Shoulders Of Giants Research Articles

Editor's Welcome

It is with great joy and humility that I present to you my first issue of Italica as editor in chief. I know that I am walking on the shoulders of giants like Rudolph Altrocchi, Herbert H. Austin, John Van Horne, Joseph G. Fucilla, Olga Ragusa, Robert J. Rodini, Albert Mancini, Andrea Ciccarelli and Michael Lettieri, in chronological order, who served as editors before me, each of them with newly found opportunities and obstacles, and I am honored for this new charge I have been assigned. But it is also true, and those of you who know me are fully aware of it, that I love challenges. I generally face them with a genuine desire for collaborations and innovations, with attentive care and dedication, and with an unparalleled determination. Leading such an important journal that has delighted our eyes and minds since 1924 could not be possible without the commitment of the associate editors, in alphabetical order, Theodore Cachey, Luca Caminati, Roberto Dainotto, Clorinda Donato, Mark Pietralunga, Colleen Ryan, and Deanna Shemek; book review editor for this issue, Silvia Giovanardi-Byer; our newly-appointed book and media review editors, Jason Laine and Silvia Valisa; and the members of our board, Stefania Buccini, Clodagh Brook, Margherita Heyer Caput, Andrea Ciccarelli, Clarissa Clò, Silvia Contarini, Luca Cottini, Tiziana De Rogatis, Jonathan Druker, Lina Insana, Giuseppe Faustini, Patrizia LaTrecchia, Michael Lettieri, Armando Maggi, Andrea Manganaro, Carla Marello, Deborah Parker, Paolo Proietti, Costanza Quatriglio, Jeffrey Schnapp, Luca Serianni, and Massimo Vedovelli. I am especially indebted to Michael Lettieri who has been ever so patient and kind during this transition and punctually guided me despite his several professional responsibilities. The enthusiasm of these generous colleagues is even more palpable when I think of the voluntary hours spent discussing the direction of the journal, the submissions, and the details of our future publications. Words of gratitude are penned in this issue by Robin Pickering-Iazzi to remember our dear colleague Carole Lazzaro-Weis, who exemplifies such generosity and ongoing intellectual curiosity and legacy. I am also excited to work alongside the editorial staff of Italica's new publisher, the University of Illinois Press. Heather Munson has been instrumental in setting the design and in gathering the material needed to make this issue a reality. I would like to recognize the invaluable, though anonymous, assistance of the peer reviewers (you know who you are). It was a pleasure working with the contributors. Reading their submissions gave me the opportunity of discovering topics and approaches that are not so typical for my fields of research.As with preceding issues, you will notice here a wealth of themes and areas. The journal will continue to encourage and cultivate perspectives on the study of Italian language, literature, culture, media studies, and pedagogy. It will continue to publish high quality material produced by early-career authors as well as senior scholars. Each issue brings you research articles, review articles, and reviews. The new addition is a section freely titled Special Focus. This section will be dedicated to specific writers or filmmakers when there is a fortuitous (or not so fortuitous) high volume of submissions demonstrating notable interest and relevance; at times, it will serve as a venue to celebrate the anniversaries of said artists. Moreover, Italica's faithful readers will also be able to enjoy our first interview in a series of discussions with writers, filmmakers, linguists, and pedagogues. I invite you to read all the contributions as not only important intellectual processes and outcomes but also as tokens of love to the academic profession, with its undying intellectual inquiry. Engage with our authors as you are provided with their contact information. Networking and exchanging ideas is pivotal even in the “cubicles” of research in which scholars are, at times, bound to be confined (these past couple of years more so than ever).I feel privileged to be able to serve as the editor of this internationally renowned journal, and in this role to interact daily with colleagues all over the world, in different institutions and in different fields of study and instruction. Thank you for entrusting me with this precious work. I am just an email away if you need to connect with me. Looking forward to reading together with you all these new issues of Italica.Buona lettura!

