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The aim of this study, which covers the period from 1991 to 2017, is to analyze the relationships between recovered paper consumption, human development index, urbanization rate, and forest footprint in the framework of the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) hypothesis in the 10 countries that consume the most recovered paper. Considering that wood is the raw material of paper, the study investigates whether the increase in the consumption of recovered paper has a positive effect on the forest footprint. Therefore, unlike other studies, the dependent variable of the EKC model is the forest footprint. The study is original in that it is the first to analyze the effects of recovered paper consumption on environmental degradation in the context of the EKC hypothesis. To analyze the relationships between the variables, we use panel cointegration tests based on AMG and CCE estimators, which allow analysis on both a country and group basis. According to the results, the EKC hypothesis is valid only in the Netherlands. While there is a statistically significant and negative relationship between recovered paper consumption and forest footprint in the Netherlands, there is a statistically significant and negative relationship between urbanization and forest footprint in Italy. Economic and ecological benefits and costs must be considered to measure the net benefit of waste management programs. In addition, to analyze how environmental impacts change over time, ecological footprint and gas emissions during waste generation or disposal should be measured similarly to carbon emissions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Renal denervation is a device-based procedure for hypertension for which safety and efficacy has been demonstrated. At present, its clinical use is still matter of debate, despite the most recent clinical trials have shown promising results with new-generation devices in various hypertensive populations. This position paper was deemed necessary by the Italian Society of Arterial Hypertension, in order to provide indications about the applications of renal denervation in the clinical setting. A state-of-the art review of the literature, focusing on safety and efficacy data, is provided. Furthermore, based on current evidence and expert consensus, clinical profiles of possible candidates for renal denervation are proposed. The selection process should take into account not only blood pressure values, global cardiovascular risk profile, but also drug adherence and tolerability and patient preferences. This position paper also defines minimum requirements for renal denervation selection centers and a flowchart for the difficult-to-treat hypertensive patient. Further studies are needed to support these preliminary indications, which are based on expert-consensus only. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Children are defined as hypertensive when their blood pressure values equal or exceed the 95th percentile of the blood pressure value distribution in a pediatric population, according to gender, age and height. The population on which reference tables are based is of fundamental importance to establish the threshold values for the diagnosis of hypertension in pediatric age. Before 2017, both American and European guidelines used nomograms created in the same reference population which included children of all weight classes. Given the close and well-known association between hypertension and excess weight in childhood, the 2017 American guidelines proposed new reference nomograms excluding subjects with overweight and obesity from the "historical" reference population. Furthermore, the new American guidelines suggested a fixed cut-off of 130/80 mmHg, starting from 13 years and regardless of gender and height, to make the diagnosis of hypertension. In this document, the Italian Hypertension Society (SIIA) and the Italian Pediatric Society (SIP) jointly discuss a number of issues raised by the new American guidelines that involve the entire medical community, and also address the definition of arterial hypertension in the transition phase between childhood and adulthood. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Some years ago the authors of the present paper found in the Fondo Padoa lying in the Mathematical Library of Genoa University a manuscript of 11 pages by Alessandro Padoa with the title A proposito di un nuovo sistema fondamentale della geometria elementare. It seems to be ready for publication and contains also typographical instruction for printing. Other investigations on Padoa and his rôle in Peano's school led in a series of recent papers to a probably complete list of Padoa's publications where, however, the above mentioned manuscript is not present and, therefore, is likely to be considered an unpublished paper. It's a matter of fact that the whole of Padoa's scientific production has to be integrated by some works that he didn't publish. The unpublished paper under examination deals with the axiomatization of elementary geometry given by Mario Pieri in 1899 in "Della geometria elementare come sistema ipotetico deduttivo. Monografia del punto e del moto", where, as it is well-known, elementary geometry is based on the primitive notions of point and movement and on 20 postulates. Padoa agrees with Pieri's proposal to define segment starting from point and movement; he suggests, however, some modification to the original set of postulates and gives a (partial) proof of their independence. The unpublished paper reveals the interest of Padoa in this subject-matter and, in some sense, his idea of participating in the already consolidated field of research represented by Pieri's results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dementia Day Care Centres (DDCCs) are defined as services providing care and rehabilitation to people with dementia associated with behavioural and psychological symptoms (BPSD) in a semi-residential setting. According to available evidence, DDCCs may decrease BPSD, depressive symptoms and caregiver burden. The present position paper reports a consensus of Italian experts of different disciplines regarding DDCCs and includes recommendations about architectural features, requirements of personnel, psychosocial interventions, management of psychoactive drug treatment, prevention and care of geriatric syndromes, and support to family caregivers. DDCCs architectural features should follow specific criteria and address specific needs of people with dementia, supporting independence, safety, and comfort. Staffing should be adequate in size and competence and should be able to implement psychosocial interventions, especially focused on BPSD. Individualized care plan should include prevention and treatment of geriatric syndromes, a targeted vaccination plan for infectious diseases including COVID-19, and adjustment of psychotropic drug treatment, all in cooperation with the general practitioner. Informal caregivers should be involved in the focus of intervention, with the aim of reducing assistance burden and promoting the adaptation to the ever-changing relationship with the patient. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Worldwide, tropospheric ozone (O3) is a potential threat to wood production, but our understanding of O3 economic impacts on forests is still limited. To overcome this issue, we developed an approach for integrating O3 risk modelling and economic estimates, by using the Italian forests as a case study. Results suggested a significant impact of O3 expressed in terms of stomatal flux with an hourly threshold of uptake (Y = 1 nmol O3 m−2 leaf area s−1 to represent the detoxification capacity of trees), i.e. POD1. In 2005, the annual POD1 averaged over Italy was 20.4 mmol m−2 and the consequent potential damage ranged from 790.90 M€ to 2.85 B€ of capital value (i.e. 255–869 € ha−1, on average) depending on the interest rate. The annual damage ranged from 31.6 to 57.1 M€ (i.e. 10–17 € ha−1 per year, on average). There was also a 1.1% reduction in the profitable forest areas, i.e. with a positive Forest Expectation Value (FEV), with significant declines of the annual national wood production of firewood (− 7.5%), timber pole (− 7.4%), roundwood (− 5.0%) and paper mill (− 4.8%). Results were significantly different in the different Italian regions. We recommend our combined approach for further studies under different economic and phytoclimatic conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims at introducing a conceptual framework and assessing how features of local systems combine with high levels of cultural capital. This framework encompasses the local productive specializations and socio-demographic characteristics, as well as their interplay. A review on related concepts and contributions helps to generate three hypotheses on place-based cultural capital. The paper works under the three hypotheses and applies the framework to an original dataset based on the Italian local systems. The results show how urban areas and made-in Italy local productive systems tend to associate with high levels of cultural capital. Moreover, the interplay between local productive specializations and socio-demographic characteristics highlights the role of place specificities. Such relations should be considered in the elaboration of culture-based policies of territorial development, and in further researches over the accumulative forces of cultural capital. