The Value Proposition of innovative Last-Mile delivery services from the perspective of local retailers

The last-mile (LM) delivery is probably one of the most expensive and complex among global Supply Chain processes, and it suffers from problems such as road traffic congestion. On the other hand, urban goods delivery systems can be held accountable for the same negative externalities they suffer. The complexity of last-mile delivery systems arises from the heterogeneity of stakeholders and their objectives. In this context, local retailers might be called upon to adopt innovative last-mile delivery services offered by Logistics Service Providers (LSPs). The attractiveness of selected LM initiatives to local retailers has been explored by a stream of literature that focuses on the utility provided to the retailer by a sub-set of initiatives s, based on the retailers' preferred requirements. With this paper, we aim to build on this stream of literature by analyzing the perception of local retailers regarding the value proposition of a wider set of LM delivery innovations, including the ones that do not comprise retailers among their paying customers. To this end, a survey is submitted to retailers of different sizes and type located in the limited traffic zone (LTZ) of Turin (Italy). Through the survey, we aim to assess the relative importance of nine service requirements retrieved from literature, and cluster them into factors, i.e. value propositions, by means of a confirmatory factor analysis. Results show that retailers are able to accept higher costs for the delivery for deliveries that are more reliable and for the reduction of stock. Retailers also appear to correlate punctuality and flexibility of the LM delivery service, because flexible and on time deliveries allow for better inventory management, higher control and in turn improved customer service level by the retailer. The convenience of the delivery service is seen as correlated with its sustainability, because logistics activities can be carried out with small and low impact vehicles that allowing easier deliveries into the city center. The highlighted factors serve as a basis for the value propositions to be taken into account by practitioners in the design of LM innovations

Technological trends in last-mile contexts: A European perspective

This paper presents an empirical analysis on 65 European cities where different Last Mile technologies have been implemented by both private and public operators, aiming to assess the importance of each technology involved and identify adoption trends. Results show that parcel lockers and low emissions vehicles are the most adopted technologies, while the diffusion of Intelligent Transportation Systems and dynamic routing appears limited. Finally, crowd shipping services are still scattered but show medium level of adoption. Future research will extend the analysis to international projects and include external aspects to refine the understanding of technological adoption patterns

Assessing City Logistics projects: a business-oriented approach

The rising urbanization and the consequent increasing pressure on efficient urban freight distribution activities have laid the ground for a set of City Logistics (CL) initiatives addressing the negative externalities generated by goods transportation, such as pollution, traffic congestion, and inefficient use of infrastructures. Although several CL pilot projects have been developed, and some initiatives have succeeded in generating benefits for the stakeholders involved, both public and private stakeholders are often still unsure when it comes to launching new initiatives because they are unable to foresee the long-term economic and financial sustainability of such projects. However, these issues are seldom addressed. In fact, only recently researchers and practitioners have started to elaborate methodologies aimed at assessing the economic viability of CL initiatives. The present work contributes to this research stream by developing a business model framework for the assessment of CL projects. To this end, an existing business model framework has been adapted to the context at issue by modifying its components via a desk research based on existing literature and a number of international projects. The developed framework constitutes a tool to comprehensively capture all the elements of a CL business model. Therefore, it can be applied to analyse success and failure factors of existing projects, in order to provide recommendations about the feasibility and longterm sustainability of future CL initiatives

Improved survival with initial MRSA therapy in high-risk community-onset pneumonia patients : application of a MRSA risk score

