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Chiaia station is one of the art stations of Line 6 of the Naples underground network; it was constructed in a 50-m-deep excavation, a few meters from historic buildings and 4.5 m from the main façade of a sixteenth-century Basilica. The excavation, carried out partially in loose to medium dense sands overlying the soft rock formation of Neapolitan Yellow Tuff (NYT), was supported by a retaining wall made of contiguous bored piles braced with internal struts and prestressed ground anchors. The excavation sequence was quite complex due to archeological findings and to the presence of anthropic cavities used over the centuries to quarry NYT blocks. One of the key goals of the design was to limit movements around the shaft to prevent damage in the historical buildings. Long-term monitoring data obtained during nearly 9 years confirm the success of the overall construction process. A rather complex three-dimensional (3D) finite-element model with constitutive relationships for both the upper sandy layers and the soft rock is presented in the paper; this model was adopted to back-analyze the data from the monitoring and explore the influence of some of the key features of the case study. The role of the building bending and shear stiffness, of the soft rock stiffness, and of further apparently minor issues—such as the seepage and the ground anchors' prestress—were investigated and discussed with the support of the model calculations. Observed settlements at the end of the excavation were in the range 10–15 mm, and in the long term they increased by 20%–50% to as much as 20 mm. The deflection ratios were very small, in the range 0.05‰–0.15‰ , and no visible damages to the buildings were recorded. These values were reproduced by the finite-element model only after the introduction of the relevant building stiffness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rhabditis (Rhabditella) axei is a free-living, pseudoparasitic, necromenic, and parasitic nematode, depending on the host. This species feeds mainly on bacteria present in decaying organic matter, soil, and other substrates; however, in its parasitic form, it can colonize some species of snails. Moreover, the presence of R. axei has also been detected in birds and mammals, including humans. In 2021–2023, during monitoring of the palm borer Paysandisia archon in Central Italy, R. axei emerged from dead larvae of this alien invasive moth and was extracted from palm fibres of Trachycarpus fortunei in three independent sites. The nematode was identified by morphological and morphometric analyses. Molecular analyses using SSU and LSU gene fragments were used to confirm the identification and to perform Bayesian reconstruction of the phylogeny. Each sampling site showed a unique haplotype. Concerning the pathogenicity of this nematode against insects, the test performed on Galleria mellonella larvae did not show any entomopathogenic effect. This is the first time that R. axei was found associated with P. archon, and this recurrent association was discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In many geotechnical applications, especially in the study of weather-induced landslides, a reliable soil hydraulic characterization in unsaturated conditions is required. Currently, the experimental techniques that neglect the hydraulic hysteresis represent the greatest limitation to landslide forecasting. In this paper, a procedure to obtain an unsaturated soil hydraulic characterization on natural pyroclastic samples is proposed and verified. The approach enables the evaluation of the soil hydraulic properties along the main drying path and wetting/drying cycles to fully quantify the effects of the hydraulic hysteresis. Pyroclastic soil samples collected at a test site at Mount Faito in the Campania region (southern Italy) were tested. The experimental investigation consisted of a sequence of testing phases: a constant-head hydraulic conductivity test, a forced evaporation test followed by several wetting–drying cycles, and a drying test in a pressure plate apparatus. The hysteretic model proposed by Parker and Lenhard (1987) was adopted to fit the data, while inverse modelling of the forced evaporation tests allowed to derive the model parameters. Therefore, the main drying and wetting branches and the soil response to drying and wetting cycles from any reversal point were reproduced with the model, which suitably described the hysteretic behaviour of the pyroclastic soil under all conditions and along all paths. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Roots tourists are members of diaspora communities who visit their motherland during holidays searching for their roots and identity. This research aims to explore how roots tourism can contribute to a more sustainable development of destinations by focusing on its socio-cultural impact. It involves qualitative research, analysing roots tourism from the tourists' point of view. 45 roots tourists who visited the Calabria region in Italy were interviewed. The findings of the research show that roots tourism can be seen as socio-culturally sustainable. This paper seeks to fill a gap in the literature on the effects of the development of roots tourism on the local socio-cultural fabric to evaluate them in terms of sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The clinical management of older populations is a social and clinical challenge. These subjects are more vulnerable to adverse drug reactions (ADRs) due to multi morbidity, polypharmacy, and physio-pathological changes. Methods: We performed a study using data from the National Network of Pharmacovigilance of Italy available from 2001 to 2012, which include all spontaneous reports of suspected ADRs. Results: Our study showed that 29,036 reports of suspected ADRs were recorded in 2012. Those for patients aged ≥ 65 years were 11,426 that correspond to a reporting rate of 923.6 reports per million inhabitants. On the contrary, the reporting rate for total population was of 489 reports per million inhabitants. The evaluation