STUDIO IDROBIOLOGICO DELL'AREA MARINA COSTIERA COMPRESA TRA MARINA DI CARRARA E MONTEROSSO:CARATTERISTICHE IDROLOGICHE, CONDIZIONI TROFICHE, BIOMASSA E POPOLAMENTI FITOPLANCTONICI

La tesi, svolta presso il Centro Ricerche Ambiente Marino ENEA di S.Teresa, è finalizzata alla caratterizzazione della zona costiera prospiciente il litorale compreso tra Marina di Carrara e Punta Mesco. L'area di studio comprende il tratto di mare costiero della costa settentrionale Toscana (Marina di Carrara,la zona di Bocca di Magra (Sp) ed il paraggio del Promontorio di Punta Mesco che delimita a Nord l'area marina protetta delle Cinque Terre. Sono stati acquisiti dati idrologici ed effettuate misure biologiche e chimico-fisiche durante la campagna oceanografica denominata “MARMES”, effettuata tra il 13 ed il 15 settembre 2005. Scopo di questo tesi era di fornire una caratterizzazione delle principali proprietà idrobiologiche al fine di valutare l'apporto fluviale del Magra e l'influenza degli eventuali effetti dell’attività antropica e se fossero tali da causare differenze significative all'interno dell'area di studio. A tal fine sono stati determinati i principali parametri fisico-chimici delle acque (temperatura, salinità, ossigeno disciolto, densità, fluorescenza, clorofilla a) e i loro andamenti spaziali entro la zona eufotica; la concentrazione dei nutrienti (nitrati, fosfati, silicati e nitriti) e i loro andamenti spaziali entro la zona eufotica; il popolamento fitoplanctonico e la distribuzione spaziale delle specie. Tra i vari risultati ottenuti è da segnalare la presenza di un termoclino piuttosto profondo in tutta l'area di studio che si caratterizza anche per concentrazioni di nutrienti non particolarmente elevate, a conferma della caratteristica oligotrofia del Mar Ligure. L'influenza del fiume Magra è risultata modesta e ha determinato, limitatamente alla sua foce, le massime concentrazioni di clorofilla a, stima della biomassa fitoplanctonica, della fascia costiera. Per quanto riguarda la composizione del fitoplancton, la distribuzione delle specie risulta abbastanza omogenea con maggiore presenza delle Peridinee seguite dalla Diatomee, le quali risultano quantitativamente prevalenti. La densità delle alghe unicellulari diminuisce da costa verso largo ed è stata evidenziata la fase terminale, peraltro piuttosto modesta, di un bloom fitoplanctonico per lo più monospecifico ad opera della Diatomea Asterionellopsis glacialis nella zona di influenza del Magra. In sintesi è stato possibile affermare che, sia per le caratteristiche ambientali che per quelle biologiche, l'area marina costiera compresa tra Marina di Carrara e Punta Mesco è scarsamente perturbata da influenze antropiche e presenta la generale oligotrofia del Mar Ligure

Rethinking the practice of accountability journalism in the digital age. The inception and development of the first Portuguese university-based investigative journalism centre and whistleblowing platform

At a time of worrying change, when Western traditional media outlets appear to be engulfed by the collapse of the advertising-based business model and can hardly bear the strain brought about by new technologies, the present study identifies an increasing information deficit as regards quality accountability reporting. Taking up Duffield and Cokley’s challenge to change in response to the demands of the time, the present paper supports the development of VALQUIRIA, at https://valquiria.org, a transmedia, multiplatform investigative journalism project integrated in the Faculty for Humanities and Social Sciences of the NOVA University of Lisbon. Valquíria, adopting a new sustainable media model, represents the very first attempt in Portugal to create a completely independent space for the education of investigative journalists, the assistance to foreign and local reporters, the production and diffusion of accountability reporting, technological products and innovative practices which can aid the profession. Featuring a vibrant crowd-sourcing and collaborative policy, its ultimate aim is to reinvigorate and enhance the practice of accountability journalism in Portugal, proving its urgency for preserving and guarding a healthy democracy. To change even more the traditional paradigm of public interest journalism, the project features a whistleblowing platform called PTLeaks: built in cooperation with the HERMES Center for Transparency and Digital Human rights, it is the first Portuguese GlobaLeaks initiative applied to investigative journalism

Disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs improve the cardiovascular profile in patients with rheumatoid arthritis