On the shoulders of giants? Motives to cite in management research

While citations have been established as a scientific norm used to support assertions and to acknowledge the contribution of past authors, research has widely shown that they are often employed for other motives, such as influencing reviewers, increasing citation rates, or showing erudition. Despite the literature that has accumulated on this topic, a general framework inventorying these motives is still lacking. The objective of this methodological paper is thus to offer such a framework. We propose a typology that classifies these motives into four categories: epistemic, rhetoric, symbolic and economic. Through examples drawn from management research, we then present each of the associated citation practices by distinguishing between their nature and their consequences. We finally inventory the subsequent implications of this analysis, both for scientific production and for the evaluation of this production.

Gynecologic Oncology: On the Shoulders of Giants

AbstractGynecologic oncology is considered a new field, but its roots are buried deep in the past. As with other tumors, the earliest progress in modern times started with anesthesia and surgery. This was followed by landmark achievements in pathology, cytology, radiotherapy, chemotherapy, tumor virology, generation of high-quality evidence, and, more recently, genetics and genomics. Some of the most notable progresses in gynecologic cancers have been made by integrating the expertise of various specialties in multimodality management approaches. In this article we review the most important milestones in the history of gynecologic oncology and acknowledge the contributions of pioneers who made these possible.

"On The Shoulders of Giants": Theoretical Heritage of Sociology Classics for the Analysis of Modern Society

The article analyzes the potential of classical sociological theories for the research of modern societies. It is shown that the reason for the loss of interest in the classical heritage is the spread of vulgar interpretations of sociological postmodernism, radicalizing the rejection of theoretical meta-narratives, as well as presentism in the research attitudes of young sociologists. Using the example of L. Mumford's "megamachine" concept, the heuristic possibilities of sociological classics for understanding social relations in a digital society are shown. There are similarities and differences of the "megamachines" of the past as machine-like social organizations created to maximize human labor, managerial, etc. functions with social connections mediated by digital media. The conclusion is made that the application of the concept of "megamachine" to modern society actualizes an assumption that if in the societies of classical capitalism materialized labor dominated the living (K. Marx), then in a digital society objectified and embodied in symbolic systems and in complex techniques communication, information and intelligence assert their dominance over live communications and social connections.

LINKING LEARNING TO PERFORMANCE—A SALES CASE STUDY: PART 2

THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE is Part 2 of a two-part case study. Part 1 (Torchiana et al., 2021), provided insight into the needs of a global pharmaceutical organization that sought to accelerate the performance of its primary care sales representatives. In that article, the narrative followed the co-authors through our project lifecycle journey: Jaime, the client's Commercial Learning Manager at the time, and Paul, who provided thought leadership, performance analysis, and architecture expertise for the vendor team. Part 2 describes how the co-authors translated the performance analysis results into an accomplishment-based training curriculum, along with additional tools to support high performance throughout the employee lifecycle. The results of the program and the overall impact on the client organization will also be presented. You will encounter “On the Shoulders of Giants” sections that tie the work back to founders in the field of human performance. As we approach the 60th anniversary of the founding of the International Society for Performance Improvement, this is an effort to recognize the rich heritage that allowed this specific project to succeed.

Cryogenic signal amplification combined with helium-temperature MAS DNP toward ultimate NMR sensitivity at high field conditions

The low sensitivity of NMR spectroscopy is of historical concern in the field, and various approaches have been developed to mitigate this limitation. On the shoulder of giants, today one can routinely implement, for example, the pulse/Fourier transform NMR with the cross polarization together with the ultra-low temperature MAS DNP under high-field conditions. We show in this work this current opportunity should further be augmented by combining them with the cryogenic signal amplification. Our presented MAS DNP probe operates with the closed-cycle helium MAS system, and cools the internal preamplifier-duplexer module with the “return” helium gas on its way back to the compressor in the loop. The signal-to-noise (S/N) gain relative to the room-temperature measurements of a factor of 4.6 and 2.4 was found for the measurement using the cold- and room-temperature preamplifier, respectively, at the sample temperature of T = 20 K at B0 = 16.4 T. The ratio of these factors reveals ∼ two-fold sensitivity improvement that results purely from the introduction of the cold signal amplification, i.e., noise reduction. Together with the increase of the thermal Boltzmann polarization at low temperatures, the combined S/N gain of max. ∼70-fold is possible without DNP. The DNP enhancement factor of ∼40 as we found in this work for a microcrystalline MLF sample may be multiplied to this gain. We also demonstrated the sensitivity improvement with a 13C-detected 2D NCaCx spectrum, illustrating the generality of the S/N gain from combining DNP with the cold signal amplification.

