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Following the mid-2017 inbound migration peak of third countries’ nationals in Italy, the then Italian Minister of the Interior Marco Minniti signed a Memorandum of Understanding, with the purpose to curb illegal immigration and “liberate our lands from traffickers”. The MoU marked the first step towards a stricter set of national regulations, intensified by the succeeding Minister of Interior Matteo Salvini, and adjusted by the current Minister Luciana Lamorgese. The fight against human trafficking shape the political agenda and steer Italy’s public opinion, deepening the gap between those who support the pushback of migrants, on one side, and those who advocate compliance to regulations and treaties, not to mention the respect of human rights. Empirical evidence shows that adopted policies have at least partly achieved their objectives, discouraging irregular migration to a certain extent, but at the expense of migrants’ living conditions and their perception by national citizens. The paper provides an overview of the policy instruments deployed by the Italian Government to control the irregular migration wave, and what kind of resistance policymakers have had to confront during the implementation phase from the press and the public opinion. A section of the paper is dedicated to the importance of, and the need for, fair and truthful communication: fact-checking and debunking fake news are presented as necessary tools to inform and guide policymaking in the post-Covid era. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Global financial crisis of 2008-2009 severely impacted the developed economies of the world. It occurred at a time when most countries had started gaining economic growth, stability, and vibrance. Each country experienced a jolt to its economy, causing financial fragility, shocks, tragedy, and struggle. Attempts have been made to understand the root causes, economic instability, and the lessons learned from the great recession. Given the current situation of the COVID-19 pandemic, this research paper seeks to examine the global recession, its effect on the economy and finances. Our research is based on the qualitative analysis of comparing the impact of the global financial crisis and strategic recovery recession plans of the top five GDP countries in the European Unionparticularly Germany, the UK, France, Spain, and Italy to draw some similarities between a recession and COVID-19 pandemic in terms of the economy. The findings indicate that the great recession had a devastating impact on the entire economy, and the world can learn valuable lessons. It notes that out of the selected five EU countries, Germany was the first to recover and bounce back by 2011, but Italy and Spain were severely hit and took longer to recover only partially. The recession recovery strategies demonstrate some similarities in economic and employment measures and differences concerning tax reforms and financial support packages initiated by all five countries. There needs to be a mechanism in which each country must prepare for untimely recessions. Thus, a developmental model has been created to enable countries to be more prepared when faced with recessions in the future years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of states' pandemic responses to the conditions and vulnerabilities of undocumented Filipino migrants in Italy and the UK. It also explores the role and strategies of migrant organisations in addressing the issues and concerns of undocumented workers. Design/methodology/approach: Qualitative approaches are used to collect and analyse the narratives of the migrants and migrant organisations. This paper used government reports, policy briefs and documents from international organisations in analysing the socio-political vulnerabilities of undocumented migrants in the context of the global pandemic. In addition, we interviewed leaders of migrant organisations, which are involved in supporting irregular migrants. Findings: The study reveals that states have exercised a regime of legitimate violence against undocumented workers in Italy and the UK. This regime is imposed not only by the stringent laws and policies that directly and indirectly cause economic, social and even cultural suffering to the migrants but also by the "symbolic violence" manifested in structural and social inequalities, and the exploitative economic order amid the pandemic. Responding to the "regime of fear", migrant organisations provide immediate relief and "safe spaces" for the undocumented workers. Originality/value: The paper contributes to the ongoing conversation on state practices in regulating migration by framing the conditions of undocumentation as legal violence that structurally deprives irregular migrants access to health care and human rights amid global health crisis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to analyze changes in the notion and role of rural tourism provoked by the COVID-19 pandemic. The paper examines how rural tourism in the pandemic year 2020 has accommodated human needs for well-being: which touristic resources have been mobilized and what knowledge structures have contributed to mobilization of touristic resources. The authors use a qualitative multimethod approach to develop insights about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on changing roles played by rural tourism in Italy and Kazakhstan. The theoretical novelty of the research is that it conceptualizes tourism resource mobilization strategies as a result of the historical and emerging knowledge structures. It was found that while both geographical and ethno-cultural resources form the basis for rural tourism development, knowledge structures play a critical role in setting both the interpretative and institutional frames defining rural tourism forms and directions of development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper disregards the legal and social dilemmas about work - which have emerged in the context of risk society - as these are aspects decision-makers, scholars and legal experts will soon be faced with. Rather, this paper will examine a more specific - though just as important - methodological issue, which considers how legal rationality is conceived in new modernity when used to deal with work-related issues, irrespective of the framework adopted for analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The pandemic and the digital revolution are changing the global geopolitical landscape. The dispersion of power linked to the new digital decision-making centers is accompanied by a fragmentation of the traditional system of power in the international geopolitical arena. In this scenario, it is difficult to identify who is in charge of sovereignty and governance. A glocal perspective would suggest continuing to look at States, but also at local political entities, such as cities, and super-national cultural identities, such as global civilizations. It is a solution that could allow Italy, and other countries, to avoid what John Agnew called the territorial trap that would push the world system into giving national answers to the growing number of global challenges. In the post-pandemic phase, Italy will face its most important test of resilience since the Second World War. This paper intends to investigate whether and in what terms the Italian State will be able to recognize and make use of the soft power of the Italic community and civilization as a new agent of glocal development. The digital revolution accelerated by the pandemic could in fact transform the digital space into the ideal place for the recognition and strengthening of the global network of Italics around the world. Italic is not simply a synonym for Italian. Italic is someone who appreciates and recognizes the charm of Italy. The Italic does not necessarily have a passport or an Italian bloodline; he can live in Italy or anywhere else. The way of life and the commonality of values is the glue that unites Italics and this can become a soft power of Italy, strengthening the Italian State internally and externally. We refer to that mix of culture, taste, style, quality craftsmanship, fashion, design, high-value manufacturing, electronics, robotics, avant-garde entrepreneurship and gastronomic excellence that gives life to a refined art of living well. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Considering the case study presented, the purpose of this paper is to analyse the impact of the pandemic in local services for homeless people. Drawing from the concept of ontological security, it will be discussed how different services' levels of "housing adequacy" shaped remarkably different experiences of the pandemic for homeless people and social workers in terms of health protection and agency. Design/methodology/approach: This paper focuses on a case study concerning homeless services for people during the COVID-19 pandemic in the metropolitan and suburban area of Turin, in Northern Italy. In-depth interviews with social workers and participant observation during online meetings of workers from the shelters constitute the empirical data that have been collected during the first wave of the pandemic in Italy. Findings: According to the findings, the pandemic showed shelters as unsafe places that reduce homeless people's decision power and separate them from the rest of the citizenship. Instead, Housing First projects emerged as imore inclusive and safermore inclusive and safer spaces, able to enhance people's power over their own lives. The pandemic did not create emerging issues in the homeless services system or discontinuities: rather, it amplified pre-existing problematic aspects. Originality/value: The case study presented provides empirical insights to recognise at the political and organisational level the importance of housing as a measure of individual and collective security, calling for an intervention to tackle homelessness in terms of housing policies rather than exclusively social and emergency treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The global outbreak of Corona virus (COVID-19) spread rapidly in early 2020. In the initial stages, Italy became the second-hardest hit country in the world, only after the US, despite aggressive containment efforts by the its government. The fatality rate was mainly high among old-age patients. The underlined response by the Italian government amid COVID-19 was the desperate need of the hour; and so far, the best method known to contain the threat of transmission is by social distancing, self-isolation, and a nationwide lockdown. The ongoing global crisis has caused a great strain on the socio-economic position of the country and pushed it further into a recession like many other countries across the globe. COVID-19 has not only damaged the Italian economy but has severely crippled its public healthcare system as well. Apart from studying the outbreak of COVID-19 in Italy, the paper examines the response of the Italian government when there was a spike in the number of cases. The paper then outlines the precautionary measures and actions taken by the government to contain the outbreak as well as study the socio-economic and psychological impact of COVID-19 on Italian population, and how one of the most advanced healthcare systems in the world failed to cope with the situation. Italy being the hardest hit European country, in addition to some others, was indeed one of the top frontline countries in Europe to take prominent action in containing it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 outbreak initiated from the Chinese city of Wuhan and eventually affected almost every nation around the globe. From China, the disease started spreading to the rest of the world. After China, Italy became the next epicentre of the virus and witnessed a very high death toll. Soon nations like the USA became severely hit by SARS-CoV-2 virus. The World Health Organisation, on 11th March 2020, declared COVID-19 a pandemic. To combat the epidemic, the nations from every corner of the world has instituted various policies like physical distancing, isolation of infected population and researching on the potential vaccine of SARS-CoV-2. To identify the impact of various policies implemented by the affected countries on the pandemic spread, a myriad of AI-based models have been presented to analyse and predict the epidemiological trends of COVID-19. In this work, the authors present a detailed study of different artificial intelligence frameworks applied for predictive analysis of COVID-19 patient record. The forecasting models acquire information from records to detect the pandemic spreading and thus enabling an opportunity to take immediate actions to reduce the spread of the virus. This paper addresses the research issues and corresponding solutions associated with the prediction and detection of infectious diseases like COVID-19. It further focuses on the study of vaccinations to cope with the pandemic. Finally, the research challenges in terms of data availability, reliability, the accuracy of the existing prediction models and other open issues are discussed to outline the future course of this study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the effects of the pandemic on corruption and mismanagement in Italy, a country where the Covid-19 crisis is supposed to have significantly increased the risk of corruption. It proposes a novel operationalization of safeguards for accountability that are attached to the disbursement of recovery funds. Emergency law decrees and their implementing acts have been coded to assess whether the discretion in the allocation of recovery funds has been constrained by transparency requirements and enforcement provisions. Findings reveal that safeguards for accountability have been strengthened over time but that they have followed various patterns across recovery measures targeting businesses and people. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: COVID-19 pandemic negatively influenced the entire life globally including various aspects of patients' care. Its effect on medical research production is not known. The aim of this study is to assess the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on medical research reporting trend. Methods: Advanced search on PubMed was performed over 2011- August, 2021. Monthly comparison was done for the years 2019, 2020, and 2021. Kruskal Wallis test was used to compare continuous distributions. Results: The total publication count showed constant increment over the study period. Faster rise was noticed on 2020 (15.7%). A steady growth in publications over the years and through the pandemic was also seen in seven studied countries with variable, both in total and also after exclusion of COVID-19 related papers. Italy and India have the highest proportions of COVID-19 related publications in comparison to the total papers in 2020, but USA has the highest quantity. Statistically significant differences exist between the first eight months of the last three years with and without counting COVID-19 related publications (p-values=0.0003907 and 0.001084, respectively). Conclusion: Our results reflect that investigators world-wide succeeded to reconfigure their work style and utilize the spared time induced by the lockdown to enrich the medical research platform. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a form of education, distance learning currently shows great promise and the role of online libraries in delivering off-campus information services increases. This paper presents a comparative analysis of measures undertaken by traditional academic libraries in China and Italy in response to pandemic restrictions on educational operations during the lockdown period. The study utilized a specially developed questionnaire, carried out through an online survey, as a means of collecting data from library users (students and teachers). The study population includes 102 random library patrons, including 64 students and 38 teachers who were using services of academic libraries in China at the time. Through comparison with other studies, the quarantine responses of Chinese libraries were identified. The results of the study show that COVID-19 responses of libraries in China went in a direction similar to those in Italy, but the final decisions varied because of different levels of technological development. This knowledge may be used by libraries to identify areas for improvement. The results show that Chinese libraries were more effective in overcoming quarantine restrictions than those in Italy. The overwhelming majority of respondents reported that they had positive experience learning remotely and would not mind if distance learning programs continue to function after the pandemic is over. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to analyse the use of Catholic miraculous images during the Covid-19 pandemic in Italy, focusing on the ways in which they have been used and the related rituals performed, especially involving movement, temporality, and nature. I take a multidisciplinary approach, based on a historical perspective, but enriched by the strong influence of anthropology and semiotics. An interesting focus emerges on the devotional practices, both online and, when possible, in presence, in which the miraculous power of historical images is rediscovered and sometimes re-elaborated in light of contemporary sensibilities. At the same time, the rituals performed by clergy constitute a complex negotiation, with the aim of imploring the miraculous power of the supernatural helper that the image represents. The devotees' idea of a miraculous power involved in the image is itself part of the representation of their power. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The novel coronavirus disease is an ongoing pandemic that started in China in December 2019. This paper is aimed at estimating the first two infections waves in Italy in relation to adopted health policies. Design and methods: We moved deaths of the Italian COVID-19 registry from recorded to infection date by the weighted moving average. We considered two infection fatality ratios related to the effective or saturated health system, we estimated the likely incidence curve from the resulting deaths and evaluated the curve shape before and after the national health policies. Results: From the 24th of February 2020 to the 7th of February 2021, we estimated 6,664,655 (4,639,221-9,325,138) cases distributed on two waves. Suitable daily infection fatality rates were 2.53% within the first wave and 1.15% within the second one. The first wave (February-July 2020) had its peak on the 14th of March 2020 (26,575). The second wave (August 2020-February 2021) was fatter with the peak on the 12th of November (60,425) and a hump in December before decreasing to 26,288 at the end. Adopted health policies were followed by changes in the curve rate. Conclusions: Tracing infection contacts and quarantining asymptomatic people reduced virus lethality in the second wave. Restriction on population mobility is effective within a suppression strategy, distance learning reduces contacts among families. Removal of restrictions should be implemented by sequential steps for avoiding a quick rising of incident cases. A reasonable public health daily goal to control both virus spread and lethality could be to find at least 87 cases for each death. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Copyright of Form@re is the property of Firenze University Press and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Evidence is accumulating of the negative impact of the COVID‐19 pandemic and related public health measures on mental health. In this emergent field, there has been little research into the role of risk perception on depressive symptoms and the contribution of health‐care resources to model risk perception and mental health. The aim of this paper is to describe the relationship between individual‐level perception of risk and depression, controlling for a set of confounders and for country‐level heterogeneity. A cross‐sectional and observational online survey was conducted using a non‐probability snowball sampling technique. We use data on 11,340 respondents, living in six European countries (Italy, Sweden, United Kingdom, France, Poland, Czech Republic) who completed survey questionnaires during the first months of the pandemic. We used a fixed‐effect approach, which included individual and macro‐level variables. The findings suggest that a high proportion of people suffering from depression and heightened risk perception is positively associated with reporting depressive symptoms, even if this relationship varies significantly between countries. Moreover, the association is moderated by contextual factors including health‐care expenditure as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product, hospital beds for acute care, and number of medical specialists per head of population. Investment in health care offers a concrete means of protecting the mental health of a population living under pandemic restrictions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Persons with intellectual disability and/or low-functioning autism spectrum didorder are with high support need (ID/ASD-HSN) are among the people who are most vulnerable to the COVID-19 pandemic. The specific vulnerability and the protective factors for persons with ID/LF-ASD attending residential and rehabilitative facilities have however received little attention. This paper aims to describe how two facilities located in the Italian COVID-19 red zone faced the risks associated with the spread of the pandemic and the results they have achieved so far. Design/methodology/approach: Interventions to contrast the spread of the pandemic and preserve clients' health conditions have been systematically monitored and recorded since the very beginning of the pandemic. Findings: 26/138 clients had to undergo clinical screening and laboratory tests for COVID-like symptomatology, but only one resulted affected by COVID-19 and survived. Considering that Lombardy had 89,595 cases and 16,262 deaths (January–May 2020), one COVID-19 case/138 clients is a good result. Temporarily limiting physical contacts with friends/family in favor of reducing the burden of risk and adopting a system of prevention/safety strategies directed for persons with ID/LF-ASD attending and their caregivers have been useful measures. Research limitations/implications: Structured or semi-structured interviews (using professional caregivers as informant) to confirm behavioral and emotional changes in the clients could not be carried out because of lack of time and resources (which were captured by the management of the pandemic) and could be the next goal for our residential facilities to implement the management of epidemic acute phases in a research-oriented view. Originality/value: This study is a service evaluation report about facing COVID-19 pandemic. Only few such studies are present in medical literature about ID/ASD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic, due to its exceptional level of impact on the populations of the richest and most technologically advanced nations—which are experiencing unprecedented widespread mortality, fear, and social isolation—and due to the considerable difficulties faced by health services in coping with the emergency and the uncertainty regarding the evolution of the pandemic and its foreseeable heavy economic repercussions on a global scale, requires a change in the approach to the prevention and treatment of the infection based on the integration of biomedical and psychological sciences and professions. A survey of the Italian pandemic population, the results of which we report here, shows a widespread state of psychological distress, which, based on decades of scientific and clinical evidence on the relationship between mental states and immune system efficiency that we summarize in this paper, plausibly weakens the resistance of individuals and the population to SARS-CoV-2 infection. Italy can deploy a great force, represented by tens of thousands of psychologists and psychotherapists, who, as health workers, could be employed, alongside local and hospital medicine, in primary care and in promoting the resilience of citizens and health workers themselves, who are subject to a deadly work stress that also includes a widespread threat to their lives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Coronavirus Pandemic (COVID-19) has a significant impact on countries around the world and many states have introduced restrictions to transport. This includes keeping essential transport moving, for example to transport medical supplies and other essential goods. Many countries have closed their borders and imposed curfews in sharp reductions in transport demand also on regional and continental level. Public transport but also shared mobility services are vectors for distribution of the virus, on the other hand, they are severely impacted by travel bans and individual concerns in order to avoid public gatherings leading to reduced travel and transport demand. Different countries have dealt with these challenging circumstances in different ways - and, in some cases, the directives vary from city to city. Cities in developing countries and emerging economies face bigger challenges than ever