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic inflammatory disease affecting about 0. 5–1% of the adult population and manifesting as persistent synovitis, systemic inflammation and production of autoantibodies. Patients affected by RA not only experience chronic disease progression, but are also burdened by a 1.5-fold increased cardiovascular (CV) risk, which is comparable to the risk experienced by patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus. RA patients also have a higher incidence and prevalence of coronary artery disease (CAD). Although RA patients frequently present traditional CV risk factors such as insulin resistance and active smoking, previous studies have clarified the pivotal role of chronic inflammation–driven by proinflammatory cytokines such as interleukin 6 (IL-6) and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha)–in accelerating the process of atherosclerosis and impairing the coagulation system. Over the last years, a number of studies have shown that disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs) reducing the inflammatory state in general improve the CV risk, however some drugs may carry some apparent negative effects. Thus, RA is a model of disease in which targeting inflammation may counteract the progression of atherosclerosis and reduce CV risk. Clinical and experimental evidence indicates that the management of RA patients should be tailored based on the positive and negative effects of DMARDs on CV risk together with the individual traditional CV risk profile. The identification of genetic, biochemical and clinical biomarkers, predictive of evolution and response to treatment, will be the next challenge for a precision approach to reduce the burden of the disease

Nuevas formas de relación entre ciencia e industria: los centros de investigación colaborativa en el sistema español de I+D

Esta tesis doctoral se ocupa de los nuevos modelos organizativos que han surgido durante las últimas décadas para facilitar las relaciones de colaboración entre el sector científico y el sector industrial con fines innovadores. Se trata de tendencias globales que, sin embargo, pueden adquirir características particulares en función del contexto, debido a que estas organizaciones suelen ser el resultado de políticas nacionales o regionales para la innovación. El estudio se centra en un tipo de organización en particular, los centros de investigación colaborativa (CIC), acotando el ámbito de investigación al caso de España. El objetivo de la investigación es analizar el proceso de producción de conocimiento científico y tecnológico en estos centros; para ello, se describen y clasifican los modelos de organización del trabajo de los CIC, prestando especial atención al problema que constituye el tipo de recursos humanos empleados y su efecto en la producción de ciencia y tecnología. El estudio emplea diferentes fuentes de información, tanto de tipo bibliográfico como de encuesta, que son analizadas mediante distintos tipos de técnicas estadísticas y de revisión documental. En las conclusiones del estudio se formulan algunas sugerencias para la gestión de las políticas de innovación en España. Asimismo, se delinean algunas de las implicaciones para los estudios sociales sobre ciencia, tecnología e innovación

The role of collaborative research centres in innovation systems: structural innovations for knowledge production

Este trabajo ha sido realizado gracias a la ayuda recibida por el Plan Nacional de I+D 2008-2011 del Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (ref. CSO2010-14480) y por el programa de Formación del Personal Investigador (ref. BES-2011-047258).Este artículo trata el problema de los varios tipos de acciones y políticas que se pueden definir como “innovaciones estructurales” en los sistemas nacio-nales de innovación, prestando especial atención al caso de la transformación de las interacciones entre el sector de la ciencia pública y la industria privada. El estudio se centra en la aparición y difusión de or-ganizaciones que definen un entorno más estable y formalizado para la colaboración y la transferencia de conocimiento entre ciencia y empresa, como los centros de investigación colaborativa (CIC). El objeti-vo de la investigación es comprender de qué manera los CIC generan transformaciones estructurales en los sistemas de innovación. Empleando un conjunto de datos de encuesta, relativo a una muestra de 128 CIC radicados en España, se analizan las activida-des y los resultados de los centros. Los resultados del análisis muestran que los centros se especiali-zan principalmente en actividades de investigación aplicada, desempeñando un papel de productores, más que de transmisores, del conocimiento científico técnico. Así pues, para el caso español, parece que estas innovaciones estructurales cubren un “hueco funcional” entre dominios de actividad diferentes, más que un “hueco estructural” entre sectores

Organizational Innovations in the Public Science Sector: An International Comparison of Cooperative Research Programs

This research is about the transformation of the organization of R&D activities in the public sector. We conceptualize such changes as intentional organizational innovations aimed to foster the collaboration between science and industry, improving the flexibility of the organizational model and strengthen the connection between research and society. We focus on the case of innovative public programs for cooperative research around the world. Through a brief review of the literature, we discuss a typology that has been proposed for classifying cooperative research programs and organizations based on two dimensions: institutional embeddedness and firm participation. We test the validity of such typology through an international comparison of policies and programs including countries from Asia, Europe, North America and Oceania. Our findings show that, despite many cross-countries differences, there are also some common trends that can be partially captured by the proposed typology. Other implications for studying organizational innovations in public research are discussed