Regional implications of the Italian inner areas strategy

The National Strategy for the Inner Areas is an Italian place-based policy aimed at revitalising the economic and social vibrancy of lagging municipalities facing remoteness by leveraging on tourism as a key instrument for local development. This paper evaluates the policy effects on tourism over the period 2014–22 through a difference-in-difference approach at the municipal level. Overall nights of stay have been positively affected by 6% since the subsides’ disbursement begun. Results are largely driven by geographical heterogeneity and marked by direct expenditure mechanisms, with prevailing effects on foreign tourism in northern regions and predominant effects on domestic tourism in the Mezzogiorno

A novel methodology for accessible design of multi-source renewable energy community: application to a wooded area in central Italy

Renewable Energy Communities (RECs) are becoming essential in tackling energy transition challenges, promoting local energy sharing from diverse renewable energy sources to optimize environmental, economic, and social benefits. This study presents an innovative simulation tool for designing hybrid RECs that integrate diversified renewable sources, addressing a critical gap in existing tools. The tool was used to design a REC in a woodland area in central Italy where the sustainable management of locally available resources suggests the energy generation through biomass and photovoltaic plants. In this context, the REC initiative is further suggested as a mechanism to counteract depopulation trends by activating new services aligned with sustainable development goals. Simulations of various scenarios, involving REC members’ compositions and renewable plant sizes, reveal that opting for 600 kW biomass plant yields significant environmental benefits, with up to 1660 t/year of avoided CO2 emissions and over 80 % energy self-sufficiency for any configuration. However, incorporating more PVs in the energy mix could lead to shorter discounted payback period (down to 4.9 years). The engagement of industrial users is recognized as a critical factor for the success of the REC initiative, playing a vital role in community revitalization

Unveiling user intentions: an integrated analysis of hedonic motivation and service quality in e-grocery technology acceptance

Purpose – This study aims to extend the Technology Acceptance Model 2 (TAM2) by incorporating hedonic motivation and service quality and exploring their collective impact on users’ continuance intention in the context of e-grocery. The purpose is to provide a comprehensive understanding of the factors influencing e-grocery technology acceptance. Design/methodology/approach – The empirical analysis follows a cross-sectional design, using data collected in Italy from January to March 2023. The survey, utilizing the convenience sampling method, focuses on users who have made online grocery purchases in the previous six months. Data analysis employs partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM), which enables causal-predictive model assessment. Findings – The research reveals significant relationships among hedonic motivation, service quality, perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness and continuance intention. Hedonic motivation positively impacts perceived usefulness but not perceived ease of use. Service quality significantly influences both perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness. Additionally, perceived ease of use positively influences perceived usefulness and continuance intention, while perceived usefulness significantly impacts continuance intention. Research limitations/implications – The cross-sectional design could limit the study’s ability to capture the evolution of users’ continuance intention over time. Cultural influences on users’ perceptions could be explored further to develop context-specific strategies. Practical implications – The findings emphasize the importance of hedonic motivation, service quality, ease of use and perceived usefulness in shaping users’ intentions to continue using online grocery services. Practitioners are encouraged to focus on enhancing hedonic elements for increased user loyalty and invest in service quality, particularly in customer care and checkout processes, to improve user perception and ease of use. Originality/value – This study contributes to the existing literature by integrating hedonic motivation and service quality into TAM2, offering a novel perspective on their combined impact on technology acceptance. The inclusion of these factors enhances the model’s applicability in understanding user behaviour in the adoption of technology, specifically in the e-grocery sector

Decoding Living Lab sensing system through Bayesian networks: The preferable working space targeting comfort and productivity

