1,721,052 research outputs found
La prospettiva sistemica nelle strategie di sviluppo ecoturistico, responsabile ed ecoturismo
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The European protected areas approach to organizing ecotourism. A study of benchmark protected areas
No full textParks and territory. New perspective in planning and organization
No full textPark planning not only refers to parks. In most cases, an extended territorial context influences and is influenced by policies connected to the planning and management organization of protected areas. If the park requires a territorial context to work its way out of claustrophobic, "island" visions, the territory itself has much to learn from the successes and failures of policies governing protected areas.
This volume also responds to the wide debate that developed on this theme at the international seminar "Italian protected areas reaching the 2100 vision: strategies and actions. New organizational and planning perspectives", organized in Visso in November 2009 (University of Camerino, University of Macerata and University of Sassari). The meeting included the participation of the US National Park Service, the largest and oldest organization dedicated to the planning and management of national parks.
In the first part of the book, we investigate the separation from urban planning and territorial policies that has traditionally characterized policies for parks and protected areas. We highlight: the connections between natural and cultural resources; the integration or separation between parks and cities; and the role of the landscape in planning interpretations of relationships between the parks and the territory. From the methodological point of view, park planning requires measurement with other bodies of knowledge such as ecology, geology, economics, and the closer examination of some crucial problems in the current debate on conservation/transformation, such as relationships between local and global interests, natural and cultural values, property and environmental rights, evaluation and planning, and rules and cooperation.
Some case studies looking at a landscape interpretation of areas of environmental prestige in the Carpathians and eastern Alps provide the first indications in defining a model of sustainable mobility in the fruition of tourism in mountain areas (international research project SEE - "Access2Mountain").
In the second part of the book, topics regarding the organization and management of protected areas are examined, along with their relationship to the performance of the protected areas and with global perspectives of sustainable, or even responsible, socio-economic development
Recent imaging advances in neurology
No full textOver the recent years, the application of neuroimaging techniques such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and positron emission tomography (PET) has considerably advanced the understanding of complex neurological disorders. PET is a powerful molecular imaging tool, which investigates the distribution and binding of radiochemicals attached to biologically relevant molecules; as such, this technique is able to give information on biochemistry and metabolism of the brain in health and disease. MRI uses high intensity magnetic fields and radiofrequency pulses to provide structural and functional information on tissues and organs in intact or diseased individuals, including the evaluation of white matter integrity, grey matter thickness and brain perfusion. The aim of this article is to review the most recent advances in neuroimaging research in common neurological disorders such as movement disorders, dementia, epilepsy, traumatic brain injury and multiple sclerosis, and to evaluate their contribution in the diagnosis and management of patients
Molecular imaging of levodopa-induced dyskinesias
No full textLevodopa-induced dyskinesias (LIDs) occur in the majority of patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) following years of levodopa treatment. The pathophysiology underlying LIDs in PD is poorly understood, and current treatments generate only minor benefits for the patients. Studies with positron emission tomography (PET) molecular imaging have demonstrated that in advanced PD patients, levodopa administration induces sharp increases in striatal dopamine levels, which correlate with LIDs severity. Fluctuations in striatal dopamine levels could be the result of the attenuated buffering ability in the dopaminergically denervated striatum. Lines of evidence from PET studies indicate that serotonergic terminals could also be responsible for the development of LIDs in PD by aberrantly processing exogenous levodopa and by releasing dopamine in a dysregulated manner from the serotonergic terminals. Additionally, other downstream mechanisms involving glutamatergic, cannabinoid, opioid, cholinergic, adenosinergic, and noradrenergic systems may contribute in the development of LIDs. In this article, we review the findings from preclinical, clinical, and molecular imaging studies, which have contributed to our understanding the pathophysiology of LIDs in PD
Road to sustainability: Organisational antecedents of knowledge creating, transferring, and retaining to support the sustainable transition of traditional firms
No full textThe development of organisational learning (OL) processes, - i.e. knowledge creating (KC), transferring (KT), and retaining (KR), - represents an essential phase in supporting sustainability-oriented transition of traditional small and medium enterprises (SMEs). To stimulate the sustainable management of traditional SMEs, and specifically their transition towards circular economy (CE), the identification of contextual factors influencing OL processes activation is essential to prospect an effective transition of traditional firms.
Answering both OL and CE literatures, we developed a mixed-method investigation to evaluate the influence of three contextual factors, - strategy, information technology (IT) operations, and external network utilisation, - on KC, KT, and KR, specifically employing a partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) and an exploratory CE case study of the Italian construction sector.
Theoretical and managerial implications are raised from quantitative, and qualitative results, contributing, on the one hand, to the development of an OL multi-level theory, and, on the other hand, to orient the sustainable transition of SMEs: in fact, the management of exploration, exploitation strategies, as well as the activation of dedicated IT operations, and external experts’ inclusion appear to positively contribute to effective CE-oriented learning processes within tranditional SMEs
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