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The recent Covid-19 pandemic has deeply affected the financial health of com-panies all over the globe. Small and micro enterprises are more vulnerable due to their limited financial resources and lack of specialized knowledge. This article ex-plores the impact of the pandemic on the early stage of small companies' Digital Transformation (DT), and its effect on the barriers to DT. The authors adopted an inductive qualitative approach and engaged in purposeful sampling to investigate micro and small enterprises operating in Piedmont, Italy, that were at the earliest stage of their DT journey. The final sample included 11 unique cases, involving a total of 49 interviews. The results show that the Covid-19 pandemic did not act as a catalyst to the DT of small and micro enterprises, instead sharpening the barriers to DT. The paper provides owners, managers, investors, politicians, and territorial institutions with a better understanding of the tools and initiatives that must be implemented to foster small and micro enterprises' DT. The research, due to the selected sample, is limited to small companies' personnel and to their owners' ex-periences

El objetivo de este trabajo es identificar las barreras a las que se enfrentan los instrumentos de negociación relacionados a las Fianzas Sostenibles y así contribuir en la búsqueda de alternativas y evolución de los mismos. Los Acuerdos Globales más importantes en materia de Sostenibilidad, trazaron un marco de actuación y los estados parte asumieron compromisos a cumplir en plazos que hoy se encuentran en déficit. Para poder hacer frente a estos compromisos, los Mercados de Capitales cumplen un rol fundamental al canalizar el financiamiento para enfrentar los cambios necesarios. Tras realizar un análisis cualitativo sobre las principales barreras a las que se enfrentan las Finanzas Sostenibles a nivel global y los primeros casos de emisiones aplicando tecnología Blockchain, si bien se encuentran en etapa inicial, podrían contribuir con la aceleración hacia las Finanzas Sostenibles gracias a la descentralización, programabilidad, inmutabilidad de los datos, a digitalización de los activos, la optimización de procesos y costos. Culasso, Jorge. Universidad Nacional de Rosario. Facultad de Ciencias Económicas y Estadística; Argentina

Business plan competitions (BPCs) are opportunities for nascent entrepreneurs to showcase their business ideas and obtain resources to fund their entrepreneurial future. They are also an important tool for policymakers and higher education institutions to stimulate entrepreneurial activity and support new entrepreneurial ventures from conceptual and financial standpoints. Academic research has kept pace with the rising interest in BPCs over the past decades, especially regarding their implications for entrepreneurial education. Literature on BPCs has grown slowly but steadily over the years, offering important insights that entrepreneurship scholars must collectively evaluate to inform theory and practice. Yet, no attempt has been made to perform a systematic review and synthesis of BPC literature. Therefore, to highlight emerging trends and draw pathways to future research, the authors adopted a systematic approach to synthesize the literature on BPCs. The authors performed a systematic literature review on 58 articles on BPCs. Several themes emerge from the BPC literature, including BPCs investigated as prime opportunities to develop entrepreneurial education, the effects of BPC participation on future entrepreneurial activity, and several attempts to frame an ideal BPC blueprint for future contests. However, several research gaps emerge, especially regarding the lack of theoretical underpinnings in the literature stream and the predominance of exploratory research. This paper provides guidance for practice by presenting a roadmap for future research on BPCs drawing from the sample reviewed. From a theoretical perspective, the study offers several prompts for further research on the topic through a concept map and a structured research agenda.

This work studies the different materials used in the production of Argentine postage stamps from 1888 to 2016 and explains how the use of these materials has changed over time, thus contributing t...

Background Few studies about the evolutionary history of the hepatitis E virus (HEV) have been conducted. The aim of our work was to investigate and make inferences about the origin and routes of dispersion of HEV-3 in Argentina. Methods Phylogenetic, coalescent and phylogeographic analyses were performed using a 322-bp ORF2 genomic fragment of all HEV-3 sequences with known date and place of isolation published at GenBank until May 2018 (n=926), including 16 Argentinian sequences (isolated from pigs, water and humans). Results Phylogenetic analysis revealed two clades within HEV-3: abchij and efg. All Argentinian samples were grouped intermingled within clade 3abchij. The coalescent analysis showed that the most recent common ancestor for the clade 3abchij would have existed around the year 1967 (95% highest posterior density (HPD): 1963–1970). The estimated substitution rate was 1.01×10−2 (95%HPD: 9.3×10ˉ3–1.09×10ˉ2) substitutions/site/y, comparable with the rate previously described. The phylogeographic approach revealed a correspondence between phylogeny and place of origin for Argentinian samples, suggesting many HEV introductions in the country, probably from Europe and Japan. Conclusions This is the first evolutionary inference of HEV-3 that includes Argentinian strains, showing the circulation of many HEV-3 subtypes, obtained from different sources and places, with recent diversification processes. Accession numbers [KX812460], [KX812461], [KX812462], [KX812465], [KX812466], [KX812467], [KX812468], [KX812469].

