What Makes SMEs more Likely to Collaborate? Analysing the Role of Regional Innovation Policy

The last 20 years have witnessed the diffusion of regional innovation policies supporting networks of innovators. The underlying aim of these policies is to encourage firms, particularly small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), to undertake collaborations with organizations possessing complementary knowledge. Focusing on a set of SMEs that have participated, over time, in several innovation networks funded by the same regional government, the paper investigates how their relationships have evolved with respect to the following aspects: (i) reiteration of pre-existing relationships as opposed to experimentation with new relationships; (ii) collaboration with organizations possessing complementary rather than similar knowledge and competencies; (iii) creation of local relationships rather than experimentation with extra-local collaborations; (iv) reliance upon intermediaries to connect with other organizations. Our findings reveal that the involvement in these policy-supported networks changed the firms' relational patterns, leading them to collaborate with a wider variety of agents than those with whom they were linked before the policies. Sectoral heterogeneity had a negative effect on the probability of collaborating, while co-localization increased the likelihood of collaborating. Mutual involvement with intermediaries also had a positive effect. However, in the case of firm-to-university relationships only specialized intermediaries were likely to perform a positive role and, therefore, encourage networking.     

Fracture patterns among the Nubians of Semna South,Sudanese Nubia

A collection of 592 individuals from the site of Semna South in Sudanese Nubia was studied for evidence of healed fractures of the skull and appendicular skeleton. The sample included 241 males, 239 females, 109 subadults and three adults for whom a sex could not be determined. Potential analytical and interpretive bias due to vagaries of preservation was quantified and examined. Almost 21% of the adults exhibited at least one healed fracture, while only two subadults showed such trauma. Rates of fractures, calculated for each bone, varied from a high of 17.9% for the cranium to a low of 0% for the right femur. Some fractures were likely caused by the physical environment, for example, falls along the rocky shores of the Nile. Other trauma, such as craniofacial fractures, found in both males and females, may have been due to interpersonal violence. The high rate of craniofacial trauma may indicate that this group experienced social stress which could have precipitated or intensified interpersonal violence. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Fish and Fishing in the Roman World

This article focuses on two aspects related to fish and fishing. It first discusses the social context for the consumption of preserved and fresh fish, showing that generally consumption of certain types of fresh fish conferred status, whereas consumption of preserved fish, being more affordable, was attested across social strata. The article then moves on to examine the organisation of the ‘fishing industry’, specifically the relationship between fish-salting establishments and the fishermen who provided the fish. Although we have many literary, documentary, and archaeological sources for fish preservation and fishing techniques in classical antiquity, the fishermen engaged in large-scale fishing remain rather elusive.     

Archaeological Assessment of Second World War Anti‐Torpedo Close Protection Pontoons in Scapa Flow,Orkney

This paper presents the outcomes of sidescan sonar and archaeological diving surveys in 2015 of two wrecked vessels located off Flotta Island, Orkney, North Scotland. Archival research indicates these are the remains of Anti‐Torpedo Close Protection Pontoons (ATCPP), an experimental protection device used for close protection of naval vessels at anchor in Scapa Flow from attack by aircraft‐launch torpedoes. The pontoons were only in operation in Scapa Flow for 13 months (March 1941–April 1942) and few were brought into service. As such they represent a rare heritage resource, for which very little is known about their operation.     

Passive Control of Steel Storage Racks for Parmigiano Reggiano Cheese under Seismic Accelerations

Recent earthquakes in Italy resulted in the collapse of steel storage racks for aging Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, damaging a huge number of cheese wheels. In order to improve the seismic performance of surviving racks with low-budget solutions, when replacement cannot be considered, we investigate the possibility of using viscous dampers that connect the racks to a surrounding structure. Time-history analyses with natural and spectrum-compatible artificial accelerograms allow one to determine the optimal damping factor that reduces both the stress in the rack and the actions transmitted to the constraining structure. Results confirm the noteworthy benefits of the proposed retrofitting system.     

A Procedure for the Displacement-Based Seismic Assessment of Infilled RC Frames

The aim of this study was to propose an extension of the displacement-based assessment procedure for infilled reinforced concrete (RC) frames. Two fundamental steps of the displacement-based approach were studied: the determination of the equivalent viscous damping and the definition of the limit-state displacement profile. The proposed criteria were derived by examining the results of two different numerical investigations regarding the nonlinear seismic response of single- and multi-story infilled RC frames. Lastly, the effectiveness of the method was verified through comparisons, in terms of displacement demand, with the results of nonlinear dynamic analyses.     

Akshay Sarathi,Editor: Early Maritime Cultures in East Africa and the Western Indian Ocean: Papers from a Conference Held at the University of Wisconsin–Madison (African Studies Program) 23–24th October 2015, with Additional Contributions

Journal of Maritime Archaeology -     

On the 80th anniversary of the Racial Laws. Articles reflecting the current scholarship on Italian Fascist anti-Semitism in honour of Michele Sarfatti

ABSTRACT

This special issue of the Journal of Modern Italian Studies, edited by Annalisa Capristo and Ernest Ialongo, marks the 80^th anniversary of the implementation of the Racial Laws in Fascist Italy. It is an opportunity to assess the evolution of the historical literature on Fascist anti-Semitism and to mark future directions for research, but also to pay homage to Michele Sarfatti, who was critical in the development of the current state of the historiography on the subject. Where the earlier work, before the 1980s, was founded on the idea of ‘Italiani brava gente’, wherein Italy’s role was downplayed in the persecution of the Jews and in the Holocaust, that Italians were simply too humane to have participated in such horrific events, Sarfatti’s work launched a veritable revolution in the field, which dismantled all the tenets of the original consensus. This introduction surveys these developments, and summarizes the contributions of the varied authors published here who continue to challenge old truths and bring us closer to a more full and accurate understanding of Fascist anti-Semitism.