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The task of change detection (CD) in optical and SAR images is an ever-evolving and demanding subject within the realm of remote sensing (RS). It holds great significance to identify the target areas by using complementary information between the two. Due to the distinct imaging mechanisms employed by optical and SAR sensors, effectively and accurately identifying changing regions can be challenging. To this end, a novel heterogeneous RS images CD network (Twin-Depthwise Separable Convolution Connect Network, TDSCCNet) is proposed in this paper. Image domain transformation is a front-end task, while the back-end employs a single-branch bilayer depthwise separable convolutionconnected encoder-decoder to accomplish CD work. Specifically, first, the cycle-consistent adversarial network (CycleGAN) serves to integrate the optical and SAR visual domains, and a consistent feature expression is obtained. Second, the single-branch encoder structure of bilayer depthwise separable convolution is employed to realize change feature extraction. Finally, the multiscale connected decoder reconstructed by change map is utilized to reconstruct the original images and solve the local discontinuities and holes in the binary change map. Multiscale loss is designated for optimizing the global and local effects to alleviate the class imbalance problem. It was tested on four representative datasets from Gloucester, Shuguang Village, Italy and WV-3 datasets with an overall accuracy of 97.36%, 97.01%, 97.62%, and 98.01% respectively. By comparing the existing methods, experimental results confirmed the effectiveness of the proposed method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Critically ill COVID-19 patients may exhibit various clinical symptoms of renal dysfunction including severe Acute Kidney Injury (AKI). Currently, there is a lack of bibliometric analyses on COVID-19- related AKI. The aim of this study is to provide an overview of the current research status and hot topics regarding COVID-19 AKI. The literature was retrieved from the Web of Science Core Collection (WoSCC) database. Subsequently, we utilized Microsoft Excel, VOSviewer, Citespace, and Pajek software to revealed the current research status, emerging topics, and developmental trends pertaining to COVID-19 AKI. This study encompassed a total of 1507 studies on COVID-19 AKI. The United States, China, and Italy emerged as the leading three countries in terms of publication numbers, contributing 498 (33.05%), 229 (15.20%), and 140 (9.29%) studies, respectively. The three most active and influential institutions include Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan University and Harvard Medical School. Ronco C from Italy, holds the record for the highest number of publications, with a total of 15 papers authored. Cheng YC’s work from China has garnered the highest number of citations, totaling 470 citations. The co-occurrence analysis of author keywords reveals that ‘mortality’, ‘intensive care units’, ‘chronic kidney disease’, ‘nephrology’, ‘renal transplantation’, ‘acute respiratory distress syndrome’, and ‘risk factors’ emerge as the primary areas of focus within the realm of COVID-19 AKI. In summary, this study analyzes the research trends in the field of COVID-19 AKI, providing a reference for further exploration and research on COVID-19 AKI mechanisms and treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic created an environment where the majority of continuing medical education (CME) and continuing professional development (CPD) activities needed to be delivered digitally. Producing digital materials for 16 separate learning activities (four learning journeys for each of four topic areas) in 2021 provided challenges and raised points of interest and discussion for a small, Italy-based provider of CME and CPD. This study presents outcome metrics from four live, interactive webinars. A variety of promotional efforts, including the strategic use of social media, generated interest and participation; feedback from the European Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education standard questionnaire to participants provided rates of satisfaction; subject knowledge and self-reported competence was measured by responses to pre- and post-event and follow-up (after 3 months) questionnaires. Post-event analysis of processes prompted introspection on the learning journey outcomes and methods of analysis. This paper discusses these observations, including potential innovations for future activities (e.g. reconfiguring the e-learning platform to capture time spent on learning activities), and also discusses issues in learner behaviour that impact CME provision and evaluation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Italy is famous worldwide for its co-operative sector, and this firm model has proven to be efficacious in redressing many social inequalities over the past two centuries. This paper aims to examine how local communities in diverse regions have adapted this traditional form to the contemporary trend of bottom-up community development processes. Furthermore, the paper compares the Italian initiatives with the international literature on community co-operatives and assesses to which extend similarities and differences are viewable. The qualitative analysis considers 7 co-operatives in various areas of Italy, and analyses result from 15 semi-structured interviews with managers. Findings show the intense work undertaken before the co-operatives' registration, the negotiation of purposes and objectives with external partners, how founder groups have a key role in determining each firm's approach to local development, and how further networks with external subjects are deeply influence the co-operatives' work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper argues that the consideration of educational disadvantage should go beyond the micro-scale contextual level of individual students, and explore eventual connections with hybrid forms of disadvantage in the social field. The paper draws on the capability approach and the concept of dwelling to introduce dwelling in time as functioning. This refers to students' abilities to position themselves in an engaging and meaningful relationship within time, and depends on students first achieving the previous functioning of dwelling. Research results from 222 14–15 year-old vocational education students from Italy, France and Greece using the Future Time Perspective Scale for Adolescents and Young Adults (FTPS-AYA), revealed four main findings: a measurement error in four factors of the scale, an almost systematic lack of correlation of the future-planning factor with the other factors, a significant percentage of students who do not have a clear position on the future and an invisible correlation between the future-positive and future-negative factors and students' opportunities to choose their specialisations. The paper argues that these four findings should not be seen in isolation and concludes that widening the spectrum of the origins of educational disadvantage facilitates both more effective education policy making and localising conversion factors that can boost students' resilience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the second half of the twentieth century, after the Second World War, a