The social value of Earth observation: A new evaluation framework for public high-tech infrastructures

This paper addresses the main challenges of evaluating the socio-economic impact of high-tech infrastructures, using Earth observation (EO) as an example. EO is a critical domain of the space economy, providing valuable insights into planet Earth's natural and societal aspects. As national agencies invest in high-tech infrastructures like EO, there is a growing need for evaluate their socio-economic returns (not to be confused with their financial returns). However, there is no clear consensus on how to assess such social impact. Building on a new field of studies of social cost–benefit analysis of research infrastructures and the socio-economic impact of investment in the space economy, we propose a new evaluation framework that considers the various stakeholders along the EO value chain. This approach can be adapted to evaluate the socio-economic returns of other high-tech public infrastructures, such as telescopes, particle accelerators, genomic platforms, synchrotron light sources, supercomputers and cloud infrastructures

The social value of Earth Observation: A new evaluation framework for public high-tech infrastructures

This paper addresses the main challenges of evaluating the socio-economic impact of high-tech infrastructures, using Earth observation (EO) as an example. EO is a critical domain of the space economy, providing valuable insights into planet Earth's natural and societal aspects. As national agencies invest in high-tech infrastructures like EO, there is a growing need for evaluate their socio-economic returns (not to be confused with their financial returns). However, there is no clear consensus on how to assess such social impact. Building on a new field of studies of social cost–benefit analysis of research infrastructures and the socio-economic impact of investment in the space economy, we propose a new evaluation framework that considers the various stakeholders along the EO value chain. This approach can be adapted to evaluate the socio-economic returns of other high-tech public infrastructures, such as telescopes, particle accelerators, genomic platforms, synchrotron light sources, supercomputers and cloud infrastructures

Territorial capital as a source of firm competitive advantage: evidence from the North and South of Italy

This paper investigates how territorial capital, defined as a mix of tangible and intangible local resources accumulated over time across different territories, becomes a source of competitive advantage for firms. The study draws upon semi-structured interviews with firms’ owner-managers operating in the North and South of Italy and shows how local resources generate firms’ costs and differentiation advantages through acting as territorial externalities or becoming an essential core asset to the firm. Results demonstrate how local resources are highly interconnected, making territorial capital unique in each place and not easily imitable, which ensures long term competitive advantages for those firms that benefit from its endowment. A mix of advanced local resources developed through long term investment is shown to be more valuable for firms than inherited resources, provided by ‘God’ or ‘ancestors’. Using the concept of territorial capital in this manner provides insights into understanding sources of firm competitiveness related to location and the persistence of territorial economic disparities

Regional disparities and industrial structure : territorial capital and productivity in Italian firms

We investigate the role of Territorial Capital (TC) on the productivity of Italian firms, constructing indicators for eight dimensions of TC in a first attempt to capture a wide variety of regional resources. When imposing homogeneous TC effects on all firms, we find that technological, social, institutional, financial and infrastructure capital drive productivity. However, only technological and artistic capital contribute to reduce regional disparities. Across industries, financial capital and infrastructure increase productivity in companies operating in a wide range of sectors. Industrial policies should consider sectoral heterogeneity and North-South differences to effectively boost productivity performance

L’OT nella prospettiva di un’analisi costi-benefici sul settore spazio: i satelliti Cosmo-Skymed dell’ASI

Nell’ultimo decennio, un crescente numero di immagini satellitari ad alta risoluzione si è reso accessibile per amministrazioni pubbliche, policymakers e scienziati, incrementando la quantità e la qualità di informazioni disponibili. L’osservazione terrestre fornisce informazioni preziose sia al settore pubblico che a quello privato, consentendo di affrontare – al tempo stesso e con strumenti nuovi – sfide sociali globali come il cambiamento climatico e l’inquinamento dell’aria o applicazioni locali quali l’implementazione di tecniche di agricoltura di precisione e monitoraggio delle infrastrutture urbane e di trasporto. Il presente articolo si propone, attraverso lo studio della letteratura che utilizza dati di osservazione terrestre e un’analisi bibliografica relativa a Cosmo SkyMed (CSM), di aprire la strada ad una efficace valutazione dell’impatto socioeconomico dell’attività dell’Agenzia Spaziale Italiana (ASI) con riguardo alla creazione di prodotti e servizi innovativi generati dall’Osservazione Terrestre. Buona parte dei benefici legati alla disponibilità di dati di osservazione della terra restano potenziali, inespressi e sottovalutati. La presente analisi prevede l’identificazione delle barriere organizzative e istituzionali che limitano il pieno sfruttamento delle informazioni da dati OT, così come la formulazione di solide raccomandazioni di policy al fine di valorizzare il settore downstream spaziale italiano, soprattutto in materia di economia pubblica e fiscal compliance (e.g. accertamento degli abusivismi edilizi)

