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Simple Summary: During overwintering diapause, the gynes of paper wasps (Polistes sp.) are mainly dormant in sheltered hibernacles, protecting them against predators and adverse weather conditions but hardly against low temperatures. By measuring the temperature inside hibernacles occupied by species from both Mediterranean (Italian; P. dominula, P. gallicus) and temperate (Austrian; P. dominula) climates (mean hibernacle temperatures: 8.5 °C and 3.2 °C, respectively), we were able to calculate the energetic demand of overwintering. The cumulative energetic costs differed between the populations. Costs were lowest for the P. dominula population from the cooler Austrian winter climate and significantly higher in P. dominula and P. gallicus from the warmer Italian climate. The lower costs of the temperate species were a result of the lower winter temperature and physiological acclimation processes. Energetic calculations with an assumed temperature increase of up to 3 °C due to climate change predict a dramatic increase of up to 40% in overwintering costs in all species. Gynes of paper wasps (Polistes sp.) spend the cold season in sheltered hibernacles. These hibernacles protect against predators and adverse weather conditions but offer only limited protection against low temperatures. During overwintering diapause, wasps live on the energy they store. We investigated the hibernacles' microclimate conditions of species from the Mediterranean (Italy, P. dominula, P. gallicus) and temperate (Austria, P. dominula) climates in order to describe the environmental conditions and calculate the energetic demand of overwintering according to standard metabolic rate functions. The temperatures at the hibernacles differed significantly between the Mediterranean and temperate habitats (average in Austria: 3.2 ± 5.71 °C, in Italy: 8.5 ± 5.29 °C). In both habitats, the hibernacle temperatures showed variance, but the mean hibernacle temperature corresponded closely to the meteorological climate data. Cumulative mass-specific energetic costs over the studied period were the lowest for the temperate P. dominula population compared with both Mediterranean species. The lower costs of the temperate species were a result of the lower hibernacle temperature and acclimation to lower environmental temperatures. Model calculations with an increased mean temperature of up to 3 °C due to climate change indicate a dramatic increase of up to 40% in additional costs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Winter in climatic regions with low temperatures is a challenge for overwintering insects. They are exposed to temperature extremes, which directly cause mortality or lead to energy depletion. The winter hibernaculum of paper wasp gynes protects from predators and rain, but only poorly from ambient temperature. In order to detect physiological adaptations to differing climates, we compared the respiratory metabolism of overwintering gynes of two polistine species from the Mediterranean climate in Italy (Polistes dominula and Polistes gallicus), and of one species from the temperate climate in Austria (Polistes dominula). The wasps' CO2 emission was measured with stop‐flow respirometry in a temperature range from 2.5 to 20 °C. The mass‐specific standard (resting) metabolic rate, the main type of metabolism of the dormant insects during overwintering, increased exponentially with ambient temperature but was suppressed in comparison to individuals measured in the summer, which conserves the energy stores. In addition, it was lower in the Mediterranean species (P. dominula and P. gallicus) in comparison to the temperate species (P. dominula), especially at higher temperatures. The active metabolic rate was suppressed to a similar amount. The suppressed metabolism of the overwintering Mediterranean gynes could be an adaptation to the higher winter temperatures to prevent a premature depletion of the energy resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reviews the regulatory approaches to open access passenger rail competition. This kind of competition has developed substantially in the EU during the past decade. There have been major entries into the national main lines in Italy, Austria, the Czech Republic, and Sweden. These entries have been very popular with passengers and rail ridership has gone up substantially. However, there have also been costs to these entries. The operations of the new entrants are diminishing economies of density, leading to higher unit costs. Further challenges include cherry-picking behaviour, scarce infrastructure capacity, tariff disintegration, and long-term sustainability. The major question is whether the social benefits outweigh the costs. This paper aims to review emerging evidence in the field of open access entries and approaches to their regulation. The scope of this paper is open access passenger rail entries in Europe after 2000 with a particular emphasis on the major entries that took place in Italy, Austria, the Czech Republic, and Sweden after 2011. The contribution of this article to the existing literature is threefold. Firstly, it provides an up-to-date review of open access entries in Europe. Secondly, it combines the results of simulation studies with empirical evidence to provide an overview of market impacts. Lastly, it reviews the spectrum of regulatory approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The crafts sector, traditionally characterized by its adherence to heritage and small-scale familial enterprises, confronts an array of unprecedented challenges stemming from rapid technological advancement, globalization, climate change, and shifting demographics. This article presents a pioneering investigation into the profound and transformative effects of digitalization on the crafts sector, offering novel insights into the future trajectory of this industry. Through an explorative approach, we critically examine and interrogate the social imaginary underpinning the crafts sector, shedding light on the intricate interplay between tradition and innovation. Leveraging an inter- and transdisciplinary framework, our research brings together academics, experts, and practitioners from diverse regions in Italy and Austria to explore the nexus of digitalization and craft futures. We introduce three future scenarios for the crafts sector, each delineating varying degrees of digitalization and their potential implications. Employing a mixed-method approach encompassing expert interviews, a Delphi survey, focus groups, and scenario development, our study offers a comprehensive exploration of the multifaceted landscape of craft futures. Furthermore, through the visualization of these scenarios, we provide a tangible platform for envisioning and engaging with the myriad possibilities that lie ahead. By synthesizing innovative methodologies from future studies and social imaginaries with a specific focus on the crafts sector, our research offers a robust analytical framework for navigating the complex dynamics of digitalization and envisioning transformative futures. This paper not only illuminates the disruptive forces unleashed by digitalization but also provides strategic insights to inform future decision-making processes within the crafts sector and beyond. