Strategies for Digital Television: DTT in Italy

Italian broadcasting has long been terrestrial. Its main shortcomings (spectrum chaos, non-enforcement of the law and market concentration) were considered not conducive to a rapid and reliable diffusion of digital terrestrial television (DTT). In 2005, the private free to air duopolist Mediaset entered the pay television market with an offer on DTT and, within a few years, has proved to be a fast-growing operator, threatening the established satellite incumbent (Sky). This evidence apparently challenges the received wisdom of the literature and the business practice. With the aim of explaining these peculiar market dynamics, this article examines the operators' strategies, controlling for the institutional side and the policy. A few main points stand out. First, the enduring spectrum chaos has not significantly hampered Mediaset, nor was spectrum a binding constraint, thanks to biased regulation. Second, the entrant crafted a coherent and gradual “premium content” strategy, fine-tuning its evolution in accordance with the platform diffusion. Third, the public policy for digital TV served as a supporting complement to the private strategy. In particular, being biased, it favored the diffusion of DTT over rival platforms, and benefited its main pay-TV offer. Overall, our analysis uncovers a complex and unique national case, rooted in an effective, albeit contentious, public–private interplay. Consequently, the Italian case does not convincingly challenge the received wisdom on DTT.     

The use of Internet of Things devices in early childhood education: A systematic review

Education and Information Technologies - Internet of Things (IoT) devices are becoming ubiquitous and gradually impacting on young children’s play, learning and growth worldwide. It is vital...     

Who Do We Think We Are? A Survey of Counsellors in Canada

The mental health service delivery system in Canada is complex and the need for services is growing faster than the development of methods and programs to address these. Masters-level counsellors are increasingly called upon to play important roles in the treatment of mental health concerns, yet both the public and other allied professionals (psychologists, social workers, psychiatrists, medical practitioners) remain unclear about the role and functions of counsellors. The purpose of this study was to describe the essential characteristics of the counselling profession in Canada as revealed through perceptions of counsellors themselves. A web-based survey on counsellor professional identity was developed and distributed to all members of the Canadian Counselling Association with a 22.9% return rate. Results indicate that counsellors’ roles are diverse and that they are generally satisfied with their choice of profession. However, they do not believe that the profession of counselling as a whole has a solid identity. Implications for the counselling profession in Canada are discussed.

Managing Academics on Short Term Contracts

Over 40 per cent of academic staff in Higher Education and an unspecified number of support and part time staff, are employed on fixed term contracts. This article reports the findings of a study into the experiences of academic staff on such contracts. It argues that temporary employees' contractual status affects their ability to perform effectively and reduces their level of commitment to the organisation. It considers the implication of these findings and argues that while some of the factors which have prompted the use of temporary contracts may lie beyond the control of Higher Education institutions, universities could reduce their negative effects by reviewing the way in which temporary staff, who now make up almost half of the academic population, are managed.     

The role of deliberate practice and play in career progression in sport: the early engagement hypothesis

Experts acquire domain‐specific skills as a result of the activities in which they participate throughout their development. We examine the domain‐specific activities in which two groups of elite youth soccer players participated between six and 12 years of age. Our goal was to examine early participation differences between those who progressed to professional status at 16 years of age and those who did not. Data were contrasted to a control group of recreational‐level players and examined in the context of the Developmental Model of Sport Participation, which supports the importance of late specialization and early diversity between six and 12 years of age. The elite players who went on to attain professional status accumulated more hours per year in soccer play activities, but not in soccer practice, competition or other sports, between six and 12 years of age, compared with those who did not progress. The two elite groups averaged more hours per year in soccer practice compared with recreational‐level players, but not soccer play, competition or other sports. We propose the “early engagement hypothesis” to explain our results. Accordingly, practice and play in the primary sport between six and 12 years of age contributes to the development of expert performance in English soccer.     

Microfluidic-driven viral infection on cell cultures: Theoretical and experimental study

Advanced cell culture systems creating a controlled and predictable microenvironment together with computational modeling may be useful tools to optimize the efficiency of cell infections. In this paper, we will present a phenomenological study of a virus-host infection system, and the development of a multilayered microfluidic platform used to accurately tune the virus delivery from a diffusive-limited regime to a convective-dominated regime. Mathematical models predicted the convective-diffusive regimes developed within the system itself and determined the dominating mass transport phenomena. Adenoviral vectors carrying the enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) transgene were used at different multiplicities of infection (MOI) to infect multiple cell types, both in standard static and in perfused conditions. Our results validate the mathematical models and demonstrate how the infection processes through perfusion via microfluidic platform led to an enhancement of adenoviral infection efficiency even at low MOIs. This was particularly evident at the longer time points, since the establishment of steady-state condition guaranteed a constant viral concentration close to cells, thus strengthening the efficiency of infection. Finally, we introduced the concept of effective MOI, a more appropriate variable for microfluidic infections that considers the number of adenoviruses in solution per cell at a certain time.