Search

In an international social rights debate disproportionately focused on English-speaking countries, redundant emphasis has been placed on justiciability. While constitutionalization does challenge stable relations between powers, especially in the post-colonial and developing world, solid insights for a workable interpretative method can be derived from continental Europe, where the difficulties typically associated with justiciability have long been settled. The constitutions of Italy, Germany, and Portugal take socioeconomic democracy seriously, tempering socialist claims and refuting libertarian stances, and have managed to spur a legitimate judicial increment of substantive equality. Through a threefold comparison, this paper describes the peculiarities of these fundamental texts across the spectrum of possible constitutional design choices, and draws from comparative constitutional caselaw to highlight a cross-national convergence on a set of interpretative standards. These blend together a strong safeguard of legislative discretion with justiciable minimal guarantees, and a value-assertive orientation of balancing coextensive with the integrationist function of constitutionalized social and economic rights. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2014, the European Union adopted the Seasonal Workers Directive to achieve a twofold aim: meeting employers' demand for flexible and cheap labour and enhancing protection for third-country national (TCN) workers. Especially Article 23, the equal treatment provision, triggered a cautious optimism among scholars and trade unions, which looked at the Directive as a source of increased protection for seasonal workers. However, trade unions also pointed out the limited reach of the Directive, criticising its lack of commitment and ambition. Over the years, and especially during the Covid pandemic, it became clear that the Seasonal Workers Directive did not represent a game-changer for TCN seasonal workers, whose increased protections remained true only on paper. This contribution draws on the case of Italy during the pandemic to understand the reasons for the Directive's limited impact. The article critically examines the different political tensions underpinning the adoption of the Directive, to better understand why the Directive is not applied in practice and how it impacts the labour market and migrants' social conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Comments on several essays about the interwar period in the context of economic history. Effects of tariff and other trade restrictions on international trade and national incomes during the post-1929 economic recession; Impact of fascism on the politico-economic development of Italy.

Presents an abstract of the paper `Institutions and the Environment in Draft Animal Choice: A Panel Study of the Italian Countryside, 1908-1931,' by Francesco L. Galassi, during the fifty-fifth annual meeting of the Economic History Association.

Information about the 13th Biennial Conference of the IASPM on July 25-30, 2005 in Rome, Italy is presented. The Korean panel was attended by ten attendees who have been studying East Asia. Shelley Brunt and Jeroen de Kloet presented papers on Asian popular music. The conference was organized into five streams that merged into the common theme of making musical meaning.

The purpose of this paper is to critically evaluate the instrumental perspective on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in practice and theory by relying on sociological analyses of a well known organization: the Italian Mafia. Legal businesses might share features of the Mafia, such as the propensity to exploit a governance vacuum in society, a strong organizational identity that demarcates the inside from the outside, and an extreme profit motive. Instrumental CSR practices have the power to accelerate a firm's transition to Mafia status through its own pathologies. The boundaries of such instrumentalism are explored and lessons for future CSR research derived, with specific emphasis on a firm's social and normative embeddedness, taking into account the inherent challenge of regulating corporate behaviour in the global economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Looks at the Canadian contribution to the collapse of the sanctions front against Italy in 1935. Conditioning of Canadian policy; Redistribution of responsibility; Contribution of Canadian leaders to the formation of general imperial policy; Examination of the Ethiopian crisis; Opposing a `forward policy' against Italy; Failure in supporting a common stand against Fascism.

Presents an abstract of a conference paper on international trade in Venice, Italy from 1303 to 1351.

Several conference papers regarding the excavated materials in Italy are presented. One of the conference papers explores the report of Gregory Warden on the five years of excavation at Poggio Colla in Mugello valley. Another paper discusses the report of Nancy de Grummond about the results of excavation at Cetamura del Chianti. Moreover, another paper examines the report of Anthony Tuck regarding the excavations at Poggio Civitate, Murlo.

Since the beginning of modern canzone, cover versions have represented a shortcut to importing and exporting songs across national borders. By breaking language barriers, these records have played the role of ambassadors of Italian music abroad and, vice-versa, of Anglo-American music at home. Although cover records mania boomed especially in the 1960s, the history of Italian popular music is disseminated by such examples, including exchanges with French- and Spanish-speaking countries as well. After reflecting on the nature of ‘cover’ and offering a definition that includes its being a cross-cultural space most typical of Italy and other peripheral countries in the age of early contact with pop modernity, the paper focuses on the economic, aesthetic and sociological paradigms that affect the international circulation of cover records and suggests a few theoretical explanations that refuse the obsolete ‘cultural imperialism’ thesis in favour of a more flexible view hinged upon the notion of ‘deterritorialisation’. In the final section the paper provides a short history of Italian records that were hits abroad, decade by decade, and ends by highlighting those artists that played the role of cultural mediators between Italy and the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Looks at the oscillation problem in the bimetallic ratio during the century following Europe's resumption of gold coinages in 1252. Factors that might have influenced the fluctuations in bimetallic ratio; Status of the money market in 1321-1332; Reason behind the popularity of producing luxury silver items in Italian cities during the 1321-1332 era.

