Industrial unemployment, supply-side policies and the perverse interaction of flexibility and austerity

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Case studies of automation in services

A full understanding of the technological complexity underlying robotics and automation is still lacking, most of all when focusing on the impacts on work in services. By means of a qualitative analysis based on over 50 interviews to HR managers, IT technicians, workers and trade union delegates, this work provides evidence on the main changes occurring at shopfloor level in selected Italian companies having adopted technological artefacts potentially affecting labour tasks by automating processes. The analysis of interviews complemented with visits to the companies and desk research on business documents highlights that so far labour displacement due to the adoption of automation technologies is not yet in place, while tasks and organizational reconfiguration appear more widespread. Major heterogeneity applies across plants due to the final product/service produced, the techno-organizational capabilities of the firm and the type of strategic orientation versus technological adoption. These elements also affect drivers and barriers to technological adoption. Overall, the analysis confirms the complexity in automating presumably low-value-added phases: human labour remains crucial in conducting activities that require flexibility, adaptability and reconfiguration of physical tasks. Further, human agency and worker representation, in particular the role of trade unions, are almost disregarded and not considered by the firms when deciding to introduce a new technology

Case Studies of Automation in Services. A workplace analysis of logistics, cleaning and health sectors in Italy

A full understanding of the technological complexity underlying robotics and automation is still lacking, most of all when focusing on the impacts on work in services. By means of a qualitative analysis relying on the administration of more than 50 interviews to HR managers, IT technicians, workers and trade union delegates, this work provides evidence on the main changes occurring at shopfloor level in selected Italian companies having adopted technological artefacts potentially affecting labour tasks by automating processes. The analysis of interviews complemented with visits to the companies and desk research on business documents highlights that so far labour displacement due to the adoption of automation technologies is not yet in place, while tasks and organizational reconfiguration appear more widespread. Major heterogeneity applies across plants due to the final product/service produced, the techno-organizational capabilities of the firm and the type of strategic orientation versus technological adoption. These elements also affect drivers and barriers to technological adoption. Overall, the analysis confirms the complexity in automating presumably low-valueadded phases: human labour remains crucial in conducting activities that require flexibility, adaptability and reconfiguration of physical tasks. Further, human agency and worker representation, in particular the role of trade unions, are almost disregarded and not considered by the firms when deciding to introduce a new technology

Aedes albopictus bionomics data collection by citizen participation on procida island, a promising mediterranean site for the assessment of innovative and community-based integrated pest management methods

In the last decades, the colonization of Mediterranean Europe and of other temperate regions by Aedes albopictus created an unprecedented nuisance problem in highly infested areas and new public health threats due to the vector competence of the species. The Sterile Insect Technique (SIT) and the Incompatible Insect Technique (IIT) are insecticide-free mosquito-control methods, relying on mass release of irradiated/manipulated males, able to complement existing and only partially effective control tools. The validation of these approaches in the field requires appropriate experimental settings, possibly isolated to avoid mosquito immigration from other infested areas, and preliminary ecological and entomological data. We carried out a 4-year study in the island of Procida (Gulf of Naples, Italy) in strict collaboration with local administrators and citizens to estimate the temporal dynamics, spatial distribution, and population size of Ae. albopictus and the dispersal and survival of irradiated males. We applied ovitrap monitoring, geo-spatial analyses, mark-release-recapture technique, and a citizen-science approach. Results allow to predict the seasonal (from April to October, with peaks of 928-9,757 males/ha) and spatial distribution of the species, highlighting the capacity of Ae. albopictus population of Procida to colonize and maintain high frequencies in urban as well as in sylvatic inhabited environments. Irradiated males shown limited ability to disperse (mean daily distance travelled <60m) and daily survival estimates ranging between 0.80 and 0.95. Overall, the ecological characteristics of the island, the acquired knowledge on Ae. albopictus spatial and temporal distribution, the high human and Ae. albopictus densities and the positive attitude of the resident population in being active parts in innovative mosquito control projects provide the ground for evidence-based planning of the interventions and for the assessment of their effectiveness. In addition, the results highlight the value of creating synergies between research groups, local administrators, and citizens for affordable monitoring (and, in the future, control) of mosquito populations

VectAbundance: a spatio-temporal database of Aedes mosquitoes observations

Modelling approaches play a crucial role in supporting local public health agencies by estimating and forecasting vector abundance and seasonality. However, the reliability of these models is contingent on the availability of standardized, high-quality data. Addressing this need, our study focuses on collecting and harmonizing egg count observations of the mosquito Aedes albopictus, obtained through ovitraps in monitoring and surveillance efforts across Albania, France, Italy, and Switzerland from 2010 to 2022. We processed the raw observations to obtain a continuous time series of ovitraps observations allowing for an extensive geographical and temporal coverage of Ae. albopictus population dynamics. The resulting post-processed observations are stored in the open-access database VectAbundance.This initiative addresses the critical need for accessible, high-quality data, enhancing the reliability of modelling efforts and bolstering public health preparednes

