expressing the human apolipoprotein A-I (hApoA-I) to low-density lipoprotein (LDL)-receptor-deficient mice (a model for familial hypercholesterolemia) fed a high-cholesterol diet. Mice were treated with high doses of HD-Ad-expressing apo A-I or its PEGylated version. Twelve weeks later, LDL levels were lower and high-density lipoprotein (HDL) levels higher in mice treated with either of the vectors than in untreated mice. After terminal killing, the areas of atherosclerotic plaques were much smaller in the vector-treated mice than in the control animals. Moreover, the increase in pro-inflammatory cytokines was lower and consequently the toxicity profile better in mice treated with PEGylated vector than in mice treated with the unmodified vector. This finding indicates that the reduction in toxicity resulting from PEGylation of HD-Ad vectors does not impair the correction of pathological phenotypes. It also supports the clinical potential of these vectors for the correction of genetic diseases

PTP4A1 promotes TGFβ signaling and fibrosis in systemic sclerosis.

Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is an autoimmune disease characterized by fibrosis of skin and internal organs. Protein tyrosine phosphatases have received little attention in the study of SSc or fibrosis. Here, we show that the tyrosine phosphatase PTP4A1 is highly expressed in fibroblasts from patients with SSc. PTP4A1 and its close homolog PTP4A2 are critical promoters of TGFβ signaling in primary dermal fibroblasts and of bleomycin-induced fibrosis in vivo. PTP4A1 promotes TGFβ signaling in human fibroblasts through enhancement of ERK activity, which stimulates SMAD3 expression and nuclear translocation. Upstream from ERK, we show that PTP4A1 directly interacts with SRC and inhibits SRC basal activation independently of its phosphatase activity. Unexpectedly, PTP4A2 minimally interacts with SRC and does not promote the SRC-ERK-SMAD3 pathway. Thus, in addition to defining PTP4A1 as a molecule of interest for TGFβ-dependent fibrosis, our study provides information regarding the functional specificity of different members of the PTP4A subclass of phosphatases