This paper is a case study of the occupational safety and health provisions of the Italian Workers' Rights law of 1970, which gave Italian workers the broad right to regulate safety and health conditions at the shop level. The paper traces the political history of this controversial legislation and workers' and employers' responses to it. It then provides evidence that the law was neither the mere "symbolic gesture" nor the tool to "open new horizons" that observers variously predicted. The paper argues that to account for the formulation of this law and its ambiguous impact, the economic and political contradictions into which it was inserted must be placed at the center of analysis. It thus challenges the kind of legal determinism implicit in many analyses of the sociology of law that make the state and legal phenomena the central actors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: During COVID 19 epidemic it has been interesting to observe the gradual transformation of the daily routine into death, sorrow and pain. The moment of transition from life to death was really changed by distressing for survivors who had to face with unexpected ways to live their mourning. Objectives: The paper would like to analyze the mounring ritual during COVID 19 epidemic. Methods: During COVID 19 tragedy victims and survivors have been first associated by the infection and then dramatically separated by its effects. It has been necessary to re-relaborate new procedures of separation from deceased, as far for laws prohibitions it was no longer possible to use the traditional ones. Results: So a leaving "ritual" re-emerged very similar to the "crying ritual" of the Southern Italy folkloric culture. The traditional wailers have been substitued by the windows flash mobs trying to replace the forced absence of "pietas", with a moment of positive sharing of physical distance between life and death, using sounds, songs, tools that always, in farming culture help to exorcise and take away death. Conclusions: The relevant starting powerlessness to face the fast disease diffusion, its intrinsic seriousness, inspired surprising capabilities of immediate reaction and active mobilization in response to the attack suffered by Koerper and Leib (in Heidegger sense) which actualized in the research of a new "separation" dimension. In the end, as psychiatrists, we have to notice how this collectivization practice is actually a big distress container and wonder where and how this distress will finally arrive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Standard tests of portfolio efficiency neglect the existence of illiquid wealth. The most important illiquid asset in household portfolios is housing: if housing stock adjustments are infrequent, optimal portfolios in periods of no adjustment are affected by housing price risk through a hedge term and tests for portfolio efficiency of financial assets must be run conditionally upon housing wealth. We use Italian household portfolio data and time series on financial assets and housing stock returns to assess whether actual portfolios are efficient. We find that housing wealth plays a key role in determining whether portfolios chosen by homeowners are efficient. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is general agreement that in Italy the establishment of a judicial council ensured an overall higher degree of independence. Nevertheless, this self-governance template was criticized for propping up an accountability imbalance and a certain degree of inefficiency. In order to understand this assessment, this article delves into the relevance of informal rules and practices in the operation of the Italian judicial council. More specifically, it focuses on the activities relating to appointments of court presidents and professional assessment. Based on this analysis, it makes some observations on the factors shaping informal practices and questions their impact on judicial values and the quality of Italian democracy. I argue that informal institutions have amplified the corporatist character of the Italian judiciary, but it would be wrong to portray them in negative terms only, because the operation of the Italian judicial council and judicial system also benefits from a healthy dose of informality, which allows for enduring legitimacy in a polarized society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on the role played by Domenico Marotta, director of the ISS (Higher Institute of Health) for over twenty-five years, in the development of twentieth-century Italian biomedicine. We will show that Marotta aimed to create an integrated centre for research and production able to interact with private industry. To accomplish this, Marotta shifted the original mission of the ISS, from public health to scientific research. Yet Mussolini's policy turned most of the ISS resources towards controls and military tasks, opposing Marotta's aspiration. By contrast, in the post-war years Marotta was able to turn the ISS into the most important Italian biomedical research institution, where research and production fruitfully cohabited. Nobel laureates, such as Ernst Chain, and future Nobel laureates, such as Daniel Bovet, were hired. The ISS built up an integrated research and production centre for penicillin and antibiotics. In the 1960s, Marotta's vision was in accord with the new centre-left government. However, he pursued his goals by ruling the ISS autocratically and beyond any legal control. This eventually led to his downfall and prosecution. This also marked the decline of the ISS, intertwined with the weakness of the centre-left government, who failed to achieve structural reforms and couple the modernization of the country with the democratization of its scientific institutions. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In 1473 Pope Sixtus IV instructed the vicar of the Bishop of Bologna to investigate rumors concerning Carmelite friars who were preaching that summoning demons in order to obtain responses from them was not heretical. Drawing on newly discovered archival sources, this article elucidates the circumstances that led the Franciscan pope to intervene in a conflict between the Bolognese Carmelites and the Dominican inquisitor Simone of Novara. It proposes that the Carmelite affair, which ended with the inquisitor's defeat, constituted a critical juncture in the Dominicans' relations with other Mendicant orders, and that it shaped inquisitorial activity in Bologna over the next few decades. This paper suggests that the aftermath of the Carmelite affair may also explain why, when the repression of illicit magic was resumed, Inquisitor Giovanni Cagnazzo decided to turn a female necromancer, and not the friars who had taught her demonic rites, into the main target of his prosecution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The current paper aims to present the main results of the Italian National Food Consumption Survey INRAN-SCAI 2005-06. Design: A cross-sectional study was performed. Households were randomly selected after geographical stratification of the national territory. Food consumption was assessed on three consecutive days through individual estimated dietary records. Setting: Italy. Subjects: The final study sample comprised 3323 subjects (1501 males and 1822 females) aged 0·1 to 97·7 years belonging to 1329 households: fifty-two infants (0-2·9 years), 193 children (3-9·9 years), 247 teenagers (10-17·9 years), 2313 adults (18-64·9 years) and 518 elderly (65 years and above). Results: Participation rate was 33 %. The mean ratio of estimated energy intake to estimated BMR was 1·41 in adults. Indicators of mean and high individual consumption are presented for fifteen large categories and fifty-one subcategories of foods and beverages, in the total population and in consumers, by age and sex categories. The overall consumption of fruit and vegetables was 418 g/d. The consumption of red meat was approximately 700 g/week, expressed as raw weight. Some specific aspects of the Italian food consumption pattern were confirmed: a large contribution from bread, pasta and pizza to cereals, from olive oil to fats and from wine to alcoholic beverages. Conclusions: The database obtained from the survey will be the key reference for Italian food consumption during the coming years and will be utilized for a variety of purposes including the assessment of nutrient intakes and risk analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents an abstract of a conference paper on a historical institutional analysis of the role of the state in trade in Venice, Italy.

