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Struttura e governo della cooperazione di credito a supporto del territorio: i casi italiano e francese a confronto
No full textIl sistema del credito cooperativo italiano, pur essendosi dimostrato capace di sostenere i territori e le economie locali anche in un momento economico difficile come l’attuale, palesa elementi di debolezza che possono minarne l’efficienza e l’efficacia. In questo contesto, l’obiettivo del lavoro è quello di individuare tratti comuni, pregi e limiti dei due sistemi, italiano e francese messi a confronto, al fine di trarre indicazioni utili al miglioramento del sistema italiano. Si utilizzerà lo studio dei casi e, in particolare, si farà un confronto tra il sistema delle Banche di Credito Cooperativo italiane (BCC) e il Crédit Mutuel francese, quest’ultimo ritenuto quale sistema più maturo. Dal confronto dei due sistemi sono emersi quali fronti di intervento significativi la struttura e il governo del sistema, la tecnologia e il capitale. Come drivers idonei a rendere il sistema di credito cooperativo italiano più efficiente ed efficace, la sussidiarietà e l’innovazione, che se correttamente declinati, secondo le specificità del sistema nazionale, potrebbero supportare al meglio la competitività delle imprese presenti sul territorio, trasfondendo nuova linfa vitale ai territori in cui le banche operano. L’approfondimento circoscritto soltanto a due realtà nazionali rappresenta un limite di questo studio. È inoltre da segnalare che il nostro contributo fornisce un’analisi generale dei sistemi esaminati e un approfondimento dell’efficienza e dell’efficacia degli stessi in termini generali, non dedicando attenzione specifica alla performance dei due sistemi, intesa in particolare come contributo alla competitività e vitalità dei territori; ciò potrà essere oggetto di uno sviluppo futuro della ricerca. Questo lavoro potrà essere utile tanto a stimolare la riflessione degli addetti ai lavori, quanto a guardare al tema del rapporto tra sistema finanziario locale e competitività delle imprese sotto una luce diversa e originale da parte degli studiosi. I profili di originalità sono molteplici: quello dell’approccio al tema del rapporto tra sistema finanziario locale e competitività delle imprese; quello del confronto tra realtà nazionali diverse; quello della proposta di due direttrici di cambiamento per il sistema del credito cooperativo italiano: la sussidiarietà e l’innovazione.The system of Italian cooperative banks, while demonstrating its capability to support territories and local economies also in this difficult economic season, it has shown some weaknesses which could negatively impact on its efficiency and effectiveness. In this context, the aim of the paper is to identify common features, strengths and limits of both systems, Italian and French which are compared, in order to get useful directions for the improvement of the Italian system. Case study methodology will be used. In particular, we will compare the Italian Banche di Credito Cooperativo (BCC) with the French Crédit Mutuel, which can be considered as a more advanced system. From the comparison of the two systems some important action areas have been highlighted as the structure and governance of the system, the technology and the capital. In addition, two drivers of intervention are focused, subsidiarity and innovation. These appear to be able to enhance efficiency and effectiveness of the Italian cooperative banks system and, if correctly adapted, following the Italian system peculiarities, to support the local firm competitiveness and the overall economic context in which they operate. The main research limit is due to the fact that only two cases are studied. Moreover, our contribution is based only a general analysis of the two systems, in which efficiency and effectiveness have been studied, but no special attention is dedicated to the performance of the two systems intended as their support to territory competitiveness and vitality. This aspect could be considered as a focus of future research in this area. This contribution aims at stimulating both the local bank system management directly involved in the necessary shift that the changing environment calls for, and the academic world, suggesting a new perspective for studying the relationship between the cooperative financial system and firm competitiveness. This paper is original under several points of views: for its different approach to the subject of the relationship between the cooperative financial system and firm competitiveness; for the comparison between different systems and countries; for the two proposed drivers of change: subsidiarity and innovation
Thermographic monitoring of nestsvof nude mice in their early life: technical note
No full textWe hypothesized to use Infrared Thermographic Technique (IRT) to detect the phenotype of athymic Nude-Foxn1 nu/nu and nu/þ mice from the very first hours of life, assuming that the presence (in nu/þ mice) or absence (in nu/nu mice) of hair follicles could completely shield or partially reduce the emitted radiation.
The experimental phase of three months was carried out at the IRCCS Istituto Mario Negri in Milano, in compliance with institutional guidelines and international laws. Were used: Mice: 3 females Hsd: Nude-Foxn1nu athymic (nu/þ) 6 weeks of age and 3 males Hsd: Nude-Foxn1nu athymic (nu/nu) 6 weeks of age; Cages: 3 IVCages working under positive pressure, at 75 air changes/hour; Bedding: autoclaved hard wood;
Food (Standard Diet Harlan) and water (autoclaved tap water) were administered ad libitum. Hood Laminar Flow: CS5 changing station. Nesting material: autoclaved wooden wool (aspen).
