Local and divergent patterns of technological learning within (partly) globalized markets : is there anything new? and what can policies do about it? : a concise guide

In this work, we present an assessment of the nature and impact of current ``globalizing'' tendencies at various levels of observation. The evidence in this respect suggests that it has mostly concerned financial flows (especially short-term ones); to some extent trade flows; and only to very limited degrees, if any, the modes of access to new (and even 'old') technologies. A widely held prejudice is that 'globalization' goes hand in hand with international convergence in technological capabilities and incomes: in quite a few cases the opposite indeed holds. Conversely, such evidence powerfully hints at the continuing role of public policies in fostering the accumulation of technological knowledge and its economic exploitation. We suggest some taxonomies of the 'control' and 'state' variables which policies are likely to influence. Beyond the fading away wave of 'market fundamentalism' -we suggest- it is high time to pragmatically re-assess the role of markets as often powerful, but highly imperfect, mechanisms of decentralized search for and adaptation to technological and organizational novelties

Local and divergent patterns of technological learning within (partly) globalized markets : is there anything new? and what can policies do about it? : a concise guide

In this work, we present an assessment of the nature and impact of current ``globalizing'' tendencies at various levels of observation. The evidence in this respect suggests that it has mostly concerned financial flows (especially short-term ones); to some extent trade flows; and only to very limited degrees, if any, the modes of access to new (and even 'old') technologies. A widely held prejudice is that 'globalization' goes hand in hand with international convergence in technological capabilities and incomes: in quite a few cases the opposite indeed holds. Conversely, such evidence powerfully hints at the continuing role of public policies in fostering the accumulation of technological knowledge and its economic exploitation. We suggest some taxonomies of the 'control' and 'state' variables which policies are likely to influence. Beyond the fading away wave of 'market fundamentalism' -we suggest- it is high time to pragmatically re-assess the role of markets as often powerful, but highly imperfect, mechanisms of decentralized search for and adaptation to technological and organizational novelties

The relationship between teachers and pupils with down syndrome: a qualitative study in primary schools

Down syndrome (DS), due the presence of an intellectual disability and a precarious health condition, involves important challenges for developing skills at school. The study explores the relational dynamics between teachers and students with DS and how the latter influence the processes of socialization and learning at school. The study involved 15 (n = 15) special education teachers (M age = 40.4; SD = 9.3) from primary schools in Italy who were or had previously been in charge of a pupil with DS. The teachers were interviewed through a semi-structured interview, built ad hoc. The data were analyzed through the grounded theory method supported by ATLAS.ti software. Data analysis produced 20 (n = 20) categories grouped into 6 (n = 6) macro-categories: (1) psychophysical characteristics; (2) learnings; (3) relational aspects; (4) collaborations; (5) extracurricular activities; and (6) teacher training. The research shows that students with DS have good relationships with their peers; however, there are still some important critical issues, including poor training of teachers on certain topics and on the application of collaborative and relationship support strategies, the limited collaboration between support teachers and curricular teachers, and the absence of support from ad hoc professional figures

Path dependence in technologies and organizations : a concise guide

The note on which an entry for the Palgrave Encyclopedia of Strategic Management will draw offers a beginner’s guide to path dependency in technologies and organizations. We address the very meaning of the concept and its centrality in various aspects of economic analysis. We outline the various levels of the economic system where it is observable, its sources, consequences and different formal representations of path dependent processes

Soil is a net source of methane in tropical African forests

Research Highlights: Monitoring of soil CH4 fluxes in African tropical forest conducted run for almost two years, contributing to the scant information on greenhouse gas (GHG) fluxes from forests available from this region. Data showed that the forest soil acted as a net yearly source of CH4. Hotspots of CH4 emissions were measured both in upland and lowland areas of the forest, and on an annual basis they overcame the soil CH4 sink during drier periods or in well‐drained areas. Background and Objectives: Atmospheric studies indicate that tropics are a strong CH4 source. Regional budgets attribute the majority of this source to wetland ecosystems and flooded lowland forests, whereas un‐flooded forests are considered net CH4 sinks, although few studies in tropical forests, in particular in Africa, are available. The present work aims to contribute to this knowledge gap. Materials and Methods: Monitoring campaigns were conducted along the year in the tropical forest of the Ankasa National Park, Ghana, in two contrasting environments, uphill and downhill, using close static chambers coupled with gas chromatography. Results: The uphill area was a net weak CH4 sink with mean daily fluxes ranging from −1.29 to 0.44 mg CH4 m−2 d−1. The downhill area was a significant CH4 source with mean daily fluxes ranging from −0.67 to 188.09 mg CH4 m−2 d−1 and with peaks up to 1312 mg CH4 m−2 d−1 in the wet season. Conclusions: The net annual soil CH4 budget for the Ankasa Park, normalizing the proportion of downhill areas over the whole park surface, was a source of about 3.3 kg CH4 ha−1 yr−1. Overlooking such areas might lead to underestimates of the total CH4 source strength of forested areas

Mode Confinement in Photonic Quasi-Crystal Point-Defect Cavities for Particle Accelerators

In this Letter, we present a study of the confinement properties of point-defect resonators in finite-size photonic-bandgap structures composed of aperiodic arrangements of dielectric rods, with special emphasis on their use for the design of cavities for particle accelerators. Specifically, for representative geometries, we study the properties of the fundamental mode (as a function of the filling fraction, structure size, and losses) via 2-D and 3-D full-wave numerical simulations, as well as microwave measurements at room temperature. Results indicate that, for reduced-size structures, aperiodic geometries exhibit superior confinement properties by comparison with periodic ones.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, accepted for publication in Applied Physics Letter

Early detection of ventricular dysfunction in juvenile systemic sclerosis by speckle tracking echocardiography

Objective: Cardiac involvement is the most important cause of mortality in juvenile systemic sclerosis (JSSc). Recent reports in adult patients underline that traditional techniques of imaging are inadequate to assess the subclinical cardiac involvement, while speckle tracking echocardiography (STE) is able to identify ventricular dysfunctions in the early stages. The aim of our study was to assess the role of STE in JSSc. Methods: Demographic, clinical and laboratory data were collected from patients with JSSc. Cardiac investigations performed at baseline (T0) and 18 (T18) and 36 months (T36) follow-up included electrocardiography, conventional echocardiography with measurement of the ejection fraction (EF) and STE with assessment of left and right ventricular global longitudinal strain (LV-GLS and RV-GLS). Cardiac parameters have been compared with demographic characteristics and disease severity, assessed by the Juvenile Systemic Sclerosis Severity Score (J4S). Results: A total of 18 patients, 12 (67%) females, entered the study. At T0, electrocardiography was abnormal in three patients, EF was reduced in one, LV-GLS was abnormal in three (16.7%) and RV-GLS was abnormal in five (27.8%). At T18, EF remained stable while at T36 the result decreased in seven of nine patients. At the same time, LV-GLS also worsened (from -21.6% to -18.2%, P = 0.01). LV-GLS and RV-GLS at baseline showed a significant correlation with J4S (P = 0.012 and P = 0.02, respectively). Conclusion: STE is more sensitive than standard echocardiography to identify cardiac involvement in JSSc. Over time, we observed a gradual worsening of LV-GLS, a sign of left ventricular dysfunction, that anticipated by several months the decrease of EF

Evaluation of fiber-optic phase-gradient meta-tips for sensing applications

Recently, within the emerging framework of "lab-on-fiber" technologies, we successfully demonstrated the integration of phase-gradient plasmonic metasurfaces on the tip of an optical fiber. The res..