Objective: An efficient breast-feeding monitoring system should be in place in every country to assist policy makers and health professionals plan activities to reach optimal breast-feeding rates. Design/Setting/Subjects From March to June 2015, breast-feeding rates at 3 and 5 months of age were monitored in Emilia-Romagna, an Italian region, using four questions added to a newly developed paediatric immunization database with single records for each individual. Data were collected at primary-care centres. Breast-feeding definitions and 24 h recall as recommended by the WHO were used. Direct age standardization was applied to breast-feeding rates. Record linkage with the medical birth database was attempted to identify maternal, pregnancy and delivery factors associated with full breast-feeding rates at 3 and 5 months of age.Results: Data on breast-feeding were collected for 14044 infants. The mean regional full breast-feeding rate at 3 months was 52 %; differences between local health authorities ranged from 42 to 62 %. At 5 months of age, the mean regional full breast-feeding rate dropped to 33 % (range between local health authorities: 26 to 46 %). Record linkage with the birth certificate database was successful for 93 % of records. Total observations more than doubled with respect to the previous regional survey.Conclusions: The new monitoring system implemented in 2015 in Emilia-Romagna region, totally integrated with the immunization database, has proved to be feasible, sustainable and more efficient than the previous one. This system can be a model for other regions and countries where the vast majority of mothers obtain vaccinations from public health facilities and that already have an immunization database in place. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study evaluated the agro-environmental and economic effectiveness of strips introduced in a diversified organic vegetable system. Two experiments of three experimental years (2018, 2019, 2020) were carried out within the 4-year rotation of MOnsampolo VEgetable organic Long-Term Experiment (MOVE LTE) in Central Italy to test strip cropping vs pure stand. The crop combinations in the two experiments were faba bean (Vicia faba L.)-tomato (Solanum Lycopersicum L.) and common wheat (Triticum aestivum)-zucchini (Cucurbita pepo L.). We determined the productive and economic performances, disease and weed control, nutritional differences and effectiveness in returning carbon to the soil. The two strip cropping systems allowed a better use of resources, enhancing plant biomass and crop residues, particularly for tomato (+24%) and zucchini (+63%). However, the greater plant biomass did not always result in an increase in crop yields. For example, while the wheat-zucchini strip system showed a land equivalent ratio >1 in all three experimental years with a high yield performance in zucchini (+54% of yield), the faba bean-tomato system was more productive in strips only in 2018. On the contrary, this latter system contributed a carbon return >1 in all three experimental years. No significant differences between strip and pure stand systems were observed for fusarium (Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. lycopersici) and oidium (Oidium spp.) diseases on tomato and zucchini crops, respectively, and for weed control. Lastly, greater labor costs associated in both experiments did not affect their profitability (+21% and +319% in faba bean-tomato and wheat-zucchini experiments, respectively). Overall, our findings pointed out that farmers could increase sustainability of their cropping systems with the introduction of a well-designed strip cropping system, which can lead to the reduction of economic risks, greater potential soil carbon and more efficient use of resources on the same land. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pollinators are a crucial group of organisms due to their role in the maintenance of environmental biodiversity and crop production. Pollinators may be very diverse; however, in temperate areas they are mainly insects, and the most active and important are certainly the bees. Not only the well-known honeybee: there are almost 2000 species of wild bees in Europe, and about 1000 just in Italy. There is an increasing public worry related to their decline and to the impact that this decline may have on agricultural production. The way public perception of the pollinator issue arises is generally neglected, especially by important stakeholders such as the farmers. Moreover, direct actions were not indicated by the policy till recently. We surveyed the main steps that possibly drove the current political perspective at the European and national (Italian) level. We found an increased boost toward healthier environments through the release of various documents. To look for changes that may include pollinator protection, we need to address the Common Agricultural Policies (CAPs), the tool that shapes the European agro-environments. A new CAP document has been recently released, and the Member States are moving toward the definition of eco-schemes to be adopted by farmers after payments. Italy placed pollinators in pole position with a dedicated eco-scheme: will pollinators finally be acknowledged? