Localisation vs. globalisation of typical products and experiential consumption

The transformations taking place in the world economy can facilitate integration processes, both on a horizontal and vertical scale, and can be an opportunity for all businesses, of whatever size and sector. Nowadays, in this globalized economy consumers seem to be more and more interested in buying artisan products as synonymous of quality, tradition, culture and environment respect. The aim of this paper is to analyse and define characteristic local products in the framework of an economic model of experience. In this perspective, once having highlighted the strengths and weaknesses of this particular supply system, we intend to stretch the conceptual scheme of the typical product to the point of including in the concept of supply the relative experience connected to such specificity to be found only in their places of origin.Globalisation, local markets, typical products, experience economy.

Environmental citizenship behavior and sustainability apps: an empirical investigation

Purpose This study aims to investigate the moderating effect of sustainability app on environmental citizenship behavior on the basis of norm-activation model. Design/methodology/approach A questionnaire survey, which comprises five variables (i.e. awareness of consequences, ascription of responsibility, personal norms, environmental citizenship behavior in a private sphere and environmental citizenship behavior in a public sphere) measured through 16 items, was conducted in the USA by using Amazon Mechanical Turk. With 549 valid respondents' answers in hand, the collected data were analyzed applying a multi-group structural equation modelling technique with IBM SPSS AMOS 23 software program. Findings The results revealed that there is a positive and significant relationship between awareness of consequences, ascription of responsibility, personal norms and environmental citizenship behavior in both private and public sphere. Furthermore, this study attested that sustainability apps utilization has a moderating effect on the predictors of environmental citizenship behaviors. Originality/value Past studies have seldom examined the contribution of mobile apps to environmental sustainability. This paper enriches the extant academic literature in the field of technology for behavior change, and bears significant implications on how sustainability apps can be adopted by governments, policymakers, organizations and teacher educators to engage people and stimulate environmental citizenship behaviors

The natriuretic peptides system in the pathophysiology of heart failure. From molecular basis to treatment

After its discovery in the early 1980s, the natriuretic peptide (NP) system has been extensively characterized and its potential influence in the development and progression of heart failure (HF) has been investigated. HF is a syndrome characterized by the activation of different neurohormonal systems, predominantly the renin-angiotensin (Ang)-aldosterone system (RAAS) and the sympathetic nervous system (SNS), but also the NP system. Pharmacological interventions have been developed to counteract the neuroendocrine dysregulation, through the down modulation of RAAS with ACE (Ang-converting enzyme) inhibitors, ARBs (Ang receptor blockers) and mineralcorticoid antagonists and of SNS with β-blockers. In the last years, growing attention has been paid to the NP system. In the present review, we have summarized the current knowledge on the NP system, focusing on its role in HF and we provide an overview of the pharmacological attempts to modulate NP in HF: from the negative results of the study with neprilysin (NEP) inhibitors, alone or associated with an ACE inhibitor and vasopeptidase inhibitors, to the most recently and extremely encouraging results obtained with the new pharmacological class of Ang receptor and NEP inhibitor, currently defined ARNI (Ang receptor NEP inhibitor). Indeed, this new class of drugs to manage HF, supported by the recent results and a vast clinical development programme, may prompt a conceptual shift in the treatment of HF, moving from the inhibition of RAAS and SNS to a more integrated target to rebalance neurohormonal dysregulation in HF

“Can you tell me about the future?” A narrative of the goal-setting process in family business

By relying on the taxonomy introduced by Kotlar and De Massis (2013), the present study proposes to investigate the dynamics and the set of goals perceived by the family members strategic for the future growth of their family business. Using an interview approach, the researchers recorded the professional stories of 15 family firm owners and managers. Through the interpretation of the narrative material emerged that the interviewees never mentioned the role that family-centred non-economic goals (i.e., ‘family harmony’, the ‘family social status’ and ‘the family identity’) plays in the performance of the family firms. Contrary, non-family non-economic goals, such as innovation and internationalisation, are considered two keys growth drivers. In particular, if both innovation and internationalisation have equal importance amongst the current goals, internationalisation assumes a greater importance in relation to the future goals of growth.   Keywords: Goal setting process; Family business; Growth Strategy; Narrative analysi

