Bridges over troubled water: Incubators and start-ups’ alliances

market imperfections and lack the necessary resources to flourish. Incubators are an important policy mechanism for nurturing the creation and growth of successful entrepreneurial ventures. Specifically, we argue that in cubators act as an effective tool in filling start-ups’ social capital and in conferring them more legitimacy, so as to ease start-ups’ probability to stipulate alliances with key third parties. In this respect, we also theorize that incubators are heterogeneous and these helping functions may vary with their inherent characteristics. We propose that the supposed ‘bridging effect’ towards start-ups’ alliances could depend on the size of the incubator, its affiliation, and the type of alliance (R&D vs. commercial). The hypotheses are tested through a dataset of 1752 Italian young innovative companies. Results suggest that incubatees are significantly more likely to stipulate alliances with third parties. This bridging role is found not to depend so much on the size of the incubator; conversely, it appears highly contingent on specific matches between the institutional affiliation of the incubator and the type of alliance

The divestment-reinvestment sequence in foreign countries: The role of relational vs. transactional ownership

In this paper, we claim that ownership is a key determinant of the firms' divestment-reinvestment sequence in a foreign country. Building on the notion of ‘relational vs. transactional ownership’, we distinguish between relational-type firms (namely, family-owned and state-owned firms), and transactional-type firms (privately non-family-owned firms). We argue that relational-type firms are less likely to both divest from, and reinvest in, a given foreign country. In fact, relational owners set a lower performance threshold of intervention than transactional ones; additionally, in order to turn the tide, the former often increase resource injection when subsidiary performance falls below the threshold. Such an escalation of commitment increases sunk costs and further decreases the likelihood of divesting the subsidiary. Moreover, when a divestment occurs, the memory of high sunk costs incurred reduces the propensity to reinvest in the same host country. We test our conceptual framework on a large sample of investments, divestments and subsequent re-entries undertaken in the period 2000–2015 by 602 Italian firms. Our econometric findings corroborate our hypotheses, thus contributing to the literature on the interdependencies between divestment and reinvestment choices, and their relationships with corporate ownership

Barriers and Drivers in the Adoption of Advanced Wastewater Treatment Technologies: a Comparative Analysis of Italian Utilities

The adoption of new environmentally-friendly technologies is becoming a key issue in both public debate and policy arenas. The paper focuses on innovation adoption by wastewater utilities, and investigates why stringent environmental regulations are not sufficient to foster it. The adoption of advanced wastewater treatment technologies is made complex by the sunk nature of highly specific infrastructures, and the consequent exposure of utilities to political and institutional influences. In addition, it requires the involvement of various actors (utilities, suppliers, contractors), and is influenced by various stakeholders (communities, business users, citizens’ associations) that generally have no aligned objectives. With reference to the aforementioned theoretical background, our paper develops and analyzes a conceptual framework that unfolds over two dimensions: (a) the role played by firm-specific characteristics, i.e. technological and organizational capabilities and managerial professionalism; (b) the influence of community-level factors, i.e. citizens’ voice and pressure exerted by local stakeholders. We investigate these issues through multiple descriptive case studies based on semi-structured interviews with the CEOs and top managers of 11 wastewater utilities operating in a region in North-Italy. The results suggest that firm-specific resources could spur wastewater utilities into adopting innovation, despite an adverse institutional environment. At the same time, on the community-level side, the analysis shows that residents and local businesses are able to mobilize resources and exert pressure to either drive or hinder the adoption of water innovations

Discontinuous finite element visualization

The proceedings of the conferences have been published on CD since the initiative taken by Prof. G. M. Carlomagno at the Sorrento meeting allowing authors to include in their papers color, video clips and animations.The aim of this work is the study and the implementation of appropriate visualization techniques for high-order discontinuous finite element data in two and three-dimensions. In particular, we are dealing with field discontinuity and deformed cells. Such data are produced for example by chemical simulations, by fluid dynamics simulations, or, in general, anywhere high accuracy on boundary domain description is required

