Italy and Spain at a crossroads: the politics of active social policies in southern Europe under a gender perspective

Purpose – The article explores to what extent party politics has influenced the different trajectories in Spain and Italy in terms of gendered active social policies (ASPs) (i.e. ALMPs and WLBPs). Second, it investigates how social and political modernization in the two countries has facilitated or hindered party competition on gendered ASPs. Design/methodology/approach – To investigate to what extent parties support gendered ASPs, the article relies on an original content analysis of party manifestos issued during the 2010s national elections. A total of 1387 quasi-sentences have been coded. The results were then quantified to graphically show how positions differentiate across parties and countries. Findings – The content analysis of party manifestos displays that party politics matters: gendered ASPs are backed in a very different way by the Spanish and Italian parties. While in Spain all political parties have strongly championed ALMPs and WLBPs, this is not the case for the Italian parties. The research has also stressed that the specific path of social and political modernization is an important intervening variable that alters positively or negatively parties’ support for gendered ASPs. Originality/value – The article contributes to widen theoretically and empirically the literature on ASPs in the Southern European countries. Theoretically, it questions the supposed homogeneity of the Southern social model and investigated the alleged bifurcation between Italy and Spain, focusing on those policies – ASPs – that constitute the foundations of the Southern model: familialism and dualization. Furthermore, this bifurcation was analyzed adopting a gender perspective, and exploring adherence to or departure from the Southern model. Third, the article focuses on the politics of ASPs demonstrating that inspecting the political arena can contribute to explain policy change

Néo-institutionnalisme sociologique et nouvelle sociologie économique : quelles relations ?

L’horizon théorique néo-institutionnaliste attribue un rôle central aux institutions pour la compréhension des phénomènes sociaux, économiques, politiques, culturels et pour la reconstruction du rapport complexe entre les individus et la sphère supra-individuelle. Les différentes versions de l’institutionnalisme s’accordent sur le fait que les institutions contribuent à la définition de profondes régularités dans le comportement des individus en réduisant l’incertitude et en rendant plus prévisibles les phénomènes sociaux, économiques, politiques et culturels. En outre, les divers courants d’analyse montrent comment les institutions sont le résultat de l’interaction humaine, tout en essayant d’expliquer pourquoi des individus autonomes sont si profondément conditionnés, dans leurs choix, par des cadres institutionnels qu’ils ont eux-mêmes contribué à créer. Au-delà de ces éléments d’interprétation communs, il existe au sein des approches néo-institutionnalistes de profondes divergences qui reposent sur des différences d’analyse par rapport aux mécanismes de genèse des institutions, sur le niveau de conditionnement qu’elles exercent sur les comportements individuels et collectifs, sur leur caractère malléable et changeant ou, au contraire, sur leur viscosité et leur inertie. Trois orientations principales se disputent le champ : l’approche régulatrice, que fait référence à la capacité des institutions elles-mêmes à établir des règles et à exercer des contrôles afin que les individus s’y conforment, l’approche normative quiporte son attention sur l’ensemble des règles qui introduisent dans la vie sociale des prescriptions et des obligations sociales, et enfin l’horizon cognitif que conçoit les institutions comme des appareilssupra-individuels, tendanciellement stables qui structurent et canalisent l’action individuelle en fournissant aux acteurs des ressources et des freins.The neo institutionalist theories attribute a central role to institutions for the understanding of social, economic, political and cultural phenomena, as well as for the reconstruction of the complex relation between individuals and the supra-individual sphere. The different versions of institutionalism agree on the fact that institutions contribute to the definition of regularities in individuals’ behaviours by reducing uncertainty and making social, economic, political and cultural phenomena more predictable. Various authors show how institutions are the result of human interaction, while trying to explain why autonomous individuals are so deeply conditioned, in their choices, by institutional schemes that they contributed to create themselves. Beyond these common interpretations, there exist profound differences in the neoinstitutionalist approaches, due to differences in the explanation of the source of institutions, the level of conditioning theyu exedrt on collective and individual behaviours, as well as their changing or inert quality. Three main orientations are disputing the field: the regulatory approach, which refers to the capacity of institut9ions to establish rules and exert contros so that individuals confirm to these; the normative approach which is based on the series of rules that introduct social prescriptions and obligations into social life; and finally the cognitive approach, which sees institutions as supra-individual schemes, basically stable, which structure and orient individual action by presenting resources and obstacles to individuals

Women and Pensions in Italy: Gender Imbalances and the Equalization of Retirement Age

This paper examines the age at retirement for men and women in Italy. Despite the expansion of women’s educational attainments, they still display lower employment rates, are frequently engaged in involuntary part-time jobs and have more fragmented careers. As a consequence, the mean age at which women receive a pension is higher than that of men. Using Labour Force Survey (2006 and 2012), the authors test the hypothesis that women’s higher age at retirement is determined by a selection bias towards more educated and work oriented women. A Heckman selection model has been developed. Results show that the main disadvantage is suffered by women with medium and low levels of education who show the highest estimated age at retirement, whereas higher educated women retire on average before men with the same level of education. The authors argue that pension policies, without interventions in the field of work-life balance policies, end up penalizing women with lower levels of education

