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The COVID-19 pandemic has hampered the optimum management of retinal diseases. This study examined the impact of the pandemic on the intravitreal-injection practice in two academic centers in Italy along with the related medico-legal implications. A retrospective analysis of electronic medical records from 16 March 2020 to 14 March 2021 at the ophthalmological departments of University of Cagliari (SGD) and University Magna Græcia of Catanzaro (UMG) was conducted. The data collected between 16 March 2020 and 14 June 2020 (lockdown), 15 June 2020 and 13 September 2020 (unlock), and 14 September 2020 and 14 March 2021 (second wave) were compared with those of the same period of the previous year. Weekly data on the administered drug and the number and type of treated disease were collected and analyzed. During the lockdown, a drop of 59% at SGD (p < 0.00001) and 77% at UMG (p < 0.00001) in intravitreal injections was found. In the first year of the pandemic, the reduction in injections was approximately of 27% (p < 0.0008) and 38% (p < 0.0001) at SGD and UMG, respectively. The COVID-19-related containment measures and the health resources redistribution have led to a delay in the treatment of chronic diseases of the retina, prioritizing the undeferrable ones. The lack of management guidelines has conceived relevant ethical and medico-legal issues that need to be considered in future measures planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding consumer perceptions and attitudes to specific fruit is key information for not only increasing fruit consumption, but also for marketing reasons. It may also give clues to breeders to set quality objectives. This study explores different aspects that help to explain blood vs. blond orange consumption: availability and consumption habit, satisfaction attributes, facilitators and consumption barriers, consumption contexts, expectations and purchase intention. The study was conducted in China, Mexico, Spain and Italy, where citrus fruit consumers were invited to respond an online questionnaire. Our results revealed Italy as the country with the highest availability and consumption of blood oranges, followed by China, Mexico and Spain. "Liking" and "healthy properties" were the most important reasons for consumption irrespectively of orange type, but certain differences among countries were detected in secondary reasons. In all the countries, "juicy" was the most relevant attribute for consumer satisfaction, followed by flavour/taste attributes. "Aromatic" and "unfibrous" were substantial requirements for Italians and Chinese, while Spaniards attached importance to the blood oranges colour. Regarding consumption contexts, "eat with salt or chilly powder" was specific for Mexico, while "to improve health", "as a gift" or "at a restaurant" were contexts mainly cited in China. Despite taste preferences for other fruit being the main consumption barrier in all the countries for both orange types, the relevance of other barriers depended on culture and orange type. Mexican participants seemed to take a more neophobic attitude to blood oranges, while "inconvenient" was reported as a barrier for consuming blond ones in Spain and China. We conclude that blond and blood oranges can co-exist on markets at a high consumption rate, as in Italy. Specific interventions are needed in other countries because consumer attitudes to oranges, mainly blood ones, depend on culture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social disparities in track choices are a well-known mechanism for the intergenerational reproduction of inequality. School guidance may help reducing such disparities by narrowing information gaps and by reducing the family influence on students' decision making. We investigate the potential equalizing role of guidance programmes by analysing an intervention carried out in Italy, where students are tracked at age 14 and teacher recommendations are non-binding. The intervention took place in 2018 in the city of Turin and involved 40% of all eighth-grade students, shortly before their transition from comprehensive to tracked education. The students attended four two-hour sessions designed to provide them with information about the educational system and related job market opportunities, and to raise their awareness of their aptitudes and inclinations. We expected the programme to be of particular benefit to low socio-economic status (SES) and migrant students and thus to reduce social gaps in track choices. We adopted a mixed-method research design: with quantitative analyses based on a combination of propensity-score and differences-in-differences techniques, we compared the outcomes of comparable students from the 2017 and 2018 cohorts who were or were not exposed to the intervention in order to assess its impact on inequality; additionally, we use qualitative non-participatory observation to unveil the actual content and implementation of the programme and the behaviour of the key actors. We find that while the programme contributed to reducing indecision, it did not have any major effect on social inequalities in either intentions or choices. Results from the qualitative analysis help us shed light on the mechanisms at play behind this lack of effect. In particular, the heavy emphasis placed on current achievement records, dropout risks, and (short-term) labour-market outcomes may counteract the equalizing potential of the programme, by diverting low-SES kids away from academic tracks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]