textCommunity-onset (CO) methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) pneumonia is an evolving problem, and there is a great need for a reliable method to assess MRSA risk at hospital admission. A new MRSA prediction score classifies CO-pneumonia patients into low, medium, and high-risk groups based on objective criteria available at baseline. Our objective was to assess the effect of initial MRSA therapy on mortality in these three risk groups. We conducted a retrospective cohort study using data from the Veterans Health Administration. Patients were included if they were hospitalized with pneumonia and received antibiotics within the first 48 hours of admission. They were stratified into MRSA therapy and no MRSA therapy treatment arms based on antibiotics received in the first 48 hours. MRSA risk groups were analyzed separately. The primary outcome was 30-day patient mortality. Multivariable logistic regression was used to adjust for potential confounders. A total of 80,330 patients met inclusion criteria, of which 36% received MRSA therapy and 64% did not receive MRSA therapy. The majority of patients were classified as either low (51%) or medium (47%) risk, with only 2% classified as high-risk. In the high-risk group, unadjusted 30-day mortality was lower among patients who received initial MRSA therapy (40% versus 58%; p<0.0001). Likewise, multivariable logistic regression analysis also demonstrated that initial MRSA therapy was associated with a lower 30-day mortality in the high-risk group (adjusted odds ratio 0.57; 95% confidence interval 0.42-0.77). There was no benefit of initial MRSA therapy in the low or medium-risk groups. This study demonstrated improved survival with initial MRSA therapy in high-risk CO-pneumonia patients. The MRSA risk score should not replace clinical judgment, but it might be a useful tool to spare MRSA therapy for only those patients who are most likely to benefit.Pharmaceutical Science

The impact of City Logistics on Retailers inventory management: an exploratory analysis

City Logistics (CL) can be defined as a comprehensive solution aimed at “totally optimizing” the logistics and transport activities in urban areas, by considering the environment, the congestion and energy consumption. Many CL initiatives have been implemented to improve the efficiency and the effectiveness of the urban logistics processes. The adoption of such initiatives by logistics service providers implies a reshaping of supply chains configuration in terms of vehicles used as well as consolidation and reception of goods. Therefore, CL initiatives are likely to have an impact on the inventory policy of the retailers, in terms of order frequency, time windows for receiving the deliveries, and batching lots. In this context, there is a lack of studies investigating the influence of CL on retailers’ inventory management practices. In order to bridge this research gap, this paper proposes an exploratory analysis of the perception of the CL issues by apparel and grocery store managers and owners. To this end, a survey is submitted to retailers of different sizes and type (e.g. multi-brand vs. mono-brand) located in the limited traffic zone (LTZ) of Turin (Italy). The objective of this analysis is twofold. First, the survey aims at confirming the findings from inventory policy literature and outlining different profiles of retailers based on the factors that characterize their inventory policy. Second, the shopkeepers’ perception, both positive and negative, of three different CL innovations is explored. Results show that there is a wide variety of inventory management practices even within an enclosed environment such as the one of a city’s LTZ, and that the adoption of CL innovations by retailers might depend strongly on their inventory policy. Therefore, logistics service providers and local administrations need to take into account such diversity if they intend to scale up CL innovations

A Roadmap towards an Automated Warehouse Digital Twin: current implementations and future developments

Automation and digitization increase the effectiveness and efficiency of logistics processes. In warehousing, Automated Storage and Retrieval Systems (AS/RS) are largely adopted due to their considerable advantages over traditional warehousing, namely high space utilization, shorter cycle times and improved inventory control. To further enhance such advantages, warehouse operations can be digitized via a Digital Twin (DT) which retrieves data from the real-world industrial process, mimics its behaviour and feeds specific inputs back to the real-world process, after elaboration from a simulation-based digital model. This work presents a DT proposal for a real-world AS/RS system, highlighting its current implementations together with its future developments

A Business Model Assessment and Evaluation Framework for City Logistics Collaborative Strategic Decision Support

Several City Logistics (CL) initiatives have emerged in the last two decades with the aim to reduce the negative externalities of freight distribution in urban areas. Such initiatives can be public and/or private but need to not break or impeach current operations efficiency so to not hinder their profitability. In order to provide business value to CL initiatives and thus fostering their long-term success, it is necessary to understand the decision-making of private companies operating in the urban freight ecosystem. This paper proposes an ex-ante assessment and evaluation framework built around the concept of an ecosystem business modelling that includes the decision-making by CL stakeholders. A theoretical framework previously developed is extended to evaluate a collaborative business model of an Urban Consolidation Centre (UCC). Cost-Benefit analysis (CBA is used estimate the impact of the business model configuration. Finally, research and practice implications are also addressed

Characterization of acrosin and acrosin binding protein as novel CRISP2 interacting proteins in boar spermatozoa