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Antihypertensive therapy has been demonstrated to significantly reduce cardiovascular and noncardiovascular mortality in randomized controlled clinical trials. In the past, however, doubts have been raised on the safety of one class of blood pressure lowering drugs, namely the angiotensin II type 1 receptor antagonists (angiotensin receptor blockers [ARBs]), in terms of increased risk of myocardial infarction. Several comprehensive meta-analyses have definitely demonstrated no significant increased risk of myocardial infarction in patients treated with ARBs compared with placebo or any other active treatments. More recently, a partial meta-analysis has suggested a potential link between the use of this drug class and an increased risk of cancer. Although a further comprehensive network meta-analysis demonstrated the lack of any increased risk of cancer development or cancer mortality in patients treated with different antihypertensive drug classes, including ARBs, compared with placebo, this report has generated claims and uncertainties in the medical community and produced a vast echo in the lay press. The biological plausibility, the potential pathophysiological mechanisms, and the clinical evidence that rule out such hypotheses are discussed here. The present article, which represents a position paper of the Italian Society of Hypertension (SIIA), states that the benefits derived from the use of ARBs outweigh the potential risks, and that the use of these drugs should be maintained according to present indications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present article for improving strategies and interventions for cardiovascular prevention in Italy represents the collaborative work of several scientific societies that recognize their own role and mission in the field of prevention of cardiovascular diseases. It originates from the need, felt in many European and non-European countries, as well as at the level of the EU, to rapidly promote strategies and interventions to better prevent cardiovascular diseases. The main reason for producing this article is represented by the growing clinical and socioeconomic impact that cardiovascular diseases will have in Italy in the next few years. This, in fact, will bring serious problems regarding the ability to sustain the entire national healthcare system in Italy. This article reviews some of the major data available on projections of cardiovascular diseases and their social and economic burden. This article represents a White Paper, and it is conceived as a new starting point, proposing general specific interventions, addressed to decision-makers, stakeholders, institutions, citizens, physicians, healthcare workers, organizations and industries. These proposals are listed, and briefly discussed, leading to the development of a 'call-to-action', aimed at reducing the incidence of cardiovascular diseases and their impact on the healthcare system, even in the short to medium term. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the knowledge network structure of foreign research literature by applying the qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) method to the field of information science and library science (ISLS) from the perspective of the cocitation of social network actors such as authors, institutions, countries, and literature, and it further reveals the future application trends of this method. [Method/process] Based on 86 journals in the ISLS field that were downloaded from the Web of Science using the QCA method, the social network analysis (SNA) method and the visual analysis tool Gephi are used to analyse the author cooperation network, the research institution cooperation network, the national cooperation network, the cocitation network, the cutting-edge trends, etc., of journal papers. The analysis shows that the QCA method covers a wide range within the field of ISLS, but the research topics involved in this field are not concentrated, and the author cooperation network has scale-free characteristics. The application of the QCA method is still dominant in European and American countries, and China, the USA, and Italy all play key roles in the national cooperation network. Finally, the institutional cooperation network has certain small group attributes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines both theoretically and empirically the link between pro-social behaviours, individual attitudes regarding waste prevention and disposal, and individual recycling behaviour in Italy at the end of the 1990s, in a period in which policy makers started to make the population aware of the importance of waste prevention, disposal and recycling. In the theoretical framework, following Czajkowski et al. (Environ Resour Econ 66:647–670, 2017), we develop a utility function that represents the individual level of satisfaction, which is influenced by certain aspects related to environmental quality. In the empirical analysis, using the 1998 wave of the multipurpose household survey (MHS) conducted by the Italian Central Statistical Office and probit models, we show a positive relationship between pro-social behaviours, waste concern and recycling behaviour that is robust to the inclusion of social capital variables. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A panel of Italian neurologists of the Italian Society for the study of Dementias (SINDEM) discussed the recently proposed new lexicon for Alzheimer disease (AD) and the related diagnostic criteria for the different phases of the disease (Preclinical AD, prodromal AD and Alzheimer's dementia) (Dubois et al. in Lancet Neurol 6:734-746, ; in Lancet Neurol 9:1118-1127, ). The aim of this discussion was to reach a consensus, among the Italian neurologists involved in the study and care of persons with dementia, in particular in reference to the potential use of the proposed diagnostic criteria in clinical practice. After having critically revised the scientific evidence related to the new lexicon and to the new proposed diagnostic criteria, the panel concluded that the proposed new diagnostic criteria and the new proposed lexicon for AD are conceptually attractive. However, the evidence about the instrumental and laboratory markers for the diagnosis of the preclinical and asymptomatic states of the disease are, until to now, insufficient to support the routine clinical use of these investigations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Individuals who reside in a country without regular authorisation generally find it difficult to access public medical services beyond emergency treatment. Even in countries with universal healthcare, there is often a gap between rights on paper and their implementation. Civil society organisations (CSOs) fill this gap by providing medical services to vulnerable populations, including irregular migrants. What, if any, are the ethical dilemmas that arise for CSO staff when delivering such services in countries with universal healthcare? Under what conditions do these dilemmas arise? And what strategies do CSO staff use to mitigate them? We answer these questions using 40 semi-structured interviews with CSO staff working in two European countries with high levels of irregularity, universal healthcare provisions on paper, and significant differences in approaches and availability of public services for irregular migrants: Italy and Spain. We show that CSO staff providing medical services to irregular migrants in places with universal healthcare coverage face a fundamental dilemma between humanitarianism and equity. CSO staff respond to the humanitarian belief in the value of taking all possible steps to prevent or alleviate human suffering, thus promoting a decent quality of life that includes access to both emergency and non-emergency care. In doing so, however, they run the risk of substituting rather than complementing public provisions, thereby preventing governments from assuming responsibility for these services in the long term. Individuals who acknowledge the existence of this dilemma generally oppose the creation of parallel structures; that is, services specifically developed for irregular migrants outside the public system; while those who ignore it essentially subscribe to a tiered system, giving up on considerations of equity. We argue that CSOs involved in the provision of healthcare to irregular migrants do not simply provide services; they also play an inherently political role. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents several abstracts of research papers presented at the 19th International Congress Laser Medicine: Laser Florence 2004 on October 28-30 in Florence, Italy.

