Local community attitudes and perceptions towards thermalism.

Thermalism is enjoying a global resurgence of interest as consumers seek out ethical, natural, and place-based wellness experiences. In Europe, the ‘success rate of healing through thermalism has maintained the high reputation of thermal springs with curative powers’. However, thermalism has been culturally lost in the UK. This study focuses on a UK historical spa site currently undergoing restoration. Once restored, this will be one of three UK's only spa hotels with direct access to natural thermal mineral waters. An ethnographic case study design was used to explore community's perceptions and attitudes towards thermalism and the wellness tourism development model being implemented on location. Findings suggest that memories of the values and virtues of thermalism persist within the community and that, if harnessed, can play a significant role in supporting the local and national wellness agenda. However, findings also suggest that the reintroduction of thermal tourism in the location is perceived by the community as a luxury commodity reserved exclusively for the wealthy and elite members of society. Thermalism is a social and cultural resource and thus attention should be paid to ensure that any wellness tourism development model follows a cultural participatory logic and not solely an economic one

Monitoring COVID-19 Transmission Risks by Quantitative RealTime PCR Tracing of Droplets in Hospital and Living Environments

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) environmental contamination occurs through droplets and biological fluids released in the surroundings from patients or asymptomatic carriers. Surfaces and objects contaminated by saliva or nose secretions represent a risk for indirect transmission of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). We assayed surfaces from hospital and living spaces to identify the presence of viral RNA and the spread of fomites in the environment. Anthropic contamination by droplets and biological fluids was monitored by detecting the microbiota signature using multiplex quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR) on selected species and massive sequencing on 16S amplicons. A total of 92 samples (flocked swabs) were collected from critical areas during the pandemic, including indoor (three hospitals and three public buildings) and outdoor surfaces exposed to anthropic contamination (handles and handrails, playgrounds). Traces of biological fluids were frequently detected in spaces open to the public and on objects that are touched with the hands (.80%). However, viral RNA was not detected in hospital wards or other indoor and outdoor surfaces either in the air system of a COVID hospital but only in the surroundings of an infected patient, in consistent association with droplet traces and fomites. Handled objects accumulated the highest level of multiple contaminations by saliva, nose secretions, and fecal traces, further supporting the priority role of handwashing in prevention. In conclusion, anthropic contamination by droplets and biological fluids is widespread in spaces open to the public and can be traced by qPCR. Monitoring fomites can support evaluation of indirect transmission risks for coronavirus or other flu-like viruses in the environment

Pro-environmental behaviors: Determinants and obstacles among italian university students

none31The awareness of citizens concerning the health risks caused by environmental pollution is growing, but studies on determinants of pro-environmental behaviors have rarely examined health-related aspects. In this study, we investigated these determinants using data from a large survey among Italian university students (15 Universities: 4778 filled questionnaires). Besides the health-related aspects, represented by environmental health risk perception and functional health literacy, we considered social and demographic characteristics (gender, area of residence, sources of information, trust in institutional and non-institutional subjects, and students’ capacity of positive actions, indicated as internal locus of control). The attitudes towards pro-environmental behaviors were positive for more than 70% of students and positively related with health risk perception, internal locus of control, and health literacy. The correspondence between the positive attitudes towards pro-environmental behaviors and the real adoption of such behaviors was approximately 20% for most behaviors, except for the separate collection of waste (60%). Such a discrepancy can be attributable to external obstacles (i.e., lack of time, costs, lack of support). The health-related aspects were linked to the pro-environmental attitudes, but to a lesser extent to pro-environmental behaviors, owing to the complexity of their determinants. However, they should be taken in account in planning education interventions.openCarducci A.; Fiore M.; Azara A.; Bonaccorsi G.; Bortoletto M.; Caggiano G.; Calamusa A.; De Donno A.; De Giglio O.; Dettori M.; Di Giovanni P.; Di Pietro A.; Facciola A.; Federigi I.; Grappasonni I.; Izzotti A.; Libralato G.; Lorini C.; Montagna M.T.; Nicolosi L.K.; Paladino G.; Palomba G.; Petrelli F.; Schiliro T.; Scuri S.; Serio F.; Tesauro M.; Verani M.; Vinceti M.; Violi F.; Ferrante M.Carducci, A.; Fiore, M.; Azara, A.; Bonaccorsi, G.; Bortoletto, M.; Caggiano, G.; Calamusa, A.; De Donno, A.; De Giglio, O.; Dettori, M.; Di Giovanni, P.; Di Pietro, A.; Facciola, A.; Federigi, I.; Grappasonni, I.; Izzotti, A.; Libralato, G.; Lorini, C.; Montagna, M. T.; Nicolosi, L. K.; Paladino, G.; Palomba, G.; Petrelli, F.; Schiliro, T.; Scuri, S.; Serio, F.; Tesauro, M.; Verani, M.; Vinceti, M.; Violi, F.; Ferrante, M

