Through entrepreneurs’ eyes: the Fab-spaces constellation

Fab-spaces provide individuals with access to numerous manufacturing equipment (including additive manufacturing), to carry out different types of projects. Although scholars are starting to speculate about the importance of these new organizational forms and their potential for future distributed innovation and production ecologies, this phenomenon is still largely unexplored. Building on existing multidisciplinary research, this paper offers the first empirical analysis of existing fab-spaces as providers of knowledge and production competencies. Amongst all the possible perspectives to derive a framework, we choose that of fab-spaces users who have an entrepreneurial intention. After deriving an analytical framework to position fab-spaces in the current academic discourse, the paper develops a classification, which considers the competences available to entrepreneurs, via fab-spaces, in conjunction with how these competences are provided. The resulting map reveals the complementarities amongst the different fab-spaces. It also shows that the current portfolio of fab-spaces supports mainly the distribution of innovation across locations and social groups. Several types of fab-spaces are currently well placed to support the transition from innovation to manufacturing, but their geographical distribution and range of manufacturing capabilities is not yet enough to provide a fully distributed manufacturing model. This study has practical consequences for entrepreneurs, in the better identification of the appropriate fab-spaces for their needs, and for policy makers, to help position the different types of fab-spaces as elements for national systems of innovation and production.Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (Grant ID: EP/K039598/1)This is the final version of the article. It first appeared from Taylor & Francis via http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00207543.2016.119850

Through entrepreneurs’ eyes: the Fab-spaces constellation

© 2016 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.Fabrication spaces (Fab-spaces) provide individuals with access to numerous manufacturing equipment (including additive manufacturing), to carry out different types of projects. Although scholars are starting to speculate about the importance of these new organisational forms and their potential for future distributed innovation and production ecologies, this phenomenon is still largely unexplored. Building on existing multidisciplinary research, this paper offers the first empirical analysis of existing fab-spaces as providers of knowledge and production competencies. Amongst all the possible perspectives to derive a framework, we choose that of fab-space users who have an entrepreneurial intention. After deriving an analytical framework to position fab-spaces in the current academic discourse, the paper develops a classification, which considers the competences available to entrepreneurs, via fab-spaces, in conjunction with how these competences are provided. The resulting map reveals the complementarities amongst the different fab-spaces. It also shows that the current portfolio of fab-spaces supports mainly the distribution of innovation across locations and social groups. Several types of fab-spaces are currently well placed to support the transition from innovation to manufacturing, but their geographical distribution and range of manufacturing capabilities are not yet enough to provide a fully distributed manufacturing model. This study has practical consequences for entrepreneurs, in the better identification of the appropriate fab-spaces for their needs, and for policy-makers, to help position the different types of fab-spaces as elements for national systems of innovation and production

Changes in neurosyphilis presentation: a survey on 286 patients

Although neurosyphilis (NS) keeps plaguing worldwide, often with oligosymptomatic and atypical manifestations, the most recent reports fail to provide useful information, like details of the clinical history and even of the previous early therapy. We conducted a survey of the literature of the last 5\ua0years on the clinical presentation of NS, recording the aforementioned inaccuracies. One hundred and thirty-seven articles were collected, reporting on 286 patients. General paresis was the commonest form (49%), often manifesting with cognitive impairment and psychiatric symptoms. Syphilitic meningitis was found in 63 patients (22%), mainly with ocular or auditory involvement. Meningovascular and tabetic form were both found in 12% of cases. Gummatous and epileptic manifestations were rare. Perusal of the literature confirms that NS prevalence is increasing, often with manifestations that are atypical for timing and type of lesions. Unfortunately, many articles are lacking of critical information, like an accurate clinical history and timing of the therapy making difficult to assess the effectiveness of penicillin in preventing NS