Italian Scenario Research Articles

Terragni e il progetto del Danteum, fra ‘primordialismo’, astrazione geometrica e sperimentalismo tecnologico

Giuseppe Terragni and Pietro Lingeri’s Danteum project has been the subject of numerous studies and investigations. Moreover, in recent years, digital reconstructions of the building have been made which significantly contributed to the understanding of the project and to the knowledge of the design process, as well as to Pietro Lingeri’s role in it. This essay consists of two parts: the first, by Emanuela Ferretti, investigates the context in which the project took shape, with particular regard to the Italian scenario of 1938-1939; the second, by Attilio Terragni, highlights – with the sensibility of the architect-designer – some of the characteristics of the Danteum project and is accompanied by reconstructive drawings of the building, made by the same author on the basis of original drawings by Giuseppe Terragni, preserved in the Terragni Archive in Como.

Sustainable Innovation: The Italian Scenario Studied Through Higher-Order Partial Least Squares-Path Modeling.

What is the real meaning of sustainable innovation? How is sustainable innovation different from other forms of innovation? How does sustainable innovation contribute to societal development? How can we measure the sustainable innovation of a country—which indicators and which synthesis methods should we use? In this paper we try to answer these previous questions. Starting from the concept of sustainable innovation, as it has been extensively discussed in recent years in a range of disciplines from economics to engineering and sociology, the paper focuses on the basic criteria (such as indicators and statistical models) required to evaluate the sustainable innovation at the regional level, choosing Italy as a case study. From the elementary indicators of innovation, on one hand, and sustainability, on other hand, a composite indicator of sustainable innovation has been computed. The statistical model used to compute this composite indicator has been a Higher-Order Partial Least Squares Path model. The results obtained applying this model to the Italian scenario are discussed, the ranking of the different Italian regions, and the impact of the composite indicator sustainable innovation on economic results of each region are discussed.

Pandemic fatigue impact on COVID-19 spread: A mathematical modelling answer to the Italian scenario

The COVID-19 outbreak has generated, in addition to the dramatic sanitary consequences, severe psychological repercussions for the populations affected by the pandemic. Simultaneously, these consequences can have related effects on the spread of the virus. Pandemic fatigue occurs when stress rises beyond a threshold, leading a person to feel demotivated to follow recommended behaviours to protect themselves and others. In the present paper, we introduce a new susceptible–infected–quarantined–recovered-dead (SIQRD) model in terms of a system of ordinary differential equations (ODE). The model considers the countermeasures taken by sanitary authorities and the effect of pandemic fatigue. The latter can be mitigated by fear of the disease’s consequences modelled with the death rate in mind. The mathematical well-posedness of the model is proved. We show the numerical results to be consistent with the transmission dynamics data characterising the epidemic of the COVID-19 outbreak in Italy in 2020. We provide a measure of the possible pandemic fatigue impact. The model can be used to evaluate the public health interventions and prevent with specific actions the possible damages resulting from the social phenomenon of relaxation concerning the observance of the preventive rules imposed.

How do systemic sclerosis manifestations influence patients’ lives? Results from a survey on patients and caregivers

Objective: To investigate the patient- and caregiver-reported impact of systemic sclerosis (SSc) manifestations (hand/feet/joint involvement and pulmonary complications) on diagnostic and therapeutic journey, working productivity and social life. Methods: Two questionnaires (one for the patients, n = 260 and one for the caregivers, n = 47) were designed in collaboration with the patients’ association Gruppo Italiano per la Lotta alla Sclerodermia (GILS). Validated questionnaires were combined with specific questions relevant for the Italian scenario. Results: Pulmonary fibrosis and hand/feet/joint involvement have a major impact on patient’s working status: (85.3% of patients with pulmonary fibrosis and 72.6% with hand/feet/joint involvement report loss of job/job change due to SSc. Productivity was affected as well: 60.6% of the patients (75% of those with fibrosis) reported that working productivity in the previous 4 weeks was restricted by physical limitations. The disease has a significant impact on patients’ life, limiting the ability to conduct common activities, especially those related to movement, such as object manipulation (61.1%), doing small manual jobs (44.0%), writing (38.9%), and an increased impact in case of pulmonary fibrosis and hands/feet/joints involvement. Half of the patients also present some difficulties in eating-related activities a Patients also experience poorer social life, personal relationships and sexual life. Caregivers are also deeply influenced by the manifestations of SSc. Pulmonary fibrosis and hand/feet/joint involvement represent an additional challenge. Conclusion: Pulmonary fibrosis and hand/feet/joint involvement are extremely burdensome complications for both SSc patients and caregivers, decreasing work productivity, limiting relationship and social life and impacting psychological status and everyday activities.

