Corporate Governance and Firm Performance in New Technology Ventures

AbstractThis paper studies the relationship between the features of managerial board, ownership structure and firm performance of a particular type of new technology ventures: the academic spin offs. These are mainly small and medium firms, focused on high technology, research and innovation, that involve private and public actors in their ownership structure. Literature shows that these firms play an important role for economic growth of a country, however in Italy a high degree of academic spin offs doesn't survive for a long time. Managerial competences, corporate governance attributes and financial structure could explain these phenomenon. This study observes a sample of Italian academic spin offs established in the last five years: primary data on corporate governance, industry, ownership structure, financial aspects are taken from the National Register of Firms, University (parent organization) and company website. Statistics show relevant relations between firm performance and corporate governance attributes and confirmed, after the start-up, the inefficiency of the board of directors in which there is an overlapping between academic-founder and manager, suggesting greater openness to outside expertise

Studio caso controllo sull'utilizzo in vitro del mio inositolo in pazienti oligoastenospermici

In passato si riteneva che la mancanza di concepimento dipendesse soprattutto dalla donna. Gli studi condotti negli ultimi anni hanno invece dimostrato che almeno nel 50% dei casi è l’uomo ad avere una ridotta capacità riproduttiva. L'infertilità maschile si instaura quando si verifica un'alterazione della normale produzione, maturazione, motilità e/o liberazione degli spermatozoi. Nell'uomo infertile si riscontra pertanto, l'incapacità di produrre e/o liberare nell'eiaculato un'adeguata quantità di spermatozoi maturi e funzionali. I fattori di rischio che più speso si associano ad infertilità maschile sono: fumo di sigaretta, sovrappeso e obesità, infezioni a trasmissione sessuale e stress. Si è visto che alla base delle alterazioni del liquido seminale c’è un aumento dei radicali liberi dell’ossigeno (ROS), infatti numerosi studi hanno mostrato come l'impiego di sostanze antiossidanti in vitro ed in vivo porti ad un miglioramento in termini di motilità, riduzione dei danni al DNA e quindi miglioramento della funzione riproduttiva. L’aumento dei ROS determina alterazione della normale struttura dei mitocondri, ovvero quegli organelli preposti alla produzione di energia (ATP) necessaria allo spermatozoo per svolgere la sua funzione. Molte sono le sostanze antiossidanti prodotte dall’organismo o assunte con la dieta che contribuiscono a mantenere lo stato redox degli spermatozoi. In particolare si è visto come il mio-inostolo sia presente nel liquido seminale in concentrazioni molto più alte rispetto a quelle sieriche. Si è evidenziato un diretto rapporto tra concentrazione di mio-inositolo, potenziali di membrana mitocondriali e motilità degli spermatozoi. Gli effetti descritti in precedenza sul mio- inositolo sulla fertilità si sono focalizzati quasi esclusivamente sulla funzione ovarica, soprattutto nelle pazienti con sindrome dell'ovaio policistico, in termini di insulino-resistenza, tasso di ovulazione e qualità ovocitaria. Nel nostro studio abbiamo voluto indagare il mio inositolo come possibile agente antiossidante per il miglioramento della motilità in vitro degli spermatozoi utilizzato per le tecniche di procreazione assistita. Abbiamo incubato in vitro i campioni di pazienti sani e di pazienti oligoastenospermici con 15µl/ml di mio-inositolo e abbiamo valutato i parametri di motilità dei vari campioni. Si è evidenziato come ci sia un miglioramento della motilità lineare in entrambi gruppi e in modo statisticamente significativo nei pazienti oligoastenospermici e soprattutto nei pazienti fumatori, confermando l’azione fortemente antiossidante del mio- inositolo

John Dewey: una alternativa a la "teoría del conocimiento del espectador"

Podía comenzar este trabajo de diferentes maneras, pero he elegido la presente ya que parece ser la más clara y la que ofrece una posibilidad mayor de síntesis. El título manifiesta dos cosas: en primer término la existencia de una denominada ''teoría del conocimiento del espectador'', y a continuación la posible alternativa que ofrecería Dewey frente a la mencionada teoría. Por lo cual, mi argumentación seguirá el siguiente orden: 1) presentación de la teoría del espectador 2) alternativa pragmática a dicha teoría 3) consideraciones critica

A Dialogue on Relativism: Rorty and Feyerabend

In this article, I first explore the strategies proposed by two authors to escape or evade relativism: Richard Rorty and Paul Feyerabend. I then present Rorty’s ethnocentric position and Feyerabend’s anthropological version, with the ultimate goal to evaluate pros and cons of both points of view. Are Rorty or Feyerabend escaping relativism, evading relativism, or are they offering us an uncomfortable dilemma?Facultad de Humanidades y Ciencias de la Educació