before. At the beginning of the Coronavirus Pandemic (COVID-19) google maps started to collect detailed statistics on the movement of people using location data from mobile devices. The paper analyzes the data obtained and shows the results for various areas of movement such as shops, recreation areas, parks, public transport and other. A comparison was made of the collected data in the Republic of Croatia, which had a solid measures, Italian Republic which had many affected during the pandemic and Kingdom of Sweden which had very mild measures during a pandemic. Therefore, a study was made on how measures affected the mobility of people in individual countries with different measures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: To date, very few nationwide studies addressing the way in which mental health services are addressing the current pandemics have been published. The present paper reports data obtained from a survey relating to the Italian mental health system conducted during the first phase of the Covid-19 epidemic. Methods: Two online questionnaires regarding Community Mental Health Centres (CMHC) and General Hospital Psychiatric Wards (GHPW), respectively, were sent to the Heads of all Italian Mental Health Departments (MHDs). Statistical analysis was carried out by means of Chi Square test with Yates correction or the Fisher Exact test, as needed. Results: Seventy-one (52.9%) of the 134 MHDs and 107 (32.6%) of the 318 GHPWs returned completed questionnaires. Less than 20% of CMHCs were closed and approx. 25% had introduced restricted access hours. A substantial change in the standard mode of operation in CMHCs was reported with only urgent psychiatric interventions, compulsory treatments and consultations for imprisoned people continuing unchanged. All other activities had been reduced to some extent. Remote contacts with users had been set up in about 75% of cases. Cases of COVID positivity were reported for both staff members (approx. 50% of CHMCs) and service users (52% of CHMCs). 20% of CMHCs reported cases of increased aggressiveness or violence among community patients, although only 8.6% relating to severe cases. Significant problems emerged with regard to the availability of personal protective equipment (PPE) for staff members. A reduced number of GHPWs (− 12%), beds (approx.-30%) and admissions were registered (87% of GHPWs). An increase in compulsory admissions and the rate of violence towards self or others among inpatients was reported by 8% of GHPWs. Patient swabs were carried out in 50% of GHPWs. 60% of GHPWs registered the admission to general COVID-19 Units of symptomatic COVID+ non-severe psychiatric patients whilst COVID+ severe psychiatric patients who were non-collaborative were admitted to specifically set up "COVID-19" GHPWs or to isolated areas of the wards purposely adapted for the scope. Conclusions: The pandemic has led to a drastic reduction in levels of care, which may produce a severe impact on the mental health of the population in relation to the consequences of the expected economic crisis and of the second ongoing wave of the pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Often in the past, the great disasters (environmental calamities, earthquakes, epidemics) activated unexpressed energies, triggering transformations of the built environment, able to give rise to unexpected conditions of economic, cultural and social development. The fragility of settlement systems in the face of unexpected threats brings out the need for a new planning, changing our gaze on the city. The new framework of needs drawn by the pandemic and the renewed sensitivity towards the combination of health - sustainability rekindle the spotlight on inner areas. These emerged as "reservoirs of resilience", areas to look at, in order to reach an eco-systemic balance. The aim of the paper is to return an experience of adaptive reuse of the Historical Urban Landscape in an inner area of Southern Italy, where the needs of health and safety of the community are integrated with the transmission of the built heritage to future generations. The goal is the promotion of inclusive prosperity scenarios, towards the so-called "new normality". Starting from an in-depth literature review on the cases of pandemics in history and the strategies implemented, the research identifies health security requirements at the scale of the Historic Urban Landscape and design solutions aimed at reactivating lost synergies between communities and places. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper I discuss the ethical justifiability of the limitation of freedom of movement, in particular of the ban on running outdoors, enforced in Italy as a response to the COVID-19 outbreak in the spring of 2020. I argue that through the lens of public health ethics literature, the ban on running falls short of the criterion of proportionality that public health ethics scholars and international guidelines for the ethical management of infectious disease outbreak recommend for any measure that restricts essential individual freedoms, such as the freedom of movement. The public health ethics framework, however, falls short of explaining the widespread public support that the running ban has had in Italy. I discuss possible factors which could explain the public support for the ban in Italy. Finally, I raise the question of what societal implications the abandonment of the public health ethics framework based on proportionality might have. I conclude that if it is the case, as the history of pandemics teaches us, we will experience further waves of COVID-19 outbreaks, it becomes very important to raise these questions now, with an eye towards informing public health policies for the management of future COVID-19 outbreaks. This discussion should not become politicized along the lines of liberal pro-lockdown/conservative anti-lockdown. Instead, we should reflect on the trade-offs of lockdown policies according to a pluralist framework, in which COVID-19 related deaths are not the only possible value to pursue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: COVID‐19 outbreak prompted health centres to reorganize their clinical and surgical activity. In this paper, we show how medical genetics department's activity, in our tertiary pediatric hospital, has changed due to pandemic. Methods: We stratified all our scheduled visits, from March 9th through April 30th, and assessed case‐by‐case which genetic consultations should be maintained as face‐to‐face visit, or postponed/switched to telemedicine. Results: Out of 288 scheduled appointments, 60 were prenatal consultations and 228 were postnatal visits. We performed most of prenatal consultations as face‐to‐face visits, as women would have been present in the hospital to perform other procedures in addition to our consult. As for postnatal care, we suspended all outpatient first visits and opted for telemedicine for selected follow‐up consultations: interestingly, 75% of our patients' parents revealed that they would have cancelled the appointment themselves for the fear to contract an infection. Conclusions: Spread of COVID‐19 in Italy forced us to change our working habits. Given the necessity to optimize healthcare resources and minimize the risk of in‐hospital infections, we experienced the benefits of telegenetics. Current pandemic made us familiar with telemedicine, laying the foundations for its application to deal with the increasing number of requests in clinical genetics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Overview of bladder cancer (BC) management in Italy during the first month of the COVID-19 pandemic (March 2020) with head to head comparison of the data from March 2019, considered “usual activity” period. The aim is to analyze performance of different Italian Centers in North, Center and South, with a special eye for Lombardy (the Italian epicenter). Patients and methods: During April 2020, a survey containing 14 multiple-choice questions focused on general staffing and surgical activity related to BC during the months of March 2019 and March 2020 was sent to 32 Italian Centers. Statistical analysis was performed using IBM SPSS Statistics (v26) software. A Medline search was performed, in order to attempt a comparative analysis with published papers. Results: 28 Centers answered, for a response rate of 87.5%. Most of the urology staff in the Lombardy region were employed in COVID wards (p = 0.003), with a statistically significant