Anti-gambling policies: Framing morality policy in Italy

Recent research on morality policy has focused on policy change, morality framing and the presence of favourable cultural opportunity structures (COSs). The resulting literature describing various aspects of morality policy has failed to discuss the impact of multilevel dynamic in this field. This contribution examines gambling policy in Italy, applying a multilevel approach to detect the presence of favourable COSs, and whether policymakers frame policies morally. Italy offers a particularly fertile field for the study of morality policy, featuring a liberal national approach versus local restrictive policy. By applying a methodology based on semistructured interviews and secondary sources, we examine the national and local political spheres, demonstrating that morality framing, when detected, is more likely to be found at the local level where the influence of experts and interest groups on legislators may result in the transformation of a health policy based on paternalistic considerations

IoT and Biosensors: A Smart PortablePotentiostat With AdvancedCloud-Enabled Features

Recent advances in Internet-of-Things technology have opened the doors to new scenariosfor biosensor applications. Flexibility, portability, and remote control and access are of utmost importanceto move these devices to people’s homes or in a Point-of-Care context and rapidly share the results withusers and their physicians. In this paper, an innovative portable device for both quantitative and semi-quantitative electrochemical analysis is presented. This device can operate autonomously without the needof relying on other devices (e.g., PC, tablets, or smartphones) thanks to built-in Wi-Fi connectivity. Thedeveloped hardware is integrated into a cloud-based platform, exploiting the cloud computational powerto perform innovative algorithms for calibration (e.g., Machine Learning tools). Results and configurationscan be accessed through a web page without the installation of dedicated APPs or software. The electricalinput/output characteristic was measured with a dummy cell as a load, achieving excellent linearity.Furthermore, the device response to five different concentrations of potassium ferri/ferrocyanide redox probewas compared with a bench-top laboratory instrument. No difference in analytical sensitivity was found.Also, some examples of application-specific tests were set up to demonstrate the use in real-case scenarios.In addition, Support Vector Machine algorithm was applied to semi-quantitative analyses to classify theinput samples into four classes, achieving an average accuracy of 98.23%. Finally, COVID-19 related testsare presented and discussed (PDF) IoT and Biosensors: A Smart Portable Potentiostat With Advanced Cloud-Enabled Features. Available from: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/355214115_IoT_and_Biosensors_A_Smart_Portable_Potentiostat_With_Advanced_Cloud-Enabled_Features [accessed Oct 25 2021]

How harvest, cleaning and conservation good practices affect the quality of saffron: results of a research conducted in Italy

Saffron (Crocus sativus L.) spice making requires time-spending manual operations: stigmas are separated from the flower picked in bud early in the morning, and once dried they are preserved protected from light. This study verified how the correct pursuing of these good practices affects saffron quality. Few hours of exposure of the flower to the sun determined a significant decrease in the colouring strength (239.66 ± 10.33 versus 255.35 ± 11.87). The correct cleaning of stigmas determined a very significant increase of colouring strength (247.12 ± 13.32 instead of 224.35 ± 14.88) and a significant increase of flavour strength (99.72 ±7.48 against 90.31 ± 6.32, p <0.05). In 24 months, all the samples kept in the dark were still of first category of quality while the ones kept in the light dropped in second category. For all samples there was an increase of aroma strength and a decrease of the flavour and colouring strength, but only the colouring strength loss followed a significantly more sloping trendline. A detectable difference in the content of trans-crocin 4 correlated to the ageing or the way of conservation was not found, nevertheless, it was confirmed that the isomers tend towards a photostationary state where the trans isomer is more present

Reflectance confocal microscopy and features of melanocytic lesions: An internet-based study of the reproducibility of terminology