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Legal interpreters and translators (LITs) play a crucial role in ensuring equitable treatment within the EU and facilitating international mobility. These professionals actively engage in terminology work, similar to other translators and interpreters. This exploratory study examines the degree of familiarity LITs have with terminology principles and standards, based on an online survey conducted among LIT associations in Austria and Italy. A significant portion of respondents reported engaging in terminology work, underlining its professional relevance. The prevalent usage of traditional tools like word processors and paper is evident, whereas the adoption of advanced systems remains limited. Despite more than half of the participants demonstrating awareness of terminology standards, access to specific standards was infrequent. A considerable number of respondents did not perceive terminology standards as essential for their practical undertakings. Only a minority were familiar with either national or ISO terminology standards. The study uncovered a lack of comprehensive understanding and implementation of terminology management principles. While terminology remains indispensable for LITs, its effective management is often overlooked. It is crucial to improve the dissemination of information and encourage collaborative efforts with relevant organizations to enhance awareness and foster proficient utilization of terminology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The euro crisis has sparked changes in the EU's economic governance framework and a crisis of legitimacy across the union. While the institutional repercussions of the crisis have been studied before, the democratic impact at the national level has received much less attention. This paper aims to fill this gap, focusing on the procedural changes that the EU's new economic governance (NEG) framework has brought to national budgetary decision‐making. Building upon the Varieties of Democracy framework, the paper adds empirical nuance and conceptual clarity to the notion of 'throughput legitimacy' and its components: openness, inclusiveness, transparency and accountability. Detailed case studies of post‐crisis Austria, Italy and Portugal show that the NEG improved access to national budgetary decision‐making and enhanced executive scrutiny, while excessive complexity remains the Achilles' heel of EU fiscal rules. We submit that these procedural changes are too meaningful to be overlooked in post‐crisis debates about EU democracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

749 Amidst the COVID-19 outbreak, Italy as well as a number of other European states, including Austria, Germany and Spain, enacted emergency legislation suspending subordination of shareholders and intragroup loans in order to help companies stay afloat. While this measure was clearly prompted by extraordinary circumstances, it should be noted, however, that unlike jurisdictions which adopt automatic subordination, such as Germany and Spain, or where subordination is also based on quantitative criteria, such as Austria, subordination in Italy is based on flexible standards that may not strictly call for an emergency suspension. The COVID-19-related suspension of subordination provides the momentum for reassessing the scope of application of the subordination of shareholder and intragroup loans under Italian law. Although substantially unexplored in the international legal literature, subordination was introduced in Italy in 2003 and has now been applied for nearly twenty years. The system is quite sophisticated and also recognizes a variety of restructuring exemptions allowing priority to the loans. This paper examines subordination of shareholder and intragroup loans under Italian law, seeking to establish a workable construction of the standards of the excessive imbalance between debt and equity and of the reasonableness of a capital contribution on which the application of the remedy is predicated. Building also on relevant economic studies, the paper argues that the Italian subordination system has the potential to distinguish between desirable and undesirable shareholder and intragroup loans based on whether the loan is intended to finance positive net present value projects, restricting the latter while not deterring the former, so as to guarantee the goal of increasing the expected total value of the company and producing better satisfaction of creditors' claims. 750 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An infinite number of fitness apps are available on various app stores. However, hardly any of them are fitted to the needs and requirements of care‐dependent people. This paper investigates the effectiveness of a customised fitness‐app prototype for increasing physical activity in home care service users. Home care service users from Austria and Italy were randomly assigned to two groups. In total, 216 participants were involved in the field trial, 104 received a tablet with the fitness app and an activity tracker (treatment group), 112 did not (control group). Regularity of physical activity, frequency of fitness exercises and walking behaviour were self‐reported by participants at baseline, after 4 months and after 8 months. In addition, the frequency of using the prototype was assessed based on the fitness app's logged usage data. We estimated multilevel mixed‐effects ordered logistic models to examine the effects of the intervention. After 4 months, the intervention increased the home care users' probability of agreeing strongly with being physically active on a regular basis by 28 percentage points (p < 0.001; 95% CI: 0.20, 0.36) and their probability of reporting to exercise more than once a week by 45 percentage points (p < 0.001; 95% CI: 0.32, 0.57). Walking behaviour was not affected on group‐level but improved for frequent users of the activity tracker. Frequent and regular users of the fitness app benefited most and effects persisted until the end of the 8 months controlled trial. Tailoring a fitness‐app prototype to the needs of care‐dependent people has the potential to support people with functional limitations to engage in a more active lifestyle. Future research is encouraged to seek further insights into how new technologies can support physical activities in people with long‐term care needs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cooperative, connected and automated mobility (CCAM) has a great potential to change drastically the mobility landscape and improve safety on the roads by assisting drivers to take the best decisions in given circumstances or by supporting autonomous driving features aboard the car, among other expected benefits. Yet, providing CCAM services poses not only technical but also business challenges, especially in cross-border environments. In this paper, we present a general techno-economic methodology intended first, to identify the cross-border ecosystem and the potential business models to enable CCAM services provision and second, to derive the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) of deploying the required Vehicle to Infrastructure (V2I) and Vehicle to Network (V2N) infrastructure. As an illustration, we then apply this methodology to a canonical Cooperative Lane Merging (CLM) scenario in a representative border environment (i.e., the Brenner pass between Italy and Austria). On this occasion, the impact of Multi-access Edge Computing (MEC) placement on the deployment cost is also discussed and finally, a cost allocation model is developed to link these deployment costs to the key stakeholders within the identified business models. Results aim to give insights into the different deployment strategies in typical cross-border environments and settings. • This paper presents a comprehensive techno-economic analysis of providing CCAM services in cross-border environment considering both technical and business challenges. • Proposed business models based on the adoption of new 5G technologies namely network slicing and MEC to ensure seamless service provision. • Collaborative business model is the most promising but needs review of regulations. • The collaborative business model is particularly attractive when considering the implementation of passive and active network sharing strategies. • Cost modelling results provide TCO insights for 5G network deployment scenarios. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Anaerobic digestion allows for the proper management of agro-waste, including manure. Currently, more than 18,000 anaerobic digestion plants are under operation in EU, 80% of which are employed in the rural context. Tariff schemes for power generation from biogas produced during anaerobic digestion of agricultural feedstocks in Germany, Italy and Austria are coming to an end and new approaches are needed to exploit the existing infrastructures. Digesters in the rural context can be implemented and modified to be transformed into sustainable multi-feedstock and multi-purpose biorefineries for the production of energy, nutrients, proteins, bio-chemicals such as carboxylic acids, polyesters and proteins. This paper describes how the transition of agricultural anaerobic digesters into multi-products biorefineries can be achieved and what are the potential benefits originating from the application of a pilot scale platform able to treat cow manure and other crop residues while producing volatile fatty acids, polyhydroxyalkanoates, microbial protein material, hydrogen, methane and a concentrated liquid stream rich in nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transferability of knowledge from well-investigated areas to a new study region is gaining importance in landslide hazard research. Considering the time-consuming compilation of landslide inventories as a prerequisite for landslide susceptibility mapping, model transferability can be key to making hazard-related information available to stakeholders in a timely manner. In this paper, we compare and combine two important transfer-learning strategies for landslide susceptibility modeling: case-based reasoning (CBR) and domain adaptation (DA). Care-based reasoning gathers knowledge from previous similar situations (source areas) and applies it to solve a new problem (target area). Domain adaptation, which is widely used in computer vision, selects data from a source area that has a similar distribution to the target area. We assess the performances of single- and multiple-source CBR, DA, and CBR–DA strategies to train and combine landslide susceptibility models using generalized additive models (GAMs) for 10 study areas with various resolutions (1, 10, and 25 m) located in Austria, Ecuador, and Italy. The performance evaluation shows that CBR and combined CBR–DA based on our proposed similarity criterion were able to achieve performances comparable to benchmark models trained in the target area itself. Particularly the CBR strategies yielded favorable results in both single- and multi-source strategies. Although DA tended to have overall lower performances than CBR, it had promising results in scenarios where the source–target similarity was low. We recommend that future transfer-learning research for landslide susceptibility modeling can build on the similarity criterion we used, as it successfully helped to transfer landslide susceptibility models by identifying suitable source regions for model training. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Whilst the link between young people's well‐being and the creative arts is strengthening, there is a lack of research which focuses on the roles that artists play to help teachers and parents engage young people in the creative arts. This paper explores the benefits of and barriers to artists working in education in six European countries (England, Iceland, Germany, Greece, Italy and Austria). Using the '5A's model of creativity' and a view of professional development taking place within 'landscapes of practice', the data were analysed in order to explain how creativity is operationalised in the different contexts. Our study highlights the need for policy at a national and transnational level to value the creative arts in order to help teachers cross boundaries and utilise the full potential of the creative arts in schools. Our study also highlights that further research is needed into how artists shape teaching and curriculum and how schools engage parents in the creative arts in order to build an evidence‐base relating to young people's positive mental health that can affect policy at these levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Extreme hydrometeorological events such as the 2018 Vaia storm increasingly threaten alpine regions with multiple hazards often compounded and with cascading effects. Currently available risk assessment and prevention tools may therefore prove inadequate, particularly for transborder and vulnerable mountain areas, calling for comprehensive multi-hazard and transdisciplinary approaches. In particular, the exposed assets should not anymore be considered a sheer collection of static items, but the models should also reflect functional features. In this paper, we propose an integrated approach to multi-hazard exposure modelling including both static and functional components. The model is based on a homogeneous planar tessellation composed of hexagonal cells and a graph-like structure which describes the functional connections among the cells. To exemplify the methodology, a combination of static (buildings, protective forests), dynamic (population) and functional (road-based transport system) components has been considered together, targeting a ca. 10,000 km2 region across Italy and Austria. A cell-based aggregation at 250 m resolution and an innovative graph-based simplification allow for a good trade-off between the complexity of the model and its computational efficiency for risk-related applications. Furthermore, aggregation ensures protection of sensitive data at a scale still useful for civil protection. The resulting model can be used for different applications including scenario-based risk analysis and numeric simulation, probabilistic risk assessment, impact forecasting and early warning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the 1960s and 1970s Werner Fuchs of the Austrian Geological Survey (Vienna) described a significant number of new foraminiferal taxa that he considered ancestral to the planktonic foraminifera. All these taxa are well-curated in the collections of the Austrian Geological Survey and have been studied by one of us (Malcolm B. Hart). Some of these taxa, from the Triassic and lowermost Jurassic strata of Austria and northern Italy, are poorly preserved, possibly the result of having an original aragonitic wall structure. None of these taxa possess characters which give the appearance of a planktonic mode of life, although some of them (e.g. Oberhauserella, Praegubkinella) may well have been ancestral to the holoplanktonic foraminifera that appeared in the Toarcian and younger strata. Other taxa in the collections of the Austrian Geological Survey (part of GeoSphere Austria), from the Jurassic of Poland, are preserved as glauconitic steinkerns and are either unidentifiable as foraminifera or suspect in terms of their stratigraphical and evolutionary significance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper makes available to the broader educational community the instruments which have been originally designed and validated within the European project "CLIL for all: Attention to diversity in bilingual education" ("ADiBE") to determine how diversity is being catered to across a broad array of CLIL contexts in European Secondary Education (Austria, Finland, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom). They include three sets of questionnaires, interviews, and observation protocols and are qualitative and quantitative instruments whose design has been based on the latest research and which have undergone a carefully controlled double-fold pilot process for their validation (external ratings approach and pilot phase with a representative sample of 264 subjects). The questions included in the three sets of instruments are initially characterized, together with their format and main categories. The paper then details the steps undertaken for their research-based design and the double-fold pilot process followed for their validation. The questionnaires and interview and observation protocols are then presented in a format which is directly applicable in any CLIL classroom in order to determine the accessibility of bilingual programs for all types of achievers and to identify the chief difficulties and best practices in promoting inclusion in bilingual education.

