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The Euclid mission of the European Space Agency will perform a survey of weak lensing cosmic shear and galaxy clustering in order to constrain cosmological models and fundamental physics. We expand and adjust the mock Euclid likelihoods of the MontePython software in order to match the exact recipes used in previous Euclid Fisher matrix forecasts for several probes: weak lensing cosmic shear, photometric galaxy clustering, the cross-correlation between the latter observables, and spectroscopic galaxy clustering. We also establish which precision settings are required when running the Einstein-Boltzmann solvers CLASS and CAMB in the context of Euclid. For the minimal cosmological model, extended to include dynamical dark energy, we perform Fisher matrix forecasts based directly on a numerical evaluation of second derivatives of the likelihood with respect to model parameters. We compare our results with those of other forecasting methods and tools. We show that such MontePython forecasts agree very well with previous Fisher forecasts published by the Euclid Collaboration, and also, with new forecasts produced by the CosmicFish code, now interfaced directly with the two Einstein-Boltzmann solvers CAMB and CLASS. Moreover, to establish the validity of the Gaussian approximation, we show that the Fisher matrix marginal error contours coincide with the credible regions obtained when running Monte Carlo Markov Chains with MontePython while using the exact same mock likelihoods. The new Euclid forecast pipelines presented here are ready for use with additional cosmological parameters, in order to explore extended cosmological models., 45 pages, 24 figures

Following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, one of the first measures implemented in Italy was the transition from frontal teaching to e-learning. The sudden need to use technologies to perform their job has added a source of stress to teachers’ work, the so-called technostress. The difficulties experienced in this transition may also have affected the perception of work-related well-being, although other variables, such as the perception of the meaningfulness of work, could alleviate this sense of uneasiness. The study aims to examine the relationships between technostress, distance learning, pleasure in working and meaningful work perceptions among 219 teachers from different school grades through a moderated mediation model. The results confirmed negative associations between technostress and pleasure in working, although this relationship varied according to the levels of perceived meaningfulness. Analyzing the factors related to teachers’ perceptions of their work, both in general and during the pandemic situation, is useful for tracing new coping strategies and planning interventions to implement new teaching methods. Further implications concern the protective role of meaningful work, and the low attention given to this aspect, in Italy, in the selection of teachers.

In recent years, to better face university paths, the first approaches to the labor market, and then the actual transition, university students are asked to have broader skills, such as the ability to network, the involve- ment in career-related issues, and the ability to explore the characteristics of occupations as much as per- sonal ones. The aim of this study is to confirm the psychometric properties of the Italian translation of the Career Resources Questionnaire (Hirschi et al., 2018) and the relationships between its components and two outcomes, students’ perceived career control and decisional self-efficacy, among 311 university students. The results highlight differences in perceived career resources based on scientific areas of study, satisfaction with studies and proactivity in attending courses. Furthermore, several components, such as career involvement and career confidence, were positively associated with perceived career control and decision-making self-ef- ficacy. The study aims to provide a multidimensional tool for exploring employability applied to university students, consequently favoring universities in their role of preparing students for the decoding of the labor market and of themselves as future workers.

This study aims to verify the association between nurses' perception of the meaningfulness of their work and their pleasure in working, and whether this relationship may change based on the level of deep acting performed to cope with emotional regulation demands and the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic on the healthcare work.Nurses from both private and public Italian institutions (N = 239) completed an online questionnaire between June 2021 and January 2022. A moderated moderation model was tested through SPSS Process macro. The design is cross-sectional.The results show that the perception of meaningfulness of work is positively associated with pleasure in working, especially in conditions of high deep acting. This relationship is further moderated by the COVID-19 influence so that the association between meaningful work and pleasure in working is stronger in conditions of high COVID-19 influence and at higher levels of deep acting performed.Perceiving one's work as meaningful can be a job resource that protects nurses from the negative effects of emotional regulation demands and even from the stress of dealing with COVID-19.The study addresses the problem of nurses' emotional regulation demands at work and evaluates the protective role of meaningful work. The findings could be useful for planning prevention interventions (through training in adaptive emotional regulation strategies) or protection interventions (through the promotion of effective coping strategies and the stimulation of one's work engagement).

L’esperienza del Progetto Mentore (PM) nasce nel 2013 dalla percezione, da parte di diversi docenti dell’Ateneo di Palermo, che l’Accademia italiana stesse abbandonando a sé stessa la funzione didattica, confidando di fatto nelle capacità di ognuno di organizzarsi, aggiornarsi e valutarsi (Felisatti, Scialdone, Cannarozzo, & Pennisi, 2019; Caradonna, Morale, Pace, Scargiali, Scialdone, & Auteri, 2020). Tale impressione era tra le altre cose basata sul fatto che nessuno dei sistemi di valutazione dei docenti universitari (il processo di abilitazione scientifica nazionale, ma anche la stessa valutazione della qualità dei corsi di studio) mettesse enfasi sulla necessità da parte del docente di essere anche un efficace insegnante, oltre che un bravo ricercatore. Da qui l’idea di organizzarsi autonomamente, con l’obiettivo iniziale di creare gruppi di colleghi che lavorassero insieme al miglioramento della qualità della didattica, su base volontaria.

