Abstract Proposals for Intertwining Nature and Culture in Protected Areas: the Musica in Quota Festival In a context where nature and culture always appear separate, this contribution aims to ...overcome this dichotomy, proposing a musical festival as an example. Musica in Quota takes place among mountains and protected areas of the Verbano Cusio Ossola province, in the northwest of Piedmont. In the various events of the traveling exhibition, nature becomes the theatre of musical performances. The particular attention to the environmental, social, and economic needs of the local context makes it a virtuous case of programming able to promote the reappropriation of protected spaces through sustainable and participatory cultural practices that translate into active conservation.
The traceability of what we eat is a lingering issue. Blockchain enables transparency across the value chain as it tracks a product’s origin, location, and history. In this work we adopt a mix-method ...approach - experiment plus qualitative evidence - to understand why consumers consider the traceability offered by blockchain important and what are the barriers that suppliers face when considering blockchain adoption. Our findings show that, when the food is local, blockchain increases consumers’ trust and, in turn, attitudes and behaviors toward the sharing experience. On the supply side, we find that, while operators see key benefits in blockchain adoption – including enhanced trust, they are still hesitant in using the technology because of a greater need for intra-organizational support and a concern in data sharing. By looking at both consumers and suppliers, we offer a complete picture on the integration of blockchain technology in the food supply chain.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
Giardini e turismo, un binomio che riporta a una storia densa e articolata di relazioni ed esperienze che affondano le proprie radici in epoche lontane, secondo modalità di visita e fruizione che ...hanno sedimentato e definito i contorni del cosiddetto, e più recente, garden tourism. Fenomeno noto e popolare in Europa, prodotto turistico consolidato in Inghilterra e Francia, trova ancora alcune resistenze in Italia in termini di proposte sistemiche e integrate a livello territoriale, rendendo i giardini delle “comparse”, piuttosto che dei “protagonisti”, nello scenario turistico delle destinazioni che cercano tempi e modi rinnovati per attrarre, depolarizzare, destagionalizzare i propri flussi. In questa cornice, il presente contributo si interroga sulla capacità attrattiva e motivazionale dei giardini, eleggendo il caso di studio del Cusio, in Piemonte, quale campo di indagine condotta mediante un sondaggio creato ad hoc. Ciò consente di individuare richieste e percezioni dal lato della domanda turistica e possibili indicazioni da quello dell’offerta, al fine di declinare e promuovere il garden tourism nel contesto del Lago d’Orta, oggetto di indagine. Ne discende che le proposte di turismo dei giardini debbano basarsi su dati e necessità reali, che ne misurino la sostenibilità, ed essere correlate alle aspettative dei visitatori e alle potenzialità delle “risorse verdi” locali, che ne valorizzino il patrimonio. Gardens and tourism, a combinational pairing that brings back to a dense and articulated history of relationships and experiences rooted in distant epochs, according to visiting and fruition modalities that have sedimented and defined the outlines of the so-called, and more recent, garden tourism. A well-known and popular phenomenon in Europe, a consolidated tourist product in England and France, it still finds some resistance in Italy in terms of systemic and integrated proposals at a territorial level, making gardens “extras” rather than “protagonists” in the tourist scenario of that destinations looking for renewed steps and ways to attract, depolarise and de-seasonalise their flows. In this framework, the paper aims at questioning the attractiveness and motivational capacity of gardens, choosing the case study of Cusio, in Piedmont region, as the field of geographical investigation developed through a survey created ad hoc. This makes it possible to identify requests and perceptions on the tourist demand side and possible suggestions on the supply side, in order to promote the garden tourism in the context of Lake Orta, subject of the survey. It follows that garden tourism proposals have here to be based on real data and needs, which measure their sustainability, and correlate with the expectations of visitors and the potential of local “green resources”, which enhance their heritage.
•Revenue management strategies are fragmented in the hospitality industry.•Independent hotels are more vulnerable to crises.•The Covid-19 crisis might facilitate innovation processes in the ...hospitality industry.•The Covid-19 crisis motivates stakeholders to share data and collaborate.•A high quota of hotel’s disclosure prompts hoteliers to share their data.
Within a context of a continuous and unpredictable crisis, operators need to adapt their strategies to maximize revenues. This article explores, through a mixed-method approach, how hoteliers re-arranged their supply management strategies during the crisis. Structured interviews show that the adoption of disruptive and dynamic strategies and the collaboration with different stakeholders are key factors for resilience. To investigate the collaboration trait, we conducted a field experiment with 134 hoteliers. Our results reveal that, with the presence of a significant quota of data disclosure, hoteliers will share their data as they feel a perceived benefit, which activates their contextual reciprocity. These findings support the implementation of successful collaboration strategies for revenue maximization.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
This contribution is inspired by a current scenario regarding the city of Naples, Italy, where a strong popular uprising is underway against local institutions that are destroying the Camorra murals ...celebrating its “heroes” died in “war”. These events are very interesting to analyse the theme of the iconographic exploitation of urban space by the criminal part of society in order to amplify the identity symbols of a tribal structure such as the Camorra. While on the one hand the analysis aims to show the positive response of civil society and institutions in eradicating these celebratory icons of evil, on the other hand the research intends to emphasise the profound and worrying systemic modification of public space according to subjective and negative canons that, however, are also shared by some intellectuals and even an administrative court.