reduction in the number of radical cystectomies (RC) performed during that time (p = 0.036). The total amount of RC across Italy remained the same between 2019 and 2020, however there was an increase in the number of surgeries performed in the Southern region. This was most likely due to travel restrictions limiting travel the North. The number of Trans-Urethral Resection of Bladder Tumors (TURBT) (p = 0.046) was higher in Academic Centers (AC) in 2020 (p = 0.037). Conclusions: The data of our survey, although limited, represents a snap shot of the management of BC during the first month of the COVD-19 pandemic, which posed a major challenge for cancer centers seeking to provide care during an extremely dynamic clinical and political situation which requires maximum flexibility to be appropriately managed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Three months into the Covid-19 crisis, lockdown has become a global response to the pandemic. Why have so many countries resorted to lockdown? How is it being implemented in different places? Why have some places had more success with lockdowns and others not? What does the effectiveness of lockdowns tell us about the local institutions entrusted with enforcing them? This paper compares how lockdown orders have been implemented in China, Italy, and the U.S. The analysis points to two major factors that have shaped the enforcement: tensions between national and local governments, and the strength of local territorial institutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, Italy was one of the worst-affected European countries. The rapid surge of cases and the limited capacity of intensive care unit departments have posed a serious threat to the Italian national health system. In this paper we describe the first response and the main measures carried by Italian policy makers, as coordinated by a governmental committee of public health experts, which have succeeded in preventing the pandemic from turning into a disaster. Early closure of the school, quarantine measures and lockdown were put in place and the response of the population has been good overall. Despite the Italian health care system of universal coverage is considered the second-best in the world, during phase 1, the Italian decentralisation and fragmentation of health services probably restricted timely interventions and effectiveness. In northern Italy, Lombardy, Emilia Romagna, Piedmont, and Veneto, which reported most of the Italian cases, carried out different strategies against COVID-19, with great differences in testing, quarantine, and public health procedures. The improvement of the epidemiological situation has allowed an easing of the restrictive measures, with a progressive restarting of work activities. The government and technical-scientific bodies have prepared health strategies to support a possible second epidemic wave in the autumn. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Two Homelands / Dve Domovini is the property of Scientific Research Centre of Slovenian Academy of Sciences & Arts and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This study contributes to the growing strand of research on the repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic. The home confinement imposed as part of nationwide movement restrictions in many countries represents an exceptional setting for the study of intimate relationships. Did the lockdown reduce partnership quality among couples? In this study, we present some descriptive findings based on an online survey conducted during the first phase of the COVID-19 pandemic in France, Italy and Spain. Around 12% of those interviewed in the three countries reported that their relationship with their partner had worsened during the lockdown and about 2.5% intended to split up. In addition, we show that negative emotions - such as feeling lonely - and deterioration of income/work conditions are associated with a worsening of partnership quality. In all, we suggest that couples and intimate relationships have been sensitive to the lockdown, at least in Italy, France, and Spain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To evaluate the impact of an e-learning online event, created for supporting resident's training during the slowdown of surgical and clinical activities caused by COVID-19 pandemic. An overview of PubMed literature depicting the state of the art of urology residency in the COVID-19 era was performed as well, to contextualize the issue. Methods: An online learning event for residents was set up at the beginning of the pandemic; the faculty consisted of experts in urology who provided on-line lectures and videos on surgical anatomy, procedures, updates in guidelines, technology, training. The audience was composed of 30–500 attendees from Italy, USA, India and Belgium. A questionnaire to analyze relevance, satisfaction and popularity of the lessons was mailed to 30 local residents. Results and limitations: Almost all residents defined the web environment suitable to achieve the learning outcomes; the method, the number and the competence of the faculty were appropriate/excellent. Most of the younger residents (81.8%) stated their surgical knowledge would improve after the course; 72.7% declared they would take advantage into routine inpatients clinical activity. Nineteen more expert residents agreed that the course would improve their surgical knowledge and enhance their practical skills; almost all stated that the initiative would change their outpatients and inpatients practice. Overall, 44 articles available in PubMed have addressed the concern of urological learning and training during the pandemic from different standpoints; four of them considered residents' general perception towards web-based learning programs. Conclusions: The paper confirms residents' satisfaction with e-learning methods and, to our knowledge, is the first one focusing on a specific event promptly settled up at the beginning of the outbreak. Web-based educational experience developed during the pandemic may represent the very basis for the implementation of prospective on-site training and overall scientific update of future urologists. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The pandemic period gave rise to numerous memes in response to online audiences. In this article, the authors analyze the corpus of memes of Italian and Russian language media content during the 2020 pandemic from the perspective of a sociolinguistic approach, identifying the most significant groups of memes-markers as a response to the network audience involvement. The authors point out the ability to spread and maintain a stable form as an important component of these memes, as well as the emotional and phatic functions of a meme in the sociocultural space of the Internet community in Italy and Russia. Emerging in the media space and reproduced through reposting, memes have become a sociocultural phenomenon and can manage information flows. Besides, thanks to the halo of mass coverage, entertaining character, and affinity to the emotions of the addressee, the meme reflects the opinion of many users and does not need the category of authorship. It makes no difference whether a meme is a picture or has only a verbal component, and it is essential to be recognized in any of the many variations. At the same time, if the created meme has gained popularity and has become entrenched in the virtual environment, it can later form a way of realizing urgent needs or suppressing some trends while strengthening others. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To understand how COVID-19 pandemic has changed radiology research in Italy. A questionnaire (n = 19 questions) was sent to all members of the Italian Society of Radiology two months after the first Italian national lockdown was lifted. A total of 327 Italian radiologists took part in the survey (mean age: 49 ± 12 years). After national lockdown, the working-flow came back to normal in the vast majority of cases (285/327, 87.2%). Participants reported that a total of 462 radiological trials were recruiting patients at their institutions prior to COVID-19 outbreak, of which 332 (71.9%) were stopped during the emergency. On the other hand, 252 radiological trials have been started during the pandemic, of which 156 were non-COVID-19 trials (61.9%) and 96 were focused on COVID-19 patients (38.2%). The majority of radiologists surveyed (61.5%) do not conduct research. Of the radiologists who carried on research activities, participants reported a significant increase of the number of hours per week spent for research purposes during national lockdown (mean 4.5 ± 8.9 h during lockdown vs. 3.3 ± 6.8 h before lockdown; p =.046), followed by a significant drop after the lockdown was lifted (3.2 ± 6.5 h per week, p =.035). During national lockdown, 15.6% of participants started new review articles and completed old papers, 14.1% completed old works, and 8.9% started new review articles. Ninety-six surveyed radiologists (29.3%) declared to have submitted at least one article during COVID-19 emergency. This study shows the need to support radiology research in challenging scenarios like COVID-19 emergency. • COVID-19 outbreak drastically impacted on Italian radiological research. • Most ongoing radiological trials have been stopped during the first national lockdown. • Italian radiologists spent even more time on radiology research during the lockdown. • Many COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 trials have been pushed forward during the lockdown. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Endometrial cancer represents an ideal target to evaluate the impact of COVID-19 being the most frequent gynecological malignancy in Italy, generally detected at early stages and correlated with favorable oncological outcomes. The present comparative retrospective study carried out at Campus Bio-medico University Foundation in Rome aims to evaluate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the presentation, diagnosis and treatment of EC. All women with a histological diagnosis of non-endometrioid and endometrioid endometrial cancer between 1 March 2018 and 31 October 2022 were included. The number of cases was higher in period 2 (95 vs. 64 cases). Time to diagnosis did not show statistically significant differences but in period 2, 92.06% of the diagnoses were made following abnormal uterine bleeding, while in period 1, only 67.02% were. The waiting time for the intervention was significantly shorter in period 2. Definitive histology, FIGO staging, surgical technique and adjuvant therapy did not show significant differences between the two periods. The study demonstrates that the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic did not have a direct effect on the diagnostic delay, tumor staging and type of therapy but rather on the presentation pattern of endometrial cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is aimed to point out the current state of the COVID-19 pandemics in Italy. Currently, COVID-19 is an international crisis and all the continents have recorded a certain number of cases to date. After the first report of such infectious threat in China, the disease has progressively widespread thorough the world, and all the countries have attempted to point out specific protocols and therapies to face this new, unknown condition. The authors report an overview of how the Italian health service is facing this crisis after two months from the first internal reported cases. At last, special considerations highlight the non-sanitary issues of COVID-19 outbreak in Italy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Recent studies have raised the issue of delayed cancer care during the COVID-19 pandemic, but the extent of delays and cancellations in cancer treatment, screening and diagnosis varied widely by geographic region and study design, highlighting the need for further research. Methods: We used the Oncology Dynamics (OD) database featuring data from a cross-sectional, partially retrospective survey to analyze treatment delays in 30,171 GI cancer patients from five European countries (Germany, France, UK, Spain, and Italy). Risk factors for treatment delays were identified using multivariable logistic regression models. Results: Treatment delays were documented in 1342 (4.5%) of the study patients, with most patients having a delay of less than 3 months (3.2%). We observed decisive differences of treatment delay in relation to geographical, healthcare- and patient-related factors. Treatment delay was highest in France (6.7%) and Italy (6.5%) and lowest in Spain (1.9%, p < 0.001). 5.9% of patients treated at general hospitals but only 1.9% of those treated by office-based physicians experienced treatment delays (p < 0.001). Moreover, the difference between lines of therapy was highly significant and ranged from 7.2% for early-stage patients in primary therapy to 2.6% in advanced/metastatic cancer patients receiving 4th or later line therapy (p < 0.001). Finally, the proportion of cases with delayed treatments increased from 3.5% in asymptomatic patients (ECOG 0) to 9.9% in bedridden patients (ECOG IV, p < 0.001). Results were confirmed in multivariable logistic regression models. Summary: Our data highlight the problem of delayed treatment of tumor patients in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Identified risk factors for delayed treatment, such as poor general health or treatment in smaller hospitals, offer starting points for future concepts of "pandemic preparedness". [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic has had a considerable impact on the psychological and psychopathological status of the population and health care workers in terms of insomnia, anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder. The primary aim of this study was to describe and evaluate the impact of the pandemic on insomnia levels of a cohort of Italian nurses, particularly those involved in the care of COVID-19 patients. The secondary aim was to identify the interaction between insomnia and hardiness, anxiety, and sleep disturbances. Materials and Methods: A descriptive–exploratory study was conducted using an online survey during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic (March to July 2020). The questionnaire consisted of multiple-choice, open-ended, closed, and semi-closed questions. The psychometric tools administered were the Dispositional Resilience Scale (DRS-15), the State–Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI-Y), and the Insomnia Severity Index (ISI). Results: a cohort of 1167 nurses fully completed the questionnaire (86.2% of total respondents). The insomnia scale survey showed an increase in post-pandemic scores compared to those before the pandemic, implying that insomnia levels increased after the first pandemic wave. Insomnia scores were directly correlated with anxiety levels (r = 0.571; p ≤ 0.05) and inversely correlated with hardiness levels (r = −0.324; p < 0.001). Multivariate analysis revealed the following protective factors: not having worked in COVID-19 wards, high levels of hardiness (commitment), and the presence of high pre-pandemic insomnia disorder. The main risk factor for insomnia reported in the analysis was a high anxiety score. Discussion and Conclusion: Anxiety represented the main risk factor for insomnia severity in our sample, while hardiness was confirmed as a protective factor. Thus, it is necessary to design further studies to identify additional risk factors for poor sleep quality and to develop educational courses and strategies aimed at enhancing rest and sleep quality, especially for frontline nurses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