Background: Previously, we reported that cysteine-rich secretory protein 2 is involved in high molecular weight complexes in boar spermatozoa. These cysteine-rich secretory protein 2protein complexes are formed at the last phase of sperm formation in the testis and play a role in sperm shaping and functioning. Objectives: This study aimed to identify cysteine-rich secretory protein 2 interacting partners. These binding partner interactions were investigated under different conditions, namely, non-capacitating conditions, after the induction of in vitro sperm capacitation and subsequently during an ionophore A23187-induced acrosome reaction. Materials and Methods: The incubated pig sperm samples were subjected to protein extraction. Extracted proteins were subjected to blue native gel electrophoresis and native immunoblots. Immunoreactive gel bands were excised and subjected to liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry (LC-MS) analysis for protein identification. Protein extracts were also subjected to CRISP2 immunoprecipitation and analyzed by LC-MS for protein identification. The most prominent cystein-rich secretory protein 2 interacting proteins that appeared in both independent LC-MS analyses were studied with a functional in situ proximity interaction assay to validate their property to interact with cystein-rich secretory protein 2 in pig sperm. Results: Blue native gel electrophoresis and native immunoblots revealed that cystein-rich secretory protein 2 was present within a ∼150 kDa protein complex under all three conditions. Interrogation of cystein-rich secretory-protein 2-immunoreactive bands from blue native gels as well as cystein-rich secretory protein 2 immunoprecipitated products using mass spectrometry consistently revealed that, beyond cystein-rich secretory protein 2, acrosin and acrosin binding protein were among the most abundant interacting proteins and did interact under all three conditions. Co-immunoprecipitation and immunoblotting indicated that cystein-rich secretory protein 2 interacted with pro-acrosin (∼53 kDa) and Aacrosin binding protein under all three conditions and additionally to acrosin (∼35 kDa) after capacitation and the acrosome reaction. The colocalization of these interacting proteins with cystein-rich secretory protein 2 was assessed via in situ proximity ligation assays. The colocalization signal of cystein-rich secretory protein 2 and acrosin in the acrosome seemed dispersed after capacitation but was consistently present in the sperm tail under all conditions. The fluorescent foci of cystein-rich secretory protein 2 and acrsin binding protein colocalization appeared to be redistributed within the sperm head from the anterior acrosome to the post-acrosomal sheath region upon capacitation. Discussion and Conclusion: These results suggest that CRISP2 may act as a scaffold for protein complex formation and dissociation to ensure the correct positioning of proteins required for the acrosome reaction and zona pellucida penetration

Approaching an investigation of multi-dimensional inequality through the lenses of variety in models of capitalism

After a synthetic presentation of the state of poverty and inequality in the world and the contradictions incurred by economic theory in this field after decades of globalization and in the midst of a persisting global crisis, in paragraphs 2. and 3. we outline the rational for our theoretical analysis, underlining two main aspects. First of all, in paragraph 2. we recall the reasons which makes inequality a multidimensional phenomenon, while in paragraph 3. we explore the reasons why the models of capitalism theory is relevant for studying multidimensional inequality. These paragraphs emphasise that inequality is a multidimensional and cumulative phenomenon and it should not be conceived only as the result of the processes of personal and functional distribution of income and wealth, which even by themselves are intrinsically multidimensional. The basic idea is that institutions, the cobweb of relations among them and their interaction with the economic structure define the model of capitalism which characterises a specific country and this, in turn, affects the level and the dynamics of inequality. This approach is consistent with the sociological approach by Rehbein and Souza (2014), based on the analytical framework developed by Pierre Bourdieu. In paragraph 4. we outline the rational for our empirical analysis, applying the notion of institutional complementarity and examining the relationship between institutional complementarity, models of capitalism and inequality. Besides, refining Amable’s analysis (2003), we provide empirical evidence on the relationship between inequality in income distribution and models of capitalism. Additionally, basing on cluster analysis, we identify six different models of capitalism in a sample of OECD countries, provide preliminary evidence on the different level of inequality which characterises each model and suggest that no evidence supports of the idea that a single model of capitalism is taking shape in this sphere in EU. In paragraph 5. we give some hints about issues in search for a new interpretation capable to fasten together the process of increasing inequality, the notion of symbolic violence and the models of capitalism theory. In the last paragraph we focus on conclusions useful for carrying on our research agenda