Strategia e scelte di marca nei mercati internazionali. Il caso dell'olio toscano

Quello che andremo ad indagare in questo lavoro è come procedere nel momento in cui un’azienda vuole proporsi e proporre un proprio prodotto nel mercato internazionale; quali passi devono essere fatti e quali strategie alternative possono essere scelte. Nello specifico, andremo ad analizzare la costruzione dell’identità di marca e le scelte di marca possibili. Per rendere più agevole la comprensione di questo percorso, esso è stato suddiviso in due sezioni: una prima parte dedicata agli elementi teorici ed una seconda parte nella quale questi elementi trovano applicazione in un caso pratico. Nella parte I, dedicata alle nozioni teoriche, andremo, infatti, ad analizzare il ruolo della marca ed il suo valore sia per i consumatori, ai quali essa permette di orientarsi nel mercato, sia per l’azienda stessa, per la quale essa costituisce uno dei beni intangibili più importanti e più remunerativi. La marca per esistere, però, ha bisogno di un passaggio iniziale fondamentale che è quello della sua costruzione; andremo, perciò, a vedere cosa significa e come è possibile creare una forte identità di marca (brand identity) per una nuova compagnia, prendendo in esame il modello PCDL, che illustra teoricamente i passaggi per arrivare ad una definizione chiara. Successivamente focalizzeremo la nostra attenzione sulle possibili scelte di marca che possono essere adottate per entrare nei mercati internazionali. Per fare questo andremo ad indagare gli aspetti relativi alla scelta di un marchio globale, al tipo di segmentazione del mercato da adottare ed alle decisioni relative al posizionamento del prodotto. Nella parte II, invece, ci dedicheremo al caso pratico, sulla base delle nozioni teoriche appena enunciate. Andremo, infatti, ad analizzare il caso dell’olio extravergine di oliva toscano Ventiterre. Esso tratta proprio della scelta di una nuova compagnia toscana, nata dalla fusione di due affermate società cooperative presenti sul territorio, di inserirsi nei mercati internazionali con questo nuovo prodotto. Per questo motivo sarà presente una parte dedicata al contesto nel quale si situa questo progetto, relativa quindi allo scenario economico mondiale, al mondo cooperativo toscano, ai dati sulla produzione e sul consumo dell’olio. Si passerà poi alla descrizione del processo di costruzione d’identità di Ventiterre ed, infine, alle scelte più idonee riguardo al tipo di marchio da adottare e ad alcune indicazioni conseguenti all’analisi di alcuni tra i più importanti mercati esteri. Lo scopo di questo studio è quello di fornire un quadro esauriente sul tema della marca, in particolare andando ad indagare gli aspetti relativi alle possibili scelte da intraprendere nel momento in cui essa decida di puntare ai mercati internazionali

Variance bounds for a class of biochemical reactions with bursts using a discrete expansion

We consider the problem of quantifying the variance in the number of molecules of a species, in biochemical reactions with nonlinear reaction rates. We address this problem for a particular configuration where a species is formed with bursts, with a nonlinear rate that depends on another spontaneously formed species. By making use of an appropriately formulated expansion based on the Newton series, in conjunction with spectral properties of the master equation, we derive an analytical expression that provides a hard bound for the variance. We also show that this bound is exact when the propensities are linear. Furthermore, numerical simulations demonstrate that this is very close to the actual variance.ERC starting grant 67977

Numerical Simulation of Whitecaps and Foam Effects on Satellite Altimeter Response

The determination of wave height by active satellite remote sensing, be it Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) or altimeter, has been a common practice for many years and is now imbedded on many meteorological and oceanographic forecasting systems. Despite their differences, all active sensors are based on the measurement of the Normalized Radar Cross Section (NRCS) of the sea surface, i.e., of its backscattering properties, which in turn depend on the wind velocity. At small and moderate wind speeds, the main mechanism is the formation of ripples (small scale waves

Simulating Flows with SPH: Recent Developments and Applications

The chapter discusses recent theoretical developments and practical applications of the Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH) method with specific concern to liquids. SPH is a meshless Lagrangian technique for the approximate integration of spatial derivatives, using particle interpolation over a compact support, without the usage of a structured grid. Its main related advantage is the capability of simulating the computational domain with large deformations and high discontinuities, bearing no numerical diffusion because advection terms are directly evaluated. SPH has recently become very popular for the simulation of fluid motion using computers, covering different fields, e.g. free surface flows, multiphase flows, turbulence modelling. In the following, recent theoretical achievements of SPH are firstly presented, concerning (1) numerical schemes for approximating governing equations, such as the Navier Stokes ones, most widely adopted in fluid dynamics, (2) smoothing or kernel function properties needed to perform the function approximation to the Nth order, (3) restoring consistency of kernel and particle approximation, yielding the SPH approximation accuracy. Secondly computation aspects related to the neighbourhood definition are discussed. Field variables, such as particle velocity or density, are evaluated by smoothing interpolation of the corresponding values over the nearest neighbour particles located inside a cut-off radius “rc”. The generation of a neighbour list at each time step takes a considerable portion of CPU time. Straightforward determination of which particles are inside the interaction range requires the computation of all pair-wise distances, a procedure whose computational time would be of the order O(N2), and therefore unpractical for large domains. Finally, some practical applications are presented, primariliy concerning free surface flows. The capability to easily handle large deformation is shown

