Applying Idea Management System (IMS) approach to design and implement a collaborative environment in public service related open innovation processes

Abstract. Novel Ideas are the key ingredients for innovation processes, and Idea Management System (IMS) plays a prominent role in managing captured ideas from external stakeholders and internal actors within an Open Innovation process. Considering a specific case study, Lecce-Italy, we have designed and implemented a collaborative environment which provides an ideal platform for government, citizens, etc. to share their ideas and co-create the value of innovative public services in Lecce. The application of IMS in this study with six main steps, including: idea generation, idea improvement, idea selection, refinement, idea implementation and monitoring shows that this, remarkably, helps service providers to exploit the intellectual capital and initiatives of the regional stakeholders and citizens, and assist service providers to stay in line with the needs of society

Location of primary tumor and benefit from anti-epidermal growth factorreceptor monoclonalantibodies in patients with RAS and BRAF wild-typemetastatic colorectal cancer

Introduction. Right- and left-sided colorectal cancers (CRCs) differ in clinical and molecular characteristics. Some retrospective analyses suggested that patients with right-sided tumors derive less benefit from anti-epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) antibodies; however, molecular selection in those studies was not extensive. Patients and Methods. Patients with RAS and BRAF wild-type metastatic CRC (mCRC) who were treated with single-agent anti-EGFRs or with cetuximab-irinotecan (if refractory to previous irinotecan) were included in the study. Differences in outcome between patients with right- and left-sided tumors were investigated. Results. Of 75 patients, 14 and 61 had right- and left-sided tumors, respectively. None of the right-sided tumors responded according to RECIST, compared with 24 left-sided tumors (overall response rate: 0% vs. 41%; p 5 .0032), and only 2 patients with right-sided tumors (15%) versus 47 patients with left-sided tumors (80%) achieved disease control (p, .0001). The median duration of progression-free survival was 2.3 and 6.6 months in patients with right-sided and left-sided tumors, respectively (hazard ratio: 3.97;95%confidence interval: 2.09–7.53; p,.0001). Conclusion. Patients with right-sided RAS and BRAF wild-type mCRC seemed to derive no benefit from single-agent anti- EGFRs

The Seabed Makes the Dolphins: Physiographic Features Shape the Size and Structure of the Bottlenose Dolphin Geographical Units

The common bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) is a cosmopolitan delphinid, regularly present in the Mediterranean Sea. According to previous studies, this dolphin tends to form resident geographical units scattered on the continental shelf. We investigated how the physiographic characteristics of the area of residence, with special reference to the size and shape of the continental shelf, affect the home range and the group size of the local units. We analysed and compared data collected between 2004-2016 by 15 research groups operating in different study areas of the Mediterranean Sea: the Alboran Sea, in the South-Western Mediterranean, the Gulf of Lion and the Pelagos Sanctuary for the marine mammals, in the North-Western Mediterranean, and the Gulf of Ambracia, in the North-Central Mediterranean Sea. We have found that in areas characterised by a wide continental platform, dolphins have wider home ranges and aggregate into larger groups. In areas characterized by a narrow continental platform, dolphins show much smaller home ranges and aggregate into smaller groups. The results obtained from this collective research effort highlight the importance of data sharing to improve our scientific knowledge in the field of cetaceans and beyond

Persistent organic pollutant levels in human visceral and subcutaneous adipose tissue in obese individuals - Depot differences and dysmetabolism implications

Background: The role of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) with endocrine disrupting activity in the aetiology of obesity and other metabolic dysfunctions has been recently highlighted. Adipose tissue (AT) is a common site of POPs accumulation where they can induce adverse effects on human health. Objectives: To evaluate the presence of POPs in human visceral (vAT) and subcutaneous (scAT) adipose tissue in a sample of Portuguese obese patients that underwent bariatric surgery, and assess their putative association with metabolic disruption preoperatively, as well as with subsequent body mass index (BMI) reduction. Methods: AT samples (n=189) from obese patients (BMI ≥35) were collected and the levels of 13 POPs were determined by gas chromatography with electron-capture detection (GC-ECD). Anthropometric and biochemical data were collected at the time of surgery. BMI variation was evaluated after 12 months and adipocyte size was measured in AT samples. Results: Our data confirm that POPs are pervasive in this obese population (96.3% of detection on both tissues), their abundance increasing with age (RS=0.310, p<0.01) and duration of obesity (RS=0.170, p<0.05). We observed a difference in AT depot POPs storage capability, with higher levels of ΣPOPs in vAT (213.9±204.2 compared to 155.1±147.4 ng/g of fat, p<0.001), extremely relevant when evaluating their metabolic impact. Furthermore, there was a positive correlation between POP levels and the presence of metabolic syndrome components, namely dysglycaemia and hypertension, and more importantly with cardiovascular risk (RS=0.277, p<0.01), with relevance for vAT (RS=0.315, p<0.01). Finally, we observed an interesting relation of higher POP levels with lower weight loss in older patients. Conclusion: Our sample of obese subjects allowed us to highlight the importance of POPs stored in AT on the development of metabolic dysfunction in a context of obesity, shifting the focus to their metabolic effects and not only for their recognition as environmental obesogens

The SIB Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics' resources: focus on curated databases