Purpose: The Comprehensive assessment of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (CompACT) is a 23-item questionnaire measuring psychological flexibility, a quality of life protective factor. An 18-item version was recently produced. We assessed validity and reliability of CompACT, and equivalence of paper and electronic (eCompACT) versions in people with multiple sclerosis (PwMS) in Italy, Germany and Spain. Methods: We used confirmatory factor analysis and assessed CompACT-23 and CompACT-18 measurement invariance between the three language versions. We assessed construct validity (Spearman's correlations) and internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha). Test–retest reliability (intraclass correlation coefficient, ICC) and equivalence of paper and eCompACT (ICC and linear regression model for repeated measures) were assessed in subsamples of PwMS. Results: A total of 725 PwMS completed the study. The three-factor structure of the CompACT-23 showed poor fit (RMSEA 0.07; CFI 0.82; SRMR 0.08), while the fit of the CompACT-18 was good (RMSEA 0.05; CFI 0.93; SRMR 0.05). Configural and partial metric invariance were confirmed, as well as partial scalar invariance (reached when five items were allowed to vary freely). The CompACT-18 showed good internal consistency (all alpha ≥ 0.78); and test–retest reliability (all ICCs ≥ 0.86). Equivalence between paper and eCompACT was excellent (all ICCs ≥ 0.86), with no mode, order, or interaction effects. Conclusion: Results support using the refined CompACT-18 as a three-factor measure of psychological flexibility in PwMS. Paper and eCompACT-18 versions are equivalent. CompACT-18 can be used cross-culturally, but sub-optimal scalar invariance suggests that direct comparison between the three language versions should be interpreted with caution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we question the implicit assumption that more entrepreneurship drives more innovation and growth, asserting that specific typologies of entrepreneurship are responsible for these phenomena. A growing number of studies has analyzed this relationship while focusing on the overall level of entrepreneurship. This paper exploits recent advancements in measuring the sophistication and connectedness of economic systems, brought by the notions of economic complexity and relatedness, to study the nexus of industrial structure and high-potential forms of entrepreneurship. The present study uses a panel dataset for Italy for the period 2015–2019. The results show a differentiated pattern among the high-potential startups considered, with relatedness and complexity having a positive effect for innovative startups, a negative one for high-growth startups, and no effect for pioneers. These results inform potential entrepreneurs of the importance of analyzing how external conditions can have distinctive effects on the process of opportunity identification among different typologies of high-potential startups. Plain English Summary: In this paper, we question the implicit assumption that more entrepreneurship drives more innovation and growth, arguing that only specific typologies of entrepreneurship are responsible for these phenomena. In recent years, researchers have highlighted the importance of the factors external to the startups to explain the entrepreneurial dynamics. In particular, specialized and sophisticated economic systems have often been associated with a high level of entrepreneurship. Accordingly, we investigated the differentiated effects that industrial systems have on the high-potential typology of startups, namely, innovative startups, high-growth startups, and pioneers. Upon analyzing the case of Italy across a 5-year period (2015–2019), we found that certain compositions of industrial structure may either favor or hinder the typologies of the aforementioned startups. These results inform potential entrepreneurs of the importance to analyze how external conditions can distinctively affect the process of opportunity identification among different forms of high-potential startups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The olive oil sector in Italy has a significant socio-economic, environmental, and cultural relevance. However, the environmental impacts of production and consumption models are considerable, mainly due to the demand for large quantities of resources (fuels, chemicals) and to the environmental impacts of residues' disposal. Due to the scarcity of resources and climate change concerns, circular economy principles based on industrial ecology concepts are emerging. In this paper, the principles of circular economy were specifically applied to the olive oil supply chain, to improve the environmental sustainability of the sector. Methods: The production chain of extra virgin olive oil was analyzed using the Life Cycle Assessment method, based on primary data from an oil farm and mill in Southern Italy. The environmental impacts were evaluated through the SimaPro software and the ReCiPe 2016 Mid-point (H) Impact Assessment Method, with reference to the functional unit of 1-L bottle of extra virgin olive oil. Some circular improvement options were investigated, comparing the impacts generated by (i) extra virgin olive oil linear production without valorization of by-products, (ii) extra virgin olive oil linear production with allocation of total impacts to co-products, and (iii) two circular production systems, incorporating improvements such as replacement of diesel with biodiesel and of electricity from the national grid with energy recovered from residues. Results and discussion: The environmental impacts of the business-as-usual production pattern were identified for possible improvements. In all phases of the production chain of organic extra virgin olive oil, the most affected impact categories were human carcinogenic toxicity, marine ecotoxicity, and terrestrial ecotoxicity. As expected, the major contributions to almost all the analyzed impact categories were determined by the agricultural phase (92.65%), followed by the bottling phase (7.13%) and the oil extraction phase (0.22%). The valorization of by-products was considered by widening the system boundaries to ensure the environmental sustainability by developing circular patterns that feedback waste materials to upstream steps of the same process. The environmental impacts resulted lower in almost all the impact categories, with the major benefits gained in the global warming and fossil depletion impact categories. Conclusions: The analysis proved that the reuse of pomace, prunings, and exhausted cooking oil initially considered as waste can bring benefits from an environmental point of view to the larger scale of the economy, by replacing fossil fuels, as well as to the olive oil chain itself, by providing the needed energy for production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a major part of global development governance, G20 countries account for 80% of global carbon emissions. In order to achieve the goal of "carbon neutrality" proposed by the United Nations, it is important to compare and analyze the drivers of carbon emissions in G20 countries and provide recommendations for their carbon emission reduction. Based on the data of 17 G20 countries in the EORA database, this paper compares the drivers of carbon emissions of each country from 1990-2021 using weighted average structural decomposition and K-mean model. This paper focuses on four drivers, including carbon emission intensity, final demand structure, export structure, and production structure. Carbon emission intensity and final demand structure are the main factors of carbon emission reduction, and the other two factors have little influence. Among the G20 countries, the UK is in the first category because it does the best job on the four factors of carbon emissions, yet Italy is in the last category because it does not take full advantage of the four factors. Therefore, improving supply energy efficiency and adjusting demand, export, and industrial structure have become important tools for countries to transform and achieve carbon neutrality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Academic research on knowledge transfer has focused on the United States, the highest technologies, elite US research universities, and, for the most part, has not considered the interactions between regional firms and low- and medium-technology industries—the industries that are most important in most countries and in Italy, in particular. This Special Issue on knowledge transfer by