Numerical wave interaction with tetrapods breakwater

ABSTRACT: The paper provides some results of a new procedure to analyze the hydrodynamic aspects of the interactions between maritime emerged breakwaters and waves by integrating CAD and CFD. The structure is modeled in the numerical domain by overlapping individual three-dimensional elements (Tetrapods), very much like the real world or physical laboratory testing. Flow of the fluid within the interstices among concrete blocks is evaluated by integrating the RANS equations. The aim is to investigate the reliability of this approach as a design tool. Therefore, for the results' validation, the numerical run-up and reflection effects on virtual breakwater were compared with some empirical formulae and some similar laboratory tests. Here are presented the results of a first simple validation procedure. The validation shows that, at present, this innovative approach can be used in the breakwater design phase for comparison between several design solutions with a significant minor cost. KEY WORDS: Volume of Fluid (VOF), Wave, Run up, Reflection, Rubble mound, Numerical simulations, Tetrapod Flow 3D®, RANS equation

A CFD approach to rubble mound breakwater design

The paper provides some developments of a numerical approach ("Numerical Calculation of Flow Within Armour Units", FWAU) to the design of rubble mound breakwaters. The hydrodynamics of wave induced flow within the interstices of concrete blocks is simulated by making use of advanced, but well tested, CFD techniques to integrate RANS equations.While computationally very heavy, FWAU is gaining ground, due to its obvious advantages over the "porous media", i.e. the possibility of accounting for the highly non stationary effects, the reduced need of ad hoc calibration of filtration parameters and also – in perspective – the evaluation of hydrodynamic forces on single blocks. FWAU however is a complex technique, and in order to turn it into a practical design tool, a number of difficulties have to be overcome.The paper presents recent results about this validation, as well as insight into fluid dynamical aspects. Keywords: Numerical simulation, Breakwaters, Run up, Reflection, Rubble moun

Wave run-up prediction and observation in a micro-tidal beach

Abstract. Extreme weather events bear a significant impact on coastal human activities and on the related economy. Forecasting and hindcasting the action of sea storms on piers, coastal structures and beaches is an important tool to mitigate their effects. To this end, with particular regard to low coasts and beaches, we have developed a computational model chain based partly on open-access models and partly on an ad-hoc-developed numerical calculator to evaluate beach wave run-up levels and flooding. The offshore wave simulations are carried out with a version of the WaveWatch III model, implemented by CCMMMA (Campania Centre for Marine and Atmospheric Monitoring and Modelling – University of Naples Parthenope), validated with remote-sensing data. The waves thus computed are in turn used as initial conditions for the run-up calculations, carried out with various empirical formulations; the results were finally validated by a set of specially conceived video-camera-based experiments on a micro-tidal beach located on the Ligurian Sea. Statistical parameters are provided on the agreement between the computed and observed values. It appears that, while the system is a useful tool to properly simulate beach flooding during a storm, empirical run-up formulas, when used in a coastal vulnerability context, have to be carefully chosen, applied and managed, particularly on gravel beaches

Transforming activities of Chlamydia pneumoniae in human mesothelial cells

Knowledge in viral oncology has made considerable progress in the field of cancer fight. However, the role of bacteria as mediators of oncogenesis has not yet been elucidated. As cancer still is the leading cause of death in developed countries, understanding the long-term effects of bacteria has become of great importance as a possible means of cancer prevention. This study reports that Chlamydia pneumoniae infection induce transformation of human mesothelial cells. Mes1 cells infected with C. pneumoniae at a multiplicity of infection of 4 inclusion-forming units/cell showed many intracellular inclusion bodies. After a 7-day infection an increased proliferative activity was also observed. Real-time PCR analysis revealed a strong induction of calretinin, Wilms’ tumour gene 1, osteopontin, matrix metalloproteinases-2, and  membrane-type 1 metalloproteinases gene expression in Mes1 cell, infected for a longer period (14 days). The results were confirmed by western blot analysis. Zymography analysis showed that C. pneumoniae modulated the in-vitro secretion of MMP-2 in Mes1 cells both at 7 and 14 days. Cell invasion, as measured by matrigel-coated filter, increased after 7 and 14 days infection with C. pneumoniae, compared with uninfected Mes1 cells. The results of this study suggest that C. pneumoniae infection might support cellular transformation, thus increasing lung cancer risk. [Int Microbiol 2014; 17(4):185-193]Keywords: Chlamydia pneumoniae · cytotoxicity · human mesothelial cells · cellular transformation · tumoral marker

Neuromotor Rehabilitation and Cognitive Outcomes in Patients with Traumatic Brain Injury through the Method BAPNE

After the acute phase of hospitalization, patients with severe brain injury, requiring interventions in health and social care in the long term: the work of rehabilitators is to facilitate the recovery of several disorders caused by trauma and involves all possible areas to return the patient to full functionality within the autonomy and satisfaction of basic needs, and psychological support they need.The recent use of body percussion through BAPNE method in neurorehabilitation offers the possibility of studying the development of motor skills, attention, coordination, memory and social interaction of patients with neurological diseases.The experimental protocol involves 52 patients with GCA selected on the basis of shared and structured requirements.The trial will provide the coaching protocol BAPNE (in two weekly sessions of 50 minutes to a maximum of 10 weeks in a group of patients), to the traditional rehabilitation activities. The control group will continue to perform exclusively the cognitive and neuromotor rehabilitation according to traditional protocols.All subjects will be: monitored the levels of cortisol in-time 0 - 75-180 days; recorded beats per minute through a heart rate monitor on your wrist; through the use of Lybra (equilibrium) and Kimeja (virtual reality) will be recorded data regarding the ability to adjust the balance of the patient in standing and sitting using the visual input and data relating to the patient's ability to coordinate fine motor skills in a virtual environment; through the administration of neuropsychological tests (HADS, NPI) will be detected improvements in mood and behavioral disturbances in the regression if available. At 6 months after administration of the protocol is expected to re-test to assess if present, the maintenance of the effects of rehabilitation obtained. The research is led by three neurologists from the center of neurorehabilitation Fondazione Roboris ASL RME in Rome