Imagine being asked to evaluate your CEO …: Using the constructive controversy approach to teach gender and management in times of economic crisis

This article addresses the relationship between gender and management as intertwined discursive practices. Following a constructive controversial approach, we proposed to the students to complete a short story in which they have to give a feedback either to a fictitious female or to a male boss. The article has a dual aim since it offers a reflection on a teaching methodology suited to foster critical thinking in the classroom and analyzes the narratives so produced in search of what constitutes the students’ idea of “good management.” In positioning men/women CEO within a narrative, students enact a moral order that evaluates management in society. Their narratives reveal how the economic crisis has undermined the positive image of the male manager, while femaleness is emphasized for its anti-managerial imaginary. Moreover, the idea of what constitutes “good management” is constructed around an idea of care for both male and female CEOs

What makes a “good manager”? Positioning gender and management in students’ narratives

The purpose of this paper is to address the relationships between gender and management in the narratives of students. More specifically, the authors discuss how the discourse on management is mobilized as a discursive practice able to make some form of that activity thinkable and practicable: who can be a CEO? What kind of managerial competencies are attributed to men/women CEOs? What kind of moral order is expressed in the stories told? Design/methodology/approach – Stimulus texts have been used to elicit narratives. Students were asked to complete a short story regarding a fictive managerial character, either female or male, whose performance and attitude they were asked to evaluate. Findings – The paper discusses how the collected stories as a whole expressed a conception of what counts as a “good manager” and how management is gendered. In the analysis, the authors discuss whether and how the relationships between gender and management are changing, or the basic assumptions about “think manager-think male” are still valid. The paper illustrates a traditional positioning of gendered management along the lines of rationality vs care, and a third positioning in which the ideal of the “good manager” has both competencies. Originality/value – The authors designed an alternative research strategy focused on how gender and management are discursively constructed within a context of economic crisis that affects management reputation. Particularly, the authors discuss the surprising results concerning how the written stories evaluating male CEOs distrusted the masculine way of managing and positioned the female managing style within a trustworthy context

Staging precariousness: The Serpica Naro catwalk during the Milan Fashion Week

The article illustrates the Italian process of work precarisation and the collective resistance of precarious workers. It interprets them in terms of the birth of a collective identity that conducts a critique against precariousness while developing learning resources. Through discursive analysis of the Serpica Naro catwalk, organised in the area of Milan by the activists of the May Day Parade and the San Precario network, the article illustrates the process of construction of this collective identity that uses irony and playfulness to resist and denounce precarious working conditions. The purpose is to interpret the anti-precariousness movement as a process of critical urban learning that creates the viability of spaces for resistance in metropolitan contexts

Physical interaction between MYCN oncogene and polycomb repressive complex 2 (PRC2) in neuroblastoma: Functional and therapeutic implications

This article is made available through the Brunel Open Access Publishing Fund. © 2013 by The American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Inc.CLU (clusterin) is a tumor suppressor gene that we have previously shown to be negatively modulated by the MYCN proto-oncogene, but the mechanism of repression was unclear. Here, we show that MYCN inhibits the expression of CLU by direct interaction with the non-canonical E box sequence CACGCG in the 5′-flanking region. Binding of MYCN to the CLU gene induces bivalent epigenetic marks and recruitment of repressive proteins such as histone deacetylases and Polycomb members. MYCN physically binds in vitro and in vivo to EZH2, a component of the Polycomb repressive complex 2, required to repress CLU. Notably, EZH2 interacts with the Myc box domain 3, a segment of MYC known to be essential for its transforming effects. The expression of CLU can be restored in MYCN-amplified cells by epigenetic drugs with therapeutic results. Importantly, the anticancer effects of the drugs are ablated if CLU expression is blunted by RNA interference. Our study implies that MYC tumorigenesis can be effectively antagonized by epigenetic drugs that interfere with the recruitment of chromatin modifiers at repressive E boxes of tumor suppressor genes such as CLU.SPARKS, The Neuroblastoma Society, a Wellcome Trust grant (to A. S.), and the Italian Association for Cancer Research

Organizational learning and emotion: constructing collective meaning in support of strategic themes

Missing in the organizational learning literature is an integrative framework that reflects the emotional as well as the cognitive dynamics involved. Here, we take a step in this direction by focusing in depth over time (five years) on a selected organization which manufactures electronic equipment for the office industry. Drawing on personal construct theory, we define organizational learning as the collective re-construal of meaning in the direction of strategically significant themes. We suggest that emotions arise as members reflect on progress or lack of progress in achieving organizational learning. Our evidence suggests that invalidation – where organizational learning fails to correspond with expectations – gives rise to anxiety and frustration, while validation – where organizational learning is aligned with or exceeds expectations – evokes comfort or excitement. Our work aims to capture the key emotions involved as organizational learning proceeds

Exact sampling of self-avoiding paths via discrete Schramm-Loewner evolution

We present an algorithm, based on the iteration of conformal maps, that produces independent samples of self-avoiding paths in the plane. It is a discrete process approximating radial Schramm-Loewner evolution growing to infinity. We focus on the problem of reproducing the parametrization corresponding to that of lattice models, namely self-avoiding walks on the lattice, and we propose a strategy that gives rise to discrete paths where consecutive points lie an approximately constant distance apart from each other. This new method allows us to tackle two non-trivial features of self-avoiding walks that critically depend on the parametrization: the asphericity of a portion of chain and the correction-to-scaling exponent.Comment: 18 pages, 4 figures. Some sections rewritten (including title and abstract), numerical results added, references added. Accepted for publication in J. Stat. Phy

