Weight-Based Discrimination in the Italian Labor Market: an Analysis of the Interaction with Gender and Ethnicity

Access to the Italian job market is undermined by several kinds of discrimination influencing the opportunities for individuals to obtain a job. In this study, we analyze together the impact of three of the most relevant kinds of discrimination operating in the Italian labor market: gender, race, and weight. Our aim is to assess whether gender and race either increase or decrease the impact of weight-based discrimination. In this respect, we submit a set of fictitious r\ue9sum\ue9s including photos of either obese or thin applicants in response to real online job offers. Our results indicate that the strongest kind of discrimination operating in the Italian labor market is the one connected to the candidate\u2019s geographical origin. Moreover, we find discrimination based on body weight to be more relevant within immigrants than within natives, and gender gap appears to be higher within the obese candidates\u2019 group compared to the normal-weight candidates\u2019 one. This last result is particularly relevant, as the growing rates of obesity forecasted for the next years could in turn produce an increase in the gender gap, which in Italy is already massive

Immigrants and Italian labor market: statistical or taste-based discrimination?

Types of discrimination are usually distinguished by economic theory in statistical and taste-based. Using a correspondence experiment, we analyze which of the two affects Italian labor market the most. In this respect, we studied the difference in discrimination reserved to first- and second-generation immigrants, taking gender differences into account. Even if we want to admit a rational discrimination based on perceived productivity differences (statistical discrimination) against first-generation immigrants (concerning language and education gaps), the same would not be reasonable for second-generation ones. Since they are born and educated in Italy, where they have always lived, the associated discrimination must be taste-based

Understanding pro-environmental travel behaviours in Western Europe

This study aims at understanding, from a gender perspective, the reasons behind citizens’ choice of using public transport, and whether this choice is driven by pro-environmental behaviour. Using Eurobarometer data (2013), we perform ordered logistic regressions comparatively for Germany, Italy and the Netherlands. Financial, political and environmental factors are shown to have significant roles in shaping travel behaviours, with interesting gender and cross-country differences

Sustainable urban mobility: evidence from three developed European countries

The importance acquired by private cars as the leading travel mode in most advanced countries has drawn attention to concerns related to pro-environmental travel behaviour. Indeed, the car has brought great benefits to society, albeit causing a whole lot of environmental and socio-economic consequences. In this perspective, we exploit Eurobarometer data on the attitudes of Europeans towards urban mobility to investigate the main motivations of citizens’ public transport use frequency. Ordered logistic regressions are estimated by country (Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands) and by gender. Our results suggest the key role played by a comprehensive set of socio-demographic, economic, and environmental aspects in determining urban travel behaviour. Moreover, our investigation brings to light some relevant cross-country and cross-gender commonalities and differences. The provided evidence may give policymakers a better knowledge of travel behaviour, useful for designing new interventions for environmentally-sustainable travelling

Walking along the oldest human fossil pathway (Roccamonfina volcano, Central Italy)?

Here we report the remarkable superposition of a pre-historic trackway (349–350 ± 3 ka) with one used in more recent historical times, potentially forming one of the oldest path or trackways currently known. A Plinian eruption of the Roccamonfina Volcano resulted in a succession of pyroclastic flows. A combination of syn-sedimentary erosion and depositional morphology resulted in a bench, contouring the depositional slope. Prior to rapid lithification of the flow, early human ancestors used the bench as a route-way. At least two individuals diverted from this route-way to make the famous Trackways A and B of the Devil's Trails which have been described previously. The bench and associated animal tracks were covered by subsequent pyroclastic ash falls before being exhumed in historical times by a combination of natural erosion and quarrying. The bench was re-used as a route-way at this time and some of the tracks modified by human action to improve surface conditions and perhaps drainage. The P1-Trackway is the result and its detailed morphology is described here. Not only does it provide remarkable evidence of the convergence of route-ways through time along key geomorphological features in the landscape but the palimpsest of tracks provides a useful case study for archaeologists and ichnologists interpreting complex and superimposed surface traces

Valutazione clinico/morfologica di Amukine Med® e Braunol®, su CVC in spisilicone