On January 30, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the status of pandemic due to the COVID-19 infection. The initial phases of the pandemic were characterized by uncertainty and public fears. In order to cope with such unexpected conditions, people adopted different coping strategies, including search for information, accessing Internet, and using social media. The present study based on the COMET collaborative research network aims to: (1) assess use of Internet and of social media among the Italian general population; (2) explore differences in web usage between people with pre-existing mental disorders and the general population; (3) identify changes over time in social media usage along the phase 1 of the pandemic; (4) identify the clinical, socio-demographic and contextual predictors of excessive use of social media. A significant increase in time spent on Internet, with an average time of 4.8 ± 0.02 h per day, was found in the global sample of 20,720 participants. Compared with the general population, Internet use was significantly higher in people with pre-existing mental disorders (5.2 ± 0.1 h vs. 4.9 ± 0.02; p < 0.005). According to the multivariate logistic regression model, the risk of excessive use of social media and Internet was significantly higher in people with moderate levels of depressive symptoms (OR: 1.26, CI 95%: 0.99 to 1.59, p < 0.0.005); while protective factors were being students (OR: 0.72, CI 95%: 0.53 to 0.96, p < 0.0029) and living in central Italy (OR: 0.46, CI 95%: 0.23 to 0.90, p < 0.002). The evaluation of social media and Internet use by the general population represents a first step for developing specific protective and supportive interventions for the general population, including practical suggestions on how to safely use Internet and social media. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study investigated the effects of the first COVID-19 lockdown on the Cultural and Social Capitals in Italy in a large group of adults (n = 1125). The relationships between the COVID-19 spread and participants' Cultural Capital, Social Capital, educational level, occupational prestige, and age were studied using structural equation models. For women but not for men, pandemic spread was positively affected by occupational prestige and it had a positive relationship with their Social Capital (women: CFI = 0.949; RMSEA = 0.059 [CI = 0.045-0.075]; men: CFI = 0.959; RMSEA = 0.064 [CI = 0.039–0.087]). Moreover, the participants were divided into three validated clusters based on their Cultural and Social Capitals levels to investigate changes in the Capitals compared with the pre-lockdown period. It was found that the lockdown contributed to improving the gap among individuals increasing high levels and decreasing low levels of both the Capitals. People with high Cultural and Social Capitals seemed to have seized the opportunity given by COVID-19 restrictions to cultivate their cultural interests and become more involved within their networks. In contrast, individuals with low Cultural and Social Capitals paid the highest price for the social isolation. Given that the Capitals encourage healthy behavior and influence well-being and mental health, institutions should develop or improve their policies and practices to foster individual resources, and make fairer opportunities available during the pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A mathematical model is developed for COVID-19 pandemic. • The parameters of the model are estimated using basis functions. • It's possible to fit the model to real data by time-varying estimation of parameters. • The time-varying parameters result in COVID-19 Linear Parameter Varying (LPV) model. • The LPV model is useful for stability assessment and controller design. Current outbreaks of the COIVD-19 pandemic demonstrate a global threat. In this paper, a conceptual model is developed for the COVID-19 pandemic, in which the people in society are divided into Susceptible, Exposed, Minor infected (Those who need to be quarantined at home), Hospitalized (Those who are in need of hospitalization), Intensive infected (ventilator-in-need infected), Recovered and Deceased. In this paper, first, the model that is briefly called SEMHIRD for a sample country (Italy as an example) is considered. Then, exploiting the real data of the country, the parameters of the model are obtained by assuming some basis functions on the collected data and solving linear least square problems in each window of data to estimate the time-varying parameters of the model. Thus, the parameters are updated every few days, and the system behavior is modeled according to the changes in the parameters. Then, the Linear Parameter Varying (LPV) Model of COVID19 is derived, and its stability analysis is presented. In the end, the influence of different levels of social distancing and quarantine on the variation of severely infected and hospitalized people is studied. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims and Objectives: To evaluate the impact of the professional transition of new graduate nurses during the COVID‐19 pandemic. Background: The transition from the role of student to the professional role can be challenging for new graduate nurses for the acquisition of higher autonomy and responsibility. The COVID‐19 pandemic impacted the quality of the professional transition. Design: This was a cross‐sectional observational study following the Strengthening and Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology checklist. Methods: One hundred and two nurses who graduated in three consecutive sessions (November 2019—pre‐pandemic, March 2020—pandemic outbreak, and November 2020—2nd wave) in a north Italian university located in the most affected Italian region by the COVID‐19 pandemic, completed an online survey assessing well‐being, risk of burnout, resilience, perceived stigma, strengths and limitations and quality of the professional transition. The study was performed between March and May 2021. Results: 81.4% of participants described the professional transition as worse than expected, and new graduate nurses who worked in COVID‐19 settings reported a more difficult transition to professional life. No differences emerged in burnout, mental well‐being and perceived stigma between new graduate nurses who worked in COVID‐19 settings and those who did not. Similarly, no differences emerged amongst the three graduated cohort sessions. The most commonly mentioned challenges faced during the transition were organisational aspects, suddenly acquired autonomy and lack of suitable coaching. Conclusion: New graduate nurses reported a challenging academic‐professional transition, in particular, those who worked in COVID‐19 settings. The mid‐ and long‐term impact of experiencing an academic‐professional transition in COVID‐19 settings should be assessed and monitored. Relevance to clinical practice: The professional transition of new graduate students should be adequately planned and monitored, new graduates should be assisted to develop realistic expectations about the transition, and an adequate coaching period should be guaranteed all the more during health emergencies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: During the CoronaVIrus-19 (COVID-19) pandemic, nursing education has been dramatically transformed and shaped according to the restrictions imposed by national rules. Restoring educational activities as delivered in the pre-pandemic era without making a critical evaluation of the transformations implemented, may sacrifice the extraordinary learning opportunity that this event has offered. The aim of this study was to identify a set of recommendations that can guide the Italian nursing education to move forward in the post-pandemic era. Methods: A qualitative descriptive design was undertaken in 2022–2023 and reported here according to the COnsolidated criteria for REporting Qualitative research guidelines. A network was established of nine Italian universities offering a bachelor's degree in nursing for a total of 6135 students. A purposeful sample of 37 Faculty Members, 28 Clinical Nurse Educators and 65 Students/new graduates were involved. A data collection was conducted with a form including open-ended questions concerning which transformations in nursing education had been implemented during the pandemic, which of these should be maintained and valued, and what recommendations should address the transition of nursing education in the post-pandemic era. Results: Nine main recommendations embodying 18 specific recommendations have emerged, all transversally influenced by the role of the digital transformation, as a complementary and strengthening strategy for face-to-face teaching. The findings also suggest the need to rethink clinical rotations and their supervision models, to refocus the clinical learning aims, to pay attention towards the student community and its social needs, and to define a pandemic educational plan to be ready for unexpected, but possible, future events. Conclusions: A multidimensional set of recommendations emerged, shaping a strategic map of action, where the main message is the need to rethink the whole nursing education, where digitalization is embodied. Preparing and moving nursing education forward by following the emerged recommendations may promote common standards of education and create the basis on for how to deal with future pandemic/catastrophic events by making ready and prepared the educational systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While at first the fear of COVID-19 disease spread was limited by the fact that the pandemic appeared to be confined to China, the growing emergency in Italy and the rapid escalation in positive cases and deaths have made the threat of this disease a national as well as global phenomenon. In the present research, a questionnaire was collected both before (n = 396) and during (n = 250) the outbreak of the pandemic in Italy. The aim of the research was to analyze the possible mediation of binding moral foundations on the relationship between concerns over COVID-19 and prejudice vis-à-vis immigrants. As hypothesized, the results show that concerns over COVID-19 increased greatly after the start of the Italian pandemic. Moreover, both before and during the pandemic, the relationship between concerns over COVID-19 and prejudice toward immigrants is mediated by binding moral foundations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Several factors might affect outdoor play (individual and family aspects, neighbourhood environment, policy and socio-cultural factors). The Covid-19 lockdowns became a barrier to outdoor play and had a greater impact on children with disabilities. This study describes the outdoor activities and play and the contextual factors that affected them in 4- to 13-year-old children with and without disabilities. 