Fringe Law and Economics

Google, Competition Policy and the Hegel's Owl. Competition Law in developing Countries: India, A Case Study. Economics of Failure in Movies after the Big Crisis.Google, Competition Policy and the Hegel's Owl. Competition Law in developing Countries: India, A Case Study. Economics of Failure in Movies after the Big Crisis.LUISS PhD Thesi

Information from cochlear potentials and genetic mutations helps localize the lesion site in auditory neuropathy

Auditory neuropathy (AN) is a disorder characterized by disruption of auditory nerve activity resulting from lesions involving the auditory nerve (postsynaptic AN), inner hair cells and/or the synapses with auditory nerve terminals (presynaptic AN). Affected subjects show impairment of speech perception beyond that expected for the hearing loss, abnormality of auditory brainstem potentials and preserved outer hair-cell activities. Furthermore, AN can be identified either as an isolated disorder or as an associated disorder with multisystem involvement including peripheral and optic neuropathies (non-isolated AN). Mutations in several nuclear and mitochondrial genes have been identified as underlying these forms of AN. Recently, new genes have been identified as involved in both isolated (DIAPH3, OTOF) and non-isolated AN (OPA1). Moreover, abnormal cochlear potentials have been recorded from patients with specific gene mutations by using acoustic stimuli or electrical stimulation through cochlear implant. In this review, different types of genetically based auditory neuropathies are discussed and the proposed molecular mechanisms underlying AN are reviewed

The Strategic Role of the Third Mission in Universities A Concrete Case Study

Purpose - In addition to teaching and research, the universities aim to contribute to the development of civil society by promoting the direct application, valorisation and use of knowledge. In reality, it is a widespread and shared opinion that it is no longer enough to carry out research within the university perimeter and publish subsequent works in scientific journals, nor can we be satisfied only with teaching children in university courses. Design/ methodology / approach - The methodology used is qualitative as the research question essentially was: how was the Third Mission (TM) included in the strategic choices of the Universities? In light of the new methods of evaluating universities, how can we highlight what they have done in terms of the third mission? Are organizational solutions possible in the approach to TM? Findings - The objective was to verify what the impact and future development of the Third Mission in the Universities will be. In light of its inclusion among the evaluation criteria of universities and teachers, the third mission represents the new frontier of the future in terms of local and national openness and development, as well as their economic and financial sustainability. To this end, the analysis of a case is proposed, as a best practice, and in particular the case of the Department of Business and Legal Sciences of the University of Calabria is presented. Originality / value – The application and implementation of rules and regulations is always difficult in any case and in any field, let's imagine in public administration and universities, bureaucratically "plastered" and not very inclined to change and innovation, especially regarding performance evaluation

SEMIAUTOMATIC ANALYSIS OF SLEEP MICROSTRUCTURE PARAMETERS: AROUSAL, CYCLIC ALTERNATING PATTERN AND REM MUSCLE ATONIA.

This thesis project is focused on systems of automatic analysis of sleep parameters and it is composed by two main parts: the first is focused on the process of creation of a software for the analysis of Cyclic Alternating Pattern (CAP) a particular parameter of sleep microstructure and the second part is focused on the use of automatic analysis of muscle activity during sleep. CAP is defined as periodic EEG activity of NREM sleep characterized by sequences of transient electrocortical events, that are distinct from the background electroencephalogram (EEG) activity and occurs at up to 1-minute intervals. CAP represents the microstructure of sleep, and its analysis gives fundamental information that are otherwise neglected with the analysis of sleep macrostructure (sleep staging) alone. CAP is considered a marker for the evaluation of sleep stability and its oscillatory presence is fundamental preservation of sleep stability through the night and in response to arousal stimuli. Analysis of CAP is a very time consuming procedure and it is still used mainly for research purpose rather than in the clinical practice. The development of a software for the analysis of CAP was the main focus of the work in collaboration with Micromed® (an international company for the manufacturing of hardware and software for neurophysiology based in Mogliano Veneto (TV)). During the months spent at Micromed® the PhD student worked with the software programmers and engineers for the creation and validation of the software, individuating all the clinical parameters from guidelines and verifying their correct application and the validity of the results. In the first part of this thesis all the creation process is described in detail. The second part of this thesis is focused on the automatic analysis of muscle EMG tone during both REM and NREM sleep. Muscle tone during sleep gradually diminishes throughout the different sleep stages reaching its minimum with REM muscle atonia. Evaluation of muscle tone during REM sleep is fundamental for the diagnosis of REM sleep Behavior Disorder (RBD) in which there is loss of muscle atonia during REM associated to dream enacting behavior. Muscle activity is measured in polysomnography (PSG) through the recording of different EMG channels. This activity is evaluated almost exclusively during REM sleep using a manual method of visual scoring that require high expertise is highly time consuming. A validated method developed by R. Ferri and co. allows automatic analysis of chin EMG activity through the calculation of Atonia index. Few studies evaluated muscle tone during NREM sleep, and little is known about the neurophysiology of muscle control. Manual methods would be difficult to apply to NREM sleep; the method developed by Ferri is capable to perform an analysis of muscle tone for all sleep stages. RBD is associated to neurodegenerative disorders, synucleinopathies such as Parkinson disease (PD), Multiple System Atrophy (MSA). MSA patients have a more severe loss of atonia during REM sleep compared to PD with RBD. Starting from the fortuitous observation of a prominent facial activity during NREM sleep, we decided to evaluate the facial activity recorded in vPSG in patients with PD, MSA and controls and to evaluate the muscle tone in both REM and NREM sleep using the automatic method for the calculation of atonia index. Our results showed that MSA have a more sustained muscle tone compared to healthy controls in all sleep stages and compared to PD in all NREM stages. Moreover a particular facial expression was noted to be significantly more frequent in MSA compared to PD. This results may help the differential diagnosis between PD and MSA. This is the first study to evaluate muscle tone during all sleep stages using Atonia index and this analysis may open to different perspectives for the understanding of REM behavior disorder and the mechanism underlying the control of muscle tone in NREM slee

What is Grace and What Grace is Given in the Sacraments?

The Catholic understanding of the word grace is extremely rich and multifaceted. A more focused exploration of grace from its biblical roots to its use in the sacraments provides one with a profoundly humble appreciation of how deeply grace is interwoven into the faith and how undeserving yet privileged one is to be able to receive it. This understanding allows grace to manifest itself more clearly in the everyday life of the believer and continue to deepen their faith. The sacraments play an important role in this as they are where grace is received, restored, nourished and maintained

Fringe Law and Economics

Google, Competition Policy and the Hegel's Owl. Competition Law in developing Countries: India, A Case Study. Economics of Failure in Movies after the Big Crisis

"PUERTAS": THE MEANING OF GATEWAYS AND A DESIGN PROPOSAL FOR THEIR INTERPRETATION IN CASCO ANTIGUO, PANAMA

"Puertas", translated as portals or gateways, give residents and visitors the first visual images of the city. Their importance depends in the way they connect two areas, as well as in the way they give identity to the city as a whole. With the expansion of the city, the Historic District of Panama (Casco Antiguo) lost part of its defensive wall and its two original city entrances: Puerta de Tierra (Land Gateway) and Puerta de Mar (Water Gateway).When these elements were destroyed, the city lost part of its physical boundaries and part of its identity as a fortified colonial settlement. This thesis is a historical and design investigation into the role of city entrances and how their interpretation in Casco Antiguo can improve the visitor's experience. The reinterpretation of these entrances will also mark the boundaries of the Historic District that function as meaningful links between Casco Antiguo and its surrounding areas