Firms' perceptions of barriers to innovation and resilience: the Italian region of Friuli Venezia Giulia during the crisis

This paper connects the literature on obstacles to innovation to the concept of regional economic resilience by empirically assessing the relationship between the intensity of firms’ engagement in innovative activities and self-reported obstacles to innovation during the unfolding of the latest economic and financial downturn. The analysis is grounded on a unique dataset on firm-level accounting data (CAD) and information from two waves (2008-10 and 2010-12) of the Community Innovation Survey (CIS) for a representative sample of firms in the Italian region of Friuli Venezia Giulia. The main results support the existence of severe deterring barriers in the region, and suggest that during the economic and financial crisis after 2008 firms’ uncertainty about the market demand became dominant

External histopathological validation of the surface-intermediate-base margin score

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Features of Ipsilateral Renal Recurrences After Partial Nephrectomy: A Proposal of a Pathogenetic Classification

Poor data are reported on the pathogenesis of ipsilateral relapse (IR) after partial nephrectomy (PN). The objective of this study was to investigate features of IR after PN with the intention to propose a pathogenetic classification

Effects of sildenafil on the gastrocnemius and cardiac muscles of rats in a model of prolonged moderate exercise training.

Moderate exercise training improves energetic metabolism, tissue perfusion and induces cardiac and skeletal muscle remodeling. Sildenafil, a potent phosphodiesterase-5 inhibitor used to treat erectile dysfunction, reduces infarct size and increases tissue oxygenation in experimental models of cardiovascular disease. We have evaluated the effects of prolonged moderate exercise training and a repeat administration of sildenafil on the rat gastrocnemius and cardiac muscles. Animals were divided into two groups: sedentary and trained. Each group was subdivided into animals treated with vehicle or with two doses of sildenafil (10 or 15 mg/kg/day) during the last week of training. Physical exercise did not induce cardiac hypertrophy, whereas it increased mRNA levels of the PGC-1α, HIF-1α and VEGF genes, which are involved in mitochondrial biogenesis and angiogenesis, and reduced mRNA levels of FoxO3a, MuRF-1 and Atrogin-1. Sildenafil dose-dependently promoted both angiogenesis, as shown by increased capillary density, and muscle atrophy, as shown by muscle fibre size. These effects were more pronounced in trained animals. Our data confirm the beneficial effects of a moderate and prolonged training on cardiovascular and skeletal systems and document the positive and negative effects of sildenafil on these tissues at doses higher than those used in clinical practice. This report may impact on the use of sildenafil as a substance able to influence sports performance

Positive surgical margins and early oncological outcomes of robotic vs open radical prostatectomy at a medium case-load institution

To analyze the rates of positive surgical margins (PSM) after radical prostatectomy in patients undergoing robotic surgery (robot assisted laparoscopic prostatectomy - RALP) compared with those undergoing open surgery (radical retropubic prostatectomy - RRP), at an institution with medium case load