The aim of the study was to verify whether the frequency of face-to-face interactions with the public at work can reveal differences in how people react to emotional regulation demands. In particular, we investigated the mediating role of surface acting (a strategy of dealing with emotional dissonance) in the relationship between two typical job stressors (workload and mental load) and two outcomes closely related to work-related well-being: employees’ general health and the need for recovery. Prior studies investigating the detrimental effects of emotional dissonance mostly focused on service workers. However, in light of a survey conducted by the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (2016) highlighting the growing psycho-social risk constituted by intense human interactions in the workplaces, even in unexpected categories of workers, we hypothesize that emotional demands may also be a concern for those who do not specifically interface with clients as part of their job duties. The results of the multi-group analysis of front-office (N = 734) and back-office (N = 436) Italian workers showed that surface acting fully mediates the relationship between workload and general health among back-office workers, while it only partially mediates this relationship among front-office workers. Furthermore, surface acting is positively associated with the need for recovery and negatively with general health, with higher values for back-office workers. The findings support the hypothesis that the emotional demands are not only a service worker issue and highlight the need to address emotional regulation strategies to enhance the quality of life in and outside the workplace for all employees.

We extend the analysis of Pace et al., JCAP, 2019, 060, by considering the virialization process in the extended spherical collapse model for clustering dark-energy models, i.e., accounting for dark-energy fluctuations. Differently from the standard approach, here virialization is naturally achieved by properly modelling deviations from sphericity due to shear and rotation induced by tidal interactions. We investigate the time evolution of the virial overdensity $\Delta_\mathrm{vir}$ in seven clustering dynamical dark energy models and compare the results to the $\Lambda$CDM model and to the corresponding smooth dark-energy models. Taking into account all the appropriate corrections, we deduce the abundance of convergence peaks for Rubin Observatory-LSST and Euclid-like weak-lensing surveys, of Sunyaev-Zel'dovich peaks for a Simon Observatory-like CMB survey, and of X-ray peaks for an eROSITA-like survey. Despite the tiny differences in $\Delta_\mathrm{vir}$ between clustering and smooth dark-energy models, owing to the large volumes covered by these surveys, five out of seven clustering dark-energy models can be statistically distinguished from $\Lambda$CDM. The contribution of dark-energy fluctuation cannot be neglected, especially for the Chevallier-Polarski-Limber and Albrecht-Skordis models, provided the instrumental configurations provide high signal-to-noise ratio. These results are almost independent of the tidal virialization model., Comment: 27 pages, 6 figures, 3 tables. Minor modifications with respect to the previous version. Only three references added. Published on JCAP

