Low-cost carriers and tourism in the Italian regions: a segmented regression model

The paper analyzes the effects of air transport deregulation on international tourism flows in the Italian regions. Due to several reasons, tourist flows rarely are equally distributed within a nation. We focus on the accessibility to a territory as one of those reasons. Easy and cheap access to a destination is the prerequisite for its tourism development; in this respect, the advent of low-cost carriers has increased accessibility to many tourist destinations. We propose a segmented regression analysis to study the evolution of the share of European tourist arrivals in each region on the total European tourists visiting Italy. Accordingly, we identify which regions have gotten a higher advantage in terms of tourism growth due to the air transport deregulation

GDP growth rate, tourism expansion and labor market dynamics: Applied research focused on the Italian economy

This paper focuses on the Italian economy and investigates the causal nexus between economic growth, tourism development and labor market dynamics. We performed a two-step analysis. In the first step, we evaluate whether tourism stimulates Italian economic growth or if it is the economic growth that promotes tourism expansion. To get the goal, we use panel data from 1997 to 2019 concerning the GDP and overnight stays in each Italian region. We performed the Granger causality test on the whole panel and analyzed a panelvar model. In the second step, after having established the relationship between the two variables of interest, we extended our analysis to investigate—throughout the estimate of the employment intensity of growth and the impact of GDP growth on employment, at both aggregate and disaggregate level. The main findings of our analysis are as follows: a) the existence of a unidirectional causality going from economic growth to tourism development (i.e., validation of economic-driven tourism growth hypothesis), and b) a significant estimated magnitude of the (average) employment intensity of growth

Tourism Development and Italian Economic Growth: The Weight of the Regional Economies

This research aims to study the relationship between economic growth and the increase in the tourism sector in Italy. Unlike most of the literature, we use the value added in the main economic sectors involved in tourism activity as a proxy for tourism development. The use of the tourism value added allows us to analyze the effect of both international and domestic tourism on per capita GDP growth. The main working hypothesis we tested is whether the relationship between GDP growth and the expansion of the tourism sector is in any way influenced by the geographic area referenced and/or the time period considered. Accordingly, we conducted our analysis at both the national and subnational (cluster) levels, splitting the original sample into two equal subperiods (1997–2008 and 2009–2019). The panel VAR analysis shows that for the country as a whole, tourism growth depends on the past value of the economic growth rate, especially for the subperiod 2009–2019. The cluster analysis clarifies that these outcomes are strongly determined by the cluster that covers the wealthiest Italian regions

The use of discretion in decision-making by social workers at child protection services in Italy

Child protection social workers in Italy operate within a context apparently lacking reference laws on procedures to be implemented in selecting the most appropriate intervention measures for a child\u2019s welfare. The result is a situation leaving significant operational discretion up to each professional who, although able to choose the best possible intervention based on each specific case and on local resources, also risks creating profound inequalities. The objective of this research was to identify the criteria according to which decisions are taken by child protection services social workers in Italy. Three focus groups were formed of 22 social workers operating in protection services in three cities of the Veneto region, in north-eastern Italy. The results highlight certain significant convergences on the social worker\u2019s decision-making criteria, together with the lack of both shared practices, also within individual services, and the use of standardised methods. Moreover, there is a strong shift of decision-making toward the individual rather than the institution and based on experiential-intuitive methods, rather than scientific-analytical ones

Major contribution of prokaryotes to carbon fluxes in the pelagic microbial food webs of the Mediterranean Sea

In this study, we carried out dilution experiments at the surface and in the mesopelagic and bathypelagic layers at 15 sites in the Mediterranean Sea that covered a wide range of trophic conditions. The main aim was to test the hypothesis that prokaryotes, and particularly heterotrophic prokaryotes, are pivotal in sustaining both nanoplankton and microzooplankton energy requirements at all of the considered trophic states. These data highlight that bacterivory is the major pathway of organic carbon transfer in the oligotrophic and meso-eutrophic environments. The microzooplankton mostly feed on prokaryotes, directly or indirectly (through nanoplankton exploitation), rather than on microalgae. Under eutrophic conditions, herbivory is the main trophic pathway; however, the heterotrophic prokaryotes always represent an important source of carbon. The lowest food-web efficiency (i.e., ratio between productivity of the highest trophic level and productivity of the lower trophic levels) was determined for the eutrophic status due to possible grazer satiation, which translates into an excess of autotrophic biomass available for export or transfer to higher trophic levels. The food-web efficiency is higher under mesoeutrophic and oligotrophic conditions, where the main pathway is bacterivory. In the mesopelagic and bathypelagic layers, only nanoplankton predation on heterotrophic prokaryotes was investigated. The food-web efficiency in these layers was relatively high and nanoplankton appear to efficiently exploit the available biomass of heterotrophic prokaryote

A Long-Term Follow-Up of Angiolymphoid Hyperplasia with Eosinophilia Treated by Corticosteroids: When a Traditional Therapy is Still Up-to-Date

Angiolymphoid hyperplasia with eosinophilia (ALHE) is a rare and idiopathic vascular disorder. It is characterized by red to brown papules or nodules dislocated in the dermis or subcutaneous tissue. These lesions are typically localized on the head and neck, particularly around the ear as singular or multiple nodules. Although ALHE is a benign disease, lesions are often persistent and difficult to eradicate. ALHE can occur in all races, but it is reported more frequently in Asians. Young to middle-aged women are more commonly affected. The histological examination corresponds to a florid vascular proliferation with atypical endothelial cells surrounded by a lymphocytic and eosinophilic infiltrate. We describe the case of a 67-year-old Caucasian man with a nodular lesion in the right postauricular region for 3 years. The histological examination was consistent with ALHE. Monthly intralesional corticosteroid injections were performed for 6 months, and complete remission was achieved. After 10 years of follow-up, the patient is free of recurrence

Early Visual Saliency Based on Isolated Optimal Features

International audienc

Artists Residencies, Challenges and Opportunities for Communities’ Empowerment and Heritage Regeneration

The paper debates the results of a research carried out by the Department of Architecture of the University of Naples “Federico II” (DiARC), as part of the Creative Europe 2018 Artists in Architecture, Re-activating modern European houses program (entitled EACEA 32/2017 and EACEA 35/2017; scientific coordinator: Maria Rita Pinto; project manager: Serena Viola). The research investigates the relationships between creativity and sharing as tools of a new form of social sustainability. These elements can induce positive effects on the settlement qualities of the places, acting as engines of the custody of the settlement values and the collaborative regeneration of the built environment. The methodology is based on participatory approaches able to restore the levels of cohesion, care, and creativity that the experimentation typology of the Artists Residencies is able to trigger on the territory and on the communities who inhabit it. The results return in the form of the complex process of the artist exhibition reception a significant strategy of sustainable development, capable of influencing the community by entrusting it with the role of custodian of the existing heritage and of renewing local entrepreneurship with innovative productions