La gestione infermieristica riveste un ruolo importante per la sopravvivenza dell'accesso vascolare per emodialisi, soprattutto quando per la sua realizzazione sono stati utilizzati materiali protesici etcrologhi. Scopo di questo studio è di valutare in vitro e in vivo gli eventuali effetti collaterali e l'efficacia di due disinfettanti tra i più comunemente usati (ipoclorito di sodio allo 0,057 Amukine Med® e iodopovidone al 10% Braunol®,) per le medicazioni dei cateteri venosi centrali. Lo studio è stato effettuato da gennaio 2003 a gennaio 2004. In tale periodo abbiamo valutato in vitro mediante esame morfologico gli effetti sui cateteri incubati a breve e lungo termine nei 2 disinfettanti e in vivo l'incidenza di reazioni cutanee locali e la positività dell'esame colturale del tampone cutaneo, in 17 malati uremici con "Tesio cat®" Medcomp (spisilicone) come accesso vascolare per emodialisi. Non si sono notate differenze morfologiche significative nello studio in vitro tra i campioni trattati con i due disinfettanti. Il contatto prolungato dello spisilicone con Amukine Med e Braunol anche in ambiente libero non ha determinato alterazioni morfologiche della parete all'esame macro e microscopico. Nello studio in vivo, condotto su due gruppi composti da 10 pazienti nel gruppo Amukine Med e 7 pazienti in quello con Braunol, sono state effettuate 1088 medicazioni (640 con Amukine Med pari al 58,8% medicazioni totali e 448 con Braunol pari al 41,2% medicazioni totali) pari al 40,5% delle sedute dialitiche con ambo le tecniche di disinfezione. Dagli esami colturali (271 tamponi) in 71 casi è stata riportata crescita batterica; 68 Staphilococcus Epidermidis; 2 Escherichia Coli (gruppo Amuchina Med) 1 Pseudomonas Aeruginosa (gruppo Braunol). Negli ultimi 3 casi (1/68 mesi d'esposizione) era presente sepsi locale. Non si sono rilevate differenze nell'incidenza di infezioni locali o di effetti collaterali indotti dai due disinfettanti

Active window management: Reducing energy consumption of TCP congestion control

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Antithrombin supplementation during extracorporeal membrane oxygenation: Study protocol for a pilot randomized clinical trial

Background: Normal levels of plasma antithrombin (AT) activity might decrease heparin requirements to achieve an adequate level of anticoagulation during treatment with extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO). Acquired AT deficiency during ECMO is common, but formal recommendations on target, timing, and rate of AT supplementation are lacking. Thus, we conceived a pilot trial to evaluate the feasibility and safety of prolonged AT supplementation in patients requiring veno-venous ECMO for respiratory failure. Methods: Grifols Antithrombin Research Awards (GATRA) is a prospective, randomized, single blinded, multicenter, controlled two-arm trial. Patients undergoing veno-venous ECMO will be randomized to either receive AT supplementation to maintain a functional AT level between 80 and 120% (AT supplementation group) or not (control group) for the entire ECMO course. In both study groups, anticoagulation will be provided with unfractionated heparin following a standardized protocol. The primary endpoint will be the dose of heparin required to maintain the ratio of activated partial thromboplastin time between 1.5 and 2. Secondary endpoints will be the adequacy of anticoagulation and the incidence of hemorrhagic and thrombotic complications. Discussion: GATRA is a pilot trial that will test the efficacy of a protocol of AT supplementation in decreasing the heparin dose and improving anticoagulation adequacy during ECMO. If positive, it might provide the basis for a future larger trial aimed at verifying the impact of AT supplementation on a composite outcome endpoint including hemorrhagic events, transfusion requirements, and mortality. Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT03208270. Registered on 5 July 2017

Building a smart city service platform in Messina with the #SmartME project

© 2018 IEEE. Some words mark an era, and "Smart City" is definitely one of these. A Smart City is an urban area where the Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) are employed to improve citizens' Quality of Life (QoL) in areas such as: mobility, urban surveillance, and energy management. Throughout this paper, we present the #SmartME project, which aims to create an infrastructure and an ecosystem of "smart" services by exploiting existing devices, sensors, and actuators distributed in the city of Messina. We also present the Stack4Things framework, which is the management core of the #SmartME project