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Chronic psychological stress is associated with accelerated biological aging, immune dysfunction, and premature morbidity and mortality. Changes in the relative proportions of T cell subpopulations are thought to be a characteristic of immunological aging; however, understanding of whether these changes are associated with chronic psychological stress is incomplete. This study investigated associations between chronic caregiving stress and distributions of T cell phenotypes in a sample of high stress mothers of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (caregivers; n = 91) and low stress mothers of neurotypical children (controls; n = 88). Immune markers assessed were naïve (CD45RA + CD62L+), central memory (CD45RA-CD62L+), and effector memory (CD45RA-CD62L-) CD4+ and CD8+ T cells. We also examined the ratio of effector to naïve (E:N) CD4+ and CD8+ T cells. In models adjusted for age, body mass index, race/ethnicity, and antidepressant use, caregivers displayed higher percentages of effector memory CD8+ and CD4+ T cells as well as lower percentages of naïve CD8+ T cells and central memory CD8+ and CD4+ T cells compared to controls. Caregivers also displayed significantly higher E:N ratios for both CD4+ and CD8+ T cells. These findings were also independent of cytomegalovirus infection status. Furthermore, higher parental stress, across both groups, was related to several immune parameters. These findings provide preliminary evidence that chronic parental caregiving stress is associated with changes in relative proportions of T cell subpopulations that are consistent with accelerated immunological aging.

To analyze the relationship between pain and presence, site, and type of adhesions in women with endometriosis.This was a multicenter, observational cross-sectional study. Eligible for the study were women with endometriosis and pelvic pain, consecutively observed during the study period at the collaborating centers. A total of 574 women entered the study.Adhesions were observed in 81.9% of cases (470 women). The frequency was lower in women with endometriosis at stage I-II (65%) and higher in women with stage III-IV (88%); this difference was statistically significant (p.01). The frequency of adhesions was lower in women with ovarian endometriosis (74%) and higher in those with ovarian and peritoneal endometriosis (87%) or other sites (96%) (p.01). The presence of adhesions was associated with higher mean visual analog scale (VAS) scores and median multidimensional scale ratings in women with ovarian disease and with stage I-II disease. Women with ovarian adhesions reported higher VAS and multidimensional scale scores (p.05) than women with peritoneal adhesions or adhesions in other sites.The results of this study suggest that there is no overall association between the presence of adhesions and the degree of pain in women with endometriosis. The data suggests that there may be an association between adhesions and pain in women with ovarian and Type I-II endometriosis. However, these associations were no longer significant after correction for multiple comparisons. Further research is indicated to test these associations.

Technological change is a vital human activity that interacts with geographic factors and environment. The purpose of the study here is to analyse the relationship between geo-climate zones of the globe and technological outputs in order to detect favourable areas that spur higher technological change and, as a consequence, human development. The main finding is that innovative outputs are higher in geographical areas with a temperate climate latitudes. In fact, warm temperate climates are favourable environments for human societies that, by a long-run process of adaptation and learning, create platforms of institutions and communications systems, infrastructures, legal systems, economic governance and socio-economic networks that support inventions and diffusion of innovations. The linkages between observed facts show the vital geo-climate sources of fruitful patterns of the technological innovation and economic growth.

An interesting problem is the analysis of effects of the predominant impact of technological change on the health of societies. This study considers technological change as the human activity that generates a huge impact on societies and causes environmental disorders affecting the health of population. In particular, technical innovations support the industrialisation and human development, which by a social change based on population growth, mass production and consumption, and resources depletion, engenders pollution and several environmental carcinogens. This study shows that a main effect of the critical impact of technological change on societies is the high cancer incidence of population living in industrialised areas of opulent and advanced countries. Vital empirical evidence and linkages between observed facts endeavour to explain the major relationships concerning the interactions among technology, ecosystems and the health of societies.

An interesting problem in the economics of innovation and strategic management of labs is to explain the drivers of breakthroughs and paradigm shifts in science. This study confronts the issue by analysing a main case study the technological determinant of the discovery of quasi-periodic materials that has generated a scientific paradigm shift in crystallography. Unlike user-friendly radical innovations, the study here detects some specific radical innovations, defined lab-oriented and adopted by high-skilled users i.e. researchers such as Transmission Electron Microscopy, which tend to support breakthroughs and scientific discoveries. This finding is the foundation for a framework, which endeavours to pinpoint the main characteristics and properties of these strategic lab-oriented radical innovations, which in turn spur scientific advances. Technological analysis of this study explains the critical role of specific technologies supporting knowledge creation and scientific discoveries to understand vital drivers of scientific fields and fruitful linkages that run from technological to scientific progress.

