Price indicators for Airbnb accommodations

New forms of hospitality grew increasingly more popular and successful during the last decades. Nowadays, they are chosen for different reasons, one of the most important certainly being price. Understanding the elements that can impact on price determination is crucial to increase profitability. We propose two price indicators for Airbnb accommodations, which are defined in three phases using proportional odds model as a reference model. The first phase focuses on the probability estimation of accommodations belonging to a specific class of price. The second phase aims to evaluate the ability of the model to make good predictions by computing three different indexes. Finally, the three indexes are combined to define the indicators q and r which evaluate, respectively, the impact that six different dimensions (transports, culture, crowd, property, management, and time) have with respect to price determination on Airbnb accommodations and their relative importance concerning neighborhoods. The analysis is focused on 61 neighborhoods of Rome. The findings show differences with respect to the impact of the dimensions on price for each neighborhood of Rome

VGLM proportional odds model to infer hosts’ Airbnb performance

We investigated aspects of host activities that influence and enhance host performance in an effort to achieve best results in terms of the occupancy rate and the overall rating. The occupancy rate measures the percentage of reserved days with respect to available days. The overall rating identifies the satisfaction level of guests that booked an Airbnb accommodation. We used the proportional odds model to estimate the impact of the managerial variables and the characteristics of the accommodation on host performance. Five different levels of the occupancy and the overall rating were investigated to understand which features impact them and support the effort to move from the lowest to the highest level. The analysis was carried out for Italy’s most visited cities: Rome, Milan, Venice, and Florence. We focused on the year 2016. Moreover, we investigated different impact levels in terms of the overall rating during the COVID-19 pandemic to evaluate possible differences. Our findings show the relevance of some variables, such as the number of reviews, services, and typology of the rented accommodation. Moreover, the results show differences among cities and in time for the relevant impact of the COVID-19 pandemic

Chapter Using eye-tracking to evaluate the viewing behavior on tourist landscapes

Every tourist website employs images to attract potential tourists. In particular, destination tourism websites use environmental images, such as landscapes, to attract the attention of tourists and to address their purchase choice. Nowadays the effectiveness of these tools has been enhanced by the use of eye-tracking technology. That allows measuring the exact eye position during the visualization of images, texts, or other visual stimuli. Consequently, eye-tracking data can be processed to obtain quantitative measures of viewing behavior that can be analyzed for several purposes in many fields such as to cluster consumers, to improve the effectiveness of a website and for neuroscience studies. This work is aimed to use eye-tracking technology to investigate user behavior according to different types of images (e.g. natural landscapes, city landscapes). Specifically, we compare different statistical descriptive tools with supervised and unsupervised models. Furthermore, we discuss the effectiveness of their results and their capacity to provide satisfactory and interpretable solutions that can be used by decision-makers

Target motion estimation via a multistatic FSR

The focus of this paper is on the estimation of the kinematic parameters of moving targets via a MIMO Forward Scatter Radar (FSR) system. A sub-optimum estimation technique is considered that exploits the information concerning the time instants at which the target crosses the individual baselines to retrieve the motion parameters. The accuracy of such technique is firstly investigated from a theoretical point of view and then the effectiveness of the proposed approach is demonstrated by applying it to live MIMO FSR data. Shown results prove the practical applicability of the proposed technique

Stabilire connessioni. Vi raccontiamo “Ampio Spettro*”. Un progetto per contrastare l’antibiotico resistenza

A gap seems to exist between clinical guidelines and the prescribing practices of General Practitioners with respect to the use of antibiotics. This is true especially in patients presenting with symptoms and signs of upper respiratory tract infections. The Broad-Spectrum project was established to ad- dress this issue: at the one hand, different research methods are applied to understand the determi- nants of inappropriate prescriptions of antibiotics; at the other hand, a nationwide distance learning course will be distributed among Italian General Practitioners with the aim of changing the actual prescribing habits of physicians, contemporarily addressing uncertainties faced by clinicians when planning their daily work during the COVID-19 pandemic. Further aims of the project are to spread a culture of research and evidence-based teaching among the younger generations of General Practitioners, and to create a group of young professionals trained in medical research and teaching.We want to tell the story of this non-profit experience, carried out by a group of young doctors in training in General Practice - which was characterized by the continuous construction of connections: connections between clinicians and the academy and other institutions and associations such as the National Institute of Health, the Local Medical Boards, the Regional Health Trust of Sardinia and the Italian Society of Medical Education (SIPeM), between research and training, between the communi- cative and clinical aspects General Practice. Two features of this project are valuable. The first is that the identification of problems was done by the involved professionals who sought the methodological and institutional collaboration of others in the healthcare system to collect and analyse data perceived as important for daily practice with patients. The second is the choice of a training that is not flattened on a formalization of traditional teaching but is aimed to foster a change in everyday practice through reflection and independent thinking on the basis of context-specific evidence.Partendo dall’osservazione della distanza esistente tra le indicazioni delle linee guida e la pratica prescrit- tiva dei medici rispetto all’utilizzo degli antibiotici in persone che presentano sintomi/segni da infezioni di grado lieve è stato messo a punto un progetto su due assi: un asse di ricerca che andasse a studiare le cause profonde del problema dell’inappropriata prescrizione di antibiotici e un asse formativo che avesse l’obiettivo di modificare le abitudini prescrittive dei medici. Ciò cercando contemporaneamente di dipanare le grandi incertezze che i clinici devono affrontare quotidianamente nella loro pratica durante la pandemia da COVID-19. Altri obiettivi sono stati diffondere una cultura della ricerca tra le giovani generazioni dei medici di medi- cina generale, e creare un gruppo di giovani professionisti che apprendessero i rudimenti della formazione nel progettare e attuare il percorso formativo stesso. Vogliamo narrare la storia di quest’esperienza no profit, voluta e portata avanti da un gruppo piccolo di giovani medici in formazione in Medicina Generale -che è stata caratterizzata dalla costruzione continua di connessioni: connessioni tra l’area professionale e l’accademia e altre istituzioni come l’Istituto Superiore di Sanità, la ATS Sardegna e SIPeM, tra ricerca e formazione, tra gli aspetti comunicativi del lavoro del medico e quelli clinici. Di pregio in questo progetto due aspetti: il primo è l’individuazione dei problemi sul campo da parte dei professionisti coinvolti e che possano avvalersi, nella raccolta e nell’analisi dei dati, del contributo meto- dologico di istituzioni indipendenti. Il secondo la scelta di una formazione che non sia appiattita su una formalizzazione di didattica tradizionale ma sia rivolta al cambiamento e alla costruzione di un professio- nista capace di riflessione e pensiero indipendente, che lavori sempre sulla base di evidenze contesto specifiche

