Flow network indices signal a directional change in ecosystems: Evidence from a small mountain lake (Lake Santo, northern Italy)

Empirical evidence of the theoretically expected trends of ecosystem development is scarce so far. In this research, we used long-term empirical data about the plankton community of a small mountain lake (Lake Santo, northern Apennines, Italy) to reconstruct its developmental trajectory during a period comprised between early 1970 s and 2010 s. We exploited these data to build yearly ecological networks and from their configuration of energy flows we computed network information indices. The trends of these indices enlighten about the developmental trajectory of this ecosystem during the period covered by the data set. In particular, they indicate that Lake Santo evolved in the direction of increasing stability at the expense of efficiency in energy transfer. We compared these results with current hypotheses about the directionality of ecosystem development, which are rooted in ecosystem theory, and discussed the possibility that, counter to some theoretical models of ecosystem development, Lake Santo followed an unimpeded direction of development rather than a trajectory typical of an ecosystem under stress. Finally, the long-term trends of flow network indices provided insights about the health status of the ecosystem

Understanding Social–Ecological Systems using Loop Analysis

The sustainable management of social–ecological systems (SESs) requires that we understand the complex structure of relationships and feedbacks among ecosystem components and socioeconomic entities. Therefore, the construction and analysis of models integrating ecological and human actors is crucial for describing the functioning of SESs, and qualitative modeling represents an ideal tool since it allows studying dependencies among variables of diverse types. In particular, the qualitative technique of loop analysis yields predictions about how a system’s variables respond to stress factors. Different interaction types, scarce information about functional relationships among variables, and uncertainties in the values of the parameters are the rule rather than exceptions when studying SESs. Accordingly, loop analysis seems to be perfectly suitable to investigate them. Here, we introduce the key aspects of loop analysis, discuss its applications to SESs, and suggest it enables making the first steps toward the integration of the three dimensions of sustainability

Changes in emergency psychiatric consultations in time of COVID-19: a retrospective observational study in the Verona Academic Hospital over the two pandemic years 2020-2021

Background: During the first months of the COVID-19 pandemic, local health authorities in most Italian regions prescribed a reduction of ordinary outpatient and community mental health care. The aim of this study was to assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on access to the emergency departments (ED) for psychiatric consultation in the pandemic years 2020 and 2021 compared to 2019. Methods: This is a retrospective study conducted by using routinely collected administrative data of the two EDs of the Verona Academic Hospital Trust (Verona, Italy). All ED psychiatry consultations registered from 01.01.2020 to 31.12.2021 were compared with those registered in the pre-pandemic year (01.01.2019 to 31.12.2019). The association between each recorded characteristic and the year considered was estimated by chi-square or Fisher's exact test. Results: A significant reduction was observed between 2020 and 2019 (-23.3%) and between 2021 and 2019 (-16.3%). This reduction was most evident in the lockdown period of 2020 (-40.3%) and in the phase corresponding to the second and third pandemic waves (-36.1%). In 2021, young adults and people with diagnosis of psychosis showed an increase in requests for psychiatric consultation. Conclusions: Fear of contagion may have been an important factor in the overall reduction in psychiatric consultations. However, psychiatric consultations for people with psychosis and for young adults increased. This finding underlines the need for mental health services to implement alternative outreach strategies aimed to support, in times of crisis, these vulnerable segments of the population

The impact of COVID-19 pandemic on psychiatric rehabilitation in residential facilities: perspectives of staff and residents

The coronavirus pandemic imposed significant changes in the care of patients in psychiatric residential facilities, especially during lockdown periods. The aim of this study was to assess the impact of the pandemic on patients and staff of psychiatric residential facilities (RFs). This cross-sectional survey was conducted between 30 June and 30 July 2021 and involved 31 RFs located in the province of Verona (Italy). In total, 170 staff members and 272 residents participated in this study. Staff showing clinically significant symptoms of anxiety, depression and burnout were, respectively, 7.7%, 14.2% and 6%. Staff were concerned about the risk that COVID-19 infection might spread among residents (67.6%) and that residents could not receive an acceptable service due to service reconfiguration because of the pandemic (50.3%). Residents found it very unpleasant not to be permitted to attend family members (85.3%), and not to be allowed to engage in outdoor activities due to the restrictions (84%). Both staff and residents agree that the main problematic areas for the residents was the interdiction to meet family members or friends and the interdiction to outdoor activities, whereas problems related to the COVID-19 infection were considered by the staff members as more frequently problematic than reported by residents. The COVID-19 pandemic had a significant impact on the rehabilitation care and recovery journeys of the residents of psychiatric RFs. Therefore, sustained, and careful attention is needed to ensure that the rehabilitation needs of people with severe mental disorders are not neglected in time of pandemics. Supplementary information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s40737-023-00343-6

The sustained psychological impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on health care workers one year after the outbreak-a repeated cross-sectional survey in a tertiary hospital of North-East Italy

