Globalisation, cost competitiveness and international trade: the evolution of the Italian textile and clothing industries and the growth of trade with China

Amongst developed countries, Italy is unusual in that it has maintained a specialisation in traditional industries such as textiles and clothing (TCI). Explanations of Italy’s unusual industrial profile mainly emphasise the role of endogenous economic and cultural resources. Globalisation in the 1990s and 2000s saw slow growth and a significant decline of these formerly resilient industries. Analyses of trade and unit value data support accounts of the lateness of the Italian TCI’s movement in the direction of Outward Processing Traffic (OPT) and the subsequent rise of a pan-Euro-Mediterranean system. More recently, however, this system has declined as a result of new competitive challenges from China and other emerging economies that have eroded the position of Italian enterprises on export and domestic markets and adversely affected their Euro-Mediterranean suppliers. As district and value-chain theories show, the geography of industrial activities is a result of enterprise strategies and the environment in which they operate. To embrace recent trends these theories must, however, be extended to give greater weight to exchange rate, trade, market, demand-side and related institutional issues

Electrophysiological Approach to GPCR–RTK Interaction Study in Hippocampus of Adult Rats

The allosteric receptor–receptor interactions in G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) heteroreceptor complexes provided a new dimension for the integration of signaling at plasma membrane level of neurons in brain. Neuronal plasticity processes underlying brain functions, such as learning and memory, have been proposed to be based on rearrangement of heteroreceptor complexes and protomer interactions in the postsynaptic membrane. Among the different partners for GPCRs to form heteromers, receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs) represent an intriguing combination due to their possible involvement in brain diseases. Different methodologies are available to study heteroreceptor complexes in brain tissue, but their functional role in modulating neuron electrical activity can be properly evaluated using an electrophysiological approach. Here, we describe patch clamp technique protocol for studying GPCR–RTK interaction in hippocampus CA1 pyramidal neurons of adult rat, paying particular attention to highlight major problems that can occur using this technique and providing useful troubleshooting steps to achieve reliable results