This paper deals with a series of legal cases in Italy, Germany, and Austria, between September 2019 and December 2020, which ruled that laws prohibiting or restricting assistance in suicide were unconstitutional. There are similarities between these three cases, all of which are influenced by the practice of assisted suicide in Switzerland, but also differences, not least because of the antecedent legal contexts. Each case is based on flawed reasoning. They have in common an exaggerated account of autonomy or self-determination, insufficiently qualified by the duty to protect human life or by other ethical constraints. The Italian and Austrian Courts also appeal to the principle of equality and to a supposed analogy with refusal of life-sustaining treatments, both of which raise concerns in relation to further expansion of the provisions. In responding to these flawed judgements, legislators should favour proposals that prevent the normalisation of assisted and non-assisted suicide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper contributes to debates on the growing appeal of right-wing populism by combining a focus on visuality, narratives, and emotions. We argue that right-wing populists' claims extend to establishing alternative emotion norms that collectivize feelings and their expression, and are conveyed in visual narratives. The emotional range covered by these norms transcends emotions usually associated with right-wing populism such as fear or humiliation. By employing seemingly inoffensive modes of presentation, emotional responses including indignation, compassion, and schadenfreude can be used as narrative bait for hitherto uninterested audiences. Following from that, emotion norms, such as exclusive forms of sympathy and humor, can be established. We illustrate our argument in three short case studies from Austria, France, and Italy. The conceptual and methodological insights are particularly relevant for those interested in the power of emotions, different modes of visual storytelling in world politics, and the performative effects of right-wing populist practices and narratives in politics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transferability of knowledge from well-investigated areas to a new study region is gaining importance in landslide hazard research. Considering the time-consuming compilation of landslide inventories as a prerequisite for landslide susceptibility mapping, model transferability can be key to making hazard-related information available to stakeholders in a timely manner. In this paper, we compare and combine two important transfer-learning strategies for landslide susceptibility modelling: case-based reasoning (CBR) and domain adaptation (DA). CBR gathers knowledge from previous similar situations (source areas) and applies it to solve a new problem (target area). DA, which is widely used in computer vision, selects data from a source area that has a similar distribution to the target area. We assess the performances of single- and multiple-source CBR, DA and CBR-DA strategies to train and combine landslide susceptibility models using generalized additive models (GAMs) for 10 study areas with various resolutions (1 m, 10 m and 25 m) located in Austria, Ecuador, and Italy. The performance evaluation shows that CBR and combined CBR-DA based on our proposed similarity criterion was able to achieve performances comparable to benchmark models trained in the target area itself. Particularly the CBR strategies yielded favourable results in both single- and multi-source strategies. DA tended to have overall lower performances than CBR; yet, it had promising results in scenarios when the source-target similarity was low. We recommend that future transfer learning research for landslide susceptibility modelling can build on the similarity criterion we used, as it successfully helped to achieve landslide susceptibility model transfers by discovering suitable training datasets from various regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to identify the literacy skills of individuals whose highest level of education was in the field 'teacher training and educational sciences'. The study sample comprised 10,618 individuals in the field of teacher training and educational sciences, selected from 31 countries (participating in the International Adult Skills Assessment Programme during the 2014-2015 survey) using a multi-stage sampling method. The study employed multi-level latent class analysis and three-step analysis in order to determine both the number of multi-level latent classes of educators' literacy scores as well as the selected independent variables' success in predicting those latent classes. The analysis revealed that educators in Germany constituted the group with the highest literacy skills while educators from Singapore comprised the group with the lowest literacy skills. [This study was presented at the 9th International Congress of Educational Research. Ordu University, Ordu, Turkey.]

