Family Dynamics and Personal Strengths among Dementia Caregivers in Argentina

This study examined whether healthier family dynamics were associated with higher personal strengths of resilience, sense of coherence, and optimism among dementia caregivers in Argentina. Caregivers are usually required to assist individuals with dementia, and family members have typically fulfilled that role. Personal strengths such as resilience, sense of coherence, and optimism have been shown to protect caregivers from some of the negative experiences of providing care, though the family-related variables associated with these personal strengths are largely unknown. Hierarchical multiple regressions investigated the extent to which family dynamics variables are associated with each of the caregiver personal strengths after controlling for demographic and caregiver characteristics. A sample of 105 caregivers from Argentina completed a set of questionnaires during a neurologist visit. Family dynamics explained 32% of the variance in resilience and 39% of the variance in sense of coherence. Greater family empathy and decreased family problems were uniquely associated with higher resilience. Greater communication and decreased family problems were uniquely associated with higher sense of coherence. Optimism was not found to be significantly associated with family dynamics. These results suggest that caregiver intervention research focused on the family may help improve caregiver personal strengths in Argentina and other Latin American countries

Peptide-Based Soft Hydrogels Modified with Gadolinium Complexes as MRI Contrast Agents

Poly-aromatic peptide sequences are able to self-assemble into a variety of supramolecular aggregates such as fibers, hydrogels, and tree-like multi-branched nanostructures. Due to their biocompatible nature, these peptide nanostructures have been proposed for several applications in biology and nanomedicine (tissue engineering, drug delivery, bioimaging, and fabrication of biosensors). Here we report the synthesis, the structural characterization and the relaxometric behavior of two novel supramolecular diagnostic agents for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technique. These diagnostic agents are obtained for self-assembly of DTPA(Gd)-PEG8-(FY)3 or DOTA(Gd)-PEG8-(FY)3 peptide conjugates, in which the Gd-complexes are linked at the Nterminus of the PEG8-(FY)3 polymer peptide. This latter was previously found able to form selfsupporting and stable soft hydrogels at a concentration of 1.0% wt. Analogously, also DTPA(Gd)PEG8-(FY)3 and DOTA(Gd)-PEG8-(FY)3 exhibit the trend to gelificate at the same range of concentration. Moreover, the structural characterization points out that peptide (FY)3 moiety keeps its capability to arrange into β-sheet structures with an antiparallel orientation of the β-strands. The high relaxivity value of these nanostructures (~12 mM−1·s−1 at 20 MHz) and the very low in vitro cytotoxicity suggest their potential application as supramolecular diagnostic agents for MRI

BRCA1 polymorphism in breast cancer patients from Argentina

Breast cancer is the most common type of cancer in females in Argentina, with an incidence rate similar to that in the USA. However, the contribution of the BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutation in breast cancer incidence has not yet been investigated in Argentina. In order to evaluate which BRCA1 polymorphisms or mutations characterize female breast cancer in Argentina, the current study enrolled 206 females with breast cancer from several hospitals from the southeast of Argentina. A buccal smear sample was obtained in duplicate from each patient and the DNA samples were processed for polymorphism analysis using the single-strand conformational polymorphism technique. The polymorphisms in BRCA1 were investigated using a combination of 15 primers to analyze exons 2, 3, 5, 20 and 11 (including the 11.1 to 11.12 regions). The BRCA1 mutations were confirmed by direct sequencing. Samples were successfully examined from 154 females and, among these, 16 mutations were identified in the BRCA1 gene representing 13.9% of the samples analyzed. One patient was identified with a polymorphism in exon 2 (0.86%), four in exon 20 (3.48%), four in exon 11.3 (3.48%), one in exon 11.7 (0.86%), two in exon 11.8 (1.74%), one in exon 11.10 (0.86%) and one in exon 11.11 (0.86%). The most prevalent alteration in BRCA1 was located in exon 11 (11 out of 16 patients; 68.75%). The objective of our next study is to evaluate the prevalence of mutations in the BRCA2 gene and analyze the BRCA1 gene in the healthy relatives of BRCA1 mutation carriers.Fil: Jaure, Omar David Argentino. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Bahía Blanca. Centro de Recursos Naturales Renovables de la Zona Semiárida. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Centro de Recursos Naturales Renovables de la Zona Semiárida; ArgentinaFil: Alonso, Eliana Noelia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Bahía Blanca. Centro de Recursos Naturales Renovables de la Zona Semiárida. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Centro de Recursos Naturales Renovables de la Zona Semiárida; ArgentinaFil: Aguilera Braico, Diego Máximo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Bahía Blanca. Centro de Recursos Naturales Renovables de la Zona Semiárida. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Centro de Recursos Naturales Renovables de la Zona Semiárida; ArgentinaFil: Nieto, Alvaro. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Bahía Blanca. Centro de Recursos Naturales Renovables de la Zona Semiárida. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Centro de Recursos Naturales Renovables de la Zona Semiárida; ArgentinaFil: Orozco, Manuela. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Bahía Blanca. Centro de Recursos Naturales Renovables de la Zona Semiárida. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Centro de Recursos Naturales Renovables de la Zona Semiárida; ArgentinaFil: Morelli, Cecilia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Bahía Blanca. Centro de Recursos Naturales Renovables de la Zona Semiárida. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Centro de Recursos Naturales Renovables de la Zona Semiárida; ArgentinaFil: Ferro, Alejandro M.. Hospital Italiano; ArgentinaFil: Barutta, Elena. Medifem; ArgentinaFil: Vincent, Esteban. Medifem; ArgentinaFil: Martínez, Domingo. Provincia de Buenos Aires. Ministerio de Salud. Hospital Municipal de Agudos Dr. Leónidas Lucero; ArgentinaFil: Martínez, Ignacio. Provincia de Buenos Aires. Ministerio de Salud. Hospital Municipal de Agudos Dr. Leónidas Lucero; ArgentinaFil: Maegli, Maria Ines. Provincia de Buenos Aires. Ministerio de Salud. Hospital Municipal de Agudos Dr. Leónidas Lucero; ArgentinaFil: Frizza, Alejandro. Medifem; ArgentinaFil: Kowalyzyn, Ruben. Clínica Viedma; ArgentinaFil: Salvadori, Marisa. Hospital Dr. Lucio Molas; ArgentinaFil: Ginestet, Paul. Provincia de Buenos Aires. Ministerio de Salud. Hospital y Maternidad Municipal Pigüé; ArgentinaFil: Gonzalez Donna, Maria L.. Hospital Italiano; ArgentinaFil: Balogh, Gabriela Andrea. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Bahía Blanca. Centro de Recursos Naturales Renovables de la Zona Semiárida. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Centro de Recursos Naturales Renovables de la Zona Semiárida; Argentin

