Effects of combined exercise training on work-related burnout symptoms and psychological stress in the helping professionals

This study aimed to evaluate the effects of eight-week Combined Exercise Training on burnout symptoms and perceived stress among workers in the helping professions. Forty-two men (46.3 ± 8.1 years) suffering from burnout were randomly allocated into an intervention (n = 21) or waitlist control (n = 21) group. The intervention group performed a combined circuit resistance training and agility training (60 min, 3d·wk-1) at a local fitness centre. At baseline and after the intervention, the Maslach Burnout Inventory and Perceived Stress Scale were administered. Results showed that the intervention group significantly reduced emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and perceived stress, and increased personal accomplishment (p < .001). The magnitude of the effects was large, revealing changes of crucial practical relevance. Adherence and satisfaction with the intervention were high. No significant changes were found in the control group. The findings support the evidence that Combined Exercise Training may reduce occupational burnout and psychological stress in the helping professions

CYBER-ATTACKS AS AGGRESSION CRIMES IN CYBERSPACE IN THE CONTEXT OF INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL LAW

The recent situation in the world shows that cyber-attacks could be one of the most dangerous threats to international peace and security. Offensive operations in cyberspace present unique challenges to the international legal order, which are faced by the international community. While it is consensual that international law applies to cyberspace, the debate about the qualification of cyber-attacks as fundamental crimes under International Criminal Law is still ongoing and has not produced definitive answers. Addressing the implications of transnational cyber threats from the perspective of International Criminal Law will perhaps require a further amendment of the Rome Statute. After briefly illustrating how cyber-attacks are commonly linked in the debate to war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity, a more detailed analysis will be devoted to the admissibility of cyber-attacks as crimes of aggression, this being the crime most recently defined and, perhaps, the most controversial. Article visualizations

ACTIONS TO PREVENT AND COUNTERACT THE CYBERBULLYING PHENOMENON: AN OVERVIEW

The progress of technology and the increasingly widespread use of the Internet are leading to deviant behaviours such as cyber violence and, among these, cyberbullying. The latter is a growing phenomenon among adolescents that has forced institutions to implement action plans, such as legislative interventions, to prevent and counteract cyberbullying. The aim of this contribution was to provide a brief overview of the projects and laws implemented at international level to prevent this phenomenon as well as the fundamental role of teachers and parents. The analysed studies demonstrate how widely the phenomenon of cyberbullying is widespread in numerous countries with percentages that grow year by year and the Italian situation also appears in line with the international context. Further projects should be implemented to prevent the growing phenomenon of cybercrime in general.  Article visualizations

MULTILATERAL TRAINING USING PHYSICAL ACTIVITY AND SOCIAL GAMES IMPROVES MOTOR SKILLS AND EXECUTIVE FUNCTION IN CHILDREN WITH AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDER

While impairments in gross and fine motor skills and executive function are evident from an early age in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), few studies have explored combined physical activity training and social games as a means of improving these proficiencies in children with ASD. We examined the effects of a 12-week Multilateral Training intervention in 24 children with ASD (M age =9.33, SD = 0.92 years). Participants were matched into pairs, based on age, gender, and autism symptom severity, and we randomly allocated each pair into either an intervention (n = 12) or waitlist control (n = 12) group. Participants in the intervention group performed two 70-minutes sessions per week consisting of a 5-minute warm-up, 40 minutes of motor skills training related to EF (over four progressive levels), 20 minutes of social games, and a final 5-minute cool-down. At baseline and again after the intervention, we administered the Bruininks-Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency, 2nd edition (BOT-2), and the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function (BRIEF) to assess all participants’ gross and fine motor skills and EF, respectively. Results showed that the intervention group significantly improved motor skill proficiency (i.e., BOT-2 total motor composite and three motor-area composites) and EF (i.e., BRIEF global EF composite and three EF indices) (p &lt; 0.05; d &gt; 0.84). These findings support the efficacy of Multilateral Training to assist children with ASD with both physical and cognitive/behavioral symptoms.  Article visualizations

