Coping with cybervictimization: The role of direct confrontation and resilience on adolescent wellbeing

Background. Recent studies have consistently identified the negative consequences of cyberbullying on adolescent mental health. Nevertheless, not all cybervictims are alike, and in the last few years some evidence has appeared indicating that faced with cyberbullying, victims may manifest different emotional outcomes. In this study, we explored whether cybervictim resilience fully or partially mediates the effects of cybervictimization and whether a confrontational coping strategy impacts emotional symptoms. Methods. The study was carried out with a sample of 474 high school students equally distributed between males and females. Data were collected using a questionnaire comprising four measures assessing cybervictimization, direct confrontation coping strategy, resilience and emotional symptoms. Results. Structural equation modelling indicated that the effects of cybervictimization and confrontational coping strategy on emotional symptoms were mediated by resilience, with cybervictimization showing a positive effect while direct confrontation a negative effect. Cybervictimization also showed a positive direct effect on emotional symptoms. Conclusions. These results are presented in light of their implications for designing effective interventions able to protect and promote adolescents\u2019 psychological wellbeing

Phase Stability and Fast Ion Conductivity in the Hexagonal LiBH4-LiBr-LiCl Solid Solution

This study shows a flexible system that offers promising candidates for Li-based solid-state electrolytes. The Br− substitution for BH4 − stabilizes the hexagonal structure of LiBH4 at room temperature (RT), whereas Cl− is soluble only at higher temperatures. Incorporation of chloride in a hexagonal solid solution leads to an increase in the energy density of the system. For the first time, a stable hexagonal solid solution of LiBH4 containing both Cl− and Br-halide anions has been obtained at RT. The LiBH4−LiBr−LiCl ternary phase diagram has been determined at RT by X-ray diffraction coupled with a Rietveld refinement. A solubility of up to 30% of Cl− in the solid solution has been established. The effect of halogenation on the Li-ion conductivity and electrochemical stability has been investigated by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and cyclic voltammetry. Considering the ternary samples, h-Li(BH4)0.7(Br)0.2(Cl)0.1 composition showed the highest value for conductivity (1.3 × 10−5 S/cm at 30 °C), which is about 3 orders of magnitude higher than that for pure LiBH4 in the orthorhombic structure. The values of Li-ion conductivity at RT depend only on the BH4 − content in the solid solution, suggesting that the Br/Cl ratio does not affect the defect formation energy in the structure. Chloride anion substitution in the hexagonal structure increases the activation energy, moving from about 0.45 eV for samples without Cl− ions in the structure up to about 0.63 eV for h-Li(BH4)0.6(Br)0.2(Cl)0.2 compositions, according to the Meyer−Neldel rule. In addition to increasing Li-ion conductivity, the halogenation also increases the thermal stability of the system. Unlike for the Liion conductivity, the Br/Cl ratio influences the electrochemical stability: a wide oxidative window of 4.04 V versus Li+/Li is reached in the Li−Br system while further addition of Cl is a trade-off between oxidative stability and weight reduction. The halogenation allows both binary and ternary systems operating below 120 °C, thus suggesting possible applications of these fast ion conductors as solid-state electrolytes in Li-ion batteries

Diagnostic performance of endoscopic ultrasound-guided tissue acquisition of splenic lesions: systematic review with pooled analysis

Background: Focal splenic lesions are usually incidentally discovered on radiological assessments. Although percutaneous tissue acquisition (TA) under trans-abdominal ultrasound guidance is a well-established technique for obtaining cyto-histological diagnosis of focal splenic lesions, endoscopic ultrasound (EUS)-guided TA has been described in several studies, reporting different safety and outcomes. The aim was to assess the pooled safety, adequacy, and accuracy of EUS-TA of splenic lesions. Methods: A comprehensive review of available evidence was conducted at the end of November 2021. All studies including more than five patients and reporting about the safety, adequacy, and accuracy of EUS-TA of the spleen were included. Results: Six studies (62 patients) were identified; all studies have been conducted using fine-needle aspiration (FNA) needles. Pooled specimen adequacy and accuracy of EUS-TA for spleen characterization were 92.8% [95% confidence interval (CI), 86.3%-99.3%] and 88.2% (95% CI, 79.3%-97.1%), respectively. The pooled incidence of adverse events (six studies, 62 patients) was 4.7% (95% CI, 0.4%-9.7%). Conclusion: EUS-FNA of the spleen is a safe technique with high diagnostic adequacy and accuracy. The EUS-guided approach could be considered a valid alternative to the percutaneous approach for spleen TA

Foreign Policy and the Ideology of Post-ideology: The Case of Matteo Renzi’s Partito Democratico

The post-communist Italian Left has experienced a long phase of ideational misalignment between ideas placed at different levels, as a qualified discursive institutionalist approach demonstrates. Background public philosophies have often clashed with post-communist political ideology, while foreign policy programmes have often contradicted specific policies. Under the leadership of Matteo Renzi, however, the PD is now experiencing a moment of remarkable ideational consistency. Rather than being founded on entirely new premises, this new consensus folds old elements into new ones and shows all the defining traits of post-ideology. Yet, by espousing post-ideology, Renzi is making an ultimately ideological move whose limitations may soon start to show

A review of the MSCA ITN ECOSTORE - Novel complex metal hydrides for efficient and compact storage of renewable energy as hydrogen and electricity

Hydrogen as an energy carrier is very versatile in energy storage applications. Developments in novel, sustainable technologies towards a CO2-free society are needed and the exploration of all-solid-state batteries (ASSBs) as well as solid-state hydrogen storage applications based on metal hydrides can provide solutions for such technologies. However, there are still many technical challenges for both hydrogen storage material and ASSBs related to designing low-cost materials with low-environmental impact. The current materials considered for all-solid-state batteries should have high conductivities for Na+, Mg2+ and Ca2+, while Al3+-based compounds are often marginalised due to the lack of suitable electrode and electrolyte materials. In hydrogen storage materials, the sluggish kinetic behaviour of solid-state hydride materials is one of the key constraints that limit their practical uses. Therefore, it is necessary to overcome the kinetic issues of hydride materials before discussing and considering them on the system level. This review summarizes the achievements of the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) innovative training network (ITN) ECOSTORE, the aim of which was the investigation of different aspects of (complex) metal hydride materials. Advances in battery and hydrogen storage materials for the efficient and compact storage of renewable energy production are discussed

The Renaissance of Geopolitics in Post-1989 Italy

The revival of geopolitics in post-1989 Italy is at once rather straightforward and perplexing matter. On the one hand, the renewed appeal that geopolitical thinking has enjoyed in International Relations (IR) circles has been well documented and could hardly be downplayed. On the other hand, however, the recourse to geopolitics has often boiled down to an undifferentiated and often convoluted use of its terms, approaches and theories. In this article we argue that the rationale of such a revival has been less to import geopolitical knowledge into IR and more to confer legitimacy and respectability to the analyses put forward by scholars and practitioners. It is no chance, in fact, that the geopolitics-inspired academic discourse has been progressively recognised as a way, if not the way, to discuss international affairs in post-1989 Italy. The central puzzle to be investigated behind the revival of geopolitics in Italy is thus how such a discourse has managed to gain and retain a powerful status in Italian IR academia and, most importantly, why