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The present study investigated the antecedents of cyberbullying victimization and addressed the commonalities and differences between visual and written forms of cyberbullying victimization among 3172 Italian adolescents (51.6% male, M age=13.74years, SD=1.70) who participated in the Health Behaviour in School-Aged Children (HBSC, 2014) survey. The results from two logistic regression models revealed that the two distinct forms of cyberbullying victimization presented common and unique associated factors. Family support was negatively associated with both forms of cyberbullying victimization, while greater use of social networks and frequent experiences of traditional bullying victimization were positively associated with both forms. Neither written nor visual forms of cyberbullying victimization were associated with the quality of school relationships or online gaming frequency. Gender (female) was associated with written, but not visual, cyberbullying victimization. Finally, visual cyberbullying victimization was positively associated with high family socio-economic status and traditional bullying perpetration. The findings highlight the urgent need to tailor preventive and intervention strategies for the adolescent population.

Parental control and family dinners attendance may constitute protective factors against alcohol consumption during adolescence, with different patterns for boys and girls, though evidence thus far have produced mixed findings. The present study analyzed Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC, 2014) data from 906 adolescents living in Northern Italy (49% boys, Myears = 16.02, SD = 2.4) to examine: (a) gender differences in alcohol consumption frequency; (b) whether greater parental control would mediate gender differences in alcohol consumption over the last 30 days; (c) whether regular attendance of family dinners would strengthen the effect of parental control in decreasing adolescents’ alcohol consumption, functioning differently for boys and girls. Findings indicated that boys reported to attend family dinners more regularly, to consume alcohol more frequently, and to perceive greater paternal control, than girls. Conversely, girls perceived greater maternal control than boys. Both maternal and paternal control did mediate the relation between gender and alcohol consumption, decreasing adolescents’ drinking. Unexpectedly, family dinners attendance did not significantly moderate the effect of parental control on the monthly frequency of adolescents’ alcohol consumption. Results underline the protective role of parental control against adolescents’ alcohol consumption in both girls and boys, regardless of their family dinners attendance.

In the last decades, research focused on the surroundings’ influence over schools, but only a few studies investigated whether the presence of a school may increase its surroundings’ safety. Still, the characteristics of the school which could ameliorate the surroundings’ safety are still unclear. The current study hypothesizes that: i. a higher number of communication strategies in the school may increase the school surroundings’ safety; ii. the students’ participation in school decisions and the frequency of anti-bullying programs may strengthen the effect of communication over surroundings’ safety. The sample includes data of 62 school principals from the Northern Italian region of Lombardy who answered self-report questions from Health Behaviors in School-Aged Children (2014) protocol. Findings from moderation analysis show that a higher number of communication strategies within the school fosters the perception of safer school surroundings. The impact of students’ participation in school decisions does not constitute a significant moderator of the relationship. In contrast, the frequency of anti-bullying programs results to impact negatively on the association between communication strategies and surroundings’ safety.

A column to provide an epithermal neutron beam suitable for experimental and clinical BNCT is nearing completion at the TAPIRO reactor (ENEA Casaccia, Rome). TAPIRO is a compact, low power (5 kW), helium-cooled, fast reactor. It has a hard neutron spectrum relative even to other fast reactors. In this paper some of the basic physics aspects of designing an epithermal neutron beam are considered, with reference to the TAPIRO beam.

The TRADE project (TRiga Accelerator Driven Experiment), to be performed at the existing TRIGA reactor at ENEA Casaccia, has been proposed as a validation of the accelerator-driven system (ADS) concept. TRADE will be the first experiment in which the three main components of an ADS-the accelerator, spallation target and sub-critical blanket-are coupled at a power level sufficient to encounter reactivity feedback effects. As such, TRADE represents the necessary intermediate step in the development of hybrid transmutation systems, its expected outcomes being considered crucial-in terms of proof of stability of operation, dynamic behaviour and licensing issues-for the subsequent realisation of an ADS Transmutation Demonstrator. An essential role in the feasibility study of the experiment is played by radioprotection calculations. Such a system exhibits new characteristics with respect to a traditional reactor, owing to the presence of the proton accelerator. As beam losses always occur under normal operating conditions of an accelerator, shielding studies need to be performed not only around the reactor but also along the beam line from the accelerator to the spallation target. This paper illustrates a preliminary evaluation, using Monte Carlo methods, of the additional shielding to be located around the reactor structures, the beam transport line and the existing reactor building to allow access into the reactor hall and to restrict the doses outside to their legal limits.

The TRADE experiment, to be performed at the TRIGA nuclear reactor of the ENEA Casaccia Centre (Rome, Italy) consists in the coupling of an external proton accelerator to a spallation target to be installed in the central channel of the reactor kept in a sub-critical configuration. TRADE is meant to represent a major demonstration step of the Accelerator-Driven-Systems concept. Monte Carlo calculations are needed for the radiation transport analysis of various aspects of the experiment. The Monte Carlo general purpose codes MCNPX and FLUKA have been applied, among other issues, to the analysis of the shielding configuration of the beam transport line and to the assessment of the radioactivity induced by the impact of the 140 MeV proton beam with the target. In the shielding analysis the dose rates due to the proton beam leakage along the transport line have been calculated for points beyond the barytic concrete shields. Various leakage angles with respect to the beam axis have been considered. The analysis of the induced radioactivity has involved the calculation of the type and amount of the residual nuclei produced by the spallation process within the tantalum target and of the evolution of such nuclei. The results obtained with MCNPX and FLUKA are compared and discussed.

