Consumer driven market mechanisms to fight inequality: the case of CSR/product differentiation models with asymmetric information

The bottom up pressure of "concerned" consumers and the rise of "socially responsible" products represents a new market mechanism to fight inequality and promote social inclusion. To analyze the new phenomenon of competition in corporate social responsibility (CSR) amid doubts on consumer tastes and of the effective corporate SR stance we adopt a horizontal differentiation approach in which the Hotelling segment is reinterpreted as the space of product SR characteristics and consumer tastes are uncertain. We find equilibria of the pure location and of the price-location games and show what changes when we move from a duopoly of profit maximizing producers to a mixed duopoly. Our findings illustrate that a nonzero degree of CSR is the optimal choice of profit maximizing corporations under reasonable parametric intervals of consumers’ "costs of ethical distance", corporate cost of CSR and uncertainty about consumer tastes.

Corporate Social Responsibility and Profit Maximizing Behaviour

We examine the behavior of a profit maximizing monopolist in a horizontal differentiation model in which consumers differ in their degree of social responsibility (SR) and consumers SR is dynamically influenced by habit persistence. The model outlines parametric conditions under which (consumer driven) corporate social responsibility is an optimal choice compatible with profit maximizing behavior.corporate social responsibility; profit maximizing monopolist

AUTHENTIC LEADERSHIP OF PRECEPTORS: PREDICTOR OF WORK ENGAGEMENT AND JOB SATISFACTION OF NEW GRADUATE NURSES

The purpose o f this study was to examine the relationships between new graduate nurses’perceptions ofpreceptor authentic leadership (Avolio, Gardner, Walumbwa, Luthans, & May, 2004) and their work engagement andjob satisfaction. A predictive non-experimental survey design was used to test these relationships in a population of Ontario new graduate nurses working in acute care hospitals. The final sample consisted of 170 new graduate nurses (response rate= 39%). Consistent with Avolio et al.’s (2004) assertions: authentic leadership was positively related to work engagement and job satisfaction; authentic leadership and work engagement explained 20% o f the variance in job satisfaction; and work engagement was found to partially mediate the relationship between authentic leadership and job satisfaction. These results offer nurse educators and administrators a theoretical basis for creating preceptors preparatory programs that facilitate the development o f preceptors’ authentic leadership; thus improving the work engagement and job satisfaction o f new graduate nurses

Cannabinoids in the treatment of epilepsy: current status and future prospects

Cannabidiol (CBD) is one of the prominent phytocannabinoids found in Cannabis sativa, differentiating from Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) for its non-intoxicating profile and its antianxiety/antipsychotic effects. CBD is a multi-target drug whose anti-convulsant properties are supposed to be independent of endocannabinoid receptor CB1 and might be related to several underlying mechanisms, such as antagonism on the orphan GPR55 receptor, regulation of adenosine tone, activation of 5HT1A receptors and modulation of calcium intracellular levels. CBD is a lipophilic compound with low oral bioavailability (6%) due to poor intestinal absorption and high first-pass metabolism. Its exposure parameters are greatly influenced by feeding status (ie, high fatcontaining meals). It is mainly metabolized by cytochrome P 450 (CYP) 3A4 and 2C19, which it strongly inhibits. A proprietary formulation of highly purified, plant-derived CBD has been recently licensed as an adjunctive treatment for Dravet syndrome (DS) and Lennox-Gastaut syndrome (LGS), while it is being currently investigated in tuberous sclerosis complex. The regulatory agencies’ approval was granted based on four pivotal double-blind, placebocontrolled, randomized clinical trials (RCTs) on overall 154 DS patients and 396 LGS ones, receiving CBD 10 or 20 mg/kg/day BID as active treatment. The primary endpoint (reduction in monthly seizure frequency) was met by both CBD doses. Most patients reported adverse events (AEs), generally from mild to moderate and transient, which mainly consisted of somnolence, sedation, decreased appetite, diarrhea and elevation in aminotransferase levels, the last being documented only in subjects on concomitant valproate therapy. The interaction between CBD and clobazam, likely due to CYP2C19 inhibition, might contribute to some AEs, especially somnolence, but also to CBD clinical effectiveness. Cannabidivarin (CBDV), the propyl analogue of CBD, showed anti-convulsant properties in pre-clinical studies, but a plant-derived, purified proprietary formulation of CBDV recently failed the Phase II RCT in patients with uncontrolled focal seizures

