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This work investigates entrepreneurial intentions among academic scientists. Drawing from the literature on entrepreneurial behavior, it contributes to delineate the differences in motivations that are correlated with entrepreneurial intention to those that are considered to be linked to entrepreneurial behaviors. By disentangling the concept of motivations in its ultimately basic constructs of intrinsic and extrinsic motivations, we investigate how these two different types of motivations are related to the formation of entrepreneurial intention at the level of academic scientists. Through a survey conducted at the University of Ferrara--one of the leading universities in Italy in terms of technology transfer and scientific production--findings reveal that while academic entrepreneurial intention seems to be mostly driven by intrinsic motivations, the effect of extrinsic motivations, which are regarded as a main antecedent of entrepreneurial behavior among scientists, are largely mediated by academic positions, work environment and different combinations of these two factors. This work therefore highlights the importance of social norms in the investigation of entrepreneurial intention in academia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective MicroRNA (miRNA) expression profile can be used as prognostic marker for human cancers. We aim to explore the significance of miRNAs in colorectal cancer (CRC) metastasis. Design We performed miRNA microarrays using primary CRC tissues from patients with and without metastasis, and validated selected candidates in 85 CRC samples by quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR). We tested metastatic activity of selected miRNAs and identified miRNA targets by prediction algorithms, qRT-PCR, western blot and luciferase assays. Clinical outcomes were analysed in six sets of CRC cases (n=449), including The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) consortium and correlated with miR-224 status. We used the Kaplan-Meier method and log-rank test to assess the difference in survival between patients with low or high levels of miR-224 expression. Results MiR-224 expression increases consistently with tumour burden and microsatellite stable status, and miR-224 enhances CRC metastasis in vitro and in vivo. We identified SMAD4 as a miR-224 target and observed negative correlation (Spearman Rs=-0.44, p<0.0001) between SMAD4 and miR-224 expression in clinical samples. Patients with high miR-224 levels display shorter overall survival in multiple CRC cohorts (p=0.0259, 0.0137, 0.0207, 0.0181, 0.0331 and 0.0037, respectively), and shorter metastasis-free survival (HR 6.51, 95% CI 1.97 to 21.51, p=0.0008). In the TCGA set, combined analysis of miR-224 with SMAD4 expression enhanced correlation with survival (HR 4.12, 95% CI 1.1 to 15.41, p=0.0175). Conclusions MiR-224 promotes CRC metastasis, at least in part, through the regulation of SMAD4. MiR-224 expression in primary CRC, alone or combined with its targets, may have prognostic value for survival of patients with CRC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the Mousterian settlement in the Ciota Ciara Cave as the oldest evidence of homo neanderthalensis in Piedmont, Italy. It cites the various studies conducted in the cave by such researchers as the Gruppo Archeologico Speloelogico di Borgosesia, the University of Ferrara, and the Soprintendenza Archeologica del Piemonte. Also cited are the direct percussion by hard hammer as the method used in excavation, as well as the usewear analysis of quart's artifacts.

Abstract: Nonlinear effects in vacuum have been predicted but never observed yet directly. The PVLAS collaboration has long been working on an apparatus aimed at detecting such effects by measuring vacuum magnetic birefringence. Unfortunately the sensitivity has been affected by unaccounted noise and systematics since the beginning. A new small prototype ellipsometer has been designed and characterized at the Department of Physics of the University of Ferrara, Italy entirely mounted on a single seismically isolated optical bench. With a finesse F =414,000 and a cavity length L =0.5m we have reached the sensitivity of given the laser power at the output of the ellipsometer of P =24mW. This record result, very close to the predicted limit, demonstrates the feasibility of reaching such sensitivities, and opens the way to designing a dedicated apparatus for a first detection of vacuum magnetic birefringence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to report our clinical experience of Sweet's syndrome, a severe dermatological disease which may be extremely important to recognize for the early diagnosis of a neoplastic disorder. Eleven patients affected by Sweet's syndrome, treated at the Department of Dermatology, University of Ferrara, Ferrara, Italy, during 1998 to 2004, were evaluated. A retrospective analysis was performed. Data on age, sex distribution, clinical data, histopathological and immunohistochemical findings and therapy were collected. We observed one patient with idiopathic form, 5 patients affected by the para-inflammatory variant and 5 para-neoplastic cases (with haemoproliferative diseases). The cases with the para-inflammatory form were affected by minor infectious manifestations. Prolonged follow-up is necessary to verify that a case of idiopathic variant is not really a paraneoplastic form. Based on immunohistochemical analysis, we cannot exclude that true histiocytes, immunoreactive for CD68/PGM, infiltrate the dermis in Sweet's syndrome lesions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This Special Issue of Biophysical Chemistry includes a selection of the papers presented at the XXI Congress of the Italian Society of Pure and Applied Biophysics (i.e., SIBPA, Società Italiana di Biofisica Pura ed Applicata) held on September 2012 at the University of Ferrara, Ferrara, Italy. Topics cover all biophysical disciplines, from molecular to cellular, to integrative biophysics giving an almost comprehensive view of the interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary approaches, proper of the modern biophysics. SIBPA, which celebrates its 40th anniversary in 2013, has steadily grown and appeals to both specialists and a wider general audience. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The article presents a comment to the study conducted by researchers headed by Cecilia Pancaldi of the Department of Morphology and Embryology at the University of Ferrara in Ferrara, Italy. It states that the study focuses on the existence of Merkel cell polyomavirus (MCPyV) in buffy coats of immunocompetent individuals. The author notes that the study provided valuable data that could open new opportunities in the analysis of MCPyV-associated hematologic neoplasias.

The article discusses the Fourth National Congress of the Società Italiana di Storia delle Matematiche (Italian Society of Mathematical History) which took place in Padua, Italy on September 9-11, 2004. The scientific committee was formed by Maria Teresa Borgato and Alessandra Fiocca of the University of Ferrara, and Livia Giacardi and Clara Silvia Roero of the University of Turin. The article highlights several of the discussions that took place during the congress, including science education in Padua.

The article discusses the study conducted by researcher Augusto Foà and colleagues of University of Ferrara, Italy on the migratory behavior of blackcaps. Topics discussed include detection of cryptochrome proteins in the eyes of blackcaps that sense magnetic fields of earth, use of blue lights as compass by blackcaps during migration and cryptochrome production in the eyes of blackcap birds.

The article profiles Dr. Roberto Farina, a member of the Directive Council of the Research Centre for the Study of Periodontal and Peri-Implant Diseases and research assistant at the University of Ferrara in Italy.

The article profiles Dr. Leonardo Trombelli, chair and full professor of Periodontology & Implantology in the School of Dentistry at the University of Ferrara in Italy, and maintains a private practice limited to implantology and periodontology.

Announces the First Congress of Italian Revolutionary Biologists that will be held at the Department of Biology of the University of Ferrara in Italy from August 24 to 26, 2005. Highlight of the congress.