On the shoulders of giants: perspectives in minimally invasive reproductive surgery

The purpose of this video is to illustrate the evolution of minimally invasive surgery from the perspectives of several pioneering surgeons in the field of reproductive surgery who, among others, were present during its nascence and exponential growth. Interviews were conducted with five reproductive surgeons who had foundational roles in the innovation of operative laparoscopy and hysteroscopy. Surgeons interviewed include Drs. Victor Gomel, Togas Tulandi, Stephen Corson, Jacques Donnez, and Camran Nezhat. The interviews were conducted using standardized questions and recorded, edited, and grouped both thematically and in sequence to develop an illustration of their perspectives. A diverse array of reproductive surgeons has been instrumental in establishing minimally invasive surgery as a safe and effective means of diagnosing and treating patients with infertility. The transition from laparotomy to laparoscopy consistently has had distinct challenges for each but ultimately led to significant advances in surgical management and improvement in outcomes for patients with infertility and chronic pelvic pain. Through structured interviews from some of our surgical pioneers, they not only recognize their predecessors and contemporaries but also teach us valuable lessons about our history, sparking innovation, and newer surgical applications of reproductive surgery in reproductive endocrinology and infertility practice.

Testing the shoulders of giants—Replication research using registered reports

AbstractThis editorial encourages supply chain management researchers to conduct and submit replication research for publication consideration to the Journal of Supply Chain Management. The Journal is particularly interested in efforts to replicate both recently published papers that have the potential to change the direction of the discipline and highly influential or “seminal” papers in the supply chain management discipline, regardless of where they were initially published. The Journal will be using the registered report process for these submissions to create strong incentives for researchers to conduct replication studies.

The Cognitive-Affective-Motivation Model of Learning (CAMML): Standing on the Shoulders of Giants

The Cognitive-Affective-Motivation Model of Learning (CAMML) is a proposed framework for integrating contemporary motivation, affective (Big 5 personality) and cognitive (CHC theory) constructs in the practice of school psychologists (SPs). The central tenet of this article is that SPs need to integrate motivation alongside affective and cognitive constructs vis-à-vis an updated trilogy-of-the-mind (cognitive, conative, affective) model of intellectual functioning. CAMML builds on Richard Snow’s seminal research on academic aptitudes—which are not synonymous with cognitive abilities. Learning aptitude complexes are academic domain-specific cognitive abilities and personal investment mechanisms (motivation and self-regulation) that collectively produce a student’s readiness to learn in a specific domain. CAMML incorporates the “crossing the Rubicon” commitment pathway model of motivated self-regulated learning. It is recommended SPs take a fresh look at motivation theory, constructs, and research, embedded in the CAMML aptitude framework, by going back-to-the-future guided by the wisdom of giants from the field of cognition, intelligence, and educational psychology.

Mapping Social Policy in Economics Research: An Analysis of Core Journals

This study reviews the attention core economics journals have paid to the topic of social policy and economic performance based on 1,356 articles published between 1957 and 2020 using bibliometric analysis and data visualisation techniques. This approach allow us, based on the assessment of bibliometric data through co-citation, co-authorship and keywords networks analysis, to identify researchers, countries, institutions and research areas and trends offering useful information that facilitates future research and policy making. The emphasis is on the empirical literature given the theoretical controversies on the sign of the relationship and its usefulness for policy making. The most active country publishing in the core journals is the USA, with Sweden leading in terms of average citations. The top publishing authors and institutions are in the US, and China is the only developing country present. Keywords analysis reveals that the most often used terms reflect common methodological approaches. Retirement issues dominate the research agenda and suggest the need for more studies addressing the economic outcomes of other welfare programs, although recent studies put more emphasis on health, education and labour market issues. This analysis can help researchers to pinpoint relevant studies, identify dominant lines of enquiry and the more recently investigated themes and, ‘standing on the shoulders of giants’, suggest new approaches to study the overall nexus.