A Dialogue on Relativism: Rorty and Feyerabend

In this article, I first explore the strategies proposed by two authors to escape or evade relativism: Richard Rorty and Paul Feyerabend. I then present Rorty’s ethnocentric position and Feyerabend’s anthropological version, with the ultimate goal to evaluate pros and cons of both points of view. Are Rorty or Feyerabend escaping relativism, evading relativism, or are they offering us an uncomfortable dilemma?Facultad de Humanidades y Ciencias de la Educació

ASSESSING THE BUSINESS INCUBATORS’ PERFORMANCE REFERRING THE LOCAL DEVELOPMENT IN ITALY

Literature assign to business incubators an important role in promoting innovative entrepreneurship and economic growth. This study investigates the relationship between incubators performance and local development in Italy, focusing on those characteristics of regional contexts that enhance the role of incubators. Using a sample of 162 incubators, the regional economic index for 18 regions and the performance data for 405 new technology ventures located within these regions, we show that the local context features play a positive effect on the incubators performance. The nature of founders team of incubators is also important to implement effective entrepreneurial initiatives, while the sectorial specialization isn’t an essential requirement for the success of NTVs. Different factors of local context contribute positively to generate an environment that enhance the incubators’ activities

A SspI PCR-RFLP detecting a silent allele at the goat CSN2 locus

The comparison between the cDNA sequence obtained and the published sequences of the goat CSN2 alleles showed a new single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) (transition C-T) at the 180th nucleotide of the ninth exon. This mutation, which took place at 124 nt from the polyadenylation site, identifies a silent allele at the CSN2 locus named CSN2 A1. Since the 9th exon C-T transition creates a SspI endonuclease restriction site, the SspI digestion of a PCR product of 360 bp spanning the 9th exon and flanking regions, would allow carriers for the presence of thymine to be identified. The allelic frequency of the CSN2 A1 allele, determined in 170 goats belonging to an undefined genetic type reared in the province of Naples (Italy), was 0.23 It has been observed that the sequences in the 3’ untranslated regions (UTR), proximal to the polyadenylation site, can affect the mechanism of mRNA deadenylation and degradation. Therefore, it is reasonable to hypothesize that the C-T transition might, directly or indirectly, influence the stability of the mRNA and, consequently, the amount of protein produced

Big Data and Decision-Making: A Structured Literature Review

This study provides a structured literature review on the role of Big Data (BD) and Big Data Analytics (BDA) in supporting the decision-making. The study aims to systematize the knowledge, the primary results and research gaps related to BD and BDA in strategic management and in decision-making, providing a future research agenda. Adopting the methodology of Massaro et al. (2015), the review investigates this phenomenon through a longitudinal approach, analyzing a sample of 97 articles published in high-level scientific journals ranked in ABS list, in the Marketing, Strategic Management, Ethics, Gender, and Social Responsibility area. The study unveils the subject of decisions, factors influencing good decisions and the main effects of using BD and BDA in decision-making. Public sector, non-profit organizations and SMEs deserve more attention. Similarly, new organizational factors, data chain dynamics and inhibitors must be explored to remove the obstacles in decision-making

Co-digestion of tanning residues and sludge

Codigestion experiments on sludge from tanneries’ industrial wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) mixed with chromium free (“green”) tanneries solid wastes were carried-out in a 15 m3 pilot plant reactor, operating at 20 days hydraulic retention time (HRT) and at mesophilic temperature (35 ºC). The goal was to evaluate the feasibility of a full-scale unit. Addition of “green” solid wastes improved biodegradability of the sludge and biogas production. The removal efficiencies of organic matter varied, according to the feedstock mixture. Averaged results are: COD and VS more than 55 %; TOC = 69 %. Hydrolysis of suspended volatile solids was initially moderate (36 %), but increased up to about 50 %, when the feedstock contained proteolytic enzymes. Fat removal was quite high (77 %). Biogas production was highly dependent from the fleshing content in the feedstock. Addition of 30 % by weight of fleshing to the sludge increased 4 times the average biogas production (from 3,85 m3/day to 14,62 m3/day). The maximum Biogas production rate was 38 liter/kg of feedstock. Fleshing biogas yield was found to be 630 l/kg Volatile Solids loaded, higher than the value recorded for the sludge (288 l/kg Volatile Solids loaded). Methane content in biogas was about 75 % CH4. The average biogas productivity of the reactor was 1.49 l/l/day. Sulphate removal carried-out by the biologic community (SO4 = ≥ 35%) increased Hydrogen sulphide concentration in the biogas up to 1800 ppm (average), a value higher than the limits allowed for use in internal combustion engines. Grinding and maceration of fleshing was hard, due to smell, repugnant look and high strength of its components. This feedstock must be pre-treated in order to avoid excess hydrogen sulphide and lime. Codigestion of “green” tannery wastes with sludge and others residues revealed technically feasible and a low cost solution for the environmental problem of these residues from small/average tanning factories. The potential biogas production for full scale plant is about 11 000 m3/day, making this solution refundable within 5 years. Codigestion allows substantial reduction in bio solids volume, pathogens, and odor, increasing landfill life. This is an important evolution on current solution and gives time to plan and implement new sustainable projects