considerable migration from inland to coastal areas was observed in many territories, especially in the Mediterranean. This process has caused the expansion of existing coastal settlements and the construction of numerous new towns, often substituting beaches and dune systems. All this has often altered the equilibrium conditions of several coastal ecosystems thereby triggering shoreline erosion processes. This issue is particularly important in territories such as Calabria, a region of southern Italy subject to considerable anthropogenic pressures and characterized by over 750 km of coast. The paper analyses the correlations between shoreline erosion and anthropogenic pressure in Calabria. For this purpose, historical and current cartographic Open Data, such as shapefiles, cartography, and satellite imagery, were analysed using QGIS. The analysis showed a strong correlation between the anthropogenic pressures, in terms of the expansion of the inhabited centres and, therefore, of the man-made areas near the shoreline, and the triggering of shoreline erosion processes. Finally, this analysis is of interest in the field of coastal area planning and management, and it is easily applicable and replicable as it is based on Open Data and free software. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of European Journal of Psychotraumatology is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Smaller towns in rural regions are important anchors for regional development, but they are not usually considered particularly innovative and open to new ideas. This paper asks how the network of small and medium-sized towns, Cittaslow, could establish slowing down as something new in local development. Against the theoretical background of sociological innovation research, an analytical framework of social innovation is elaborated to analyse Cittaslow using four case studies: two German and two Italian towns. Based on fieldwork in the four towns, this paper shows that discourse and communication on slowing down, local projects labelled as slow and new cooperation structures go hand in hand. This leads to the conclusion that new ways of local development need a communicative umbrella under which projects and stakeholders come together. The paper furthermore demonstrates that the analytical framework, with its triad of semantics, pragmatics and grammar, is extremely helpful for analysing spatial development and has the potential to be adapted as a tool for policy strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While violence against health care workers is being progressively recognised as a serious problem in the healthcare industry, it remains an under-studied area of enquiry in global public health. Anthropologists have long observed that violence toward patients is tied to institutional care practises in multiple ways, including repression, misrecognition and silencing. But research on health care staff's experience of violence is still lacking. This article aims to address this literature gap by providing research on the daily experience of vulnerability to violence that health care providers face during their work. To do so, the paper ethnographically explores the effects and perception of violence against health care workers in an emergency department (ED) in northern Italy, a place with a dramatic escalation of violent incidents. The article illustrates how the ED staff attended to the experience of suffering of potentially violent patients. In so doing, ED professionals shifted the responsibility of violence against them from violent individuals to violent structures shaping health inequities. The paper thus argues that ED professionals display a structural competence perspective when dealing with violence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyzes the business organisation and activities of Genoese naval entrepreneurs who managed galleys for the Spanish Empire in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries. While conventional narratives of business history begin with the Industrial Revolution and focus on the rise of the modern corporation, this article brings to the fore early modern entrepreneurs from Italy and shows how they led family-controlled firms running permanent navies in the Mediterranean. By using private ledgers and merchant correspondence, the paper aims to understand how these naval entrepreneurs governed their affairs and managed resources internationally. We find that delegation (through family ties, hierarchy, and networks) was the main solution chosen to deal with distant commodity, labour, and capital markets. We retrace the different forms this delegation took and explain its determinants considering alternative options and providing comparative insights. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The social and economic consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic are at risk of exacerbating the preexisting intergenerational and interregional inequalities between and within countries, such as those between core and peripheral areas. In particular, in the latter, especially in Italy, the lack of opportunities and access to essential services may affect the current and new generations to come, while also compromising the development of the country as a whole. Against this backdrop, understanding young people's aspirations and needs is vital to produce evidence-based knowledge to inform policies promoting opportunities to stay in or return to these territories. This paper investigates young people's migration propensity, uncovering the individual characteristics and the factors explaining their propensity to leave their place or to stay and work there. Data come from a nationwide survey carried out on a representative sample of about 950 young people residing in peripheral areas of Italy, via a questionnaire designed and administered as part of the research-action project 'Giovani Dentro'. The study provides new and timely information about the difficulties, desires and plans of young people who choose to stay in or return to these territories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper has explored the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the Italian stock market at an industry level, analysing companies listed in the two major stock indexes: MIB 30 and STAR. Using daily firm-level stock prices (from December 2019, until October 31, 2020), we employed an event-study approach to analyse short-term stock market reactions, considering different pandemic windows period. Results showed that stocks reacted negatively to the announcement of the first case in the country, with deep reversal effects when the country was locked down. Monetary policy measures showed potential to ease stock markets: the announcement of Next Generation Agreement highlights the reversed role of Market Capitalization. Firm-specific variables were included in order to make inferences about firm characteristics that emerged as value drivers during the pandemic: in the first lockdown period, a greater company's capitalization ensured a greater resilience to the Covid-19 shock. Reversals at both an industry and a company level are observed. Results allow to understand how an outbreak of contagious disease affects stock returns in various sectors, helping investors to develop trading strategies to protect their wealth from future epidemics and providing inputs into the assessment of economic vulnerability to pandemic crises. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The activity of Italian banks in Egypt represents an almost unexplored field of investigation in economic history. This article is the first to attempt to add to the Italian banking literature in this area. At the same time, it contributes to the multinational banking literature on the characteristics of banks belonging to multinational groups, which are subject to a 'liability of foreignness' due to differences between the home country and the host economy. The paper explains the short-lived success of Italian banks, which were able to occupy primary positions in the Egyptian banking sector thanks to an aggressive policy focussed on the cotton market. It then highlights the reasons for the subsequent problems these institutes faced, showing the difficulties of a latecomer and capital-poor country, such as Italy, in carrying out a catching-up process aimed at widening its influence over geographical areas considered strategic in terms of political and commercial penetration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wilderness is an important concept in the discourses and policies concerning contemporary European protected areas, inherently challenging in terms of sustainability. Since its designation in 1992, the Val Grande National Park, located in northwest Italy, has been portrayed and promoted as a wilderness area, thereby enhancing tourism, whilst disregarding the historical signs of human activity. In this paper we explore the wilderness concept, focusing on the narratives developed in the area, that changed from a strict conservationist approach to a more utilitarian one, influencing the National Park's policy-making. The research is based mainly on the content analysis of several literary texts. We conclude that wildernessneeds to be reconceptualized so that contemporary European protection policies might become more effective, and we may use our knowledge of nature to promote sustainable development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we analyse the sustainability of Italian public finances using a unique database covering the period 1862–2013. This paper focuses on empirical tests for the sustainability and solvency of fiscal policies. A necessary but not sufficient condition implies that the growth rate of public debt should at the limit be smaller than the asymptotic rate of interest. In addition, the debt-to-G.D.P. ratio must eventually stabilise at a steady-state level. The results of unit root and stationarity tests show that the variables are non-stationary at levels, but stationary in first-differences form, or I(1). Some breaks in the series emerge, however, given internal and external crises (wars, oil shocks, regime changes, institutional reforms). Therefore, the empirical analysis is conducted for the entire period, as well as two sub‐periods (1862–1913 and 1947–2013). Moreover, anecdotal evidence and visual inspection of the series confirm our results. Furthermore, we conduct tests on cointegration, which evidence that a long-run relationship between public expenditure and revenues is found only for the first sub-period (1862–1913). In essence, the paper's results reveal that Italy had sustainability problems in the Republican age. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a novel geodiversity map of the Abruzzo, Lazio, and Molise National Park (Central Italy). The Park exhibits a wide range of geological-geomorphological environments of great scientific and touristic interest, offering unique landscapes and wild nature frequented by visitors year-around. All these features reflect a marked geodiversity and a valuable geoheritage, requiring protection and valorization activities. The geodiversity map that we present was realized following an integrated methodological approach, which includes and combines geological-geomorphological features, geoheritage elements, data from Park archives, and new field-based observations. In this framework, the map serves as a key outreach tool for the dissemination of the geological information of the area and for the promotion of its geodiversity through a modern, sustainable, and environmentally aware tourism in an highly frequented protected area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we show data from new detailed geological-structural field surveys, integrated with preliminary photogrammetric analysis, presented in a 1:10,000 scale geological map. The field-based investigations covered an area of about 60-km2, located at the southern termination of the Calabrian Forearc, in NE Sicily (Italy), at the intersection of two key regional-scale fault systems. These are represented by the Peloritani Sole-Thrust, along which the Kabilo-Calabride orogenic edifice overthrusted onto the Apenninic-Maghrebian Chain, and the Mt. Kumeta-Alcantara Line, which played a key role in the post-Oligocene evolution of the Nubia–Eurasia converging margin. The collected data permitted the recognition of a new terrigenous stratigraphic unit, the Malvagna Flysch, and the acquisition of updated structural information useful to better understand the kinematics of the easternmost portion of the Mt. Kumeta-Alcantara Line. The geological map provides new insights for the reconstruction of the geodynamic evolution of this sector of the Calabrian Forearc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To establish pan-European consensus on tapering and discontinuing thrombopoietin receptor agonists (TPO-RAs) in patients with immune thrombocytopenia (ITP), we applied a three-step Delphi technique consisting of a one-to-one interview round and two online survey rounds. Three healthcare professionals (HCPs) from Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom formed the Steering Committee (SC), which advised on study design, panelist selection, and survey development. A literature review also informed the development of the consensus statements. Likert scales were used to collect quantitative data on panelists' level of agreement. Twelve hematologists representing nine European countries assessed 121 statements spanning three categories: (1) patient selection; (2) tapering and discontinuation strategies; (3) post-discontinuation management. Consensus was reached on approximately half of the statements in each category (32.2%; 44.6%; 66%). Panelists agreed on patients' main selection criteria, patients' involvement in decision-making, tapering strategies, and follow-up criteria. Areas not reaching consensus were risk factors and predictors of successful discontinuation, monitoring intervals, and rates of successful discontinuation or relapse. This lack of consensus signals knowledge and practice gaps among European countries and suggests the need for the development of clinical practice guidelines that outline a pan-European, evidence-based approach to tapering and discontinuing TPO-RAs. Immune thrombocytopenia (ITP) is a condition that may cause extensive bruising and excessive bleeding. Another sign is a pattern of small reddish-purple dots resembling a rash. ITP is treated with a class of medications known as thrombopoietin receptor agonists (TPO-RAs), which include eltrombopag, avatrombopag, and romiplostim. Sometimes the beneficial effects of the medication last even after the