ORGANISED CRIME: UNDERGROUND ECONOMY AND REGULATIONS TO COMBAT CYBERCRIME

Criminal organizations, with the advent of new information technologies, have found additional ways and spaces through which to commit crimes, especially in online hidden markets and through new means of laundering illicit proceeds. The opening of these new illegal markets has helped to increase the capital of criminal organizations which, if spread and rooted in the territory, can influence the various spheres of politics and decision-making processes of an entire country. Despite the seriousness of the threat, organised crime is not sufficiently understood. Although regulatory interventions and actions to prevent and combat cybercrimes perpetrated by organised crime have been implemented, through the international collaboration of the police forces with the various investigative agencies, the individual states intend to maintain full sovereignty in the area of criminal justice; all this leads to a lack of uniformity between both national and European institutions in the area of organized crime, while adequate regulation is still lacking in the dark web. In the light of the exponential increase in online criminal activity in recent years and even 25% between the first and second quarter of 2020 due to the coronavirus emergency, it is therefore essential that the individual Member States put aside uncertainties, exploiting the European Union as a fulcrum in the fight against transnational organised crime. A common solution would be to criminalize access to some areas of the Onion Routing, integrate the provisions of the article 416 of the Penal Code to apply them also to the digital context and establish the crime of mafia-type criminal association in the European legislative landscape as explained in article 416-bis of the Italian Penal Code. Interpol; Europol; Postal police; Criminal law; Darkne

EFFECT OF 8-WEEK MULTILATERAL TRAINING ON PHYSICAL AND TECHNICAL PERFORMANCE IN YOUNG KARATEKA

Karate training, a Japanese martial art, is considered enough to increase physical-motor and technical performance. Instructors seem to prefer only technical Karate training to other physical-motor training methods. Therefore, the purpose of the present investigation was to assess the effects of 8 weeks of multilateral training on the physical-motor performance and technical gesture quality in young karateka. Participants (8-10 years) were recruited from a karate school and pair-matched based on gender and then randomly assigned to either an experimental group (EG, n = 14) or a control group (CG, n = 14). The EG was trained three times per week on non-consecutive days replacing a part of karate training with a multilateral training (i.e. flexibility, balance, strength and coordination, 45 min.) without increasing the total training time (90 min.). At baseline and after 8-weeks all participants were tested on the sit and reach, stork balance stand, standing long jump, and Harre test, and the technical gesture quality through the prefixed decision-making criteria. After intervention, the EG group showed significantly improvement than CG in the sit and reach test (2.0 vs. 1.1 cm, p &lt; 0.001, ES = 0.73) and standing long jump test (8.3 vs. -4.0 cm, p &lt; 0.01, ES = 0.88). Furthermore, the subjective evaluation scores of the technical gesture were significantly enhanced (p &lt; 0.001, ES = 0.6 - 2.0) for EG in terms of technique, power, expressiveness and rhythm, whereas for CG the scores remained unchanged. Results suggested that incorporating a physical-motor training with a multilateral approach to karate technical sessions was more effective than technical training alone to improve physical-motor and technical performance in children.  Article visualizations

THE PHENOMENON OF CYBERCRIME: FROM THE TRANSNATIONAL CONNOTATION TO THE NEED FOR GLOBALIZATION OF JUSTICE

Information technology has brought about epochal changes in every area of society, offering opportunities for development on a social, cultural, and economic level, but also a fertile ground for activities with criminal purposes that take place in cyberspace. The threat present in the intangible world of cyberspace is extremely concrete and is one of the major sources of concern and investment by States, given that the Internet is considered the critical infrastructure for excellence. Cybercrime, characterized by a transnational connotation of borderless or aspatial crime, provides a position of advantage to the cybercriminal compared to the traditional criminal. The development of information technologies has led to the digitization of organized crime which thus succeeds in maximizing profits by exploiting the opportunities offered by new communication technologies and minimizing the risk of being identified, arrested, convicted and of suffering the seizure of the proceeds of criminal activities. Considering the contradictory and inhomogeneous international legal framework due to the transnational scope of cybercrime, the identification of the locus commissi delicti is difficult and the legal prosecution of cybercrimes is complex; therefore, cybercriminals could operate without an adequate response from some states in terms of prevention, sanction, containment and contrast. The sovereignty of States, in the context of cybercrime repression, is identified as an insurmountable obstacle in the creation of a supranational union of law. Therefore, to put legal operators in the real conditions to suppress transnational cybercrime, globalization of justice is needed. Article visualizations