The climate-related information in the changing EU directive on non-financial reporting and disclosure: first evidence by Italian large companies

PurposeThis paper investigates the quality and quantity of climate-related information disclosed by public interest entities (PIEs) in the non-financial disclosure scenario. Thus, this paper aims at drafting the state of the art on what is climate-related information disclosed by PIEs in the changing EU non-financial regulation assuming the Italian scenario and the industrial industry as significant in achieving the research aims.Design/methodology/approachThe authors used the content analysis composing the sample of 34 large listed companies (i.e. PIEs) belonging to the industrial sector in Italy. The authors choose the Italian PIEs’ sustainability reports published in 2019 after the adoption of the EU directive and its guidelines. The authors adopted a coding and classification system, investigating the climate-related information through a systematic, objective and reliable method. The authors defined 99 indicators along the structure of the European Commission's guidelines and the indicator of disclosure, climate-related information indicator (CII). The framework mainly derives from the corporate disclosure theory and legitimacy and stakeholders' theories.FindingsThe results show the lack of several required climate-related information or a not in-depth presentation of information. Thus, findings are interesting in emphasizing that the current climate-related disclosure is at an early stage in complying with the European Commission's guidelines. Additionally, the findings enlarge previous theories on corporate disclosure, proposing new insights in the light of the recent interest in climate-related information.Research limitations/implicationsEvidence contributes to extending the existing literature, drafting the state of the art of what is the quality and the quantity of the climate-related information in the corporate disclosure in the European scenario.Practical implicationsThis paper is directed to propose the state of the climate-related disclosure following the EU directive guidelines, proposing some evidence to support the path toward the integrations of information by several parts (e.g. companies, regulators and so on).Originality/valueThe paper is a useful baseline for academics, practitioners, policy-makers and regulators in understanding actions to adopt in the climate-related disclosure and what could be the impact of forthcoming regulations in the field, also having some metrics (e.g. score value of disclosure, the indicator of climate-related information disclosure – CII).

The “War” Against Covid-19: State of Exception, State of Siege, or (Constitutional) Emergency Powers?: The Italian Case in Comparative Perspective

AbstractIs the Covid-19 pandemic changing the constitutional-power structures of our democracies? Is this centennial public health emergency irreversibly constraining our liberties? The paper examines recent state-measures of containment during the initial phase of spread of the Covid-19 crisis. It compares primarily the Italian scenario with the Chinese and the American one. It asks whether the measures adopted particularly in the Italian case (known as DPCMs) amount to a state of exception or to a use of emergency powers. Cognizant of the authoritarian risks in severed enjoyments of constitutional rights, the authors conclude that this is not what occurred in the case of solid democracies. At the level of governmental analysis, the “decree” strategy of the Italian DPCMs allude to paternalistic forms of power-exercise that empty the self-determining prerogative of the parliament.

Effects of COVID19 pandemic on the Italian power system and possible countermeasures

The paper analyses the dramatic effects of the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Italian power system, considering the impacts on load and generation, market issues and ancillary services provision. During the period between March and May 2020, the Italian scenario was considered as exemplary due to the large reduction of loads and thermal generation caused by the hard lockdown across the Country. Italy has experienced the most severe effects of pandemic in terms of increase of death rates and of pressure on the health system as well as severity of the countermeasures. As a domino effect, the total lockdown of one of the most industrialized countries in the world has created an emergency situation that has put a big stress on the power system, reducing the possibility for the system to recover under contingencies. The weakness of the system in such an extreme situation is analyzed in depth using open data, while some countermeasures for providing resilience to the power systems in such cases are analyzed in simulation. Two technologies are here considered as exemplary countermeasures for providing resilience to the Italian power system: Fast Frequency Response by Photovoltaic and Wind plants with rated power above 10 MVA and the massive implementation of Demand Response programs through Energy communities and aggregation using Blockchain technology. The simulations show, on one hand, that the frequency recovery under contingency seems compromised in the current situation and that the support from such innovative technologies can provide a significant relief bringing the operational features close to those before the COVID-19 pandemic.

