Can I bring my pet? The space for companion animals in hospitality and tourism

Companion animals play an important role in our lives as pets, as emotional support animals, as guide dogs, or through different forms of pet therapy.  The sociological, emotional and physical space that companion animals have been gaining in our lives and houses has steadily grown for more than a  century. Such a trend reflects a societal change with regard to the human-animal relationship as well as an increasing attention towards such a  relationship, questioning and scrutinising its ambiguities and hypocrisies. In the hospitality and tourism sector, the sociological and physical space for  companion animals seems overlooked and under-researched. Therefore, this research note aims at filling this gap by calling for further studies and  research in this field

Circular Oikonomia, Posthumanism and Local Space to Socialise Tourism

The rapid growth of tourism and global mobility before the COVID-19 outbreak and the global crisis experienced afterwards have been challenging the perception of the global and local context within which we live and travel. In Down to Earth: Politics in the new climate regime (2018) and After Lockdown: A metamorphosis (2021a), Bruno Latour stresses how this historical time urges us to adopt a novel perspective on the enmeshed environmental and socio-economic crisis. For him, this means adopting the “down to earth” perspective of terrestrials entangled with other terrestrials, all belonging to a flattened topography in which the dimensions of global and local are merged. Such an approach contrasts with the “out of this world” perspective that has been allowing exploitative approaches both to nature and to human and non-human beings (Latour, 2018). The pandemic crisis therefore appears as a warning and, as such, also as an opportunity for a change of perspective over the space within which we live and travel, since “all the resources of sciences, humanities, and arts, will have to be mobilised once again to shift attention to our shared terrestrial condition” (Latour, 2021b). Within this context, our study explores how the COVID-19 global crisis - together with its uneven social justice, unbalanced power-relations and global-local (im)mobilities - prompts us to rethink the space inside and outside tourism. It does so by investigating the active role that the local space can play to “socialise tourism”, by re-centring it within the society and re-orienting it towards the environmental and social needs and well-being of the local dimension and its dwellers (Higgins-Desbiolles, 2020; Higgins-Desbiolles et al., 2022; Higgins-Desbiolles &amp; Bigby, 2021; Tomassini &amp; Cavagnaro, 2020).<br/

Circular economy, circular regenerative processes, agrowth and placemaking for tourism future

Purpose This conceptual paper explores the possibility to envision circular regenerative processes embracing agrowth and placemaking within tourism; an industry remarkably connected to the Anthropocene and its detrimental impacts on the planet. Drawing on theorisations of circular economy, on the concept of agrowth, and on theories of placemaking, this viewpoint offers a novel conceptual framework to imagine a regenerative future for tourism. Design/methodology/approach The authors connect the ancient archetype of “circularity”, largely used to make sense of life on Earth, with the Greek concept of oikonomia. The resulting notion of a circular oikonomia is then intersected with theories of placemaking. In doing so, the authors are driven by the idea of de-growth, as an “a-growthism” urging the abandonment of the faith towards growth for an enduring stable regenerative agrowth. Findings The authors offer a novel conceptual framework to counteract the negative impacts of Anthropocene and envision future scenarios in which tourism can make a difference by enacting enduring regenerative processes for places and human and non-human entities. Originality/value The originality of this study lies in the conceptual framework proposed to imagine the future of tourism, hospitality and mobilities in circular regenerative terms. This study envisions stable and enduring regenerative processes of natural assets, materials, products, services and resources as well as a tourism space made up of lively, multiple, transformative relationships and interactions among people and the environments people live in and travel to

The human gaze at animals and the missing animal gaze in tourism studies

This research letter critically reflects on the missing animal gaze in tourism studies and elaborates on the urgency of including it in the discussion about the relationship between human and non-human animals. Drawing on the Foucauldian gaze and on the John Urry’s tourist gaze, we reflect on the unproblematised power imbalance between human and animal gazes that is inherent in tourist representations. Inspired by posthuman thinking, we use features of critical theory, sociology, and geography. This letter aims at casting a novel light to the human-animal relationship in tourism studies identifying a promising novel research line

Local food consumption and practice theory: A case study on guests’ motivations and understanding

This study explores the relationship between guests’ perceptions of local food and the motivations leading to its consumption at restaurants. Applying practice theory to consumption studies, the research draws on the “practical turn” in social theories and the renewed interest in “everyday life” and “lifeworld”. In doing so, the study uses Schatzki’s and Reckwitz’s reformulation of practice as a routinised set of behaviours interconnected with one another and rooted in a background knowledge made up of understanding, know-how, state of emotion and motivational knowledge. The research is organised as a case study collecting data from 162 potential guests of local restaurants in the municipality of Ooststellingwerf, in the northern Netherlands, via a survey questionnaire. The dataset was analysed using the Statistical Package for Social Science [SPSS] software, focusing on customers’ understanding of “local food” and the factors motivating them to order a local dish at restaurants. The exploratory findings contribute to the understanding of the conceptualisation of “local food” from the consumers’ perspective and shed light on the use of practice theory in tourism studies with regard to consumers’ pro-sustainability behaviour. Keywords: consumer behaviour, food consumption; local food; practice theor

Preventive medicine center and health care for students of medicine and health professions at the Sapienza University of Rome: a research protocol

