Network Analysis, Creative System Modelling and Decision Support: The NetSyMoD Approach

This paper presents the NetSyMoD approach – where NetSyMod stands for Network Analysis – Creative System Modelling – Decision Support. It represents the outcome of several years of research at FEEM in the field of natural resources management, environmental evaluation and decision-making, within the Natural Resources Management Research Programme. NetSyMoD is a flexible and comprehensive methodological framework, which uses a suite of support tools, aimed at facilitating the involvement of stakeholders or experts in decision-making processes. The main phases envisaged for the process are: (i) the identification of relevant actors, (ii) the analysis of social networks, (iii) the creative system modelling and modelling of the reality being considered (i.e. the local socio-economic and environmental system), and (iv) the analysis of alternative options available for the management of the specific case (e.g. alternative projects, plans, strategies). The strategies for participation are necessarily context-dependent, and thus not all the NetSyMod phases may be needed in every application. Furthermore, the practical solutions for their implementation may significantly differ from one case to another, depending not only on the context, but also on the available resources (human and financial). The various applications of NetSyMoD have nonetheless in common the same approach for problem analysis and communication within a group of actors, based upon the use of creative thinking techniques, the formalisation of human-environment relationships through the DPSIR framework, and the use of multi-criteria analysis through the mDSS software.Social Network, Integrated Analysis, Participatory Modelling, Decision Support

Nutritive Value of Double Cropped Corn for Ruminant Production

The viability of double cropping corn (Zea mays L.) in Uruguay, germplasm combination, dry matter yield and nutritive value were evaluated. An early (E) maturing hybrid, an early to medium (E-M) one and an E-M variety were planted as spring crops. One E-M hybrid, one medium to late (M-L) hybrid and a late (L) variety were planted as a second crop. PVC laboratory scale silo of the spring crop and the whole plant of the summer crop were chemically analyzed. The nutritive value of the silages were related to plant maturity stage. No differences were detected in nutritive value among cultivars in the second crop except for NDF. In the spring crop the higher DM/ha yield were obtained with the E-M hybrids and in the summer crop with the L variety. The effect of the previous crop was detected in those cultivars planted on the same field plot where the higher grain yield cultivars were obtained as spring crop. The yield results of both crops were higher for the combination of E-M cultivars and lower for those combinations that included one E cultivar as spring crop. The metabolizable energy (ME) results tend to dilute the initial differences in DM /ha, since quality and quantity parameters tends to compensate each other, with few differences among all. Double cropping corn is a viable option for Uruguay being unavoidable the no till cultivation of the summer crop, and the use of E and E-M cultivars as spring and summer crops, respectively

The role of institutional characteristics in knowledge transfer: a comparative analysis of two Italian universities

Book synopsis: Universities have become essential players in the generation of knowledge and innovation. Through the commercialization of technology, they have developed the ability to influence regional economic growth. By examining different commercialization models this book analyses technology transfer at universities as part of a national and regional system. It provides insight as to why certain models work better than others, and reaffirms that technology transfer programs must be linked to their regional and commercial environments. Using a global perspective on technology commercialization, this book divides the discussion between developed and developing counties according to the level of university commercialization capability. Critical cases as well as country reports examine the policies and culture of university involvement in economic development, relationships between university and industry, and the commercialization of technology first developed at universities. In addition, each chapter provides examples from specific universities in each country from a regional, national, and international comparative perspective. This book includes articles by leading practitioners as well as researchers and will be highly relevant to all those with an interest in innovation studies, organizational studies, regional economics, higher education, public policy and business entrepreneurship

Vitamin D: no efficacy without deficiency. What's new?

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SEeD for Change: The Systemic Event Design Project Applied to Terra Madre Salone del Gusto for the Development of Food Communities

In the contemporary era, food plays a key role in balancing environmental, social, and economic balances, not only due to its primary identity as a resource that nourishes living beings and the planet but also through the processes triggered by stakeholders who act at the internal local food systems. In the latter, an orientation towards sustainability is increasingly urgently required, capable of achieving a widespread creation of shared value. In this scenario, the International Slow Food Association operates, which also, through the Terra Madre Salone del Gusto initiative, coordinates communities and events located throughout the world on the theme of “good, clean and fair” food. This article aims to analyze, through the lens of the systemic approach, the interesting and multifaceted impacts of this event, as an opportunity to disseminate and contagion of ideas, attitudes, and behaviors around the themes of sustainability and biodiversity, but also as a moment of consolidation and creation of relationships between and within local food systems and local communities. The research project presented, entitled “SEeD for Change”, was coordinated by the University of Gastronomic Sciences of Pollenzo with the University of Turin and helped to focus on the actors, relationships and contexts that actually and virtually hosted the event: places in which through a common and shared language, change has been generated