La dimensione paranoicale nella sua distribuzione transnosografica

Introduction. Research at international level is increasingly highlighting the frequency with which a psychopathological paranoid dimension is present both in the general population and in the psychiatric population. In this paper we have aimed to explor the presence of a paranoid dimension, in a sample of patients. Materials and methods. Our research sample consists of 87 patients, visiting for the first time the unit of our Service. With each patient we used the SCL-90R multidimensional scale. After the test we conducted an anamnestic research and diagnostic evaluation based on the criteria of the DSM-IV-TR. The data obtained was analysed using the SPSS software that was used to carry out a descriptive statistical analysis of the entire sample for each individual socio-demographic variable. We then evaluated the percentage of the sample which manifested a pathological paranoid dimension according the SCL-90R, and finally we measured eventual statistically significant correlations regarding the distribution of this dimension within the various categorial diagnoses and any association regarding the socio-demographic variables of the sample. Results. Out of the total sample (N=87) 13 patients who did not complete the SCL-90R test were excluded. 41 of the remaining 74 (55.4%), manifested values above the cuff-off in the "paranoid dimension" of the SCL-90R were excluded. Regarding the socio-demographic characteristics of this subgroup, a greater frequency of the feminine sex can be noted (60%). So far as civil status is concerned, single patients are more frequently affected than married patients, and the paranoid dimension is accentuated. However such dimension appeared more latent respect to others on the simptomatologic plan and therefore more difficult to characterize. Conclusions. The results obtained from the analysis of our sample seems to confirm the high frequency of the paranoid dimension and their transnosographicity. Also this dimension has turned out to be more latent than others on the plan of the manifest symptomatology and it needs in depth diagnostic investi

Preoperative Predictive Factors of Successful Weight Loss and Glycaemic Control 1 Year After Gastric Bypass for Morbid Obesity

BACKGROUND: Gastric bypass (GBP) is one of the most effective surgical procedures to treat morbid obesity and the related comorbidities. This study aimed at identifying preoperative predictors of successful weight loss and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) remission 1 year after GBP. METHODS: Prospective longitudinal study of 771 patients who underwent GBP was performed at four Italian centres between November 2011 and May 2013 with 1-year follow-up. Preoperative anthropometric, metabolic and social parameters, the surgical technique and the previous failed bariatric procedures were analyzed. Weight, the body mass index (BMI), the percentage of excess weight lost (% EWL), the percentage of excess BMI lost (% BMIL) and glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c) were recorded at follow-up. RESULTS: Univariate and multivariate analysis showed that BMI <50 kg/m2 (p\u2009=\u20090.006) and dyslipidaemia (p\u2009=\u20090.05) were predictive factors of successful weight loss. Multivariate analysis of surgical technique showed significant weight loss in patients with a small gastric pouch (p\u2009<\u20090.001); the lengths of alimentary and biliary loops showed no statistical significance. All diabetic patients had a significant reduction of HbA1c (p\u2009<\u20090.001) after surgery. BMI\u2009 65\u200950 kg/m2 (p\u2009=\u20090.02) and low level of preoperative HbA1c (p\u2009<\u20090.01) were independent risk factors of T2DM remission after surgery. CONCLUSIONS: This study provides a useful tool for making more accurate predictions of best results in terms of weight loss and metabolic improvement

The Exploration and Practice of Party Member of College Students rdquo;Recognizing Position and Taking Responsibility for a Model”

AbstractNowadays, it has become more important to strengthen the education, management and training work of the party members of college students. Our school has carried out the party members of college students. rdquo;recognizing position and taking responsibility for a model” activity for two years. And obtained some experience. The party members of college students rdquo;recognizing position and taking responsibility for a model” activity should set up scientific positions, define their responsibilities clearly and strengthen the management and assessment

Standalone vertex finding in the ATLAS muon spectrometer

A dedicated reconstruction algorithm to find decay vertices in the ATLAS muon spectrometer is presented. The algorithm searches the region just upstream of or inside the muon spectrometer volume for multi-particle vertices that originate from the decay of particles with long decay paths. The performance of the algorithm is evaluated using both a sample of simulated Higgs boson events, in which the Higgs boson decays to long-lived neutral particles that in turn decay to bbar b final states, and pp collision data at √s = 7 TeV collected with the ATLAS detector at the LHC during 2011

Measurements of Higgs boson production and couplings in diboson final states with the ATLAS detector at the LHC

Measurements are presented of production properties and couplings of the recently discovered Higgs boson using the decays into boson pairs, H →γ γ, H → Z Z∗ →4l and H →W W∗ →lνlν. The results are based on the complete pp collision data sample recorded by the ATLAS experiment at the CERN Large Hadron Collider at centre-of-mass energies of √s = 7 TeV and √s = 8 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of about 25 fb−1. Evidence for Higgs boson production through vector-boson fusion is reported. Results of combined fits probing Higgs boson couplings to fermions and bosons, as well as anomalous contributions to loop-induced production and decay modes, are presented. All measurements are consistent with expectations for the Standard Model Higgs boson