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The presence of artificial light at night has emerged as an anthropogenic stressor in recent years. Various sources of light pollution have been shown to affect circadian physiology with serious consequences for metabolic pathways, possibly disrupting pineal melatonin production with multiple adverse health effects. The suppression of melatonin at night may also affect human mental health and contribute to the development or exacerbation of psychiatric disorders in vulnerable individuals. Due to the high burden of circadian disruption in affective disorders, it has been hypothesized that light pollution impacts mental health, mainly affecting mood regulation. Hence, the aim of this review was to critically summarize the evidence on the effects of light pollution on mood symptoms, with a particular focus on the role of circadian rhythms in mediating this relationship. We conducted a narrative review of the literature in the PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science datasets. After the screening process, eighteen papers were eligible for inclusion. The results clearly indicate a link between light pollution and the development of affective symptoms, with a central role of sleep disturbances in the emergence of mood alterations. Risk perception also represents a crucial topic, possibly modulating the development of affective symptoms in response to light pollution. The results of this review should encourage a multidisciplinary approach to the design of healthier environments, including lighting conditions among the key determinants of human mental health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Major depressive disorder (MDD) represents a major health issue in adolescents and young adults, leading to high levels of disability and profoundly impacting overall functioning. The clinical presentation of MDD in this vulnerable age group may slightly differ from what can be observed in adult populations, and psychopharmacological strategies do not always lead to optimal response. Resistance to antidepressant treatment has a prevalence estimated around 40% in youths suffering from MDD and is associated with higher comorbidity rates and suicidality. Several factors, encompassing biological, environmental, and clinical features, may contribute to the emergence of treatment-resistant depression (TRD) in adolescents and young adults. Furthermore, TRD may underpin the presence of an unrecognized bipolar diathesis, increasing the overall complexity of the clinical picture and posing major differential diagnosis challenges in the clinical practice. After summarizing current evidence on epidemiological and clinical correlates of TRD in adolescents and young adults, the present review also provides an overview of possible treatment strategies, including novel fast-acting antidepressants. Despite these pharmacological agents are promising in this population, their usage is expected to rely on risk-benefit ratio and to be considered in the context of integrated models of care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Between 1924 and 1947, Gino Severini decorated five churches in the Romand region of Switzerland with monumental religious wall paintings. This mural art played an important role in the Italian artist's career despite being mostly unknown and not easily found. The painting methods and materials of these modern Swiss murals were characterized by combining historical and archival research with onsite visual and scientific examination. Most pigments were identified with noninvasive methods integrating mapping techniques (i.e., technical photography and digital microscopy) with point analysis (x‐ray fluorescence and reflection FT‐IR spectroscopy). The results of these portable techniques were completed with SEM‐EDS, μFT‐IR FPA imaging, and μRaman analyses on micro‐samples which provided stratigraphic and compositional information to complement the noninvasive results. Overall, the data obtained show that Severini used both traditional pigments (e.g., Sangiovanni white and ochres/earths of various color) and modern ones, such as cadmium‐based pigments, with different painting techniques (e.g., zinc white was applied exclusively a secco). Apart from cerulean blue (cobalt stannate) and Naples yellow (lead antimonate) found only in two locations, the same set of pigments was documented in all of Severini's Swiss murals. The characterization of the artist's palette is important to understand the technical painting process followed by Severini, his interest on new painting materials available on the market and, at the same time, loyalty towards traditional painting methods, such as painting a fresco. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although Gino Severini is recognised as a leading exponent of European avant-garde movements through the first half of the twentieth century, his work as a mural painter is little known. This article reports the technical study of Severini's wall paintings for the Swiss church of Saint Nicolas de Myre in Semsales (1924–1926), in the framework of a research project coordinated by the University of Applied Sciences and Arts of Southern Switzerland and financed by the Swiss National Science Foundation. Taking an interdisciplinary approach, the project investigates the wall paintings made by the artist in five churches in Switzerland and dating between 1924 and 1947, with the aim of clarifying the artist's mural painting techniques. Following research in the parish archives and in those of the Severini family, the project proceeded in the different churches with in situ examination (diffuse and raking visible light, UV radiation, digital microscopy) supported by non-invasive scientific investigation (technical photography and spectroscopic point analyses) and laboratory invasive analyses on micro-samples. Lastly, the data from all the various sources are collected and interrelated. The artist's first commission, in 1924 at Semsales, became the longest and most complex, given the artist's relative lack of mural experience, the extent of surfaces, and variety of techniques adopted. The investigation reveals a long process in which Severini mastered a secco procedures using organic binders, on plasters that had already been applied, flanked by works in the tradition of a fresco painting, enriched with a modern palette of colours. Underlying all this work was a long process of planning, in which the artist associated the differing techniques with variations in style, in an extremely personal language between cubism and classicism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]