Relationship between ethics and Fair Trade supply chain organisation and performance: the case of Italian Alternative Trade Organisations (ATOs)

Fair Trade related import from developing countries is quickly growing although it still represents a small share of the total import. Its influence on the development of rural areas in developing countries is related to both quantitative growth and the respect of its ethical code. Large food multi-national companies are increasingly interested in Fair Trade; part of the Fair Trade movement considers the risk of a related loss in the products identity; others consider the refusal of a more "professional" approach to Fair Trade management as a constraint to its growth. This debate is particularly felt in Italy. The goal of this paper is to evaluate how the most important Italian Fair Trade importers (ATOs) business models influenced their growth strategies; transaction costs analyisis and logistics performance indicators were adopted to measure the supply chain coordination efficiency and performance. The results showed that the ATOs growth strategies, and logistics performances, seemed more influenced by their value propositions, than the lack of managerial skill.Fair Trade, Logistics, Alternative Trade Organisations, Agribusiness, International Relations/Trade,

Analytical Design of Lead-Lag Compensators on Nyquist and Nichols planes

In this paper the dynamic structure and the control properties of a new form of lead-lag compensator with complex zeros and poles are presented. A simple and exact analytical and graphical method on the Nyquist and Nichols planes for the design of lead-lag compensators satisfying design specifications on gain margin, phase margin and crossover frequency is proposed. Simulations results show the good performances of the presented method

DISEGNARE IL VISSUTO LINGUISTICO: LE METAFORE DEL CORPO NEI RITRATTI LINGUISTICI

Questo studio indaga le dimensioni emotive ed esperienziali dei repertori linguistici individuali nel contesto sociale multilingue dell’Alto Adige. Utilizzando il metodo del ritratto linguistico, analizziamo una collezione di ritratti creati da giovani studenti nell’ambito del progetto “RepertoirePluS” (Eurac Research), insieme alle loro conversazioni sui ritratti. La nostra analisi si basa sul concetto di Spracherleben proposto da Busch (2017), che enfatizza gli aspetti emotivi ed esperienziali dell’uso della lingua. Esaminiamo come gli studenti utilizzino le metafore del corpo per rappresentare le loro percezioni di sé e degli altri e come esprimano le emozioni che sorgono nell’interazione e che sono inscritte e si inscrivono nel corpo. La nostra analisi dimostra l’importanza dei metodi linguistico-biografici e visivi nel catturare gli aspetti emotivi ed esperienziali dell’uso della lingua, e forniscono spunti sul rapporto tra lingua, identità ed emozione in contesti multilingui.   Drawing the linguistic experience: body metaphors in linguistic portraits   This study investigates the emotional and experiential dimensions of individual linguistic repertoires within the multilingual social context of Alto Adige. Using the linguistic portrait method, we analyze a collection of portraits created by young students as part of the “RepertoirePluS” project (Eurac Research), along with their conversations about the portraits. Our analysis is based on the concept of Spracherleben proposed by Busch (2017), which emphasizes the emotional and experiential aspects of language use. We examine how students use body metaphors to represent their perceptions of themselves and others, and how they express the emotions that arise during interaction and are stored in the body. Our findings demonstrate the importance of linguistic-biographical and visual methods in capturing the emotional and experiential aspects of language use, and provide insights into the relationship between language, identity, and emotion in multilingual contexts

SVILUPPARE LA COMPETENZA LESSICALE E FRASEOLOGICA TRAMITE I TASK. UN CONTRIBUTO ALLO SVILUPPO DI MATERIALE DIDATTICO PER L’ITALIANO L2/LS

