Fluid conduits and shallow-reservoir structure defined by geoelectrical tomography at the Nirano Salse (Italy)

Mud volcanoes are fluid escape structures allowing for surface venting of hydrocarbons (mostly gas but also liquid condensates and oils) and water–sediment slurries. For a better understanding of mud volcano dynamics, the characterization of the fluid dynamics within mud volcano conduits; the presence, extent, and depth of the fluid reservoirs; and the connection among aquifers, conduits, and mud reservoirs play a key role. To this aim, we performed a geoelectricalsurvey in the Nirano Salse Regional Nature Reserve, located at the edge of the northern Apennines (Fiorano Modenese, Italy), an area characterized by several active mud fluid vents. This study, for the first time, images the resistivity structure of the subsoil along two perpendicular cross sections down to a depth of 250 m. The electrical models show a clear difference between the northern and southern sectors of the area, where the latter hosts the main discontinuities. Shallow reservoirs, where fluid muds accumulate, are spatially associated with the main fault/fracture controlling the migration routes associated with surface venting and converge at depth towards a common clayey horizon. There is no evidence of a shallow mud caldera below the Nirano area. These findings represent a step forward in the comprehension of the Nirano Salse plumbing system and in pinpointing local site hazards, which promotes safer tourist access to the area along restricted routes

The relationship between knowing sign language and quality of life among Italian people who are deaf : a cross-sectional study

Deafness is a medical condition with important relational implications. This condition could affect well-being and self-esteem and cause social anxiety. Sign language is not only a simple mimic but can be considered as a different kind of communication that could be protective for those who have learned it. However, some people do not use sign language because they think it can be marginalizing. The present study aimed to compare the quality of life (QoL) between people who learned Italian sign language as their first language with those who had never learned it or learned it later. This cross-sectional study involved 182 deaf Italian adults (70.3% females) who were recruited from Ente Nazionale Sordi (ENS) and by the main online deafness groups. The present results suggest that the deaf condition does not seem to significantly affect the dimensions of QoL pertaining to satisfaction and self-esteem, while it could have an effect on preventing high levels of social anxiety and in particular, the group who learned Italian sign language showed significantlyless social anxiety than those who had never learned it

Hopelessness and burnout in Italian healthcare workers during COVID-19 pandemic: the mediating role of trait emotional intelligence

Objective: The study aims to assess the impact of COVID-19 on healthcare workers’ work-related stress during the first wave of the pandemic in Italy. The main objective is to investigate the existence of a positive correlation between hopelessness and burnout, assuming that burnout may be  a riskfactor for the development of hopelessness, and to analyze the role thattrait Emotional Intelligence (TEI) and changes in workload could have in this relationship. Furthermore, evaluate any significant differences in burnoutand hopelessness levels in the function of some demographic variables, such as gender, professional profiles, and different working zones of Italy, tobetter understand how the diverse diffusion of the pandemic had affected Italian healthcare workers. Methods: An online survey was used to collect data between April and June,2020, with 562 responses among nurses (52.1%) and physicians (47.9%).Demographics and changes in workload and work conditions were collectedthrough an ad hoc questionnaire. The Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire-Short Form (TEIQue-SF), The Beck Hopelessness Scale (BHS), and the Link Burnout Questionnaire (LBQ) were used to assess Trait Emotional Intelligence(TEI), hopelessness, and burnout, respectively. Results: Correlation analysis showed a significant positive relationship betweenhopelessness and each burnout dimension. TEI showed negative correlations both with burnout dimensions and hopelessness. Significant differences in burnout and hopelessness levels emerged as a function of some demographic variables such as gender, professional profiles (nurses or physicians), and different working zone of Italy (northern or southern). Results showed that TEI partially mediated the relationship between hopelessness and every burnout dimension,while the interaction of changes in workload was non-significant.Discussion: The mediating role of TEI in the burnout-hopelessness relationship partly explains the protective role that individual factors had on healthcareworkers mental health. Our findings support the need to integrate considerations on both psychological risk and protective factors into COVID-19 care, including the monitoring of psychological symptoms and social needs, especially among healthcare workers

Hopelessness and Burnout in Italian healthcare workers during Pandemic: the mediating role of emotional intelligence