The application of Mott–Schottky (M−S) analysis of impedance data to sub–micro samples extracted from the corrosion patina of copper, bronze, and brass archaeological artifacts attached to graphite electrodes is described. The corresponding theoretical approach is developed to account for the contribution of the composition and structure of the corrosion patina and the effect of the bare graphite substrate. Experimental data in contact with 0.10 M Na2SO4 aqueous solution at pH 6.28 are consistent with the p‐type semiconducting nature of the main copper corrosion products, cuprite, and tenorite. The values of the apparent flat band potential and the slope of the M−S plots allow archaeological samples to be grouped according to their M−S parameters (slopes and intercepts). Assuming equivalent conditions of corrosion, the resulting grouping is judged to be dependent on the composition, and/or method of manufacture, and/or age. Studied samples include Renaissance statues from the Hofkirche in Innsbruck and a variety of objects from museums and Archaeological Heritage Office (soprintendenza) in Austria (Bad Aussee, Johanneum Graz, and the Tyrolean State Museums), and Italy (Genoa and San Remo), dating from the Bronze Age to the 18th century. Complementary data are provided by voltammetry of immobilized particles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Educators require focused training to foster the development of intercultural competence in nurses. Training programs for educators need to be based on a comprehensive profile with a focus on intercultural learning. This study aims to define and validate a profile of the Intercultural Nursing Educator (INE). Method: The Delphi method was used with an iterative, multi-stage process to transform opinions into group consensus. A total of 46 European, African, and American experts from the nursing and intercultural field participated. Inclusion criteria required English at a level of B2, expertise in the field of intercultural competence, experience in teaching intercultural competence in the nursing context, and publications focused on intercultural topics. Results: The INE profile was developed and all 126 competencies were validated. Discussion and conclusion: The profile is freely available on the project website and provides the basis for curricula, training programs and assessment of the required competences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Business leaders are facing a change of role as digitalization continues to intensify in organizations. As technological change is bringing back supposedly old virtues of leadership, this study aims to explain the impact digital transformation has on leadership due to organizational size. Design/methodology/approach: Cross-border study with experts from multinational enterprises (MNEs) in Austria and small and medium companies (SMEs) in Italy. Findings: With increasing digitalization, leadership is becoming more important. In times of social distance, it is essential that leaders actively foster the management of relationships with their employees, manage social processes in their teams and shape change processes. This requires a bundle of skills consisting of effective leadership skills, strong change management skills and conceptual digitization skills. Practical implications: Digital transformation is not mainly about implementing new technologies; it is about developing an appropriate strategy in which people are key. Organizations regardless of size need to recognize that digital transformation requires not less, but even more active shaping of the relationships between leaders and their team members. Consequently, they need active leaders who drive, communicate and implement technological change. As leadership and change require time, resources and, above all, attention, executive selection and qualification are critical for the broad integration of digitalization ideas into an organization. Originality/value: People, not technology, drive digital transformation, and organizations require leaders, not necessarily technological specialists, to manage the complex changes that comprise an organization's digital transformation. Technical and methodological skills can be substituted with the use of new technologies, but leaders' interactional, social, strategic and conceptual skills are gaining in importance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For over two decades now, the application of Citizen Science to Education has been evolving, and fundamental topics, such as the drivers of motivation to participate in Citizen Science projects, are still under discussion. Some recent developments, though, like the use of Artificial Intelligence to support data collection and validation, seem to point to a clear-cut divergence from the mainstream research path. The objective of this paper is to summarise the development trajectory of research on Citizen Science in Education so far, and then shed light on its future development, to help researchers direct their efforts towards the most promising open questions in this field. We achieved these objectives by using the lens of the Affordance-Actualisation theory and the Main Path Analysis method.

In 2020/2021, the EU and its member states had to tackle the largest shock of the twenty-first century yet, the COVID-19 pandemic. COVID-19 led to an unprecedented health and economic crisis. In this article, we analyse public opinion on redistributive EU measures based on an original survey in Austria, Germany and Italy and ask whether EU citizens support a common aid package, common debt and redistribution to those countries that are economically most in need. Testing the influence of three explanatory concepts – self-interest, justice attitudes and general support of European integration – we find that all three explanatory concepts have predictive power. However, we find stronger effects on support for EU-level redistribution for citizens' instrumental calculations concerning whether their country benefits from EU aid, and on general support for EU integration, than for justice attitudes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• This paper illustrates a new system to exploit drainage water heat from tunnels. • The heat exchange rate between the prototype and the drainage water is quantified. • The conducted tests over the prototype verified the effective exploitable heat. • The approach was implemented during the construction of the Brenner Base Tunnel. • A generalization of the design method to other underground situations is proposed. Deep tunnels in permeable fractured rock-masses and under high piezometric levels can drain notable volumes of warm water, which are collected under gravity in specific conduits towards the portals, where heat can be exploited. The utilization of this energy source is generally narrowed by the limited presence of end-users near the portals, while other promising heating and cooling needs can be found directly along the tunnel length. The work presents the design, construction and installation of a geothermal system prototype exploiting the drainage water heat directly inside the tunnel. The prototype was named Smart Flowing due to the peculiarity of its heat exchange process. The system was realized and installed inside the exploratory tunnel of the Brenner Base Tunnel, near the border between Italy and Austria. The Smart Flowing modules were built outside and later moved inside the tunnel, where they were placed and assembled concurrently to the advancement of the Tunnel Boring Machine. A design procedure was proposed and validated against a testing and monitoring campaign. The data from the experimental activity confirmed that the drainage water flow guarantees long-term stabilization of circulating water temperature and fast heat recovery afterwards, thus securing the considerable power and performance values of a water-water heat pump connected to the system. A sensitivity analysis allowed the reproduction of different working scenarios, in order to generalize the application of Smart Flowing beyond the specific installation context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