E. Abdalla, G. F. Abellán, A. Aboubrahim et al., The standard Λ Cold Dark Matter (ΛCDM) cosmological model provides a good description of a wide range of astrophysical and cosmological data. However, there are a few big open questions that make the standard model look like an approximation to a more realistic scenario yet to be found. In this paper, we list a few important goals that need to be addressed in the next decade, taking into account the current discordances between the different cosmological probes, such as the disagreement in the value of the Hubble constant H0, the σ8–S8 tension, and other less statistically significant anomalies. While these discordances can still be in part the result of systematic errors, their persistence after several years of accurate analysis strongly hints at cracks in the standard cosmological scenario and the necessity for new physics or generalisations beyond the standard model. In this paper, we focus on the 5.0σ tension between the Planck CMB estimate of the Hubble constant H0 and the SH0ES collaboration measurements. After showing the H0 evaluations made from different teams using different methods and geometric calibrations, we list a few interesting new physics models that could alleviate this tension and discuss how the next decade's experiments will be crucial. Moreover, we focus on the tension of the Planck CMB data with weak lensing measurements and redshift surveys, about the value of the matter energy density Ωm, and the amplitude or rate of the growth of structure (σ8, fσ8). We list a few interesting models proposed for alleviating this tension, and we discuss the importance of trying to fit a full array of data with a single model and not just one parameter at a time. Additionally, we present a wide range of other less discussed anomalies at a statistical significance level lower than the H0–S8 tensions which may also constitute hints towards new physics, and we discuss possible generic theoretical approaches that can collectively explain the non-standard nature of these signals. Finally, we give an overview of upgraded experiments and next-generation space missions and facilities on Earth that will be of crucial importance to address all these open questions., Amin Aboubrahim is supported by the BMBF under contract 05P21PMCAA and by the DFG through the Research Training Network 2149 “Strong and Weak Interactions - from Hadrons to Dark Matter”. Adriano Agnello is supported by a Villum Experiment Grant, project number 36225. Özgür Akarsu acknowledges the support by the Turkish Academy of Sciences in the scheme of the Outstanding Young Scientist Award (TÜBA-GEBİP). Yashar Akrami is supported by Richard S. Morrison Fellowship and LabEx ENS-ICFP: ANR-10-LABX-0010/ANR-10-IDEX-0001-02 PSL*. George Alestas is supported by the project “Dioni: Computing Infrastructure for Big-Data Processing and Analysis” (MIS No. 5047222) co-funded by European Union (ERDF) and Greece through Operational Program “Competitiveness, Entrepreneurship and Innovation”, NSRF 2014-2020. Luca Amendola acknowledges support from DFG project 456622116 and from the CAPES-DAAD bilateral project “Data Analysis and Model Testing in the Era of Precision Cosmology”. Luis A. Anchordoqui and Jorge F. Soriano are supported by the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF Grant PHY-2112527). Mario Ballardini acknowledges financial support from the contract ASI/INAF for the Euclid mission n.2018-23-HH.0. Micol Benetti acknowledges the Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (INFN), sezione di Napoli, iniziativa specifica QGSKY. David Benisty acknowledges the support the supports of the Blavatnik and the Rothschild fellowships. John Blakeslee is supported by NOIRLab, which is managed by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA) under a cooperative agreement with the US National Science Foundation. Thomas Buchert has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement ERC advanced grant 740021–ARTHUS, PI: Thomas Buchert). Erminia Calabrese acknowledges support from the STFC Ernest Rutherford Fellowship ST/M004856/2, STFC Consolidated Grant ST/S00033X/1 and from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (Grant agreement No. 849169). Salvatore Capozziello acknowledges the Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (INFN), sezione di Napoli, iniziative specifiche QGSKY and MOONLIGHT2. Javier de Cruz Pérez is supported by a FPI fellowship associated to the project FPA2016-76005-C2-1-P. Peter Denton acknowledges support from the US Department of Energy under Grant Contract DE-SC0012704. Eleonora Di Valentino is supported by a Royal Society Dorothy Hodgkin Research Fellowship. Keith R. Dienes was supported in part by the U.S. Department of Energy under Grant DE-FG02-13ER41976 / DE-SC0009913, and also by the U.S. National Science Foundation through its employee IR/D program. Celia Escamilla-Rivera is supported by DGAPA-PAPIIT UNAM Project TA100122 and acknowledges the Royal Astronomical Society as FRAS 10147 and the Cosmostatistics National Group (CosmoNag) project. Noemi Frusciante is supported by Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) through the research grants UIDB/04434/2020, UIDP/04434/2020, PTDC/FIS-OUT/29048/2017, CERN/FIS-PAR/0037/2019 and the personal FCT grant “CosmoTests – Cosmological tests of gravity theories beyond General Relativity” with ref. number CEECIND/00017/2018 and the FCT project “BEYLA–BEYond LAmbda” with ref. number PTDC/FIS-AST/0054/2021. Adrià Gómez-Valent is funded by the Instituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (INFN) through the project “Dark Energy and Modified Gravity Models in the light of Low-Redshift Observations” (n. 22425/2020). Asta Heinesen has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement ERC advanced grant 740021–ARTHUS, PI: Thomas Buchert). J. Colin Hill acknowledges support from NSF grant AST-2108536. The Flatiron Institute is supported by the Simons Foundation. Mustapha Ishak acknowledges that this material is based upon work supported in part by the Department of Energy, Office of Science, under Award Number DE-SC0022184. Michael Klasen is supported by the BMBF under contract 05P21PMCAA and by the DFG through the Research Training Network 2149 “Strong and Weak Interactions - from Hadrons to Dark Matter”. Suresh Kumar gratefully acknowledges support from the Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB), Govt. of India (File No. CRG/2021/004658). Ruth Lazkoz is supported by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation through research projects FIS2017-85076-P (comprising FEDER funds), and also by the Basque Government and Generalitat Valenciana through research projects GIC17/116-IT956-16 and PROMETEO/2020/079 respectively. Benjamin L'Huillier would like to acknowledge the support of the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF-2019R1I1A1A01063740) and the support of the Korea Institute for Advanced Study (KIAS) grant funded by the government of Korea. Jackson Levi Said would like to acknowledge support from Cosmology@MALTA which is supported by the University of Malta. Roy Maartens is supported by the South African Radio Astronomy Observatory and the National Research Foundation (Grant No. 75415). Valerio Marra thanks CNPq (Brazil) and FAPES (Brazil) for partial financial support. The work of Yuto Minami was supported in part by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) KAKENHI, Grants No. JP20K14497. The work of Carlos Martins was financed by FEDER—Fundo Europeu de Desenvolvimento Regional funds through the COMPETE 2020—Operational Programme for Competitiveness and Internationalisation (POCI), and by Portuguese funds through FCT - Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia in the framework of the project POCI-01-0145-FEDER-028987 and PTDC/FIS-AST/28987/2017. Olga Mena is supported by the Spanish grants PID2020-113644GB-I00, PROMETEO/2019/083 and by the European ITN project HIDDeN (H2020-MSCA-ITN-2019//860881-HIDDeN). Cristian Moreno-Pulido is funded by PID2019-105614GB-C21 and FPA2016-76005-C2-1-P (MINECO, Spain), 2017-SGR-929 (Generalitat de Catalunya) and CEX2019-000918-M (ICCUB) and partially supported by the fellowship 2019 FI_B 00351. Michele Moresco acknowledges support from MIUR, PRIN 2017 (grant 20179ZF5KS) and grants ASI n.I/023/12/0 and ASI n.2018-23-HH.0. Suvodip Mukherjee is supported by the Simons Foundation. Research at Perimeter Institute is supported in part by the Government of Canada through the Department of Innovation, Science and Economic Development and by the Province of Ontario through the Ministry of Colleges and Universities. Pran Nath is supported in part by the NSF Grant PHY-1913328. Savvas Nesseris acknowledges support from the Research Project No. PGC2018-094773-B-C32 and the Centro de Excelencia Severo Ochoa Program No. CEX2020-001007-S. Rafael Nunes acknowledges support from the Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP, São Paulo Research Foundation) under the project No. 2018/18036-5. Eoin Ó Colgáin was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea grant funded by the Korea government (MSIT) (NRF-2020R1A2C1102899). Supriya Pan acknowledges the financial supports from the Science and Engineering Research Board, Govt. of India, under Mathematical Research Impact-Centric Support Scheme (File No. MTR/2018/000940) and The Department of Science and Technology (DST), Govt. of India, under the Scheme “Fund for Improvement of S&T Infrastructure (FIST)” [File No. SR/FST/MS-I/2019/41]. Santiago E. Perez Bergliaffa acknowledges partial support from Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)- Código de Financiamento 001, and Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (Brazil). Leandros Perivolaropoulos acknowledges support by the Hellenic Foundation for Research and Innovation (H.F.R.I.), under the “First call for H.F.R.I. Research Projects to support Faculty members and Researchers and the procurement of high-cost research equipment Grant” (Project Number: 789). Fabrizio Renzi is supported by the NWO and the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science (OCW), and from the D-ITP consortium, a program of the NWO that is funded by the OCW. Nils Schöneberg acknowledges the support of the following Maria de Maetzu fellowship grant: Esta publicación es parte de la ayuda CEX2019-000918-M, financiado por MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033. Anjan A Sen acknowledges the funding from SERB, Govt of India under the research grants no: CRG/2020/004347 and MTR/20l9/000599. Arman Shafieloo would like to acknowledge the support by National Research Foundation of Korea NRF-2021M3F7A1082053, and the support of the Korea Institute for Advanced Study (KIAS) grant funded by the government of Korea. M.M. Sheikh-Jabbari acknowledges the support by SarAmadan grant No. ISEF/M/400122. Joan Solà Peracaula is funded by PID2019-105614GB-C21 and FPA2016-76005-C2-1-P (MINECO, Spain), 2017-SGR-929 (Generalitat de Catalunya), CEX2019-000918-M (ICCUB) and also partially supported by the COST Association Action CA18108 “Quantum Gravity Phenomenology in the Multimessenger Approach (QG-MM)”. Denitsa Staicova is supported by Bulgarian NSF grant KP-06-N 38/11. Glenn Starkman is partly supported by a Department of Energy grant DESC0009946 to the particle astrophysics theory group at CWRU. Brooks Thomas is supported in part by the National Science Foundation under Grant PHY-2014104. Luca Visinelli has received support from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement “TALeNT” No. 754496 (H2020-MSCA-COFUND-2016 FELLINI). Shao-Jiang Wang is supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China Grant No. 2021YFC2203004, No. 2021YFA0718304, the National Natural Science Foundation of China Grant No. 12105344, and the China Manned Space Project with NO.CMS-CSST-2021-B01. Weiqiang Yang has been supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grants No. 12175096 and No. 11705079, and Liaoning Revitalization Talents Program under Grant no. XLYC1907098. Gong-Bo Zhao is supported by the National Key Basic Research and Development Program of China (No. 2018YFA0404503), NSFC Grants 11925303, 11720101004, and a grant of CAS Interdisciplinary Innovation Team.