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The increasing global demand for livestock products and its large environmental impact ask for urgent policy and managerial strategies. With regard to meat consumption, feasible actions relate to its reduction and orienting consumers toward more sustainable meat choices. The aim of the study is to investigate the determinants affecting meat consumers in their intention to buy beef whose label clearly expresses environmentally friendly characteristics. To do so, we hypothesized to apply an institutional system of ecological labeling on beef products. An extended framework based on the Theory of Planned Behavior was applied to understand the factors affecting the consumer decision-making process toward eco-labeled beef. A survey was conducted with 1139 consumers in Italy. Data were analyzed by means of confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation models. Results highlight that beef consumers are likely to change their habits, in favor of more sustainable beef choices. The analysis highlights that, together with consumer attitudes, social norms and perceived behavioral control, institutional trust and food shopping habits play an important role in activating the consumer's cognitive decision-making process toward more sustainable beef. Results add to the literature on the determinants of green food-choices and introduce new insights on the role of institutional trust in the intention to buy beef labeled with a public standard. Findings highlight that particular attention should be devoted to build trust for public institutions in order to promote sustainable food consumption behavior. Moreover, results validate previous studies on the effectiveness of information-based policies in fostering more sustainable consumption choices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Most previous research on the antecedents of healthy food choice has not investigated the links between these antecedents and has focused on specific food choice rather than on an overall diet. In the present study, we tested the plausibility of an integrated theoretical model aiming to explain the role of different psychosocial factors in increasing the intention to adhere to the Mediterranean Diet (MeDiet). Design: An online survey measured participants' attitude and perceived behavioural control (i.e. rational antecedents), subjective norm (i.e. social antecedent), positive and negative anticipated emotions (i.e. emotional antecedents), food choice health and mood motives (i.e. motivational antecedents), past adherence to the MeDiet (i.e. behavioural antecedent), and intention to adhere to the MeDiet. Setting: Italy. Participants: 1940 adults: 1086 females; 854 males; mean age = 35·65; sd = 14·75; age range = 18–84. Results: Structural Equation Modelling (sem) analyses confirmed the plausibility of the proposed model. Perceived behavioural control was the strongest rational antecedent of intention, followed by the emotional (i.e. anticipated emotions) and the social (i.e. subjective norm) antecedents. Mediation analysis showed that motivational antecedents had only an indirect impact on intention via emotional antecedents. Finally, multigroup sem analysis highlighted that past adherence to the MeDiet moderated the hypothesised paths among all the study variables. Conclusions: The above findings advance our comprehension of which antecedents public communication might leverage to promote an increase in the adherence to the MeDiet. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Taking as a starting point the book by Grundmann, Micklitz and Renner, New Private Law Theory, the author briefly examines the methods practised today in the most important legal systems for studying private law. There is no unanimous consensus on the definition of "private law", nor on its functions. The formalistic method prevails, using terms, concepts, dogmas stratified over time, with an apparently technical content. In reality, as the three authors demonstrate, and as has been preached in Italy for more than half a century, law is a social science and its function can only be fully understood by combining the formalistic method with economic, sociological and political analysis and considering its historical development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous research has demonstrated that consumers' decisions regarding supplementary pensions could be affected by biases. Bernatzi and Thaler's experiment demonstrated that menu design can influence pension fund enrollment decisions, in that participants appear to adopt a naïve heuristic, i.e., "extremeness aversion". Using a database of 27 occupational pension funds from 2007 to 2011, representing 1,732,530 employees, this study asked whether menu design affected Italian workers' choices regarding the supplementary pension system as a result of the new rules enacted by the regulator in 2007. Most enrolled workers opted for the median investment line. I discuss the possible relevance of this result to public policy, in particular the possibility of including these preferences in the regulations, with the aim of benefiting employees. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To simulate the impact - effectiveness and safety - of water fortification with different concentrations of Ca using the Intake Modelling, Assessment and Planning Program.Design: This is a secondary analysis of national or sub-national dietary intake databases.Setting and Participants: Uganda, Lao People's Democratic Republic (PDR), Bangladesh, Zambia, Argentina, USA and Italy.Results: We found that for dietary databases assessed from low- and middle-income countries (LMIC), the strategy of fortifying water with 500 mg of Ca/l would decrease the prevalence of low Ca intake in all age groups. We also found that this strategy would be safe as no group would present a percentage of individuals exceeding the upper limit in >2 %, except women aged 19-31 years in Lao PDR, where 6·6 % of women in this group would exceed the upper limit of Ca intake. The same strategy would lead to some groups exceeding the upper limit in USA and Italy.Conclusions: We found that for most LMIC countries, water fortified with Ca could decrease the prevalence of Ca intake inadequacy without exceeding the upper levels of Ca intake. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A Consensus Conference of clinicians, researchers, public health specialists and users was convened in Italy to review efficacy, effectiveness, treatment appropriateness and access to care for anxiety and depression, and to consider the role of psychological therapies. Expert opinion was sought concerning identification of people requiring psychological therapies according to levels of symptom severity matched to corresponding levels of treatment intensity, suitability of psychological therapies for subclinical anxiety or depression, definition of a minimum level of information on evidence-based psychotherapies to be provided by university medical and psychology courses, initiatives to raise awareness among potential users and decision makers on the role and effectiveness of psychological therapies in healthcare. The expert jury concluded that a number of psychological therapy models endorsed by most authoritative guidelines are supported by research showing their effectiveness at least equal to the drugs used in common mental disorders (CMDs). Such therapies are under-represented in the Italian public health system, leading many people to resort to the private sector, resulting in unacceptable wealth discrimination. The difficulty of accessing psychological treatments often entails the use of drug therapies in cases where they are not indicated. Starting from these assumptions, the experts recommended the promotion of better and timely recognition of anxiety and depressive disorders and their classification in terms of symptom intensity and functional impairment, differentiating subthreshold mood swings from clinical forms, to foster outcome studies of psychotherapies in CMDs in Italy, to introduce a stepped care model structured according to levels of intensity of treatment, based on wellbeing support strategies in nonmedical contexts for subthreshold situations, self-help, support and psychoeducation as frontline interventions in mild clinical forms, evidence-based psychotherapies in moderate and severe forms, with the option of combining psychological treatment and appropriate drug therapy in the most severe cases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: To develop and validate two new standardised measures assessing, respectively, experienced discrimination (Covid-19 Experienced DISCrimination scale, CEDISC) and internalised stigma (COvid-19 INternalised Stigma scale, COINS) in people who had been infected with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) or had developed coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) disease. Methods: Both the CEDISC and the COINS were developed in Italian and tested for ease of use, comprehension, acceptability, the relevance of items and response options within a focus group session. Online cross-sectional validation survey was conducted among adults infected with SARS-CoV-2 or who developed Covid-19 disease, members of a closed Facebook discussion group in Italy. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) with Promax oblique rotation; the Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) measure of sampling adequacy and the Bartlett's test of sphericity were used to assess the suitability of the sample for factor analysis. Reliability was assessed as internal consistency using Cronbach's alpha and as test–retest reliability using weighted kappa and intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC). Precision was examined by Kendall's tau-b coefficient. Results: Overall, 579 participants completed the CEDISC, 519 also completed the COINS, 155 completed the retest for both scales after two weeks. The 12 items of the CEDISC converged over a 2-factor solution ('social life' and 'close relations') accounting for 49.2% of the variance (KMO = 0.894; Bartlett's test p < 0.001); the 13 items of the COINS converged over a 3-factor solution ('self-perception', 'close relations' and 'social life') accounting for 67.7% (KMO = 0.827; Bartlett's test p < 0.001). Cronbach's α was 0.848 for the CEDISC, and 0.837 for the COINS. The CEDISC showed three items (25%) with kappa between 0.61 and 0.80 and seven (58.4%) between 0.41 and 0.60, with only two items scoring 0.21 and 0.40; the COINS had ten items (76.9%) with kappa ranging from 0.41 to 0.60, and three items below 0.31. ICC was 0.906 (95% CI, 0.871–0.932) for the, CEDISC and 0.860 (95% CI, 0.808–0.898) for the COINS. Kendall's tau-b ranged from 0.360 to 0.556 (p < 0.001) for the CEDISC and from 0.290 to 0.606 (p < 0.001) for the COINS. Conclusions: Both the CEDISC and the COINS are two valid and reliable scales to be used in studies examining the role of stigma and discrimination of people infected with SARS-CoV-2 and Covid-19 patients, and in research evaluating interventions designed to mitigate stigma in this population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. The COVID-19 pandemic has drastically impacted many aspects of society and has indirectly produced various psychological consequences. This systematic review aimed to estimate the worldwide prevalence of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in children due to the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as to identify protective or risk factors contributing to child PTSD. Methods. We conducted a systematic literature search in the