Studi MOA: collana di management e organizzazione aziendale

This research focuses on the career transition from managerial to entrepreneurial roles and aims to explore the individual and contextual conditions that foster this transition. Financial crises coupled with globalisation have brought about a dramatic change in industries and related labour organisation models. Thus the skills required to adapt to new jobs are worthy of analysis by scholars. The results of this research show that Italian managers who have made a successful transition towards becoming entrepreneurs have a self-directed and value-driven approach to careers (protean attitude) in addition to a propensity to learn and openness to change (adaptability). These individual characteristics have been fostered by the work context present in their previous job experiences, in particular the managerial and HRM practices experienced by entrepreneurs when they were employed. The results of this study are promising in the light of the recent labour market reforms in Europe

Woman and work: an empirical study of female company heads' style of management

5-7 luglio 201

Practices of women entrepreneurs: an Italian overview

This paper analyses the leadership profile of women at the head of companies, focusing attention on enterprises located in North-Western Italy. The research investigates the correlations between the company’s structural features and the female leader’s profile and the issue of time allocation in women’s managerial work. The methodology applied to analyze the sample is the grounded-theory building research. All the leaders answered a two-hour semi-structured interview while a selected group was asked to keep a diary and observed. The research highlights that advanced services represent the natural employment sector for the skills that women have developed in order to fulfil their social role, but that are not an exclusively female prerogative. Those are the skills generally required of managers and leaders operating in companies with knowledge-intensive production processes and where human resources are the most important input.8 June 201

Da manager a imprenditore in tempi di Jobs Act: Ricerca sulla transizione di carriera da manager a imprenditore

L'articolo presenta una ricerca sul mercato del lavoro italiano ed esplora un tema poco analizzato i fattori individuali e di contesto che promuovono la transizione da una posizione manageriale all\u2019interno di un\u2019azienda a un ruolo imprenditoriale. Il contesto di riferimento \ue8 caratterizzato da profondi fenomeni di trasformazione, tra cui la struttura demografica della societ\ue0 europea, la struttura dei settori produttivi e dei modelli di organizzazione del lavoro. Inoltre, in Italia \ue8 presente una notevole rigidit\ue0 del mercato del lavoro che genera alti livelli di disoccupazione e contrasta con l\u2019esigenza di flessibilit\ue0 nella gestione del personale, cui il Jobs Act e i recenti decreti attuativi intendono rispondere. La capacit\ue0 di cambiare lavoro diventa pertanto una competenza importante che merita attenzione a livello scientifico. I risultati ottenuti dimostrano che, nel contesto italiano, coloro che hanno realizzato con successo una transizione da manager a imprenditore hanno sviluppato una forte propensione al miglioramento delle proprie competenze e attitudine alla flessibilit\ue0 (adaptability), coniugate a un approccio autodiretto e indipendente alla carriera (protean attitude). La propensione al miglioramento e l\u2019attitudine alla flessibilit\ue0 si sono consolidate durante la precedente esperienza manageriale attraverso un contesto di lavoro idoneo che applicava sistemi di gestione del personale rivolti allo sviluppo del potenziale dei collaboratori. I risultati della ricerca sono quindi interessanti per facilitare la comprensione dei cambiamenti in atto nel mondo del lavoro e per contestualizzare le nuove regole che governano i rapporti di lavoro, in particolare con riferimento alle opportunit\ue0 di carriera delle nuove generazioni. L'articolo \ue8 stato pubblicato nella sezione referata della rivista. Il contributo \ue8 stato presentato ad alcuni convegni internazionali, tra cui EGOS ed \ue8 stato citato anche in un articolo del Sole24or

