Local Networks to Compete in the Global Era. The Italian SMEs Experience

This study is concerned with the factors that influence the cooperation among cluster-based firms. Theorists have consistently demonstrated the role and importance of economic externalities, such as knowledge spillovers, within industrial clusters. Less attention has been paid to the investigation of social based externalities, though it has been suggested that these may also accrue from geographical agglomeration. This study explores the development of cooperation between firms operating in a single industry sector and in close proximity. The results suggest that social networking has a greater influence than geographic proximity in facilitating inter-firm co-operation. A semi-structured questionnaire has been developed and the answers were analysed with a stepwise regression model.Networks, Inter-Firm Cooperation, SMEs

Does Network Matter in International Expansion? Evidence from Italian SMEs

In order to face the new competitive scenario, Apulian textile firms are involved in a process of change and are trying to adopt a networking approach in analysing the international propensity of SMEs. The case of the textile network in Apulia has been analysed using a semi-structured questionnaire submitted to a sample of family businesses in order to verify the influence of network on their internationalisation process. The contribution that the network can give to the single firm in its internationalisation process depends also on the level of cooperation in the network. In fact, relationships – at least dual vertical relationships – are the key to overcoming size limit and providing value to all the partners involved. The research attempted to offer a better academic understanding of the role of network in international competitive advantage. Future research should be based on cross countries analysis, in order to determine whether or not the set of internal determinants of internationalisation pensity remain stable from one country to another. The findings should also be useful to local governance for a better understanding of the network phenomenon in order to develop appropriate programmes for training and supporting SMEs in the global market. This paper provides a wide analysis of the network role in the internationalisation process in a low technology sector.Internationalisation Strategies, Network Approach

Retail Concentration: The Shopping Streets

Changes in consumer lifestyle strongly affect the retail demand, forcing the distribution system to reorganize and reposition its offer. Shopping proves to be a differentiating “activity”, given that buying behavior is even more characterized by psychological and emotional factors, thus the purchased goods and the stores patronized become lifestyle symbols. However, a dualism between the retail dynamic needs and the existing spatial conditions exists. The former, especially in the case of fashion and shopping goods, requires a strategic position as close to customers as possible, namely huge spaces, attractive locations where the consumer need for experience and entertainment is met. The latter could be modified gradually and partially, determining a location hierarchy that results from wider changes in politics, economy and society. Consequently, all cities are experiencing a renewal process in their shopping “spaces”; retailers are competing for a front space on the streets in order to gain more visibility – through huge and sparkling stores - and “label” their products through values, symbols, and emotional/entertaining experience. This paper investigates the spatial/territorial dimension of consumption, analyzing the concentration phenomenon among shops from the same sector or complementary ones. By exploiting agglomeration economies shops can be positioned in the consumers’ mind, firstly, with the street’s collective image and then with the shop’s specific image. The purpose of this study is to determine the extent to which shopping streets (also referred to as the high street, downtown or city centre) provide retail concentration

Review of Invasive Plant Functional Traits and Management Using Remote Sensing in Sub-Saharan Africa

Biodiversity and sustainable development in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) are considerably impacted by invasive alien plants (IAPs). Increasing plant invasions in SSA threaten agricultural productivity, biodiversity conservation, and other socioeconomic activities, which in turn put the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in peril. In order to effectively combat IAPs, understanding their functional traits (morphological, physiological, and phenological traits) and integrating them into remote sensing (RS) is vital. While functional traits influence IAPs’ fitness to invade and establish in a new geographical range, RS aids in studying them remotely, delineating and mapping them, and predicting their potential invasions. The information on this study topic was gathered by reviewing various existing studies published between 2000 and 2024. Based on this review, it was deduced that the majority of IAPs are fast-growing (or acquisitive), with a shorter leaf lifespan, bigger leaves, and higher plant height, ultimately resulting in a higher resource acquisition ability. We established further that in SSA, there are limited studies on IAP functional traits and their integration in RS. Many studies conducted in the region focus mostly on IAP distribution. Evidence from prior studies revealed that functional trait remote sensing (FTRS)-based research not only improves detection and mapping but also predicts whether a certain alien plant can become invasive or expand its distribution range. Thus, using the FTRS approach could help IAP management in SSA, ultimately achieving the SDGs. Our review discusses IAP implications in SSA (e.g., Angola, Tanzania, Benin, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Zambia, Burundi, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Malawi, etc.) and for the achievement of SDGs; functional traits and their impact on alien invasions; and the importance of incorporating functional traits into RS

MUSKEL#: UN FRAMEWORK PER LA PROGRAMMAZIONE PARALLELA A SKELETON IN C#

La tesi discute il porting dell'ambiente a skeleton MuSkel in ambiente C#. Vengono presentate valutazioni sperimentali relative sia all'ambiente Windows che Linux/Mono. Si descrivono vantaggi e svantaggi di C# rispetto a Java (l'implementazione originale di MuSkel è in Java

A simplified framework for fast and reliable measurement of leaf turgor loss point

Drought tolerance shapes the distribution of plant species, and it is mainly determined by the osmotic potential at full turgor (\u3c00) and the water potential at turgor loss point (\u3a8tlp). We provide a simplified framework for \u3c00 and \u3a8tlp measurements based on osmometer determination of \u3c00 (\u3c00_osm). Specifically, we ran regression models to i) improve the predictive power of the estimation of \u3c00 from \u3c00_osm and morpho-anatomical traits; ii) obtain the most accurate model to predict \u3a8tlp on the basis of the global relationship between \u3c00 and \u3a8tlp. The inclusion of the leaf dry matter content (LDMC), an easy-to-measure trait, in the regression model improved the predictive power of the estimation of \u3c00 from \u3c00_osm. When \u3c00_osm was used as a simple predictor of \u3a8tlp, discrepancies arose in comparison with global relationship between \u3c00 and \u3a8tlp. \u3a8tlp values calculated as a function of the \u3c00 derived from \u3c00_osm and LDMC (\u3c00_fit) were consistent with the global relationship between \u3c00 and \u3a8tlp. The simplified framework provided here could encourage the inclusion of mechanistically sound drought tolerance traits in ecological studies

