Local firms’ strategies and cluster coopetition in Tuscany: the case of “Toscana Promozione” Agency

This study examines a new paradigm of coopetition strategy emerged in Tuscany, one of the most famous Italian area in the world for cultural and economic heritage. Nowadays, global success in business requires that firms implement both competitive and cooperative strategies (i.e. coopetition). This strategy, according to Ray Noorda (the founder of Novell – an American multinational software and services company headquartered in Provo, Utah), considers the advantages arising when both cooperation and competition coexist in the same domains. In the last twenty years, articles related to coopetition investigated several aspect of this strategy; in contrast, industry level coopetition has been investigated less than the other features (Rusko, 2011). Giving the literature review, there is a lack in knowledge regarding the benefits of coopetition fostered by local governments with foreign governments. This study presents a new approach of industry-level coopetition through the qualitative case study of the economic promotion agency in Tuscany, Toscana Promozione. The paper presents a new paradigm of coopetition strategy in where firms are in a coopetition relationship with foreign competitors (and governments) thanks to the support of local authorities. The main result of the research is that the boundary between institution and entrepreneur must be clear, government and local authorities must enforce competitiveness to improve the environment in which firms cooperate with the institution and compete each other with their own strategy. However during economic downturn periods, government and local authorities should, also, consider the possibility to become promoter, and supporter, of emerging entrepreneurship

Local firms’ strategies and cluster coopetition in Tuscany: the case of “Toscana Promozione” Agency

This study examines a new paradigm of coopetition strategy emerged in Tuscany, one of the most famous Italian area in the world for cultural and economic heritage. Nowadays, global success in business requires that firms implement both competitive and cooperative strategies (i.e. coopetition). This strategy, according to Ray Noorda (the founder of Novell – an American multinational software and services company headquartered in Provo, Utah), considers the advantages arising when both cooperation and competition coexist in the same domains. In the last twenty years, articles related to coopetition investigated several aspect of this strategy; in contrast, industry level coopetition has been investigated less than the other features (Rusko, 2011). Giving the literature review, there is a lack in knowledge regarding the benefits of coopetition fostered by local governments with foreign governments. This study presents a new approach of industry-level coopetition through the qualitative case study of the economic promotion agency in Tuscany, Toscana Promozione. The paper presents a new paradigm of coopetition strategy in where firms are in a coopetition relationship with foreign competitors (and governments) thanks to the support of local authorities. The main result of the research is that the boundary between institution and entrepreneur must be clear, government and local authorities must enforce competitiveness to improve the environment in which firms cooperate with the institution and compete each other with their own strategy. However during economic downturn periods, government and local authorities should, also, consider the possibility to become promoter, and supporter, of emerging entrepreneurship

Unstructured Handwashing Recognition using Smartwatch to Reduce Contact Transmission of Pathogens

Current guidelines from the World Health Organization indicate that the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, which results in the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), is transmitted through respiratory droplets or by contact. Contact transmission occurs when contaminated hands touch the mucous membrane of the mouth, nose, or eyes so hands hygiene is extremely important to prevent the spread of the SARSCoV-2 as well as of other pathogens. The vast proliferation of wearable devices, such as smartwatches, containing acceleration, rotation, magnetic field sensors, etc., together with the modern technologies of artificial intelligence, such as machine learning and more recently deep-learning, allow the development of accurate applications for recognition and classification of human activities such as: walking, climbing stairs, running, clapping, sitting, sleeping, etc. In this work, we evaluate the feasibility of a machine learning based system which, starting from inertial signals collected from wearable devices such as current smartwatches, recognizes when a subject is washing or rubbing its hands. Preliminary results, obtained over two different datasets, show a classification accuracy of about 95% and of about 94% for respectively deep and standard learning techniques

Multi-Swap kk-Means++

The $k$-means++ algorithm of Arthur and Vassilvitskii (SODA 2007) is often the practitioners' choice algorithm for optimizing the popular $k$-means clustering objective and is known to give an $O(\log k)$-approximation in expectation. To obtain higher quality solutions, Lattanzi and Sohler (ICML 2019) proposed augmenting $k$-means++ with $O(k \log \log k)$ local search steps obtained through the $k$-means++ sampling distribution to yield a $c$-approximation to the $k$-means clustering problem, where $c$ is a large absolute constant. Here we generalize and extend their local search algorithm by considering larger and more sophisticated local search neighborhoods hence allowing to swap multiple centers at the same time. Our algorithm achieves a $9 + \varepsilon$ approximation ratio, which is the best possible for local search. Importantly we show that our approach yields substantial practical improvements, we show significant quality improvements over the approach of Lattanzi and Sohler (ICML 2019) on several datasets.Comment: NeurIPS 202

Introduction

Theatre can be an important instrument of political and cultural resistance in difficult economical and social contexts, it can allow viewers to regain a sense of community. This issue, which arises from the international conference “Politiche del teatro” (held at the University of Milan on 28th and 29th November 2017, as a conclusion of the Creative Europe Project “Senses: The Sensory Theater”), aims to identify the specific forms that the political discourse assumes today in theatre and the aesthetic paradigms to which it refers