A case of mandible Paget's disease of the bone treated with intravenous neridronate

Paget's disease of bone (PDB) is a focal disorder of osteoclasts, leading to chaotic bone remodelling, and it is characterized by the presence of focal areas of excessive bone formation alongside with areas of focal bone resorption. The typical radiographic feature is the cotton wool appearance. To date, bisphosphonates are the mainstay of the treatment. We hereby report the case of a young woman presenting with mandible PDB, with a relevant diagnostic delay and mistakenly treated for five years with chronic oral corticosteroids. After our evaluation, the patient received treatment with intravenous neridronate (an amino-bisphosphonate licensed in Italy for the treatment of this disease), with achievement of clinical remission

Insight into the WNT system and its drug related response.

The WNT signalling pathway is a complex system for transferring information for DNA expression from the cell surface receptors to cytoplasm and then to the nucleus. It is based on several proteins that work together as agonists and antagonists in order to maintain homeostasys and to promote anabolic processes. The WNT system acts on all cellular lines involved in bone resorption and formation. WNT pathway can mainly be triggered by two different signalling cascades. The first is well known and is the so-called WNT-beta catenin system (or the canonical pathway), the second is known as the non canonical WNT pathway. WNT proteins form a superfamily of secreted glycoproteins. The association with surface receptors, called Frizzled, that are members of the G protein-coupled receptors superfamily and co receptors like low-density lipoprotein receptor-related proteins 5 and 6 (LRP5/6) complete the WNT system. LRP5/6 show high affinity for WNT antagonists that modulate the activity of this pathway: DKK1 and sclerostin (SCL), that play a crucial role in modulating the WNT system. The WNT-pathway and in particular its antagonists SCL and DKK1 seems to play a key role in the regulation of bone remodeling during treatment with bone active agents such as bisphosphonates, but not only. Their effects become relevant especially in the course of long-term treatments

Evaluation of agri-environmental measures in the Venice Lagoon Watershed. Expert knowledge elicitation and multi-criteria analysis

Various tools and approaches have been experimented worldwide to address the externalities arising from agricultural activities, among which the design of agri-environmental policies and the introduction of specific measures to cope with the environmental impacts of agricultural origin. The mechanisms adopted within the Common Agricultural Policy with such aim fall within the category of Agri-Environmental Schemes (AESs), which are market-based policy schemes aimed at providing farmers with the right incentives to adopt farming practices yielding positive environmental externalities and are based on voluntary participation. Given the intrinsic complexity of agro-ecosystems and the effects of farmers’ behaviour, the assessment of the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of AESs is always challenging, and often both the environmental and economic role of AESs are questionable. The main objective of this paper is to present a framework for assessing the effectiveness of AESs in promoting social and environmental sustainability in Europe, based on experts’ knowledge. Experts’ knowledge, acquired through adequate elicitation strategies and managed with robust and transparent methodologies, can help building a system of information that can then be used to infer the effectiveness of agri-environmental measures, at least in comparative terms, if not in terms of quantitative absolute estimations. In the present study, the NetSyMoD framework approach has been adopted. First, a short introduction of the policy evaluation framework, the role of monitoring and performance indicators and of experts’ opinion is provided. Subsequently the methodology used to identify experts and to elicit their assessment on the effectiveness of AES schemes is presented. Finally, the paper provides a concrete example in which experts’ opinions have been used for the assessment exercise, and presents a framework for collecting, managing and integrating different opinions with quantitative indicators

Which governance of university-industry interactions increases the value of industrial inventions?

While evidence suggests that industry inventors’ interactions with universities enhance invention value, the role of interaction governance has so far been overlooked. Relying on an original survey of industry inventors of European patents based in Italy, we show that governance matters. Personal contractual collaborations between firms and individual academics lead to higher-value inventions than collaborations mediated by university institutions. The former enable more effective exploitation of academic knowledge, by facilitating its full transmission and integration into the firm’s knowledge base