The SIB Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics (www.isb-sib.ch) provides world-class bioinformatics databases, software tools, services and training to the international life science community in academia and industry. These solutions allow life scientists to turn the exponentially growing amount of data into knowledge. Here, we provide an overview of SIB's resources and competence areas, with a strong focus on curated databases and SIB's most popular and widely used resources. In particular, SIB's Bioinformatics resource portal ExPASy features over 150 resources, including UniProtKB/Swiss-Prot, ENZYME, PROSITE, neXtProt, STRING, UniCarbKB, SugarBindDB, SwissRegulon, EPD, arrayMap, Bgee, SWISS-MODEL Repository, OMA, OrthoDB and other databases, which are briefly described in this article

Fourth International Conference on the Effects of Noise on Aquatic Life

Within the framework of the EU Life+ project named LIFE09 NAT/IT/000190 ARION, a permanent autonomous real-time passive acoustic monitoring system has been implemented in the Portofino Marine Protected Area (IT) for the improvement of the conservation status of bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus). The system is able to detect and track in real time the simultaneous presence of dolphins and motor boats in the study area. This information is used to prevent collisions and noise pollution by diffusing warning presence messages to the end users involved, as sailors and tourists. In three years of data collecting the proper functioning of the system has been validated. A large number of dolphin pods has been detected and localized. Furthermore different types of motor boats have been tracked in the study area. The system is also able to measure different marine parameters and to obtain the ambient background noise in order to understand the influence of human activities on the dolphin behavior. This type of research is in progress and the first results are shown

Habitat overlap between bottlenose dolphins and seabirds: a pilot study to identify high-presence coastal areas in the Tyrrhenian Sea.

none6Cafaro, Valentina; Angeletti, Dario; Bellisario, Bruno; Macali, Armando; Carere, Claudio; Alessi, JessicaCafaro, Valentina; Angeletti, Dario; Bellisario, Bruno; Macali, Armando; Carere, Claudio; Alessi, Jessic

Applying Idea Management System (IMS) Approach to Design and Implement a collaborative Environment in Public Service related open Innovation Processes

Novel ideas are the key ingredients for innovation processes, and Idea Management System (IMS) plays a prominent role in managing captured ideas from external stakeholders and internal actors within an Open Innovation process. By considering a specific case study, Lecce-Italy, we have designed and implemented a collaborative environment, which provides an ideal platform for government, citizens, etc. to share ideas and co-create the value of innovative public services in Lecce. In this study the application of IMS with six main steps, including: idea generation, idea improvement, idea selection, refinement, idea implementation, and monitoring, shows that this, remarkably, helps service providers to exploit the intellectual capital and initiatives of the regional stakeholders and citizens and assist service providers to stay in line with the needs of society. Moreover, we have developed two support tools to foster collaboration and transparency: sentiment analysis tool and gamification application

ARION System for coastal dolphin conservation: A tool for real-time dolphin passive acoustic monitoring in the Portofino Marine Protected Area

Within the framework of the EU Life+ project named LIFE09 NAT/IT/000190 ARION, a permanent autonomous real-time passive acoustic monitoring system has been implemented in the Portofino Marine Protected Area (IT) for the improvement of the conservation status of bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus). The system is able to detect and track in real time the simultaneous presence of dolphins and motor boats in the study area. This information is used to prevent collisions and noise pollution by diffusing warning presence messages to the end users involved, as sailors and tourists. In three years of data collecting the proper functioning of the system has been validated. A large number of dolphin pods has been detected and localized. Furthermore different types of motor boats have been tracked in the study area. The system is also able to measure different marine parameters and to obtain the ambient background noise in order to understand the influence of human activities on the dolphin behavior. This type of research is in progress and the first results are shown

Alterations of action potentials and the localization of Nav1.6 sodium channels in spared axons after hemisection injury of the spinal cord in adult rats

Previously, we reported a pronounced reduction in transmission through surviving axons contralateral to chronic hemisection (HX) of adult rat spinal cord. To examine the cellular and molecular mechanisms responsible for this diminished transmission, we recorded intracellularly from lumbar lateral white matter axons in deeply anesthetized adult rats in vivo and measured the propagation of action potentials (APs) through rubrospinal/reticulospinal tract (RST/RtST) axons contralateral to chronic HX at T10. We found decreased excitability in these axons, manifested by an increased rheobase to trigger APs and longer latency for AP propagation passing the injury level, without significant differences in axonal resting membrane potential and input resistance. These electrophysiological changes were associated with altered spatial localization of Nav1.6 sodium channels along axons: a subset of axons contralateral to the injury exhibited a diffuse localization (>10 μm spread) of Nav1.6 channels, a pattern characteristic of demyelinated axons (Craner MJ, Newcombe J, Black JA, Hartle C, Cuzner ML, Waxman SG. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 101: 8168–8173, 2004b). This result was substantiated by ultrastructural changes seen with electron microscopy, in which an increased number of large-caliber, demyelinated RST axons were found contralateral to the chronic HX. Therefore, an increased rheobase, pathological changes in the distribution of Nav1.6 sodium channels, and the demyelination of contralateral RST axons are likely responsible for their decreased conduction chronically after HX and thus may provide novel targets for strategies to improve function following incomplete spinal cord injury