PubMed, ProQuest, PsycINFO, Embase, Web of Science, WanFang, CNKI, and VIP databases. We searched for studies published between January 1, 2020 and May 26, 2021, that reported the prevalence of child PTSD due to the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as factors contributing to child PTSD. Eighteen studies were included in our systematic review, of which 10 studies were included in the meta-analysis. Results. The estimated prevalence of child PTSD after the COVID-19 outbreak was 28.15% (95% CI: 19.46–36.84%, I 2 = 99.7%). In subgroup analyses for specific regions the estimated prevalence of post-pandemic child PTSD was 19.61% (95% CI: 11.23–27.98%) in China, 50.8% (95% CI: 34.12–67.49%) in the USA, and 50.08% in Italy (95% CI: 47.32–52.84%). Conclusions. Factors contributing to child PTSD were categorized into four aspects: personal factors, family factors, social factors and infectious diseases related factors. Based on this, we presented a new framework summarizing the occurrence and influence of the COVID-19 related child PTSD, which may contribute to a better understanding, prevention and development of interventions for child PTSD in forthcoming pandemics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To assess ultra-processed food (UPF) consumption and its socio-demographic, psychosocial and behavioural correlates in a general population of Italian children, adolescents and adults. Design: Cross-sectional telephone-based survey Setting: Italy, 2010–2013. Participants: In total, 9078 participants (5–97 years) from the Italian Nutrition & Health Survey. Dietary intakes were collected by a 1-d 24-h dietary recall. UPF was defined by the NOVA classification and expressed as percentage of total energies. Results: Average energy intake from UPF (95 % CI) was 17·3 % (17·1 %, 17·6 %) among adults and 25·9 % (24·8 %, 27·0 %) in children/adolescents. Top sources of UPF were processed meats (32·5 %) and bread substitutes (16·7 %). Among adults, age (β = −3·10; 95 % CI (−4·40, −1·80) for >65 years v. 20–40 years; βs are dimensionless) and residing in Southern Italy (β = −0·73; 95 % CI (−1·32, −0·14) v. Northern) inversely associated with UPF. Screen view during meals was directly linked to UPF, as well as poor self-rated health (β = 5·32; 95 % CI (2·66, 7·99)), adverse life events (β = 2·33; 95 % CI (1·48, 3·18)) and low sleep quality (β = 2·34; 95 % CI (1·45, 3·23)). Boys consumed two-point percent more UPF of the total energy than girls (β = 2·01; 95 % CI (0·20, 3·82)). For all ages, a Mediterranean diet was inversely associated with UPF (β = −4·86; 95 % CI (−5·53, −4·20) for good v. poor adherence in adults and (β = −5·08; 95 % CI (−8·38, −1·77) for kids). Conclusions: UPF contributes a modest proportion of energy to the diets of Italian adults while being one-quarter of the total energies in children/adolescents. UPF was associated with several psychosocial factors and eating behaviours. Increased adherence to Mediterranean diet would possibly result in lower UPF consumption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Medici patronage of the arts in the fourteenth century has gone largely unstudied. Yet there is a notable paper trail, backed by a small number of sculptural remnants of funerary monuments, indicating that prominent members of the family understood the power of visual imagery for establishing their patrilines as leading families, both within the social hierarchy of Florence and within the Medici "consorteria." These sculptural remains give clear precedent for the early activity of Giovanni di Bicci and Cosimo de' Medici as artistic patrons in the fifteenth century. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is an examination of the civic government of Genoa from 1435 to 1464, and of the principles that underlay how it was conducted. Despite the political instability caused by con- tenders for the dogeship, and the division of offices between Guelfs and Ghibellines and between nobles and popolari, the civic government generally operated on a consensual basis. The principles and practices of the civic government restricted the power of the doges and prevented them from turning their position into an effective signoria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Previous studies from European countries noted that food products promoted on TV for children did not comply with international guidelines, including the World Health Organization European Nutrient Profile Model (WHO-ENPM) and the EU Pledge Nutrition Criteria (EU-PNC, an initiative developed by leading food companies). We aim to provide new data from Italy.Design: Evaluation of Italian TV advertisements. Data on nutritional values for food product advertised were compared with nutritional standards issued by the WHO-ENPM and the EU-PNC.Setting: In total, 180 h of TV programmes from six Italian channels, 2016-2017.Participants: Eight hundred and ten consecutive advertisements during children's programmes.Results: Out of 810 advertisements, 90 (11·1 %) referred to food products. Among these, 84·5 % of the foods promoted did not meet the WHO-ENPM and 55·6 % the EU-PNC guidelines. Advertisements promoting sweet and salty snacks (i.e. ≥ 70 % of all foods) v. other food products showed higher non-compliance with both the WHO-ENPM (OR: 73·8; 95 % CI: 4·09, 1330) and the EU-PNC (OR: 9·21; 95 % CI: 2·82, 30·1).Conclusions: In Italy, most food advertisements during children's programmes are not compliant with European nutritional standards. Almost all the advertisements for snacks do not meet international guidelines. As the WHO-ENPM guidelines do not propose standards for all the food products, including meals, there