At the population level, there is limited empirical evidence on the characteristics of individuals who were hospitalized because of Covid-19, the role of hospitalization in mortality risk, and how both evolved over time. Through the analysis of surveillance data for 7 million people in Austria, Germany, and Italy, we investigate: (1) the demographic characteristics and outcomes of individuals hospitalized because of Covid-19; and (2) the role of demographic risk factors and healthcare utilization (as measured by hospitalization) for the individual probability of dying because of Covid-19, in both cases comparing the period February to June 2020 with July 2020 to February 2021. We find that the demographic profile of individuals who were hospitalized or died because of Covid-19 is the same in both periods, except for a younger age profile for hospitalizations in the second period. Mortality differentials across countries result from the interaction of demographic risk factors and hospitalization at the individual level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High-spired Murchisonia-like slit-band gastropods are an important component of late Paleozoic gastropod faunas. Twenty-seven genera of such gastropods have been reported from the Permian, most of which representing the caenogastropod family Goniasmatidae. Only four genera, Trypanocochlea, Wannerispira, Laschmaspira, and Altadema crossed the Permian/Triassic boundary. Based on the study of newly collected specimens and material from natural history collections, we studied the surviving genera as well as the Triassic recovery of this group. Two new species (Laschmaspira lirata sp. nov. and Altadema hausmannae sp. nov.) and one new subfamily (Cheilotomoninae) are introduced. Murchisonia-like caenogastropods, chiefly Goniasmatidae, were diverse and abundant until the Permian, barely survived the end-Permian extinction, regained a certain generic diversity within the Triassic with the evolution of several new genera but failed by far to regain their Permian generic diversity. This once successful and diverse group shares a similar fate (surviving the end-Permian extinction, a reduced Triassic diversity and extinction during Late Triassic crises) as conodonts, orthoceratids, conulariids, and others. This diversity pattern does not qualify for the "Dead Clade Walking" phenomenon, i.e., the extinction shortly after a major mass extinction event (survival without recovery) because they have survived for ca. 30 Ma (at least until the Norian) and even produced a number of new genera. The exact time of their extinction is unknown but there are no safe Rhaetian occurrences. Their extinction is part of a long-term selective trend against the character "shell-slit". [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: To explore nurses' and nurse assistants' experiences of providing end‐of‐life care during the COVID‐19 pandemic in Austria, Germany and Northern Italy. Design: A qualitative explorative interview study. Method: Data were collected between August and December 2020 and analysed using content analysis. Healthcare professionals (nurses (n = 30), nurse coordinators (n = 6) and nurse assistants (n = 5)) from hospitals (n = 32) and long‐term care facilities (n = 9) in Austria, Germany and Northern Italy were interviewed for this study. Results: Five main categories were identified as follows: (i) end‐of‐life care involves love and duty, (ii) last wishes and dignity of the patient, (iii) communication with the family, (iv) organizational and religious aspects and (v) personal emotions. Results indicate that more training and guidelines are needed to prepare nurses and nurse assistants for end‐of‐life care during pandemics. Public contribution: This research can help prepare nurses and nurse assistants for end‐of‐life care in pandemics and will be of value for improving the institutional and government health policies. Furthermore, it can be of value in preparing training for healthcare professionals patient–relatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article investigates whether and to what extent the welfare policies of Populist Radical Right Parties (PRRPs) vary in diverse government coalitions. Relying on a multidimensional framework differentiating coalitional politics along the welfare size and deservingness dimension, we conduct a comparative case study analysing welfare reforms of the 'standard' centre-right/PRRP government coalition ÖVP-FPÖ in Austria and the 'new' populist government coalition M5S-Lega in Italy. We find that both PRRPs do not promote pro-welfare policies in general, but rather opt for selective expansion of benefits for 'makers', while aiming at retrenching benefits for 'takers'. This welfare strategy includes pensioners and male breadwinner families but excludes migrants or long-term unemployed. The analysis furthermore shows that the central line of conflict with the centre-right ÖVP is mostly about the size of welfare policies, especially for 'deserving' citizens, while with the socially more left-leaning M5S it is rather centred around the deservingness dimension, e.g., benefits for takers. These results offer a more fine-grained understanding of the PRRPs' welfare agenda and their coalitional welfare politics in office. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The relationship between schizophrenia and violence is complex. The aim of this multicentre case–control study was to examine and compare the characteristics of a group of forensic psychiatric patients with a schizophrenia spectrum disorders and a history of significant interpersonal violence to a group of patients with the same diagnosis but no lifetime history of interpersonal violence. Method: Overall, 398 patients (221 forensic and 177 non-forensic patients) were recruited across five European Countries (Italy, Germany, Poland, Austria and the United Kingdom) and assessed using a multidimensional standardised process. Results: The most common primary diagnosis in both groups was schizophrenia (76.4%), but forensic patients more often met criteria for a comorbid personality disorder, almost always antisocial personality disorder (49.1 v. 0%). The forensic patients reported lower levels of disability and better social functioning. Forensic patients were more likely to have been exposed to severe violence in childhood. Education was a protective factor against future violence as well as higher levels of disability, lower social functioning and poorer performances in cognitive processing speed tasks, perhaps as proxy markers of the negative syndrome of schizophrenia. Forensic