Objective: To test the interobserver and intraobserver reproducibility of the standard terminology for description and diagnosis of melanocytic lesions in in vivo confocal microscopy. Design: A dedicated Web platform was developed to train the participants and to allow independent distant evaluations of confocal images via the Internet. Setting: Department of Dermatology, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Modena, Italy. Participants: The study population was composed of 15 melanomas, 30 nevi, and 5 Spitz/Reed nevi. Six expert centers were invited to participate at the study. Intervention: Evaluation of 36 features in 345 confocal microscopic images from melanocytic lesions. Main Outcome Measure: Interobserved and intraobserved agreement, by calculating the Cohen κ statistics measure for each descriptor. Results: High overall levels of reproducibility were shown for most of the evaluated features. In both the training and test sets there was a parallel trend of decreasing κ values as deeper anatomic skin levels were evaluated. All of the features, except 1, used for melanoma diagnosis, including roundish pagetoid cells, nonedged papillae, atypical cells in basal layer, cerebriform clusters, and nucleated cells infiltrating dermal papillae, showed high overall levels of reproducibility. However, less-than-ideal reproducibility was obtained for some descriptors, such as grainy appearance of the epidermis, junctional thickening, mild atypia in basal layer, plump bright cells, small bright cells, and reticulated fibers in the dermis. Conclusion: The standard consensus confocal terminology useful for the evaluation of melanocytic lesions was reproducibly recognized by independent observers. ©2009 American Medical Association. All rights reserved.This study was supported in part by a grant from the Istituto Superiore di Sanità (ISS), Italy (project No. 527/B/3A/4).Peer Reviewe

Architecture landscape

The network architecture evolution journey will carry on in the years ahead, driving a large scale adoption of 5th Generation (5G) and 5G-Advanced use cases with significantly decreased deployment and operational costs, and enabling new and innovative use-case-driven solutions towards 6th Generation (6G) with higher economic and societal values. The goal of this chapter, thus, is to present the envisioned societal impact, use cases and the End-to-End (E2E) 6G architecture. The E2E 6G architecture includes summarization of the various technical enablers as well as the system and functional views of the architecture

Who Are the Powerful Actors? An Analysis of Brokerage in the Networks of Organizations Dealing with Unemployment and Precariousness

This chapter assesses the importance of brokerage in the multi-organizational field of unemployment. Similar sets of policies targeting the unemployed can translate into different sets of opportunities for civil society actors. A crucial aspect regards the unique position that each actor has at the intersection of the public and the policy domains. In particular, we found that the more civil society organizations play a gatekeeping role, the more they are politically engaged in terms of mobilization, lobbying, and general activities. Second, similar sets of policies targeting the unemployed shape the whole field via different relational properties. In particular, the presence of mighty gatekeepers has emerged as a priority, beyond the relationship between brokerage and political engagement at the actor level

Who Are the Powerful Actors? An Analysis of Brokerage in the Networks of Organizations Dealing with Unemployment and Precariousness

This chapter assesses the importance of brokerage in the multi-organizational field of unemployment. Similar sets of policies targeting the unemployed can translate into different sets of opportunities for civil society actors. A crucial aspect regards the unique position that each actor has at the intersection of the public and the policy domains. In particular, we found that the more civil society organizations play a gatekeeping role, the more they are politically engaged in terms of mobilization, lobbying, and general activities. Second, similar sets of policies targeting the unemployed shape the whole field via different relational properties. In particular, the presence of mighty gatekeepers has emerged as a priority, beyond the relationship between brokerage and political engagement at the actor level

Anti-gambling policies: framing morality policy in Italy.

Recent research on morality policy has focused on policy change, morality framing and the presence of favourable cultural opportunity structures (COSs). The resulting literature describing various aspects of morality policy has failed to discuss the impact of multilevel dynamic in this field. This contribution examines gambling policy in Italy, applying a multilevel approach to detect the presence of favourable COSs, and whether policymakers frame policies morally. Italy offers a particularly fertile field for the study of morality policy, featuring a liberal national approach versus local restrictive policy. By applying a methodology based on semistructured interviews and secondary sources, we examine the national and local political spheres, demonstrating that morality framing, when detected, is more likely to be found at the local level where the influence of experts and interest groups on legislators may result in the transformation of a health policy based on paternalistic considerations