Bipolar disorder in late life: clinical characteristics in a sample of older adults admitted for manic episode

BACKGROUND: Although manic episodes in older adults are not rare, little published data exist on late-life manic episodes. Resistance to treatment and concomitant neurological lesions are frequent correlates of elderly mania. The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of hospitalizations due to mania in patients older than 64 years through a period of 5 years in an Italian public psychiatric ward. Moreover, we aimed at describing clinical presentation of elderly manic episodes. METHODS: A retrospective chart review was conducted in order to describe clinical presentation of 20 elderly patients hospitalized for manic episode; moreover, we compared age at onset, the presence of family history for mood disorders, psychosis and irritability between the elderly group and a matched group of 20 younger manic inpatients. RESULTS: Seven percent of the whole inpatient elderly people suffered from mania. Half of those patients had a mood disorder age at onset after 50 years and 5 patients were at their first manic episode. Geriatric- and adulthood mania showed similar clinical presentation but younger people had more frequently a mood disorders family history. CONCLUSION: Half of our older manic inpatients consisted of "classic" bipolar patients with an extension of clinical manifestations into later life; the other half of our sample was heterogeneous, even though it was not possible to identify clearly which patients may have had vascular lesions related to the onset of mania

Emerging perspectives on laminopathies

Giovanna Lattanzi,1,2 Sara Benedetti,3 Maria Rosaria D'Apice,4 Lorenzo Maggi,5 Nicola Carboni,6 Emanuela Scarano,7 Luisa Politano8 1National Research Council of Italy, Institute for Molecular Genetics (CNR-IGM), Unit of Bologna, 2Rizzoli Orthopedic Institute, Laboratory of Musculoskeletal Cell Biology, Bologna, 3Laboratory of Clinical Molecular Biology and Cytogenetics, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, 4Fondazione Policlinico Tor Vergata, Rome, 5Neuromuscular Diseases and Neuroimmunology Unit, IRCCS Neurological Institute C Besta, Milan, 6Division of Neurology, Hospital San Francesco, Nuoro, 7Pediatric Endocrinology and Rare Diseases Unit, Department of Pediatrics, S Orsola-Malpighi University Hospital, University of Bologna, Bologna, 8Department of Experimental Medicine, Cardiomyology and Medical Genetics, Second University of Naples, Naples, Italy Abstract: Laminopathies are a group of inherited disorders caused by mutations in the lamin A/C gene, and can affect diverse organs or tissues, or can be systemic, causing premature aging. In the present review, we report on the composition and structure of the nuclear lamina and the role of lamins in nuclear mechanics and their involvement in human diseases, and provide some examples of laminopathies and current therapeutic approaches. Keywords: lamin A/C, emerin, laminopathies, Emery–Dreifuss muscular dystrophy, Hutchinson–Gilford progeri

Studies on the recovery of the decorated surfaces of the architecture of the facades of the Cavallerizza and the Castle of San Giorgio in the Ducal Palace of Mantua

[EN] The contribution aims to present the path of knowledge on the external surfaces of the Courtyard of the Cavallerizza and the Castle of San Giorgio in Palazzo Ducale in Mantua, the subject of an upcoming conservation project. In particular, the results emerged through the autopsy and stratigraphic survey of areas selected by sample, relating to the technique of execution and the constituent materials of the finishes. From this survey, the characteristics of the original structure have been defined so as to have a clear relationship with respect to integration or degradation. At the same time, following specific evidence and to support the cognitive operations carried out in situ, in-depth diagnostic investigations were carried out in order to support and clarify the contents detected previously by interpreting the scientific data on the nature of the materials and the degradation present. The re-elaboration and critical analysis of the data acquired through various in-depth techniques, as well as providing indications for intervening on the causes of degradation, has supported the designers in the development of intervention methods and in the choice of the most suitable materials for conservation, based on the state of conservation of the nearby areas and the interfaces with the substrate. The scientific data have been compared with the historiographic information in order to have an objective comparison.Appolonia, L.; Ceriotti, M.; Lattanzi, D.; Mazzeri, A.; Scala, B. (2020). Studi sul recupero delle superfici decorate dell’architettura delle facciate della Cavallerizza e del Castello di San Giorgio in Palazzo Ducale di Mantova. Editorial Universitat Politècnica de València. 1475-1484. https://doi.org/10.4995/FORTMED2020.2020.11496OCS1475148

Ziprasidone as Adjunctive Therapy in Severe Bipolar Patients Treated with Clozapine

Aim. To confirm the efficacy and tolerability of ziprasidone as adjunctive therapy in bipolar patients partially responding to clozapine or with persisting negative symptoms, overweight, or with metabolic syndrome. Methods. Eight patients with psychotic bipolar disorder were tested with the BPRS, the HAM-D, and the CGI at T0 and retested after 2 weeks (T1). Plasma clozapine and norclozapine levels and BMI were tested at T0 and T1. Results. Ziprasidone was well tolerated by all the patients. BPRS and HAM-D scores were reduced in all patients. BMI was reduced in patients with a BMI at T0 higher than 25. Plasma levels of clozapine and norclozapine showed an irregular course