Vulnerability to Heatwaves, Floods and Mass Movements in Mountainous Terrain: Test Cases in South Tyrol

South Tyrol is a region that has been often affected by various mountain hazards such as floods, flash floods, debris flows, rock falls, and snow avalanches. Furthermore, areas located in lower altitudes are often influenced by high temperatures and heat waves. Climate change is expected to influence the frequency, magnitude, and spatial extent of these natural phenomena. For this reason, local authorities and other stakeholders are in need of tools that can enable them to reduce the risk posed by these processes. In the present study, a variety of methods are applied at local level in different places in South Tyrol that aim at: (1) the assessment of future losses caused by the occurrence of debris flows by using a vulnerability curve, (2) the assessment of social vulnerability based on the risk awareness of the exposed people to floods, and (3) the assessment of spatial exposure and social vulnerability of the exposed population to heat waves. The results show that, in South Tyrol, the risk to a number of hazards can be reduced by: (1) improving documentation for past events in order to improve existing vulnerability curves and the assessment of future losses, (2) raising citizens' awareness and responsibility to improve coping capacity to floods, and (3) extending heat wave early warning systems to more low-lying areas of South Tyrol.

Patient information leaflets: informing or frightening? A focus group study exploring patients' emotional reactions and subsequent behavior towards package leaflets of commonly prescribed medications in family practices.

BACKGROUND The purpose of patient information leaflets (PILs) is to inform patients about the administration, precautions and potential side effects of their prescribed medication. Despite European Commission guidelines aiming at increasing readability and comprehension of PILs little is known about the potential risk information has on patients. This article explores patients' reactions and subsequent behavior towards risk information conveyed in PILs of commonly prescribed drugs by general practitioners (GPs) for the treatment of Type 2 diabetes, hypertension or hypercholesterolemia; the most frequent cause for consultations in family practices in Germany. METHODS We conducted six focus groups comprising 35 patients which were recruited in GP practices. Transcripts were read and coded for themes; categories were created by abstracting data and further refined into a coding framework. RESULTS Three interrelated categories are presented: (i) The vast amount of side effects and drug interactions commonly described in PILs provoke various emotional reactions in patients which (ii) lead to specific patient behavior of which (iii) consulting the GP for assistance is among the most common. Findings show that current description of potential risk information caused feelings of fear and anxiety in the reader resulting in undesirable behavioral reactions. CONCLUSIONS Future PILs need to convey potential risk information in a language that is less frightening while retaining the information content required to make informed decisions about the prescribed medication. Thus, during the production process greater emphasis needs to be placed on testing the degree of emotional arousal provoked in patients when reading risk information to allow them to undertake a benefit-risk-assessment of their medication that is based on rational rather than emotional (fearful) reactions.

Value Creation in Family Firms: A Model of Fit

We propose a framework describing how family ownership can create or destroy value depending on the goals, resources, and governance of the family firm, which are each influenced by the family owners. Taking a contingency perspective, we suggest that a fit is required for all three elements – family- influenced goals, resources, and governance – for the family firm to flourish over generations. We conclude with a suggested research agenda indicating research opportunities at the nexus of these identified elements. Further we provide some guiding questions for practitioners that might stimulate fruitful discussions among family firm owners and managers about how to realize ‘‘fit.’’

Portfolio Entrepreneurship in Family Firms: A Resource-based Perspective

The phenomenon of portfolio entrepreneurship has attracted considerable scholarly attention and is particularly relevant in the family fi rm context. However, there is a lack of knowledge of the process through which portfolio entrepreneurship develops in family firms. We address this gap by analyzing four in-depth, longitudinal family firm case studies from Europe and Latin America. Using a resource-based perspective, we identify six distinct resource categories that are relevant to the portfolio entrepreneurship process. Furthermore, we reveal that their importance varies across time. Our resulting resource-based process model of portfolio entrepreneurship in family firms makes valuable contributions to both theory and practice.

Entrepreneurship in Family Firms and Beyond

To explain family firms‘ generation-spanning success, scholars have increasingly been investigating entrepreneurship-related phenomena as corresponding antecedents. Entrepreneurship research beyond the family firm context has been growing significantly over the last decades as well. In both areas, however, numerous important research gaps exist. Referring to entrepreneurship in the family firm context, there is a need to enrich literature on succession/transgenerational entrepreneurship, portfolio entrepreneurship, and entrepreneurial strategies and orientations. In the general entrepreneurship context, further insights are needed into employees’ entrepreneurial behavior and individuals’ entrepreneurial intentions. The six journal articles, two conference papers, and two book chapters that are included in this Cumulative Postdoctoral Thesis address those gaps and provide valuable contributions to the respective bodies of literature. As a whole, the publications significantly advance existing knowledge in two very relevant academic fields and open up promising avenues for future research.

Proteomic analysis in aortic media of patients with Marfan syndrome reveals increased activity of calpain 2 in aortic aneurysms

BACKGROUND: Marfan syndrome (MFS) is a heritable disorder of connective tissue, affecting principally skeletal, ocular, and cardiovascular systems. The most life-threatening manifestations are aortic aneurysm and dissection. We investigated changes in the proteome of aortic media in patients with and without MFS to gain insight into molecular mechanisms leading to aortic dilatation. METHODS AND RESULTS: Aortic samples were collected from 46 patients. Twenty-two patients suffered from MFS, 9 patients had bicuspid aortic valve, and 15 patients without connective tissue disorder served as controls. Aortic media was isolated and its proteome was analyzed in 12 patients with the use of 2-dimensional difference gel electrophoresis and mass spectrometry. We found higher amounts of filamin A C-terminal fragment, calponin 1, vinculin, microfibril-associated glycoprotein 4, and myosin-10 heavy chain in aortic media of MFS aneurysm samples than in controls. Regulation of filamin A C-terminal fragmentation was validated in all patient samples by immunoblotting. Cleavage of filamin A and the calpain substrate spectrin was increased in the MFS and bicuspid aortic valve groups. Extent of cleavage correlated positively with calpain 2 expression and negatively with the expression of its endogenous inhibitor calpastatin. CONCLUSIONS: Our observation demonstrates for the first time upregulation of the C-terminal fragment of filamin A in dilated aortic media of MFS and bicuspid aortic valve patients. In addition, our results present evidence that the cleavage of filamin A is highly likely the result of the protease calpain. Increased calpain activity might explain, at least in part, histological alterations in dilated aorta.

Whole Proteome Analysis of the Protozoan Parasite Trypanosoma brucei using Stable Isotope Labeling by Amino Acids in Cell Culture and Mass Spectrometry

The single-celled protozoan Trypanosoma brucei spp. is the causative agent of human African trypanosomiasis and nagana in cattle. Quantitative proteomics for the first time allowed for the characterization of the proteome from several different life stages of the parasite (1-3). To achieve this, stable isotope labeling by amino acids in cell culture (SILAC; (4)) was adapted to T. brucei spp. cultures. T. brucei cells grown in standard media with dialyzed fetal calf serum containing heavy isotope-labeled amino acids (arginine and lysine) show efficient incorporation of the labeled amino acids into the whole cell proteome (8-12 divisions) and no detectable amino acid conversions. The method can be applied to both of the major life stages of the parasite and in combination with RNAi or gene knock-out approaches.