In this study, we present the phase-space analysis of Quintessence models specified by the choice of two potentials, namely the Recliner potential and what we call the broken exponential-law potential, which is a new proposal. Using a dynamical system analysis we provide a systematic study of the cosmological evolution of the two models and their properties. We find new scaling solutions characterised by a constant ratio between the energy density of the scalar field and that of the matter component. These solutions are of high interest in light of the possibility to alleviate the coincidence problem. Additionally, the models also show attractor solutions. We finally construct concrete models built using a double potential according to which one potential realises the early-time scaling regime and the second one allows to exit this regime and to enter in the epoch of cosmic acceleration driven by a scalar-field dominated attractor point., Comment: 23 pages, 3 figures. 4 tables. Accepted for publication on Universe for the Special Issue entitled "Large Scale Structure of the Universe", led by the authors, and belongs to the section "Cosmology"

Although gender equality is increasingly promoted both in the workplace and in society, and women have now fully entered the workforce, the issue of gender differences in relation to career advancement still seems open. Although gender roles no longer clearly define who is responsible for home care and who is responsible for job duties, some research shows that the conflict between family and work life appears to be a greater problem for women than for men. The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between career opportunities, work–life balance, and well-being perception separately in both female (n = 499) and male (n = 557) respondents in order to shed light on the role of gender. A multi-group analysis showed that the structural paths of the models differ by gender. For women, the relationships between career opportunities and work–life balance and between career opportunities and the perception of general health have significantly lower values compared to results from the group of men, while the perception of work–life balance affects well-being more significantly when compared to the male counterpart. Implications on the importance of the connection between career and the valorization of personal life duties are further discussed.