Chromogranin A: From Laboratory to Clinical Aspects of Patients with Neuroendocrine Tumors

Background. Neuroendocrine tumors (NETs) are characterized by having behavior and prognosis that depend upon tumor histology, primary site, staging, and proliferative index. The symptoms associated with carcinoid syndrome and vasoactive intestinal peptide tumors are treated with octreotide acetate. The PROMID trial assesses the effect of octreotide LAR on the tumor growth in patients with well-differentiated metastatic midgut NETs. The CLARINET trial evaluates the effects of lanreotide in patients with nonfunctional, well-, or moderately differentiated metastatic enteropancreatic NETs. Everolimus has been approved for the treatment of advanced pancreatic NETs (pNETs) based on positive PFS effects, obtained in the treated group. Sunitinib is approved for the treatment of patients with progressive gastrointestinal stromal tumor or intolerance to imatinib, because a randomized study demonstrated that it improves PFS and overall survival in patients with advanced well-differentiated pNETs. In a phase II trial, pasireotide shows efficacy and tolerability in the treatment of patients with advanced NETs, whose symptoms of carcinoid syndrome were resistant to octreotide LAR. An open-label, phase II trial assesses the clinical activity of long-acting repeatable pasireotide in treatment-naive patients with metastatic grade 1 or 2 NETs. Even if the growth of the neoplasm was significantly inhibited, it is still unclear whether its antiproliferative action is greater than that of octreotide and lanreotide. Because new therapeutic options are needed to counter the natural behavior of neuroendocrine tumors, it would also be useful to have a biochemical marker that can be addressed better in the management of these patients. Chromogranin A is currently the most useful biomarker to establish diagnosis and has some utility in predicting disease recurrence, outcome, and efficacy of therapy

Measuring pandemic-related anxiety and confidence in care in chronic patients using the Psychological Consequences of a Pandemic Event (PCPE) questionnaire

: The COVID-19 pandemic has determined a considerable increase in psychological distress worldwide. Compared with the general population, patients with chronic conditions experience higher stress levels due to the increased risk of worse health outcomes from COVID-19 infection. Worries and fear of contagion could cause them to avoid going to their health facilities for medical examinations, which results in higher risks of morbidity and mortality. The present study aimed to develop and validate the Psychological Consequences of a Pandemic Event (PCPE) self-report questionnaire, and to assess the psychological effects of exposure to a pandemic on mood and on treatment adherence appropriate for patients with chronic diseases. Data were analysed with Rasch analysis after an Exploratory Factor Analysis and a Confirmatory Factor Analysis. We identified a final set of 10 items, divided into two independent factors labelled "pandemic-related anxiety" and "confidence in care". Finally, we transformed the raw scores of both factors into two interval scales (two rulers) that met the requirements of the fundamental measurement. The PCPE questionnaire has demonstrated to be a short and easy-to-administer measure, with valid and reliable psychometric properties, capable of assessing pandemic-related anxiety and confidence in care in patients with chronic clinical conditions

Outcome of liver transplantation with grafts from brain-dead donors treated with dual hypothermic oxygenated machine perfusion, with particular reference to elderly donors

Prompted by the utilization of extended criteria donors, dual hypothermic oxygenated machine perfusion (D‐HOPE) was introduced in liver transplantation to improve preservation. When donors after neurological determination of death (DBD) are used, D‐HOPE effect on graft outcomes is unclear. To assess D‐HOPE value in this setting and to identify ideal scenarios for its use, data on primary adult liver transplant recipients from January 2014 to April 2021 were analyzed using inverse probability of treatment weighting, comparing outcomes of D‐HOPE‐treated grafts (n = 121) with those preserved by static cold storage (n = 723). End‐ischemic D‐HOPE was systematically applied since November 2017 based on donor and recipient characteristics and transplant logistics. D‐HOPE use was associated with a significant reduction of early allograft failure (OR: 0.24; 0.83; p = .024), grade ≥3 complications (OR: 0.57; p = .046), comprehensive complication index (−7.20 points; p = .003), and improved patient and graft survival. These results were confirmed in the subset of elderly donors (>75‐year‐old). Although D‐HOPE did not reduce the incidence of biliary complications, its use was associated with a reduced severity of ischemic cholangiopathy. In conclusion, D‐HOPE improves postoperative outcomes and reduces early allograft loss in extended criteria DBD grafts

Modelling human choices: MADeM and decision‑making

Research supported by FAPESP 2015/50122-0 and DFG-GRTK 1740/2. RP and AR are also part of the Research, Innovation and Dissemination Center for Neuromathematics FAPESP grant (2013/07699-0). RP is supported by a FAPESP scholarship (2013/25667-8). ACR is partially supported by a CNPq fellowship (grant 306251/2014-0)

Tempi moderni. Il welfare nelle aziende in Italia

La recensione di sofferma sul volume di E. Pavolini, U. Ascoli e M.L. Mirabile (a cura di), Tempi moderni. Il welfare nelle aziende in Italia, Bologna, Il Mulino