1,667 parents answered an online questionnaire with both open-ended and close-ended questions during the first lockdown in Ireland and Italy in 2020. Parents perceived their children as being unable to play outside as they could before Covid-19. The built environment impacted children's access to outdoor spaces. A content analysis was run on the parents' responses to open-ended questions describing children's outdoor activities and play, and the contextual factors affecting them. Results showed that the active role of adults in organising routines, spaces and introducing changes, and the existing features of the outdoor built environment were crucial to support outdoor play. Comparing the contextual factors supporting outdoor play and activities of children with and without disabilities, the main difference concerned the type of role played by the adults. Some differences due to age, gender and nationality were also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic caused abrupt and profound changes to teaching and learning. The present study seeks to understand adolescents' experiences of the emergency adoption of online school learning (OSL) during the first national lockdown in Italy. Sixty-four students in their final two years of high school were interviewed and content analysis was performed. The findings describe students' views of the changes related to OSL according to structural, individual and relational dimensions. Schools' lack of organization, overwhelming demands, as well as experience of difficulties in concentration, stress and inhibited relationships with teachers and classmates were among the challenges evidenced in the transition. OSL, however, has also made it possible to experience a new flexibility and autonomy in the organization of learning. The study stresses the importance of fostering adaptation of teacher-student relationships and collaborative learning in order to improve schools' preparedness for digital transitions in and out of emergencies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Carsharing, as an innovative mobility option, can potentially support the urban transition towards a more sustainable mobility system and achieving sustainable development goals. This short communication aims at providing the status of carsharing services in Italy, with a focus on Turin, before and after the COVID-19 pandemic. In this regard, an overview of the role of carsharing in urban traffic is provided. Then, carsharing services in Italy before and after the pandemic are mapped. Accordingly, the implications of the pandemic outbreak for carsharing services are discussed. The provided insights confirm that although carsharing services have been affected by the pandemic, even after returning to normal life, the usage of carsharing is still far below its pre-pandemic level in Italy. Finally, to support sustainable mobility and incentivize using shared mobility services, a research agenda for further research is proposed, targeting the research gaps regarding (i) the factors leading to lower usage of carsharing after the pandemic, (ii) potential solutions and policies to support carsharing services return to their pre-pandemic level and exceeding it, and (iii) examining the impact of provided supports by governments during the pandemic, such as bonuses for purchasing bikes and scooters, on the adoption of carsharing services for the post-pandemic era. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Given the importance of perceived susceptibility to a disease in adopting preventive behaviors, and the negative impact of optimism bias on prevention, this paper aimed to explore to what extent comparative optimism bias (understood as the tendency to assess a lower probability for oneself to experience negative health events compared to others) is present in the specific context of the Covid-19 pandemic, in two countries with different profiles in terms of the spread of the disease: Italy and Romania. After identifying optimism bias in both countries, we tested whether it depends on respondents' characteristics like gender, age, education, health status and whether or not they have the opportunity to work from home. We surveyed 1126 Romanians and 742 Italians, and found that optimism bias depends on self-reported health status, and that optimism bias increases with age. Inconclusive evidences were found regarding gender and education level, as well as the option to work from home. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Covid-19 pandemic represented a critical conjuncture for investigating the nexus between ecological and labor struggles. To grasp this nexus, the authors reinterpret the concept of ecoprecarity. Ecoprecarity considers precariousness from an ecosystemic perspective to describe the vulnerabilities of working relations, human existence and ecological balance. The analysis focuses on whether and how ecoprecarity was discursively represented by trade unions and grassroots organizations in labor struggles during the pandemic. Through the observation of two case studies in Italy, the agrifood and logistic sectors, empirical results from a discursive scrutiny show that the contiguity of ecological and labor struggles is seldom present. Yet, ecoprecarity seems to emerge as an effective mobilizing frame when employed as it builds solidaristic connections among different claims. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drawing on a 12-month virtual ethnography on the main online spaces of three refused knowledge communities (RKCs) in Italy, this study aims at contributing to the debate on emerging forms of science-related populism from a two-fold perspective. First, we identify and describe the main features and the role played by an understudied figure who we label the 'catalyst of dissent' – a public influencer who does not belong to the scientific community and contributes to the spread of science-related populist narratives within a grassroots ecosystem of resistance to institutional science. Second, our research highlights how RKCs – communities proposing visions of science and medicine denied acceptance or even consideration by institutional science – can appropriate some key resources produced by the catalysts. The analysis focuses on the interplay between the catalysts and three main RKCs during the pandemic crisis in Italy: The No-5G, the Free-Vax, and the 5 Biological Laws communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Italy was the first Western country to be dramatically overwhelmed by Covid-19, the first country outside of China to implement lockdown measures and, until mid-April 2020, the country in the world most affected in terms of number of victims. This article aims to sketch the evolution of the first phase of the Covid-19 crisis in Italy and demonstrates that the health crisis moved forward hand in hand with some typical shortcomings characterising the Italian political, administrative and institutional system. The incremental reaction by the unprecedented M5S-PD coalition government showed the huge difficulties in facing the most serious challenge since the end of WWII, with the institutional system already afflicted by its scarce capacity and the economy still recovering from the 2012 crisis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]