Looking inside the spiky bits : a critical review and conceptualisation of entrepreneurial ecosystems

The authors wish to thank the Organisational for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) for funding their original research on entrepreneurial ecosystems.The concept of entrepreneurial ecosystems has quickly established itself as one of the latest ‘fads’ in entrepreneurship research. At face value, this kind of systemic approach to entrepreneurship offers a new and distinctive path for scholars and policy makers to help understand and foster growth-oriented entrepreneurship. However, its lack of specification and conceptual limitations has undoubtedly hindered our understanding of these complex organisms. Indeed, the rapid adoption of the concept has tended to overlook the heterogeneous nature of ecosystems. This paper provides a critical review and conceptualisation of the ecosystems concept: it unpacks the dynamics of the concept; outlines its theoretical limitations; measurement approaches and use in policy-making. It sets out a preliminary taxonomy of different archetypal ecosystems. The paper concludes that entrepreneurial ecosystems are a highly variegated, multi-actor and multi-scalar phenomenon, requiring bespoke policy interventions.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Tight junctions and the modulation of barrier function in disease

Tight junctions create a paracellular barrier in epithelial and endothelial cells protecting them from the external environment. Two different classes of integral membrane proteins constitute the tight junction strands in epithelial cells and endothelial cells, occludin and members of the claudin protein family. In addition, cytoplasmic scaffolding molecules associated with these junctions regulate diverse physiological processes like proliferation, cell polarity and regulated diffusion. In many diseases, disruption of this regulated barrier occurs. This review will briefly describe the molecular composition of the tight junctions and then present evidence of the link between tight junction dysfunction and disease

Quintus Mucius Scaevola. Opera

La figura e il pensiero di Quinto Mucio Scevola (140 circa - 82 a.C.; console nel 95), uno dei fondatori del pensiero giuridico romano, vengono presentati per la prima volta in questo volume, che inaugura una nuova Collana dell'Erma di Bretschneider dedicata agli Scriptores iuris Romani, inserita nel contesto di una ricerca finanziata dall'European Research Council (ERC Advanced Grant 2014, diretta da Aldo Schiavone; Host Institution il Dipartimento di Scienze Giuridiche della Sapienza, Universita di Roma). Quinto Mucio, giurista e teologo, protagonista della vita politica romana in uno dei periodi piu convulsi dell'eta repubblicana, e stato il primo autore di un trattato di diritto civile, in 18 libri, in cui rivelava sia la sua conoscenza della filosofia greca, sia il suo talento di innovatore rispetto alla tradizione giuridica precedente. Alla sensibilita interpretativa di Jean-Louis Ferrary, Aldo Schiavone, Emanuele Stolfi, si deve la ricostruzione della biografia di Quinto Mucio e dell'intera sua opera, realizzata attraverso un attento lavoro di restituzione testuale e resa accessibile grazie alla traduzione dei piu di cento frammenti tramandati, ciascuno dei quali e stato sottoposto ad un ampio commento analitico