The Challenge of a Place-and Network-based Approach to Development in Italian Regions☆

Abstract This paper investigates the role of research networks inside local development processes to increase the competitiveness of underdeveloped territories. This paper, within the scope of local development theory, aims to describe the state of the art on the regional research systems resulting largely from programs co-financed between 2000 and 2013, with which the various regions are preparing to engage in programming for the period 2014-2020. The extent of consistency between the objectives of sectorial specialization set by policies previously or currently implemented and those in the planning phase (S3) is assessed, as is their connection with existing territorial specializations at a regional level

UN APPROCCIO PLACE-BASED PER LO SVILUPPO DI SISTEMI REGIONALI DI RICERCA IN ITALIA

This work has three objectives. The first is the creation of an extensive mapping of technological districts, innovation poles, excellence research centers, laboratories and science parks in the Italian regions. The second is about monitoring, employing data from Open Cohesion, the state of the art of regional and national programs that aim at building local research networks and innovation networks.The third objective is to compare the sectorial priorities chosen by Regions according to their Smart Specialization Strategy (S3) with the existing sectors in their research networks. Finally, the study explores to what extent the presence of the industrial districts in the regions has facilitated the formation of technological districts and innovation poles.DOI: http://dx.medra.org/10.19254/LaborEst.14.0

LA COMPLESSA STRADA VERSO L’INNOVAZIONE NEI TERRITORI

This paper provides a framework on regional research systems, through which, different regions are preparing to engage in program- ming period 2014 – 2020. It will also cover the regions’ investments in the co-financed programs between 2000 and 2013. Particular attention is dedicated to those projects that, in the specific objectives or specific actions have referred to high-tech districts, techno- logical platforms, clusters, innovation centers, science or technology parks and networks. It then carries out two verifications: firstly, of the degree of consistency between policies and implementation and ongoing design (S3) and secondly of their connection with the existing territorial specializations at regional level. This analysis shows that in some regions (in the case of Lombardy and Emilia Romagna) such research systems have been able to generate innovation thanks to the presence of very active economic - social en- vironments and local institutions able to properly analyze the context and promote tools, which have brought substantial positive outcomes (for example: Emilia Romagna and Puglia). In all other cases, the overall picture still does not deny the issue of the gap bet- ween the regions of Northern and Southern Italy. For these other regions it is considered necessary to further develop a new role for the regional and local institutions, such as “applicants’ innovation and technology", and improve attention to the question of the other users. DOI: http://dx.medra.org/10.19254/LaborEst.11.0

Geomagnetic Field (GMF)-Dependent Modulation of Iron-Sulfur Interplay in Arabidopsis thaliana

The geomagnetic field (GMF) is an environmental factor affecting the mineral nutrient uptake of plants and a contributing factor for efficient iron (Fe) uptake in Arabidopsis seedlings. Understanding the mechanisms underlining the impact of the environment on nutrient homeostasis in plants requires disentangling the complex interactions occurring among nutrients. In this study we investigated the effect of GMF on the interplay between iron (Fe) and sulfur (S) by exposing Arabidopsis thaliana plants grown under single or combined Fe and S deficiency, to near-null magnetic field (NNMF) conditions. Mineral analysis was performed by ICP-MS and capillary electrophoresis, whereas the expression of several genes involved in Fe and S metabolism and transport was assayed by qRT-PCR. The results show that NNMF differentially affects (i) the expression of some Fe- and S-responsive genes and (ii) the concentration of metals in plants, when compared with GMF. In particular, we observed that Cu content alteration in plant roots depends on the simultaneous variation of nutrient availability (Fe and S) and MF intensity (GMF and NNMF). Under S deficiency, NNMF-exposed plants displayed variations of Cu uptake, as revealed by the expression of the SPL7 and miR408 genes, indicating that S availability is an important factor in maintaining Cu homeostasis under different MF intensities. Overall, our work suggests that the alteration of metal homeostasis induced by Fe and/or S deficiency in reduced GMF conditions impacts the ability of plants to grow and develop