Il presente contributo descrive i principi e gli obiettivi di materiali fraseodidattici rivolti ad apprendenti dell’italiano come L2, elaborati nell'ambito del progetto “LeKo – Combinazioni lessicali e linguaggio tipizzato in contesto plurilingue”, in collaborazione tra l’Università di Innsbruck ed Eurac Research. Frutto di un approccio multidisciplinare, il progetto integra concetti teorici, metodi e risorse della ricerca fraseologica, della didattica basata sui task e della linguistica dei corpora (in particolare dei learner corpora). Attraverso la presentazione di un’unità didattica e della cornice narrativa che fa da sfondo al libro di testo, vengono messe in luce le caratteristiche salienti di un modello fraseodidattico orientato all’azione, nel rispetto di principi fondamentali della glottodidattica moderna, quali ad esempio l’autenticità del materiale e la possibilità di sviluppare le competenze comunicative in diverse situazioni della vita quotidiana e il ricorso a contesti multimediali.   Developing lexical and phraseological competence through tasks. A contribution to the development of teaching material for Italian L2 The present article describes the principles and objectives of phraseodidactic materials for L2 learners of Italian. The materials were produced as part of the research project “LeKo – Lexeme combinations and typified speech in a multilingual context”, a collaboration between the University of Innsbruck and Eurac Research. Resulting from a multidisciplinary approach, the project includes theoretical concepts, methods and resources from phraseological research, task- based language teaching, as well as corpus linguistics (especially of learner corpora). By presenting a teaching unit and the textbook’s narrative framework, we will illustrate the main characteristics of the action-oriented phraseodidactic model that also reflects fundamental principles of modern language teaching such as using authentic materials, allowing students to develop their communicative skills in different everyday situations and employing various forms of media.&nbsp

Sprachenrepertoires und Mehrsprachigkeitskompetenzen im Sprachendorf aktivieren

Aufbauend auf aktuellen Entwicklungen in der Mehrsprachigkeitsforschung und -didaktik zeigt dieser Beitrag, wie Sprachenrepertoires und Mehrsprachigkeitskompetenzen in einem didaktischen Szenario erhoben, beschrieben und aktiviert werden können. Dieses als Sprachendorf konzipierte Szenario enthält fünf mehrsprachige Stationen, an denen SchülerInnen in mehr als zehn Arbeitssprachen verschiedene Aufgaben- bzw. Problemstellungen bewältigen. Auf der Grundlage von Daten aus dem Südtiroler Forschungsprojekt RepertoirePluS (2016–2019) beantwortet unser Beitrag folgende Fragen: Wie ist ein mehrsprachiges Sprachendorf konzipiert? Wie kann man es zur Aktivierung von Sprachenrepertoires einsetzen? Welche Mehrsprachigkeitskompetenzen kann man im Rahmen des Sprachendorfs erheben? Wie lässt sich ein Sprachendorf auch im schulischen Kontext zur Förderung der Mehrsprachigkeit aller SchülerInnen und ihrer gesamten Sprachenrepertoires integrieren?Building on current developments in multilingualism research and didactics, our contribution aims to show how language repertoires and multilingual competence can be collected, described and activated in a didactic scenario. This scenario, which was conceived as a ‘language village’, contains five multilingual stations at which pupils cope with different tasks and problems in more than ten working languages. On the basis of data from the South Tyrolean project RepertoirePluS (2016–2019), our contribution will answer the following questions: How is a multilingual ‘language village’ conceived? How can it be used to activate language repertoires? Which multilingual competencies can be surveyed within the framework of the ‘language village’? How can a ‘language village’ also be integrated in a school context to promote the multilingualism of all pupils and their entire language repertoires

Facciamo bella figura!

"“Facciamo bella figura! 8 task fraseodidattici per studenti di italiano L2/LS” offers: • eight learning sequences designed to prepare students for communicative real-life tasks. • a narrative throughout all units inviting learners to accompany Lena, the textbook's protagonist, during her stay in Bologna; • a wide variety of authentic input (audio, video, written texts) to be used as an inspiration for the tasks; • a focus on phraseological expressions integrated in every task and accompanied by a multilingual glossary; • an introductory chapter and a learning diary to strengthen learner autonomy and provide guidance for the process of Italian language acquisition; • various (inter)cultural contents on life in Bologna experienced by different individuals. consists of: • a student’s book, including audio and video files; • a teacher’s guide. “Facciamo bella figura! 8 task fraseodidattici per studenti di italiano L2/LS” propone • otto sequenze didattiche concepite per preparare gli studenti a svolgere compiti comunicativi che si ispirano alla loro vita reale; • un filo conduttore tematico presente in tutte le unità che permette agli studenti di accompagnare Lena, la protagonista del libro, durante il suo soggiorno a Bologna; • una grande varietà di input autentici (audio, video, testi scritti) da usare come ispirazione per i task; • un focus sulle espressioni fraseologiche integrato in ogni unità e accompagnato da un glossario multilingue; • un capitolo introduttivo e un diario di apprendimento per stimolare l’autonomia degli studenti e accompagnarli nel loro processo di acquisizione della lingua italiana; • svariati contenuti (inter)culturali sulla vita a Bologna e la convivenza tra individui diversi. è composto da: • un libro dello studente, inclusi file audio e video; • una guida pedagogica per l’insegnante.