patient stops taking it, which means that some patients can be tapered off it. This paper presents the results of a Delphi panel—a method of research that gathers insights from experts—about tapering and discontinuing TPO-RAs. There were 12 physicians from nine European countries on the Delphi panel, all practicing hematologists with expertise in tapering and discontinuing TPO-RAs in patients with ITP. Panelists were presented with a total of 130 statements over three survey rounds. At the end of Round Three, 52 statements (40%) achieved consensus (response pattern of ≥80% "Agree"), and six statements (4.6%) achieved dissensus (response pattern of ≥80% "Disagree"). Consensus was achieved on the appropriateness of tapering the dose of the TPO-RA for two to three months prior to attempting discontinuation. The panel also reached consensus on considering tapering in a slower fashion (six to 12 months) for patients showing suboptimal response to TPO-RAs. More than half the survey's statements did not achieve consensus or dissensus. This signals that knowledge gaps exist and highlights the importance of conducting prospective, real-world evidence studies to identify best practices and develop pan-European guidelines for tapering and discontinuing TPO-RAs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A recent study has proposed and tested a semi-empirical method to estimate crop irrigation based on a water balance logic and Sentinel-2 Multi Spectral Instrument (MSI) NDVI imagery. The current paper aims at extending the same approach to the analysis of the main irrigation patterns occurred in Tuscany (Central Italy) during the 2000–2019 period. This operation was made possible by feeding the irrigation water (IW) estimation method with 250-m spatial resolution Terra/Aqua Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) NDVI images. The results of this operation were first assessed versus various reference datasets available for the region; next, the annual maps of IW estimated for the 20 study years were analyzed at province scale in conjunction with relevant agricultural statistics. The use of MODIS in place of MSI images reduces the IW estimation accuracy irregularly at local scale, depending on the size and spatial arrangement of irrigated and non-irrigated fields; the reduction in accuracy is, however, marginal over relatively large areas. Irrigated crops are decreasing throughout most Tuscany provinces, while they are increasing in the most southern and driest province. The possible reasons and implications of these findings are finally discussed in relation to the main environmental issues affecting the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The complete mitochondrial genome of the olive cultivar Mehras was determined using high-throughput sequencing technology. It consisted of 710,808 base pairs and comprised 70 genes, including 44 protein-coding genes, 23 tRNA genes, and three rRNA genes, with a GC content of 44.7%. Significant single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and insertions/deletions (InDels) were detected throughout the mitogenome. Phylogenetic analysis was conducted using other genotypes, including five olive cultivars, three related species, and Olea exasperata as an out-group. The analysis revealed that the olive cultivar Mehras shares an ancient common ancestor with the Frantoio cultivar from Italy and the Manzanilla cultivar from Spain, which confirms previous findings based on plastome sequencing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates how hydrological drought affected suspended sediment yield (SSY) in the Mediterranean Ofanto River basin, southern Italy, and in its five sub-basins from 1951 to 1989. The Standardized Precipitation Evaporation Index over a scale of 12 months (SPEI12) has been used to compute the hydrological drought in the investigated span of time. SPEI12, mean and maximum monthly discharge (Qmean and Qmax), monthly rainfall erosivity, monthly simple daily intensity index and monthly SSY were used to assess the relationships between dry/wet cycles, streamflow and SSY through the Pearson correlation matrix. Qmean and Qmax are significantly correlated with SSY, while SPEI12 and rainfall intensity do not show good correlation with SSY. Furthermore, from the overall analyses it emerges that sediment yield estimations were higher mainly during the wet period following a period of drought or during a drought period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses the role of city leadership in the current multilevel governance settings and provides a conceptual framework for understanding the main elements of city leadership. Forms of political, managerial and civic leadership have been distinguished within city leadership and the main actors, structures, processes and followership patterns are examined using Italy and the UK as starting points of comparison. This comparative framework sheds a light on some common and different features in the city leadership patterns in Italy and the UK, such as the cross-cutting and multilayered administrative context for public service delivery; the common trend towards strengthening the executive side of political leadership rather than the representative one; the growing relevance of forms of civic leadership as a trigger for creating public and social value and for enhancing the resilience of the territories. Main differences deal instead with the role of central government in defining the role of city leaders, where Italy seems to experience a return towards greater centralization and controls, and the UK is experiencing an opposite trend towards the empowerment of local communities. Finally, the paper sets out some future directions for the research agenda on city leadership we are seeking to pursue. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Copyright of European Journal of Psychotraumatology is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

In this paper, Mixed Reality (MR) has been exploited in the operating rooms to perform laparoscopic and open surgery with the aim of providing remote mentoring to the medical doctors under training during the Covid-19 pandemic. The employed architecture, which has put together MR smartglasses, a Digital Imaging Player, and a Mixed Reality Toolkit, has been used for cancer surgery at the IRCCS Hospital 'Giovanni Paolo II' in southern Italy. The feasibility of using the conceived platform for real-time remote mentoring has been assessed on the basis of surveys distributed to the trainees after each surgery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The land snail taxon Helix straminea Briganti, 1825 has been reintroduced as a valid species in 2014. We provide here a comprehensive account of its taxonomy, distribution, anatomy, phylogeny and karyology in Italy. An overview of the historical views on the validity of the species is presented and faunistic data are reviewed and implemented with new records from Campania and Basilicata. A lectotype is fixed for H. straminea from the syntypes stored in the Muséum d'Histoire Naturelle of Genève, as well as for three other taxa (Helix straminiformis Bourguignat, 1876, Helix yleobia Bourguignat, 1883 and Helix straminea ssp. elongata Bourguignat, 1860). Genital system, radula and karyotype are described for the first time. Molecular analysis of two mitochondrial genes