Thick-film gas sensors based on vanadium-titanium oxide powders prepared by sol-gel synthesis

Two titania powders modified by 10 at.% of vanadium were prepared by two different sol-gel routes. The powders fired at 650 °C had the rutile structure. These powders were used to produce prototype thick-film sensors. Four series of thick-film samples were fabricated by screen-printing, fired for 1 h at 650 and 850 °C. The morphology and gas-sensing properties were examined and compared with those of pure and Ta-added titania films, previously studied by the authors. Ta addition inhibited the anatase-to-rutile phase transformation during heating and was also effective in keeping the TiO2 grain size in the nanometre range. On the contrary, V addition facilitated the anatase-to-rutile phase transformation. Thick films obtained from the two powders had similar conductance behaviour vs. temperature. The gas response of the films was affected by both the grain size and firing temperature. © 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

Vrtlarski rad i izloženost teškim metalima u gradskom okružju

Urban soil may be a source of occupational exposure to various pollutants in gardening and land cultivation. This paper presents data of a one-year follow-up of lead, cadmium, nickel, chromium, and vanadium in the environment of the city of Bologna. Samples of soil and leaves were collected at three locations; gardens from the inner-city high-traffic area, parks in moderatetraffic area, and parks in suburban, low-traffic area. The top and deeper layers of soil and leaves were mainly polluted by lead at all locations, which corresponded to the traffic density. Personal samplers recorded greater concentrations of airborne metals than did the area samplers but the values kept below the threshold limit established by the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists for the working environment. Due to cumulative nature and interactive effects of toxic metals with other toxic and essential elements, long-term exposure to metals in the urban environment may be a health risk for occupationally exposed gardeners.Gradsko tlo može biti izvorom profesionalne izloženosti različitim onečišćivačima u vrtlara, uključujući otrovne teške metale koji se talože iz onečišćenog zraka na tlo i lišće. U radu su prikazani podaci jednogodišnjeg praćenja koncentracija olova, kadmija, niklja, kroma i vanadija u talijanskom gradu Bologni. Uzorci tla i lišća skupljani su na tri mjesta s različitom gustoćom prometa; u središtu grada s velikom gustoćom prometa, u parkovima s umjerenim prometom u okolišu i u prigradskim parkovima sa slabim prometom. Na svim lokacijama gornji i dublji slojevi tla bili su podjednako onečišćeni ponajprije olovom i to je bilo u svezi s prometnom gustoćom. Koncentracije metala u zraku utvr|ene u filtrima osobnih skupljača bile su više od koncentracija u skupljačima na tlu. Vrijednosti metala u zraku bile su niže od graničnih vrijednosti utvr|enih za radni okoliš od Američke konferencije vladinih industrijskih higijeničara (American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists). Zaključeno je da vrtlari, u usporedbi s općim stanovništvom, i pri niskim razinama izloženosti u gradskom okolišu imaju povećan zdravstveni rizik za štetna djelovanja otrovnih metala i drugih onečišćivača okoliša zbog dugotrajne izloženosti u svezi s njihovim radom

Highly transparent poly(2-ethyl-2-oxazoline)-TiO2 nanocomposite coatings for the conservation of matte painted artworks

A nanocomposite coating based on TiO2 nanoparticles and poly(2-ethyl-2-oxazoline) is used as consolidant of matte painted surfaces (temperas, watercolors, modern paintings). The aim of this work is to provide advances in the conservation of these works of art, while preserving their optical appearance, in terms of colour and gloss. Fiber Optic Reflectance Spectroscopy (FORS) measurements of a painting-model (an acrylic black monochrome) treated with the nanocomposite coatings revealed that it is possible to match the optical appearance of the painted surface by tuning the amount of nanoparticles in the polymeric matrix. The requirement of retreatability of the material has been verified by removing the nanocomposite cast on the painted surface with aqueous solutions. FTIR and SEM/EDX measurements showed that almost no traces of the nanocomposite remained on the painted surface, allowing its use for the treatment of real paintings. Test were performed using a contemporary studio-model on canvas attributed to Agostino Bonalumi (1935–2013)

Microhabitat use by the white-clawed crayfish in a Tuscan stream.

Habitat modification, pollution, overfishing, poaching, competition from nonindigenous species, and diseases have led to the extinction in Europe of many populations of indigenous crayfish. Under the rationale that any programme of reintroduction should be preceded by a thorough understanding of habitat requirements of the species of concern, we studied the microhabitat use of an Austropotamobius pallipes population in Tuscany, central Italy. Microhabitat use was assessed for water depth, current velocity, substrate, percentages of boulders, underwater tree roots, and in-stream vegetation cover. Results show that A. pallipes’ habitat use is size-partitioned. Smaller individuals mostly occupy stream edges in shallow waters with submerged roots, whereas larger individuals use deeper waters, often associated with boulders. Crayfish spatial distribution is restricted mostly to the microhabitats characterised by extensive cover and slow current velocity. The study highlights the importance of habitat heterogeneity and cover elements for the protection of this indigenous species