Italian universities consists of papers that show the multi-faceted roles that Italian universities have developed and, in particular, their strong regional focus. In this introduction, we explore the interplay between universities' involvement in knowledge transfer and local context and regional specificities. We discuss the variety of channels through which knowledge can flow and emphasize the mechanisms that universities have developed to interact with the lower technology, traditional industries that characterize the Italian economy. We explore the conundrum that Italian universities face as they must balance the competitive demands of academe to publish in international journals, while remaining engaged with local and regional businesses. The papers in this Special Issue examine the knowledge transfer efforts by universities in the very Italian different regions, which have their own different specific opportunities and needs for university engagement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Knowledge networks in regional clusters are fundamental to support innovation and local development. Within clusters, family firms are key in creating business opportunities and supporting the establishment of inter-organizational networks. Yet, their role within regional clusters for knowledge transfers is still not well understood, especially in comparison with non-family firms. This paper applies Exponential Random Graph Models (ERGMs) to network data collected from the Parabiago cluster, one of the most important Italian footwear clusters, to contribute to a better understanding of the network strategies of family firms. We identify distinct network strategies associated with the cluster firms, accounting for different knowledge exchange types: technological, market, and managerial. In our modelling, we control for firm-level attributes and dyadic-level attributes, such as geographical distance and cognitive proximity between cluster firms. Our results suggest that the proneness of family firms to grow networks is highly robust relative to non-family firm relationships, irrespective of knowledge types being exchanged. Moreover, family firms tend to establish connections with other family firms, showing the presence of homophily in their networking approach; however, non-family firms are rather different, since they do not have the same homophilous approach when it comes to exchange knowledge with other non-family firms. These results indicate that the nature of ownership is driving knowledge exchange differences. This key feature of family-only relationships in clusters may help managers and policymakers in devising more effective and targeted cluster strategies. Plain English Summary: Family firms are key in supporting local development, especially in regional clusters. However, while it is well established that their strategies differ from other (non-family) firms, it is still unclear what is their networking behaviour for supporting knowledge exchange—and thus innovation. This paper provides an empirical overview of this phenomenon, by analyzing an Italian case study: the Parabiago footwear cluster. The results show that (a) family firms are more proactive in establishing network relationships; (b) family firms tend to exchange knowledge with other family firms, while non-family firms do not show the same homophilous approach. Overall, this indicates that policies for clusters need to balance support for distinct business types and recognize the familiness characteristics of regional productive structures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper deals with precipitation events, particularly the problem of recognising events individually, of distinguishing one local meteorological/precipitation event from another. The final aim was to arrive at a more appropriate conceptualization of "distance" between individual annual events. A criterion for identifying annual precipitation events, inside a 5 min-timestep series of pluviometric data, was proposed. Using this numerical criterion, a series of annual distances between events were obtained and compared with those obtained by other two known and applied statistical methods. This comparison would be important for linking the so-called statistical methods to the real data of the series, analysed through a numerical process. This would make it possible to provide a kind of "measure" for the understanding of real data via a statistical model. Results showed that distances between events, obtained through numerical analyses, are almost always different from those obtained by statistical methods. The supposed Poisson-process, generally matched to, and widely applied in the field of rainfall data, showed some contradiction with the analysis conducted in this paper. The so-called Lag method shows a numerical method type distribution, but produces some important internal deviations from numerical results. It seems that the method proposed in this paper can reproduce the real distances between events more realistically compared to the statistical methods considered here. Exponential distribution does not seem highly performing, at least in the case of the annual analysis, with series of a 5-min time-step resolution, obtained from rain gauges installed in the Veneto Region of Italy. It is believed that the numerical criterion presented in this paper can be considered adequate for determining the distances between events, within an annual time-window. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The term 'affordable housing' has been rapidly gaining currency over the last decade across Europe, both in policy and research circles. While it is often used as a synonym or close relative of the term 'social housing', more recently it is finding its own definition and policy instruments in specific cities and countries. However, boundaries between both concepts remain unclear. To shed light on recent developments of each of these terms, this paper presents findings from a study commissioned by the European Investment Bank, which investigated current trends in definitions, programmes and policies both in social housing and affordable housing. This paper focuses on findings for England, Italy, Poland and The Netherlands. Methods used included desk research and interviews with key informants in each of the four countries. In addition, in-depth information about Italy and The Netherlands was gathered through stakeholder workshops carried out between September and November 2016. Findings show that affordable housing in all four countries is becoming a more distinct field, in parallel to developments in social housing. In addition, the paper describes some innovative policies undertaken to develop affordable housing solutions. The paper concludes with a reflection on scenarios for future policy developments and an agenda for further research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social identity is relevant to political attitudes. Recent studies show that perceived social positions particularly shape populist attitudes. Italy is an interesting test case that has been scarcely investigated by previous research. Thus, using original data collected in 2021, this paper analyses populist attitudes in Italy and the relationship between subjective social status, status mismatch, and social resentment. This study finds that subjective status matters more than objective conditions for populist attitudes. Those who perceive themselves as being at the bottom of the social hierarchy tend to have higher levels of populist attitudes than the rest of the population. However, low social resentment can partially absorb the effect of low status. The paper provides original data from which novel insights into the debate on populism are discernible, appearing to stem more from individual perceptions than objective positions. The results also suggest some possible remedies against rising populist attitudes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper analyzes the optimal lockdown policy using the SQAIRD model over a network with three population groups (young, adult, and old). We show that different lockdown policies may be justified by different socioeconomic structures (objective cost functions that are either convex or concave). We also show that a lockdown policy is always better than a laissez-faire policy, and a targeted policy specific to each group outperforms a uniform policy. In our benchmark example, we consider the case of Italy. Our simulations show that: (a) a lockdown policy is always better than the laissez-faire policy because it limits the costs generated by the pandemic in an uncontrolled situation; (b) a group-specific targeted lockout policy is more effective than a uniform policy to the extent that the groups differ. The latter is a less expensive targeted policy (as it optimally minimizes direct, indirect, and vaccination costs), and it is equally effective in controlling the pandemic. One finding of particular interest is that the optimal lockdown rate should be higher for the young and elderly than for adults. This is motivated by the fact that younger individuals are more likely to spread the virus in question asymptomatically. