Postscript to: Why A. Smith Might Have Been Right, after All

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Interdisciplinary research. Measurement and assessment indicators

WP 06/13; In order to implement appropriate policies to face the difficulties and remove the obstacles that hinder interdisciplinary research, it is necessary to clarify how this ever broader and more dynamic portion of science works and which incentives best support the activities of scientists. Interdisciplinary studies are a peculiar aspect of the activities performed by researchers operating at the frontier of science, for instance in cutting-edge sectors. They might encompass fields of investigation that already exist, but they cannot be exclusively ascribed to any one of them. Abstract answers regarding the very unusual matters investigated by interdisciplinary research would make it extremely difficult to provide quantitative output measurements and evaluations. Yet, the shift from general abstract answers to specific empirical problems, which is the objective of most interdisciplinary research, turns out to be an advantage when assessing this type of research. Concentrating on problems and on approaching their solutions in objective quantitative terms can allow for output measurement and assessment also in the case of interdisciplinary research. This can be achieved by using precision and efficiency parameters able to provide public policies and entrepreneurial activities with content that is as clearly defined and as rigorous as that of specialist researc

Uno studio sull’innovazione nell’industria chimica

In our analysis, we have remembered the general result reached by studies on innovation of late, according to which innovation in manufacturing industry is a complex phenomenon and does not lend itself to be described and explained through simplistic analytical models. We have then taken clue from a variegated description of the firms’ innovative behaviour, based on several indicators of their innovativeness. Our results confirm the idea that remarkable differences exist between the two sub-sectors into which chemical industry is broken down: pharmaceutical and basic chemicals. As for policy implications, the close correlation between patents and basic-research expenditure suggests that the Italian Fund for basic research (FIRB) might be useful in order to promote innovation in chemical industry.Industria chimica; Innovazione; Ricerca

Brief notes on the policies for science-based firms

WP 12/2004; One of the main reasons why the Italian industry’s R&D activities lag behind those of its competitors is often suggested to be the very low weight of high technology firms in that productive system. Here, we propose a specific measure to correct this anomaly. It aims both to foster the industry’s R&D and encourage a closer co-operation of public universities with private companies. This policy provision would serve a dual purpose: it could be seen as a means of fostering the co-operation between the public research sphere and industry; it could also be a way of financing the research universities do. We argue that, by submitting additional funding for university research to a judicious evaluation by private sector producers, Italy could increase its prospects of achieving economic returns on academic research

How could patient reported outcomes improve patient management in chronic myeloid leukemia?

Introduction: Patients reported outcome (PRO) are still under-used in patients with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) treated with tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs), though data on the correlation between quality of life (QoL) and therapeutic efficacy are increasingly known. Chronic low-grade toxicities can reduce patient's QoL and negatively impact on adherence.Areas covered: This review will focus on the role of QoL questionnaires in patients with CML, receiving imatinib or newer TKIs (dasatinib, nilotinib, bosutinib, ponatinib). Physicians tend to underestimate the impact of TKI-related symptoms, in particular fatigue, that negatively affect QoL and can be a reason of poor adherence to therapy, with detrimental effect on long-term response. Few studies pointed out the role of PRO in CML, and there is paucity of questionnaires specifically designed for CML patients.Expert commentary: We recommend a wider use of PRO to join the pursuit of a rapid and deep responses with an optimization of QoL

Quercetin can act either as an inhibitor or an inducer of the mitochondrial permeability transition pore: A demonstration of the ambivalent redox character of polyphenols

