LOCAL RURAL DEVELOPMENT, INSTITUTIONAL INACTION AND THE TRAGEDY OF LOCAL PUBLIC GOODS

Empirical observation can confirm that not all rural communities enjoy an optimal level of local public goods: some public goods are provided more often and in a better quality than others. Given the vital importance of public goods for the welfare of local communities (among which the management of the local natural resource base for sustainable development plays a relevant role), the relation between existing local political institutions and their competences represents a critical issue for the concrete possibilities to properly produce, manage and provide local public goods. A better understanding of the nature of local public goods may increase the awareness of interdependence between local economic, environmental and social development not only in order to stop their continuing eroding but also to increase the possibility to produce local public goods and to design the institutional setting to overcome generic problems of public goods provision

INNOVATION TRANSFER AND RURAL SMES

The role innovation can play to make enterprises more dynamic and competitive is surely well known. For rural small and medium enterprises (SMEs) this can become a critical issue because they often need financial and technical incentives and support from public and private research institutions in order to make innovation accessible to them. Yet bridging research and productive dimensions is not always an easy task The cooperation between researchers and rural entrepreneurs can become a rather demoralizing experience for both parties due to the action of a large number of inadequacies caused not only by financial, technical or organizational factors but also by cultural diversities and different approaches. This paper proposes some considerations matured by the authors while cooperating with some rural SMEs of agro-industrial and agrobusiness sectors in Central Italy to implement actions of innovation and know how transfer. The experiences reported have been made within the framework of article 15 of the Ministerial Decree (Ministry of University and Research) n. 593/2000 which allows temporary deployment of personnel from research institutions in SMEs. In this paper the authors outline some methodological guidelines developed and adopted to analyze and meet the innovation demand from SMEs involved in innovation transfer processes

Ontogenic Development of Th1 and Th2 Cytokine Capabilities in Random Bred Mice

Neonatal mouse Th1 capabilities mature by postnatal day 5. Neonatal T cells have been reported to exhibit a bias towards Th2 cytokine production when co-cultured with adult antigen presenting cells (APC). We studied mouse T cells co-cultured with contemporary APC to evaluate neonatal cytokine production capabilities. In response to allogeneic stimulation, T cells co-cultured with contemporary APC from day 5 pups produced 37-fold greater IFNγ and 1.4-fold greater IL-2 levels than day 20 weanling mice. After CD3 ligation, cells from day 5 pups produced 4- (IL-2) and 10-fold (IFNγ) greater levels than adults (day 45), and concentrations were 27- (IL-2) and 18-fold (IFNγ) higher than with allogeneic stimulation alone. On average, the percent difference in concentrations was 418 (IL-4), 286 (IL-2) and 1140% (IFNγ) higher in unseparated spleen cells than in isolated splenic CD4 cells and APC. These results demonstrate that, in response to allogeneic stimulation with or without CD3 ligation, lymphocytes of neonatal mice (day 5) have the capacity to produce equivalent or greater TcR-dependent Th1 cytokine (IL-2 and IFNγ) levels than adult mice. Findings also support the idea that the reported Th2 bias of neonatal T cells may be the result of in vitro manipulation and choice of mouse strain, not of an inherent bias

Maternal Modulation of Neonatal Immune System Development

Changes in programming of neonatal immune development were effected through maternal immune modulation (Leishmania major inoculation). In progeny of these dams, immune profiles in both blood and spleen were changed throughout the neonatal period and were pronounced after weaning. White blood cell (WBC) and lymphocyte counts in blood of 45-day-old progeny were two-fold less than control animals. In blood, proportions of B cells were greater, while T helpers, Tc/s and NK cells were less than in controls. In contrast, proportions of splenic B and NK cells were greater than controls. But, proportions of all T and Tc/s cells on d20 and 45 were lower than controls. In blood, absolute numbers of all T, Th naïve and Th memory cells were lower than in controls. In contrast, in the spleen, numbers of NK, T and Th naïve and memory cells were up to 200% greater than in control pups. Cytokine responses of splenic lymphocytes stimulated through CD3 ligation revealed no difference in IL-4 production. In contrast, IL-2 and IFNγ were lower on d45 and 5, respectively, in the experimental compared to control mice. These data support the hypothesis that maternal immune events during gestation can modulate the pattern of immune development in offspring

PROCESSES OF MARGINALIZATION OF AGRICULTURE: THE ROLE OF NON-AGRICULTURAL SECTORS TO SUPPORT ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL GROWTH IN RURAL AREAS

In the case of rural realities showing peculiar socio-political conditions, systemic changes, transformation of consolidated lifestyles, marginalization and weak socio-economic positions, policies to restructure agriculture can face complex implications. The definition, development and implementation of strategies focused at a „local” level directed to support non-agricultural rural activities can contribute to make modernization processes really effective and capable to produce solutions which can be efficiently adopted. A multidisciplinary analysis on „rural space”, as a complex system composed of essential elements (individuals, communities, agriculture, landscape, environment, non-agricultural activities, and local spatial and cultural configurations) becomes a crucial step to achieve all potential benefits from the identification of alternative employment and income sources and to create a positive environment to implement social, economic and technological changes

Sibling Relationship Quality and Future Planning among Siblings of Adolescents with Developmental Disabilities: A Mixed Methods Approach

Thesis advisor: Penny Hauser-CramThis study involves secondary analysis of data from the Early Intervention Collaborative Study (EICS; Hauser-Cram, Warfield, Shonkoff, & Krauss, 2001), a longitudinal investigation of children with disabilities and their families. Presented is a mixed methods investigation of the relationship between future planning issues and sibling relationship quality when the teen with a disability (DD) was in adolescence (15 and 18 years old). First, future planning issues were examined contemporaneously with sibling relationship quality using hierarchical regression. Second, future planning issues from when the teen with DD was 15 years old were investigated in their relation to change in sibling relationship quality from ages 15 to 18 using lagged OLS regression. Third, qualitative content analysis was used to analyze sibling responses to a series of open-ended questions concerning the future at age 15 (1 question) and age 18 (4 questions). Siblings were asked "what have you learned by living with your brother or sister?" at both time points. In the first set of analyses, discussion of the teen's needs with parents, teen functional skills, sibling gender match, and sibling expectation of future roles were found to significantly relate to sibling relationship cooperation when the teen was 18. Additionally, sibling birth order was related to sibling conflict at age 18. In the second set of analyses, sibling relationship closeness was found to decrease over adolescence and sibling pessimism at age 15 was found to negatively relate this decrease. Finally, in the results for the qualitative analysis, various themes in sibling responses are discussed. More specifically, patterns arose in the change of sibling responses: trends reflecting a decrease in sibling relationship closeness, trends reflecting increasing role asymmetry in the sibling relationship, and trends reflecting sibling development. Future research must further examine the sibling relationship by using a developmental perspective and by taking into account the dynamic nature of sibling roles. The findings support the design of family-based interventions that address future planning explicitly with siblings and parents. Finally, improving the current resources and support for siblings may potentially increase siblings' perception of sibling relationship quality in these sibling pairs.Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2012.Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education.Discipline: Counseling, Developmental, and Educational Psychology