patients were typically already known to services and in treatment at the time of their index offence, but often poorly compliant. Conclusions: This study highlights the need for general services to stratify patients under their care for established violence risk factors, to monitor patients for poor compliance and to intervene promptly in order to prevent severe violent incidents in the most clinically vulnerable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted global interdependencies, accompanied by widespread calls for worldwide cooperation against a virus that knows no borders, but responses were led largely separately by national governments. In this tension between aspiration and reality, people began to grapple with how their own lives were affected by the global nature of the pandemic. In this article, based on 493 qualitative interviews conducted between 2020 and 2021, we explore how people in Argentina, Austria, Bolivia, Ecuador, Ireland, Italy and Mexico experienced, coped with and navigated the global nature of the pandemic. In dialogue with debates about the parameters of the 'global' in global health, we focus on what we call people's everyday (de)bordering practices to examine how they negotiated (dis)connections between 'us' and 'them' during the pandemic. Our interviewees' reactions moved from national containment to an increasing focus on people's unequal socio-spatial situatedness. Eventually, they began to (de)border their lives beyond national lines of division and to describe a new normal: a growing awareness of global connectedness and a desire for global citizenship. This newfound sense of global interrelatedness could signal support for and encourage transnational political action in times of crises. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The occurrence of extreme windstorms and increasing heat and drought events induced by climate change leads to severe damage and stress in coniferous forests, making trees more vulnerable to spruce bark beetle infestations. The combination of abiotic and biotic disturbances in forests can cause drastic environmental and economic losses. The first step to containing such damage is establishing a monitoring framework for the early detection of vulnerable plots and distinguishing the cause of forest damage at scales from the management unit to the region. To develop and evaluate the functionality of such a monitoring framework, we first selected an area of interest affected by windthrow damage and bark beetles at the border between Italy and Austria in the Friulian Dolomites, Carnic and Julian Alps and the Carinthian Gailtal. Secondly, we implemented a framework for time-series analysis with open-access Sentinel-2 data over four years (2017–2020) by quantifying single-band sensitivity to disturbances. Additionally, we enhanced the framework by deploying vegetation indices to monitor spectral changes and perform supervised image classification for change detection. A mean overall accuracy of 89% was achieved; thus, Sentinel-2 imagery proved to be suitable for distinguishing stressed stands, bark-beetle-attacked canopies and wind-felled patches. The advantages of our methodology are its large-scale applicability to monitoring forest health and forest-cover changes and its usability to support the development of forest management strategies for dealing with massive bark beetle outbreaks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Live-in care, provided by mainly female migrants, has developed as a do-it-yourself welfare mechanism—hardly regulated, with undefined working times, singular labour relations and widely untraceable cash flows. Migrant carers are isolated, working in a 'grey' area, torn between the family in which they are working and the individual person in need of care, and very often they are also dependent on brokering agencies. The aim of this contribution is therefore to describe and analyse how the pandemic has made hidden inequalities more visible in connection with the specificities of live-in migrant care in Austria, Italy and Spain. Findings are based on a brief scoping review, including national media coverage. Results are described in terms of national caveats and strategies to respond to challenges triggered by the pandemic. Mitigating short-term strategies were implemented under pressure and at short notice, mainly influenced by the national framework conditions of live-in migrants in the respective countries. In spite of upcoming political debates regarding the regularisation of live-in care, including issues of wages and working conditions, the visibility of migrant live-in care remains tightly connected to the further development of care regimes and the acknowledgement of unpaid work as a precondition for gender equality and equal opportunities in a European and subsequently in a global dimension. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study focuses on the case of homelessness in different countries and how the specific characteristics of homeless people differ in these countries. The data of the research based on the field survey were obtained via questionnaire form from the homeless living in Hungary, Italy, Austria and Turkey. According to the findings, homeless people started drinking between 0-17 years of age, higher in Italy, Hungary and Austria, while lower in Turkey. Again, the experience of divorce before homelessness is higher in Turkey compared to other countries. Addictive substances negatively affect the perceptions of the general health status of more than half of the homeless, especially in Italy. Although the phenomenon of homelessness, which is growing day by day in societies as a global threat, is triggered by similar factors, it is seen that the causes and results differ in the axis of factors such as culture, law, belief, social life, social problem, family relations at the local level. Low education level, alcohol and substance abuse, economic inadequacy, and problems related to family and social relations are common as homeless individuals' most basic problem areas. As a global problem, the issue of homelessness is an area that all societies should work on and produce common solutions for. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates 'Little Europe', the rural, mountainous Italian region of the quadrilingual Valcanale, bordering Austria and Slovenia. The combined analysis of cultural landscape, linguistic landscape (LL) and symbolic ethnicity provides a new concept to examine multilingual regions. In this once Austrian valley, where German was the official language before WWI, Italian now dominates over minority languages, as exemplified by official signs. However, elements of the area's cultural and linguistic landscape reveal unexpected linguistic practices and visible, locatable artefacts of the Valcanale's ethnolinguistic heritage, which we assume to play a key role in the preservation of symbolic ethnicity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective was to assess the changes in quality of life (QoL) and patient satisfaction of chronically ill patients in general practices in Salzburg (Austria) and South Tyrol (Italy) after implementation of a combined intervention addressing quality of care of general practitioners (GPs). Furthermore, the correlation between QoL/patient satisfaction and quality of care provided by the GPs (measured by a quality score based on quality indicators [QIs]) was investigated. The non‐controlled pre–post study involved GPs and patients with chronic conditions. The intervention consisted of self‐audit, benchmarking and quality circles. QIs were extracted in the participating practices in 2012 (preintervention) and 2014 (postintervention). Before and after the intervention, a patient survey was conducted including EQ‐5D (measuring health‐related QoL), a patient participation scale and parts of the European Task Force on Patient Evaluations of General Practice questionnaire (measuring patient satisfaction). Mann–Whitney U‐tests, chi‐square tests and Spearman's rank correlation were applied for statistical analysis. Fifty‐six GPs participated in the study. 