Banche Dati Esterne/1 : InfoCamere

WrapperPARIX is the new on-line business CILEA-related data acquisition software module. Developed on .NET platform, the module can establish a connection with the data bank of Business Register managed by Infocamere. The data access occurs through the PARIX service, that offers a simple and efficient XML-based communication protocol.WrapperPARIX è un modulo software per l’acquisizione on-line dei dati delle imprese di interesse per il CILEA. Sviluppato completamente su piattaforma .NET, il nuovo modulo può connettersi alla banca dati del Registro Imprese gestita da Infocamere. L’accesso avviene tramite il servizio PARIX – Porta Applicativa Registro Imprese XML, che ci mette a disposizione un protocollo di comunicazione chiaro ed efficiente basato su XML

Corporate social responsibility and profit maximising behaviour under consumer tastes uncertainty

We extend the traditional horizontal differentiation models to the analysis of firm location into the space of corporate social responsibility (CSR) in presence of consumers with heterogeneous tastes and willingness to pay for it. We find that nonzero corporate social responsibility, even when modelled as a pure cost, may be an optimal choice for profit maximising producers is conditional to CSR costs, consumers’ sensitiveness for CSR and uncertainty about consumer tastes

A single learning activity for large interprofessional group can boost the perception of value of interprofessional education

Introduction. The interprofessional education activity consisted in a single 4 hours meeting and it was built on three theoretical pillars: the framework of Core Competencies for Interprofessional Collaborative Practice (IPEC), Kolb’s model of experiential learning, and Vygotsky’s concept of social learning. The objectives of the activity were to enable students to identify the elements of IPEC framework in a healthcare situation and to show awareness of the value of interprofessional collaborative practice. Materials and methods. The meeting was composed by different phases: introduction and sharing of objectives and methods, followed by two cycles of short lecture, small group activity and large group discussion. At the beginning and at the end of the meeting, a questionnaire with items exploring students’ attitude on interprofessional collaboration was administered. A questionnaire of satisfaction was also administered at the end of the meeting. Eighty-four students at the last year of different degree course of health care professions (nursing, midwifery, psychiatric rehabilitation) joined the meeting. Results. The pre-post test mean values for the items of the questionnaire of assessment significantly increased for all students. The Cronbach alpha value of the questionnaire was 0.75, indicating an acceptable level of internal reliability. The scores of the satisfaction questionnaire were largely positive. Conclusion. This study shows that single learning activity for a large interprofessional group can be effective in increasing a positive attitude and provides some data on students' perceptions on interprofessional learning in an Italian context.Introduction. The interprofessional education activity consisted in a single 4 hours meeting and it was built on three theoretical pillars: the framework of Core Competencies for Interprofessional Collaborative Practice (IPEC), Kolb’s model of experiential learning, and Vygotsky’s concept of social learning. The objectives of the activity were to enable students to identify the elements of IPEC framework in a healthcare situation and to show awareness of the value of interprofessional collaborative practice. Materials and methods. The meeting was composed by different phases: introduction and sharing of objectives and methods, followed by two cycles of short lecture, small group activity and large group discussion. At the beginning and at the end of the meeting, a questionnaire with items exploring students’ attitude on interprofessional collaboration was administered. A questionnaire of satisfaction was also administered at the end of the meeting. Eighty-four students at the last year of different degree course of health care professions (nursing, midwifery, psychiatric rehabilitation) joined the meeting. Results. The pre-post test mean values for the items of the questionnaire of assessment significantly increased for all students. The Cronbach alpha value of the questionnaire was 0.75, indicating an acceptable level of internal reliability. The scores of the satisfaction questionnaire were largely positive. Conclusion. This study shows that single learning activity for a large interprofessional group can be effective in increasing a positive attitude and provides some data on students' perceptions on interprofessional learning in an Italian context

Unit Managers’ Authentic Leadership, Staff Nurses’ Work Attitudes and Behaviours, and Outcomes of Care: A Structural Equation Model