Evolution of spectra of electrostatic and electromagnetic waves in nonthermal plasmas investigated with use of weak turbulence theory

O objetivo desse trabalho envolve uma aplicação do formalismo da teoria de turbulência fraca para o estudo da evolução conjunta de ondas e partículas, associada a plasmas em situações envolvendo a presença de feixes de partículas. Como objetivo posterior, o estudo se estende e leva em conta características não térmicas na distribuição dos elétrons do plasma de fundo. A justificativa para tal tipo de investigação reside no fato de que plasmas em condições espaciais frequentemente são observados exibindo caudas não térmicas e anisotropias, que não são bem descritas por distribuições Maxwellianas, mas sim por distribuições com caudas do tipo lei de potência, conhecidas de maneira genérica como distribuições "Kappa". No contexto da teoria de turbulência fraca, soluções assintóticas aproximadas, bem como soluções numéricas obtidas usando uma aproximação unidimensional, já mostraram que distribuições Kappa podem ser geradas por processos não lineares, o que contribui para motivar a investigação proposta. A presença de distribuições não térmicas, como as distribuições Kappa, vem sendo observada não só em ambientes naturais, mas também em laboratório, e um estudo mais completo se faz necessário. Para tanto, será apresentada primeiramente uma revisão completa da teoria, que formará as bases para o estudo apresentado. Será mostrada a teoria cinética de plasmas, desde seus aspectos fundamentais. A seguir será discutido o sistema de equações VlasovMaxwell na abordagem quase-linear, enfatizando quais as principais características da teoria. Depois, será feita uma revisão de uma formulação relativamente recente, apresentando as bases para a teoria de turbulência fraca, mencionando termo a termo as principais características. A seguir será apresentada a distribuição de velocidades Kappa, sua origem e principais características, encerrando a revisão da literatura. A seguir serão apresentados resultados obtidos no problema da interação feixe-plasma considerando tanto os elétrons do plasma de fundo quanto do feixe incidente como distribuições maxwellianas. Para tanto, serão utilizados dois cenários para o feixe de partículas: o primeiro considerando um feixe único, alinhado na direção do campo, e o segundo utilizando feixes contrapropagantes. Por fim será abordado o efeito da presença de uma distribuição de velocidades do tipo núcleo-halo, tanto nos espectros iniciais das ondas L, S quanto no espectro assintótico das ondas T do plasma. E, como encerramento, serão apresentados efeitos da presença inicial de uma distribuição do tipo núcleo-halo sobre a evolução temporal dos espectros das ondas e das funções de distribuição de velocidades, bem como a evolução dos espectros de emissão do plasma.The objective of this work involves an application of the formalism of the weak turbulence theory to the study of time evolution of waves and particles, associated with plasmas in situations involving the presence of particle beams. As a later objective, the study extends and takes into account non-thermal characteristics in the distribution of electrons in the background plasma. The justification for this type of investigation lies in the fact that plasmas in spatial conditions are often observed exhibiting non-thermal tails and anisotropies, which are not well described by Maxwellian distributions, but by distributions with power law type tails, known in a different way, like Kappa distributions. In the context of weak turbulence theory, approximate asymptotic solutions, as well as numerical solutions obtained using a one-dimensional approximation, have already shown that Kappa distributions can be generated by non-linear processes, which contributes to motivate the proposed investigation. The presence of non-thermal distributions, such as Kappa distributions, has been observed not only in natural environments, but also in the laboratory, and a more complete study is necessary. To this end, a complete review of the theory will be presented first, which will form the basis for the study presented. Plasma kinetic theory will be shown, from its fundamental aspects. Next, the Vlasov-Maxwell system of equations will be discussed in the quasilinear approach, emphasizing the main characteristics of the theory. Then, a review of a relatively recent formulation will be made, presenting the bases for the theory of weak turbulence, mentioning the main characteristics term by term. Next, the Kappa distribution, its origin and main characteristics will be presented, ending the literature review. Next, results obtained in the beam-plasma interaction problem will be presented considering both background electrons and incident beam as Maxwellian distributions. For this purpose, two scenarios will be used for the particle beam: the first considering a single beam, aligned in the direction of the field, and the second using counterpropagating beams. Finally, the effect of the presence of a function distribution of the nucleo-halo type will be addressed, both in the initial spectra of the waves L, S and in the asymptotic spectrum of the waves T of the plasma. And as a closure, the effects of the initial presence of a core-halo distribution on the time evolution of the wave spectra and distribution functions will be presented, as well as the evolution of the plasma emission spectra

First record of naturalization of Erechtites hieraciifolius (L.) Raf. ex DC. (Asteraceae) in Italy

The plant species Erechtites hieraciifolius (Asteraceae) is here reported for the first time in Italy as a naturalized neophyte in the Classical Karst. The species was observed in 2023 in post-fire forest areas burnt by wildfires in the summer 2022. The features of findings suggest for a naturalization of the species with putative invasive character. This novel occurrence highlights the need for additional research to better understand its colonization and expansion, suggesting the need of early eradication actions