combining GenBank data and the new sequences presented in this paper showed no differentiation between the northern and southern Italian populations. The conservation status of the species and its possible threats are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes the anthropogenic landforms of the alluvial-coastal plain of Rapallo (Eastern Liguria, NW Italy). Since the second half of the nineteenth-century Rapallo experienced a progressive urban sprawl that became particularly intense after the Second World War and severely modified the former landforms. The identification and mapping of morphological changes was performed through a multi-temporal comparison of historical and recent maps and aerial photographs, an analysis of geo-thematic maps and urban planning documents, an interpretation of stratigraphic data from boreholes, and a field survey activity. The main anthropogenic interventions that shaped the urban landscape of Rapallo were riverbed diversions and channelization, excavations, fillings, and embankments construction along the shoreline. These elements highlight the relevant extent of the human imprint on the pristine environment. Furthermore, the identified anthropogenic geomorphological features, combined with the local physiographic and climatic features, increased flood and sea storm hazards and risks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Starting on 24th August 2016, Central Italy was struck by a six-month earthquake sequence that caused 303 victims and extensive major damages to urban areas and infrastructures, in some cases entire villages needed complete rebuilding. In this paper we present a map that portrays the overall susceptibility to multiple landslide types and the exposure to landslides of the rural-urban areas of the Castelsantangelo sul Nera Municipality, a typical village of the central Italian Apennine. The map is based on a procedure that ingests geomorphological data and models and groups the individual landslide susceptibility maps in a joint susceptibility and exposure map based on expert-defined criteria. The procedure has been applied to built-up and to undeveloped areas to highlight their exposure and was used as a tool for planning post-seismic reconstruction. We advise that such maps are used also as basic tool for ordinary urban planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper describes the multitemporal landslide inventory map prepared for the urban areas of Motta Montecorvino and Volturino, two municipalities located in the Southern Apennines (Apulia Region, Italy). These territories show a high propensity to landslides of different types and magnitude, which periodically interfere with the anthropic structures and infrastructures. For the study area, the spatial and temporal distribution of landslides is detected for the period between 1954 and 2003, through the visual interpretation of multiple sets of black and white digital stereoscopic aerial photographs at different scales. The analysis reveals locally high frequency of landslide occurrence and built-up areas on existing landslides, either on the body or on the crown areas. In particular, we show that over the years new residential areas were developed despite the presence of large old mass movements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present work contributes to the process of modernization of traditional geomorphological mapping, a fundamental tool for the assessment of the hazard degree of natural processes for the planning, of works and infrastructures. Starting from a traditional and detailed geomorphological survey and through elaborations in a GIS environment, this paper presents a multiscalar cartography model, characterized by a 'full coverage' representation of landforms. These characteristics make it possible to upscale or downscale processes and landforms and to use different information levels created in a hierarchical form. The test site for the experimentation is located on the Adriatic side of central Italy and is represented by a small catchment, about 13 km2 large. All geomorphological features and information have been organized as elements and attributes within digital geomorphological information layers, following structured on a Digital Terrain Model derived from LiDAR; this new product is here proposed also as web-browser version. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The knowledge of flood-induced ground effects and flood-water dynamics is a crucial issue for hydro-geomorphic hazards assessment and mapping, and thus for river management and land use planning. This paper and the related 1:15,000 map illustrate the lower Orba River (NW Italy) and its adjacent floodplain geomorphic response to the 21–22 October 2019 extreme flood. This was estimated to be a 500-years flood and caused severe damage to cultivated fields, structures, and infrastructures. The research is based on extensive post-flood field surveys, ante- and post-flood GNSS surveys, and aerial photographs interpretation. Intense in-channel sediment mobilization, bank retreats, and channelization structures collapses were surveyed. Furthermore, alluvial gullies, overbank deposits, crevasse splays, and surficial-erosion evidences were mapped over the floodplain, along with the flooded area (17.65 km2) and the flood-water features. A specific legend developed for flood-related and anthropogenic elements mapping in a typical lowland agricultural landscape with regulated rivers is proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a geomorphological map of Pescara del Tronto area (Sibillini Mts, Marche Region) is presented. The work focuses on the geomorphological analysis performed in a zone strongly struck by the 2016–2017 seismic sequence of Central Apennines. The geomorphological map (1:7,500 scale) was obtained through an integrated approach that incorporates geological-geomorphological field mapping and geomorphological profile drawing, supported by air-photo interpretation and GIS analysis. The main purpose of the work is to describe a geomorphological approach for representing and mapping the evidence of several debris flows and landslides recognized in the framework of seismic microzonation (SM) activities. Finally, in order to elevate geomorphological maps into effective tools for land management and risk reduction, it could provide a scientific and methodological basis to demonstrate that accurate mapping provides important information, readily available for local administrations and decision-makers, for the implementation of sustainable territorial planning and loss-reduction measures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the evolution of wages and wage inequality in four European countries during the economic crisis in light of important shifts in the occupational structure. Through recentered influence function regression for quantiles of European Union Survey on Income and Living Conditions data, this analysis links research on the primary forces of both wage and wage inequality to the decomposition of their changes between 2005 and 2013 into the composition effect and the wage structure. France and Germany show decreasing wage inequality despite having opposite changes in wages, whereas the United Kingdom and Italy show increasing wage inequality while maintaining opposite changes in wages. The wage structure has a greater