EFFECTS OF A PLYOMETRIC SUPPLEMENTAL TRAINING ON VERTICAL JUMP HEIGHT AND AESTHETIC JUMPING ABILITY IN ADOLESCENT FEMALE DANCERS

Dance is an artistic discipline that requires precision, artistry, grace, strength and power. Previous studies indicate that plyometric training has positive effects on fitness performance measures in ballet and modern dancers. However, many dancers are wary of engaging in supplementary training out of fear of excessive muscle hypertrophy that could change the aesthetics of body appearance, technique and general, dance artistry. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of an 8-week supplementary plyometric intervention on vertical jump height, aesthetic jumping ability and anthropometric measures in female contemporary dancers. Sixteen females (12-18 years) were randomly assigned to an 8-week experimental group (EG, n=8) that performed a supplementary plyometric training twice a week or a control group (CG, n=8) that continued regular dance regimen. At baseline and after 8 weeks all participants were tested on the subjective aesthetic jumping ability, anthropometrics and vertical jump. The EG group showed significant (p&lt;0.05) improvements in the subjective ability to hang suspended in the air during a jump (+21.4%) and the subjective jump height (+43.3%) following the intervention. Also, a significant ‘Time x Group’ interaction was found for countermovement jump and countermovement jump free arms (p&lt;0.05), with the EG that showed significant improvements of 36.8% and 47.9%, respectively. No significant changes were seen in the CG for all measures from pre- to post-testing. There were no significant changes in any group for body weight and body fat. Our findings suggested that an 8-week supplementary plyometric training program twice a week had a significantly beneficial effect on both physical fitness indices and aesthetic jumping ability for female contemporary dancers. Therefore, it is suggested that the way a dancer is trained needs to be reviewed and the concept of supplementary training must be deepened.  Article visualizations

INVESTIGATIVE TECHNIQUES IN THE DIGITAL AGE: CYBERCRIME AND CRIMINAL PROFILING

The advent of the Internet and social networks has reduced human and empathic relationships, consequently increasing virtual ones. Cyberspace offers the possibility of carrying out illegal acts with the perception of remaining unpunished. In this article we discussed the differences between crime and cybercrime which takes different forms within cyberspace such as cyberstalking, cyberbullying, online sexual offences and property crimes such as white-collar crimes. Furthermore, the evolution of criminal profiling in the digital age has been described and the profile of the cyber-criminal has been defined as outlined by the Italian State Police. The multiplication of criminal activities perpetrated through the web has led the Legislator to wonder about the most effective repressive methods to repress and try to ward off the numerous dangers that are wandering within cyberspace. The Italian legislator, through various legislative interventions, has introduced changes to the Penal Code as in article 612-bis, introducing in paragraph 2 an increase in punishment for the case in which the crime is committed through IT tools such as e-mail, SMS, chat malware and, above all, social networks. Also, the legislator included article 612-ter in the Penal Code to prosecute the illegal dissemination of sexually explicit images and videos. Finally, criminological research must consider that cybercrime has different variables than traditional crime and the evaluation of criminal behaviour should take into account the influence of the virtual dimension on the cognitive processes of the subjects.  Article visualizations

An Analysis of Sicilia's public financial flows

The paper presents an analysis of (Italian region) Sicilia’s financial flows using data from Regional Public Accounts. The paper is divided into two main parts. The first part of the work considers financial flows as a whole. The second part considers more in detail expenditure and revenue both in current and in capital account. The analysis shows that Sicilian regional data are characterised by similarities as well as peculiar aspects with respect both to national aggregate and the Southern one.Conti Pubblici Territoriali, Spesa Pubblica, Entrate Pubbliche.