Fostering Sustainable Development and Entrepreneurship: The New Role of University

Sustainable development is a global objective to overcome the economic, environment and society crises worldwide. The research aims are twofold: (i) Explores the proactive and dynamic model of the university’s education system, focusing on the new role played by the School of Economics in the promotion of economic, social and environmental sustainability, and how this goes beyond, in stimulating bottom–up social entrepreneurship ideas through students engagement; (ii) Provides a descriptive analysis of innovative laboratories modules, by studying and mapping the best project proposals initiated by the student. Finally, it presents a case study analysis on waste management (UniRecycling) project, scaling up objectives, stakeholder mapping, activities and the expected results. The findings show the new role played by School of Economics, along with other partner institutions, in supporting the student’s engagement in practice-oriented workshops that enable the transfer of knowledge, skills, and self – development. The implications of the research to be developed show that a dynamic bottom-up model of learning and dissemination of sustainable and entrepreneurial should aim to sensitise students to be active and create project ideas for social and environmental entrepreneurship and build and strengthen the local territorial networks, to contribute to the creation of a system of services attentive to responsible and sustainable entrepreneurial development

Modelling Identity Disturbance: A Network Analysis of the Personality Structure Questionnaire (PSQ)

Due to the relevance of identity disturbance to personality disorder this study sought to complete a network analysis of a well validated measure of identity disturbance; the personality structure questionnaire (PSQ). A multi-site and cross-national methodology created an overall sample of N = 1549. The global network structure of the PSQ was analysed and jointly estimated networks were compared across four subsamples (UK versus Italy, adults versus adolescents, clinical versus community and complex versus common presenting problems). Stability analyses assessed the robustness of identified networks. Results indicated that PSQ3 (unstable sense of self) and PSQ5 (mood variability) were the most central items in the global network structure. Network structures significantly differed between the UK and Italy. Centrality of items was largely consistent across subsamples. This study provides evidence of the potential network structure of identity disturbance and so guides clinicians in targeting interventions facilitating personality integration

Peritoneal expression of Matrilysin helps identify early post-operative recurrence of colorectal cancer

Recurrence of colorectal cancer (CRC) following a potentially curative resection is a challenging clinical problem. Matrix metalloproteinase-7 (MMP-7) is over-expressed by CRC cells and supposed to play a major role in CRC cell diffusion and metastasis. MMP-7 RNA expression was assessed by real-time PCR using specific primers in peritoneal washing fluid obtained during surgical procedure. After surgery, patients underwent a regular follow up for assessing recurrence. transcripts for MMP-7 were detected in 31/57 samples (54%). Patients were followed-up (range 20–48 months) for recurrence prevention. Recurrence was diagnosed in 6 out of 55 patients (11%) and two patients eventually died because of this. Notably, all the six patients who had relapsed were positive for MMP-7. Sensitivity and specificity of the test were 100% and 49% respectively. Data from patients have also been corroborated by computational approaches. Public available coloncarcinoma datasets have been employed to confirm MMP7 clinical impact on the disease. Interestingly, MMP-7 expression appeared correlated to Tgfb-1, and correlation of the two factors represented a poor prognostic factor. This study proposes positivity of MMP-7 in peritoneal cavity as a novel biomarker for predicting disease recurrence in patients with CRC

Temporal validation of metabolic nodal response of esophageal cancer to neoadjuvant chemotherapy as an independent predictor of unresectable disease, survival, and recurrence

Objectives We recently described metabolic nodal stage (mN) and response (mNR) of cancer of the esophagus and gastro-esophageal junction (GEJ) to neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) using 18F-FDG PET-CT as new markers of disease progression, recurrence, and death. We aimed to validate our findings. Methods Our validation cohort comprised all patients consecutive to our discovery cohort, staged before and after NAC using PET-CT from 2014 to 2017. Multivariate binary logistic and Cox regression were performed. Results Fifty-one of the 200 patients had FDG-avid nodes after NAC (25.5%; i.e., lack of complete mNR), and were more likely to progress during NAC to incurable disease on PET-CT or at surgery: odds ratio 3.84 (1.46–10.1; p = 0.006). In 176 patients undergoing successful resection, patients without complete mNR had a worse prognosis: disease-free survival hazard ratio 2.46 (1.34–4.50); p = 0.004. These associations were independent of primary tumor metabolic, pathological response, and stage. In a hybrid pathological/metabolic nodal stage, avid nodal metastases conferred a worse prognosis than non-avid metastases. Lack of complete mNR predicted recurrence or death at 1 and 2 years: positive predictive values 44.4% (31.7–57.8) and 74.1% (56.6–86.3) respectively. Conclusions This study provides temporal validation for mNR as a new and independent predictive and prognostic marker of esophageal and GEJ cancer treated with NAC and surgery, although external validation is required to assess generalizability. mNR may provide surrogate information regarding the phenotype of metastatic cancer clones beyond the mere presence of nodal metastases, and might be used to better inform patients, risk stratify, and personalize management, including adjuvant therapy

Performance of recombinant chimeric proteins in the serological diagnosis of Trypanosoma cruzi infection in dogs.