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper analyzes the application of the numerical findings of the program, which is becoming increasingly difficult for civil and structural design. Since, as in many other countries, the verification of design using a software model is now required by current Italian codes as well. Given this, the structural engineer must provide a technical report using a licensed software tool, attached to other project documents to get the Seismic Authorization at the local Civil Engineering Department offices. Following a brief explanation of structural analysis methodologies, this study presents a criterion for assessing the applicability of numerical findings obtained using any structural software. Three case studies of this criterion are shown to demonstrate how to check them using simple manual calculations: (i) the normal stress in RC columns subjected to gravity loads; (ii) the periods of vibration, participating masses, and seismic base shear derived from dynamic modal analysis; and (iii) the main parameters characterizing the pushover curves of existing buildings. Finally, this work underlines the significance of confirming the application of numerical results obtained by software in civil and structural design. The offered criteria and scenarios exhibit realistic techniques to ensure accuracy and reliability in structural performance assessment, according to the structural requirements imposed by current codes in Italy and similar countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The spread of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 had a huge impact on the life course of all of us. This rapid spread has also caused an increase in the research production in topics related to different aspects of COVID-19. Italy has been one of the first countries to be massively involved in the outbreak of the disease. In this paper, we present an extensive scientometric analysis of the research production both at global (entire literature produced in the first 2 years after the beginning of the pandemic) and local level (COVID-19 literature produced by authors with an Italian affiliation). Our results showed that US and China are the most active countries in terms of number of publications and that the number of collaborations between institutions varies depending on geographical distance. Moreover, we identified the medical-biological as the field with the greatest growth in terms of literature production. As regards the analysis focused on Italy, we have shown that most of the collaborations follow a geographical pattern, both externally (with a preference for European countries) and internally (two clusters of institutions, north versus center-south). Furthermore, we explored the relationship between the number of citations and variables obtained from the data set (e.g. number of authors). Using multiple correspondence analysis and quantile regression we shed light on the role of journal topics and impact factor, the type of article, the field of study and how these elements affect citations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides new evidence on the geography of literacy rates in pre-unitary Italy. I provide direct estimates based on a novel and balanced random sample of marriage certificates in 1815. The new figures are disaggregated by gender, area, and skill levels, and are compared to the relevant alternative estimates available. Literacy rates are generally low, and North versus South difference in 1815 literacy was as low as 13.7 percentage points, with the Southern literacy rate of about 50% that of Northern Italy. The North–South gap is much smaller for women than for men, and the average female literacy rate across Italy is a lower 9%. Literacy rates in Central Italy were almost identical to that of Southern Italy, arguably because the schooling systems of Central and Southern Italy were more elitist than the Northern Italian one. This evidence suggests that, although partially present also before 1815, the wide magnitude of North–South gaps in literacy which characterized the country on the eve of the political unification (1861) originated after the Napoleonic period. Primary school centralization reforms might have helped women to rapidly improve literacy rates, leading to a first, regionally unequal, 'Silent Revolution' (Cappelli and Vasta in Cliometrica 15:1–27, 2020a). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To date, despite the existence of the sustainability goals of the 2030 Agenda and the need for an energy transition, the results set is still quite far away from being achieved. The awareness of this situation moves many European countries to promote policies based on the use of renewable sources. This paper is aimed at illustrating the Italian legislative context, evaluating the effectiveness of the introduced incentives, according to parameters that affect the productivity of a photovoltaic system. It is also aimed at helping to bridge the gap linked to the relationship between incentives and energy transition, also with regard to renewables. The research focuses on an evaluation methodology, based on technical and economic standards and it is accompanied by a case-study. In order to analyze the productivity of the photovoltaic system, all the main input factors that could affect the technical and economic performance of the system were investigated. In particular, solar potential analysis, shading elements, installation place, azimuth, tilt of modules and technology. For the economic valuations, the discounted cash flow method was used. The results obtained show that some Italian regions, particularly those in the north, should prefer other forms of renewables, such as hydroelectric and geothermal, and that the FER1 decree is not suitable for the promotion of solar photovoltaics in some areas. The research shows also that policies on renewables should be calibrated according to the intrinsic features of the place where they are located and have to be related to the built heritage they will interface, in the light of technological and plant system aspects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper the actual dynamic behavior of the civic Clock tower of Rotella, a little village in central Italy heavily damaged by the recent 2016 seismic sequence, is thoroughly investigated by means of a detailed numerical model built and calibrated using the experimental modal properties obtained through Ambient Vibration Tests. The goal is to update the uncertain parameters of two behavioral material models applied to the Finite Element Model (elastic moduli, mass densities, constraints, and boundary conditions) to minimize the discrepancy between experimental and numerical dynamic features. A sensitivity analysis was performed with the definition of a metamodel to reduce the computational strain and try to define the necessary parameters to use for the calibration process. Due to the high nonlinear dependency of the objective function of this optimization problem on the parameters, and the likely possibility to get trapped in local minima, a machine learning approach was meant. A fully automated Finite Element Model updating procedure based on genetic algorithms and global optimization is used, leading to tower uncertain parameters identification. The results allowed to create a reference numerical replica of the structure in its actual health state and to assess its dynamic performances allowing better control over their future evolution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An editorial is presented which discusses the highlights of the Second Joint Italian-Pakistani Workshop on Relativistic Astrophysics held at ICRANet in Pescara, Italy in July 2009. The workshop was dedicated to astrophysicist John Archibald Wheeler, who died on April 13, 2008. The authors provided information on the life of Wheeler and his contributions in the study of general relativity.

