Mutamenti di paradigma nell\u2019educazione interculturale

Analisi teorica e storica sui mutamenti nell'educazione interculturale. Verso una prospettiva transculturale e la costruzione di un curricolo

E-grocery logistics: exploring the gap between research and practice

Purpose: This paper investigates the logistics management in the e-grocery sector. It contrasts the key issues faced by practitioners and the topics addressed in the academic literature, to identify potential misalignments between research and practice and propose avenues for future efforts. Design/methodology/approach: This work adopts a twofold methodological approach. From an academic perspective, a systematic literature review (SLR) is performed to define the topics addressed so far by scholars when analysing e-grocery logistics. From a managerial perspective, a Delphi study is accomplished to identify the most significant issues faced by logistics practitioners in the e-grocery context and the associated significance. Findings: The study develops a conceptual framework, identifying and mapping the 9 main logistics challenges for e-grocery along 4 clusters, in the light of a logistics-related revision of the SCOR model: distribution network design (area to be served, infrastructures), order fulfilment process (picking, order storage, consolidation, delivery), logistics-related choices from other domains (product range, stock-out management) and automation. These elements are discussed along three dimensions: criticalities, basic and advanced/automation-based solutions. Finally, the main gaps are identified – in terms of both under-investigated topics (order storage and stock-out management) and investigated topics needing further research (picking and automation) – and research questions and hypotheses are outlined. Originality/value: This paper provides a threefold contribution, revolving around the developed framework. First, it investigates the state of the art about e-grocery logistics, classifying the addressed themes. Second, it explores the main issues e-grocery introduces for logistics practitioners. Third, it contrasts the two outcomes, identifying the misalignment between research and practice, and accordingly, proposing research directions

Big Bang nucleosynthesis revisited via Trojan Horse Method measurements

Nuclear reaction rates are among the most important input for understanding the primordial nucleosynthesis and therefore for a quantitative description of the early Universe. An up-to-date compilation of direct cross sections of 2H(d,p)3H, 2H(d,n)3He, 7Li(p,alpha)4He and 3He(d,p)4He reactions is given. These are among the most uncertain cross sections used and input for Big Bang nucleosynthesis calculations. Their measurements through the Trojan Horse Method (THM) are also reviewed and compared with direct data. The reaction rates and the corresponding recommended errors in this work were used as input for primordial nucleosynthesis calculations to evaluate their impact on the 2H, 3,4He and 7Li primordial abundances, which are then compared with observations.Comment: 22 pages, 7 figures, accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journa

Combining crowdsourcing and mapping customer behaviour in last-mile deliveries

In the light of the dramatic rise of online sales, last-mile deliveries (i.e., the delivery of products ordered online to the final customer) have been increasingly gaining the attention of both managers and academics. As a matter of fact, they are very critical in terms of effectiveness (as customers demand fast and accurate deliveries), and efficiency (since they imply very high costs). Henceforth, logistics players operating in the B2C e-commerce environment are striving to find and implement innovative solutions, different from the costly traditional by-van home deliveries. Among the options analysed by scholars so far, two promising ones are crowdsourcing logistics (i.e., outsourcing delivery activities to “common” people) and mapping the behaviour of customers (i.e., analysing the probability distribution of the customer presence at home and accordingly scheduling deliveries to minimise the probability of failed deliveries). In this paper, we introduce and study a combination between the two solutions, proposing a variant of the Vehicle Routing Problem, which considers both the Availability Profiles and Occasional Drivers (VRPAPOD). We model the delivery problem as a mixed-integer program and solve it with a branch-and-price algorithm. To analyse the benefit of the combined use of crowdshipping and customers availability profiles (APs), we conduct several experiments in a real context in the city of Milan, randomly extracting 100 customers in a 16 km2 area. The combined solution is compared with two benchmarking models, namely the traditional home delivery (traditional VRP) and the crowdsourcing logistics option (Vehicle Routing Problem with Occasional Drivers (VRPOD)). Results prove that logistics players can achieve important benefits by relying on the crowd and scheduling deliveries according to clients' APs, which become more significant in case of high drivers availability

Cluster states in nuclei as representations of a U(n+1) group

We propose a description of cluster states in nuclei in terms of representations of unitary algebras U(n+1), where n is the number of space degrees of freedom. Within this framework, a variety of situations including both vibrational and rotational spectra, soft and rigid configurations, identical and non-identical constituents can be described. As an example, we show how the method can be used to study alpha-clustering configurations in 12C with point group symmetry D(3h).Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures, Phys. Rev. C, in pres

Neoadjuvant therapy for breast cancer

Objective: To evaluate the frequency of neoadjuvant therapy (NT) in women with stage I–III breast cancer in Italy and whether it is influenced by biological characteristics, screening history, and geographic area. Methods: Data from the High Resolution Study conducted in 7 Italian cancer registries were used; they are a representative sample of incident cancers in the study period (2009–2013). Included were 3546 women aged <85 years (groups <50, 50–69, 70–64, and 75+) with stage I–III breast cancer at diagnosis who underwent surgery. Women were classified as receiving NT if they received chemotherapy, target therapy, and/or hormone therapy before the first surgical treatment. Logistic models were built to test the association with biological and contextual variables. Results: Only 8.2% of women (290 cases) underwent NT; the treatment decreases with increasing age (14.5% in age <50 and 2.2% in age 75+), is more frequent in women with negative receptors (14.8%), HER2-positive (15.7%), and triple-negative (15.6%). The multivariable analysis showed the probability of receiving NT is higher in stage III (odds ratio [OR] 3.83; 95% confidence interval [CI] 2.83–5.18), luminal B (OR 1.87; 95% CI 1.27–2.76), triple-negatives (OR 1.88; 95% CI 1.15–3.08), and in symptomatic cancers (OR 1.98; 95% CI 1.13–3.48). Use of NT varied among geographic areas: Reggio Emilia had the highest rates (OR 2.29; 95% CI 1.37–3.82) while Palermo had the lowest (OR 0.41; 95% CI 0.24–0.68). Conclusions: The use of NT in Italy is limited and variable. There are no signs of greater use in hospitals with more advanced care

Truck-based drone delivery system: An economic and environmental assessment

Innovative solutions for last-mile delivery have sparked great interest among consumers and logistics operators. The combination of new technologies with existing ones can lead to new possible last-mile delivery configurations, among which truck-drone joint delivery is one of the most promising. This paper evaluates the environmental and economic sustainability of a last-mile delivery solution involving electric trucks equipped with drones, and it provides a comparison with traditional logistics systems. The comparative life cycle assessment methodology is used to quantify the greenhouse gas emissions per parcel delivered. The total cost of ownership methodology is adopted for the economic analysis. Results suggest that the truck-drone alternative leads to significant emissions reductions, while its cost performance is primarily affected by the drone automation level