Implementing Sustainability Strategies in Networks and Clusters – Principles, Tools and New Research Outcomes

This book investigates the dynamics of the management of sustainability in networks and clusters – an area of increasing importance that is neglected by the many studies addressing sustainability at the single-enterprise level. The focus is in particular on projects involving groups of enterprises with a high level of productive interdependence and steady relations that allow sharing of resources and activities. The book is organized into two parts, the first of which discusses the value of the territory for firm competitiveness, examines the importance of social capital in creating sustainable business behaviors and “unique” networks, and describes principles and tools for the implementation and management of sustainability strategies in networks or clusters. The second part then presents the methodology and outcomes of empirical research conducted on industrial districts and productive centres in Campania, southern Italy, which are representative of Italian productive chains. The book will be of value to all management scholars with an interest in this field, as well as to readers wishing to learn more of the role of local institutions

The glutaminase-dependent acid resistance system. Qualitative and quantitative assays and analysis of its distribution in enteric bacteria

Neutralophilic bacteria have developed several strategies to overcome the deleterious effects of acid stress. In particular, the amino acid-dependent systems are widespread, with their activities overlapping, covering a rather large pH range, from 6 to <2. Recent reports showed that an acid resistance (AR) system relying on the amino acid glutamine (AR2_Q), the most readily available amino acid in the free form, is operative in Escherichia coli, Lactobacillus reuteri and some Brucella species. This system requires a glutaminase active at acidic pH and the antiporter GadC to import L-glutamine and export either glutamate (the glutamine deamination product) or GABA. The latter occurs when the deamination of glutamine to glutamate, via acid-glutaminase (YbaS/GlsA), is coupled to the decarboxylation of glutamate to GABA, via glutamate decarboxylase (GadB), a structural component of the glutamate-dependent AR (AR2) system, together with GadC. Taking into account that AR2_Q could be widespread in bacteria and that until now assays based on ammonium ion detection were typically employed, this work was undertaken with the aim to develop assays that allow a straightforward identification of the acid-glutaminase activity in permeabilised bacterial cells (qualitative assay) as well as a sensitive method (quantitative assay) to monitor in the pH range 2.5-4.0 the transport of the relevant amino acids in vivo. The qualitative assay is colorimetric, rapid and reliable and provides several additional information, such as co-occurrence of AR2 and AR2_Q in the same bacterial species and assessment of the growth conditions that support maximal expression of glutaminase at acidic pH. The quantitative assay is HPLC-based and allows to concomitantly measure the uptake of glutamine and the export of glutamate and/or GABA via GadC in vivo and depending on the external pH. Finally, an extensive bioinformatic genome analysis shows that the gene encoding the glutaminase involved in AR2_Q is often nearby or in operon arrangement with the genes coding for GadC and GadB. Overall, our results indicate that AR2_Q is likely to be of prominent importance in the AR of enteric bacteria and that it modulates the enzymatic as well as antiport activities depending on the imposed acidic stress

The Role of Father Involvement and Marital Satisfaction in the Development of Family Interactive Abilities: A Multilevel Approach.

The study aims to investigate the development of family interactions from pregnancy to preschool age in a longitudinal perspective, using multilevel analysis. Also, it explored the impact of couple relationship and father involvement in childcare on the developmental trend of the quality of mother\u2013father\u2013child interactions. One hundred and three primiparous families were assessed at 7th month of pregnancy, 4th, 9th, and 18th months of child\u2019s life and during preschool age (36\u201348th), using the observational procedure named, Lausanne Trilogue Play. Parents\u2019 perception of marital satisfaction was assessed with the Dyadic Adjustment Scale at each point of measure; moreover, in the postnatal assessment, parents completed the Father Involvement Questionnaire. Results showed that family interactions increase over time. Secondly, a decrease of marital adjustment is associated with an improvement of the quality of family interactions. Moreover, father involvement predicts the quality of family interactions from the earliest stages of child\u2019s life. In a longitudinal perspective, family interactions and marital quality show opposite developmental trends and father\u2019s involvement represents a particularly important feature of the family

CULTURAL ISSUES IN SUSTAINABLE SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT

This paper aims at contributing to literature debate on sustainable supply chain management by including the cultural factors as a strategic element. The focus in is on the role role of culture in the relationships of sustanible supply chain. The analysis sheds light on the CSR practices followed by MNC and provide a first contribute to identify the consideration of cultural issues as central theme to Sustainable supply chain management

Transitions in auditory rehabilitation with bone conductive implant (bci)

Background: The bone conductive implants (BCI) are nowadays a reliable alternative for rehabilitation of specific forms of hearing loss, i.e. conductive, mixed or single sided deafness (SSD). Aims/Objective: To analyse the various factors in play when considering an auditory rehabilitation with a bone-conductive device (BCI). Materials and Methods: The clinical charts of subjects who underwent BCI application at the same Implanting Center from 2005 to 2018 were retrieved analysing also the reason for eventual explantation and the alternative option (transition) for hearing rehabilitation. Results: Nine BAHA Compact, 4 BAHA Intenso, 21 BAHA Divino, 3 BAHA BP100, 4 Ponto, 2 Sophono, 5 Bonebridge, 5 BAHA5 Attract; 11 BAHA5 Connect were used in 12 unilateral COM; 16 bilateral COM; 3 unilateral cholesteatoma; 6 bilateral cholesteatoma; 2 unilateral otosclerosis; 5 bilateral otosclerosis; 9 congenital malformations; 6 major otoneurosurgical procedures; 5 sudden deafness. Explantation was necessary for five subjects. Conclusions: Middle ear pathology and sequels from surgery represent the most common reason for BCI implantation, both in unilateral and in bilateral cases. Transition from one implantable device to another one can be predictable, mostly when explantation is necessary. Significance: The role of BCI for rehabilitation in middle ear pathology may be extremely important

L’engagement “regolato” per problemi complessi di sostenibilità. Il caso della “Terra dei fuochi”

Lo stakeholder engagement è sempre più l’approccio da privilegiare per implementare percorsi di\ud sostenibilità. Non sempre però la capacità di fare relazioni, il social capital, ed il network\ud conseguente, sono soluzioni sufficienti per innescare comportamenti responsabili.\ud Il lavoro analizza la crisi che sta attraversando un’area territoriale definita “terra dei fuochi”, in\ud Campania, e studia l’esperienza che stanno portando avanti alcune imprese che, in maniera\ud sinergia e collettiva, coinvolgendo i diversi attori del sistema locale, stanno attuando iniziative\ud che si indirizzano verso comportamenti collettivi responsabili. Lo sviluppo di questi\ud comportamenti, seppure indirizzato ad accogliere la prospettiva dell’engagement, non ha\ud prodotto i risultati sperati.\ud La ricerca analizza le cause del fallimento del network e propone, in presenza di problemi\ud complessi, come il ripristino di ambienti inquinati, l’utilizzo della prospettiva della Collective\ud Impact (Kania, Kramer, 2011; Hanleybrown et al. 2012)

L'economia circolare: l'innovazione per la "chiusura del cerchio"

[Italiano]: Il testo raccoglie casi aziendali sull’economia circolare svolti dagli studenti dell’insegnamento di Strategie aziendali di sviluppo sostenibile (A.A 2019/2020) dell’Università di Napoli L’Orientale. Il project work, svolto in aula, ha riguardato la raccolta di esperienze di imprese che accolgono i principi del riutilizzo di prodotti, della riduzione dei rifiuti e delle emissioni nocive; di start-up innovative che realizzano innovazioni radicali, con la creazione di un dominio tecnologico completamente nuovo e la realizzazione di prodotti che rappresentano una novità assoluta. Nel volume sono presentate queste esperienze aziendali che, attraverso la riprogettazione di sistemi produttivi o la realizzazione di innovazioni radicali (di processo e di prodotto), fanno proprio l’obiettivo del disaccoppiamento della crescita economica dall’esaurimento delle risorse naturali, contribuendo al mantenimento dell’equilibrio tanto ambientale quanto sociale ed economico./[English]: The book collects business cases on circular economy set by students of Corporate Strategies for Sustainable Development (A.Y. 2019/2020) of the University of Naples L'Orientale. The project work, carried out during the lectures, concerned the collection of: experiences from companies that embrace the principles of reuse of products, reduction of waste and harmful emissions; innovative start-ups that carry out radical innovation, with the creation of a completely new technological domain and the creation of products that represent an absolute novelty.The book describes business cases following the objective of decoupling economic growth from the exhaustion of natural resources; these firms contribute to both environmental, social and economic balance through the redesign of production systems or the achievement of radical innovations (related to both process and product)