Passive multifrequency forward-scatter radar measurements of airborne targets using broadcasting signals

This paper demonstrates the feasibility and effectiveness of forward-scatter radar (FSR) target detection based on the signals of opportunity made available by standard radio and TV broadcast transmission stations. This passive FSR (P-FSR) operation is obtained by means of a simple and robust correlation process based on self-mixing. This is shown to be very effective in extracting the characteristic FSR modulation produced by airborne targets, from the signals received from frequency modulated, digital audio broadcasting, and digital video broadcasting transmitters of opportunity. Target detectability is discussed as a function of the carrier frequency, the target size, and its height at the baseline crossing. Experimental results are shown using a wide variety of sources of opportunity, target types, baselines, and receiver configurations. The target signatures obtained from the different illuminators are compared and ways of extracting the kinematic parameters of the aircraft are discussed. This validates the claimed effectiveness and robustness of the P-FSR with the presented processing scheme

Association between Protective and Deleterious HLA Alleles with Multiple Sclerosis in Central East Sardinia

The human leukocyte antigen (HLA) complex on chromosome 6p21 has been unambiguously associated with multiple sclerosis (MS). The complex features of the HLA region, especially its high genic content, extreme polymorphism, and extensive linkage disequilibrium, has prevented to resolve the nature of HLA association in MS. We performed a family based association study on the isolated population of the Nuoro province (Sardinia) to clarify the role of HLA genes in MS. The main stage of our study involved an analysis of the ancestral haplotypes A2Cw7B58DR2DQ1 and A30Cw5B18DR3DQ2. On the basis of a multiplicative model, the effect of the first haplotype is protective with an odds ratio (OR) = 0.27 (95% confidence interval CI 0.13–0.57), while that of the second is deleterious, OR 1.78 (95% CI 1.26–2.50). We found both class I (A, Cw, B) and class II (DR, DQ) loci to have an effect on MS susceptibility, but we saw that they act independently from each other. We also performed an exploratory analysis on a set of 796 SNPs in the same HLA region. Our study supports the claim that Class I and Class II loci act independently on MS susceptibility and this has a biological explanation. Also, the analysis of SNPs suggests that there are other HLA genes involved in MS, but replication is needed. This opens up new perspective on the study of MS

Heroin versus cocaine: opposite choice as a function of context but not of drug history in the rat

Rationale Previous studies have shown that rats trained to self-administer heroin and cocaine exhibit opposite preferences, as a function of setting, when tested in a choice paradigm. Rats tested at home prefer heroin to cocaine whereas rats tested outside the home prefer cocaine to heroin. Here we investigated whether drug history would influence subsequent drug preference in distinct settings. Based on a theoretical model of drug-setting interaction, we predicted that regardless of drug history rats would prefer heroin at home and cocaine outside the home. Methods Rats with double-lumen catheters were first trained to self-administer either heroin (25 μg/kg) or cocaine (400 μg/kg) for 12 consecutive sessions. Twenty-six rats were housed in the self-administration chambers (thus, they were tested at home) whereas 30 rats lived in distinct home cages and were transferred to self-administration chambers only for the self-administration session (thus, they were tested outside the home). The rats were then allowed to choose repeatedly between heroin and cocaine within the same session for 7 sessions. Results Regardless of the training drug, the rats tested outside the home preferred cocaine to heroin whereas the rats tested at home preferred heroin to cocaine. There was no correlation between drug preference and drug intake during the training phase. Conclusion Drug preferences were powerfully influenced by the setting but, quite surprisingly, not by drug history. This suggests that, under certain conditions, associative learning processes and drug-induced neuroplastic adaptations play a minor role in shaping individual preferences for one drug or the other