The fundamental problem in the field of the economics of innovation is which economic subjects are the sources of radical innovations and high technological performances. The study here confronts this problem by developing a theoretical framework underpinned in the concept of purposeful system having a purpose of global leadership, which endeavours to analyse the sources of General-Purpose Technologies GPTs in a Schumpeterian world of innovation-based competition. Through an inductive study based on some societies that in the history have generated technological and economic change Roman and Britain Empire, and current USA, the analysis shows vital characteristics that can be the sources of changes in the techno-economic paradigm. In particular, purposeful country-systems with high economic military potential, supported by a strategy of high RD expenditures, and the objective of global leadership, winning international conflicts against other great powers a very strong competition for the hegemony, tend to generate several inventions and radical innovations that are spread, in the long run, across wide geo-economic areas. It seems that the initial sources of GPTs e.g. aqueduct, steam engine, jet aircraft, computer, etc. are, de facto, associated with the global posture of great powers to achieve/sustain global leadership in intensive effective and/or potential international competitions, rather than warfare per se. This study refers to this nexus as leadership-driven innovation. International conflict is the context that spurs the GPTs, which are driven by global leadership of critical societies, whereas initial military RD, demand and procurement are important mechanisms underlying the process that induces emerging path-breaking technologies. The vital linkages between observed facts can support a general socio-economic framework of the sources of path-breaking innovations based on a leadership of main economic subjects that support innovative activity mainly in communications and energy systems parallel to transportation technology and the evolution and development of human societies.

Starting from the epistemological position of the positive interaction between public and private R&D expenditures at country level for maintaining productivity growth, the purpose of this paper is to provide empiricist–positivist arguments of this stance in order to design R&D policy that supports national competitiveness in fast-changing and turbulent markets

La relazione tra spesa pubblica e privata in R&S delle imprese è caratterizzata da una complementarietà. Inoltre, per avere un impatto positivo sulla crescita della produttività del sistema paese, la spesa pubblica in R&S deve essere minore di quella privata come percentuale del PIL.

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the relationship between public and private research expenditures since can provide main information to policy makers to improve the economic performance of country. Data from Eurostat are used. The methodology applies econometric models based on regression analyses. The main results are: public research and development (R&D) expenditure is a complement for private R&D one but the latter has to be higher than the former to be a determinant for productivity growth of countries. These results can be affected by several factors concerning the structure and specificity of National System of Innovation. In addition, this research shows that the composition of public and private magnitude of national investment.

The growing technological basis of modern economies has been increasing the role of Research & Development (R&D), which is at the centre of the current scientific debate as one of the driving forces of economic growth patterns. In particular, evaluation and performance measurement of R&D activities are critical aspects in order to increase the efficiency and competitiveness of firms and public research bodies in global markets (Coccia, 2008). The interesting book edited by Vittorio Chiesa and Federico Frattini, based on distinguished scientific contributions, enriches this research field, developing an: “integrated and multi-level framework that represents an original synthesis of the most recent research on the techniques and perspectives that can be used to evaluate R&D and to measure its performance at the firm, financial markets and innovation system-level”.

Public research labs play a fundamental role in modern economies to increase, through knowledge and technology transfer, the economic growth of countries. The paper analyses new organisation of the biggest public research body in Italy, based on project management, designed with an explicit aim to transform this research institution in entrepreneurial organisation, providing technological services and applied research to external subjects such as firms, public administration, etc. New matrix structure of the public research organisation – technological services-oriented – creates structural deficiencies, coordination problems, as well as problems of defining the extent of the project manager’s authority over staff from other departments. In addition this new structure has been decreasing scientific production of institutes which reduces the efficiency of overall national system of innovation.

The purpose of this paper is to conjecture the possible technological determinants underpinning future economic long waves. The foresight is based on prominent forecasting studies of scholars and a leading British company. This research assumes that converging nano-bio-info-cogno technologies are the foundation of 5th and 6th Kondratieff waves, whereas the future technological revolution that may underpin the 7th economic long wave is assumed to be Faster-Than-Light (FTL) Technologies. The positive effects of these next technological revolutions on worldwide economic system are a high increase in productivity, employment rate, consumption and economic growth that lead to longer, happier and healthier living as well as general well-being.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the relationship between public and private research expenditures since can provide main information to policy makers to improve the economic performance of country. The main results are: Public R&D expenditure is a complement for private R&D one but the latter has to be higher than the former to be a determinant for productivity growth of countries. These results can be affected by several factors concerning the structure of National System of Innovation and Triple helix mechanism. In addition this research shows that the composition of public and private magnitude of national investment in research depends on the level of country development.

Efficient organization of public research bodies is important to increase the production of scientific research, which is more and more necessary to competitiveness in modern economies. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the new project-based organization of the biggest public research body in Italy. The analysis shows that, unless project management is properly designed and implemented within public research bodies, it tends to become unmanageable over time, creating conflicts, confusion, and prolifera-tion of communication channels, which lead to information log-jams. The reality is that the Italian Na-tional Research Council has never really implemented project management rules; as a matter of fact, be-cause of coordination and area problems as well as the public structure of CNR, it hybridizes project man-agement rules with the old organization since this is the only way to cope with a turbulent and uncertain domestic context.

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the nature of bureaucratization within public research bodies and its relationship to scientific performance, focusing on an Italian case-study. The main finding is that the bureaucratization of the research sector has two dimensions: public research labs have academic bureaucratization since researchers spend an increasing part of their time in administrative matters (i.e., preparing grant applications, managing grants/projects, and so on); whereas universities mainly have administrative bureaucratization generated by the increase over time of administrative staff in comparison with researchers and faculty. In addition I show that research units with higher bureaucratization have lower scientific performance.