A Knowledge, Attitude, and Perception Study on Flu and COVID-19 Vaccination during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Multicentric Italian Survey Insights

In January 2020, Chinese health authorities identified a novel coronavirus strain never before isolated in humans. It quickly spread across the world, and was eventually declared a pandemic, leading to about 310 million confirmed cases and to 5,497,113 deaths (data as of 11 January 2022). Influenza viruses affect millions of people during cold seasons, with high impacts, in terms of mortality and morbidity. Patients with comorbidities are at a higher risk of acquiring severe problems due to COVID-19 and the flu-infections that could impact their underlying clinical conditions. In the present study, knowledge, attitudes, and opinions of the general population regarding COVID-19 and influenza immunization were evaluated. A multicenter, web-based, cross-sectional study was conducted between 10 February and 12 July 2020, during the first wave of SARS-CoV-2 infections among the general population in Italy. A sample of 4116 questionnaires was collected at the end of the study period. Overall, 17.5% of respondents stated that it was unlikely that they would accept a future COVID-19 vaccine (n = 720). Reasons behind vaccine refusal/indecision were mainly a lack of trust in the vaccine (41.1%), the fear of side effects (23.4%), or a lack of perception of susceptibility to the disease (17.1%). More than 50% (53.8%; n = 2214) of the sample participants were willing to receive flu vaccinations in the forthcoming vaccination campaign, but only 28.2% of cases had received it at least once in the previous five seasons. A higher knowledge score about SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19 and at least one flu vaccination during previous influenza seasons were significantly associated with the intention to be vaccinated against COVID-19 and influenza. The continuous study of factors, determining vaccination acceptance and hesitancy, is fundamental in the current context, in regard to improve vaccination confidence and adherence rates against vaccine preventable diseases

Pervasive gaps in Amazonian ecological research

Biodiversity loss is one of the main challenges of our time,1,2 and attempts to address it require a clear un derstanding of how ecological communities respond to environmental change across time and space.3,4 While the increasing availability of global databases on ecological communities has advanced our knowledge of biodiversity sensitivity to environmental changes,5–7 vast areas of the tropics remain understudied.8–11 In the American tropics, Amazonia stands out as the world’s most diverse rainforest and the primary source of Neotropical biodiversity,12 but it remains among the least known forests in America and is often underrepre sented in biodiversity databases.13–15 To worsen this situation, human-induced modifications16,17 may elim inate pieces of the Amazon’s biodiversity puzzle before we can use them to understand how ecological com munities are responding. To increase generalization and applicability of biodiversity knowledge,18,19 it is thus crucial to reduce biases in ecological research, particularly in regions projected to face the most pronounced environmental changes. We integrate ecological community metadata of 7,694 sampling sites for multiple or ganism groups in a machine learning model framework to map the research probability across the Brazilian Amazonia, while identifying the region’s vulnerability to environmental change. 15%–18% of the most ne glected areas in ecological research are expected to experience severe climate or land use changes by 2050. This means that unless we take immediate action, we will not be able to establish their current status, much less monitor how it is changing and what is being lostinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Nuevos aportes a la historia natural de la mulita pampeana Dasypus hybridus (Mammalia, Dasypodidae)

En este trabajo se presentan nuevos aportes sobre la historia natural de la mulita pampeana Dasypus hybridus (Desmarest, 1804) (Mammalia, Xenarthra, Dasypodidae). Los estudios de campo fueron llevados a cabo en 100 ha de cuatro establecimientos agropecuarios de la provincia de Buenos Aires, Argentina. Durante tres años se realizó un muestreo estacional de armadillos por captura y liberación. Se obtuvieron datos de hábitos alimentarios, uso del espacio y del tiempo, comportamiento, termorregulación, datos poblacionales y morfológicos. Se realizaron 71 capturas. En la dieta el ítem principal registrado fue material vegetal, seguido por hormigas e insectos coleópteros; no se observó una diferencia estacional en los hábitos alimentarios. La actividad de las mulitas se concentra durante el día, existió una baja en la frecuencia de observación durante las estaciones frías (otoño e invierno). La mulita pampeana prefiere suelos húmicos, terrenos altos y pastizales densos y altos; asimismo seleccionan los montes para refugiarse. Son individuos asociales. La temperatura rectal mostró correlaciones positivas con la temperatura ambiente. La proporción de sexos fue cercana a uno y no se observó dimorfismo sexual. Los resultados obtenidos concuerdan parcialmente con lo observado para otras especies del género, destacando las tendencias observadas en los hábitos alimentarios y en la estrategia termorregulatoria. Este trabajo representa un aporte en varios aspectos de una especie poco estudiada en una zona bajo importantes presiones de uso y modificación de hábitat