An epithermal facility for treating patients with brain gliomas has been designed and is under construction at the fast reactor TAPIRO at ENEA Casaccia (Italy). The calculational design tools employed were the Monte Carlo codes MCNP/MCNPX together with the DSA in-house variance reduction patch. A realistic anthropomorphic phantom (ADAM) was included to optimise dose profiles and in-phantom treatment-planning figures-of-merit. The adopted approach was to minimise the treatment time whilst maintaining a reasonable therapeutic ratio. It is shown that TAPIRO, in spite of its low power of 5kW, is able to provide an epithermal beam that is of good quality and of sufficient intensity to allow a single beam patient irradiation, under conservative assumptions, of 50min.

The BNCT (Boron Neutron Capture Therapy) technique makes use of thermal or epithermal neutrons to irradiate tumors previously loaded with 10B.A thermal neutron beam can be very effective for the treatment of surface tumors such as skin melanoma, but it cannot be used for the treatment of deep pathologies, due to its limited penetration depth. Neutron sources providing an epithermal spectrum of energy ranging from 0.4 eV to 10 keV are being considered for clinical use for the treatment of deep-seated tumors.Reactors are currently seen as a suitable neutron source for BNCT implementation, due to the high intensity of the flux they can provide.The Tapiro reactor, that is located at the ENEA Casaccia Center near Rome, is a low-power fast-flux research reactor that can be useful employed for this application. It is a highly enriched uranium-235 fast neutron facility with a nominal power of 5 kW.In this work computer simulations and experimental arrangements were carried out for this reactor to obtain epithermal and thermal neutron beams for the application of BNCT in Italy in the framework of a specific research program.Using the MCNP-4B code, Monte Carlo calculations were carried out to determine the materials suitable for the design of the thermal and epithermal columns. Various arrangements of reflector and moderator materials have been investigated to achieve the desired experimental conditions.

Questa nota descrive lo stato attuale di uno studio di fattibilità per l'automatizzazione tramite calcolatore, del processo di restituzione fotogrammetrica di riprese con l'ausilio di un proiettore metrico. Tale tipo di riprese, per ora limitate alla fotogrammetria terrestre, è costituita da: 1) un fotogramma ottenuto effettuando un'unica ripresa dell'oggetto, in assenza di luce, dopo avervi proiettato un reticolo piano luminoso; 2) il reticolo stesso (pseudofotogramma) equivalente, in contenuto informativo, ad una seconda ripresa effettuata dal centro di proiezione. La restituzione, in genere, interesserà soltanto i punti dell'oggetto sui quali cadono i nodi del reticolo.

With the bill n. 165 Senator Gasparri returns to the art. 1 c.c. presenting a new proposal – new compared to those dating back to the 16th and 17th legislatures – entitled “Amendment to art. 1 of the civil code in the matter of recognition of the legal capacity of the conceived child”; precisely asking that the recognition of the legal capacity of the fetus already take place at the time of conception and not only after birth, as instead today enshrined in art. 1 of our civil code. A bill that gives the opportunity to reflect, once again, on the questions on the specific theme of the protection of the human embryo and therefore: What is the embryo? What rights should he be recognized? But above all since when should they be recognized?

Post-harvest physico-chemical treatments - water at 40°C or 60°C (HW), and sodium bicarbonate at 1 or 2.5% (SBC) at 20, 40 and 60°C - were tested on peaches and nectarines in order to control brown rot caused by Monilinia spp.;to select the best physico-chemical treatment to be used in combination with pre-harvest applications of the biological control agent Epicoccum nigrum (ATCC number 96794). Experiments were carried out in France, Italy and Spain in order to test different experimental conditions. Monilinia rot was reduced in peach and nectarine treated with HW (40°C for 2 min) in all three countries, the percentage of rot reduction was similar for France, Italy and Spain (over 40%). A synergistic effect between HW at 40°C during 150 s or at 60°C during 20 s and SBC was observed in all three countries. After preliminary experiments post-harvest treatment of HW (60°C) + SBC (1%) during 20 s was selected to combine it with field treatments. Pre-harvest treatments with fungicide or E. nigrum did not reduce brown rot in any country. However, pre-harvest treatments with E. nigrum, chemical fungicide, and their integration followed by post-harvest physico-chemical treatment significantly reduced Monilinia rot compared to pre-harvest untreated fruits followed by post-harvest physico-chemical treatment in Italy (over 70%). Post-harvest treatments with E. nigrum were also tested in Italy on natural and artificial infections in nectarine over 3 years. E. nigrum, as fresh or formulated cells, at a concentration of 108 conidia mL-1 were effective, significantly reducing the incidence of brown rot compared to control, both under artificial and natural infection, from 43 to 100%. © 2007 Society of Chemical Industry.