Background: Dogs are considered sentinels in areas of Trypanosoma cruzi transmission risk to humans. ELISA is generally the method of choice for diagnosing T. cruzi exposure in dogs, but its performance substantially depends on the antigenic matrix employed. In previous studies, our group has developed four chimeric antigens (IBMP-8.1, 8.2, 8.3, and 8.4) and evaluated their potential for diagnosing T. cruzi exposure in humans. For human sera, these chimeric antigens presented superior diagnostic performances as compared to commercial tests available in Brazil, Spain, and Argentina. Therefore, in this study we have evaluated the potential of these antigenic proteins for detection of anti-T. cruzi IgG antibodies in dog sera. Methodology/Principal findings: The IBMP-ELISA assays were optimized by checkerboard titration. Subsequently, the diagnostic potential was validated through analysis of ROC curves and the performance of the tests was determined using double entry tables. Cross-reactivity was also evaluated for babesiosis, ehrlichiosis, dirofilariosis, anaplasmosis, and visceral leishmaniasis. Best performance was shown by IBMP-8.3 and IBMP-8.4, although all four antigens demonstrated a high diagnostic performance with 46 positive and 149 negative samples tested. IBMP-8.3 demonstrated 100% sensitivity, followed by IBMP-8.4 (96.7?100%), IBMP-8.2 (73.3?87.5%), and IBMP-8.1 (50?100%). The highest specificities were achieved with IBMP-8.2 (100%) and IBMP-8.4 (100%), followed by IBMP-8.3 (96.7?97.5%) and IBMP 8.1 (89.1?100%). Conclusions/Significance: The use of chimeric antigenic matrices in immunoassays for anti-T. cruzi IgG antibody detection in sera of infected dogs was shown to be a promising tool for veterinary diagnosis and epidemiological studies. The chimeric antigens used in this work allowed also to overcome the common hurdles related to serodiagnosis of T. cruzi infection, especially regarding variation of efficiency parameters according to different strains and cross-reactivity with other infectious diseases

Global management of a common, underrated surgical task during the COVID-19 pandemic: Gallstone disease - An international survery

Background: Since the Coronavirus disease-19(COVID-19) pandemic, the healthcare systems are reallocating their medical resources, with consequent narrowed access to elective surgery for benign conditions such as gallstone disease(GD). This survey represents an overview of the current policies regarding the surgical management of patients with GD during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: A Web-based survey was conducted among 36 Hepato-Prancreato-Biliary surgeons from 14 Countries. Through a 17-item questionnaire, participants were asked about the local management of patients with GD since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Results: The majority (n = 26,72.2%) of surgeons reported an alarming decrease in the cholecystectomy rate for GD since the start of the pandemic, regardless of the Country: 19(52.7%) didn't operate any GD, 7(19.4%) reduced their surgical activity by 50–75%, 10(27.8%) by 25–50%, 1(2.8%) maintained regular activity. Currently, only patients with GD complications are operated. Thirty-two (88.9%) participants expect these changes to last for at least 3 months. In 15(41.6%) Centers, patients are currently being screened for SARS-CoV-2 infection before cholecystectomy [in 10(27.8%) Centers only in the presence of suspected infection, in 5(13.9%) routinely]. The majority of surgeons (n = 29,80.6%) have adopted a laparoscopic approach as standard surgery, 5(13.9%) perform open cholecystectomy in patients with known/suspected SARS-CoV-2 infection, and 2(5.6%) in all patients. Conclusion

Public Sector Modernization Trends of the Member States of European Union: Trajectories of Reforms in Italy and Romania

Research on administrative reform in Europe has demonstrated a significant variation among countries in how they choose reform strategy. We know very little about what explains the variation with regard to the extent with which the countries conduct the reforms and how they effectively influenced modernization process. Since 1980s, reactions of countries have been to maintain, modernise, marketise or minimise their public sector (Pollitt, Bouckaert 2004). The paper investigates the markedly features of reform trends, similarities and differences in design and implementation, taking into consideration the effects of Europeanization and the multi-level governance of Public Management reforms; identifies conditions for lasting success of local governments reforms and the reasons for lack of success of different trends of modernisation and proposes a new perspective on the trajectories of modernization in public sector, through a comparative analyses between one of the founder member of EU (Italy) and a new EU member country (Romania). Therefore, the paper will: undertake an in-depth evaluation of public management modernization trends in both countries explaining the significant variation in the objectives and ‘trajectories' of reforms on the basis of historical-institutional context dependency variable, contents and scope of reforms; perform an analysis of experiences of implementing policies and projects of modernization through programmers and common initiatives mostly carried out by the central government. The rewarding initiative '100 Projects' both in Romania and Italy sets an example of cooperation regarding the implementation of activities within the scope of the national programs for modernization and innovation of the public sector