Disregarding the Shoulders of Giants: Inferences from Innovation Research

Abstract Studies proposing new determinants of corporate innovation include previously identified factors in an ad hoc manner. We find that only a sparse set of recently proposed innovation determinants provide material, independent information about patents and citations. We document that inferences in recent empirical studies often change when we include previously discovered innovation determinants. Commonly used econometric methods, including fixed effects and plausible shocks, do not always mitigate the need to condition on previously identified innovation determinants. Rather than randomly selecting a subset of control variables from prior studies, our analysis offers researchers a framework to consider previously proposed variables. (JEL G30, O30, G32, O34). Authors have furnished an Internet Appendix, which is available on the Oxford University Press Web site next to the link to the final published paper online.

The Tracking Theory of Claim‐Rights

AbstractMy task here is to articulate my own novel hybrid theory of (claim‐)rights, namely, the Tracking Theory of rights. While new, it has historical antecedents. There is nothing (entirely) new under the sun. Its most vivid antecedents come from the fields of epistemology, in particular Robert Nozick's work, and legal philosophy, in particular Gopal Sreenivasan's work. I am happy to stand on the shoulders of giants. Here I want to freshly articulate the theory from the ground up. So the challenge will be to keep the articulation of the Tracking Theory front and centre, but, naturally, indebtedness to Nozick and Sreenivasan will be woven in at multiple junctures. My Tracking Theory will neither stand nor fall with Nozick's. The relation is more subtle. The strategy is to trade on the indubitable subtlety of Nozick's epistemology to capture the structure of a central normative concept.

LINKING LEARNING TO PERFORMANCE—A SALES CASE STUDY: PART 1

In this two-part case study, Part 1 provides the overall context and the performance analysis component of this transformational project to tie learning to quantifiable metrics of performance improvement. The co-authors were involved throughout the total project life cycle, with Jaime serving as the client's Commercial Learning Manager and Paul providing thought leadership, performance analysis, and architecture expertise for the vendor team. Part 2 will describe the second major component of this case study—translating the performance analysis results into an accomplishment-based training curriculum along with additional tools to support high performance. Throughout this two-part case study, you will encounter 'On the Shoulders of Giants’ call-out boxes that tie the work back to founders in the field of human performance. As we approach the 60th anniversary of the founding of ISPI, this is an effort to recognize the rich heritage that allowed this specific project to succeed.

FCC: Building on the shoulders of giants

The plethora of open questions in particle physics, the new chapter opened by the Higgs boson, and the lack of clear theoretical guidance as to where new theory could lie call for a broad and diverse experimental programme boosting the intensity and energy-frontier. The proposed FCC-integrated programme consisting of a luminosity-frontier highest-energy lepton collider followed by an energy-frontier hadron collider promises the most far-reaching particle physics programme that foreseeable technology can deliver. In this essay, particular emphasis is given to the lessons from the predecessor of the LHC, LEP, which was commissioned in 1989 and finished operation in November 2000.

A View from the Shoulders of Giants

Although minimally invasive surgery has reduced postoperative pain and length of hospital stay after right hemicolectomy, identification of anatomic landmarks is critical in ensuring safe technique through the narrow lens of the laparoscope. Well-known anatomical eponyms, such as the fold of Treves and Gerota's fascia, are commonly referenced during the teaching of this procedure when performing mobilization of the right colon off the peritoneal wall and entry into the lesser sac. In addition, there are lesser-known landmarks involved in this procedure, such as the Bouchet area and Fredet's fascia, that facilitate access to the lesser sac and bloodless dissection planes. However, little is usually known about the biographical information of the physicians after whom these landmarks are named. To enhance the teaching of this procedure, the steps involved in a right hemicolectomy with their corresponding eponymous landmarks are narrated alongside the biographical background of each of the physicians after whom they are named.

