Patients with basal ganglia damage show preserved learning in an economic game.

Both basal ganglia (BG) and orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) have been widely implicated in social and non-social decision-making. However, unlike OFC damage, BG pathology is not typically associated with disturbances in social functioning. Here we studied the behavior of patients with focal lesions to either BG or OFC in a multi-strategy competitive game known to engage these regions. We find that whereas OFC patients are significantly impaired, BG patients show intact learning in the economic game. By contrast, when information about the strategic context is absent, both cohorts are significantly impaired. Computational modeling further shows a preserved ability in BG patients to learn by anticipating and responding to the behavior of others using the strategic context. These results suggest that apparently divergent findings on BG contribution to social decision-making may instead reflect a model where higher-order learning processes are dissociable from trial-and-error learning, and can be preserved despite BG damage

Parent-child relationships in Italian families: connectedness and autonomy in the transition to adulthood

This contribution focuses on the changes in parent-child relationships during the transition to adulthood, that implies a modification of the balance of connectedness and autonomy. The principal aim was twofold: 1) to verify how relational support and style of decision making - respectively markers of family connectedness and autonomy - change from adolescence to young adulthood; 2) to compare the perceptions of parents and children through a measure of agreement. The sample was composed of 259 Italian families with a child between 17 and 25 years of age. Participants filled out a self report questionnaire including the Parent-Adolescent Support Scale and the Style of Decision Making Scale. Results highlighted that children perceived a significant increase in relational support and in autonomy from late adolescence to young adulthood. Furthermore, agreement between parents and children increased by aging. Therefore, near the transition to adulthood, parents and young adults are closer to each other than during late adolescence

Internationalisation strategies in italian district-based firms:Theoretical modelling and empirical evidence

The internationalisation pattern of district firms in the last decades can be viewed -as envisaged by traditional theory- in terms of exploitation of both firm and territorial advantage to expand into foreign markets. Rapid and intense internationalisation processes represent a means for cluster-based firms to exploit the advantages of being located in a cluster and the resulting positive externalities (skilled and specialized labour, specialized services, access to a sort of "collective international knowledge", easy access to information on the internationalisation strategies of main local competitors) on a larger scale. The contribution of district firms to export flows has increased rapidly throughout the last twenty years in different countries (Putnam, 1993; Ffowcs, Williams, 1997), but it has reached an impressive level in nations like Italy where the density of districts and similar territorial networks is high and dated: in fact, almost two thirds of Italian exports stem from districts (Fortis, 1998). The Italian case also highlights the role of the local system in the "international since the beginning" attitude of firms. In fact, most "born global" Italian firms are located in industrial districts (Zucchella, Maccarini, 1999). Similar empirical evidence is reported by Sopas (2001) in Portugal and Brown & Bell (2001) in New Zealand. The relevance of location-specific factors in the born global firms phenomenon is evident also in the case of high tech districts (Saxenian, 1994; Torrisi, 1998), where it is possible to observe a geographic concentration of businesses involved in advanced technologies and related services. Moreover, information technologies may provide an innovative and powerful tool for establishing and enforcing connections (information, explicit knowledge, etc.) between distant locations, thus permitting the creation of networks among different districts (Ganzaroli, 2002). The above considerations not only provide strong arguments to support the role of local systems in firms' internationalisation, but they also indicate the district in itself as an emerging research subject in the international business agenda. In fact, the district or local cluster may represent not only a "facilitating environment", but also a subject capable of its own collective internationalisation process. In these recent years local systems have shown their ability to transfer their structure to foreign markets, thus generating similar local systems in foreign countries, in a sort of district spin-off or district internationalisation (Majocchi, 2000). These factors outline the relevance of geographic co-location and district formation for the fast and intense internationalisation processes of the players involved. More recently, the capacity of geographic co-location in itself in determining such effects seems to have weakened in favour of more firm- or business -specific factors. In particular, there is empirical evidence about the role of a deep niche orientation on export intensity performance and on early and fast internationalisation processes (Zucchella, Maccarini, 1999; Zucchella, 2001 e 2002). Many firms belonging to districts evidence a global niche orientation, thus it may be appropriate to try to separate the effect of business-specific factors from the effect of location-specific ones, in order to understand -if possible- the effective role of geographic co-location on internationalisation patterns. The purpose of this paper is to verify the relevance of both business-specific factors (niche orientation in particular) and location-specific ones (location in a district) on a set of international performance measures (export intensity, geographic scope, time, adoption of alternative foreign market entry modes). The results are grounded on an empirical survey conducted on a sample of 271 international firms and aim at contributing to a better understanding of the actual main drivers of international performance, with particular emphasis on the comparison between business-specific and location-specific ones.