1,710 patients returned the questionnaire in 2012, and 1,374 in 2014. Mean EQ‐5D index (QoL) was similar in Salzburg and South Tyrol in both years: 2012 Salzburg 0.85 (95% CI 0.84–0.87), South Tyrol 0.85 (95% CI 0.84–0.86); 2014 Salzburg 0.84 (95% CI 0.83–0.86), South Tyrol 0.84 (95% CI 0.83–0.86). Patient satisfaction was higher in Salzburg than in South Tyrol at baseline (EUROPEP: mean percentage of best response 61.5% vs. 49.1%, p < 0.000) and also at follow‐up (61.9% vs. 49.2%; p < 0.000). No significant correlation between quality score and QoL/patient satisfaction was detected. Thus, the impact of the intervention was not significant within the intermediate time periods analysed in the study. Improvements in quality of care do not necessarily also improve patient‐relevant outcomes, which are probably more associated with other factors than with medical quality (e.g. availability of the GP, waiting times and communication‐related issues). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Historically, essential oils and their lead molecules have been extensively recognised for their anti-infective properties. In this context, certain volatile phenolics (VPs) have emerged as important antimicrobial compounds with excellent inhibitory activity against pathogenic bacteria and fungi, which further extends to drug-resistant and biofilm-forming micro-organisms. In this review, we aim to collate and discuss a number of published papers on the anti-infective activities of naturally occurring VPs with special emphasis on eugenol, isoeugenol, thymol and carvacrol, using Scopus Web of Science and PubMed databases. The biosynthesis and extraction of these VPs are discussed, while particular attention is given to their broad-spectrum antimicrobial activity and the mechanisms of action. We highlight combinational studies of the VPs with other phytocompounds and with commercially available drugs, which may be a promising and a rewarding future approach to combat antimicrobial resistance. These VPs alone, or concomitantly with other compounds or drugs, have the potential to be incorporated into different formulations for biomedical applications. An in-depth assessment of 2310 articles retrieved from the Scopus database spanning a 35-year period indicated 23.1% increase in global publication growth in VPs anti-infective research, with authors from Italy, Portugal and Austria dominating the research landscape. The dominant areas of investigations are identified as antimicrobial activity, antibacterial mechanism of action, antifungal mechanism of action, extraction methods and phytochemistry, use in the food industry, and for oral and dental anti-infective activity. Specific research areas, which require future attention include; antituberculosis research, nanoparticle formulation of antimicrobial active VP molecules, preclinical and clinical trials. The antimicrobial testing of isoeugenol was found to be the least studied of the VPs and this requires further attention. [Display omitted] • A bibliometric analysis of four volatile phenolics over 35-year period is presented. • Thymol, carvacrol, eugenol and isoeugenol reviewed, isoeugenol requires future attention. • Antimicrobial mechanistic actions and combination studies are explored. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Technological innovation and the flexibilisation of labour markets have expanded the pool of workers engaged in globally distributed work. This paper aims to propose an analytical framework to understand and support the productive professional learning of those engaged in global work. Drawing on the theory of expansive learning in the cultural-historical activity theory tradition the study aims to stimulate and enrich the conceptual notion of work as a learning space in the discussion of workplace learning particularly in global work. Design/methodology/approach: Iteration between theory and data is applied to identify the dimensions of expansion for the configuration of learning spaces in global work. Data are drawn from the experiences of 10 professionals selected by purposive sampling in Austria, Italy, the Netherlands and Singapore. Findings: Six dimensions of expansion are identified as challenging and potentially empowering for professionals' configuration of learning spaces in global work: social-spatial, material-instrumental, moral-ethical, political-economic, personal-professional and temporal-developmental. Originality/value: The conceptual framework for the dimensions of expansion of learning spaces provides the broad strokes for reflexive curricula that democratise the learning and development of professionals in global work, who are currently underserved given the national orientation of vocational education and training and professional development ecosystems.

Background: The first wave of the COVID-19-pandemic hit different countries with varying degrees of severity, so that differences in the type and level of emergency measures were also necessary. It can be assumed that the psychological burden was higher in countries subjected to a more severe course of the pandemic (Italy) than in countries subjected to a less severe one (Germany, Austria). Objective: To investigate and contrast the wellbeing of the population in Italy, Austria, and Germany in the early phase of the first lockdown. Method: Online survey on N = 4289 individuals. The questionnaire comprised a self-administered section, exploring the dimensions: perceived severity of COVID-19, perceived risk of disease, concerns related to COVID-19, emergency measure acceptance and emotional distress due to emergency measures; and standardized scales to record emotional state and coping: Stress-Coping-Style Questionnaire, Positive and Negative Affect Schedule, State-Trait-Anxiety-Inventory. Results: The three countries displayed significant differences in all investigated dimensions (p <.001). Italian participants assessed the COVID-19 virus as much more dangerous (p <.001), but despite the prevalence of the virus, the subjective risk of disease was perceived to be lower in Italy (p <.001). This could be a positive effect of the restrictive curfews set by the government in Italy. The emergency measures were generally perceived to be very effective in all three countries, but due to the duration and the severity of the measures, the fear and stress-reaction were the strongest among Italian participants (p <.001). Conclusion: The stricter measures in Italy prevented an application of many positive stress processing strategies, which, in turn, fostered the perpetuation of stresses and fear. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]