Speculations on the clinical significance of asymptomatic viral infections

A detailed understanding of asymptomatic chronic viral infections is critical to analyse their pathogenesis, assess the severity and burden of disease and, where required, optimize public health control measures. Recent studies on herpesviruses showed that the hostevirus interactions are modulated by coinfections, emphasizing the relevance of co-infections in determining the clinical expression (from asymptomatic to symptomatic infections) and the severity of herpesvirus-associated diseases (either neoplastic or infectious diseases). To demonstrate causality between viruses (virome) and diseases, Koch's postulates should be adapted adding new knowledge on hostemicrobe relationship and microbial interactions. In the present review we aim to provide an update on asymptomatic chronic infections and criteria for causality and on the virological, immunological and hostevirus interactions in asymptomatic chronic infections in human hosts, focusing on herpetic infections

Entrepreneurship education in Italian universities: trend, situation and opportunities

The aim of this paper is to provide an analysis of the present situation and recent evolution in entrepreneurship courses and curricula in Italian universities. The analysis is based on a census of entrepreneurship courses and curricula run by Italian universities in 2004 and 2010. Entrepreneurship education in Italian universities is in its early development. Up to 2004 only a few universities had courses dedicated to entrepreneurship and the majority of them dealt with the development of the business plan. This situation has only slightly improved in the following years. Courses and curricula are mostly within business schools while very few exist in engineering and science schools. This situation contrasts with the need for entrepreneurship education in the Italian economy. Given the importance of traditional sectors in Italian industry we need to stimulate start-up in high-tech sectors: the development of entrepreneurship courses in engineering and in other science curricula could play an important role in this sense. At the same time we need to favor the growth process of small firms; this requires people who are able to play an entrepreneurial role in established firms.entrepreneurship education, university courses, intrapreneurship, entrepreneurial competences.

Observations About Health Policy in Integrative Medicine

No abstract available

Teams in New Ventures: Gender, Human Capital and Motivation

Purpose- This paper dismantles the idea that sex per se explains entrepreneurial outcomes and demonstrates the influence of a gendered motivation on forging and shaping new venture teams, which is a disruptive choice affecting the future of start-ups. Methods- A two-level research model is validated on data from the PSED II, with a system of simultaneous equations. Firstly, we test if team features affect the performance of new ventures; then, we investigate determinants of team features with a focus on sex and motivation of nascent entrepreneurs. Findings- Human capital (HC) in terms of education and experience of team members consistently explains venture evolution only when considering the larger team of affiliates. The HC gathered by nascent entrepreneurs is not due to the simplistic sex condition, but rather to a gendered motivation related to the inferior need of achievement of women. Research limitations- Limitations of discretionary scoring assigned to items of the PSED II survey are present, but unavoidable when processing qualitative data. Social and Practical implications- Women need to be (culturally) educated on how to re-balance their personal motivation towards entrepreneurship by fostering their incentives for achievement. Political and educational programs could trigger success in the creation of new businesses led by women. Originality/value- This paper contributes to the literature on nascent entrepreneurship, focusing on the entrepreneurial teams in the initial phase of business creation, and provides the basis for further studies aimed at eradicating the stereotypes of gender roles that lead women to self-exclusion and organizational errors

Industry 4.0 Accelerating Sustainable Manufacturing in the COVID-19 Era: Assessing the Readiness and Responsiveness of Italian Regions

An unpredictable shock hit the Italian economy in February 2020 when the spread of the COVID-19 virus began in Italy and other countries worldwide. In this context, Industry 4.0 (I4.0) technologies can be a fundamental tool for economic recovery by favouring the shift towards sustainable manufacturing. Therefore, it is necessary to measure the readiness of countries for I4.0 in order to guide policies in defining incentives to promote I4.0 and unlock its potential in the pandemic era. In this context, the paper aims to understand the readiness and responsiveness of the Italian Regions with respect to I4.0 concepts prior to the pandemic and identify best practices that are supporting companies in I4.0 adoption, with a focus on those incentivizing sustainable practices. An assessment framework before the pandemic is provided based on two dimensions: the readiness of firms to invest in I4.0 and favourable structural conditions. The assessment shows a group of alert regions as opposed to a group of unprepared, mostly linked Northern and Southern differences. Assuming that the \u201calert regions\u201d are more likely to effectively manage and overcome the post- COVID-19 crisis, we provide a picture of how the Italian Regions have sought to encourage the adoption of digital technologies to improve resilience after the shock. The analysis shows that supporting measures mainly address Small and Medium-sized Enterprises. Furthermore, the tenders encouraging the adoption of I4.0 suggest that collaboration among stakeholders will become imperati

A Resilience and Robustness Oriented Design of Base-Isolated Structures: The New Camerino University Research Center

This paper analyses the new Research Centre designed for the University of Camerino and entirely financed by the national Civil Protection Department (DPC), following the seismic events in Central Italy in 2016. The building has been designed to guarantee speed of execution as well as a high level of safety, especially regarding seismic actions. The structural solution was to create an isolated system with a steel braced super-structure with pinned joints and r.c. sub-structures able to adapt to the complex morphology of the area. As described in the first part of the paper, design choices have been made to achieve a high level of resilience and robustness, i.e., to limit damage to structural and non-structural components and equipment under moderate and design seismic actions and to avoid disproportionate consequences in the event of extreme actions, larger than the design ones. In the second part of the paper, specific risk analyses have been carried out to evaluate the real performance of the building under increasing intensity levels, with reference to both serviceability and ultimate conditions. To this purpose a site-specific hazard study was first conducted, then non-linear analyses were performed using a hazard-consistent set of records with return periods ranging from TR = 60 years to TR = 10000 years. The main demand parameters of both the isolation system and the super-structure were recorded and capacity values corresponding to different ultimate and damage limit conditions were defined. The results obtained in terms of demand hazard curves show that the building performances in terms of robustness and resilience are very high, confirming the efficacy of the strategies adopted in the design

A Resilience and Robustness Oriented Design of Base-Isolated Structures: The New Camerino University Research Center

This paper analyses the new Research Centre designed for the University of Camerino and entirely financed by the national Civil Protection Department (DPC), following the seismic events in Central Italy in 2016. The building has been designed to guarantee speed of execution as well as a high level of safety, especially regarding seismic actions. The structural solution was to create an isolated system with a steel braced super-structure with pinned joints and r.c. sub-structures able to adapt to the complex morphology of the area. As described in the first part of the paper, design choices have been made to achieve a high level of resilience and robustness, i.e., to limit damage to structural and non-structural components and equipment under moderate and design seismic actions and to avoid disproportionate consequences in the event of extreme actions, larger than the design ones. In the second part of the paper, specific risk analyses have been carried out to evaluate the real performance of the building under increasing intensity levels, with reference to both serviceability and ultimate conditions. To this purpose a site-specific hazard study was first conducted, then non-linear analyses were performed using a hazard-consistent set of records with return periods ranging from TR = 60 years to TR = 10000 years. The main demand parameters of both the isolation system and the super-structure were recorded and capacity values corresponding to different ultimate and damage limit conditions were defined. The results obtained in terms of demand hazard curves show that the building performances in terms of robustness and resilience are very high, confirming the efficacy of the strategies adopted in the design