P–752 Embryo morphological grading across several IVF centers is not consistent but an interactive training is useful to improve its consistency

Abstract Study question Are the embryologists across several IVF clinics concordant when evaluating embryo morphology? Summary answer Embryo morphological grading is sufficiently consistent among embryologists from the same center, while an interactive training was essential to improve its accuracy across several clinics. What is known already Embryo morphology, mostly at the blastocyst stage, is the strongest non-invasive embryological feature that associates with implantation potential. This association is confirmed also when euploid blastocysts are transferred. At present, several embryo grading schemes exist but is still unclear which is the most effective among them. Moreover, many IVF clinics adopt internal embryo grading scores, further limiting the transferability of this crucial prognostic information across different laboratories. With the aim of assessing the level of concordance in embryo grading within and between IVF clinics, the Italian Society of Embryology, Reproduction and Research (SIERR) conceived this study. Study design, size, duration We photographed 40 cleavage-stage and 40 blastocyst-stage embryos (3 focal-planes=240 photos). Two embryologists (senior and junior) from 65 Italian IVF clinics were invited to grade them. Their evaluations were blindly collected as Phase-I (January2020-March2020). Phase-II consisted of an interactive-training on Google-Classroom during which 6 selected experts found a Consensus on the morphological evaluation of the 80 embryos (April2020). As Phase III (May2020-July2020), a second set of 240 pictures was sent to senior participants and experts. Participants/materials, setting, methods Eighteen centers agreed to participate, and 36 embryologists were included. The embryo grading scheme adopted was the Alpha-ESHRE Istanbul Consensus (parameters: cleavage-stage blastomeres’ symmetry and fragmentation, blastocyst’s expansion, inner-cell-mass and trophectoderm quality), conventionally used in 50% of the centers (N = 9/18). The concordance within (junior versus senior) and between (senior versus experts) centers was calculated through the Cohen’s-k. The concordance between centers was compared before and after the interactive training on the two sets of pictures. Main results and the role of chance The centers and embryologists included were representative of the Italian IVF scenario: oocyte-retrievals per year:711±636,range100–2200; cycles with cleavage-stage embryo-transfer:322±339,0–1300; cycles with blastocyst-stage embryo-transfer:390±403,0–1100; operators per center:5.6±4.0,2–13; senior embryologists’ experience:14.8±7.4yr,7–30; junior embryologists’ experience:2.7±0.6yr,1–3. The intra-center concordance was (i)for blastomeres’ symmetry 82±15% (38–100%), k 0.59±0.27 (0.02–1), (ii)for blastomeres’ fragmentation 88±9% (65–100%), k 0.71±0.2 (0.29–1), (iii)for blastocysts’ expansion 80±16% (48–100%), k 0.66±0.27 (0.19–1), (iv)for inner-cell-mass quality 73±16% (35–95%), k 0.58±0.24 (0.07–0.92), (v)for trophectoderm quality 71±19% (38–95%), k 0.54±0.32 (0.01–0.97). Linear regressions showed no association of centers’ and embryologists’ characteristics with all k-values. Among clinics with the highest mean number of cycles per year and intra-center concordance, we selected 6 experts for the interactive-training. We then calculated the inter-center concordance as the agreement rate between senior embryologists and the experts for phase-I and phase-III: (i)for blastomeres’ symmetry 67±15% (30–85%) and 73±17% (15–90%;Wilcoxon-signed-ranks-test=0.06), k 0.33±0.22 (–0.29–0.58) and 0.42±0.33 (–0.56–0.77); (ii)for blastomeres’ fragmentation 81±17% (23–95%) and 83±14% (50–95%;Wilcoxon-signed-ranks-test=0.8), k 0.54±0.22 (–0.05–0.84) and 0.55±0.22 (0.17–0.81); (iii)for blastocysts’ expansion 59±16% (35–85%) and 67±17% (23–90%;Wilcoxon-signed-ranks-test=0.04), k 0.35±0.20 (0.06–0.73) and 0.44±0.22 (–0.10–0.7); (iv)for inner-cell-mass quality 60±14% (33–80%) and 69±11% (48–85%;Wilcoxon-signed-ranks-test=0.02), k 0.40±0.20 (0.01–0.69) and 0.51±0.18 (0.18–0.77); (v)for trophectoderm quality 55±12% (23–70%) and 63±10% 48–78%;Wilcoxon-signed-ranks-test<0.01), k 0.29±0.15 (–0.08–0.52) and 0.42±0.15 (0.21–0.66). Limitations, reasons for caution Only 28% (N = 18/65) of the Italian IVF centers invited to participate responded to the survey. The conventional adoption of grading schemes other than Istanbul-Consensus by 50% of the embryologists might have biased their evaluation. The experts were not fully-concordant in grading 13.8% of the embryos (N = 22/160), which required active discussions. Wider implications of the findings: Blastocyst-grading concordance was significantly improved after the training phase. Therefore, interactive consensus meetings and training platforms are keenly needed to standardize this practice across the centers. The “avant-garde” of artificial intelligence applied to embryo image analysis might help overcoming this issue in the future. Trial registration number N.A.