Thermographic measurements were conducted 2 times per day (10:00 and 14:00) starting from day 0 (day of birth) to day 5 in 2 nests (40 images in 10 minutes). For each shot the camera detects two image formats: “.IRI” (thermography) and “.JPEG” (visible) as a control. The instrument display allows
to see in real time the quality of thermographic images thus we preferred to make the filming manually instead of automatically in order to optimize the image’s quality. Statistical analysis was performed on the data obtained by the nests at different ages: day 0, 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5. We were not able to distinguish between nu/nu and nu/þ mice because they stayed all huddled together but we observed an increase in nests temperature between day 0 and day 5 where animals, mainly nude pups, are mostly exposed to heat loss. In absence of effective thermogenic processes, the higher temperature measured in 5 days old nests can be attributed to animals body size. The physiological thermoregulation (BAT activity) and behavioral thermoregulation (huddling) do not allow autonomy thermoregulatory but help to slow the dissipation heat; the only way that the 0 - 5 days old pups can increase their body temperature is the transmission of heat from parents. In this paper we have provided clear and replicable data about the usefulness of IRT in animal welfare monitoring
Gender-genotype interaction lead to an increase of cognitive impairment, locomotor dysfunctions and neurola damage in young and aged female TAU P301L mice model of tauopathy
No full textP301L transgenic (TG) mice well mimic features of human tauopathies and provide a good model for investigating Tau role in neurodegenerative events. We analysed the possible interaction among P-Tau, spine injury, neuronal death and sex differences in P301L transgenic mice at 15 months of age.
Comparing CTR versus P301L transgenic mice, TG mice present a lower body weight, a less survival rate, hyperphosphorylated Tau, spine injury and neuronal loss in both cerebral cortex and hippocampus at the time point analysed. Importantly, pathological features described are more pronounced in female than male TG mice. Recent reports underlined that Tau may be localized within both pre- and post-synaptic compartments, suggesting that it may possibly induce or contribute to synaptic dysfunction. Therefore, we focus our attention on Tau localization at the dendritic spine level. We detected a huge level of both Tau and P-Tau in dendritic spine of P301L transgenic mice. In addition, P-Tau correlated with a significant reduction of post-synaptic markers: NR2a, NR2b, Glur1, Glur2, Debrin and PSD-95 levels in P301L Tg. The P-Tau levels are higher in female than in male mice, and the increased P-Tau was consistent with a proportional decrease in the post-synaptic marker levels analysed. The P301L tg females presented a more severe synaptopathy compared to males. Future investigations on P-Tau postsynaptic role will be necessary for understanding its toxic effects and providing insights into new therapeutic targets for maintaining spine integrity, highlighting the importance of Tau toxicity as well as the impact of sex on tau-pathology
Thermographic monitoring of nests of nude mice in their early life: technical note
No full textIn this paper IRT (Infrared Thermographic Technique) has provided clear and replicable data about the surface temperature from the first hours of life until 5 days after birth of pups athymic Nude-Foxn1nu (nu/nu and nu/+). We initially hypothesized to use IRT to detect the phenotype of the pups from the very first hours of life, thinking that the presence (in mice nu/+) or absence (in mice nu/nu) of hair follicles could shield or less part of the emitted radiation.
The experimental phase of three months was carried out at the IRCCS Istituto "Mario Negri" in Milan, in compliance with institutional guidelines and international laws. Were used: Mice: 3 females Hsd: Nude-Foxn1nu athymic (nu/+) 6 weeks of age and 3 males Hsd: Nude-Foxn1nu athymic (nu/nu) 6 weeks of age; Cages: 3 IVC ventilated under positive pressure, at 75 air changes hour; Litter: Animal Bedding autoclaved. Usually the litter is changed every two weeks; Food: Global Diet Harlan. Administration ad libitum; Water: autoclaved. Administration ad libitum. Hood Laminar Flow: CS5 changing station.
Thermographic measurements are conducted 2 times per day (10:00 and 14:00). Per nest (mice 0-5 days) we sample 40 images taken in 10 minutes (one image every 15 seconds). For each shot the camera detects two image formats: ".IRI" (thermography) and ".JPEG" (visible) as a control. The instrument display allows to see in real time the quality of the thermographic image. We preferred to make the filming manually (the camera weight about 2 kg). Statistical analysis was performed on the same pool of pups but in a different ages. In the absence of effective thermogenic processes, the differences recorded between the two groups can be attributed to body size. Considering that the surface area decreases with increasing body weight and the heat loss per unit area is approximately constant and independent of the size and stature of the subjects in comparison, metabolic rate normalized to body weight decrease with increasing body weight the biggest-oldest pups lose less heat than littermates. The temperature of the nests (huddle) is very susceptible to the ambient temperature, to the presence of bedding and nest material. The physiological thermoregulation (BAT activity) and behavioral thermoregulation (huddling) do not allow autonomy thermoregulatory but help to slow the dissipation heat; the only way that the pups of 0-5 days of life can increase their body temperature is the transmission of heat from parents
Infrared thermography (IRT): a new noninvasive tool for the evaluation of Lab Animal Welfare
No full textIt is widely recognized that the welfare of the animals submitted in biomedical experiments is crucial for the consistency of the results achieved. The “welfare” of laboratory animals is related not only to the experimental paradigm but also to the housing conditions. Animals born and maintained in different cages may, in fact, behave in a slightly (but significant) different way, giving rise to experimental variability. The presence into the home cage of environmental enrichment can modify the behavioural and immune response of the animals to different stimuli. In these complex situations it is important to determine animal welfare through easy and non-invasive methods that can be applied to wide range of different situations (i.e. different cage types). Infrared thermography (IRT) is an innovative method to measure the skin temperature in order to identify stressful situations which could lead to a decrease in this parameter due to peripheral vasoconstriction in mammals. A recent study used IRT, to assess the effects of management systems and farming on the physiology and behavior of rabbits and another study, in nude mice, used IRT to detect the effects of anesthesia by assessing whether the skin temperature of the animals undergoing anesthesia quickly returned to a baseline level or could cause some type of stress to the animals. Since variations in surface temperature and alteration in blood flow are some of the most interesting indicators to evaluate a response to the presence of stress (peripheral vasoconstriction), this technique is a potential, non-invasive and objective method for the evaluation of welfare in laboratory animals. During the presentation will be shown data to support the argumentations
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