Knowledge management in new product development (NPD)

This thesis analyses features that, in New Product Development process (NPD), foster knowledge, and their contribution to the creation and application of knowledge with the aim of increasing both global performance and organizational effectiveness. Since knowledge is becoming more important to achieve competitive advantage, companies have already started to focus on their ability to generate new competencies and create new opportunities for producing new knowledge. One of the issues compelling knowledge management understands what aspects of the organization\u27s work system and organizational design affect its ability to acquire, create and apply knowledge. In fact, the way that workers are organized and managed determine the success of NPD organizations. In this work, topics such as Knowledge Management and New Product Development are addressed. Furthermore, the study focuses on several models and frameworks of knowledge management, extracted from the existing literature, provides analyses of such models, and, based on them, proposes an additional framework

Humanitarian corridors: safe and legal pathways to Europe

This policy brief provides an overview of the Italian Humanitarian Corridors initiative, aiming to contextualize its viability as a replicable model for other European countries and further the discussion of how governments can engage religious communities and civil society to create new partnerships to address the global refugee crisis. The briefing is the result of a collaboration between the University of Sussex and the Community of Sant’Egidio. The research benefitted from a policy dialogue on the topic convened by the Religions and International Relations Initiative of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and ISPI on 13-14 March 2017 and follow-up discussions and interviews with relevant stakeholders involved in the Humanitarian Corridors facilitated by the Community of Sant’Egidio

Interreligious engagement strategies: a policy tool to advance freedom of religion or belief

Persecution and discrimination on the basis of religion and belief are on the rise in many parts of the world. The fundamental human right of freedom of religion or belief (FoRB) is in crisis. In response to growing persecution and discrimination in recent years, the international community has committed to a broad range of efforts to prevent and combat intolerance based on religion or belief: strengthening policy tools, global advocacy efforts and international coordination to protect FoRB. There is, however, a growing feeling that the current policy approach is failing and that new bottom up strategies, i.e., engaging with local stakeholders and developing activities in response to local concerns, is the way forward. Building on this insight, a multi-stakeholder consultation process, led by the University of Sussex (FoRB&FPI) and run under the patronage of the 2018 Italian OSCE Chairmanship in partnership with the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Policy Planning Unit) and the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (OSCE/ODIHR), was established to encourage governments and international organizations to consider interreligious engagement – engagement with religious actors and interreligious dialogue and collaboration – as a vital policy tool to advance FoRB for all, providing recommendations and strategies of how to do so. The consultation involved 94 policy-makers, experts, religious and civil society representatives from the OSCE region and beyond (see list on page 28), who engaged in three official meetings in Bologna in the context of the European Academy of Religion (March 2018), in London (July 2018) in the UK Parliament at Westminster Palace and at Lambeth Palace and in Warsaw (September 2018) at the OSCE/ODHIR Human Dimension Implementation Meeting. The FoRB&FPI team participated in a number of additional informal meetings, follow-up presentations, discussions and interviews

Percorsi tra la poesia italiana e spagnola contemporanea

Esta tesis es un compendio de publicaciones y otros ensayos inéditos que cruzan la poesía italiana y española contemporánea. La elección de los autores no quiere ser representativa desde un punto de vista historiográfico, ni pretende dibujar un panorama literario de las relaciones entre estos dos países, sino que está dictada por consonancias particulares que han guiado mi investigación a lo largo de los años, orientada hacia una idea de poesía capaz de recuperar su valor original de acción creativa, práctica de salvación y transformación de la realidad. Las principales directrices temáticas en las que se estructura la tesis son dos: el paisaje en el que se puede leer el rastro de un trauma histórico e individual y la posibilidad de reunirse con la naturaleza y su verdad, y el trauma experimentado a través de la experiencia de la enfermedad y el luto que la palabra poética puede acoger y transformar. El primer capítulo, Experiencias del paisaje entre la memoria y el presente, contiene ensayos dedicados al poeta de Romaña Tolmino Baldassari, al friuliano Mario Benedetti y al poeta ibicenco Vincente Valero. El siguiente capítulo repasa la última temporada de Carlo Betocchi y Franco Fortini, en ambos caracterizada por un acercamiento a la naturaleza desde un punto de vista que ha perdido cualquier pretensión antropocéntrica. El tercer capítulo cuestiona la creciente cantidad de obras poéticas vinculadas a temas del duelo y de la enfermedad. La parte dedicada a la poesía española contemporánea parte de un artículo publicado en «El Cultural» de Jaime Cedillo, Radiografía del dolor en la literatura (27 de junio de 2017), y pasa por la poesía de Leopoldo María Panero, Jorge Riechmann (Tanto abril en octubre), Marta Agudo con su Historial, y otras cuatro autoras nacidas entre 1950 y 1970, como Chantal Maillard, Raquel Lanseros, Llanos Gómez Menéndez, Violeta Medina

Euryhaline Aliens Invading Italian Inland Waters: The Case of the Atlantic Blue Crab Callinectes sapidus Rathbun, 1896

none6Alien invasive species represent a major threat in Italian freshwaters. Despite national and European regulations aimed at the control and prevention of new invasive species, the number of allochthonous species is increasing and so is the rate of spread. One of the most widespread invasive animals in coastal areas of the Mediterranean Sea is the blue crab Callinectes sapidus, a native of the Western Atlantic from Nova Scotia to Argentina. The species is euryhaline, and besides coastal waters, it is also commonly recorded in upper estuaries and lower reaches of rivers. Considering its fast adaptability and invasiveness, the main purpose of this work is to assess whether its biological plasticity and invasive capability may represent, in addition to marine and coastal habitats, also a potential threat for inland waters. Samples were collected in seven sites distributed between Southern and Central Italy. The new records are herein presented, starting from the original introduction by ballast waters and the actual westward migration in inland waters of Latium and Tuscany. In addition, the threat to biodiversity is also discussed, considering the blue crab aggressiveness toward both vertebrates and invertebrates, which may limit the distribution of native freshwater fish and macrofauna.Massimiliano Scalici, Stefania Chiesa , Giorgio Mancinelli, Pietro Maria Rontani, Andrea Voccia, Francesco Nonnis MarzanoScalici, Massimiliano; Chiesa, Stefania; Mancinelli, Giorgio; Maria Rontani, Pietro; Voccia, Andrea; Nonnis Marzano, Francesc