Well-being Indicators: a Review and Comparison in the Context of Italy

Interest in the well-being measurement is constantly increasing worldwide, especially due to the Stiglitz Commission suggestions, which opened several questions about its assessment and theoretical framework. This paper focuses on the Italian scenario due to the central role given to this topic by the Italian Parliament, which introduces equitable and sustainable well-being among the objectives of the government’s economic and social policy. Significant differences exist among the proposed Italian well-being indices in terms of theoretical approach, statistical rigour and aims. We propose a detailed outline of these indices useful for policy-makers, practitioners, economists and statistics scholars, with the awareness that for a good analysis, a complete and conscious description of the data is the starting point to further improve their usefulness, to maximise their advantages and to cut down their limitations.

A Cultural Heritage Low Entropy Enhancement Approach: An Ex Post Evaluation of Creative Practices

According to the current European and Italian scenario related to urban regeneration, cultural and landscape heritage valorization is being enhanced by the activation of innovative processes and new emerging approaches. These involve the development of methodologies and tools that can address decision-making processes based on creative practices consistent with a concept named “low-entropy economy” in this paper. The low-entropy economy represents an economic approach based on the minimization of physical urban transformation and the enhancement of the existing heritage. In this perspective, the research aims to develop the Cultural Heritage Low Entropy Enhancement (CHLEE) approach by exploring how some frugal experiences have promoted cultural heritage enhancement and related complex values through a program of temporary uses and activities able to produce new values, where the human experience is essential. A crucial role is represented by the heterogeneity of creative practices that contribute to identifying and implementing innovative management and governance models. The analysis of creative practices, based upon the ex post evaluation of some Italian case studies across the PROMETHEE-GAIA multicriteria method, is able to show how these experiences build innovation ecosystems and improve the ex ante evaluation for new strategies and policies, underlining strengths, weaknesses, and milestones that shape creative experiences as drivers of urban competitiveness.

Daniela Saresella. Catholics and Communists in Twentieth-Century Italy: Between Conflict and Dialogue.

In recent years, historical literature has highlighted the transnational dimension of progressive Catholicism, which in various phases animated the political and cultural climate of the second postwar period. Italy emerged as one of the major hubs of this network, which among other things tried to build bridges between the Catholic and the Marxist culture. This book by Daniela Saresella, Catholics and Communists in Twentieth-Century Italy: Between Conflict and Dialogue, confirms the “singularity” (9) of the Italian scenario while presenting a comprehensive history of the relations between Catholics and the Left in the twentieth century. The title of the book is somewhat misleading, as is the surprising choice for the cover—the famous photograph of Aldo Moro held captive by the Red Brigades, which mistakenly suggests a conflictual and dramatic narrative. This is not just the story of the relationship between Catholics and Communists but between Catholics “and the Left” (57,...

COVID-19 Spatial Diffusion: A Markovian Agent-Based Model

We applied a flexible modeling technique capable of representing dynamics of large populations interacting in space and time, namely Markovian Agents, to study the evolution of COVID-19 in Italy. Our purpose was to show that this modeling approach, that is based on mean field analysis models, provides good performances in describing the diffusion of phenomena, like COVID-19. The paper describes the application of this modeling approach to the Italian scenario and results are validated against real data available about the Italian official documentation of the diffusion of COVID-19. The model of each agent is organized similarly to what largely established in literature in the Susceptible-Infected-Recovered (SIR) family of approaches. Results match the main events taken by the Italian government and their effects.

