Abilitazione Scientifica Nazionale (ASN) e progressioni di carriera dei docenti universitari italiani: un’analisi di genere

Il lavoro di ricerca dal titolo “Abilitazione Scientifica Nazionale e progressioni di carriera dei docenti universitari italiani: un’analisi di genere” nasce e si sviluppa sulla base di alcuni assunti fondamentali sostanziati dai risultati di diversi contributi scientifici finalizzati allo studio dei processi di costruzione sociale dei tradizionali stereotipi di genere, secondo i quali, nonostante la notevole crescita della loro presenza sul mercato del lavoro, le donne soffrono ancora di significativi svantaggi occupazionali specie nei settori in cui gli uomini hanno tradizionalmente dominato. Tra questi, particolare attenzione è stata rivolta al campo accademico. L’Università, parafrasando Giannini (2008): «è un microcosmo dove si disegna una stratificazione sociale e culturale molto complessa e uno specifico livello di sviluppo delle relazioni di genere». Nonostante l’indebolimento delle barriere all’accesso e alle possibilità di carriera per le donne, la loro presenza risulta essere sempre numericamente inferiore a quella degli uomini man mano che si sale di livello nella struttura gerarchica, fino ad incontrare un vero e proprio «tetto di cristallo» invalicabile che impedisce loro l’accesso ai gradi più elevati. Secondo i dati più recenti (2015) forniti dal MIUR, i professori ordinari, che occupano il gradino più alto della scala gerarchica dell’università italiana, sono ancora al 78% uomini. Pertanto, a fronte di tali perduranti asimmetrie nei percorsi di carriera di uomini e donne, si è ritenuto interessante verificare, mediante l’utilizzo di due varianti del «Glass Ceiling», se la principale novità nelle modalità di reclutamento del personale docente nelle università, introdotta dalla cosiddetta “riforma Gelmini” – l’Abilitazione Scientifica Nazionale (ASN) –, abbia contribuito a ridurre la segregazione gerarchica delle donne nell’università italiana, o se, al contrario, abbia contribuito a rafforzarla. Ad integrazione dell’analisi dei risultati delle prime due tornate di abilitazione (ASN 2012/13) e della prima sessione con procedura ‘a sportello’ dell’ASN 2016/18, è stata, inoltre, messa a punto un’indagine campionaria, dal titolo “Indagine sulle progressioni di carriera dei docenti universitari italiani”, con lo scopo di analizzare la produttività scientifica e le disuguaglianze di genere nei percorsi di carriera, nonché mettere in luce come l’entità di tali disuguaglianze vari in rapporto ai tre raggruppamenti scientifico-disciplinari – Medico-Sanitario, Scientifico-Tecnologico e Umanistico-Sociale – in cui gli accademici del campione sono stati stratificati

Voluntary movement takes shape. the link between movement focusing and sensory input gating

The aim of the study was to investigate the relationship between motor surround inhibition (mSI) and the modulation of somatosensory temporal discrimination threshold (STDT) induced by voluntary movement. Seventeen healthy volunteers participated in the study. To assess mSI, we delivered transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) single pulses to record motor evoked potentials (MEPs) from the right abductor digiti minimi (ADM; “surround muscle”) during brief right little finger flexion. mSI was expressed as the ratio of ADM MEP amplitude during movement to MEP amplitude at rest. We preliminarily measured STDT values by assessing the shortest interval at which subjects were able to recognize a pair of electric stimuli, delivered over the volar surface of the right little finger, as separate in time. We then evaluated the STDT by using the same motor task used for mSI. mSI and STDT modulation were evaluated at the same time points during movement. mSI and STDT modulation displayed similar time-dependent changes during index finger movement. In both cases, the modulation was maximally present at the onset of the movement and gradually vanished over about 200 ms. Our study provides the first neurophysiological evidence about the relationship between mSI and tactile-motor integration during movement execution

Artificial intelligence and new business models in agriculture: a structured literature review and future research agenda

Purpose Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a growing technology impacting several business fields. The agricultural sector is facing several challenges, which may be supported by the use of such a new advanced technology. The aim of the paper is to map the state-of-the-art of AI applications in agriculture, their advantages, barriers, implications and the ability to lead to new business models, depicting a future research agenda. Design/methodology/approach A structured literature review has been conducted, and 37 contributions have been analyzed and coded using a detailed research framework. Findings Findings underline the multiple uses and advantages of AI in agriculture and the potential impacts for farmers and entrepreneurs, even from a sustainability perspective. Several applications and algorithms are being developed and tested, but many barriers arise, starting from the lack of understanding by farmers and the need for global investments. A collaboration between scholars and practitioners is advocated to share best practices and lead to practical solutions and policies. The promising topic of new business models is still under-investigated and deserves more attention from scholars and practitioners. Originality/value The paper reports the state-of-the-art of AI in agriculture and its impact on the development of new business models. Several new research avenues have been identified

