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L’inquinamento prodotto dall’industria tessile ha un impatto enorme sul pianeta. I capi di abbigliamento sono probabilmente il bene più comune che le persone acquistano nel mondo e il numero medio di capi acquistati ogni anno è cresciuto esponenzialmente. I problemi principali causati dall’industria tessile includono l’inquinamento delle acque, l’inquinamento atmosferico e l’inquinamento derivante dalla produzione di rifiuti solidi. Un nuovo approccio alla produzione, consumo e smaltimento dei prodotti di abbigliamento è diventato assolutamente necessario. La moda sostenibile risulta l’alternativa a quella moda che ormai conosciamo come fast fashion, un sistema moda che ha ridotto i costi ei tempi di produzione al minimo, sfornando nuovi capi d’abbigliamento di tendenza ogni due se non addirittura ogni settimana. Gli obiettivi di questo lavoro sono stati rivolti alla verifica delle politiche di sostenibilità delle aziende di moda attraverso l’analisi dei dati presenti all’interno dei loro annuali rapporti di sostenibilità.

Background: Measles is an infectious disease and a major health concern worldwide. Among individuals with a higher risk of exposure to measles, there are the Health Care Workers (HCWs), who may transmit the virus to other people. According to the Italian National Plan for Immunization and Prevention, all HCWs should have presumptive evidence of immunity to measles (documented two doses of MMR vaccination) or serological evidence of protective antibodies. Aim: The study aims to evaluate the immunological status, the vaccine coverage, and the protective IgG antibody titre for measles in medical students of the teaching hospital PoliclinicoTor Vergata (PTV). Methods: IgG measles antibodies titre was evaluated in a sample of 461 medical students undergoing annual health surveillance visits from January 1st to May 31th, 2020. Results: 73.7% of medical students showed protective measles IgG antibody levels. The immunization rate was higher among subjects aged less than 25 years with respect to students aged over 25 years (77.4% vs. 66.4%; P P Conclusion: Our study shows a non-protective measles IgG antibody titre, especially among the older students. Therefore, it is essential to evaluate the serological levels, to vaccinate those subjects whose antibody level is not adequate, and promote the vaccination even in the general population.

Lactoferrin (Lf), a multifunctional cationic glycoprotein synthesized by exocrine glands and neutrophils, possesses an in vitro antiviral activity against SARS-CoV-2. Thus, we conducted an in vivo preliminary study to investigate the antiviral effect of oral and intranasal liposomal bovine Lf (bLf) in asymptomatic and mild-to-moderate COVID-19 patients. From April 2020 to June 2020, a total of 92 mild-to-moderate (67/92) and asymptomatic (25/92) COVID-19 patients were recruited and divided into three groups. Thirty-two patients (14 hospitalized and 18 in home-based isolation) received only oral and intranasal liposomal bLf, 32 hospitalized patients were treated only with standard of care (SOC) treatment, and 28, in home-based isolation, did not take any medication. Furthermore, 32 COVID-19 negative, untreated, healthy subjects were added for ancillary analysis. Liposomal bLf-treated COVID-19 patients obtained an earlier and significant (p &lt, 0.0001) SARS-CoV-2 RNA negative conversion compared to the SOC-treated and untreated COVID-19 patients (14.25 vs. 27.13 vs. 32.61 days, respectively). Liposomal bLf-treated COVID-19 patients showed fast clinical symptoms recovery compared to the SOC-treated COVID-19 patients. In bLf-treated patients, a significant decrease in serum ferritin, IL-6, and D-dimers levels was observed. No adverse events were reported. These observations led us to speculate a potential role of bLf in the management of mild-to-moderate and asymptomatic COVID-19 patients.

Rubella, also known as German measles or three-day measles, is an infectious disease caused by virus of the genus Rubivirus, which may be prevented by vaccination. The infection is potentially dangerous for non immune subjects, although 20&ndash, 50% of infected subjects are asymptomatic. Healthcare workers (HCWs) have an increased potential exposure to rubella in comparison to the general population, putting them and their patients at risk of infection and its complications. In 2019, 20 cases of rubella have been reported in Italy. According to the Italian National Immunization and Prevention Plan, HCWs should provide a written certification of vaccination for rubella or serological evidence of protective antibodies. The aim of the study was to evaluate the rubella immunization status in female HCWs of the teaching hospital Policlinic Rome Tor Vergata (PTV) of childbearing age. For this purpose, we retrospectively checked the serologic values of rubella-specific IgG antibodies analyzing the clinical records of the HCWs of undergoing the occupational health surveillance program from January 1st to June1st 2020. Five hundred fourteen HCWs with a mean age of 23.19 (range 19&ndash, 37, DS: 2.80) were included: 90.3% (464) showed a protective antibody titre. The mean value of the anti-rubella IgG was 49.59 IU/mL. Our study shows a non-protective anti rubella IgG titre in a substantial percentage of HCWs (9.7%). As vaccine protection decreases over the years and the risk of congenital rubella syndrome (CRS) in vaccinated subjects should not be underestimated, we suggest routine screening of the immunological status followed by the administration of a third dose of vaccine if the antibody titre becomes non-protective.

The chapter aims at investigating the concept of smart community starting from the definition of the concept. It is a conceptual category increasingly used and which is complementary to other concepts currently objects of reflection such as – among others – those of smart cities and smart society. We will then try to identify the characteristics of the smart community that differentiate it from related concepts, focusing, moreover, on the role played by science and technology. We will focus on the role the smart community plays within the classical categorization of the concept of community, reflecting then on the conceptual changes the idea and practice of community have known in modern times. We will finally focus on the fundamental role of social relationships in the enucleation of the differences between smart community and smart city, which are often wrongly used as synonyms or considered as deterministic consequence of one another. The chapter therefore intends to investigate the potentialities, the obstacles and the risks of the smart community, analyzed through the concepts offered by STS.

Molti studi hanno sottolineato l’effetto di accelerazione impresso dalla tecnologia ai processi sociali. Le tecniche di “integrazione, intensificazione e agevolazione” individuate da Arnold Gehlen (1984, 11) convergono in ultima analisi verso un’amplificazione della capacità di “fare, a prescindere da qualunque attribuzione di senso” (Magatti 2009, 23), più velocemente e più efficacemente. Ciò consente di dinamizzare i processi sociali, portandoli da stadi meno evoluti a stadi più complessi. Questo effetto, che anche intuitivamente associamo alla tecnologia, va problematizzato. La vicenda che nel nostro tempo occupa a livello globale il centro della scena ne dà buon saggio. La “tecnologia vaccinale” ci sta consentendo di uscire velocemente dalla pandemia da Covid 19. Se nel recente passato la messa a punto dei rimedi vaccinali contro i virus più disparati ha richiesto in media dodici anni (Assael 1996), questa volta, grazie ad uno sforzo straordinario e concentrico, abbiamo impiegato meno di un anno per produrre un esteso e variegato menù di antidoti al male (Miller 2021). È un risultato straordinario che testimonia dell’elevato grado di avanzamento delle nostre società. Un secolo fa, lo stesso virus avrebbe probabilmente mietuto un numero di vittime ben più elevato e, soprattutto, sarebbe stato più duraturo. Le società avanzate hanno dimostrato grande rapidità nella risposta sanitaria al problema specifico, ma guardando le cose da una prospettiva differente si scopre che la tecnologia può anche giocare un ruolo regressivo, diventando un fattore di rallentamento della società. Il vaccino ne ha bloccato l’evoluzione verso un assetto più avanzato.