From the third way to the big society: the rise and fall of social capital

The policies pursued by the coalition and the Conservative government are at odds with calls to civic engagement, argue Emanuele Ferragina and Alessandro Arrigoni. By tracing social capital in British political discourse, they explain why calls for social engagement are not only mere rhetoric, but actually incompatible with the ideas of competition and individualism which form the current neoliberal agenda

Are young people outsiders and does it matter?

A lot of young Europeans struggle to find a job in a market that does not guarantee stable forms of employment. How does the experience of insecure labour market trajectories affect their social and political participation, or their sense of social exclusion and alienation from mainstream politics

Concrete with Organic Waste Materials as Aggregate Replacement

The disposal of high volumes of organic waste is a global issue. Using organic waste instead of sand as an aggregate material for concrete could reduce the strain on waste treatment processes and on the extraction of finite resources. At the same time, it could be a climate change mitigation strategy, by storing the biogenic carbon contained in the organic waste. This project investigated the viability of replacing 10% of fine aggregate in concrete with various organic waste materials, namely rice husk ash, wood ash, corncob granules, and wheat straw. The fresh concrete’s properties were studied using the slump test, and the hardened concrete’s mechanical properties were measured using the compressive strength and flexural strength tests. In this study, 14 days of curing were considered for the mechanical tests, although the 28-day mechanical strength is more generally accepted. The mechanical performances along with a life cycle assessment (LCA) comparison between the concrete with organic waste and traditional concrete were conducted. The results suggested that rice husk ash and wood ash are the most-suitable organic waste products for use as aggregate replacers considering the mechanical properties. The concrete samples incorporating wheat straw and corncob granules exhibited relatively low strength; unless advanced treatment methods are applied to enhance the concrete’s performance, the utilization of these organic wastes in concrete may be limited. The environmental impact assessment of traditional concrete shows that the main contributor to almost every impact category is the production of Portland cement. Sand production contributes only marginally to the overall impact of the concrete. In terms of life-cycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, traditional concrete exhibits the lowest GWP impact per cubic meter when mechanical properties are included in the functional unit used for the comparison. Nevertheless, concrete samples with wood ash and rice husk ash partially offset their lower compressive strength with higher carbon sequestration, showing a similar GWP impact to traditional concrete. This makes them promising alternatives, especially for cases where limited compressive strengths are needed. Further investigations to improve their mechanical properties and optimize their performance are warranted

LCA Towards Sustainable Agriculture: The Case Study of Cupuaçu Jam from Agroforestry

Abstract Appropriate design of agricultural systems for the regeneration of deforested lands in critical areas, like the Amazon, may be an effective action to restore forest ecosystem functions and to mitigate biodiversity loss and climate change. Among the possible strategies, agroforestry may represent a viable trade-off between economic and environmental aspects. In this study, the production of a jam made of fruits from agroforestry was analysed from a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) perspective. The agroforestry system investigated was implemented in a reforested area of the Peruvian Amazon. A cradle-to-grave approach, from the cultivation phase to the end-of-life of the jam, was adopted. Additionally to LCA, the focus is on the agricultural phase and, in particular, on the comparison of alternative agro-ecosystems from an environmental viewpoint. Therefore, LCA indicators are integrated with biodiversity indicators to account for the ecological dimension. Preliminary results highlight the benefits of producing jam from fruits harvested in an area of the Amazon reforested via agroforestry, as well as the high variability of environmental impacts due to the differences in the alternative agricultural systems considered

Environmental impacts of using desalinated water in concrete production in areas affected by freshwater scarcity

Up to 500 litres of water may be consumed at the batching plant per cubic meter of ready mix concrete, if water for washing mixing trucks and equipment is included. Demand for concrete is growing almost everywhere, regardless of local availability of freshwater. The use of freshwater for concrete production exacerbates stress on natural water resources. In water-stressed coastal countries such as Israel, desalinated seawater (DSW) is often used in the production of concrete. However, the environmental impacts of this practice have not yet been assessed. In this study the effect of using DSW on the water and carbon footprints of concrete was investigated using life cycle assessment. Water footprint results highlight the benefits of using DSW rather than freshwater to produce concrete in Israel. In contrast, because desalination is an energy intensive process, using DSW increases the greenhouse gas intensity of concrete. Nevertheless, this increase (0.27 kg CO2e/m3 concrete) is small, if compared to the life cycle greenhouse gas emissions of concrete. Our results show that using untreated seawater in the mix (transported by truck from the coast) in place of DSW, would be beneficial in terms of water and carbon footprints if the batching plant were located less than 13 km from the withdrawal point. However, use of untreated seawater increases steel reinforcement corrosion, resulting in loss of structural integrity of the reinforced concrete composite. Sustainability of replacing steel with non-corrosive materials should be explored as a way to reduce both water and carbon footprints of concrete