Variação sazonal e circadiana de metabólitos não voláteis em folhas de Lippia alba (Mill.) N. E. BR. ex Britton & P. Wilson

The present study describes the seasonal and circadian variations of the major compounds from Lippia alba leaves. SPSS was used to identify, quantify, and associate the variations in the secondary metabolites of this species through HPLC/DAD analysis of the leaves hydroethanolic extracts of six selected L. alba specimens. For the circadian study, the samples were collected at four different daily hours in each year's season. For the seasonal study, the samples were collected monthly from the same individuals for two consecutive years (2018 and 2019). These samples were analyzed and quantified using a validated HPLC method for flavonoids, iridoids, and phenylpropanoids. Mussaenoside, acteoside, and tricin-7-Odiglucuronide showed a moderate positive correlation between their biosynthesis and the precipitation index, while epi-loganin had a moderate negative correlation. Acteoside showed a moderate positive correlation between the minimum registered temperature and its production. Compared with previous studies, a drastic reduction (about 95%) in the production of tricin-7-O-diglucuronide compared with previous study and this difference could be attributed to the plant's aging. Thus, the data demonstrated that lower temperatures and high rainfall could favor the production of the major L. alba active compounds (acteoside and tricin-7-O-diglucuronide) and that older plants harm their production.O presente estudo descreve as variações sazonais e circadianas dos principais compostos das folhas de Lippia alba. O SPSS foi utilizado para identificar, quantificar e associar as variações nos metabólitos secundários desta espécie através da análise HPLC/DAD dos extratos hidroetanólicos das folhas de seis espécies selecionadas de L. alba. Para o estudo circadiano, as amostras foram coletadas em quatro horários diferentes do dia em cada estação do ano. Para o estudo sazonal, as amostras foram coletadas mensalmente dos mesmos indivíduos durante dois anos consecutivos (2018 e 2019). Essas amostras foram analisadas e quantificadas usando um método de HPLC validado para flavonoides, iridoides e fenilpropanoides. Mussaenosídeo, acteosídeo e tricina-7-O- diglucuronídeo mostraram uma correlação positiva moderada entre sua biossíntese e o índice de precipitação, enquanto a epiloganina teve uma correlação negativa moderada. Acteosídeo apresentou correlação positiva moderada entre a temperatura mínima registrada e sua produção. Em comparação com estudos anteriores, houve uma redução drástica (cerca de 95%) na produção de tricina-7-Odiglucuronídeo e esta diferença pode ser atribuída ao envelhecimento da planta. Assim, os dados demonstraram que temperaturas mais baixas e precipitações elevadas poderiam favorecer a produção dos principais compostos ativos de L. alba (acteosídeo e tricina-7-Odiglucuronídeo) e que plantas mais velhas prejudicam a sua produção

Editorial: Gastrointestinal Surgery: Emerging techniques, controversies and state of art

Artificial intelligence; Gastrointestinal surgery; Surgical techniquesInteligencia artificial; Cirugía gastrointestinal; Técnicas quirúrgicasIntel·ligència artificial; Cirurgia gastrointestinal; Tècniques quirúrgique