Life satisfaction in the time of COVID-19. The frog effect

Besides the physical and mental health problems it brought, the COVID-19 pandemic impinged on economic and social aspects of people's lives, threatening economic security and interpersonal relationships, aspects that are major determinants of perceived subjective well-being. We investigate the relationship between individual life satisfaction, and relational and material goods under the exceptional circumstance of the pandemic and lockdown in Italy. Unlike other studies, this paper examined whether COVID-19 infection and deterioration of economic and relational circumstances caused by COVID-19 can predict changes in individual life satisfaction, controlling for other contextual factors. The results suggest that the pandemic threatened the life satisfaction of respondents and the main predictor of this deterioration was related to the effect of the pandemic and lockdown on social relations. Aspects like gender, type of city and dwelling also emerged to be important predictors of LS. These findings have implications for social policies and urban planning, and offer additional insight in the research on LS

Measures for Ph.D. Evaluation: the Recruitment Process

Recently the quality of Higher Education (HE) system and its evaluation have been key issues of the political and scientific debate on education policies all over Europe. In the wide landscape that involves the entire HE system we draw attention on the third level of its organization, i.e. the Ph.D. In particular, this paper discusses the necessity of monitoring the recruitment process of Ph.D. system because it represents a fundamental aspect of the Ph.D. system as a whole. We introduce a set of concepts related to the recruitment process and then we make them computable with synthetic indicators. The study provides an empirical analysis based on doctoral schools of four academic years at the University of Siena. Proposed indicators are finally used for detecting weakness and strength of each Ph.D. school.Ph.D. schools, Ph.D.s. recruitment, diversity, external attractiveness, polarization

Exploring the determinants and trends of STEM students' internal mobility. Some evidence from Italy

In recent years, there has been a widespread consensus that science, tech- nology, engineering and math (STEM) education is crucial for the long-term productivity and growth of a country. In this light, the present paper aims to explore the phenomenon of the mobility of Italian STEM students, namely, the ows of graduated students from the Southern regions who enrol in the universities in the Northern/Central area and choose a STEM degree course. We exploit microdata from the Italian Ministry of Education, University and Research (MIUR) on 8 cohorts (from a.y. 2008/2009 to a.y. 2015/16) of enrolled students in STEM elds who obtained high school diplomas in Southern Italy. The main results of our analysis show that the ow of STEM movers increases from year to year. This ow particularly aects the top- performing students and, therefore, is a threat to the socio-economic growth prospects of the Southern regions whose gap with respect to the Central and Northern regions is expected to grow year by year

Measuring financial well-being in Europe using a fuzzy set approach

Purpose – This paper aims to apply a multidimensional approach to assessing the financial well-being of European countries. Design/methodology/approach – Financial well-being is a very complex phenomenon to measure because it is composed of different dimensions. Therefore, this paper uses a multidimensional and fuzzy methodology to assess financial well-being in Europe. The financial well-being fuzzy indicator was calculated using European Quality of Life Survey data. Findings – Financial well-being is heterogeneous across European countries. This evidence is confirmed both at the level of overall financial well-being and at the level of sub-indices. The degree of financial wellbeing is not directly related to wealth as traditionally measured (i.e. GDP), but shows some correspondence with socio-economic characteristics of the population and with governance and cultural elements of a country. Practical implications – Understanding financial well-being could help financial institutions to transition from a one-size-fits-all approach to a more tailored approach when they provide financial services and could help policy makers to consider financial well-being when they decide how and where to allocate public spending. Originality/value – To the best of authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to employ a fuzzy methodology for the analysis of financial well-being in Europe. Keywords Financial well-being, Dimensions of financial well-being, Multidimensional and fuzzy set approach, Europe Paper type Research pape

Measuring the impact of financial crisis on quality of life in Europe

Improving and monitoring Quality of Life is becoming one of the most important goals of European Union policies. However, its measurement is complex and multi-faceted, as an individual's current and future state of wellbeing depends upon a great number of variables. Moreover, there is no doubt that crisis impacted differentially in European countries. Against this background, the aim of this article is to provide a better understanding of the changes in quality of life in European countries and the role of receiving contexts in influencing these outcomes. In order to achieve it, the paper proposes a multidimensional and fuzzy approach to measure Quality of Life and investigate the evolution of different dimensions of quality life over time by use a propensity score method for isolating the effect of crisis from the net change

Self-Injurious Thoughts and Behaviors Questionnaire-Nonsuicidal (SITBQ-NS): Development and validation of a revised version of the Self-Injurious Thoughts and Behaviors Interview (SITBI) for the self-assessment of nonsuicidal self-injury