AbstractThe Ca2+- and oxidative stress-induced mitochondrial permeability transition (MPT) plays an important role in phenomena ranging from tissue damage upon infarction to muscle wasting in some forms of dystrophy. The process is due to the activation of a large pore in the inner mitochondrial membrane. Anti-oxidants are considered a preventive and remedial tool, and mitochondria-targeted redox-active compounds have been developed. Plant polyphenols are generally considered as anti-oxidants, and thus candidates to the role of mitochondria-protecting agents. In patch-clamp experiments, easily oxidizable polyphenols induced closure of the MPT channel. In swelling experiments with suspensions of mitochondria, high (20–50 μM) concentrations of quercetin, the most efficient inhibitor, promoted instead the onset of the MPT. Chelators of Fe2+/3+ and Cu+/2+ ions counteracted this effect. Fluorescent indicators of superoxide production confirmed that quercetin potentiates O2− generation by isolated mitochondria and cultured cells. Since this was not affected by chelating Fe and Cu ions, the MPT-inducing effect can be ascribed to a “secondary”, metal ion-catalyzed production of ROS. These results are a direct demonstration of the ambivalent redox character of polyphenols. Their mode of action in vivo cannot be taken for granted, but needs to be experimentally verified

Uno studio sull’innovazione nell’industria chimica (Italian chemical firms' innovative behaviour)

WP 03/2004; In our analysis, we have remembered the general result reached by studies on innovation of late, according to which innovation in manufacturing industry is a complex phenomenon and does not lend itself to be described and explained through simplistic analytical models. We have then taken clue from a variegated description of the firms’ innovative behaviour, based on several indicators of their innovativeness. Our results confirm the idea that remarkable differences exist between the two sub-sectors into which chemical industry is broken down: pharmaceutical and basic chemicals. As for policy implications, the close correlation between patents and basic-research expenditure suggests that the Italian Fund for basic research (FIRB) might be useful in order to promote innovation in chemical industry

Mass Segregation in NGC 2298: limits on the presence of an Intermediate Mass Black Hole

[abridged] Theoretical investigations have suggested the presence of Intermediate Mass Black Holes (IMBHs, with masses in the 100-10000 Msun range) in the cores of some Globular Clusters (GCs). In this paper we present the first application of a new technique to determine the presence or absence of a central IMBH in globular clusters that have reached energy equipartition via two-body relaxation. The method is based on the measurement of the radial profile for the average mass of stars in the system, using the fact that a quenching of mass segregation is expected when an IMBH is present. Here we measure the radial profile of mass segregation using main-sequence stars for the globular cluster NGC 2298 from resolved source photometry based on HST-ACS data. The observations are compared to expectations from direct N-body simulations of the dynamics of star clusters with and without an IMBH. The mass segregation profile for NGC 2298 is quantitatively matched to that inferred from simulations without a central massive object over all the radial range probed by the observations, that is from the center to about two half-mass radii. Profiles from simulations containing an IMBH more massive than ~ 300-500 Msun (depending on the assumed total mass of NGC 2298) are instead inconsistent with the data at about 3 sigma confidence, irrespective of the IMF and binary fraction chosen for these runs. While providing a null result in the quest of detecting a central black hole in globular clusters, the data-model comparison carried out here demonstrates the feasibility of the method which can also be applied to other globular clusters with resolved photometry in their cores.Comment: 21 pages, 3 figures, ApJ accepte

Bayesian Machine Learning Techniques for revealing complex interactions among genetic and clinical factors in association with extra-intestinal Manifestations in IBD patients

The objective of the study is to assess the predictive performance of three different techniques as classifiers for extra-intestinal manifestations in 152 patients with Crohn's disease. Na\uefve Bayes, Bayesian Additive Regression Trees and Bayesian Networks implemented using a Greedy Thick Thinning algorithm for learning dependencies among variables and EM algorithm for learning conditional probabilities associated to each variable are taken into account. Three sets of variables were considered: (i) disease characteristics: presentation, behavior and location (ii) risk factors: age, gender, smoke and familiarity and (iii) genetic polymorphisms of the NOD2, CD14, TNFA, IL12B, and IL1RN genes, whose involvement in Crohn's disease is known or suspected. Extra-intestinal manifestations occurred in 75 patients. Bayesian Networks achieved accuracy of 82% when considering only clinical factors and 89% when considering also genetic information, outperforming the other techniques. CD14 has a small predicting capability. Adding TNFA, IL12B to the 3020insC NOD2 variant improved the accuracy