Timing RNA polymerase pausing with TV-PRO-seq

Various next-generation sequencing-based methods, including Pol II ChIP-seq, GRO-seq, NET-seq, and PRO-seq, have been able to reveal the presence of polymerase pausing. However, these methods are mainly based on detection of polymerase occupancy, which is affected by factors other than the pausing. As an example, recent research revealed that polymerase has a high abortive transcription rate, especially at genes featuring strong pausing, which also contributes to high polymerase occupancy in the promoter-proximal regions. Further, the accuracy of the most widely used method to measure pausing—treating cells with triptolide (Trp)—is challenged by the latter's slow uptake. A method that outputs the actual pausing time is still required to dissect the pausing profile. We have developed TV-PRO-seq, which reveals polymerase pausing times at single-base resolution genome-wide and is not influenced by the polymerase turnover and other confounding factors

Contrasting factors associated with COVID-19-related ICU admission and death outcomes in hospitalised patients by means of Shapley values

The design is a retrospective cohort study of 13954 in-patients of ages ranging from 1 to 105 year (IQR: 56, 70, 81) with a confirmed diagnosis of COVID-19 by 28th June 2020. This study used multivariable logistic regression to generate odd ratios (ORs) multiply adjusted for 37 covariates (comorbidities, demographic, and others) selected on the basis of clinical interest and prior findings. Results were supplemented by gradient-boosted decision tree (GBDT) classification to generate Shapley values in order to evaluate the impact of the covariates on model output for all patients. Factors are differentially associated with death and ICUA and among patients. Deaths due to COVID-19 were associated with immunosuppression due to disease (OR 1.39, 95% CI 1.10–1.76), type-2 diabetes (OR 1.31, 95% CI 1.17–1.46), chronic respiratory disease (OR 1.19, 95% CI 1.05–1.35), age (OR 1.56/10-year increment, 95% CI 1.51–1.61), and male sex (OR 1.54, 95% CI 1.42–1.68). Associations of ICUA with some factors differed in direction (e.g., age, chronic respiratory disease). Self-reported ethnicities were strongly but variably associated with both outcomes. GBDTs had similar performance (ROC-AUC, ICUA 0.83, death 0.68 for GBDT; 0.80 and 0.68 for logistic regression). We derived importance scores based on Shapley values which were consistent with the ORs, despite the underlying machine-learning model being intrinsically different to the logistic regression. Chronic heart disease, hypertension, other comorbidities, and some ethnicities had Shapley impacts on death ranging from positive to negative among different patients, although consistently associated with ICUA for all. Immunosuppressive disease, type-2 diabetes, and chronic liver and respiratory diseases had positive impacts on death with either positive or negative on ICUA. We highlight the complexity of informing clinical practice and public-health interventions. We recommend that clinical support systems should not only predict patients at risk, but also yield interpretable outputs for validation by domain experts

Total Versus Completion Thyroidectomy: A Multidimensional Evaluation of Long-Term Vocal Alterations.

Background: Total thyroidectomy (TT) and completion thyroidectomy (CT) are two common surgical operations that are frequently followed by vocal symptoms despite preservation of the recurrent laryngeal nerve (RLN) and of the external branch of superior laryngeal nerve (EBSLN). The aim of this study was to analyze vocal alterations through endoscopic findings, videolaryngostroboscopy (VLS), acoustic vocal parameters and impact on patients' quality of life after surgery in the absence of laryngeal nerve injury. Methods: We enrolled 198 patients who underwent thyroidectomy by the same surgeon. One hundred twenty-six patients underwent TT (group TT) while 72 underwent CT (group CT). All patients underwent preoperative VLS and Voice Handicap Index (VHI) assessment and postoperative VHI, VLS and Acoustic Voice Analysis with Multidimensional Voice Program Analysis 12 to 18 months after surgery. Results: We observed a statistically significant higher rate of EBSLN injury in CT compared to TT. Even in the absence of RLN and EBSLN injury, patients who underwent TT and CT presented slightly worse acoustic vocal parameters and VHI scores compared to healthy controls. Interestingly, some acoustic vocal parameters and VHI scores were significantly worse in group CT compared to group TT. Conclusions: The higher rate of EBSLN injury in CT rather than in TT suggests a higher surgical risk in CT. The vocal parameters of loudness and self-perception of voice were significantly worse after CT, suggesting a larger trauma in patients' vocal outcome in CT if compared to TT, although these alterations were not reported as psychologically limiting daily life of patients. Nevertheless, the existence of multiple factors contributing to vocal alterations after thyroidectomy highlight the importance of a routine comprehensive functional voice analysis before and after surgery

Temporally correlated zero-range process with open boundaries: Steady state and fluctuations

19 pages, 14 figures, v2: minor revisions, close to final published version at http://dx.doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.92.02213