Purpose Starred restaurants, as significant outlets for small wineries, present a unique business opportunity. In this context, the sommelier, as a third actor, assumes a pivotal role in shaping the ...business relationships between these entities. This study, employing a grounded theory approach, delves into the sommeliers’ roles and activities in the initiation of relationships between small wineries and starred restaurants. Design/methodology/approach A qualitative methodology was adopted. Twenty-four semi-structured interviews, direct observations, and informal conversations with starred restaurants, small wineries, and sommeliers were collected and analysed using an abductive approach. Findings The findings suggest that the sommelier acts as a contributor to the business relationship initiation between the small winery and the starred restaurant, performing several continuous, simultaneous, and bilateral roles toward both actors. Originality/value The study sheds light on the role of wine stewards in the B2B context and provides useful insights to close the theoretical gap between business relationship initiation and the role of third actors.
The pandemic crisis and the disruptive impact of digitalisation have led firms to undertake the omnichannel continuum to meet new customers’ needs for a seamless purchasing experience. A frictionless ...customer journey requires coherent marketing initiatives across channels. Small firms, which usually lack human and financial resources, are approaching the omnichannel paradigm through outsourcing. As a result, small businesses that recognise the importance of corporate heritage marketing (CHM) in their overall marketing strategies face challenges in maintaining the consistency of CHM initiatives across their partners’ channels. Hence, the present study proposes a case study methodology to unfold how small firms develop consistent CHM initiatives in the omnichannel partners’ channels. The findings suggest that small companies should open their CHM process to omnichannel partners to develop consistent CHM initiatives among partners’ channels. La digitalizzazione e la crisi pandemica hanno indotto numerose aziende ad intraprendere il continuum omnicanale per soddisfare le nuove esigenze dei clienti. Predisporre percorsi di acquisto fluidi, integrati e sinergici implica lo sviluppo di iniziative di marketing coerenti tra i vari canali. Le piccole imprese, che solitamente non dispongono di adeguate risorse umane e finanziarie, ricorrono all’outsourcing per approcciarsi a tale paradigma. Di conseguenza, le piccole realtà che riconoscono al proprio corporate heritage marketing (CHM) un ruolo di primo piano, si ritrovano di fronte alla sfida di mantenere la coerenza delle proprie iniziative di CHM anche nei canali dei loro partner omnicanale. Il presente studio si propone di approfondire la suddetta tematica attraverso la metodologia dello studio di caso. I risultati evidenziano che le piccole imprese dovrebbero aprire il loro processo di CHM ai partner omnicanale per sviluppare iniziative di CHM coerenti anche nei loro canali.
The aim of this study was to investigate the feasibility of ultrahypofractionated radiotherapy to the prostate bed in patients with biochemical and/or clinical relapse following radical prostatectomy ...who were enrolled in the prospective, observational, multicentric POPART trial (NCT04831970).
Patients with post-radical prostatectomy PSA levels of ≥0.1-2.0 ng/mL and/or local relapse at PSMA PET/CT or multiparametric MRI were treated with Linac-based SBRT on the prostate bed up to a total dose of 32.5 Gy in five fractions every other day (EQD2
= 74.2 Gy). Maximum acute toxicity was assessed using the Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events version 5 scale. International Consultation on Incontinence Questionnaire-Short Form (ICIQ-SF) and Prostate Cancer Index Composite for Clinical Practice (EPIC-CP) scores were assessed at baseline and during the follow-up.
From April 2021 to June 2022, thirty men with a median age of 72 years (range 55-82) were enrolled in three centers. The median PSA level before RT was 0.30 ng/mL (range 0.18-1.89 ng/mL). At 3 months post-treatment, no GI or ≥2 GU side effects were reported; three patients (10%) experienced Grade 1 GU toxicity. No changes in ICIQ-SF or in the urinary domains of EPIC-CP were observed, while a transient worsening was registered in the bowel domain. At the same time point, all but two patients, who progressed distantly, were found to be biochemically controlled with a median post-treatment PSA level of 0.07 ng/mL (range 0-0.48 ng/mL).
Our preliminary findings show that SBRT can be safely extended to the postoperative setting, without an increase in short-term toxicity or a significant decline in QoL. Long-term results are needed to confirm this strategy.
To evaluate the efficacy of sodium butyrate enemas (NABUREN) in prostate cancer radiation therapy (RT) in reducing the incidence, severity, and duration of acute RT-induced proctitis.
166 patients, ...randomly allocated to 1 of 4 groups (rectal sodium butyrate 1 g, 2 g, or 4 g daily or placebo), were treated with NABUREN during and 2 weeks after RT. The grade of proctitis was registered in a daily diary. The correlation between NABUREN and proctitis was investigated through χ(2) statistics. The toxicity endpoints considered were as follows: total number of days with grade ≥1 proctitis (≥G1); total number of days with grade ≥2 proctitis (≥G2); ≥G1 and ≥G2 proctitis lasting at least 3 and 5 consecutive days starting from week 4 (≥G1+3d, ≥G2+3d); damaging effects of RT on rectal mucosa as measured by endoscopy. The relationship between endpoints and pretreatment morbidities, hormonal therapy, presence of diabetes or hypertension, abdominal surgery, or hemorrhoids was investigated by univariate analysis.