The standard Lambda Cold Dark Matter cosmological model provides an amazing description of a wide range of astrophysical and astronomical data. However, there are a few big open questions, that make the standard model look like a first-order approximation to a more realistic scenario that still needs to be fully understood. In this Letter of Interest we will list a few important goals that need to be addressed in the next decade, also taking into account the current discordances present between the different cosmological probes, as the Hubble constant H-0 value, the sigma S-8(8) tension, and the anomalies present in the Planck results. Finally, we will give an overview of upgraded experiments and next-generation space-missions and facilities on Earth that will be of crucial importance to address all these questions. (C) 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Human Resource Management (HRM) processes are considered the beating heart of any successful organization. Recently, several studies have highlighted how organizations can use commitment-oriented HR practices to generate organizational and individual effectiveness. The aim of this study was to verify whether the perception of HRM practices could be able to elicit extra-role behaviors and, at the same time, whether this relationship could be mediated by employability and learning conditions. The analyses were carried out on a sample of 1219 Italian workers using Structural Equation Models. The structural model yielded good fit indices and the results showed a significant and positive effect of the perception of HRM practices on both employability and learning. However, the perception of HRM practices is not directly associated with extra-role behaviors, but only through the effect of both mediators (full mediation). Practical implications about the importance of creating working conditions that are adequately oriented to the development of individual skills in order to produce indirect beneficial effects on the organization are discussed.

L’Ateneo di Palermo sta portando avanti diverse iniziative di miglioramento della qualità della didattica. In particolare, il progetto “Mentori per la didattica” nasce nel 2013 su iniziativa di alcuni docenti di ingegneria con l’obiettivo di migliorare la qualità della didattica dei partecipanti grazie a due strumenti chiave: l’aiuto dei mentori e una serie di incontri di riflessione e approfondimento. Ogni docente (mentee) che aderisce al progetto ha due mentori che hanno il compito di aiutarlo a migliorare la qualità della sua didattica. Inoltre, egli stesso svolge il ruolo di mentore a favore di altri due colleghi, cosicché ciascuno è mentore e mentee allo stesso tempo. I mentori assistono ad alcune lezioni del mentee, incontrano gli studenti e raccolgono il loro parere sul corso e, infine, incontrano il mentee per individuare insieme delle strategie di miglioramento. I mentori non sono interessati ai contenuti della disciplina ma alle modalità di erogazione della lezione. Di conseguenza, non devono essere esperti della disciplina insegnata dal mentee. Il programma prevede anche una serie di incontri che servono per fornire strumenti operativi nonché spunti di riflessione sul tema dell’insegnamento e contribuiscono a realizzare una maggiore consapevolezza del ruolo di docente. Il successo riscosso tra i partecipanti ha fatto sì che, nel corso degli anni, il numero di docenti coinvolti sia aumentato, fino a superare gli ottanta nel 2018, grazie al passaparola, estendendosi a tutte le aree del sapere. Il programma è stato molto apprezzato dai partecipanti e dagli studenti ed ha ricevuto un positivo apprezzamento nella relazione della CEV, relativa alla visita in loco per l’accreditamento periodico dell’Università degli Studi di Palermo. Negli ultimi anni è stata anche prevista la figura dei mentori senior che si occupano di assistere e guidare l’attività dei mentori più giovani. Nella presentazione il progetto sarà illustrato con particolare riferimento ai risultati ottenuti negli anni. Inoltre, saranno presentate altre iniziative future dell’Ateneo di Palermo sul miglioramento della qualità della didattica inclusi dei percorsi di formazione per i neoassunti e per i coordinatori dei CdS e la creazione di un apposita struttura che si occuperà di implementare e coordinare le riflessioni sulle innovazioni metodologiche e tecnologiche e di organizzare i cicli di seminari sopra citati.