is an urgent need to define independent and easy-to-read guidelines for food advertisements targeting children. As a first step towards the complete ban of food advertisements targeting children recommended by other researchers, these guidelines should be enforced by all the TV broadcasts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To evaluate changes in ultra-processed food (UPF) intake and its major correlates during the first Italian lockdown (9 March-3 May 2020).Design: Retrospective observational study.Setting: Italy.Participants: We analysed 2992 subjects (mean age 57·9 ± 15·3 years, 40·4 % men). Individual participant data were pooled from two retrospective cohorts: (1) The Moli-LOCK cohort consists of 1501 adults, a portion of the larger Moli-sani study (n 24 325; 2005-2010) who were administered a phone-based questionnaire to assess lifestyles and psychological factors during confinement and (2) the Analysis of Long Term Risk of Covid-19 Emergency is a web-based survey of 1491 individuals distributed throughout Italy who self-responded to the same questionnaire by using Google forms.UPF was defined according to NOVA classification based on degree of food processing. An UPF score was created by assigning 1 point to increased consumption, -1 to decreased and 0 point for unchanged intakes of nineteen food items, with higher values indicating an increase in UPF during confinement.Results: Overall, 37·5 % of the population reported some increase in UPF (UPF score ≥1). Adults were more likely to decrease UPF (multivariable regression coefficient β = -1·94; 95 % CI -2·72, -1·17 for individuals aged >75 years as compared with 18-39 years) as did individuals from southern Italian regions as compared with Northern inhabitants (β = -1·32; 95 % CI -1·80, -0·84), while UPF lowering associated with increased exercise (β = -0·90; 95 % CI -1·46, -0·35) and weight loss (β = -1·05; 95 % CI -1·51, -0·59) during confinement.Conclusions: During the first Italian lockdown, about 40 % of our population switched to unfavourable eating as reflected by increased UPF intake and this may have long-term effects for health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The main aim of this study was to assess the psychometric proprieties of the Child Feeding Questionnaire (CFQ) in Italian mothers.Design: Mothers completed the Italian version of the CFQ, and children's anthropometric data were collected. Construct validity of the CFQ was assessed by comparing three different models: (a) a seven correlated factors model in which all items were analysed; (b) a seven correlated factors model with composite items based on the Restriction factor and (c) an eight correlated factors model with a separate Reward factor. Measurement invariance using BMI categories and gender was evaluated. Furthermore, discriminant validity with group comparison was performed between BMI categories and gender.Setting: Italy.Participants: A total of 1253 6-year-old Italian children (53·9 % male) attending elementary school (1st grade) and their mothers (mean age = 38·22 years; sd = 4·89) participated in this study.Results: The eight-factor model with a separate reward factor provided the best fit for the data. The strict invariance of the CFQ across child BMI categories and gender was confirmed. The CFQ internal consistency was acceptable for most subscales. However, two subscales showed no adequate values. As expected, the CFQ scales showed significant differences between BMI categories, while no gender-related differences were found.Conclusions: The study indicated the Italian version of the CFQ to be factorially valid for assessing parental feeding practices of 6-year-old children across BMI categories. Future research should address low internal consistency in some of the CFQ subscales. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper looks to evolve a discourse about the body in medieval women's mystical experience via an understanding of the life and work of Saint Catherine of Genoa as écriture-féminine. Drawing upon Catherine's resolution of binarism through the articulation of sexuality and textuality, I argue that the female mystic's experience of the body as site of struggle helps move beyond analysis of a binary experience to a politics of speaking the body directly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents literary works of Marcel Proust, Ruskin Bond and Henry James. All three wrote about Venice, its images and their association with the city. The most sexual descriptions is Ruskin's description of Venice. It leaves him with a feeling of "miraculous disincarnation," as orgasm has been said to do. If ever Marcel definitively loses his virginity, it is at this moment. And Venice- at the moment of imminent taking and possession- suddenly recedes into definite distance and deferral. It- or she- is banned, banished, forbidden, taboo. He is punished for his transgression, what one can only call his premature ejaculation.

The article discusses the architectural history of Roman Emperor Nero's Domus Aurea or Golden House explored by Charles Cameron in 1768 in Italy. Cameron's folio volume "The Baths of the Romans," published in 1772 was one of the only four books produced which dealt with the remains of the Roman as opposed to Greek sites. It is asserted that what he understood to be the ruins of the Baths of Titus were those of the Baths of Trajan or the remains of the Golden House. However, confusion on the site history was removed by archeologist Rodolfo Lanciani in 1895. Yet, this paper argued that they have been delinquent in overlooking the evidence offered by Cameron's description of the Domus Aurea.