Predictors of starting antimicrobial treatment in patients with nontuberculous mycobacterial lung disease in the Italian scenario: A SITA GIOVANI-IRENE promoted web-survey

The disease burden due to nontuberculous mycobacteria is growing worldwide, consequently to improved diagnostic abilities and an increase in the individuals at risk. Uncertainties exist about the right moment on which start treatment. We investigated the clinical features associated with starting an antimicrobial treatment in patients with nontuberculous mycobacterial lung disease among Italian physicians involved in the field. We found that in real life predictors of starting antimicrobial treatment are quite adherent to international guidelines, with some uncertainties regarding the implication of immunosuppressive drugs.

Tragic Choices, Government Actions and the ‘Domino Effect’. The Case of the COVID-19 Syndemic and the Italian Scenario

The COVID-19 pandemic has become in a few time a syndemic, or in other words a complex of patholgies that not only is harming the health but also the economic, social, cultural and relational fabric of the nations hit by it. It is the first time in a century that the fate of many nations, not only in terms of collective health but also of economic performance and social stability, is closely linked to the identification and to the ability to produce and distribute enough doses of an effective, and affordable for all, vaccine. This article addresses an important question: in such a scenario is the scarcity in the vaccine, particularly at the initial stage, inevitable? The answer is that it is not and that its shortage is itself derived from a number of what Calabresi and Bobbit, in their masterpiece Tragic Choices name “first order” decisions, made by the various nations in their dealing with the relevant pharmaceutical companies. In other words scarcity is the result of a ‘domino effect’, a chain of decisions taken in succession whose dynamics is difficult to control and of which only upon the manifestation of the effects, in this case deleterious, does one realize the gravity of the situation. In doing so some remedy to the 'domino effect' is prospected and the italian scenario is described.

Use of Detection Dogs in Forensic Investigations: The Italian Scenario

This paper describes the latest advancements of forensic odorology, a technique that uses canine units to detect forensic evidence at a crime scene. For a long time, dogs’ olfaction has been used to find missing persons, dead bodies, and explosive substances. These dog skills have been further de-veloped to identify olfactory fingerprints at crime scenes. Currently, forensic odorology plays an important role in pyromania and arson investigations, computer and electronic material searches, fugitive location, currency, tobacco and weapon recovery, as well as poaching fighting. During the Scent Detection activity, the dog is trained to detect the smell of a previously imprinted substance (substance odor imprinting). When the dog sniffs traces of a specific substance, it focuses on the track and follows itn to identify the odor source. Thus, the dog will reproduce a previously ac-quired behavioral response to signal the handler the presence of the substance. In this review, we touch upon canine forensic odorology, highlight the most innovative forensic activities carried out with dogs, and discuss how these investigative tools can be used in criminal trials.

Comparative life cycle assessment of two different SOFC-based cogeneration systems with thermal energy storage integrated into a single-family house nanogrid

This paper presents the life cycle assessment (LCA) of two different solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC)-based combined heat and power (CHP) systems with thermal energy storage, one based on a reversible solid oxide fuel cell (r-SOFC) and hydrogen storage, and the other on a natural gas-fed SOFC. Both systems have been included alternately into the same single-family house nanogrid, that also includes a photovoltaic (PV) system for renewable energy production. The hourly electrical and thermal demands over an entire year of the user are calculated by means of the commercial software TRNSYS 17, the simulation of the two CHP systems operation is performed using the commercial software HOMER PRO, and the life cycle assessment is performed by means of the software SimaPro 9 and Ecoinvent 3.3.The main finding of this study is that, in the considered Italian scenario, the r-SOFC-based CHP system has, in general, a more adverse environmental impact than the natural gas-fed one. This is essentially because the higher electricity production of the natural gas-fed SOFC, mainly due to its continuous operation, determines a higher self-consumption referred to the total alternating current (AC) load on a yearly basis. On the other hand, the r-SOFC with H2 storage shows a more adverse environmental impact, despite the higher power self-consumption from the PV system. Indeed, relatively to the r-SOFC system, in the cold seasons large part of the electrical energy necessary to power the H2 production and AC loads is taken from the Italian national grid, which has a relatively high share of electricity produced by fossil fuel thermal power plant. Moreover, the effects of an increased renewable energy (solar) share in the country energy mix are also reported and discussed, and the results of a Monte Carlo analysis aimed at evaluating the effects of the uncertainty relative to the input parameters for the LCA analysis are presented as well.