of level of severity showed that 37% of reports of suspected ADRs in patients aged ≥ 65 years were serious compared to 30% in the general population. Furthermore, 27% of reports recorded for older patients showed that they required more hospitalization or long-term care in comparison with the 21% for the general population, with a relevant impact on National Health Service costs. Conclusion: These data suggest the need to optimize the clinical strategy for older patients due to the multiple factors that increase the susceptibility to ADRs. There is a high need to potentiate clinical trials on older patients to adopt new diagnostic–therapeutic pathways in real life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Undergraduate nursing students have been documented to experience ethical distress during their clinical training and felt poorly supported in discussing the ethical issues they encountered. Research aims: This study was aimed at exploring nursing students' perceived opportunity to discuss ethical issues that emerged during their clinical learning experience and associated factors. Research design: An Italian national cross-sectional study design was performed in 2015–2016. Participants were invited to answer a questionnaire composed of four sections regarding: (1) socio-demographic data, (2) previous clinical learning experiences, (3) current clinical learning experience quality and outcomes, and (4) the opportunity to discuss ethical issues with nurses in the last clinical learning experience (from 0 – 'never' to 3 – 'very much'). Participants and research context: Participants were 9607 undergraduate nursing students who were attending 95 different three-year Italian baccalaureate nursing programmes, located at 27 universities in 15 Italian regions. Ethical considerations: This study was conducted in accordance with the Human Subject Research Ethics Committee guidelines after the research protocol was approved by an ethics committee. Findings: Overall, 4707 (49%) perceived to have discussed ethical issues 'much' or 'very much'; among the remaining, 3683 (38.3%) and 1217 (12.7%) students reported the perception of having discussed, respectively, 'enough' or 'never' ethical issues emerged in the clinical practice. At the multivariate logistic regression analysis explaining 38.1% of the overall variance, the factors promoting ethical discussion were mainly set at the clinical learning environment levels (i.e. increased learning opportunities, self-directed learning, safety and nursing care quality, quality of the tutorial strategies, competences learned and supervision by a clinical nurse). In contrast, being male was associated with a perception of less opportunity to discuss ethical issues. Conclusion: Nursing faculties should assess the clinical environment prerequisites of the settings as a context of student experience before deciding on their accreditation. Moreover, the nursing faculty and nurse managers should also enhance competence with regard to discussing ethical issues with students among clinical nurses by identifying factors that hinder this learning opportunity in daily practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With nearly two-thirds of the human population concentrated along coastlines, coastal development and urbanized seascapes are inevitable. Proliferation of coastal and marine infrastructures, such as breakwaters, ports, seawalls and offshore installations, is associated with loss of natural habitats. This calls for new strategies aimed at elevating the ecological and biological value of coastal infrastructures, while minimizing their ecological footprint., We explored the feasibility of using coastal defence structures as a scaffold for the conservation of threatened marine species. We experimented with fucoids, canopy-forming algae on Mediterranean coasts, in the light of their declared conservation priority. We transplanted juveniles of Cystoseira barbata to a number of breakwaters and natural sites along the Adriatic Sea ( Italy) and tested which factors could facilitate or inhibit its successful establishment., Survival of transplanted C. barbata was greater at most artificial and natural sites examined compared to the native sites where severe habitat loss was ongoing. Survival was greater at landward compared to seaward positions on the infrastructure, while no relevant effects of substratum characteristics (horizontal vs. vertical orientation, variable composition and increasing complexity) were observed. Lack of surrounding adult fronds did not impair the survival or growth of the transplants, suggesting a high transplantation potential also on novel infrastructures., Success of transplantation in areas remote from the source population was limited by biotic disturbance, which was more intense on coastal infrastructures in sedimentary environments compared to natural rocky sites., Synthesis and applications. Coastal and marine infrastructures can be harnessed to enhance desired species (such as threatened canopy-forming algae). A comprehensive understanding of the ecological functioning of these urban seascapes compared to natural habitats is required to minimize detrimental impacts, or potentially increase the ecological value, of coastal structures and efficiently incorporate such strategies into management and conservation actions. We investigated the influence of habitat type (including natural and artificial), surface complexity, herbivore exclusion, proximity to established populations and orientation on the transplantation success of threatened algae. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The purpose of the study was to describe the deaths by suicides that occurred in an area of Southern Italy in the period 1998–2002. Data were obtained from death records, and population estimates for each year were provided by the National Institute of Statistics. A total of 367 suicides were retrieved. The number of suicides was stable for the 5 years recorded, with the highest value for 1998, ranging from 1.4% for ages 0 to 14 to 25.1% for ages 25 to 44 years. Age-specific rates of suicide showed that the highest rates were in those 75 to 84 years old. Rates are always higher in males, with a tendency to stability or decrease in all age groups in the years observed, except for males in the 45- to 64-year-old age range, in whom an increase from 5.71 to 7.28 was observed. The suicides increased proportionally with age, in those with the lowest level of education (53.3%) and among retirees (46.5%). Hanging/suffocation (44.1%) and jumping from high places (23.2%) were the most frequently used methods of suicide. Males had higher standardized suicide rates ranging from 5.4 per 100,000 in 1999 to 7.7 in 1998, whereas in females the range was 1.4 per 100,000 in 2001 to 2.4 in 1998. The study shows that suicide rates in Southern Italy are lower compared with national trends. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This study explored knowledge of risk factors and diagnostic procedures for oral cancer, attitudes and behavior among dental hygienists in Italy. A random sample of 500 dental hygienists received by mail a questionnaire focusing on demographics and practice characteristics, knowledge, attitudes and behaviors regarding oral cancer assessment practices. Almost all dental hygienists correctly indicated tobacco usage and having a prior oral cancer lesion as risk factors. Although 88.8% knew that the tongue is one of the two most common sites of oral cancer, only 13.5% identified the floor of the mouth. Less than half (42.8%) recognized that an early oral lesion usually is a small, painless and red area and only 4.2% knew the examination procedures of the tongue. Results of the multiple logistic regression showed that those dental hygienists who worked a higher number of hours and treated a lower number of patients in a week were more likely to indicate tobacco and alcohol use as risk factors for oral cancer. Higher number of years in practice, scientific journals and associations as sources of information about oral cancer, and knowledge that ventral lateral border of tongue is the most common site for oral cancer, significantly predicted compliance with oral cancer examination. Dental hygienists'' sex, age, and years in practice were associated with a positive attitude towards oral cancer prevention. Further educational interventions in order to early detect and prevent oral cancer are strongly needed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

We investigated the knowledge and behaviors of a random sample of 500 primary care physicians (PCPs) regarding oral cancer in Calabria (Italy). 87.6% and 64% indicated tobacco and alcohol use as risk factors, only 31.5% and 2.8% having a prior oral cancer lesion and older age. 60.9% knew that squamous-cell carcinoma is the most common form; 68.8% and 37.1% that the tongue and floor of the mouth were the two most common sites. Respectively 91.5% and 41.7% knew that leukoplakia and erythroplakia were the two conditions most likely to be associated with oral cancer. 17.6% of PCPs recognized that an early oral lesion usually is small and painless red area and 26.8% knew how to examine the tongue. PCPs who learned about oral cancer from scientific journals were more likely to indicate tobacco use as a risk factor for oral cancer and those who do not need additional information to indicate alcohol use as a risk factor. Oral examination was provided by 63.8% and 37.1% to those 40 years of age and older. Half of respondents asked about the personal patient’s experience of oral cancer and about the patient’s family, most about patients’ tobacco and alcohol use. The odds of asking about patients’ tobacco and alcohol use and of performing oral cancer examination were significantly higher for those who practiced medicine for a longer period. Additional training and continuing educational programs on prevention and early detection of oral cancer for PCPs are strongly needed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Shallow flowslides, debris flows and debris avalanches are rainfall-induced landslides consisting in the shear failure of few metres of soils (or in some cases even less than a metre), which greatly increase downslope in volume and flow velocity. The southern Italian region of Campania has been historically affected by such events involving pyroclastic soils mainly resting on steep carbonate slopes. This paper deals with the analysis of factors influencing the occurrence of flow-like landslides, adopting the Lattari Mts. in Campania as a case study. The results of two investigation campaigns carried out in the area allowed effective large-scale geological and geotechnical characterization to be set up. Stratigraphic profiles, mean physical properties and typical friction angles at the critical state for each soil layer were investigated. The effect of suction on peak and critical shear strength, whose drop is responsible for soil failure, was analysed. Using detailed information on both the stratigraphic and geotechnical features of the soils involved in past flow-like landslides, typical triggering models were selected, representing locally recurrent geomorphologic conditions at the basin scale. The identified models were adopted for slope stability analyses carried out on four cross-sections of flowslides occurring prior to the event, to back-analyse the triggering conditions. From the evidence on the triggering mechanisms and the results of analyses, the infinite slope approach is not always suitable to model slope stability conditions properly, because the onset of landslides is also affected by local topographic and stratigraphic factors. • Flow-like landslides can be triggered due to local features. • Local topographic irregularities can be represented by roads, tracks, scarps and terraces. • Infinite slope model can be suitable to model only slopes characterized by angles higher than 39–40°. • Local natural and anthropic factors can affect the results of slope stability analysis. • The triggered landslides occurred when the 3-months precedent rainfall exceeded the 40 years average value. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]