Objective: The study aims to assess the impact of COVID-19 on healthcare workers’ work-related stress during the first wave of the pandemic in Italy. The main objective is to investigate the existence of a positive correlation between hopelessness and burnout, assuming that burnout may be a risk factor for the development of hopelessness, and to analyze the role that trait Emotional Intelligence (TEI) and changes in workload could have in this relationship. Furthermore, evaluate any significant differences in burnout and hopelessness levels in the function of some demographic variables, such as gender, professional profiles, and different working zones of Italy, to better understand how the diverse diffusion of pandemic had affected Italian healthcare workers. Methods: An online survey was used to collect data between April and June, 2020, with 562 responses among nurses (52.1%) and physicians (47.9%). Demographics and changes in workload and work conditions were collected through an ad hoc questionnaire. The Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire- Short Form (TEIQue-SF), The Beck Hopelessness Scale (BHS), and the Link Burnout Questionnaire (LBQ) were used to assess Trait Emotional Intelligence (TEI), hopelessness, and burnout, respectively. Results: Correlation analysis showed a significant positive relationship between hopelessness and each burnout dimension. TEI showed negative correlations both with burnout dimensions and hopelessness. Significant differences in burnout and hopelessness levels emerged as a function of some demographic variables such as gender, professional profiles (nurses or physicians), and different working zone of Italy (northern or southern). Results showed that TEI partially mediated the relationship between hopelessness and every burnout dimension, while the interaction of changes in workload was non-significant. Discussion: The mediating role of TEI in the burnout-hopelessness relationship partly explains the protective role that individual factors had on healthcare workers’ mental health. Our findings support the need to integrate considerations on both psychological risk and protective factors into COVID-19 care, including the monitoring of psychological symptoms and social needs, especially among healthcare workers

Exploring the influence of socio-emotional variables on internalizing symptoms and academic results in primary school children

This dissertation has set the goal of studying how constructs such as trait emotional intelligence and social intelligence can be used as declinations of the socio-emotional development of children and how they can be protective for internalizing symptoms and clinical situations of anxiety and depression. The studies included in Section A investigated how socio-emotional factors can predict clinical discomfort within the school context and better academic performance. Specifically, Chapter 2 proposed a systematic review with a meta-analysis of studies that includes trait emotional intelligence in primary school children In Chapter 3, the social intelligence construct was included together with trait emotional intelligence exploring their associations with academic achievements and their ability to discriminate between children with clinical or not clinical levels of scholastic anxiety and depression. Chapter 4 has further extended our understanding of the associations between these variables by also evaluating evolutionary trajectories over time taking into account how the COVID-19 pandemic may have affected the direction of these trajectories. Section B has focused on the unconscious elements reflected in drawing as a projective tool of knowledge with children. Specifically, Chapter 5 presented " the drawn stories technique" as a projective method, exploring the differences in the contents of the drawings evaluated through an ad hoc evaluation grid, between children with clinical and non-clinical levels of anxiety and depression. Section C introduced the teacher’s perspective by investigating the role of the teacher as an observer of the emotional functioning of children belonging to their class group. In particular, Chapter 6 highlighted the significant differences between teachers' assessments and the self-reported scores of children in terms of emotional intelligence and anxiety. Finally, this thesis emphasizes the importance of adopting a multidimensional, and multi-method perspective to study the socio- emotional development of primary school children designing interventions to promote this development

Preliminary investigation of the Italian version of The Tromsø Social Intelligence Scale (TSIS) for children

Introduction: Social intelligence (SI) is a construct that has shown promising practical applications, but its use in research and applied settings has been limited by both definitional and operational problems. Overall, SI is currently defined as a set of cognitive, emotional, and behavioral abilities that individuals can use to interpret events, plan their life, achieve personal and social goals, solving personal and interpersonal problems. These abilities could be fundamental in primary school children because classrooms represent the context for first experiences with social acceptance and rejection, as well as for the development of relationships between classmates. However, there is a lack of studies on the measurement of SI in children. Methods: An adapted version of the Tromsø Social Intelligence Scale (TSIS-IV) was administered to 228 Italian primary school children (115 females; mean age: 9.57; SD: .62). The original questionnaire consists in 21 items on a 7- point Likert scale and provides scores to three subscales: Social information Processing (SP), Social Skills (SS), and Social Awareness (SA). Results: Internal reliability was evaluated using Cronbach’s alpha coefficient. The adapted version for children showed acceptable levels of reliability (α=.75). Explorative factor analysis with varimax rotation showed three factors that correspond to the subscales of the original version of the TSIS: SP (eigenvalue= 3.04), SS (eigenvalue= 2.59), and SA (eigenvalue= 2.43). However, while all items of SP load onto one factor, three items are switched between SS and SA. Nevertheless, these three factors explain 14.47%, 12.34%, and 11.57% of the variance, respectively. Each item showed a loading of almost .30, except for item 5. Conclusion: These preliminary results showed that the factorial structure of the TSIS-IV for children is somehow different to the adult form, with SS and SA subscales seeming to be structured differently. This could be interpreted by the fact that a number of psychological variables measured by the questionnaire,such as those included in the subscale SA, may not be already developed by children and may overlap with more concrete dimensions which are included into the subscale SS

Preliminary investigation of the Italian version of The Tromsø Social Intelligence Scale (TSIS) for children

