How to frame the governance dimension of social innovation: theoretical considerations and empirical evidence

Social innovation approach has been increasingly used by governments in delivery of public services, since the development of more and more complex societal challenges requires the establishment of new multi-actor implementation structures and arrangements. More recently, a call for a more robust analytical framework emerged in order to enable evaluation of the growing number and types of socially innovative practices implemented in different European contexts. This article takes up this challenge by assuming the governance perspective on social innovation, i.e. the establishment of new implementation arrangements in relations between the public and non-profit sectors. Drawing on the public governance literature, the article describes a three-step methodology with which to design and implement socially innovative oriented governance, and it illustrates an empirical application to the issue of refugee integration. The article argues that the proposed methodology is suitable both for assessing if and to what extent civil society organizations are actually involved in horizontal and cooperative relations with public actors when new implementation tasks are required, and for guiding scholars and practitioners in investigating what should be improved to achieve socially innovative governance within a public policy process

Institutionalizing innovation in welfare local services through co-production: toward a Neo-Weberian state?

Innovative practices based on the involvement of citizens as co-producers of welfare local services have been increasingly adopted by the public sector to effectively tackle emerging social problems. Despite the development in the literature on this subject, recent studies still do not clearly indicate which are the challenges for the institutionalization of such practices. By applying a governance lens to the analysis of co-production of local public services, this article aims to contribute to bridging this gap through the empirical analysis of the childcare experience in four European cities. More in detail, it debates the concepts of co-production and innovation in public service delivery within the context of the different waves of public administration reforms; and it investigates how three different sets of conditions – namely, state support and capacity; organizational cultures which support innovation; and integration with facilitative technologies – integrate to facilitate or hinder the institutionalization of co-production initiatives. The findings show that the enabling role of the state actor is a sine qua non to guarantee an institutionalization of these practices, particularly concerning the promotion of trust-building processes. Doing so, the article contributes to the international debate about the possible co-existing of the paradigms of public administration that are arising in the last decades to remedy the problems with the New Public Management; and it provides professionals working in public management and administration with key policy recommendations for the elaboration of new governance systems for the provision of social and welfare services

Understanding social innovation in refugee integration: actors, practices, politics in Europe

The so-called ' refugee crisis ' marked a crucial juncture in migration governance across Europe. Policy-makers and local communities face the challenge of receiving and integrating migrants (often in extremely vulnerable conditions) in a context of poor governance arrangements and rising skepticism, or even hostility. In the light of such a complex scenario, this special issue explores social innovation as a promising approach to refugee integration. Socially innovative practices are indeed based on the active engagement of policy-makers and assorted stakeholders-including target groups through co-creation. In the realm of asylum policies, social innovation can thus facilitate the meeting of refugees ' needs as well as the benevolence of receiving communities, ultimately strengthening social cohesion in regions of settlement. Families hosting migrants at home, community-based cooperatives, and self-managed social spaces are all instances of socially innovative practices that are often initiated by non-state actors but that might be upscaled and transformed into fully fledged public policies-especially by policy-makers at the local and regional levels. The special issue will focus on labor, housing, and social integration of refugees (especially in the stages after their first reception) in the context of Central European cities and regions. The purpose is to develop conceptual tools for evaluating and designing socially innovative practices that might ultimately improve the social innovation capacity of local and regional governments. As the ' social innovation ' concept risks to be ambiguous, the special issue will also allow researchers to develop a set of empirically grounded indicators for measuring social innovation capacity-especially based on the analysis of best practices that can be upscaled and replicated through mutual learning

Growing CeO2 Nanoparticles Within the Nano-Porous Architecture of the SiO2 Aerogel

In this study, new CeO2-SiO2 aerogel nanocomposites obtained by controlled growth of CeO2 nanoparticles within the highly porous matrix of a SiO2 aerogel are presented. The nanocomposites have been synthesized via a sol-gel route, employing cerium (III) nitrate as the CeO2 precursor and selected surfactants to control the growth of the CeO2 nanoparticles, which occurs during the supercritical drying of the aerogels. Samples with different loading of the CeO2 dispersed phase, ranging from 5 to 15%, were obtained. The nanocomposites showed the morphological features typical of the SiO2 aerogels such as open mesoporosity with surface area values up to 430 m2·g−1. TEM and XRD characterizations show that nanocrystals of the dispersed CeO2 nanophase grow within the aerogel already during the supercritical drying process, with particle sizes in the range of 3 to 5 nm. TEM in particular shows that the CeO2 nanoparticles are well-distributed within the aerogel matrix. We also demonstrate the stability of the nanocomposites under high temperature conditions, performing thermal treatments in air at 450 and 900°C. Interestingly, the CeO2 nanoparticles undergo a very limited crystal growth, with sizes up to only 7 nm in the case of the sample subjected to a 900°C treatment

Combined Use of Terrestrial Laser Scanning and IR Thermography Applied to a Historical Building