Objective: Despite the fact that nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) has become an important issue among clinicians and researchers all over the world, in Italy there is still a lack of instruments able to assess it. The objective of this study is to develop and validate the Self-Injurious Thoughts and Behaviors Questionnaire-Nonsuicidal (SITBQ-NS), a self-report measuring the whole NSSI spectrum, that is, from ideation to act. Method: SITBQ-NS was administered to 51 adult patients recruited from public mental health services together with the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory (MCMI-III), the Beck Hopelessness Scale (BHS), the Deliberate Self-Harm Inventory (DSHI), and the Nepean Dysphoria Scale (NDS-I). Results: SITBQ-NS demonstrated excellent internal consistency (α=0.983). NSSI thoughts were present in 56.9% of participants, and NSSI behaviors were present in 49% of participants. Similar NSSI functions were found among participants, except for “To end suicidal ideation,” which was more common among those having NSSI thoughts (34.1%) than those exhibiting NSSI behaviors (21.6%). There were strong positive correlations between the scores of SITBQ-NS and the scores of BHS, DSHI and NDS-I. Also, there were weak to strong positive correlations between the scores of SITBQ-NS and some MCMI-III scales. Conclusions: The SITBQ-NS shows very good psychometric properties, being a useful and easy-to-handle instrument for measuring the whole NSSI spectrum. Further research in clinical samples is neede

Plasma Deposited Electrocatalytic Films with Controlled Content of Pt Nanoclusters

n/

speciation of copper ii in natural waters in the presence of ligands of high and intermediate strength

AbstractA new procedure is presented for the determination of the ligands of copper(II) in natural waters, based on titration with the metal ion, monitored by measuring the concentration of copper(II) sorbed on the carboxylic resin Amberlite CG 50. The data are treated by the Ruzic linearization method to obtain the concentration of the ligands and the conditional stability constant of the complexes. Ligands with reaction coefficient αM higher than 0.1 K*w/V are detected, where K* is the ratio of the concentration of sorbed metal to the concentration of free metal in solution, which can be evaluated from the sorption equilibria of copper(II) on Amberlite CG 50, w is the amount of water in the resin phase, and V the volume of the solution phase. Some natural waters at high and low salinity were examined. The ligand concentration determined in these samples ranged from around 50 to 2000 nM, while the original copper concentrations from 11 to 130 nM. The ligand concentration was always much higher than that ..

Potential of Biofermentative Unsulfated Chondroitin and Hyaluronic Acid in Dermal Repair

Chondroitin obtained through biotechnological processes (BC) shares similarities with both chondroitin sulfate (CS), due to the dimeric repetitive unit, and hyaluronic acid (HA), as it is unsulfated. In the framework of this experimental research, formulations containing BC with an average molecular size of about 35 KDa and high molecular weight HA (HHA) were characterized with respect to their rheological behavior, stability to enzymatic hydrolysis and they were evaluated in different skin damage models. The rheological characterization of the HHA/BC formulation revealed a G' of 92 ± 3 Pa and a G″ of 116 ± 5 Pa and supported an easy injectability even at a concentration of 40 mg/mL. HA/BC preserved the HHA fraction better than HHA alone. BTH was active on BC alone only at high concentration. Assays on scratched keratinocytes (HaCaT) monolayers showed that all the glycosaminoglycan formulations accelerated cell migration, with HA/BC fastening healing 2-fold compared to the control. In addition, in 2D HaCaT cultures, as well as in a 3D skin tissue model HHA/BC efficiently modulated mRNA and protein levels of different types of collagens and elastin remarking a functional tissue physiology. Finally, immortalized human fibroblasts were challenged with TNF-α to obtain an in vitro model of inflammation. Upon HHA/BC addition, secreted IL-6 level was lower and efficient ECM biosynthesis was re-established. Finally, co-cultures of HaCaT and melanocytes were established, showing the ability of HHA/BC to modulate melanin release, suggesting a possible effect of this specific formulation on the reduction of stretch marks. Overall, besides demonstrating the safety of BC, the present study highlights the potential beneficial effect of HHA/BC formulation in different damage dermal models

Reduced expression of THRβ in papillary thyroid carcinomas: relationship with BRAF mutation, aggressiveness and miR expression

Purpose Down-regulation of thyroid hormone receptor beta (THRβ) gene has been described in several human malignancies, including thyroid cancer. In this study, we analyzed THRβ mRNA expression in surgical specimens from a series of human papillary thyroid carcinomas (PTCs), characterized by their genotypic and clinical–biological features. Methods Thirty-six PTCs were divided into two groups according to the 2009 American Thyroid Association risk classification (17 low, 19 intermediate), and each group was divided into subgroups based on the presence or absence of the BRAFV600E mutation (21 BRAF mutated, 15 BRAF wild type). Gene expression was analyzed using fluidic cards containing probes and primers specific for the THRβ gene, as well as for genes of thyroperoxidase (TPO), sodium/iodide symporter (NIS), thyroglobulin (Tg) and thyroid stimulating hormone receptor (TSH-R) and for some miRNAs involved in thyroid neoplasia and targeting THRβ. The mRNA levels of each tumor tissue were compared with their correspondent normal counterpart. Results THRβ transcript was down-regulated in all PTCs examined. No significant differences were found between intermediate- vs low-risk PTCs patients, and BRAF-mutated vs BRAF wild-type groups. THRβ expression was directly correlated with NIS, TPO, Tg and TSH-R, and inversely correlated to miR-21, -146a, -181a and -221 expression. Conclusions Our results demonstrate that down-regulation of THRβ is a common feature of PTCs. While it is not associated with a more aggressive phenotype of PTC, it correlates with the reduction of all the markers of differentiation and is associated with overexpression of some miRNAs supposed to play a role in thyroid tumorigenesis