Introduction: On March 13th 2020, in execution of the Law Decree 14/2020 regarding the reorganization of National Health Care related to COVID-19 emergency, all non-urgent outpatient healthcare services were suspended in Italy. The present work describes remote support and online group psychotherapy set in motion during COVID-19 emergency for outpatients with Binge Eating Disorder. Objectives: Aim of the present work is to describe and evaluate online support and group psychotherapy for outpatients with Binge Eating Disorder during lockdown due to COVID-19 emergency. Outcomes were evaluated by remote administration of questionnaires. Methods: 20 outpatients with Binge Eating Disorder, treated by psychotherapists of Hospital Psychology Unit in Psychiatry Day Hospital of an Italian General Hospital, received remote support by phone calls and online group psychotherapy from march to may 2020. During the first two weeks, patients were supported via phone calls. From the third week on, they took part to online group psychotherapy sessions, held every week at the same day and time. Pre-post remote administration of Clinical Outcomes in Routine Evaluation-Outcome Measure (CORE-OM) and the Questionnaire of Eating Behaviours (Scheda dei Comportamenti Alimentari, SCA) was used to evaluate outcomes. Data were analyzed by Student's t-test. Results: No significant difference was found, thus indicating stability of symptomatology. Conclusions: Lockdown was a highly stressful period, in which many people lost control on eating behaviours and those with Binge Eating Disorder were expected to have an exacerbation of symptoms. Remote support and online group psychotherapy proved effective in protecting patients from a possible aggravation of their condition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: Healthcare workers exposed to coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) patients could be psychologically distressed. This study aims to assess the magnitude of psychological distress and associated factors among hospital staff during the COVID-19 pandemic in a large tertiary hospital located in north-east Italy. Methods: All healthcare and administrative staff working in the Verona University Hospital (Veneto, Italy) during the COVID-19 pandemic were asked to complete a web-based survey from 21 April to 6 May 2020. Symptoms of post-traumatic distress, anxiety and depression were assessed, respectively, using the Impact of Event Scale (IES-R), the Self-rating Anxiety Scale (SAS) and the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9). Personal socio-demographic information and job characteristics were also collected, including gender, age, living condition, having pre-existing psychological problems, occupation, length of working experience, hospital unit (ICUs and sub-intensive COVID-19 units vs. non-COVID-19 units). A multivariable logistic regression analysis was performed to identify factors associated with each of the three mental health outcomes. Results: A total of 2195 healthcare workers (36.9% of the overall hospital staff) participated in the study. Of the participants, 35.7% were nurses, 24.3% other healthcare staff, 16.4% residents, 13.9% physicians and 9.7% administrative staff. Nine per cent of healthcare staff worked in ICUs, 8% in sub-intensive COVID-19 units and 7.6% in other front-line services, while the remaining staff worked in hospital units not directly engaged with COVID-19 patients. Overall, 63.2% of participants reported COVID-related traumatic experiences at work and 53.8% (95% CI 51.0%–56.6%) showed symptoms of post-traumatic distress; moreover, 50.1% (95% CI 47.9%–52.3%) showed symptoms of clinically relevant anxiety and 26.6% (95% CI 24.7%–28.5%) symptoms of at least moderate depression. Multivariable logistic regressions showed that women, nurses, healthcare workers directly engaged with COVID-19 patients and those with pre-existing psychological problems were at increased risk of psychopathological consequences of the pandemic. Conclusions: The psychological impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on healthcare staff working in a highly burdened geographical of north-east Italy is relevant and to some extent greater than that reported in China. The study provides solid grounds to elaborate and implement interventions pertaining to psychology and occupational health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Patient suicide is one of the most frequent incidents in healthcare facilities to be reported to the National Observatory of Sentinel Events in Italy. Despite national initiatives, in Tuscany potentially preventable patient suicides still occur in both acute and community care settings. We describe here an aggregated qualitative analysis of 14 patient suicides that took place in public health services between 2017 and 2018. We outline the methodology and results of an improvement action we enacted in the healthcare system that involved reviewing and reinforcing relevant managerial strategies and clinical activities, with the aim of reducing potentially preventable patient suicides. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Available accounts on jurisdiction, effective control, and the reach of human rights protections fail to provide a coherent construction that is principled and applicable across the board, within and beyond territorial borders. The "functional jurisdiction" model posited herein resolves these incongruities by looking at the normative foundation of sovereign authority overall, predicated on an exercise of "public powers" through which State functions are discharged, taking the form of policy delivery and/or operational action, whether inland or offshore, and which translates into "situational" control. Using the pending case of S.S. and Others v. Italy as an illustration, the article focuses on the sovereign-authority nexus that unites a specific state with a specific individual in a specific situation, triggering human rights obligations even through mechanisms of "contactless control" exercised via remote management techniques and/or through a proxy third actor. The role of extraterritorial operations, qua complex mechanisms of governance that implement broader policies with a planning, rollout and post-implementation phase, is central to this re-conceptualization, as is also the understanding that what makes control "effective" is its capacity to determine the material course of events and the resulting position in which those affected find themselves upon execution of the measure(s) concerned. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The scope of this Article is to understand to what extent a recent and fruitful private initiative sponsoring a safe alternative legal pathway spread from Italy, called "humanitarian corridors," may in the future become a general and uniform alternative model for all the European Union States. Such a practice—which currently represents an exceptional route for vulnerable migrants to enter the country without harm after a security screening and to be materially supported by the same sponsors in the crucial initial phase of integration—is at present restricted to a relatively small number of beneficiaries, but it could potentially be extended to other States. In order to achieve this goal, it is argued that the present model should be slightly adjusted—especially with regard to the actual reference to Article 25 of the Visa Code as its legal basis. The latter seems difficult to be formally maintained after the much criticized 2017 judgment X and X v. Belgium , in which the Court of Justice of the European Union conferred to Member States a wide margin of discretion when requested to grant humanitarian visas by vulnerable people exposed to serious irreversible harm. Against this background, clear obligations to grant humanitarian visas to vulnerable people at risk already exist. This obligation stems from international law—both general and conventional—and constitutes the adequate legal basis both for States and civil society to act in a "multi-stakeholder alliance" to find solutions to the challenges and opportunities deriving from international migration, as indicated in the Global Compact for Migration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]