Purpose Drawing on the conservation of resources theory and need-threat model, this study aims to analyse the mediating role of efficacy needs (EN) and psychological distress (PD) on the relationship between workplace ostracism (WO) and knowledge hiding (KH) behaviour of employees. Design/methodology/approach Time-lagged data were collected from 225 employees working in the mobile telecommunication sector through online survey instruments prepared in light of past literature. SmartPLS3 was used to analyse the data. Findings The results obtained confirm the initial hypothesis that there exists a positive relationship between WO and KH. Furthermore, the results also established the sequential mediating roles of EN and PD between WO and KH behaviour of employees. Originality/value This study adds to the literature suggesting that WO represents a real threat to companies that aim to foster knowledge-sharing behaviours. Moreover, it reveals that EN and PD are two underlying mechanisms behind the baseline relationship.

to evaluate the impact of school closures, as a measure to contain the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 infection, on the psychological well-being of students of all levels starting from the 2020-2021 school year.a systematic literature review was conducted according to the PRISMA 2020 Guidelines. The literature search was conducted on 4 different databases: MedLine, Embase, PsycINFO, and L.OVE Platform. Quantitative observational studies published until 10.01.2022 were included. Studies conducted during the first pandemic wave, i.e., during the 2019-2020 school year and/or during the mandatory lockdown or confinement period, were excluded. The methodological quality of the studies was assessed with validated scales. Study selection, data extraction, and quality assessment were carried out independently by two authors.children, adolescents, and young people attending all levels of education (including universities) and, for reasons related to COVID-19, having a suspension of "in presence" school or attending classes remotely.a. outcomes directly related to mental health: suicides, emergency department visits, and hospitalizations for psychiatric problems; anxiety and depression, emotional difficulties, feelings of loneliness and isolation; b. well-being outcomes: sleep quality, perceived well-being (by child/adolescent/youth or referred by parents); c. health-related behaviours: tobacco smoking, alcohol, drug use. Outcomes related to school/academic performance, physical health, and those related to parents were not considered.after having removed duplicate articles, 2,830 records were retrieved with the bibliographic search. Twelve studies (2 uncontrolled before-after studies and 10 cross sectional surveys) were included, involving a total of 27,787 participants. Three studies involved university students, 2 involved high school students, and the remaining involved a mixed population of students attending primary and middle schools. The studies were conducted between September 2020 and April 2021. The methodological quality was rated as high in five studies and intermediate in the remaining studies. Due to the high heterogeneity of outcome measures and statistical analyses performed among the included studies, it was not possible to conduct a meta-analysis of the results of the considered publications. Nevertheless, the present review showed a clear signal of increase in mental health problems in relation to school closure or virtual instruction. In particular, results suggest evidence of association between school closure and risk of suicidal attempts or thoughts, mental health symptoms such as anxiety, depression, emotional disorders, psychological stress. Sleeping problems, drug and alcohol addiction were poorly studied.despite the limitations of the included studies and possible residual confounding and contamination due to restrictive measures and social isolation implemented during the pandemic, the available evidence confirms the negative impact on students' mental health associated with school closures and distance learning. Given the availability of vaccination also for young children, a long period of school closure should be avoided also in the case of the emergence of new pandemic waves.

Objective: To evaluate the relationship between lower respiratory tract infections (LRTI), in the first 2 years of life and lung function at school age in the Piccolipiù birth cohort (Italy). Methods: Data on LRTI (doctor diagnosis of bronchitis, bronchiolitis, pneumonia) and wheezing (≥3 episodes or a diagnosis of asthmatic bronchitis) in the first 2 years of life were obtained from parental questionnaires. Lung function was assessed at 7 years by spirometry and forced volume vital capacity (FVC), forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1), FEV1/FVC, forced expiratory flow between 25 and 75%, and at 75% of FVC (FEF25-75 and FEF75) were reported as z-scores. The associations between LRTI and spirometric variables were estimated with linear regression models. Results: Among 877 children studied, 22.1% had LRTI only, 5.4% wheezing only, 13.2% had both, and 59.3% had neither LRTI nor wheezing. Children with LRTI had lower FVC and FEV1 than children without (z-score differences: -0.18 (95% Confidence Intervals, -0.31; -0.06) and -0.15 ( 0.27; -0.03)). When children were stratified by history of both LRTI and wheezing, there was no association between LRTI only and spirometric values. Conversely, having had both LRTI and wheezing was inversely associated with all lung function measures: z-score differences of -0.24 ( 0.42; -0.07); -0.42 (-0.59; -0.24); -0.25 (-0.41; -0.08); -0.37 (-0.54; -0.21); -0.30 (-0.46; -0.14) for FVC, FEV1, FEV1/FVC, FEF25-75 and FEF75, respectively. Conclusion: Infants with wheezing and LRTI, but not those with LRTI only, had reduced lung function at school-age.

The impact of CSR in the luxury sector has been less investigated than in the non-luxury context, and the findings in the luxury context are not unidirectional. In recent years, researchers have begun exploring the link between CSR and luxury. These efforts have attempted to overcome the gap between theory and practice while also acknowledging that luxury and CSR can be considered conflicting concepts. This mixed picture underscores the need for further investigations. The current study aims to illuminate CSR in the luxury context by examining business model development and financial performance. In particular, we conducted an in-depth longitudinal and qualitative analysis of a leading luxury company that had experienced an event that had negatively impacted CSR. Specifically, this event affected the supply chain, and the public indignation that ensued impacted the firm's financial performance. Our results revealed that in the case of a luxury organisation, CSR does not affect financial performance despite a negative event. Ultimately, the study offers insights into CSR in the luxury context by proposing a matrix to explain the various influences on a company's business model and financial performance.

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