Socio-emotional wealth and successful generational transition in family business: the role of contextual factors

This study aims to provide an innovative interpretation of the evolution of socio-emotional values and their impact on the generational transition. Based on the literature dealing with the Socio-Emotional Wealth (SEW) Theory and the evolution of SEW through the generations leading family firms, the study investigates the contextual conditions, respectively related to family and organisational factors, that interact with SEW and foster the shift to the new generation. The study investigates a sample of 15 family firms in which the generational transition has already taken place. In conclusion, the research supports the hypothesis of a link between the evolution of the young entrepreneurs values and the successful generational transition and shows that it is not the level of the single socio-emotional component that matters, but rather the complex balance that is produced within each family business, thanks to the interaction between the role of the young entrepreneur on the one hand, and the family and organisational contexts on the other

Liuc papers

Questa ricerca si concentra sul mercato del lavoro italiano e si propone di esplorare i fattori individuali e di contesto che promuovono la transizione da una posizione manageriale all’interno di un’azienda a un ruolo imprenditoriale. Il contesto di riferimento è caratterizzato da profondi fenomeni di trasformazione, tra cui la struttura demografica della società europea, la struttura dei settori produttivi e dei modelli di organizzazione del lavoro. Inoltre, in Italia è presente una notevole rigidità del mercato del lavoro che genera alti livelli di disoccupazione e contrasta con l’esigenza di flessibilità nella gestione del personale, cui il Jobs Act (L.183/2014) e i recenti decreti attuativi intendono rispondere. La capacità di cambiare lavoro diventa pertanto una competenza importante che merita attenzione a livello scientifico. I risultati ottenuti dimostrano che nel contesto italiano coloro che hanno realizzato con successo una transizione da manager a imprenditore hanno sviluppato forte propensione al miglioramento delle proprie competenze e attitudine alla flessibilità (adaptability), coniugate a un approccio autodiretto e indipendente alla carriera (protean attitude). La propensione al miglioramento e l’attitudine alla flessibilità si sono consolidate durante la precedente esperienza manageriale attraverso un contesto di lavoro idoneo che applicava sistemi di gestione del personale rivolti allo sviluppo del potenziale dei collaboratori. I risultati della ricerca sono quindi interessanti per facilitare la comprensione dei cambiamenti in atto nel mondo del lavoro e per contestualizzare le nuove regole che governano i rapporti di lavoro, in particolare con riferimento alle opportunità di carriera delle nuove generazioni.This research focuses on the transition from managerial to entrepreneurial roles in the current Italian setting and aims to explore the individual and contextual conditions that foster this transition. The demographic structure of European countries has changed irreversibly in the past twenty years due to an ageing population. Moreover, financial crises coupled with globalisation have brought about a dramatic change in industries and related labour organisation models. Alongside this phenomenon, the rigidity in the Italian labour market is leading to a persistently high level of structural unemployment and a search for quantitative flexibility in managing staff. A recent law passed by the Italian Parliament (Jobs Act, 2014) aims to resolve the situation. Thus the skills required to adapt to new jobs is worthy of analysis by scholars. The results of this research show that Italian managers who have made a successful transition towards becoming entrepreneurs show a self-directed and value-driven approach to careers (protean attitude) in addition to a propensity to improvement of their skills and orientation to change (adaptability). These characteristics have been fostered by the work context present in their previous job experiences, in particular the managerial and HRM practices experienced by entrepreneurs when they were employed. The results of this study are promising in the light of the recent labour market reforms (Jobs Act) in Italy. By focusing on the career transition from manager to entrepreneur the concept of career can be considered in an innovative way, particularly with regard to career opportunities for young generations

Socio-emotional wealth and successful generational transition in family business: the role of contextual factors

This study aims to provide an innovative interpretation of the evolution of socio-emotional values and their impact on the generational transition. Based on the literature dealing with the Socio-Emotional Wealth (SEW) Theory and the evolution of SEW through the generations leading family firms, the study investigates the contextual conditions, respectively related to family and organisational factors, that interact with SEW and foster the shift to the new generation. The study investigates a sample of 15 family firms in which the generational transition has already taken place. In conclusion, the research supports the hypothesis of a link between the evolution of the young entrepreneurs values and the successful generational transition and shows that it is not the level of the single socio-emotional component that matters, but rather the complex balance that is produced within each family business, thanks to the interaction between the role of the young entrepreneur on the one hand, and the family and organisational contexts on the other