NO scavenging through reductive nitrosylation of ferric Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Homo sapiens nitrobindins

Ferric nitrobindins (Nbs) selectively bind NO and catalyze the conversion of peroxynitrite to nitrate. In this study, we show that NO scavenging occurs through the reductive nitrosylation of ferric Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Homo sapiens nitrobindins (Mt-Nb(III) and Hs-Nb(III), respectively). The conversion of Mt-Nb(III) and Hs-Nb(III) to Mt-Nb(II)-NO and Hs-Nb(II)-NO, respectively, is a monophasic process, suggesting that over the explored NO concentration range (between 2.5 × 10-5 and 1.0 × 10-3 M), NO binding is lost in the mixing time (i.e., NOkon ≥ 1.0 × 106 M-1 s-1). The pseudo-first-order rate constant for the reductive nitrosylation of Mt-Nb(III) and Hs-Nb(III) (i.e., k) is not linearly dependent on the NO concentration but tends to level off, with a rate-limiting step (i.e., klim) whose values increase linearly with [OH-]. This indicates that the conversion of Mt-Nb(III) and Hs-Nb(III) to Mt-Nb(II)-NO and Hs-Nb(II)-NO, respectively, is limited by the OH--based catalysis. From the dependence of klim on [OH-], the values of the second-order rate constant kOH- for the reductive nitrosylation of Mt-Nb(III)-NO and Hs-Nb(III)-NO were obtained (4.9 (±0.5) × 103 M-1 s-1 and 6.9 (±0.8) × 103 M-1 s-1, respectively). This process leads to the inactivation of two NO molecules: one being converted to HNO2 and another being tightly bound to the ferrous heme-Fe(II) atom

Early switch to nilotinib in a case of non-optimal response to imatinib

We report a case of excellent response to nilotinib in a 22 years old man with chronic myeloid leukemia in suboptimal response to imatinib. After diagnosis he started cytoreductive therapy with cytarabine and hydroxyurea, then he begun therapy with imatinib 400 mg/day. After 3 months of treatment, he obtained a complete hematologic response (CHR) and a minor cytogenetic response (minor CyR). At 6 months CHR was confirmed, but bone marrow analysis showed increasing number of Ph+ cells (minimal CyR) and non significant reduction of BCR-ABL levels. According to ELN (European LeukemiaNet) guidelines, this is considered a suboptimal response. Clonal evolution, kinase domain mutations and reduced drug intake were excluded, thus we decided to early switch to nilotinib at 400 mg/BID. After 3 months of treatment we obtained a complete cytogenetic response (CCyR) and a strong reduction of BCR-ABL transcript, almost reaching a major molecular response (MMR)

The compatibility of off-grid technologies in the rehabilitation of energy network of minor historical centres

The research links the issue of recovery of the small Italian historic centres to the environmental issue, proposing the sustainable recovery as opportunity to carry out a virtuous action in the territory. The study of these territories, particularly the inner area of Abruzzo Region affected by the earthquake of April 6, 2009, offers the opportunity to carry out a research that aims to redevelop a heritage abandoned for year, now further compromised by the earthquake. An operational methodology aimed at energetic rehabilitation of the minor centres has been drawn up, which starts from an in-depth knowledge of the investigation area, identifying its peculiarity. Then we analyzed the intervention area and highlighted the applicable technologies through a careful “process of compatibility” (Zordan et al., 2002) with the context. In the present study there is an interest in the topic of energy networks, in their state of use and deterioration and possibility of renewable energy sources integration. In particular, we examine/analyze the off-grid technological systems potentiality and criticality, identifying the possibility of their application in the minor centres