The Value of Human Capital Formation at CERN

This report summarises the results of the impacts of training that Early Career Researchers (ECR) experience during their activity in CERN’s LHC/HL-LHC programme. The report focuses on demonstrating the robustness of the findings by validating them using additional information such as the experience gained with an initial survey in the frame of the CERN Alumni Network , a survey carried out with the leaders of those teams in CERN projects that form the frame for the training activities, salary surveys in the domain of physics and salary databases. The findings lead to the following conclusions: • An experience-based learning process at Research Infrastructure is instrumental in creating skills that are needed by economy. • The study confirmed both quantitatively and qualitatively the impact of training in a CERN accelerator project in the form of a 5% to 13% salary premium for ECRs, depending on the level of higher education and technology field. • The salary premium for ECRs involved in CERN projects is much higher in case of additionally acquired competencies - beyond the project technical domain - such as data analysis and software development skills for physicists and engineers

Accounting for the impact of space policies: The case of the Italian Space Agency

The purpose of this work is assessing the impact of the Italian Space Agency (ASI) on the performance of the Italian space stakeholders through three specific policies, i.e. public procurement, public investment in Earth observation, and collaboration with the scientific community. This article explores multiple surveys targeting upstream and downstream companies, universities, and research centres in the space economy to estimates the cost-benefit ratio. We find that the socio-economic benefit of ASI policies is positive and, when considering upstream companies and downstream intermediate users in the field of Earth observation (EO), the impact is particularly high in the EO sector. The surveys show evidence of a positive effect of public procurement and EO data on the Italian space economy, both in terms of innovation and economic performance. Finally, we observe a significant impact of ASI also on the scientific community

Repositioning Mifepristone as a Leukaemia Inhibitory Factor Receptor Antagonist for the Treatment of Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma

Pancreatic cancer is a leading cause of cancer mortality and is projected to become the second-most common cause of cancer mortality in the next decade. While gene-wide association studies and next generation sequencing analyses have identified molecular patterns and transcriptome profiles with prognostic relevance, therapeutic opportunities remain limited. Among the genes that are upregulated in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinomas (PDAC), the leukaemia inhibitory factor (LIF), a cytokine belonging to IL-6 family, has emerged as potential therapeutic candidate. LIF is aberrantly secreted by tumour cells and promotes tumour progression in pancreatic and other solid tumours through aberrant activation of the LIF receptor (LIFR) and downstream signalling that involves the JAK1/STAT3 pathway. Since there are no LIFR antagonists available for clinical use, we developed an in silico strategy to identify potential LIFR antagonists and drug repositioning with regard to LIFR antagonists. The results of these studies allowed the identification of mifepristone, a progesterone/glucocorticoid antagonist, clinically used in medical abortion, as a potent LIFR antagonist. Computational studies revealed that mifepristone binding partially overlapped the LIFR binding site. LIF and LIFR are expressed by human PDAC tissues and PDAC cell lines, including MIA-PaCa-2 and PANC-1 cells. Exposure of these cell lines to mifepristone reverses cell proliferation, migration and epithelial mesenchymal transition induced by LIF in a concentration-dependent manner. Mifepristone inhibits LIFR signalling and reverses STAT3 phosphorylation induced by LIF. Together, these data support the repositioning of mifepristone as a potential therapeutic agent in the treatment of PDAC

INVOLVEMENT OF 3′,5′-CYCLIC INOSINE MONOPHOSPHATE IN CYSTATHIONINE Γ-LYASE-DEPENDENT REGULATION OF THE VASCULAR TONE

l-cysteine or hydrogen sulfide (H2S) donors induce a biphasic effect on precontracted isolated vessels. The contractile effect occurs within a concentration range of 10 nM to 3 μM followed by vasodilatation at 30–100 μM. Here, we have investigated the signalling involved in the H2S-induced contraction