influence on generating variation in the real salary, and the composition effect mostly explains the change in wage inequality with varying intensity throughout the distribution. Italy is the only country whose wage structure significantly contributes to wage inequality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper uses an Italian firm-level panel data-set over the period 1994-2006 to investigate the nexus between corporate taxation and investment. Studying the effects of corporate taxation on investment at the micro level has two advantages. Firstly, investment is free of aggregation biases and secondly, the firm-level dimension allows asking whether the effects of corporate taxation differ across firms with different characteristics. In the empirical analysis, we employ a Generalized Method of Moments estimator, which permits us to handle not only the dynamic structure of the model and of the predetermined or endogenous explanatory variables, but also firm-specific factors, heteroskedasticity, and autocorrelation of individual observations. We find that corporate taxes distort investment decisions. The results are robust to the inclusion of many controls. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Access to the workplace is one of the most important rights of citizenship. In some areas, the unavailability of job opportunities pushes people to commute. Nevertheless, there are areas where even commuting does not allow the improvement of individuals' economic and social conditions. This locks residents into a local job market that can be, in many cases, limited, low-income, or just unsatisfying. In this paper, we focus on the latest conditions in the Lombardia region (Italy). In order to identify marginal areas where low transport accessibility and high commuting cost may represent a barrier to territorial disparities in job access, we compare different classifications of marginality: socioeconomic indicators, an institutional one (SNAI), and, finally, one based on an indicator of marginal commuting gain (MCG). Evidence from this work will show an almost perfect match between very-fragile territories in socioeconomic terms and areas characterized by a low MCG indicator. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of specific actions to increase animal health and welfare is indicated as a strategy to improve the efficiency and sustainability of many livestock systems, including sheep farming. In this paper, efficiency measures are provided to confirm the hypothesis that farms that are higher-performing in terms of animal welfare and management are also more technically efficient. A two-stage Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) approach was adopted with the following twofold objectives: 1) to evaluate the efficiency and super-efficiency of 76 meat-producing sheep farms situated in marginal lands in central Italy, through DEA and Super-DEA (S-DEA) models; and 2) to assess the influence of animal welfare and management indicators on technical efficiency values through the application of a Tobit regression model. An overall efficiency performance varying within a range of 0.44–1 was estimated, with an average value of 0.80, implying a potential increase of 20% in terms of output production from both management and scale improvements. The 'pure' technical inefficiency was found to contribute three times more than scale inefficiency in determining the overall technical inefficiency. Adopting a more extensive farming system and increasing replacement rate were found to affect negatively the efficiency scores. On the other hand, having less than 5% of animals with body condition score beyond acceptable limits, presence of access control structures, well managed lambing pens, and dedicated feed stocking areas resulted in a positive influence on efficiency. Improvements in animal welfare aspects did not appear to be farm-scale-dependent. DEA and Super-DEA models were applied to assess sheep farm technical efficiency in Central Italy. An overall potential 20% increase in output production was estimated. Animal welfare factors were found to significantly affect efficiency performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we examine whether the size effect is present in four European markets viz. France, Germany, Spain and Italy. We also investigate whether the size effect can be explained through the sources as available in the literature. We employ prominent asset pricing models to ascertain if size anomaly in our sample countries passes the risk story. We find single-factor model i.e.capital asset pricing model to be still relevant in explaining size anomaly for Spain and Italy. We find FF3 factor model to be a suitable model to be explain for alphas in Germany, while we find that none of the asset pricing model is able to fully explain the size effect for France. Hence, we conclude that though size anomaly does not provide any opportunities to portfolio managers for making extra normal returns for their investors in three of the four sample countries. France, however, provides an opportunity to portfolio managers for exploiting size anomaly. Our findings have implications for portfolio managers, academia as well as regulators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Milk protein genes are known to be highly polymorphic. Several studies have shown the influence of milk proteins genetic variants and casein haplotypes on milk nutritional and technological properties. From 1990, the analysis of caseins polymorphism gained new attention due to the concern about possible negative effects of CSN2*A1 on human health. As a consequence, the CSN2*A2 variant gained interest and milk produced by with A2A2 β-casein cows is now available in different countries. Aim of the present paper was to analyse how casein variants' and haplotypes' frequencies changed in the Italian Holstein breed, due to the health 'claims' about CSN2*A2, and the possible effects on milk technological properties. Data were compared also with Italian Jersey cattle. A total of 223,655 Holstein and of 622 Jersey were genotyped using Illumina beadchips and data of 62 SNP in the casein cluster were analysed to reconstruct casein genotypes and haplotypes. The results demonstrate that although the selection towards β-casein A2 is not so effective in Italy, an increase of the frequency of this allele to the disadvantage of A1 and B alleles, included in the most favourable genotypes and haplotypes for cheese making, is occurring and should not be forced. Indeed, although a selection for the favourable κ-casein B allele, and against the unfavourable E allele, is occurring and is limiting the general loss of haplotypes associated with good technological properties, the sharp decrease of the favourable B-B and I-B β- κ-haplotypes, is an alert of the risk of losing useful biodiversity. After the concern about the β-caseinA1 variant on human health, a selection favoring the A2 allele was carried out in different countries. In Italy milk is mostly destined to cheese-making and even without a direct selection for theβ-casein A2 caseins allelic frequencies are changing. Genotyping data should be used to monitor and maybe contrast the reduction of variants associated with milk favorable technological properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes the hydrogeological map of the western Po Plain, located in Piedmont (north-western Italy). Po plain represents a hydrogeological system of European relevance, and the Piedmont Plain is the most important groundwater reservoir of the Region. The 1:300,000 scale map was realised using previous and new data to update the knowledge of this area. The map provides information about the hydrogeological complexes and their type and degree of permeability, water table levels and depth, piezometric level fluctuation, lithostratigraphic cross-sections, thickness, and percentage of the permeable deposits between 0 and 50 m from the ground surface. All this information is essential to public administrations, stakeholders, researchers, and professionals for defining possible tools for groundwater protection and management and for planning new groundwater exploitation (i.e. municipal drinking water supplies). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Holoplanktonic polychaetes constitute an exception within this taxon, which as adults colonize all the whole variety of brackish water and marine habitats. Nevertheless, they form a distinctive group in marine zooplankton and play an important role in the pelagic trophic nets. Pelagic worms are little studied, especially in the Mediterranean Sea, while information regarding the distribution of the families Typhloscolecidae and Iospilidae along Italian coasts is a century out of date. This paper deals with the state of knowledge of these polychaetes; it summarizes the previous records, updating them with the new records here reported from Tyrrhenian Sea, in order to check whether they have a bearing on Italian fauna. The findings reported in this paper confirm the presence of the Typhloscolecidae, with the speciesSagitella kowalewskyiandTyphloscolex muelleri, and of the Iospilidae, with the speciesPhalacrophorus pictusandIospilus phalacroides, along the Italian coasts, validating, in each case, their current presence in the Italian fauna. The main morphological features of these species and a dichotomous key for their identification are also reported. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Healthcare workers (HCWs) susceptible to hepatitis B represent an important public health concern. National and international guidelines recommend assessing the hepatitis B immune status of all HCWs and possibly vaccinating those found to be seronegative (non-responders). We conducted a meta-analysis to estimate the rate of hepatitis B sero-susceptibility among HCWs in Italy and to explore possible options for the management of non-responders. Nineteen studies, selected from scientific articles available in the Scopus, MEDLINE/PubMed and ISI Web of Knowledge databases between 1 January 2016 and 22 April 2022, were included. The prevalence of HBV-susceptible HCWs was 27.1% (95%CI = 23.2–31.7%). In a comparison by sex (males vs. females) the RR was 1.16 (95%CI = 1.03–1.31), and by full-cycle vaccination period (adolescence vs. infancy) the RR was 0.30 (95%CI = 0.25–0.37). Occupational health screenings for hepatitis B, with subsequent vaccination of non-responders, and exclusion of susceptible HCWs from high-risk settings have been common management strategies. It is highly probable that a proportion of the next generation of medical students and HCWs will not show circulating IgG on serologic evaluation. Therefore, more targeted efforts are needed to identify these individuals and actively immunize them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper illustrates a land consumption map for Italy (year 2017) at a scale 1:1,300,000, and the assessment of its changes (2012–2017). We define land consumption as the replacement of a non-artificial land cover to an artificial land cover, both permanent and no-permanent. The maps are a 10 m spatial resolution raster, produced by photointerpretation of very high resolution images and semiautomatic classification of high resolution remote sensing images. An overall accuracy of 97.7% for the map of 2012 and of 99.66% for the map of 2017 was obtained. The results suggest that the method proposed is appropriate to detect land consumption, both for the urban densification and for the sprawling phenomena, from national to local level. Furthermore, because of the high spatial resolution and the classification scheme adopted, it is suitable for an effective monitoring system, compared to other existing classification systems or monitoring programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates regional disparities of both turnout and voting behaviour in constitutional referendums. The analysis is undertaken at the NUTS-3 level and it considers the three constitutional referendums held in Italy in the period 2001–2016. It finds that turnout was lower in provinces with higher unemployment rates and where citizens had a stronger affiliation to opposition parties. These factors, along with level of government popularity, were important drivers of referendum results, especially in 2006 and 2016 when the referendums were rejected. In addition, while the three referendums implied different effects for rich and poor regions, mainly due to decentralization of powers, the local voting patterns did not reflect this. Overall, these findings suggest that the merit of the constitutional reforms played little part in explaining the outcome of the referendums. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The systematic status of the Italian trout in the Salmo trutta L., 1758 complex (including marble, Mediterranean and lacustrine trout), has long been - and is still today – subject of controversies among ichthyologists. The specific name and the taxonomic rank changed several times in the last years, and the natural occurrence of this salmonid fish in some Italian areas was debated due to spread of alien strains. The main difficulty with the taxonomy of the Italian trout stems from the impossibility of disentangling it "on paper" or, even worse, trying to face this systematic issue considering only a very limited (local/national scale) part of the brown trout range. The taxonomy of the Italian trout population is inextricably linked to the necessity of clarifying first phylogeny and phylogeography in an overall Mediterranean context. The opportunity of a non "self-referential" taxonomy is even more fundamental for a vulnerable salmonid like the Italian brown trout, for which there is a very conflicting management problem related to sport fishing and, at the same time, the urgent need for effective conservation measures. It is however necessary to emphasize that conservation is independent from taxonomy but must start from the level of the local population. In fact, management units need stability and they cannot, therefore, coincide with entities – the Linnean species – requiring continuous taxonomic revisions. Modern molecular methods are the best tools for defining these units of management and conservation in an evolutionary perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is a short history of Italian marine biology, starting from the mid 16th century. During the Renaissance, a profound curiosity for marine sciences animated the scientific thought and several Italian naturalists started to collect rare and unusual marine items, sometimes acting with little critical sense towards medieval unbelievable legends. The 17th and 18th centuries saw a development of