Intrinsically disordered proteins: Chronology of a discovery

Intrinsic disorder is a new reality that appears to penetrate every corner of modern protein science. It is difficult to imagine that only 20 years ago the situation was completely different, and almost nobody had heard about ‘structure-less’ but functional proteins. As a matter of fact, for many at that time, this idea was completely heretical when viewed in light of the then dominating lock-and-key model describing the protein structure-function relationship, where a unique amino acid sequence defines a unique crystal-like 3D structure that serves as a prerequisite for a unique function of a protein. It seems like the entire field of protein intrinsic disorder has magically emerged at the turn of the century due to a revelation to a small group of researchers. Although this may very well be true, literature shows that the first observations contradicting the lock-and-key view of protein functionality started to appear almost immediately after this model was proposed. The goal of this article is to provide a brief chronology (though admittedly a subjective one) of the events in the field of protein science that eventually culminated in the discovery of the protein intrinsic disorder phenomenon. The entire process represents a good example of the “dwarf standing on the shoulders of giants” (Latin: nanos gigantum humeris insidentes) metaphor, where the truth is discovered by building on previous discoveries.

Standing on the Shoulders of Giants - Your Mentors and Role Models Will Shape Your Career.

Choosing the right mentors and role models has a profound impact in both our lives and professional careers; however, most often, not enough time or thought is given to this important decision. Because of that, we may miss some great opportunities and limit the potential benefits. In this invited contribution, I share my personal experience on nurturing the relationship with mentors and on choosing role models with my same values and a strong sense of service.

Rewinding the Molecular Clock: Looking at Pioneering Molecular Phylogenetics Experiments in the Light of Proteomics

Science is full of overlooked and undervalued research waiting to be rediscovered. Proteomics is no exception. In this perspective, we follow the ripples from a 1960 study of Zuckerkandl, Jones, and Pauling comparing tryptic peptides across animal species. This pioneering work directly led to the molecular clock hypothesis and the ensuing explosion in molecular phylogenetics. In the decades following, proteins continued to provide essential clues on evolutionary history. While technology has continued to improve, contemporary proteomics has strayed from this larger biological context, rarely comparing species or asking how protein structure, function, and interactions have evolved. Here we recombine proteomics with molecular phylogenetics, highlighting the value of framing proteomic results in a larger biological context and how almost forgotten research, though technologically surpassed, can still generate new ideas and illuminate our work from a different perspective. Though it is infeasible to read all research published on a large topic, looking up older papers can be surprisingly rewarding when rediscovering a “gem” at the end of a long citation chain, aided by digital collections and perpetually helpful librarians. Proper literature study reduces unnecessary repetition and allows research to be more insightful and impactful by truly standing on the shoulders of giants. All data was uploaded to MassIVE (https://massive.ucsd.edu/) as dataset MSV000087993.

Richard R. Ernst, August 14, 1933, to June 4, 2021: "Standing on the shoulder of giants".

Richard R. Ernst, August 14, 1933, to June 4, 2021: "Standing on the shoulder of giants".

On the shoulders of giants: uncovering key themes of organizational unlearning research in mainstream management journals

Unlearning has evinced immense traction and opportunity in debates pertaining to organizational learning, innovation, management of change, knowledge management, and new product development, to name but a few. Provided the diversity and expansiveness of the phenomenon, past studies have undertaken both narrative and systematic reviews to synthesize the field of organizational unlearning (OU). Although highly commendable and enlightening, these scholarly efforts would be augmented by contemplating the share of leading management journals towards furthering the research on unlearning. Moreover, a systematic comprehension of the research themes of OU can be instrumental in representing the intellectual structure of the field. For this purpose, we undertake a combination of bibliometric and thematic analysis to identify critical trends that have helped shape unlearning research. The results discern the main scientific actors (articles, authors, journals, universities), research design, and dimensions of OU. In addition, eight clusters of unlearning along with underlying theoretical perspectives are analyzed, which may help scholars integrate the development of one domain to another, formulate pertinent research questions related to OU, and encourage interdisciplinary research.