The patients were randomly allocated to the 4 arms. No difference in the distribution of comorbidities among the arms was observed (P>.09). The mean ≥G1 and ≥G2 proctitis were 7.8 and 4.9 for placebo and 8.9 and 4.7 for the NABUREN group, respectively. No favorable trend in reduction of incidence, severity, and duration of ≥G1 and ≥G2 proctitis was observed with NABUREN use. In univariate analysis, ≥G1+3d toxicity was found to be related to hemorrhoids (P=.008), and a slight correlation was found between ≥G2 proctitis and hormonal therapy (P=.06). The RT effects on rectal mucosa as based on endoscopic assessment were mainly related to diabetes (P<.01). Endoscopy data at 6 week showed no significant difference between the placebo and butyrate arms. The other investigated endpoints were not correlated with any of the clinical risk factors analyzed.
There was no evidence of efficacy of NABUREN in reducing the incidence, severity, and duration of acute radiation proctitis. There was a correlation between some endpoints and clinical risk factors.
Due to the complexity of postmodern markets, firms are developing corporate heritage marketing initiatives to engage in consumer research for emotional ties. Due to its rising relevance in the ...literature, several aspects of corporate heritage marketing need to be examined in depth, especially within the b2b context. This study explores how corporate heritage marketing supports the initiation phase of the buyer–seller relationship. The originality of this study relies on the fact that, thus far, no studies have discussed the connection between corporate heritage marketing and buyer–seller relationship initiation, a crucial period for the establishment of the business relationship, which in turn has been scarcely investigated in the management literature. The findings suggest that corporate heritage marketing might act as an initiation contributor for the buyer–seller relationship: it facilitates the first contacts between the parties by conveying emotional and rational values that improve seller attractiveness, and the first formal agreement after primary interactions by increasing seller trustworthiness. This study contributes to the corporate heritage marketing and buyer–seller relationship development literature. Relevant managerial implications are also provided, suggesting a simplified model for the SMEs for corporate heritage marketing management along with advice for buyers.
This work provides a detailed description of the fluid dynamic design of a low specific-speed industrial pump centrifugal impeller. The main goal is to guarantee a certain value of the specific-speed ...number at the design flow rate, while satisfying geometrical constraints and industrial feasibility. The design procedure relies on a modern optimization technique such as an Artificial-Neural-Network-based approach (ANN). The impeller geometry is parameterized in order to allow geometrical variations over a large design space. The computational framework suitable for pump optimization is based on a fully viscous three-dimensional numerical solver, used for the impeller analysis. The performance prediction of the pump has been obtained by coupling the CFD analysis with a 1D correlation tool, which accounts for the losses due to the other components not included in the CFD domain. Due to both manufacturing and geometrical constraints, two different optimized impellers with 3 and 5 blades have been developed, with the performance required in terms of efficiency and suction capability. The predicted performance of both configurations were compared with the measured head and efficiency characteristics.
We present a full 3-D velocity field of the Earth's surface in the Euro-Mediterranean area obtained from a combination of three different velocity solutions computed at the Centro Nazionale Terremoti ...(CNT) of the Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (INGV). All the publicly available GPS data since 1993, have been fully reprocessed by three different software tools and the final velocity field is estimated combining three independent velocity solutions in a least squares sense. The input velocity solutions are treated as stochastic samples of the true velocity field by loosening the reference frame constraints in the associated variance-covariance matrix. The proposed approach allows for a fast and efficient combination of multi velocity solutions, taking into account the full network covariance, if available. The velocity map for the Euro-Mediterranean region will be updated and released regularly on the web portal of the National GPS Network (ring.gm.ingv.it) and made available to the scientific community. Here we show and discuss the data analysis and the combination schemes, and the results of the combined velocity field.
We describe the main structure and outcomes of the new probabilistic seismic hazard model for Italy, MPS19 Modello di Pericolosità Sismica, 2019. Besides to outline the probabilistic framework ...adopted, the multitude of new data that have been made available after the preparation of the previous MPS04, and the set of earthquake rate and ground motion models used, we give particular emphasis to the main novelties of the modeling and the MPS19 outcomes. Specifically, we (i) introduce a novel approach to estimate and to visualize the epistemic uncertainty over the whole country; (ii) assign weights to each model components (earthquake rate and ground motion models) according to a quantitative testing phase and structured experts’ elicitation sessions; (iii) test (retrospectively) the MPS19 outcomes with the horizontal peak ground acceleration observed in the last decades, and the macroseismic intensities of the last centuries; (iv) introduce a pioneering approach to build MPS19_cluster, which accounts for the effect of earthquakes that have been removed by declustering. Finally, to make the interpretation of MPS19 outcomes easier for a wide range of possible stakeholders, we represent the final result also in terms of probability to exceed 0.15 g in 50 years.
Lombardy has represented the Italian and European epicenter of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Although most clinical efforts within hospitals were diverted towards the care of ...virally infected patients, therapies for patients with cancer, including radiotherapy (RT), have continued. During both the first and second pandemic waves, several national and regional organizations provided Italian and Lombardian RT departments with detailed guidelines aimed at ensuring safe treatments during the pandemic. The spread of infection among patients and personnel was limited by adopting strict measures, including triage procedures, interpersonal distance, and adequate implementation of personal protective equipment (PPE). Screening procedures addressed to both the healthcare workforce and patients, such as periodic nasopharyngeal swabs, have allowed the early identification of asymptomatic or pauci-symptomatic COVID-19 cases, thus reducing the spread of the infection. Prevention of infection was deemed of paramount importance to protect both patients and personnel and to ensure the availability of a minimum number of staff members to maintain clinical activity. The choice of treating COVID-19–positive patients has represented a matter of debate, and the risk of oncologic progression has been weighted against the risk of infection of personnel and other patients. Such risk was minimized by creating dedicated paths, reserving time slots, applying intensified cleaning procedures, and supplying personnel and staff with appropriate PPE. Remote working of research staff, medical physicists, and, in some cases, radiation oncologists has prevented overcrowding of shared spaces, reducing infection spread.
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