Abstract: The conservation of architectural heritage usually requires a multidisciplinary approach involving a variety of specialist expertise and techniques. Nevertheless, destructive techniques should be avoided, wherever possible, in order to preserve the integrity of the historical buildings, therefore the development of non-destructive and non-contact techniques is extremely important. In this framework, a methodology for combining the terrestrial laser scanning and the infrared thermal images is proposed, in order to obtain a reconnaissance of the conservation state of a historical building. The proposed case study is represented by St. Augustine Monumental Compound, located in the historical centre of the town of Cosenza (Calabria, South Italy). Adopting the proposed methodology, the paper illustrates the main results obtained for the building test overlaying and comparing the collected data with both techniques, in order to outline the capabilities both to detect the anomalies and to improve the knowledge on health state of the masonry building. The 3D model, also, allows to provide a reference model, laying the groundwork for implementation of a monitoring multisensor system based on the use of non-destructive techniques

Rhythmic Auditory Stimulation (RAS) and motor rehabilitation in Parkinson’s disease: new frontiers in assessment and intervention protocols

Previous studies have demonstrated that physical therapy accompanied by Rhythmic Auditory Stimulation (RAS) can improve the motor skills of patients with Parkinson’s disease and, in particular, their gait disturbances. In the present work we describe the neurological bases and perceptual-motor deficits generally associated with Parkinson’s dis- ease, with a specific focus on gait disturbances. Within this framework, we review the role of auditory cueing in the modulation of patients’ gait, addressing this issue from the cognitive, neurological and biomechanical perspectives. In particular, we focus on the new frontiers of both assessment and intervention. With regards to the assessment, we describe the advantages of the three-dimensional quantitative multifactorial gait analysis. As concerns the intervention, we illus- trate the potential impact of the administration of ecological footstep sounds as rhythmic cues

Dynamical screening in strongly correlated metal SrVO3

The consequences of dynamical screening of Coulomb interaction among correlated electrons in realistic materials have not been widely considered before. In this letter we try to incorporate a frequency dependent Coulomb interaction into the state-of-the-art ab initio electronic structure computing framework of local density approximation plus dynamical mean-field theory, and then choose SrVO3 as a prototype material to demonstrate the importance of dynamical screening effect. It is shown to renormalise the spectral weight near the Fermi level, to increase the effective mass, and to suppress the t2g quasiparticle band width apparently. The calculated results are in accordance with very recent angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy experiments and Bose factor ansatz calculations.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1107.312

Familial hypercholesterolemia: The Italian Atherosclerosis Society Network (LIPIGEN)

Primary dyslipidemias are a heterogeneous group of disorders characterized by abnormal levels of circulating lipoproteins. Among them, familial hypercholesterolemia is the most common lipid disorder that predisposes for premature cardiovascular disease. We set up an Italian nationwide network aimed at facilitating the clinical and genetic diagnosis of genetic dyslipidemias named LIPIGEN (LIpid TransPort Disorders Italian GEnetic Network)

Alcuni esempi di catalogazione e restauro nell’ambito della Collezione Storica degli Strumenti di Fisica dell’Università di Palermo

In questo articolo presenteremo e discuteremo della catalogazione e restauro e di alcuni strumenti scientifici di particolare interesse storico-didattico appartenenti alla Collezione Storica degli Strumenti di Fisica dell’Università di Palermo. La catalogazione è stata effettuata secondo le indicazioni fornite dell’Istituto Centrale per il Catalogo e la Documentazione, per mezzo della scheda per il patrimonio scientifico-tecnologico. Nell’articolo saranno discussi gli aspetti tecnici degli interventi di restauro effettuati e saranno indicate le linee guida generali per il proseguimento dell’attività avviata.The article deals with the cataloguing and restoration of some scientific instruments of particular historical and didactic interest belonging to the Historical Collection of the Physics Instruments of the University of Palermo. The restoration activities have been carried out side by side the cataloguing, which has been done following the instructions supplied by the Central Institute for Cataloguing and Documentation with the official form for the scientific and technological heritage. In the article, we will discuss the technical aspects of the work carried out and basic guidelines will be given for the continuation of the activity

Use of proton pump inhibitors and risk of ischemic events in the general population

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: A potential increased risk of cardiovascular events has been suggested for proton pump inhibitors (PPIs), the most commonly prescribed drugs for the management of upper gastrointestinal disorders. We aimed to estimate the risk of hospitalization for cardio/cerebrovascular (CV) events in a cohort of incident PPI users. METHODS: A nested case-control study was carried out using regional healthcare utilization databases. For each case (hospitalization for non-haemorrhagic CV event), up-to-five controls randomly selected from the cohort were matched by gender, age at cohort entry, and index date. Exposure was estimated as recency of therapy (current, recent and past users) and number of days covered. Adjusted conditional logistic regression was used to estimate the association between exposure and outcome. RESULTS: Among new PPI users, we identified 17,832 cases and 89,160 controls (males 64.9%; mean age 58.9 years). Cases showed a significantly higher prevalence of use of drugs for diabetes, hypertension and hypercholesterolemia than controls. Risk of CV events was significantly higher for current (OR 1.61; 95%CI 1.55-1.68) and recent users (OR 1.15; 95%CI 1.06-1.26) compared to past users. Analogous results were found stratifying for cardiovascular (ORcurrent 1.71; 95%CI 1.63-1.81) and cerebrovascular events (ORcurrent 1.43; 95%CI 1.34-1.54). The increased risk was confirmed in subgroups by antithrombotic, statin use, or exposure duration. The same analysis for H2-antagonists use showed no significant results. CONCLUSIONS: In primary care setting, PPI use was independently associated with increased risk of first-time cardiovascular event, consistent with the evidence that PPIs adversely impact vascular function, underlying the need to promote appropriate prescribing of these drugs