Nursing leadership is fundamental in the development of positive work attitudes and behaviours among staff nurses, and the provision of high quality patient care. Although direct empirical links were well established, there was a lack of research testing the indirect effects of leadership on nurses and patients. As such, it was proposed that the concept of authentic leadership could help explain the complex psychological processes that mediated relationships between nurse managers’ leadership, staff nurses’ work attitudes and behaviours, and outcomes of care. The purpose of the present study was to test a model of authentic leadership in a sample of registered nurses, working in acute care hospitals, in Ontario (n=264). The hypothesized model was analyzed using multiple regression and latent variable path analysis. Results did not support the moderating effect of psychological safety; therefore, it was removed from subsequent analysis. Although the structural model achieved good fit in the first iteration [c2 MLR(182)= 295.041, p= \u3c0.001, RMSEA=.049, 90% CI= .038 and .058, SRMR=.083, CFI= .957], the direct effects of authentic leadership on professional identification, professional identification on voice behaviour, and voice behaviour on missed nursing care were non-significant (p\u3e.05). Model modifications were made in a step-wise manner and all non-significant paths were deleted. The final structural model achieved good fit [c2 MLR(131)= 203.829, p= \u3c0.001, RMSEA=.046, 90% CI= .033 and .058, SRMR=.073, CFI= .969] and supported the direct effects of authentic leadership on voice behaviour and job satisfaction, while missed nursing care had significant direct effects on job satisfaction, nurse-assessed quality, and adverse events (p\u3c .001). An alternative model was also tested which achieved good fit [c2 MLR(184)= 272.249, p= \u3c0.001, RMSEA=.043, 90% CI= .031 and .053, SRMR=.078, CFI= .966] and supported the direct effect of authentic leadership on psychological safety and indirect effect of authentic leadership on voice behaviour through psychological safety (β= .188, p\u3c .001). Findings highlighted the importance of developing unit manager’s authentic leadership, thereby nurturing staff nurses’ psychological safety, voice behaviour, and job satisfaction. In addition, attention to the antecedents of missed nursing care may increase nurses’ job satisfaction, decrease adverse events, and improve the quality of patient care

Smoothing Strichartz Estimates for Dispersive Equations Perturbed by a First Order Differential Operator

L’intento di questa tesi e’ quello di presentare in maniera esauriente nuove tecniche sviluppate per risolvere alcuni problemi aperti nel campo delle equazioni alle derivate parziali di tipo iperbolico. Piu’ precisamente vengono dimostrate nuove stime a priori di tipo smoothing-Strichartz utilizzate poi per ottenere stabilita’ per classi di equazioni dispersive ed onde solitarie perturbate da potenziali di tipo magnetico con particolari condizioni di decadimento sui coefficienti del potenziale stesso(short range). Tale tecnica e’ utile anche per trattare perturbazioni di tipo operatore differenziale di ordine uno(come risulta essere un potenziale di tipo magnetico). Vengono altresì dimostrate nuove stime per la ”risolvente libera” e per quella ”perturbata”,utilizzando tecniche che vengono dall’analisi armonica e quella funzionale. Viene anche affrontato il problema degli autovalori per particolari tipi di operatori, con applicazione alla teoria delle risonanze. Nella tesi vengono presentati nuovi risultati pubblicati su riviste di matematica

The impact of lockdown on sleep patterns of children and adolescents with ADHD

STUDY OBJECTIVES: The current study examined the impact of home confinement (lockdown) due to the COVID-19 pandemic on sleep patterns of children and adolescents with ADHD.METHODS: Nine hundred ninety-two parents of children and adolescents with ADHD filled out an anonymous online survey through the ADHD family association website. The survey investigated the sleep patterns and disturbances (using a modified version of the Sleep Disturbance Scale for Children) and screen exposure time before and during the lockdown.RESULTS: During the lockdown, 59.3% of children and 69.4% of adolescents with ADHD reported a change of bedtime with significant increase of ADHD patients that went to sleep at 11pm or later. Sleep duration, in contrast, resulted in two opposing processes with more children and adolescent sleeping either less than 6 hours/night or 10-11 hours/night. Among children and adolescents, respectively, 19.9% and 22% slept less than they did before lockdown, while 21.4% and 27.4% slept more hours. Bedtime delay and decreased sleep duration were associated with an increase in the screen time exposure. Moreover, ADHD patients reported an increase in sleep disturbances when compared to previous condition, including mainly difficulties falling asleep, anxiety at bedtime, night awakenings, nightmares and daytime sleepiness.CONCLUSIONS: The lockdown impacted on sleep-wake rhythms by strengthening the maladaptive sleep patterns reported in usual life conditions in ADHD children