Modified Research Utilization Questionnaire: Development and Validation Study among Italian Nurses

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to develop the modified research utilization questionnaire (M-RUQ) and to establish its content and face validity, construct validity, and reliability. Methods: This study has a multiphase (three phases), methodological, and cross-sectional design. First, research utilization questionnaire (RUQ) was translated into Italian, which is the target language to develop the M-RUQ. Second, the RUQ psychometric proprieties were assessed using exploratory factorial analysis to identify ambiguous or problematic items (e.g., cross-loadings) (cross-sectional sampling A). The RUQ modification (i.e., item deleting, wording modification, and scoring procedure) represented the development of the M-RUQ among Italian nurses. The third phase was aimed to confirm the construct validity of the M-RUQ and to test its stability and internal consistency (cross-sectional sampling B). Results: This study's findings show that M-RUQ has a three-dimensional structure and a total of 22 items. The M-RUQ shows evidence of validity and reliability. Precisely, the factorial structure coming from an exploratory factorial analysis on the first sample (n = 504) was confirmed by a final model of confirmatory factorial analysis (CFA) on a second sample (n = 362). The final CFA model showed adequate goodness of fit, where all the factor loadings showed values higher than .40. Cronbach's α was satisfactory for each domain and for the overall scale. Furthermore, the M-RUQ showed good stability described by the test–retest. Conclusion: The M-RUQ should be used to assess research utilization among nurses for educational or research purposes to address the practice. Further research about its validity and reliability is suggested. Keywords: evidence-based nursing, nursing, psychometric

Therapeutic strategy for tracheal chondrosarcoma: report of two cases

Primary chondrosarcoma of the trachea is an extremely rare tumor. We report two cases of tracheal chondrosarcoma describing the role of surgical and conservative treatment. Endoscopic treatment with rigid bronchoscopy was performed in both patients to restore airway patency and obtain histological specimens for diagnosis. One of the patients subsequently underwent successful tracheal resection and reconstruction. The other patient, who had a contraindication to surgical treatment due to associated diseases underwent iterative endoscopic LASER treatment and is alive three years after the first diagnosis. Surgical treatment remains the treatment of choice of tracheal chondrosarcoma. When surgery is contraindicated endoscopic treatment may allow relatively longterm survival due to the slow growth of these tumors

A Single-Center, Randomized Controlled Trial to Test the Efficacy of Nurse-Led Motivational Interviewing for Enhancing Self-Care in Adults with Heart Failure

Background: The role of nurse-led motivational interviewing (MI) in improving self-care among patients with heart failure (HF) is promising, even if it still requires further empirical evidence to determine its efficacy. For this reason, this study tested its efficacy in enhancing self-care maintenance (primary endpoint), self-care management, and self-care confidence after three months from enrollment in adults with HF compared to usual care, and assessed changes in self-care over follow-up times (3, 6, 9, and 12 months). Methods: A single-center, randomized, controlled, parallel-group, superiority study with two experimental arms and a control group was performed. Allocation was in a 1:1:1 ratio between intervention groups and control. Results: MI was effective in improving self-care maintenance after three months when it was performed only for patients (arm 1) and for the patients-caregivers dyad (arm 2) (respectively, Cohen's d = 0.92, p-value < 0.001; Cohen's d = 0.68, p-value < 0.001). These effects were stable over the one-year follow-up. No effects were observed concerning self-care management, while MI moderately influenced self-care confidence. Conclusions: This study supported the adoption of nurse-led MI in the clinical management of adults with HF

Identification of New Peptides from Fermented Milk Showing Antioxidant Properties: Mechanism of Action

Due to their beneficial properties, fermented foods are considered important constituents of the human diet. They also contain bioactive peptides, health-promoting compounds studied for a wide range of effects. In this work, several antioxidant peptides extracted from fermented milk proteins were investigated. First, enriched peptide fractions were purified and analysed for their antioxidant capacity in vitro and in a cellular model. Subsequently, from the most active fractions, 23 peptides were identified by mass spectrometry MS/MS), synthesized and tested. Peptides N-15-M, E-11-F, Q-14-R and A-17-E were selected for their antioxidant effects on Caco-2 cells both in the protection against oxidative stress and inhibition of ROS production. To define their action mechanism, the activation of the Kelch-like ECH-associated protein 1/nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2(Keap1/Nrf2) pathway was studied evaluating the translocation of Nrf2 from cytosol to nucleus. In cells treated with N-15-M, Q-14-R and A-17-E, a higher amount of Nrf2 was found in the nucleus with respect to the control. In addition, the three active peptides, through the activation of Keap1/Nrf2 pathway, led to overexpression and increased activity of antioxidant enzymes. Molecular docking analysis confirmed the potential ability of N-15-M, Q-14-R and A-17-E to bind Keap1, showing their destabilizing effect on Keap1/Nrf2 interaction