Le projet LeKo : une recherche phraséologique intégrale pour l’apprentissage des phrasèmes en contexte plurilingue

This article outlines the methodology and results of a three-year research project (2013-2016) focusing on the analysis and the didactics of Italian collocations and phrasemes (LeKo). LeKo, a joint project between the University of Innsbruck and Eurac Research, is particularly noteworthy as it combines phraseological studies (with an emphasis on German and Italian) with corpus linguistics and the teaching of foreign and second languages. LeKo’s main innovative goal is to collect data to develop teaching material on Italian phraseodidactics for German- speaking learners.This article outlines the methodology and results of a three-year research project (2013-2016) focusing on the analysis and the didactics of Italian collocations and phrasemes (LeKo). LeKo, a joint project between the University of Innsbruck and Eurac Research, is particularly noteworthy as it combines phraseological studies (with an emphasis on German and Italian) with corpus linguistics and the teaching of foreign and second languages. LeKo’s main innovative goal is to collect data to develop teaching material on Italian phraseodidactics for German- speaking learners.Dans cet article, on décrit la méthodologie et les résultats d’un projet de recherche triennal (2013-2016) consacré à l’analyse et à l’enseignement des collocations et des phraséologismes de l’italien (LeKo). Résultant d’une collaboration entre l’Université d’Innsbruck et De Eurac Research, le projet LeKo se situe au croisement de trois domaines : les études phraséologiques, en particulier allemandes et italiennes, la linguistique de corpus et la didactique des langues étrangères et secondes. L’objectif innovant du projet est le recueil de données visant la réalisation d’instruments destinés spécifiquement à la phraséodidactique de l’italien pour des apprenants germanophones

"Delirium Day": A nationwide point prevalence study of delirium in older hospitalized patients using an easy standardized diagnostic tool

Background: To date, delirium prevalence in adult acute hospital populations has been estimated generally from pooled findings of single-center studies and/or among specific patient populations. Furthermore, the number of participants in these studies has not exceeded a few hundred. To overcome these limitations, we have determined, in a multicenter study, the prevalence of delirium over a single day among a large population of patients admitted to acute and rehabilitation hospital wards in Italy. Methods: This is a point prevalence study (called "Delirium Day") including 1867 older patients (aged 65 years or more) across 108 acute and 12 rehabilitation wards in Italian hospitals. Delirium was assessed on the same day in all patients using the 4AT, a validated and briefly administered tool which does not require training. We also collected data regarding motoric subtypes of delirium, functional and nutritional status, dementia, comorbidity, medications, feeding tubes, peripheral venous and urinary catheters, and physical restraints. Results: The mean sample age was 82.0 \ub1 7.5 years (58 % female). Overall, 429 patients (22.9 %) had delirium. Hypoactive was the commonest subtype (132/344 patients, 38.5 %), followed by mixed, hyperactive, and nonmotoric delirium. The prevalence was highest in Neurology (28.5 %) and Geriatrics (24.7 %), lowest in Rehabilitation (14.0 %), and intermediate in Orthopedic (20.6 %) and Internal Medicine wards (21.4 %). In a multivariable logistic regression, age (odds ratio [OR] 1.03, 95 % confidence interval [CI] 1.01-1.05), Activities of Daily Living dependence (OR 1.19, 95 % CI 1.12-1.27), dementia (OR 3.25, 95 % CI 2.41-4.38), malnutrition (OR 2.01, 95 % CI 1.29-3.14), and use of antipsychotics (OR 2.03, 95 % CI 1.45-2.82), feeding tubes (OR 2.51, 95 % CI 1.11-5.66), peripheral venous catheters (OR 1.41, 95 % CI 1.06-1.87), urinary catheters (OR 1.73, 95 % CI 1.30-2.29), and physical restraints (OR 1.84, 95 % CI 1.40-2.40) were associated with delirium. Admission to Neurology wards was also associated with delirium (OR 2.00, 95 % CI 1.29-3.14), while admission to other settings was not. Conclusions: Delirium occurred in more than one out of five patients in acute and rehabilitation hospital wards. Prevalence was highest in Neurology and lowest in Rehabilitation divisions. The "Delirium Day" project might become a useful method to assess delirium across hospital settings and a benchmarking platform for future surveys