Phenotyping of Different Italian Durum Wheat Varieties in Early Growth Stage With the Addition of Pure or Digestate-Activated Biochars

This study aims to highlight the major effects of biochar incorporation into potting soil substrate on plant growth and performance in early growth stages of five elite Italian varieties of durum wheat (Triticum durum). The biochars used were obtained from two contrasting feedstocks, namely wood chips and wheat straw, by gasification under high temperature conditions, and were applied in a greenhouse experiment either as pure or as nutrient-activated biochar obtained by incubation with digestate. The results of the experiment showed that specific genotypes as well as different treatments with biochar have significant effects on plant response when looking at shoot traits related to growth. The evaluated genotypes could be clustered in two main distinct groups presenting, respectively, significantly increasing (Duilio, Iride, and Saragolla varieties) and decreasing (Marco Aurelio and Grecale varieties) values of projected shoot system area (PSSA), fresh weight (FW), dry weight (DW), and plant water loss by evapotranspiration (ET). All these traits were correlated with Pearson correlation coefficients ranging from 0.74 to 0.98. Concerning the treatment effect, a significant alteration of the mentioned plant traits was observed when applying biochar from wheat straw, characterized by very high electrical conductivity (EC), resulting in a reduction of 34.6% PSSA, 43.2% FW, 66.9% DW, and 36.0% ET, when compared to the control. Interestingly, the application of the same biochar after nutrient spiking with digestate determined about a 15–30% relief from the abovementioned reduction induced by the application of the sole pure wheat straw biochar. Our results reinforce the current basic knowledge available on biological soil amendments as biochar and digestate

Public Sector Modernization Trends of the Member States of European Union.Trajectories of reforms in Italy and Romania

Research on administrative reform in Europe has demonstrated a significant variation among countries in how they choose reform strategy. We know very little about what explains the variation with regard to the extent with which the countries conduct the reforms and how they effectively influenced modernization process. Since 1980s, reactions of countries have been to maintain, modernise, marketise or minimise their public sector (Pollitt, Bouckaert 2004). The paper investigates the markedly features of reform trends, similarities and differences in design and implementation, taking into consideration the effects of Europeanization and the multi-level governance of Public Management reforms; identifies conditions for lasting success of local governments reforms and the reasons for lack of success of different trends of modernisation and proposes a new perspective on the trajectories of modernization in public sector, through a comparative analyses between one of the founder member of EU (Italy) and a new EU member country (Romania). Therefore, the paper will :- undertake an in-depth evaluation of public management modernization trends in both countries explaining the significant variation in the objectives and ‘trajectories' of reforms on the basis of historical-institutional context dependency variable, contents and scope of reforms;-perform an analysis of experiences of implementing policies and projects of modernization through programmers and common initiatives mostly carried out by the central government. The rewarding initiative "100 Projects" both in Romania and Italy sets an example of cooperation regarding the implementation of activities within the scope of the national programs for modernization and innovation of the public sector.modernization; public administration reforms; Italy; Romania

Public Sector Modernization Trends of the Member States of European Union: Trajectories of Reforms in Italy and Romania

Research on administrative reform in Europe has demonstrated a significant variation among countries in how they choose reform strategy. We know very little about what explains the variation with regard to the extent with which the countries conduct the reforms and how they effectively influenced modernization process. Since 1980s, reactions of countries have been to maintain, modernise, marketise or minimise their public sector (Pollitt, Bouckaert 2004). The paper investigates the markedly features of reform trends, similarities and differences in design and implementation, taking into consideration the effects of Europeanization and the multi-level governance of Public Management reforms; identifies conditions for lasting success of local governments reforms and the reasons for lack of success of different trends of modernisation and proposes a new perspective on the trajectories of modernization in public sector, through a comparative analyses between one of the founder member of EU (Italy) and a new EU member country (Romania). Therefore, the paper will: undertake an in-depth evaluation of public management modernization trends in both countries explaining the significant variation in the objectives and ‘trajectories' of reforms on the basis of historical-institutional context dependency variable, contents and scope of reforms; perform an analysis of experiences of implementing policies and projects of modernization through programmers and common initiatives mostly carried out by the central government. The rewarding initiative '100 Projects' both in Romania and Italy sets an example of cooperation regarding the implementation of activities within the scope of the national programs for modernization and innovation of the public sector.Modernization, Public Administration Reforms, Italy, Romania