Feasibility, acceptability, and effectiveness of non-pharmaceutical interventions against infectious diseases among crisis-affected populations: a scoping review

BACKGROUND: Colonization of large part of Europe by the Asian tiger mosquito Aedes albopictus is causing autochthonous transmission of chikungunya and dengue exotic arboviruses. While pyrethroids are recommended only to reduce/limit transmission, they are widely implemented to reduce biting nuisance and to control agricultural pests, increasing the risk of insurgence of resistance mechanisms. Worryingly, pyrethroid resistance (with mortality < 70%) was recently reported in Ae. albopictus populations from Italy and Spain and associated with the V1016G point mutation in the voltage-sensitive sodium channel gene conferring knockdown resistance (kdr). Genotyping pyrethroid resistance-associated kdr mutations in field mosquito samples represents a powerful approach to detect early signs of resistance without the need for carrying out phenotypic bioassays which require availability of live mosquitoes, dedicated facilities and appropriate expertise. METHODS: Here we report results on the PCR-genotyping of the V1016G mutation in 2530 Ae. albopictus specimens from 69 sampling sites in 19 European countries. RESULTS: The mutation was identified in 12 sites from nine countries (with allele frequencies ranging from 1 to 8%), mostly distributed in two geographical clusters. The western cluster includes Mediterranean coastal sites from Italy, France and Malta as well as single sites from both Spain and Switzerland. The eastern cluster includes sites on both sides of the Black Sea in Bulgaria, Turkey and Georgia as well as one site from Romania. These results are consistent with genomic data showing high connectivity and close genetic relationship among West European populations and a major barrier to gene flow between West European and Balkan populations. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this first effort to map kdr mutations in Ae. albopictus on a continental scale show a widespread presence of the V1016G allele in Europe, although at lower frequencies than those previously reported from Italy. This represents a wake-up call for mosquito surveillance programs in Europe to include PCR-genotyping of pyrethroid resistance alleles, as well as phenotypic resistance assessments, in their routine activities

Geographic distribution of the V1016G knockdown resistance mutation in aedes albopictus. A warning bell for Europe

Background: Colonization of large part of Europe by the Asian tiger mosquito Aedes albopictus is causing autochthonous transmission of chikungunya and dengue exotic arboviruses. While pyrethroids are recommended only to reduce/limit transmission, they are widely implemented to reduce biting nuisance and to control agricultural pests, increasing the risk of insurgence of resistance mechanisms. Worryingly, pyrethroid resistance (with mortality &lt; 70%) was recently reported in Ae. albopictus populations from Italy and Spain and associated with the V1016G point mutation in the voltage-sensitive sodium channel gene conferring knockdown resistance (kdr). Genotyping pyrethroid resistance-associated kdr mutations in field mosquito samples represents a powerful approach to detect early signs of resistance without the need for carrying out phenotypic bioassays which require availability of live mosquitoes, dedicated facilities and appropriate expertise.Methods: Here we report results on the PCR-genotyping of the V1016G mutation in 2530 Ae. albopictus specimens from 69 sampling sites in 19 European countries.Results: The mutation was identified in 12 sites from nine countries (with allele frequencies ranging from 1 to 8%), mostly distributed in two geographical clusters. The western cluster includes Mediterranean coastal sites from Italy, France and Malta as well as single sites from both Spain and Switzerland. The eastern cluster includes sites on both sides of the Black Sea in Bulgaria, Turkey and Georgia as well as one site from Romania. These results are consistent with genomic data showing high connectivity and close genetic relationship among West European populations and a major barrier to gene flow between West European and Balkan populations.Conclusions: The results of this first effort to map kdr mutations in Ae. albopictus on a continental scale show a widespread presence of the V1016G allele in Europe, although at lower frequencies than those previously reported from Italy. This represents a wake-up call for mosquito surveillance programs in Europe to include PCR-genotyping of pyrethroid resistance alleles, as well as phenotypic resistance assessments, in their routine activities

Enhancing availability of cooperative applications through interoperable middleware

Cooperative information systems are characterized by distribution, high heterogeneity and scale. Therefore they require interoperable, dependable services on top of which the development of cooperative application can take place. This paper studies, in the context of the Unitary Network of the Italian Public Administration, the problem of increasing the availability of the services exported by a cooperating entity through interoperable middleware. In particular we show how a Fault Tolerant CORBA compliant system, namely the Interoperable Replication Logic (IRL), can be used to increase such availability by building a replicated cooperative gateway that wraps enterprise cooperative applications