This paper focuses on seismic fragility and damage scenario assessment of minor Italian historical centres through the development of urban fragility curves. With reference to the case study of Balvano, a small centre located in Basilicata Region of Italy, two hybrid models have been adopted. The first is a mechanic-based hybrid model developed by the authors to derive urban fragility curves specifically; the second is the macroseismic method, originally conceived to derive typological fragility curves for single building classes, expanded to derive urban fragility curve herein. Balvano was strongly struck by 1980 Irpinia-Basilicata earthquake (Ms = 6.90) and hence subjected to an intense reconstruction process during 1980s, where almost the 80% of the buildings were reconstructed with reinforced concrete structures in the place of unreinforced masonry ones. Seismic vulnerability and damage scenarios before and after 1980 have been assessed and compared with the purpose of validating the effectiveness of the urban scale fragility curves obtained through hybrid methodologies and quantifying the effect of the 'new' seismic hazard maps and first seismic codes and recommendations released by the Italian Government in the aftermath of 1980 for the construction of new buildings or for retrofitting the existing ones. A good matching between predicted and occurred damage scenario from the research outcomes emerged, confirming the effectiveness of the urban scale hybrid fragility curves to assess seismic vulnerability at urban scale. Moreover, the comparison of the damage scenarios pre and post-reconstruction highlighted the crucial role played by the code prescriptions adopted in that years for reducing the seismic vulnerability of the municipality and the importance of the 'new' seismic hazard maps introduced in 1980s. Finally, the differences between mechanical-based hybrid and macroseismic model have been discussed in the paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduces a selection of papers presented at the 60th Congress of the International Institute of Public Finance, held in Milan, Italy in August 2004

In 2015, the XLI Congress of Theoretical Chemists of Latin Expression was held in Italy (Torino, July 26-31, 2015). Published as part of the special collection of articles "CHITEL 2015 - Torino - Italy.". [Extracted from the article]

Purpose: To develop recommendations for the management of acute hepatitis B by the Italian Society for the Study of Infectious and Tropical Diseases. Methods: Development of the recommendations divided into three levels of evidence according to the GRADE system: A (high), B (medium) and C (low experts opinion), together with three recommendation levels: 1 (strong), 2 (medium), 3 (weak). Results: The treatment with antivirals is in selected cases the mainstay of management of severe acute hepatitis, and should be started as a matter of urgency in order to prevent death. Conclusions: These recommendations are meant to provide the rationale and practical indications for the management of acute hepatitis B (AHB). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to investigate, through financial-statement analyzes, the economic-financial performance of Italian hotels, after the international economic crisis, also considering the possible macro-regional differences. The study focuses the financial statements of 5473 hotels from 2009 to 2018. National data are also disaggregated in the three macro-areas that characterize Italy for different social and economic aspects. Anova test and Tukey–Kramer test are used. Results show that the crisis affected profitability. Italian hotels have a low capitalization, unable to cope with the large structural investments that require significant debts. The profitability indicators record similar trends in the three macro-areas, while the financial independence index and the coverage index show significant different values in the three observed areas. Therefore, in the digital era, Italian hotel industry has all the potential to restructure itself. Here five ratios are considered to observe medium sized hotels. Future research with other variables will be useful, even on smaller hotels, and the analysis of their trends by cohorts of companies is necessary, as well as the integration of quantitative data with qualitative evidence. This paper encourages the culture of temporal sector comparison, re-evaluating the potential of accounting information systems, in order to promote data-based growth and development strategies. Furthermore, it contains indications for government officials, as well as for countries in the process of developing the hospitality sector following the example of the Italian experience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The depletion of natural resources and the downgrading of the environment, driven by globalization and consumerism phenomena, are worldwide pushing the interest in sustainable manufacturing paradigm and environment preservation. It is moreover clear to academia and practitioners that the cosmetics industry needs to update its current operations to face new sustainable requirements and norms due to its ever-growing size and massive consumption of natural resources. Different methodologies, metrics, and indicators have been and are being proposed for solving the complex issues of environmental sustainability evaluation of cosmetics processes and products. Methods: Among these approaches and methods, product-related assessment tools (e.g., life cycle assessment) are usually more focused on the environmental dimension of sustainability, and they are always based on the life cycle of the product. The core of this paper is on the development of a novel tool to classify cosmetics products based on the results of LCA: the eco-friendliness assessment tool (EFAT). The methodology of the work is structured into 5 main phases: definition of the scientific background of the work, definition of the tool requirements, tool development, testing of the tool, analysis of the results. The eco-friendliness assessment tool proposed is structured into two main parts: (i) process flow 1: environmental impact score and (ii) process flow 2: supplier environmental sustainability assessment. Results: The tool has been tested on a cosmetics product manufactured in a cosmetics company located in Italy. The acquisition of raw material process and primary packaging process are the two most critical processes resulting from the impact analysis of LCA methodology. The application of the EFAT tool shows the two possible most sustainable improved scenarios are as follows: (i) exploiting transportation of the primary packaging by sea and (ii) adopting the European location of the primary packaging supplier. The results coming from the tool application allowed the definition of the company product eco-friendliness. The eco-friendliness is symbolized by an alphabetical letter and a color. Conclusions: The paper proposes a practical tool to assess the environmental sustainability level of cosmetics products, with the intention to overcome two of the main literature gaps found in the state of the art: (i) absence of LCA methodology implementation in the cosmetics industry on makeup products, (ii) absence of tools that rely on the results of the LCA analysis of a cosmetic product for understanding its sustainability level of sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Mediterranean Basin is one of the World's plant diversity hotspots and a region prone to several anthropic pressures, besides being one of the World's areas most susceptible to climate change. In this region, which hosts a high percentage of threatened species, there has been a large increase in practical conservation actions to prevent the extinction of many plants or improve their conservation status. In this framework, plant translocations have become increasingly important. To obtain a picture of the status and to depict possible directions, data on plant translocations was collected through the available databases, national experts, and the grey literature available online. Overall, a list of 836 translocations relating to 572 plant species was found. These actions are mainly concentrated in Spain, France, and Italy (c. 87%) and, except for some pioneering actions, translocations have strongly increased starting from 2010. A subsequent in-depth bibliographic search of the scientific databases was conducted to determine how much information about plant translocations was documented in the scientific literature. This search resulted in a list of 133 peer-reviewed papers, of which only 17 describing one or more translocations and, as a whole, reporting 101 experiences carried out on 56 plant species. Our research highlighted a great discrepancy between the scarce scientific documentation in comparison to the large number of practical conservation actions carried out. The great experience gained in these translocations constitutes an enormous heritage potentially available to implement the necessary conservation actions to preserve the plant diversity of the Mediterranean Basin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the pre-existing vulnerabilities and inequalities in societies. In this paper we analyse the categories that have suffered more than others from the pandemic and the restrictions on social life in terms of