Introduction: Social intelligence (SI) is a construct that has shown promising practical applications, but its use in research and applied settings has been limited by both definitional and operational problems. Overall, SI is currently defined as a set of cognitive, emotional, and behavioral abilities that individuals can use to interpret events, plan their life, achieve personal and social goals, solving personal and interpersonal problems. These abilities could be fundamental in primary school children because classrooms represent the context for first experiences with social acceptance and rejection, as well as for the development of relationships between classmates. However, there is a lack of studies on the measurement of SI in children. Methods: An adapted version of the Tromsø Social Intelligence Scale (TSIS-IV) was administered to 228 Italian primary school children (115 females; mean age: 9.57; SD: .62). The original questionnaire consists in 21 items on a 7- point Likert scale and provides scores to three subscales: Social information Processing (SP), Social Skills (SS), and Social Awareness (SA). Results: Internal reliability was evaluated using Cronbach’s alpha coefficient. The adapted version for children showed acceptable levels of reliability (α=.75). Explorative factor analysis with varimax rotation showed three factors that correspond to the subscales of the original version of the TSIS: SP (eigenvalue= 3.04), SS (eigenvalue= 2.59), and SA (eigenvalue= 2.43). However, while all items of SP load onto one factor, three items are switched between SS and SA. Nevertheless, these three factors explain 14.47%, 12.34%, and 11.57% of the variance, respectively. Each item showed a loading of almost .30, except for item 5. Conclusion: These preliminary results showed that the factorial structure of the TSIS-IV for children is somehow different to the adult form, with SS and SA subscales seeming to be structured differently. This could be interpreted by the fact that a number of psychological variables measured by the questionnaire,such as those included in the subscale SA, may not be already developed by children and may overlap with more concrete dimensions which are included into the subscale SS

Thermal anomaly at the Earth\u2019s surface associated with a lava tube

Lava tubes are frequently encountered in volcanic areas. The formation of lava tubes has strong implications on the volcanic hazard during effusive eruptions. The thermal dissipation of lava flowing in a tube is reduced in respect to the lava flowing in an open channel so the lava may threaten areas that would not be reached by flows in open channels: for this reason it is important to detect the presence of lava tubes. In this work we propose a model to detect the presence and the characteristics of lava tubes by their thermal footprint at the surface. We model numerically the temperature distribution and the heat flow, both in the steady and the transient state, and we take into account the principal thermal effects due to the presence of an active lava tube, i.e. the conduction to the ground and the atmosphere, the convection and the radiation in the atmosphere. We assume that lava fluid is at high temperature, in motion inside a sloping tube under the gravity force. The thermal profile across the tube direction, in particular the width of the temperature curve, allows to evaluate the depth of the tube. The values of maximum temperature and of tube depth allow to estimate the area of the tube section. The shape of the temperature curve and its asymmetry can give information about the geometry of the tube. If we observe volcanic areas at different times by thermal cameras, we can detect anomalies and evaluate their causes during an eruption; in particular, we can evaluate whether they are due to active lava flows or not and what is their state. For lava tubes, we can connect thermal anomalies with lava tube position, characteristics and state

Developing an Evaluation Grid for the “Drawn Stories Technique”: Exploring the Indicators of Children's Socio-Emotional Development, Anxiety, and Depression Levels

Introduction Since the first development of psychology, drawing has been considered a useful tool to understand an individual’s development and personality. The graphic method is considered a useful way to express not only personality dimensions but also the child’s emotions, and the affective tone with which children “emotionally invest” the context in which they live. In other words, drawing allows children to express something emotional and something meaningfully experienced that they have not yet categorized or verbalized. This study aims to develop an ad hoc evaluation grid for the “Drawn Stories Technique” to explore which drawing indicators (story outcomes, themes, emotional contents, and formal aspects) could reflect children’s socio-emotional functioning in terms of emotional and social intelligences and clinical levels of anxiety and depression. Method. The Drawn Stories Technique together with four self-reported questionnaires to evaluate trait Emotional Intelligence, Social Intelligence, Anxiety, and Depression respectively were administered to 228 primary school children in the group during class time. Results. Negative outcomes were positively related to depression scores but not to anxiety scores while social intelligence was associated with fewer themes related to death, less hostile emotional contents, and more human characters designed more in detail. As regards emotional intelligence, it was negatively related to heavy traits in the draws. Moreover, children who show clinical levels of depression tend to significantly draw fewer themes related to fables and animals and more everyday life events while children who have clinical levels of anxiety showed differences in some formal aspects of the drawings such as fewer empty spaces and more heavy traits in the draws. Conclusion. This study has shown the potential use of projective graphic techniques with primary school children to obtain potential indicators of maladjustment through the development of an ad hoc evaluation grid to collect information