Climate change and environmental degradation are an existential threat to Europe and the world. To overcome these challenges, Europe has shaped a new strategy, the European Green Deal, to help the ...EU’s economy become sustainable. Much of its success will be determined by European cities where around 75 per cent of the European population live, work, travel and study. This paper considers European cities and their universities, in particular their strategic role in addressing societal and environmental challenges, training the younger generation, investing in research and engaging local communities in the transformational actions urgently needed. In particular, concrete actions and steps made by the University of Piemonte Orientale (UPO) in Italy to address environmental sustainability and social responsibility are presented in this paper.
We characterize the consequences of androgen deprivation therapy on body composition in elderly men.
Using a dual energy x-ray absorptiometry instrument, we determined the changes in bone mineral ...density, bone mineral content, fat body mass and lean body mass in 35 patients with prostate cancer without bone metastases who received luteinizing hormone releasing hormone analogue for 12 months.
At baseline conditions 46% of cases were classified as osteopenic and 14% as osteoporotic at the lumbar spine and 40% were osteopenic and 4% osteoporotic at the hip. Androgen deprivation significantly decreased bone mineral density either at the lumbar spine (mean gm./cm.
2 SD 1.00 0.194, 0.986 0.172 and 0.977 0.182 at baseline, and 6 and 12 months, respectively, p <0.002) or the hip (0.929 0.136, 0.926 0.144 and 0.923 0.138, p <0.03). A more than 2% decrease in bone mineral density was found at the lumbar spine in 19 men (54.3%) and at the hip in 15 (42.9%). Bone mineral content paralleled the bone mineral density pattern. Lean body mass decreased (mean gm. SD 50,287 6,656, 49,296 6,554 and 49,327 6,345, p <0.003), whereas fat body mass consistently increased (18,115 6,209, 20,724 6,029 and 21,604 5,923 p <0.001).
Serial bone densitometry evaluation during androgen deprivation therapy may allow the detection of patients with prostate cancer at risk for osteoporotic fractures, that is those with osteopenia or osteoporosis at baseline and fast bone loss. The change in body composition may predispose patients to accidental falls, thus increasing the risk of bone fracture.
Cultural events have become a significant component within the strategies of destination branding of a place. Territories are increasingly using events and cultural festivals to enhance their image ...and boost tourism development. Many destinations worldwide have built events portfolios as a strategic initiative to attract visitors and to develop their own brand. A destination brand represents a dynamic interaction between the destination’s core assets and the way in which potential visitors perceive them. Thus, the visitor perspective is considered as fundamental in triggering processes of destination branding. This paper investigates how the visitors assess the impact of cultural events and festivals in enhancing the image of a tourist destination. The Stresa Festival (Stresa, Lake Maggiore, Italy) has been selected as a case study. Stresa Festival is undoubtedly one of the best-known European classical music festivals that every year offers performances by internationally famous artists to its audiences. Structured questionnaires have been used as the methodology to carry out the research. Online questionnaires have been handed out to residents and non-resident visitors to the Stresa Festival to extract the opinions and experience from the public on the image effects of this festival. Findings reveal that there is a positive relationship between this cultural event and the enhancement of the city image and its territory.
The alteration of the bone microenvironment as a consequence of skeletal metastases is poorly understood. The aim of this study was to search for patterns of bone markers in relation to primary tumor ...type, bone pain, and number of sites involved in patients with bone metastases.
We studied 323 patients with bone metastases from various primary malignancies. We sequentially measured the serum concentrations of bone alkaline phosphatase by an electrophoretic technique (BALP), carboxy-terminal telopeptide of type I collagen (ICTP), calcium (CaS), intact parathyroid hormone (PTH), and the fasting urinary excretion of calcium (Ca:Cr). Immunoradiometric serum bone alkaline phosphatase (I-BALP) and urinary excretion of deoxypyridinoline (DPYD) were also assessed in the 175 cases. Data were analyzed as a function of bone pain (assessed by a validated pain questionnaire), the number of radiographically confirmed sites of bone involvement, and the most frequent primary tumor types: breast cancer (BC; 124 patients), prostate cancer (PC; 90 patients), and non-small cell lung cancer (LC; 49 patients).
Serum BALP and I-BALP correlated with the number of radiologically identified blastic bone lesions. BALP and I-BALP were more frequently increased in PC (72% for both measurements) than in BC (50% and 60%, respectively) or LC (3% and 5%, respectively; P <0.001 for BALP and P = 0.001 for I-BALP). ICTP and DPYD values did not differ among PC, BC, and LC, but they did show a direct relationship with the disease extent in bone (P <0. 001). CaS and Ca:Cr did not vary significantly according to the bone tumor burden. Bone pain directly correlated with ICTP (P <0.001), DPYD (P = 0.002), CaS (P <0.002), and Ca:Cr (P = 0.001), whereas the relationship was inverse for serum PTH (P = 0.002). When patients were stratified according to the primary tumor, ICTP correlated with the bone pain in all subsets (P <0.005, <0.005, and <0.001 for BC, PC, and LC, respectively), as did CaS and Ca:Cr in LC patients (P = 0.01 and 0.02, respectively) but not in PC and BC patients.
The patterns of bone turnover markers differ among the primary tumor types. Both resorption and formation markers reflect the number of radiographically identified sites of bone metastases, whereas resorption markers and serum calcium but not formation markers correlate with bone pain.
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