Extended brief intervention to address alcohol misuse in people with mild to moderate intellectual disabilities living in the community (EBI-ID): study protocol for a randomised controlled trial.

There is some evidence that people with intellectual disabilities who live in the community are exposed to the same risks of alcohol use as the rest of the population. Various interventions have been evaluated in the general population to tackle hazardous or harmful drinking and alcohol dependence, but the literature evaluating interventions is very limited regarding intellectual disabilities. The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence recommends that brief and extended brief interventions be used to help young persons and adults who have screened as positive for hazardous and harmful drinking. The objective of this trial is to investigate the feasibility of adapting and delivering an extended brief intervention (EBI) to persons with mild/moderate intellectual disability who live in the community and whose level of drinking is harmful or hazardous

Development and evaluation of a manual for extended brief intervention for alcohol misuse for adults with mild to moderate intellectual disabilities living in the community: The EBI-LD study manual

BACKGROUND: Extended brief interventions for alcohol misuse are effective in the general population. The process of manualising the first ever such intervention for people with mild to moderate intellectual disabilities in the UK is the focus of this study. METHODS: The manual was an adaptation of existing manuals based on Motivational Enhancement and Cognitive Behaviour Therapy and was used in a feasibility randomized controlled trial, the EBI-LD study. The sessions were recorded and scored using an adapted version of the Yale Adherence and Competence Scale (YACS II). Feedback was provided by therapists. The trial is closed. Registered: isrctn.com; ISRCTN58783633. RESULTS: The quality of the sessions provided was rated as good. Therapists were able to cover all topics within each session. Main challenges included session duration and homework task completion. CONCLUSIONS: We recommend the duration of the sessions to be extended to 40 min to accommodate carers in the session and to enhance their support in homework task completion

Location determinants of green technological entry: evidence from European regions

In this paper, we explore the spatial distribution and the location determinants of new green technology-based firms across European regions. Integrating insights from evolutionary economic geography and the literature on knowledge spillovers, we study the importance of new knowledge creation and the conditioning role played by regional technological relatedness in fostering combinatorial opportunities underlying the process of green technological entry. The analysis is based on a dataset covering over 900 NUTS3 regions for 15 European countries obtained merging economic data from ESPON-Eurostat and patent information from the PATSTAT-CRIOS database for the period 1996–2006. Our results show that the geographical distribution of green technological entry across European regions is not evenly distributed, offering evidence of spatial path dependence. In line with this, we find evidence of a significant role played by the characteristics of the regional innovation system. New green innovators are more likely to develop in regions defined by higher levels of technological activity underlying knowledge spillovers and more dynamism in technological entry. Moreover, our findings point to an inverted-U relationship between regional technological relatedness and green technological entry. Regions whose innovation activity is defined by cognitive proximity to environmental technologies support interactive learning and knowledge spillovers underlying entrepreneurship in this specific area. However, too much relatedness may cause technological lock-ins and reduce the set of combinatorial opportunities

IP Management by Universities: Evidence from Italian Academic Patents

International audienc

IP Management by Universities: Evidence from Italian Academic Patents

International audienc

Fiat Lux: fotosintesi nelle alghe di Frasassi

si è studiata la fisiologia della "lampen flora" delle grotte di Frasassi e la loro capacità di gestire periodi prolungati di buio

Photosynthesis in the caves of Frasassi (Italy).

Photosynthetic organisms inhabiting the caves of Frasassi (Italy) were identified and aspects of their strategy of acclimation to the cavern environment investigated. The habitats of the organisms were characterized with special reference to light, the inorganic carbon system and the availability of inorganic N, P and S. The availability of nutrients was low. The availability of inorganic C was mostly affected by pH, but it was generally high enough to support photosynthesis at the photon flux density measured. The blue-green alga Phormidium sp. was by far the most abundant photosynthetic organism in the caves. The adaptation of Phormidium to growth at low light and abundant inorganic carbon was mediated by a down-regulation of photosynthesis and the CO2-concentrating mechanism. The down-regulation of these processes is probably an adaptive adjustment that paces the energy output to the limited light input. Heterotrophy may also be important for the survival of Phormidium