Although many studies have been conducted to evaluate the risk and protective factors on psychological health among academic staff, little attention has been paid to fixed-term researchers, the weakest figures in the academic context. By using the Job Demands&ndash, Resources model as theoretical framework, we investigated: (1) the role of some job demands (workload, mental load, and emotional dissonance) in predicting the need for recovery, (2) the role of some job resources (independence, career opportunities, and work&ndash, life balance) in predicting work engagement, and (3) the moderating role of the contract type (more or less precarious). We focused in particular on emotional dissonance (the discrepancy between emotions that need to be displayed and what is really felt), assuming its unique role in predicting fatigue. Results of structural equation modeling analysis generally supported our hypotheses and highlighted a so far undiscovered path between mental load and work engagement. Specifically, mental load leads to fatigue only indirectly through workload and emotional dissonance, while significantly predicting the absorption and the dedication of fixed-term Italian researchers. The latter relationship was also moderated by the contract type, so that mental load predicts dedication especially among researchers in the most precarious condition.

A precise measurement of the curvature of the Universe is of prime importance for cosmology since it could not only confirm the paradigm of primordial inflation but also help in discriminating between different early-Universe scenarios. Recent observations, while broadly consistent with a spatially flat standard Λ Cold Dark Matter ( Λ CDM) model, show tensions that still allow (and, in some cases, even suggest) a few percent deviations from a flat universe. In particular, the Planck Cosmic Microwave Background power spectra, assuming the nominal likelihood, prefer a closed universe at more than 99% confidence level. While new physics could be at play, this anomaly may be the result of an unresolved systematic error or just a statistical fluctuation. However, since positive curvature allows a larger age of the Universe, an accurate determination of the age of the oldest objects provides a smoking gun in confirming or falsifying the current flat Λ CDM model.

A quasi-static approximation (QSA) for modified gravity can be applied in a number of ways. We consider three different analytical formulations based on applying this approximation to: (1) the field equations; (2) the equations for the two metric potentials; (3) the use of the attractor solution derived within the Equation of State (EoS) approach. We assess the veracity of these implementations on the effective gravitational constant ($\mu$) and the slip parameter ($\eta$), within the framework of Horndeski models. In particular, for a set of models we compare cosmological observables, i.e., the matter power spectrum and the CMB temperature and lensing angular power spectra, computed using the QSA, with exact numerical solutions. To do that, we use a newly developed branch of the CLASS code: QSA_class. All three approaches agree exactly on very small scales. Typically, we find that, except for $f(R)$ models where all the three approaches lead to the same result, the quasi-static approximations differ from the numerical calculations on large scales ($k \lesssim 3 - 4 \times 10^{-3}\,h\,{\rm Mpc}^{-1}$). Cosmological observables are reproduced to within 1% up to scales ${\rm K} = k/H_0$ of the order of a few and $\ell>5$ for the approaches based on the field equations and on the EoS, and we also do not find any appreciable difference if we use the scale-dependent expressions for $\mu$ and $\eta$ with respect to the value on small scales, showing that the formalism and the conclusions are reliable and robust, fixing the range of applicability of the formalism. We discuss why the expressions derived from the equations for the potentials have limited applicability. Our results are in agreement with previous analytical estimates and show that the QSA is a reliable tool and can be used for comparison with current and future observations to constrain models beyond $\Lambda$CDM., Comment: The manuscript is divided into two parts: the main paper (37 pages, 3 figures, 1 table) and the Supplementary Materials (24 pages, 1 table). Improved discussion on the validity of the quasi-static approximation. Matches the published version on JCAP

We check the dynamical and observational features of four typologies of logotropic dark energy models, leading to a \emph{thermodynamic cosmic speed up} fueled by a single fluid that unifies dark energy and dark matter. We first present two principal Anton-Schmidt fluids where the Gr\"uneisen parameter $\gamma_{\rm G}$ is free to vary and then fixed to the special value $\gamma_{\rm G}=\tfrac{5}{6}$. We also investigate the pure logotropic model, corresponding to $\gamma_{\rm G}=-\frac{1}{6}$. Finally, we propose a new logotropic paradigm that works as a generalized logotropic fluid, in which we split the role of dark matter and baryons. We demonstrate that the logotropic paradigms may present drawbacks in perturbations, showing a negative adiabatic sound speed which make perturbations unstable. The Anton-Schmidt model with $\gamma_{\rm G}=\frac{5}{6}$ is ruled out while the generalized logotropic fluid seems to be the most suitable one, albeit weakly disfavored than the $\Lambda$CDM model. We combine low- and higher-redshift domains through experimental fits based on Monte Carlo Markov Chain procedures, taking into account supernovae Ia catalogue, Hubble measurements and $\sigma_8$ data points. We consider two model selection criteria to infer the statistical significance of the four models. We conclude there is statistical advantage to handle the Anton-Schmidt fluid with the Gr\"uneisen parameter free to vary and/or fixed to $\gamma_{\rm G}=-\frac{1}{6}$. The generalized logotropic fluid indicates suitable results, statistically favored than the other models, until the sound speed is positive, becoming unstable in perturbations elsewhere. We emphasize that the $\Lambda$CDM paradigm works statistically better than any kinds of logotropic and generalized logotropic models, while the Chevallier-Polarski-Linder parametrization is statistically comparable with logotropic scenarios., Comment: 15 pages, 3 tables, 4 figures. It matches the published version