: This study aimed to evaluate the mental health outcomes of health care workers (HCWs) of the Verona academic hospital trust (Italy) one year after the outbreak of COVID-19 and to identify predicted risk factors. A web-based survey was conducted from mid-April to mid-May 2021 on hospital workers one year after the first evaluation performed during the lock-down phase of the COVID-19 pandemic. Post-traumatic stress, general anxiety, depression, and burnout were assessed by using, respectively, the impact of event scale (IES-R), the self-rating anxiety scale (SAS), the patient health questionnaire (PHQ-9) and the Maslach burnout inventory-general survey (MBI-GS). Multivariate logistic regression analysis was performed to identify factors associated with each of the four mental health outcomes one year after the COVID-19 outbreak. A total of 1033 HCWs participated. The percentage of HCWs scoring above the cut-off increased from 2020 to 2021 in all of the outcome domains (anxiety, 50.1% vs. 55.7, p < 0.05; depression, 26.6% vs. 40.6%, p < 0.001; burnout, 28.6% vs. 40.6%, p < 0.001; chi-square test), with the exception of post-traumatic distress. There was also an increase when stratifying by occupation and workplace, with a greater increase for depression and burnout. Multivariate analysis revealed that, one year after the COVID-19 outbreak, nurses were at the greatest risk of anxiety and depression, whereas residents were at the greatest risk of burnout (in terms of low professional efficacy). Working in intensive care units was associated with an increased risk of developing severe emotional exhaustion and a cynical attitude towards work

Flow network indices signal a directional change in ecosystems: Evidence from a small mountain lake (Lake Santo, northern Italy)

Highlights: • Flow network indices signal directional changes during ecosystem development. • They showed linear trends in the evolution of a mountain lake. • The lake evolved to increase stability at the expense of efficiency in energy transfer. • Trends of the indices challenge current hypotheses about the directionality of ecosystem development. • Flow network indices from long term field data can help assessing ecosystem health. Empirical evidence of the theoretically expected trends of ecosystem development is scarce so far. In this research, we used long-term empirical data about the plankton community of a small mountain lake (Lake Santo, northern Apennines, Italy) to reconstruct its developmental trajectory during a period comprised between early 1970 s and 2010 s. We exploited these data to build yearly ecological networks and from their configuration of energy flows we computed network information indices. The trends of these indices enlighten about the developmental trajectory of this ecosystem during the period covered by the data set. In particular, they indicate that Lake Santo evolved in the direction of increasing stability at the expense of efficiency in energy transfer. We compared these results with current hypotheses about the directionality of ecosystem development, which are rooted in ecosystem theory, and discussed the possibility that, counter to some theoretical models of ecosystem development, Lake Santo followed an unimpeded direction of development rather than a trajectory typical of an ecosystem under stress. Finally, the long-term trends of flow network indices provided insights about the health status of the ecosystem

Effectiveness of a Mindful Compassion Care Program in reducing burnout and psychological distress amongst frontline hospital nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic: a study protocol for a randomized controlled trial

Background: Recent studies have shown that nurses have been more affected by the COVID-19 pandemic than any other group of hospital workers in terms of anxiety, depression, and burnout. Several clinical studies had previously demonstrated the effectiveness of mindfulness and compassion interventions in reducing burnout and emotional distress amongst healthcare professionals. Methods and analysis: A parallel-group randomized controlled trial will assess the feasibility, acceptability, and efficacy of a mindfulness and compassion-focused programme on frontline nurses who had been working during the COVID-19 pandemic. Seventy-two participants will be recruited from Verona University Hospital Trust (Veneto Region, north-east Italy) and will be divided equally into an intervention group and a control group. Primary outcome will be assessed using the Emotional Exhaustion subscale of the Maslach Burnout Inventory General Survey (MBI-GS). Secondary outcomes will be measured by the Cynicism and Professional Efficacy subscales of the MBI-GS, the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9), the Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD-7), the Insomnia Severity Index (ISI), the Impact of Stressful Events (IES-R), the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ), and the Forms of Self-Criticising/attacking and Self-Reassuring Scale (FSCRS). Discussion: The study aims to fill a gap in the literature and present a scientifically validated intervention for those healthcare professionals most exposed to the stressful conditions of working during the COVID-19 pandemic. Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov; Identifier: NCT05308537

High Nature Value Farmland: Assessment of Soil Organic Carbon in Europe

High Nature Value Farmland (HNVF) is commonly associated with low intensity agricultural systems. HNVFs cover ~32% of the agricultural land in Europe and are of strategic importance for the European Union policy since they are reservoirs of biodiversity and provide several ecosystem services. Carbon sequestration is an important service that can be supplied by HNVFs as addressed in this study. Considering soil carbon content as a proxy for soil carbon storage, we compare HNVFs with soils that undergo more conventional land management (nHNVFs) and study the consequences of diverse land uses and geographic regions as additional explanatory variables. The results of our research show that, at the European level, organic carbon content is higher in HNVF than in nHNVF. However, this difference is strongly affected by the type of land use and the geographic region. Rather than seeing HNVF and nHNVF as two sharply distinct categories, as for carbon storage potential, we provide indications that the interplay between soil type (HNVF or nHNVF), land use, and geographic region determines carbon content in soils