mental health. We rely on the Serendipity project based on a survey administered between November 2021 and February 2022 to a sample of Italian physicians (n = 1281). The survey aimed to assess the perception of general practitioners, paediatricians, geriatricians, and mental health specialists (psychiatrists, neurologists, child neuropsychiatrists), about changes in the mental health of the population as an effect of the COVID-19 pandemic and the lockdown. The strategies implemented by the doctors interviewed in terms of the intensity of the prevention, emergence, and treatment of mental health interventions, and their association with physicians' characteristics and their opinions on patient vulnerability have been illustrated by means of a multiple correspondence analysis. An overall result of the survey is the consensus of doctors on the worsening of mental health in general population, especially among their patients, due to the pandemic and on the onset of new discomforts. The most exposed individuals to the risk of onset or worsening of mental disorders include women, young people, and patients with psychiatric comorbidity. The paper also illustrates the interventions put in place by the physicians and deemed necessary from a public heath response perspective, that include providing psychoeducation to the general population, improving telehealth services, and increasing financial and human resources for community-based care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pectoral nerve blocks (Pecs I and Pecs II) are superficial thoracic wall blocks which block the pectoral and intercostal nerves. They can be used as analgesia/anesthesia for breast surgery and other procedures/surgeries involving the anterior chest wall (arteriovenous graft creation surgery, minimally invasive cardiac surgery and thoracotomy, etc.). The aim of this study is to evaluate publications in the scientific field of pectoral nerve blocks. ISI Web of Knowledge-Science was used for the analysis. All scientific works published included in the Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-E) from 1975 to January 27, 2019, were analyzed. A retrospective search was performed using key words "pectoral nerve block," "PECS I," "PECS II," "pecs block," "PECS block,""Pecs I," "Pecs II," "PECS 1," "PECS 2," and "modified pecs I block." We further analyzed these results by the "analyze" function of the software in terms of number of papers for each country, type of documentation, number of publications per year, and name of journals and authors. The number of citations to published works was also calculated by using the citation function of the same software. 72 papers were found related to pectoral nerve block. The biggest contribution was from India (24.28%), and followed by Japan (14.28%), USA (14.28%), Canada (7.14%), Egypt (7.14%), Italy (5.71%), and South Korea (5.71%). The total number of publications increased sharply in years from 2014 (n = 1) to 2018 (n = 28). We have detected that papers on the use of pecs block in breast cancer surgery, which is one of the most common surgical procedure in the world, are few in the literature. With this study, we hope to increase the awareness on this area. We believe that pecs block applications will become widespread with the increasing use of ultrasound in anesthesia and the increase in education in this field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A response by Ugo Chiocchini and colleagues to a letter to the editor regarding their article "A stratigraphic and geophysical approach to studying the deep-circulating groundwater and thermal springs, and their recharge areas, in Cimini Mountains-Viterbo area, central Italy," in the 2010 issue is presented.

Promoting the shift from private cars to micromobility (e.g., bike, e-bike, scooter) can represent a valuable action to improve city sustainability and liveability. Micromobility can help to replace trips by individual private cars (e.g., daily short round trips) as well as to improve coverage and accessibility of transit services, and, subsequently, to reduce the traffic impacts (e.g., pollutant emissions). It can be seen as a potential solution to move people more efficiently in urban areas, as well as to push people towards a more active mobility behaviour, contributing to the well-being goals. In this context, the paper, rather than inferring the users' propensity to change their travel mode, proposes a methodology to identify car trips that can be considered the most compatible with micromobility. Estimation of the potential demand (e.g., the upper level of car trips that could be replaced by micromobility) is carried out by exploiting the opportunity offered by floating car data (FCD) for characterising car trips. Its goodness is therefore evaluated through an application to a real case study (i.e., the city of Trani, Apulia Region, Southern Italy), divided into seventy traffic zones, and where a FCD dataset of about 5,200 trips was available. The FCD allowed the car trips to be characterised (e.g., origin and destination, path features) instead of using the traditional surveys. The results indicate that a significant share of daily car trips can be substituted (i.e., the most compatible) by micromobility (31% of car round trips in the case study), with considerable potential environmental gains (traffic emission reduction; less than 21% of total emissions from private cars). Results can be of interest to local authorities in integrating micromobility in urban mobility planning and promoting new sustainable transport alternatives, as well as to transport companies for designing new appeal services. The developed methodology is parametric and uses easy-to-obtain data available worldwide; thus, it can be easily transferred to other city contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Less than 2% of physicians complete a research training (PhD) after the residency with a declining trend in those pursuing a clinical scientist pathway in pediatrics. The exposure to research methodology during the clinical training may play a role in engaging the next generations of pediatric physician scientist. Herein, we describe the experience of the Padova Physician Scientist Research Training (PPSRT) of the pediatric residency program at the University of Padova. The PPSRT was addressed to residents attending PGY2 to PGY4 of the pediatric program and consisted of two cores: a general one including in person or virtual lectures about research methodology in pediatrics including design of a clinical trial, writing of a scientific paper and statistical methods, and a subspecialties core for the discussion of research challenges in each area and the scientific writing activities. The perceived barriers to a research training and an evaluation of the program were assessed by an anonymized questionnaire. Sixty-four out 150 residents registered for the research training with 62/64 completing the two cores. The major perceived barrier to research during clinical training was the absence of protected time (89%) followed by the lack of specific funds (37%). The group activities lead to the publication of 24 papers. Conclusion: This is the first experience in the Italian pediatric training of a dedicated research program within the frame of postgraduate medical education. Our report highlights the need for protected time to promote research interest and nurture a new generation of physician scientists. What is Known: • Training to medical research is not part of residency program. • The declining trend of physician scientists might be reverted by early exposure to research methodology and challenges during residency. What is New: • An early exposure to research training during pediatric residency increases the research engagement of pediatric residents. • The lack of protected time for research is perceived as the major barrier to research training during residency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Which are the effects of hosting refugees on hate events, the most extreme acts against minorities? While growing research considers the link between refugees and voting behaviors, little is known about the influence of refugee reception on radicalization of anti-immigrant attitudes. Exploiting a novel database on geotagged hate events in Italy and the geography of refugee hosting centers, this paper provides novel evidence on the effect of exposure to refugees on hate in Italian provinces. Using instrumental variable estimation, we show that provinces with bigger refugee hosting capacity experienced higher incidence of hate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main purpose of this paper was to study the effect of spatial variability of soil hydraulic properties (HP) and vegetation parameters (VP) (e.g., leaf-area index, LAI, and crop coefficient, Kc) on modelling agro-hydrological processes and optimising irrigation volumes at large scale. Based on this analysis, the effect of partly overlooking the spatial variability of soil HP and/or VP inputs was verified on a 140 ha irrigation sector in "Sinistra Ofanto" irrigation system in Apulia Region, Southern Italy. Five soil profiles were excavated and the HP were measured in all the soil horizons. Additionally, measurements of soil HP were taken in the surface soil layer in ninety sites distributed over the whole irrigation sector. All