Refereed/Peer-reviewed The present study provides evidence for a valid and reliable tool, the Academic Quality at Work Tool (AQ@workT), to investigate the quality of life at work in academics within the Italian university sector. The AQ@workT was developed by the QoL@Work research team, namely a group of expert academics in the field of work and organizational psychology affiliated with the Italian Association of Psychologists. The tool is grounded in the job demands-resources model and its psychometric properties were assessed in three studies comprising a wide sample of lecturers, researchers, and professors: a pilot study (N = 120), a calibration study (N = 1084), and a validation study (N = 1481). Reliability and content, construct, and nomological validity were supported, as well as measurement invariance across work role (researchers, associate professors, and full professors) and gender. Evidence from the present study shows that the AQ@workT represents a useful and reliable tool to assist university management to enhance quality of life, to manage work-related stress, and to mitigate the potential for harm to academics, particularly during a pandemic. Future studies, such as longitudinal tests of the AQ@workT, should test predictive validity among the variables in the tool.

L’Ateneo di Palermo sta portando avanti diverse iniziative di miglioramento della qualità della didattica. In particolare, il progetto “Mentori per la didattica” nasce nel 2013 su iniziativa di alcuni docenti di ingegneria con l’obiettivo di migliorare la qualità della didattica dei partecipanti grazie a due strumenti chiave: l’aiuto dei mentori e una serie di incontri di riflessione e approfondimento. Ogni docente (mentee) che aderisce al progetto ha due mentori che hanno il compito di aiutarlo a migliorare la qualità della sua didattica. Inoltre, egli stesso svolge il ruolo di mentore a favore di altri due colleghi, cosicché ciascuno è mentore e mentee allo stesso tempo. I mentori assistono ad alcune lezioni del mentee, incontrano gli studenti e raccolgono il loro parere sul corso e, infine, incontrano il mentee per individuare insieme delle strategie di miglioramento. I mentori non sono interessati ai contenuti della disciplina ma alle modalità di erogazione della lezione. Di conseguenza, non devono essere esperti della disciplina insegnata dal mentee. Il programma prevede anche una serie di incontri che servono per fornire strumenti operativi nonché spunti di riflessione sul tema dell’insegnamento e contribuiscono a realizzare una maggiore consapevolezza del ruolo di docente. Il successo riscosso tra i partecipanti ha fatto sì che, nel corso degli anni, il numero di docenti coinvolti sia aumentato, fino a superare gli ottanta nel 2018, grazie al passaparola, estendendosi a tutte le aree del sapere. Il programma è stato molto apprezzato dai partecipanti e dagli studenti ed ha ricevuto un positivo apprezzamento nella relazione della CEV, relativa alla visita in loco per l’accreditamento periodico dell’Università degli Studi di Palermo. Negli ultimi anni è stata anche prevista la figura dei mentori senior che si occupano di assistere e guidare l’attività dei mentori più giovani. Nella presentazione il progetto sarà illustrato con particolare riferimento ai risultati ottenuti negli anni. Inoltre, saranno presentate altre iniziative future dell’Ateneo di Palermo sul miglioramento della qualità della didattica inclusi dei percorsi di formazione per i neoassunti e per i coordinatori dei CdS e la creazione di un apposita struttura che si occuperà di implementare e coordinare le riflessioni sulle innovazioni metodologiche e tecnologiche e di organizzare i cicli di seminari sopra citati.

We discuss axion dark matter detection via two mechanisms: spontaneous decays and resonant conversion in neutron star magnetospheres. For decays, we show that the brightness temperature signal, rather than flux, is a less ambiguous measure for selecting candidate objects. This is owing principally to the finite beam width of telescopes which prevents one from being sensitive to the total flux from the object. With this in mind, we argue that the large surface-mass-density of the galactic centre or the Virgo cluster centre offers the best chance of improving current constraints on the axion-photon coupling via spontaneous decays. For the neutron star case, we first carry out a detailed study of mixing in magnetised plasmas. We derive transport equations for the axion-photon system via a controlled gradient expansion, allowing us to address inhomogeneous mass-shell constraints for arbitrary momenta. We then derive a non-perturbative Landau-Zener formula for the conversion probability valid across the range of relativistic and non-relativistic axions and show that the standard perturbative resonant conversion amplitude is a truncation of this result in the non-adiabatic limit. Our treatment reveals that that infalling dark matter axions typically convert non-adiabatically in magnetospheres. We describe the limitations of one-dimensional mixing equations and explain how three-dimensional effects activate new photon polarisations, including longitudinal modes and illustrate these arguments with numerical simulations in higher dimensions. We find that the bandwidth of the radio signal is dominated by Doppler broadening from the relative motion of the neutron star with respect to the observer. Therefore, we conclude that the radio signal from the resonant decay is weaker than previously thought, which means one relies on local density peaks to probe weaker axion-photon couplings., Comment: 31 pages, 14 figures and 2 tables. Accepted by Phys. Rev. D. Comments welcome