Analyzing the levelized cost of hydrogen in refueling stations with on-site hydrogen production via water electrolysis in the Italian scenario

Hydrogen refueling infrastructures with on-site production from renewable sources are an interesting solution for assuring green hydrogen with zero CO2 emissions. The main problem of these stations development is the hydrogen cost that depends on both the plant size (hydrogen production capacity) and on the renewable source.In this study, a techno-economic assessment of on-site hydrogen refueling stations (HRS), based on grid-connected PV plants integrated with electrolysis units, has been performed. Different plant configurations, in terms of hydrogen production capacity (50 kg/day, 100 kg/day, 200 kg/day) and the electricity mix (different sharing of electricity supply between the grid and the PV plant), have been analyzed in terms of electric energy demands and costs.The study has been performed by considering the Italian scenario in terms of economic streams (i.e. electricity prices) and solar irradiation conditions.The levelized cost of hydrogen (LCOH), that is the more important indicator among the economic evaluation indexes, has been calculated for all configurations by estimating the investment costs, the operational and maintenance costs and the replacement costs.Results highlighted that the investment costs increase proportionally as the electricity mix changes from Full Grid operation (100% Grid) to Low Grid supply (25% Grid) and as the hydrogen production capacity grows, because of the increasing in the sizes of the PV plant and the HRS units. The operational and maintenance costs are the main contributor to the LCOH due to the annual cost of the electricity purchased from the grid.The calculated LCOH values range from 9.29 €/kg (200 kg/day, 50% Grid) to 12.48 €/kg (50 kg/day, 100% Grid).

Surgery in phase 3 of the COVID-19 pandemic in Northern Italy spoke hospitals. Comments to "reply to letter to the editor: Surgery in the COVID-19 phase 2 Italian scenario: Lessons learned in Northern Italy spoke hospitals".

Costanzi, Andrea MD; Confalonieri, Marco MD; Mari, Giulio MD; Maggioni, Dario MD; Fingerhut, Abe MD, FACS, FRCPS, FRCS, FASCRS Author Information

Energy storage for grid-scale applications: Technology review and economic feasibility analysis

Non-dispatchable Renewable Energy Sources (RES) changed energy production from being centralised and fully dispatchable, to be more decentralised and less predictable. Despite the substantial growth, RES must be increased to fulfil the power production decarbonization targets set by several countries. In several countries, Italy included, RES development must be based on solar PV. Thus, relevant energy quantities will be shifted from day hours to night hours. Such “Load Shifting” is done with energy storage technologies. A few technologies suited for this task are already available, whereas several others have been proposed, but not tested in the practice. In this paper, such storage technologies are reviewed focusing on the performance and costs. Based on the review, current and future storage economic outlooks are assessed by focusing on the Italian scenario. In the paper, the storage operation is optimized at the hourly level to calculate the maximum achievable annual revenue. The optimisation is performed with a linear programming (LP) approach. Since none of the reviewed storage is economically feasible, the energy price modification required to achieve feasibility are estimated. Based on such results, the distance between the current situation and the one favourable to storage is assessed. In this way, the future outlook of each storage technology is discussed.

Men at war, recovery and analysis of soldiers’ remains from the WWI and WWII Italian Front

Italy was hit hard by the World Wars, still today the discovery of human remains dating back to 20th century is a common phenomenon, in particular on Alpine glaciers, due to climate changes. The authors will describe the Italian scenario in terms of legislation, scientific procedures and related disciplines involved, then the difficulties in the identification of human remains of soldiers, but also potential issues related to uncontrolled “scavenging” activities and consequent ethical aspects. The interdisciplinarity, used as systematic approach to deal with complex cases, allowed the presumptive identification of a WWI soldier recovered after one century from the glaciers of the Adamello mountain, as described. Putting aside the national perspective, the authors endorse and encourage the establishment of an international working group in order to share common issues, to exchange experience and to build global best-practices.