The Study and Production of Exotic Species (SPES) project employs a 100 MeV, 30 mA proton beam that strikes a primary target. The resulting high-energy neutron flux impinges on a secondary target of depleted uranium to produce, through fission, beams of short-lived, neutron-rich nuclei. This paper deals with some of the preliminary shielding calculations for the bunker. Monte Carlo is employed with MCNPX and, because of the deep penetrations involved, the in-house variance reduction optimiser, the direct statistical approach. The calculations exhibited a number of typical features that are addressed and discussed. © The Author 2005. Published by Oxford University Press.

An epithermal boron neutron capture therapy facility for treating brain gliomas is currently under construction at the 5 kW fast-flux reactor TAPIRO located at ENEA, Casaccia, near Rome. In this work, the sensitivity of the results to the boron concentrations in healthy tissue and tumour is investigated and the change in beam quality on modifying the moderator thickness (within design limits) is studied. The Monte Carlo codes MCNP and MCNPX were used together with the DSA in-house variance reduction patch. Both usual free beam parameters and the in-phantom treatment planning figures-of-merit have been calculated in a realistic anthropomorphic phantom ('ADAM').

Brown rot caused by Monilinia sp. is one of the most important diseases of stone fruits. In America, South Africa, Australia and New Zeeland, M: fructicola prevails on M. laxa, whereas in Europe M.laxa, M. fructigena are only the species recorded from stone fruits. M. fructicola is a quarantine pahogen. Brown rot causes serious losses in the orchard and during post harvest. In rainy summers, fungicide treatments fail to reduce losses of susceptible cultivars to acceptable levels. Since 2002 M. fructicolawas recorde from France, a survey carried out to check if this pathogen was present also in Emilia Romagna (Northen Italy). Over 60 fungal isolates were obtained from fruits of sweet cherry, apricolt, peach, nectarine, and plum showing brown rot and smoke grey mycelium typical of M. laxa and M. fructicola. Monoconidial isolates were biologically and genetically characterized by PCR analysis. The biological and morphological charcteristics taken into consideraton were mycelial growth rate and appearance, sporulation, length of conidial germ tube, and fungicide resisitance. The biological characters of 40 fungal isolates were also investigated with in vivo and in vitro trials. All isoaltes were identified as M. laxa Significant differences were observed between isolates with respect to growth and sporulation in vitro and in vivo.

Isothiocyanates (ITCs), produced from the catalyzed hydrolisis of glucosinolates conatiend in defatted Brassica meals by endogenous myrosinase, were tested in vivo trials to control two post-harvest pathogens of stone fruits and pears: Monilinia laxa and Penicillium expansum. The aim of this preliminary study was to determine the optimum ITC concentration, temperature, time fo treatment, to control the pathogens avoiding any phytotoxicity on fruit. Before storage, inoculated fruits were treated with ITCs in a cabinet (0.1 mc) changing treatment time and ITC concentration. Using allyl-ITC, pathogens were controlled more than 90% at an average concentration lower than 1 mg/L and a time of fruit treatment of 8 hours. M. laxa appears to be more sensitive than P. expansum to these molecules. In addition, ITCs proved to be activ ealso against thiabendazole resistant strains. The ecouraging results have led to the assembling of a pre-pilot plant for fruits treatment, using ITCs produced from endogenous glucosinolates-myrosinase system of Brassicaceae defatted meal.

The effectiveness of a formulated product of the yeast Candida sake CPA-1 for controlling postharvest diseases on pome fruits was demonstrated in laboratory, semicommercial, and commercial trials carried out in the major pome fruit producing region of the European Union. First, one wettable powder and seven liquid formulations were tested in laboratory trials that involved two varieties of apples and two varieties of pears. In all cases, an efficacy similar to that of fresh cells was demonstrated in the control of artificial Penicillium expansum infection. After these trials, the formulated product chosen for semicommercial and commercial trials was LF1, a liquid formulation that is particularly suitable for commercial applications. In semicommercial trials, LF1 showed a performance similar to fresh cells in most trials, and the population dynamics of both fresh and formulated cells were quite stable throughout the storage period. This indicates the high viability of C. sake CPA-1 in this formulation and the absence of adverse effects during the formulation of the product, which may significantly affect both its ability to grow on fruit and its antagonistic activity. We evaluated the control of natural infection after applying the formulated product in a commercial drencher in different packinghouses. A significant reduction in the incidence of diseases was observed with a recommended dose of around 10(7) CFU/ml when natural infections were greater than 1%. In general, large quantities of yeast were observed on the surface of unwounded fruits of different pome fruit cultivars. Moreover, populations of this biocontrol agent increased rapidly on fruit surfaces and remained quite stable for a long time under commercial storage conditions. Commercial practices used in packinghouses were therefore successfully applied for this formulated product.