Workplace environmental conditions significantly influence workers' well-being, health, and productivity. The understanding of the interaction between environmental factors across multiple domains can improve occupants' satisfaction and indoor conditions. This study aims to identify optimal office environmental conditions by analysing comfort demands and multi-domain interplay in a dynamic context. A year-long experimental campaign was performed in a Living Lab comprising five offices, monitoring indoor and outdoor environmental parameters and gathering occupants' feedback through surveys. Gaussian Naïve Bayes technique was applied to develop probabilistic models that identified optimal conditions for comfort and satisfaction, including self-perceived productivity as combined effect analysis. Participants showed more acceptability of warmer conditions in cooling seasons. Probabilistic models aligned with the current standards, indicating optimal temperatures of 22°C-24 °C for heating seasons and 23°C-24 °C for cooling seasons. Visual comfort was affected by the balance of natural and artificial light, with higher visual discomfort when the former was limited during cooling seasons. Temperatures higher than 22 °C demonstrated increased “stale air” discomfort, potentially linked to respiration and sweating, even without elevated CO2 levels. Self-perceived productivity decreased in temperatures higher than 24 °C and CO2 concentrations exceeding 800 ppm. Other factors and more comprehensive measurements, together with monitoring of physiological signals should be included in future studies, allowing the creation of guidelines for more comfortable office places. These findings offer valuable insights for enhancing workplace human-centric standards and regulations globally. They have the potential to shape policies that foster more sustainable productive environments for workers’ wellbeing worldwide

Effects of Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation on Exercise Tolerance and Related Psychophysiological Responses

During fatiguing exercise, a myriad of peripheral and central physiological perturbations occur in the brain and in the central nervous system, which impair the capability to produce force or power through muscle contractions. The capacity to tolerate such conditions is a determinant factor for exercise capacity in healthy and clinical populations, which in turn impacts physical performance . Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), which involves the transmission of a weak electrical current through the scalp for several minutes, is a form of non-invasive brain stimulation that aims to alter the level of cortical excitability of the stimulated area. It has been proposed as an ergogenic tool to counteract central fatigue mechanisms and alter the physiological responses and perceived exertion of healthy individuals during different types of exercise, including ones requiring whole-body dynamic contractions. Conflicting results emerge from the literature, often due to a lack of tDCS and exercise protocol standardization. Furthermore, a precise cause-effect relationship and the related mechanisms have yet to emerge. Therefore, two studies were conducted in this dissertation. In Study 1, twelve participants were enrolled and visited the laboratory on four experimental trials after a preliminary visit for cardiorespiratory and anthropometrics assessments. They performed, in a randomized and counterbalanced order, two constant work-rate cycling in the heavy domain (Δ15%) and two in the severe domain (Δ75%) following a 20-minute of either anodal (2 mA) or sham primary motor cortex (M1) tDCS session. No significant differences in exercise tolerance and related psychophysiological responses were found between real and sham conditions. In Study 2, a similar design was employed to assess differences in exercise tolerance and related psychophysiological responses, especially the rate of perceived exertion, during constant work-rate cycling in the heavy domain (Δ25%), following a 10-minute 1 mA of either anodal, cathodal, or sham tDCS of the supplementary motor area (SMA). No significant differences in all studied parameters were found between the conditions. The findings suggest that one session of M1 or SMA tDCS stimulation is incapable of affecting exercise tolerance and related psychophysiological responses during exercise involving dynamic contraction of large muscle mass in young, healthy, active males. More studies are needed to compare different protocols and investigate the neurophysiological rationale for exercise capacity enhancement through tDCS

Female Religiosity in Self-Narration: Some Indicative Elements and Suggestions from Empirical Materials

This study stems from a collection of autobiographical narrations collected during a seminar held in February 2018 involving a small group of adults, representing the three major monotheistic religions: Catholicism, Judaism, and Islam. The seminar was organized by the University of Bologna (Department of Arts) in collaboration with the Association for Interreligious Dialogue “Abramo e Pace”. The aim of this paper is to reexamine the autobiographical narratives that emerged from the seminar, with a particular focus on the characteristics of female religious experiences in these religions, in order to identify distinctive trans-religious and transcultural signs. For this analysis, a sub-group of participants were selected, consisting of nine women, three Catholics, three Jews, and three Muslims, mainly between the ages of 35 and 45. The methodology used is a content analysis, which allows for a detailed examination of the narratives shared. From the narratives obtained, the religious education received in childhood and early adolescence emerges as a resource and support for the construction of personal identity regardless of the subsequent life paths taken by the individual. An additional pedagogical/educational theme of interest is represented by the intertwining of transformations of personal religiosity and dynamics of adult transformation, which is present in these narrations. Although the results do not aim for statistical representativeness, it is expected that the analysis will reveal certain constants that could inform subsequent, more systematic research efforts. In particular, it is expected that marriage, motherhood, and the education of children will emerge as moments of reactivation or revitalization of personal religiosity