1,721,151 research outputs found
Rome'e local public transport system: how to trigger a resilient transformation toward sustainability?
No full textThe research presented in this paper contributes to the ongoing debate on the public vs private ownership by re-examining the case of Rome's local public transport (LPT) system. After having illustrated the main reasons that led Rome's citizens to ask for a referendum, the research provides a brief historical overview of Rome's LPT system and discusses the main stylized facts presented in the institutional literature surveyed. Finally, the summary statistics are built using publicly available data. The results of the analysis highlight how ATAC's inefficiency is only partially endogenous, as the "imported" territorial inefficiency is not negligible. This issue deserves more attention as, even if liberalization might enter a new golden age, the existence of structural inefficiencies might reduce the margins needed to incentivize private providers to enter the market, at least in those production segments more related to public interests
Hyaluronic acid synthesis by mural granulosa cells and cumulus cells in vitro is selectively stimulated by a factor produced by oocytes and by transforming growth factor-beta
No full textIn ovarian antral follicles cumulus cells (approximately 1,000/follicle) closely surround the oocyte, and mural granulosa cells (approximately 50,000/follicle) are distributed at the periphery. Previous work (Salustri, A., Yanagishita, M., and Hascall, V. C. (1990) Dev. Biol. 138, 26-32) showed that oocytes produce a factor(s) which stimulates hyaluronic acid (HA) synthesis by cumulus cells during expansion of the cumulus cell-oocyte complex. We now show that mural granulosa cells also respond in vitro to the oocyte factor(s) with greatly increased HA synthesis. As with cumulus cells, a factor(s) present in fetal calf serum is required to retain newly synthesized HA in the extracellular matrix. Unlike cumulus cells, follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) is not required for maximal stimulation, in part because mural granulosa cells synthesize prostaglandin E2 which can substitute for FSH in promoting cumulus cell-oocyte complex expansion. Of several growth factors studied, only transforming growth factor-beta 1 (TGF-beta 1) stimulated HA synthesis in both cell types. However, the stimulation of HA synthesis by TGF-beta 1 was additive with that for the oocyte factor(s), and neutralizing antibodies to TGF-beta did not inhibit the response to the oocyte factor(s). The results indicate that the oocyte factor(s) and TGF-beta 1 are not the same and that they operate through different receptors in stimulating HA synthesis. Epidermal growth factor was able to replace FSH in amplifying the response of cumulus cells to the oocyte factor(s) and in stimulating synthesis of dermatan sulfate proteoglycans
Social and solidarity economy and social and solidarity commons: Towards the (re)discovery of an ethic of the common good?
No full textThis research poses the ethic of the common good and the institutions of the social and solidarity economy (SSE) as the foundation of commoning practices. Specifically, it illustrates how the latter may contribute to regenerating the commons, fostering open and shared access to key productive resources and essential goods and services. The analysis focuses on social and solidarity commons (SSC), defined as all those relational practices that contribute to the accumulation and regeneration of human and social (as well as other types of) critical capital. To achieve this research goal, this study collected new and old issues debated in the academic literature concerning the geographic nature of commons and their juridical and economic treatment within socioeconomic disciplines. Then, a historical overview of the commons highlights their dynamic and multifaceted nature and illustrates how they have often been co-owned and co-governed according to shared rules and norms. Within this general framework, SSC are introduced, and a role for the institutions of the SSE is proposed to foster an ethic of the common good as a necessary (but not sufficient) condition for expanding and enforcing people's participation in commoning practices
Paracrine actions of oocytes in the mouse pre-ovulatory follicle
No full textIn mammals, ovulation requires a tight control of extracellular matrix modifications, within both the follicle wall and the inner mass of granulosa cells surrounding the oocyte, namely the cumulus cells. During the pre-ovulatory period, mural granulosa cells promote selective degradation of perifollicular matrix, resulting in the formation of a follicle rupture site. Conversely, cumulus cells synthesize a large amount of a muco-elastic matrix that plays an essential role in the extrusion of the oocyte from the follicle and in the subsequent fertilization process. Formation of such matrix by cumulus cells in the pre-ovulatory follicle appears to be controlled by a paracrine influence by the oocyte. We have shown that mouse oocytes modulate the response of cumulus cells to an ovulatory gonadotropin stimulus by promoting the synthesis and preventing the degradation of cumulus matrix. Therefore, although gonadotropins are essential for triggering the complex events involved in ovulation, the oocyte appears to have an active role in this process. In the present review current data and hypotheses concerning molecular mechanisms involved in the organization and synthesis of cumulus matrix are discussed