Bayesian analysis of data from segmented super-resolution images for quantifying protein clustering

Super-resolution imaging techniques have largely improved our capabilities to visualize nanometric structures in biological systems. Their application further enables one to potentially quantitate relevant parameters to determine the molecular organization and stoichiometry in cells. However, the inherently stochastic nature of the fluorescence emission and labeling strategies imposes the use of dedicated methods to accurately measure these parameters. Here, we describe a Bayesian approach to precisely quantitate the relative abundance of molecular oligomers from segmented images. The distribution of proxies for the number of molecules in a cluster -- such as the number of localizations or the fluorescence intensity -- is fitted via a nested sampling algorithm to compare mixture models of increasing complexity and determine the optimal number of mixture components and their weights. We test the performance of the algorithm on {\it in silico} data as a function of the number of data points, threshold, and distribution shape. We compare these results to those obtained with other statistical methods, showing the improved performance of our approach. Our method provides a robust tool for model selection in fitting data extracted from fluorescence imaging, thus improving the precision of parameter determination. Importantly, the largest benefit of this method occurs for small-statistics or incomplete datasets, enabling accurate analysis at the single image level. We further present the results of its application to experimental data obtained from the super-resolution imaging of dynein in HeLa cells, confirming the presence of a mixed population of cytoplasmatic single motors and higher-order structures.Comment: 17 pages, 6 figure

Quantifying Protein Copy Number in Super-Resolution Using an Imaging Invariant Calibration

The use of super-resolution microscopy in recent years has revealed that proteins often form small assemblies inside cells and are organized in nanoclusters. However, determining the copy number of proteins within these nanoclusters constitutes a major challenge because of unknown labeling stoichiometries and complex fluorophore photophysics. We previously developed a DNA-origami-based calibration approach to extract protein copy number from super-resolution images. However, the applicability of this approach is limited by the fact that the calibration is dependent on the specific labeling and imaging conditions used in each experiment. Hence, the calibration must be repeated for each experimental condition, which is a formidable task. Here, using cells stably expressing dynein intermediate chain fused to green fluorescent protein (HeLa IC74 cells) as a reference sample, we demonstrate that the DNA-origami-based calibration data we previously generated can be extended to super-resolution images taken under different experimental conditions, enabling the quantification of any green-fluorescent-protein-fused protein of interest. To do so, we first quantified the copy number of dynein motors within nanoclusters in the cytosol and along the microtubules. Interestingly, this quantification showed that dynein motors form assemblies consisting of more than one motor, especially along microtubules. This quantification enabled us to use the HeLa IC74 cells as a reference sample to calibrate and quantify protein copy number independently of labeling and imaging conditions, dramatically improving the versatility and applicability of our approach

A DNA Origami Platform for Quantifying Protein Copy Number in Super-Resolution

Single-molecule-based super-resolution microscopy offers researchers a unique opportunity to quantify protein copy number with nanoscale resolution. However, while fluorescent proteins have been characterized for quantitative imaging using calibration standards, similar calibration tools for immunofluorescence with small organic fluorophores are lacking. Here we show that DNA origami, in combination with GFP antibodies, is a versatile platform for calibrating fluorophore and antibody labeling efficiency to quantify protein copy number in cellular contexts using super-resolution microscopy

Metastability for reversible probabilistic cellular automata with self--interaction

The problem of metastability for a stochastic dynamics with a parallel updating rule is addressed in the Freidlin--Wentzel regime, namely, finite volume, small magnetic field, and small temperature. The model is characterized by the existence of many fixed points and cyclic pairs of the zero temperature dynamics, in which the system can be trapped in its way to the stable phase. %The characterization of the metastable behavior %of a system in the context of parallel dynamics is a very difficult task, %since all the jumps in the configuration space are allowed. Our strategy is based on recent powerful approaches, not needing a complete description of the fixed points of the dynamics, but relying on few model dependent results. We compute the exit time, in the sense of logarithmic equivalence, and characterize the critical droplet that is necessarily visited by the system during its excursion from the metastable to the stable state. We need to supply two model dependent inputs: (1) the communication energy, that is the minimal energy barrier that the system must overcome to reach the stable state starting from the metastable one; (2) a recurrence property stating that for any configuration different from the metastable state there exists a path, starting from such a configuration and reaching a lower energy state, such that its maximal energy is lower than the communication energy

Relaxation Height in Energy Landscapes: an Application to Multiple Metastable States

The study of systems with multiple (not necessarily degenerate) metastable states presents subtle difficulties from the mathematical point of view related to the variational problem that has to be solved in these cases. We introduce the notion of relaxation height in a general energy landscape and we prove sufficient conditions which are valid even in presence of multiple metastable states. We show how these results can be used to approach the problem of multiple metastable states via the use of the modern theories of metastability. We finally apply these general results to the Blume--Capel model for a particular choice of the parameters ensuring the existence of two multiple, and not degenerate in energy, metastable states