Background and Objectives: To compare the long-term toxicity of infracyanine green (IFCG) to brilliant blue G (BBG) in inverted internal limiting membrane flap surgery (I-ILMFS) for large, full-thickness macular holes (FTMHs). Materials and Methods: Prospective randomized study including 39 eyes with &ge, 400 &micro, m idiopathic FTMH who underwent I-ILMFS with either IFCG or BBG. Postoperative 6- and 12-month corrected distance visual acuity (CDVA), closure rate, and swept-source optical coherence tomography parameters, including ellipsoid zone (EZ) and external limiting membrane (ELM) mean defect length, central foveal thicknesses (CFT), parafoveal macular thickness (MT), ganglion cells and inner plexiform layer (GCL++) thickness, and peripapillary nerve fiber layer (pRNFL) thickness, were compared. Results: Nineteen eyes were included in the IFCG group and 20 eyes in the BBG group. In all cases a FTMH closure was found. CDVA improved at 6 and 12 months in both groups (p &lt, 0.0005), the increase at 12 months was greater in the BBG group (p = 0.036). EZ and ELM defects did not differ between groups at either follow-up time. CFT at 12 months was greater in the BBG group (p = 0.041). A 12-months compared to 6-months MT decrease was present in both groups (p &lt, 0.01). The GCL++ superior inner sector was thicker in the BBG group at 12 months (p = 0.036), as were the superior outer sector (p = 0.039 and p = 0.027 at 6 and 12 months, respectively) and inferior outer sector (p = 0.011 and p = 0.009 at 6 and 12 months, respectively). Conclusion: In our study BBG in I-ILMFS exhibits better long-term CDVA and retinal thickness than does IFCG, suggesting a lesser toxicity from BBG. These findings support the use of BBG over IFCG in I-ILMFS.

We present a detailed study of the collapse of a spherical matter overdensity and the non-linear growth of large scale structures in the Galileon ghost condensate (GGC) model. This model is an extension of the cubic covariant Galileon (G3) which includes a field derivative of type $(\nabla_\mu\phi\nabla^\mu\phi)^2$ in the Lagrangian. We find that the cubic term activates the modifications in the main physical quantities whose time evolution is then strongly affected by the additional term. Indeed, the GGC model shows largely mitigated effects in the linearised critical density contrast, non-linear effective gravitational coupling and the virial overdensity with respect to G3 but still preserves peculiar features with respect to the standard $\Lambda$CDM cosmological model, e.g. both the linear critical density contrast and the virial overdensity are larger than those in $\Lambda$CDM. The results of the spherical collapse model are then used to predict the evolution of the halo mass function, non-linear matter and lensing power spectra. While at low masses the GGC model presents about 10% fewer objects with respect to $\Lambda$CDM, at higher masses for $z>0$ it predicts 10% ($z=0.5$)-20% ($z=1$) more objects per comoving volume. Using a phenomenological approach to include the screening effect in the matter power spectrum, we show that the difference induced by the modifications of gravity are strongly dependent on the screening scale and that differences can be up to 20% with respect to $\Lambda$CDM. These differences translate to the lensing power spectrum where qualitatively the largest differences with respect to the standard cosmological model are for $\ell, Comment: 15 pages, 11 figures, 2 tables. Figures 8, 9 and 10 updated; new figure 11 added. Extended discussion in Sections 6 and 7. Matches the PDU journal version

The influence of considering a generalized dark matter (GDM) model, which allows for a non-pressure-less dark matter and a nonvanishing sound speed in the nonlinear spherical collapse model is discussed for the Einstein-de Sitter-like and ΛGDM models. By assuming that the vacuum component responsible for the accelerated expansion of the Universe is not clustering and therefore behaving similarly to the cosmological constant Λ, we show how the change in the GDM characteristic parameters affects the linear density threshold for collapse of the nonrelativistic component (δc) and its virial overdensity (ΔV). We found that a positive GDM equation of state parameter, wgdm, is responsible for lower values of δc as compared to the standard spherical collapse model and that this effect is much stronger than the one induced by a change in the GDM sound speed, c2s,gdm. We also found that ΔV is only slightly affected and mostly sensitive to wgdm. These effects could be relatively enhanced for lower values of the matter density. We found that the effects of the additional physics on δc and ΔV, when translated to nonlinear observables such as the halo mass function, induce an overall deviation of about 40% with respect to the standard ΛCDM model at late times for high mass objects. However, within the current constraints for c2s,gdm and wgdm, we found that these changes are the consequence of properly taking into account the correct linear matter power spectrum for the GDM model while the effects coming from modifications in the spherical collapse model remain negligible. Using a phenomenologically motivated approach, we also study the nonlinear matter power spectrum and found that the additional properties of the dark matter component lead, in general, to a strong suppression of the nonlinear power spectrum with respect to the corresponding ΛCDM one. Finally, as a practical example, we compare ΛGDM and ΛCDM using galaxy cluster abundance measurements, and found that these small scale probes will allow us to put more stringent constraints on the nature of dark matter., F. P. acknowledges financial support from the STFC Grant No. R120562.