Pattern-based design applied to cultural heritage knowledge graphs

Ontology Design Patterns (ODPs) have become an established and recognised practice for guaranteeing good quality ontology engineering. There are several ODP repositories where ODPs are shared as well as ontology design methodologies recommending their reuse. Performing rigorous testing is recommended as well for supporting ontology maintenance and validating the resulting resource against its motivating requirements. Nevertheless, it is less than straightforward to find guidelines on how to apply such methodologies for developing domain-specific knowledge graphs. ArCo is the knowledge graph of Italian Cultural Heritage and has been developed by using eXtreme Design (XD), an ODP- and test-driven methodology. During its development, XD has been adapted to the need of the CH domain e.g. gathering requirements from an open, diverse community of consumers, a new ODP has been defined and many have been specialised to address specific CH requirements. This paper presents ArCo and describes how to apply XD to the development and validation of a CH knowledge graph, also detailing the (intellectual) process implemented for matching the encountered modelling problems to ODPs. Relevant contributions also include a novel web tool for supporting unit-testing of knowledge graphs, a rigorous evaluation of ArCo, and a discussion of methodological lessons learned during ArCo development

Differential redox state contributes to sex disparities in the response to influenza virus infection in male and female mice

Influenza virus replicates intracellularly exploiting several pathways involved in the regulation of host responses. The outcome and the severity of the infection are thus strongly conditioned by multiple host factors, including age, sex, metabolic, and redox conditions of the target cells. Hormones are also important determinants of host immune responses to influenza and are recently proposed in the prophylaxis and treatment. This study shows that female mice are less susceptible than males to mouse-adapted influenza virus (A/PR8/H1N1). Compared with males, PR8-infected females display higher survival rate (+36%), milder clinical disease, and less weight loss. They also have milder histopathological signs, especially free alveolar area is higher than that in males, even if pro-inflammatory cytokine production shows slight differences between sexes; hormone levels, moreover, do not vary significantly with infection in our model. Importantly, viral loads (both in terms of viral M1 RNA copies and tissue culture infectious dose 50%) are lower in PR8-infected females. An analysis of the mechanisms contributing to sex disparities observed during infection reveals that the female animals have higher total antioxidant power in serum and their lungs are characterized by increase in (i) the content and biosynthesis of glutathione, (ii) the expression and activity of antioxidant enzymes (peroxiredoxin 1, catalase, and glutathione peroxidase), and (iii) the expression of the anti-apoptotic protein Bcl-2. By contrast, infected males are characterized by high expression of NADPH oxidase 4 oxidase and phosphorylation of p38 MAPK, both enzymes promoting viral replication. All these factors are critical for cell homeostasis and susceptibility to infection. Reappraisal of the importance of the host cell redox state and sex-related effects may be useful in the attempt to develop more tailored therapeutic interventions in the fight against influenza

Inhibitory effects of agmatine on monoamine oxidase (MAO) activity: Reconciling the discrepancies

Abstract Agmatine has been functionally characterized as an important hormone and co-neurotransmitter in mammals. Given its ability in binding Imidazoline sites, a regolatory site of monoaminoxydase, it has been suggested to be involved in many neurological aspects. However, its inhibitory effect on this enzyme still remains an unanswered question. This present study is aimed to asses whether different experimental conditions could affect the agmatine action on monoaminoxydase activity. We demonstrate that the monoaminoxydase inhibition by agmatine is obtained under alkaline conditions and a long time of incubation. No inhibitiory action was found for shorter times of reaction at elevated pH, or at neutral condition and long time of incubation. No inhibition was also detected by substituting the monoamineoxydase substrate tyramine with kynuramine, however, while in these conditions a remarkable inhibition was shown by two aminoxydase inhibitors tranylcypromine and idazoxan. Herein, we discuss a mechanism model and the functional consequences of agmatine action on monoaminoxydase

Model studies on the synthesis of madangamine alkaloids. Assembly of the macrocyclic rings

Using simplified model derivatives, the assembly of the macrocyclic rings of madangamines, including the 13- and 14-membered D rings of madangamines C-E, the all-cis-triunsaturated 15-membered D ring of madangamine A, and the (Z,Z)-unsaturated 11-membered E ring common to madangamines A-E, has been studied

Myomir dysregulation and reactive oxygen species in aged human satellite cells

AbstractSatellite cells that reside on the myofibre surface are crucial for the muscle homeostasis and regeneration. Aging goes along with a less effective regeneration of skeletal muscle tissue mainly due to the decreased myogenic capability of satellite cells. This phenomenon impedes proper maintenance and contributes to the age-associated decline in muscle mass, known as sarcopenia. The myogenic potential impairment does not depend on a reduced myogenic cell number, but mainly on their difficulty to complete a differentiation program. The unbalanced production of reactive oxygen species in elderly people could be responsible for skeletal muscle impairments. microRNAs are conserved post-transcriptional regulators implicated in numerous biological processes including adult myogenesis. Here, we measure the ROS level and analyze myomiR (miR-1, miR-133b and miR-206) expression in human myogenic precursors obtained from Vastus lateralis of elderly and young subjects to provide the molecular signature responsible for the differentiation impairment of elderly activated satellite cells