CRT prevents new-onset AF

SUMMARY Aim: The aim of this study was to determine whether or not cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) has a favourable effect on the incidence of new-onset atrial fibrillation (AF) in a homogeneous population of patients with non-ischaemic idiopathic-dilated cardiomyopathy and severe heart failure. Methods: We designed a single-centre prospective study and enrolled 58 patients AF nao¨ve when received CRT. After 1 year of follow-up our population was subdivided into responders (72.4%) and non-responders (27.6%), so as to compare the incidence of AF after 1, 2 and 3 years of follow-up in these two groups. Results: Already after 1 year, there was a significant (p < 0.05) difference in new-onset AF in non-responder patients with respect to responders (18.2% vs. 3.3%). These data were confirmed at 2 years (33.3% vs. 12.2%) and 3 years (50.0% vs. 15.0%) follow-up. In particular, 3 years after device implantation non-responders had an increased risk to develop new-onset AF (OR = 5.67). Conclusions: This is the first study analysing long-term effects of CRT in a homogeneous population of patients with nonischaemic dilated cardiomyopathy, indicating the favourable role of this non-pharmacological therapy on the prevention of AF. What's known Albeit several studies examined the association between cardiac resynchronization therapy and atrial fibrillation in heart failure, results are still unclear and quite conflicting. What's new In this study we show that in patients with non-ischemic dilated cardiomyopathy a positive response to cardiac resynchronization therapy has a favorable role on the prevention of new-onset atrial fibrillation.

"Can you tell me about the future?" A narrative of the goal-setting process in family business

By relying on the taxonomy introduced by Kotlar and De Massis (2013), the present study proposes to investigate the dynamics and the set of goals perceived by the family members strategic for the future growth of their family business. Using an interview approach, the researchers recorded the professional stories of 15 family firm owners and managers. Through the interpretation of the narrative material emerged that the interviewees never mentioned the role that family-centred non-economic goals (i.e., 'family harmony', the 'family social status' and 'the family identity') plays in the performance of the family firms. Contrary, non-family non-economic goals, such as innovation and internationalisation, are considered two keys growth drivers. In particular, if both innovation and internationalisation have equal importance amongst the current goals, internationalisation assumes a greater importance in relation to the future goals of growth. Keywords: Goal setting process; Family business; Growth Strategy; Narrative analysi

Complex effects of dyslexia risk factors account for ADHD-traits : evidence from two independent samples

Background: Developmental dyslexia (DD) and attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are among the most common neurodevelopmental disorders, whose etiology involves multiple risk factors. DD and ADHD co-occur in the same individuals much more often than would be expected by chance. Several studies have found significant bivariate heritability, and specific genes associated with either DD or ADHD have been investigated for association in the other disorder. Moreover, there are likely to be gene-by-gene and gene-by-environment interaction effects (GxG and GxE, respectively) underlying the comorbidity between DD and ADHD. We investigated the pleiotropic effects of 19 SNPs spanning five DD genes (DYX1C1, DCDC2, KIAA0319, ROBO1 and GRIN2B) and seven DD environmental factors (smoke, miscarriage, birth weight, breastfeeding, parental age, socioeconomic status and parental education) for main, either 1) genetic or 2) environmental, 3) G×G, and 4) G×E upon inattention and hyperactivity/impulsivity. We then attempted replication of these findings in an independent twin cohort. Methods: Marker-trait association was analyzed by implementing the Quantitative Transmission Disequilibrium Test (QTDT). Environmental associations were tested by partial correlations. GxG were investigated by a general linear model equation and a family-based association test. GxE were analyzed through a general test for GxE in sib-pair-based association analysis of quantitative traits. Results: DCDC2-rs793862 was associated with hyperactivity/impulsivity via G×G (KIAA0319) and G×E (miscarriage). Smoke was significantly correlated with hyperactivity/impulsivity. We replicated the DCDC2×KIAA0319 interaction upon hyperactivity/impulsivity in the twin cohort. Conclusions: DD genetic (DCDC2) and environmental factors (smoke and miscarriage) underlie ADHD-traits supporting a potential pleiotropic effect

Multiple Stellar Populations outside the tidal radius of NGC1851 through Gaia DR3 XP Spectra