This project aims to develop a Center of Preventive Medicine and Health Care for the students of Medicine and Health profession at Sapienza University of Rome. At the beginning of the university career students, both residents and nonresident s, have to face several difficulties such as: starting smoking or the increase in cigarette consumption ; the independent management of their own health (especially for non residents consequently to the distance of the family doctor) ; unhealthy diet; tuberculosis (TB) biological risk during their university training. These aspects , especially if present at the same time, act as a source stress and adversely affect the quality of life and the academic performance. Specific aims of the project will be: implementing an ambulatory of Preventive Medicine; implementing a virtual ambulatory of general medicine; creating a website on the problems mentioned above. Data collected will be computerized to keep an electronic health record (HER) and to use the information for the purposes of scientific research. The Centre will act in close relationship with the Central Administration, with the Headmasters of the Medical Faculties, and in close collaboration with the Center of Occupational Medicine of Sapienza University

Proposal for taking data with the KLOE-2 detector at the DAΦ\PhiNE collider upgraded in energy

This document reviews the physics program of the KLOE-2 detector at DA$\Phi$NE upgraded in energy and provides a simple solution to run the collider above the $\phi$-peak (up to 2, possibly 2.5 GeV). It is shown how a precise measurement of the multihadronic cross section in the energy region up to 2 (possibly 2.5) GeV would have a major impact on the tests of the Standard Model through a precise determination of the anomalous magnetic moment of the muon and the effective fine-structure constant at the $M_Z$ scale. With a luminosity of about $10^{32}$cm$^{-2}$s$^{-1}$, DA$\Phi$NE upgraded in energy can perform a scan in the region from 1 to 2.5 GeV in one year by collecting an integrated luminosity of 20 pb$^{-1}$ (corresponding to a few days of data taking) for single point, assuming an energy step of 25 MeV. A few years of data taking in this region would provide important tests of QCD and effective theories by $\gamma\gamma$ physics with open thresholds for pseudo-scalar (like the $\eta'$), scalar ($f_0,f'_0$, etc...) and axial-vector ($a_1$, etc...) mesons; vector-mesons spectroscopy and baryon form factors; tests of CVC and searches for exotics. In the final part of the document a technical solution for the energy upgrade of DA$\Phi$NE is proposed.Comment: 19 pages, 8 figure

The new Italian SIDAPA Baseline Series for patch testing (2023): an update according to the new regulatory pathway for contact allergens

Allergic contact dermatitis (ACD) is a common inflammatory skin disease caused by delayed hypersensitivity to chemical and biotic contact allergens. ACD significantly affects the patients' quality of life negatively impacting both occupational and non-occupational settings. Patch testing is the gold standard diagnostic in vivo test to precise the ACD etiology and to correctly perform prevention. According to the Italian Medicines Agency (AIFA) legislative decree no. 178 of 29th May 1991, allergens are defined as medicines and therefore they are subject to strict regulation. In 2017, AIFA (decree no. 2130/2017) started a procedure to regulate contact allergens on the Italian market and actually the contact allergens temporarily authorized are reported in AIFA decree no. 98/2022, valid until November 2023. The availability on the market of contact allergens to diagnose ACD and continuous updating on the basis of new epidemiological trends are mandatory, jointly with the continuous update of the baseline and integrative series for patch testing. For this reason, the scientific community represented in Italy by the Skin Allergies Study Group of SIDeMaST (Italian Society of Dermatology and Venereology) and SIDAPA (Italian Society of Allergological, Occupational and Environmental Dermatology) are constantly working, in close relationship with the European scientific communities with large expertise in this important sector of the modern Dermatology. Herein, we report the setting up of regulatory legislation by AIFA and the new Italian Adult Baseline Series for patch testing

COVID-19 Severity in Multiple Sclerosis: Putting Data Into Context

Background and objectives: It is unclear how multiple sclerosis (MS) affects the severity of COVID-19. The aim of this study is to compare COVID-19-related outcomes collected in an Italian cohort of patients with MS with the outcomes expected in the age- and sex-matched Italian population. Methods: Hospitalization, intensive care unit (ICU) admission, and death after COVID-19 diagnosis of 1,362 patients with MS were compared with the age- and sex-matched Italian population in a retrospective observational case-cohort study with population-based control. The observed vs the expected events were compared in the whole MS cohort and in different subgroups (higher risk: Expanded Disability Status Scale [EDSS] score &gt; 3 or at least 1 comorbidity, lower risk: EDSS score ≤ 3 and no comorbidities) by the χ2 test, and the risk excess was quantified by risk ratios (RRs). Results: The risk of severe events was about twice the risk in the age- and sex-matched Italian population: RR = 2.12 for hospitalization (p &lt; 0.001), RR = 2.19 for ICU admission (p &lt; 0.001), and RR = 2.43 for death (p &lt; 0.001). The excess of risk was confined to the higher-risk group (n = 553). In lower-risk patients (n = 809), the rate of events was close to that of the Italian age- and sex-matched population (RR = 1.12 for hospitalization, RR = 1.52 for ICU admission, and RR = 1.19 for death). In the lower-risk group, an increased hospitalization risk was detected in patients on anti-CD20 (RR = 3.03, p = 0.005), whereas a decrease was detected in patients on interferon (0 observed vs 4 expected events, p = 0.04). Discussion: Overall, the MS cohort had a risk of severe events that is twice the risk than the age- and sex-matched Italian population. This excess of risk is mainly explained by the EDSS score and comorbidities, whereas a residual increase of hospitalization risk was observed in patients on anti-CD20 therapies and a decrease in people on interferon