botany and zoology as modern disciplines and Italian scholars started to study the Mediterranean fauna and flora. They became active mainly at the Universities of Trieste, Venice, Palermo, Naples, Rome and Genoa and in other scientific institutions that arose under the different political regimes in which Italy was divided at that time. The Kingdom of Italy, born in 1861 with enormous financial difficulties, was interested in reaching an international scientific limelight: hence, some oceanographic expeditions were organized all around the world with a significant collection of data and specimens. The scientific interest for sea life increased and became at international level at the end of the 19th century, with the foundations of the first shore-based Zoological Stations in Trieste and Naples. At the beginning of the 20th century, intensive studies of inshore benthic communities by dredging and, afterwards by diving, started concurrently with those on structure and dynamics of plankton and fish populations which yielded a significant knowledge of the marine life from the Mediterranean continental platform. After the Second World War, the fundamental studies conducted at the Zoological Station of Naples on genetics, embryology and developmental biology using marine organisms as study models, were spread to different universities, going to constitute an Italian school of experimental embryology of international value. Today, the modern Italian marine biology is increasingly multi-disciplinary, requiring the participation of biochemists, geneticists and mathematicians and it opens up to new frontiers often linked to the global changes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dermanyssus gallinae (De Geer, 1778) is a major problem for the poultry industry worldwide, as it negatively affects virtually all kinds of rearing systems. Therefore, the control of infestation has become a routine process, and its economic cost is constantly increasing. Until now, most of the control strategies have relied on the use of synthetic chemical drugs, but their efficacy is often questioned by the emergence and diffusion of resistant mite populations. With this in mind, the efficacy of λ-cyhalothrin, amitraz, and phoxim has been verified by testing them against 86 mite populations collected from the same number of poultry farms in Italy from 2008 to 2015. Assays were performed according to the filter paper method using the recommended, half, quarter, double and quadruple doses. The results showed that phoxim and amitraz were the most effective acaricides (median efficacies 80.35% and 80.83%, respectively), but amitraz exhibited a sharp fall in its efficacy during 2011 and 2012, while phoxim maintained its high effectiveness up to 2015, when it dropped. The overall median efficacy of λ-cyhalothrin was 58.33%. The data also highlighted the importance of the use of the right concentration, as an increase in dosage was not always useful against resistant populations, while its reduction also diminished efficacy, simultaneously increasing the risk for the development of resistance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using a transaction price database, in this paper we evaluate the economic effect of abandoned and derelict real estate areas on housing prices in Milan Italy from 1993 to 2016. We find that brownfields are widespread throughout Milan, with larger abandoned and derelict areas prevalent in the suburbs. Standard hedonic price models show that nearby brownfield areas lower housing prices, with stronger effects for larger derelict and abandoned areas. Economic losses are more relevant to houses in the historical city center and are affected by real estate market trends. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The great ecological and economic value of the biocenoses of Marine Protected Area 'Capo Caccia-Isola Piana' (MPA) requires a constant monitoring. For this reason, a continuous study of the area producing overlapping maps useful to control in real time the evolution of the biocenoses is necessary. The integrated use of several methodologies, such as Side Scan Sonar, Remote Operating Vehicle and Drone, has allowed us to realize a very detailed map. This paper presents the marine benthic map of the MPA and compares the present situation with that recorded in 2008. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Aversa plain is one of the most important agricultural areas of the Campania region, combining the presence of very fertile soils, sites of great archaeological interest and growing residential urbanization. In this paper, the soil map (1:50,000 scale) of the Aversa plain is presented. Three main land systems (coastal, alluvial and foothill plains) characterized by different soil types (Andosols, Phaeozems, Cambisols, Vertisols, Arenosols, Histosols, Luvisols) have been identified. However, Andosols are the most widespread soil type (9768 ha) and, along with part of the Phaeozems and Cambisols, represent the most fertile soils of the Aversa plain (first and second classes of the land capability classification). In order to evaluate recent intense soil sealing, its impact over land capability classes was assessed during the last 60 years. Results show that soil sealing in the Aversa plain affected mainly the most fertile first- and second-class soils. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper introduces a novel geoheritage map of the Portofino Natural Park. The park is an internationally well-known area, protected since 1935, located in the Ligurian Apennines, 25 km E of Genoa. It has 80 km of hiking trails which are used by visitors all year around. The map was produced by combining geological and geomorphological data, geoheritage elements and data from hiking and tourist maps. It is intended to be a base map from which can be derived applied maps. With appropriate integrations and simplifications, these can be useful tools for the management of highly frequented protected areas. The methodological approach involved aerial photo interpretation, bibliographical research, field work and the use of data from the Park archives. The original base map was produced by using a Digital Terrain Model raster (5 m) and vector layers for the different cartographical elements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To support sustainable forest management, planning policies and environmental actions, it is essential to have available common and standardized geospatial information on forest structure, composition and distribution. In this paper we present a harmonized forest categories (HFCs) map of four administrative Regions located in central Italy (i.e. Marche, Abruzzo, Lazio and Molise) at a scale of 1:400,000. The study area extends over 42,246 km2, 14,878 km2of which are covered by forests. Four regional forest maps were harmonized in order to produce common standardized information on composition, structure and the distribution of forests in central Italy. A forest category is a forest vegetation unit defined by the main tree species composition. In this study we adopted a nomenclature scheme composed of 16 forest and shrubland categories. This work represents the first HFCs map in Italy over a large area. The legend is also harmonized with the European Environment Agency forest types nomenclature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]