The Relationships between Companies and Bank System: An Analysis of Italian Context

The purpose of our research is to propose to model which could suggest to Italian small and medium companies the best appropriate funding resources to their economic and financial situation. The framework of this paper is represented by Giacosa and Mazzoleni (2016), in which a model classifies the companies into six groups according to different elements, such as attitude to repay financial debts, company’s growth, and profitability. The sample is composed of 39.400 Italian companies. In particular, companies could be divided in these categories: i) star companies; ii) companies at the beginning of decline; and iii) companies in crisis. It emerged that, in a medium-term vision, it’s necessary to change the management behavior and to try to reach economic fundamentals expected by the bank system, while in the short-term vision the companies have to learn how to use a non-bank financial instruments

Elongated styloid process : an epidemiological study on digital panoramic radiographs

The styloid process is a projecton of the temporal bone, its lenght is between 20 to 30 mm, when it is longer than 30 mm it is defined elongated styloid process. The aim of this study is an epidemiological evaluation of 1003 digital panoramic radiographs in an Italian population between 5 and 90 years old. This is a retrospective analysis and the radiographs were selected from the Complex Operating Unit of Dentistry of Padua University Hospital database. The radiographs were performed using a Sirona Ortophos XG and the styloid process length was measured using the measuring tool of Sidexis Software. It was measured from the point where it left the temporal bone plate to its tip. Styloid processes measuring more than 30 mm were considered elongated. Chi-squared test, Fligner-Killeen test, Shapiro-Wilk test and t-test with Welch correction were performed. In the study 33.40% of the patients showed an elongated styloid process. The number of patients with elongated styloid process and the mean length of the process increase with the age confirming the chronic development of the calcification described in literature. No statistically significant correlation is found between the presence of elongated styloid process and the gender and affected side (bilateral or unilateral)

Dental water jet efficacy in the plaque control of orthodontic patients wearing fixed appliance : a randomized controlled trial

Different studies assess the role of fixed orthodontic appliances in supragingival plaque accumulation. In patients wearing fixed orthodontic appliances a good management of oral hygiene is required in order to prevent complication like as decay, enamel demineralization, gingivitis, gingival hyperplasia and periodontitis. The aim of this Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT) is to evaluate the efficacy of the use of a DWJ in patients under orthodontic treatment with fixed multibracket appliance. The study design was single-blinded RCT with a split mouth protocol. Each patient followed a personal cleaning protocol using a DWJ in addition to traditional brushing only on one side while just brushing on the control side. The side on which was decided to use the DWJ was chosen randomly and the dental hygienist who took the measurements was blind. Plaque and gingival indexes were evaluated at baseline and at one, three and six-months follow-up. It did not emerge any difference in the plaque and gingival indexes trend between the two groups. Patients initially reported an worsening of the indexes at one month evaluation, then they set at baseline levels at three and six months. The dental water jet does not improve significantly the efficacy of home oral hygiene in orthodontic patients wearing a multi-bracket fixed appliance. Patients did not show the traditional worsening during the whole orthodontic therapy

Entrepreneurs as strategic transformation managers: Exploring micro-foundations of digital transformation in small and medium internationalisers

This paper is set to explore the role of individual-level behaviours and actions in the digital transformation of international SMEs. This is particularly important since little is known regarding the extent to which entrepreneurs and decision-makers manage the digitalisation process. Thus, building on the theory of planned behaviour, this research focuses on individual-level micro-foundations in the digital transformation of small and medium internationalisers. The paper benefits from a mixed-method synthesis. First, through a systematic review of literature, we identified twenty-seven factors in four inclusive categories. Then, they have been narrowed down to the top seven individual-level micro-foundations, using Intuitionistic Fuzzy Delphi based on Normalised Hamming Distance. Subsequently, Intuitionistic Fuzzy Decision-Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory analysis is applied to disentangle the causality and effectuality as well as conceptual framework to depict their interrelationships. Our findings contribute to the digital transformation research by developing six prepositions that explore the relationships between SMEs’ micro-foundations at the individual level

Characterization of Upper Limb Impairments at Body Function, Activity, and Participation in Persons With Multiple Sclerosis by Behavioral and EMG Assessment: A Cross-Sectional Study

Background: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic inflammatory demyelinating and disabling disease which primarily affects individuals in their early life between 20 and 40 years of age. MS is a complex condition, which may lead to a variety of upper limb (UL) dysfunctions and functional deficits. Objective: To explore upper limb impairments at body function, activity, and participation in persons with MS (PwMS) and severe hand dexterity impairment by behavioral and surface electromyography (sEMG) assessments. Methods: This observational cross-sectional study involved 41 PwMS with severe hand dexterity impairment stratified according to the Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) into mild-moderate (n = 17; EDSS, 1-5.5), severe ambulant (n = 15; EDSS, 6-6.5), and severe nonambulant (n = 9; EDSS, 7-9.5). Behavioral outcome measures exploring body function, activity, and participation were administered. The sEMG activity of six upper limb muscles of the most affected side was measured during a reaching task. Results: The most severe group was significantly older and more affected by secondary progressive MS than the other two groups. Positive significant associations between UL deterioration and impairments at different International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health domains were noted in the most severe group. The progressive decline in manual dexterity was moderately to strongly associated with the deterioration of the overall UL activity (\u3c1 = 0.72; p < 0.001) and disuse (amount of use \u3c1 = 0.71; p < 0.001; quality of movement \u3c1 = 0.77; p < 0.001). There was a low correlation between manual dexterity and UL function (\u3c1 = 0.33; p = 0.03). The muscle activation pattern investigated by sEMG was characterized by a decrease in modularity and timing delay in the wrist extensor muscles activation in the severe ambulant patients (EDSS, 6-6.5). Similar impairments were observed in the proximal muscles (anterior deltoid) in the more advanced stages (EDSS 65 7). Conclusion: Behavioral assessment, together with measures of muscle activation patterns, allows investigating the pathophysiology of UL impairments in PwMS across progressive neurological disability severity to implement task-specific rehabilitation interventions

A Path to the Stars: The Evolution of the Species

During the last years, a number of telescopes have been dedicated to the followup of the GRBs. But after the Swift launch, the average observed intensity of the GRBs showed to be lower than thought before. Our experience with the robotic 60 cm REM telescope confirmed this evidence, with a large number oflostGRBs. Then, we proposed to study the feasibility of a 4 m fast pointing class telescope, equipped with a multichannel imagers, from Visible to Near Infrared. In this paper, we present the main result of the feasibility study we performed so far