Teaching Theoretical Physics: the cases of Enrico Fermi and Ettore Majorana

We report on theoretical courses by Fermi and Majorana, giving evidence of the first appearance and further development of Quantum Mechanics teaching in Italy. On the basis of original documents, we make a comparison between Fermi's and Majorana's approaches. A detailed analysis is carried out of Fermi's course on Theoretical Physics attended by Majorana in 1927-28. Three (previously unknown) programs on advanced Physics courses submitted by Majorana to the University of Rome between 1933 and 1936 and the course he held in Naples in 1938 complete our analysis: Fermi's phenomenological approach resounded in Majorana, who however combined it with a deeper theoretical approach, closer to the modern way of presenting Quantum Mechanics.Comment: latex, 21 pages; a contribution in the centenary of the birth of Ettore Majoran

Family Involvement in Ownership and Management: Exploring Nonlinear Effects on Performance

Research on the performance of family firms is growing, but results are mixed, especially for nonlisted companies. Thus, on the basis of the co-presence of benefits and disadvan-tages of family involvement in ownership and management, we explored the presence of nonlinear effects of these two variables on performance. We run regression analyses on data drawn from 620 privately held family firms in Italy: A negative quadratic relation-ship between family involvement in management and performance was found, but we did not find any association between family involvement in ownership and performance. Our results suggest that in privately held firms the positive effects that previous literature associates with the presence of family managers do not appear strong enough to com-pensate for the disadvantages deriving from a nonmonetary goal orientation, nor do they compensate for the costs deriving from the need to solve conflicts between family man-agers and the impossibility of enlarging the company’s social and intellectual capital through the employment of nonfamily managers. Moreover, the quadratic nature of the relationship calls for greater attention to be paid to these effects by family business owners, especially in those cases where family involvement in management is high

Innovation in Small Family Firms

Research on innovation in family firms has flourished in the last decades. Nevertheless, most of the current understanding has been developed by studying large organizations, leaving the specific challenges and opportunities of innovating in small family firms still untapped. This introductory article summarizes the studies included in the special issue and integrates their contributions by uncovering four types of innovation that allow small family firms to overcome the liability of smallness. Finally, we suggest directions for future research

Women's involvement in family firms:Progress and challenges for future research

This article reviews research on women's involvement in family firms according to a drivers-behaviors-outcomes framework. Through a systematic review, we analyze and organize the content of 87 academic articles according to the type of involvement of women in family business, i.e. entrepreneurial entry, succession, career dynamics, and presence in family firms. We identify the drivers and outcomes of women's involvement in family firms at the firm, family, and individual level of analysis, as well as the contextual factors that may influence the aforementioned elements. Drawing on these findings, we identify relevant research gaps, propose a number of future research directions aimed at bridging these gaps, and suggest unexplored research avenues

Conflicting selves:family owners’ multiple goals and self-control agency problems in private firms

This study examines the self-control agency problems associated with family ownership in private firms. Theorizing that family owners’ inner conflicts between economic and non-economic goals lead to competing preferences in the allocation of financial resources, we predict that the relationship between financial slack and firm profitability is contingent on factors that increase the potential salience of either economic or non-economic goals for family owners. Accordingly, our findings suggest that self-control is a separate source of agency costs in private firms and that family ownership is not as crucial as owners’ goals in predicting the impact of financial slack on firm profitability

Process innovation in family firms: Family involvement in management , R & D collaboration with suppliers , and technology protection

Drawing on insights from the upper echelon theory, this article aims to examine the impact of family involvement in management on process innovation within family firms, considering the mediating role of R&D collaboration with suppliers and the moderating role of technology protection. Conducting a panel data analysis on 5,332 firm-year observations of Spanish manufacturing family firms for the period 2007–2016, we find that the negative relationship between family involvement in management and process innovation is mediated by R&D collaboration with suppliers. Furthermore, we find that the negative effect of family involvement in management on R&D collaboration with suppliers and ultimately on process innovation is mitigated by technology protection and even becomes positive for high levels of technology protectio

Measurement of the neutron detection efficiency of a 80% absorber - 20% scintillating fibers calorimeter

The neutron detection efficiency of a sampling calorimeter made of 1 mm diameter scintillating fibers embedded in a lead/bismuth structure has been measured at the neutron beam of the The Svedberg Laboratory at Uppsala. A significant enhancement of the detection efficiency with respect to a bulk organic scintillator detector with the same thickness is observed.Comment: 10 pages, 7 figure

Improving diagnosis for rare diseases: the experience of the Italian undiagnosed Rare diseases network

Background For a number of persons with rare diseases (RDs) a definite diagnosis remains undiscovered with relevant physical, psychological and social consequences. Undiagnosed RDs (URDs) require other than specialised clinical centres, outstanding molecular investigations, common protocols and dedicated actions at national and international levels; thus, many "Undiagnosed RDs programs" have been gradually developed on the grounds of a well-structured multidisciplinary approach. Methods The Italian Undiagnosed Rare Diseases Network (IURDN) was established in 2016 to improve the level of diagnosis of persons with URD living in Italy. Six Italian Centres of Expertise represented the network. The National Centre for Rare Diseases at the Istituto Superiore di Sanita coordinates the whole project. The software PhenoTips was used to collect the information of the clinical cases. Results One hundred and ten cases were analysed between March 2016 and June 2019. The age of onset of the diseases ranged from prenatal age to 51 years. Conditions were predominantly sporadic; almost all patients had multiple organs involvements. A total of 13/71 family cases were characterized by WES; in some families more than one individual was affected, so leading to 20/71 individuals investigated. Disease causing variants were identified in two cases and were associated to previously undescribed phenotypes. In 5 cases, new candidate genes were identified, although confirmatory tests are pending. In three families, investigations were not completed due to the scarce compliance of members and molecular investigations were temporary suspended. Finally, three cases (one familial) remain still unsolved. Twelve undiagnosed clinical cases were then selected to be shared at International level through PhenomeCentral in accordance to the UDNI statement. Conclusions Our results showed a molecular diagnostic yield of 53,8%; this value is comparable to the diagnostic rates reported in other international studies. Cases collected were also pooled with those collected by UDNI International Network. This represents a unique example of global initiative aimed at sharing and validating knowledge and experience in this field. IURDN is a multidisciplinary and useful initiative linking National and International efforts aimed at making timely and appropriate diagnoses in RD patients who still do not have a confirmed diagnosis even after a long time