Extracellular matrix of the cumulus-oocyte complex
No full textThe mammalian oocyte is surrounded by several layers of cumulus granulosa cells that nurture the oocyte during its development and actively participate in the process of ovulation. After the ovulatory luteinizing hormone surge, a distinctive program of extracellular matrix production is initiated in the cumulus-oocyte complex. This process known as cumulus expansion or mucification involves synthesis of a backbone of long hyaluronan oligosaccharide chains that are cross-linked by a complex of hyaluronan binding cell surface and extracellular matrix proteins and proteoglycans. Active components of the cumulus matrix are synthesized directly by cumulus cells under the control of endocrine- and oocyte-derived factors, secreted by mural granulosa cells, or enter the follicle in blood plasma. Appropriate composition and assembly of the cumulus matrix is essential for ovulation, efficient passage of the oocyte through the oviduct, and for fertilization. This review describes the critical components and their functional roles in the cumulus matrix, as well as the molecular regulation of cumulus matrix gene expression
Growth of the ASEAN countries: determinants and perspectives
No full textFrom being essentially a rural area, during the last decade the ASEAN has undergone an intense process of industrialization that, even if still fragmented, reshaped the region. The liberalization of trade and services, the inflows of investments and the idea of a common market and of a common productive basis to be realized within 2015 strengthened the economic integration process of the region (Paganetto, 2012). During the recent downturn of the world economy, the ASEAN countries continued to grow, and they acquired the reputation of engines of the global economy. But the economic features that made the ASEAN economy resistant to the crisis and capable of playing such a positive role on the international scene are still to be clearly identified.
The aim of this research is that of providing an answer to the following questions:
- Which are the main features of the extraordinary process of growth activated in ASEAN?
- Did the economic growth contributed to strengthen the regional integration process?
- At sectorial level, which relationships occur among value added, employment, productivity and wages?
- It is possible to highlight sectorial and territorial effects in the analysis of the main industrial relations estimated
Influence of follicular cells on energy metabolism of growing mouse oocytes [INFLUENZA DELLE CELLULE FOLLICOLARI SUL METABOLISMO ENERGETICO DEGLI OVOCITI DI TOPO IN ACCRESCIMENTO]
No full textCrowdfunding en la union europea: factores impulsores y atractivo
No full textThis article analyzes crowdfunding activities in the EU area. We believe they might play a major role in the future, complementing the traditional activities of financial intermediation. In support of our beliefs, we notice the establishment of several crowdfunding platforms, particularly in the USA and in the EU, and the relevance assigned to crowdfunding procedures in the Obama’s JOBS Act of 2012 and in many support activities recently launched by the European Commission. By using the available data at European level we develop a Crowdfunding Attractiveness Index (CFA), with the aim to rank the crowfunding potential of different European countries
On Space Research and Regional Development.
No full textWhile opening unprecedented opportunities of economic growth and wellbeing, the so called “New Economy” also poses additional societal challenges of social and environmental nature. This study illustrates, within the general framework of the New Economy, the state-of-art of the space economy and, within it, of space-borne Earth Observations (EO). Specifically, the research illustrates how the EO can play a key role in collecting (not only) environmental data at the global scale, providing a crucial contribution in achieving most of the Sustainable Development Goals, as widely documented by the Group on Earth Observations (GEO, 2017). Furthermore, the EO value chain requires the activation of numerous other sectors, within the space economy and more in general pertaining to the scientific domain, and each of them is able to generating technological spillovers in many other economic sectors of activity, as already happened during Nineties with the pervasive diffusion of the ICTs. Finally, the research provides support to the thesis fostered in the New Industrial Strategy (Vv. Aa., 2019), that “the new European economic policy will bring European institutions closer to European citizens if it will be able to meet their needs for a better quality of life in cities, the need to preserve the natural environment and the urgent need to reduce social inequalities and to a greater fiscal pressure on higher incomes” (p.1).
In the first paragraph, the most relevant traits of the ongoing globalization process are briefly summarized, then in the second paragraph the focus shifts on the analysis of the space economy, and, within it, of the EO value chain. Finally, in the third paragraph, the most pressing societal and territorial implications collected are briefly summarized and converted into a set of policy recommendations
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