the HP measurements were carried out using tension infiltrometer. Remote sensing applications were used to obtain LAI and Kc using European Space Agency's (ESA) Sentinel-2 images with 10 m resolutions. First, distributed (on ninety polygons with an average area of about 1.5 ha) optimal irrigation volumes and related deep percolation volumes at a depth of 80 cm, were computed using an agro-hydrological model and accounting for the actual observed variability of soil HP and VP inputs. The sector scale irrigation and deep percolation volumes were obtained by aggregating the distributed irrigation volumes. This was considered as the reference scenario (hereafter DVS—Detailed Variability Scenario). Then, reduced variability scenarios (hereafter RVS—Reduced Variability Scenario) were considered, where the information on the actual spatial variability of the soil HP and VP was gradually overlooked to find the minimum data set needed to still have sector scale irrigation volumes and related deep percolation volumes comparable to those obtained under the DVS. Results showed that overlooking VP (RVS-VP) variability did not significantly change the optimal irrigation volumes and the deep percolation fluxes. By contrast, neglecting the HP variability (RVS-HP) showed significant effects on both the irrigation and percolation volumes compared to the DVS. The main practical finding was that, at least for the area investigated in this study, hydraulic characterization of one soil profile in an area of approximately 30 ha provides sector scale irrigation volumes and percolation fluxes comparable to those obtained under the DVS, thus by accounting for all the observed local variability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Baker et al. (Quart J Econ 131:1593–1636, 2016) introduced a news-based measure of uncertainty known as Economic Policy Uncertainty using country level data. The Policy Uncertainty Group now constructs a similar uncertainty measure known as Global Policy Uncertainty (GPU). In this paper, we assess the symmetric and asymmetric effects of GPU on trade flows of each of the G7 countries. While we find significant short-run effects on trade flows of all countries, short-run effects last into the long run, not in all seven countries. In the long run, we found that while exports of Canada, Italy, and Japan will be hurt by increased global uncertainty, those of France will be boosted. As for G7 imports, we found that imports of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, and the U.S. will be hurt by increased global uncertainty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although in Italy there is currently no effective law on physician-assisted suicide or euthanasia, Decision No. 242 issued by the Italian Constitutional Court on September 25, 2019 established that an individual who, under specific circumstances, has facilitated the implementation of an independent and freely-formed resolve to commit suicide by another individual is exempt from criminal liability. Following this ruling, some citizens have submitted requests for assisted suicide to the public health system, generating a situation of great uncertainty in the application processes. As a matter of fact, shared and defined procedures are lacking as Decision 242/2019 merely added some principles on which the legislature will have to base its future intervention. This paper analyses the advisory role that the Decision attributes to territorial ethics committees with the aim of stimulating discussions on their role in oversight mechanisms. The proposed conclusion is that the envisaged role does not appear consistent with the functions of these bodies and is ultimately substantially undefined and unjustified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: A new national survey has been carried out by the Italian Centers for Cognitive Disorders and Dementias (CCDDs). The aim of this new national survey is to provide a comprehensive description of the characteristics, organizational aspects of the CCDDs, and experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: A list of all national CCDDs was requested from the delegates of each Italian region. The online questionnaire is divided in two main sections: a profile section, containing information on location and accessibility, and a data collection form covering organization, services, treatments, activities, and any service interruptions caused by the COVID-19 outbreak. Results: In total, 511 out of 534 (96%) facilities completed the profile section, while 450 out of 534 (84%) CCDDs also completed the data collection form. Almost half of the CCDDs (55.1%) operated for 3 or fewer days a week. About one-third of the facilities had at least two professional figures among neurologists, geriatricians and psychiatrists. In 2020, only a third of facilities were open all the time, but in 2021, two-thirds of the facilities were open. Conclusion: This paper provides an update on the current status of CCDDs in Italy, which still shows considerable heterogeneity. The survey revealed a modest improvement in the functioning of CCDDs, although substantial efforts are still required to ensure the diagnosis and care of patients with dementia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a response and a reaction to the phenomenon of rural decline, the study of rural transformations has become an important research field in recent years, with special concern to the adaptation of agricultural systems, to the survival of rural communities and to the strategies of permanence in place at an individual farmer level. Based on a field research among farmers operating in the Gran Sasso and Laga Mountains National Park (a mountainous area in Central Italy that presents some rural decline related characteristics), this study is aimed at identifying the reasons behind permanence in place from the farmers' perspective. The farms' situation and the farmers' choice to keep staying in the remote areas of the Park are analyzed. The research has been carried out following a partially mixed methodology, which has combined quantitative and qualitative techniques, such as a secondary data analysis, a direct survey, territorial focus groups and face-to-face in-depth interviews. Based on the structural analysis of the rural decline within the area of the Park, the paper analyzes the processes of rural change associated with farmers' strategies to cope with the difficulties as well as the reasons behind their willingness to stay (permanence) according to an anti-reductionist view of individualism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The adoption of the European Landscape Convention (ELC) has wrought a profound evolution in the landscape planning discipline, contributing to the integration of the landscape into planning policy. This paper explores the operative significance of including the landscape dimension in local urban planning policies. Adopting an inter-scalar approach, the research analyses the renewal of local urban planning in light of the innovations introduced by the Apulia Regional Landscape Plan (PPTR), an exemplary case of ELC implementation in Italy. One of the spatial strategies indicated in the PPTR provides valuable insights into the complex relationships between the city and the countryside. That strategy, the City-Country Pact, interacts with urban transformations and, as a result, with municipal planning. The paper utilises PPTR indicators to explore how some Apulian municipalities interpret and implement the City-Country Pact. A comparative analysis of case studies outlines the approaches and conditions by which urban planning can effectively renew itself through the ELC landscape approach, influencing plan philosophy, regulations and practices. The paper also points out the current limitations of such processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The availability of videos has grown rapidly in recent years. Finding and browsing relevant information to be automatically extracted from videos is not an easy task, but today it is an indispensable feature due to the immense number of digital products available. In this paper, we present a system which provides a process to automatically extract information from videos. We describe a system solution that uses a re-trained OpenNLP model to locate all the places and famous people included in a specific video. The system obtains information from the Google Knowledge Graph related to relevant named entities such as places or famous people. In this paper we will also present the Automatic Georeferencing Video (AGV) system developed by RAI (Radiotelevisione italiana, which is the national public broadcasting company of Italy, owned by the Ministry of Economy and Finance) Teche for the European Project "La Città Educante" (The Educating City: teaching and learning processes in cross-media ecosystem) Our system contributes to The Educating City project by providing the technological environment to create statistical models for automatic named entity recognition (NER), and has been implemented in the field of education, in Italian initially. The system has been applied to the learning challenges facing the world of educational media and has demonstrated how beneficial combining topical news content with scientific content can be in education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]