Ancient Galactic Globular Clusters (GCs) have long fascinated astronomers due to their intriguing multiple stellar populations characterized by variations in light-element abundances. Among these clusters, Type-II GCs stand out as they exhibit stars with large differences in heavy-element chemical abundances. These enigmatic clusters, comprising approximately 17\% of analyzed GCs with MPs, have been hypothesized to be the remnants of accreted dwarf galaxies. We focus on one of the most debated Type~II GCs, NGC1851, to investigate its MPs across a wide spatial range of up to 50 arcmin from the cluster center. By using Gaia DR3 low-resolution XP spectra, we generate synthetic photometry to perform a comprehensive analysis of the spatial distribution and kinematics of the canonical and anomalous populations within this GC. By using appropriate CMDs from the synthetic photometry in the BVI bands and in the $\rm f415^{25}$ band introduced in this work, we identify distinct stellar sequences associated with different heavy-element chemical composition. Our results suggest that the canonical and the anomalous populations reside both inside and outside the tidal radius of NGC1851, up to a distance that exceeds by 3.5 times its tidal radius. However, $\sim$80\% of stars outside the tidal radius are consistent with belonging to the canonical population, emphasizing its dominance in the cluster's outer regions. Remarkably, canonical stars exhibit a more circular on-sky morphology, while the anomalous population displays an elliptical shape. Furthermore, we delve into the kinematics of the multiple populations. Our results reveal a flat/increasing velocity dispersion profile in the outer regions and hints of a tangentially anisotropic motion in the outer regions, indicating a preference for stars to escape on radial orbits.Comment: 13 pages, 10 figures, accepted for publication in A&

Multiple stellar populations along the red Horizontal Branch and Red Clump of Globular Clusters

We exploit multi-band Hubble Space Telescope photometry to investigate multiple populations (MPs) along the red horizontal branches (HBs) and red clumps of fourteen metal-rich Globular Clusters (GCs), including twelve Milky Way GCs and the Magellanic Cloud GCs NGC 1978 and NGC 416. Based on appropriate two-color diagrams we find that the fraction of 1G stars in Galactic GCs correlates with cluster mass, confirming previous results based on red-giant branch (RGB) stars. Magellanic-Cloud GCs show higher fractions of 1G stars than Galactic GCs with similar masses, thus suggesting that the environment affects the MP phenomenon. We compared and combined our population fractions based on HB with previous estimates from MS and RGB, and we used ground-based UBVI photometry (available for NGC 104, NGC 5927, NGC 6366, NGC 6838) to extend the investigation over a wide field of view. All studied GCs are consistent with flat distributions of 1G and 2G stars within ~1 arcmin from the cluster center except NGC 416, where the 2G is more centrally concentrated. 2G stars of NGC 104 and NGC 5927 are more centrally-concentrated than the 1G, whereas the distribution is flat for NGC 6366 and NGC 6838. We discover that most of the analyzed GCs exhibit extended sequences of 1G stars along the red HB, not consistent with a simple population. The comparison between appropriate synthetic and observed CMDs reveals that these extended distributions are consistent with either star-to-star variation in helium or with an internal metallicity spread, recalling the inhomogeneity of 1G stars along the ChMs.Comment: 27 pages, 20 figures, 5 tables, accepted for pubblication in Ap

Photometric binaries, mass functions, and structural parameters of 78 Galactic open clusters

Binary stars play a crucial role in our understanding of the formation and evolution of star clusters and their stellar populations. We use Gaia Data Release 3 to homogeneously analyze 78 Galactic open clusters and the unresolved binary systems they host, each composed of two main sequence (MS) stars. We first investigated the structural parameters of these clusters, such as the core radius and the central density, and determined the cluster mass function (MF) and total mass by interpolating the density profile of each cluster. We measured the fraction of binaries with a large mass ratio and the fraction of blue straggler stars (BSSs), and finally investigated possible connections between the populations of binary stars and BSSs with the main parameters of the host cluster. {Remarkably, we find that the MFs of 78 analyzed open clusters follow a similar trend and are well reproduced by two single power-law functions, with a change in slope around masses of 1$M_{\odot}$. The fraction of binary stars ranges from $\sim$15\% to more than $\sim$60\% without significant correlation with the mass and the age of the host cluster. Moreover, we detect hints of a correlation between the total fraction of binary stars and the central density of the host cluster. We compared the fraction of binary stars with that of BSSs, finding that clusters with high and low central density exhibit different trends. The fraction of binaries does not significantly change with the mass of the primary star and the mass ratio. The radial distribution of binary stars depends on cluster age. The binaries of clusters younger than $\sim$800\,Myr typically show a flat radial distribution, with some hints of a double peak. In contrast, the binaries of the remaining clusters are more centrally concentrated than the single stars, which is similar to what is observed in globular clusters.Comment: 27 pages, 27 figures, accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysic