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This work assesses the environmental impact from chemical emissions due to military tests and routine activities in the area occupied by the Italian Inter-force Test Range (PISQ), located at Salto di Quirra, Sardinia, Italy. After reviewing the military activities carried out at PISQ, such as rocket launching, blasting and armament destruction, projectile and mortar fire impact, the associated pollution is evaluated. Chemical analyses were performed by means of Scanning Electronic Microscopy and Energy Dispersion Spectrometry on biotic and abiotic matrices. Residues of Rb, Tl, W, Ti and Al were found in matrices collected in the PISQ areas and environs. A review of experimental data on air, water, soil, milk, forage and animal tissues obtained by various Public Agencies of Sardinia proved that toxic element residues often exceeded the legal limits. PM10 and PM2.5 air concentrations also exceeded the legal limits after military blasting. Cd and Pb contents in the liver and kidneys of sheep living in farms at PISQ and in control farms that were located more than 20 km away from PISQ were higher than the legal limits. This work was performed to investigate concentration of xenobiotics in ecosystems emitted from PISQ activities. This assessment could be useful to focus future epidemiological studies carried out in PISQ and its neighbouring areas.

This work assesses the environmental impact from chemical emissions due to military tests and routine activities in the area occupied by the Italian Inter-force Test Range (PISQ), located at Salto di Quirra, Sardinia, Italy. After reviewing the military activities carried out at PISQ, such as rocket launching, blasting and armament destruction, projectile and mortar fire impact, the associated pollution is evaluated. Chemical analyses were performed by means of Scanning Electronic Microscopy and Energy Dispersion Spectrometry on biotic and abiotic matrices. Residues of Rb, Tl, W, Ti and Al were found in matrices collected in the PISQ areas and environs. A review of experimental data on air, water, soil, milk, forage and animal tissues obtained by various Public Agencies of Sardinia proved that toxic element residues often exceeded the legal limits. PM10 and PM2.5 air concentrations also exceeded the legal limits after military blasting. Cd and Pb contents in the liver and kidneys of sheep living in farms at PISQ and in control farms that were located more than 20 km away from PISQ were higher than the legal limits. This work was performed to investigate concentration of xenobiotics in ecosystems emitted from PISQ activities. This assessment could be useful to focus future epidemiological studies carried out in PISQ and its neighbouring areas.

International Law — Relationship to Municipal Law — Treaty between United Kingdom and Italy — Whether Part of English Municipal Law — Absence of Explicit Incorporation as Part of the Law of the Land.War — Effects of — Enemy Property — Disposal by Custodian of Enemy Property — Disposal Allegedly Contrary to Treaty — Absence of Direct Incorporation of the Treaty as Part of Municipal Law.Treaties — Whether Part of Municipal Law — Absence of Express Incorporation into Municipal Law — Indirect Reference in Order-in-Council — Property in United Kingdom of late King of Italy — Disposal by Custodian of Enemy Property Allegedly Contrary to Treaty — Whether a Treaty can Constitute a Trust.

Background:There is abundant empirical evidence of a surplus risk of suicide among the unemployed, although few studies have investigated the influence of economic downturns on suicidal behaviours in an employment status-stratified sample.Aims:We investigated how economic inflation affected suicidal behaviours according to employment status in Italy from 2001 to 2008.Methods:Data concerning economically active people were provided by the Italian Institute for Statistical Analysis and by the International Monetary Fund. The association between inflation and completed versus attempted suicide with respect to employment status was investigated in every year and quarter-year of the study time frame. We considered three occupational categories: employed, unemployed who were previously employed and unemployed who had never worked.Results:The unemployed are at higher suicide risk than the employed. Among the PE, a significant association between inflation and suicide attempt was found, whereas no association was reported concerning completed suicides. No association was found between completed and attempted suicides among the employed, the NE and inflation. Completed suicide in females is significantly associated with unemployment in every quarter-year.Conclusion:The reported vulnerability to suicidal behaviours among the PE as inflation rises underlines the need of effective support strategies for both genders in times of economic downturns.

In response to the decline in child vaccination coverage and the subsequent occurrence of large vaccine-preventable disease outbreaks, in 2017 Italy introduced a new law that made ten vaccines mandatory for children aged 0–16 years. The policy change initiated an ongoing debate among the general public, as well as in the political arena and the scientific community, over this major public health concern. Hence, we conducted a survey aimed at assessing Italian public health professionals' attitudes towards and opinions on mandatory vaccination. A validated online questionnaire was administered to 1350 members of the Italian Society of Hygiene, Preventive Medicine and Public Health. Among the 1044 responders (response rate 77%), a large majority were in favour of the Italian mandatory vaccination law (91%) and against its repeal (74%). Nevertheless, according to our sample, maintaining a high level of vaccination coverage without the need to mandate would be preferable, and thus efforts to promote vaccine confidence and proactive vaccine uptake are still needed.

BACKGROUND: The number of women living in Italy and seeking cross-border reproductive care (CBRC), especially for medically assisted reproduction (MAR), has increased. The purpose of this study was to explore CBRC attitudes and behaviours among a cohort of reproductive-aged women who have never engaged in CBRC to gauge social and cultural perceptions and gain a deeper understanding of family planning discourse. METHODS: In-depth interviews were conducted during May – June 2018 with 30 women aged 18–50 living in or around Florence, Italy and enrolled in the Italian healthcare system. Interviews offered in-depth insight into CBRC attitudes, behaviours, and experiences among a cohort of women living in Italy who had never engaged in CBRC. Researchers used an expanded grounded theory through open and axial coding. Emergent themes were identified via a constant comparison approach. RESULTS: Three themes and two subthemes emerged from the data. Participants discussed how limitations in Italy's access to MAR can lead women to seek reproductive healthcare in other countries. Women had mixed feelings about the effect of religion on legislation and reproductive healthcare access, with many views tied to religious and spiritual norms impacting MAR treatment-seeking in-country and across borders. Participants perceived infertility and CBRC-seeking as socially isolating, as the motherhood identity was highly revered. The financial cost of traveling for CBRC limited access and exacerbated emotional impacts. CONCLUSIONS: Findings offered insight into CBRC perceptions and intentions, presenting a deeper understanding of the existing family planning discourse among reproductive-aged women. This may allow policymakers and practitioners to address social and cultural perceptions, increase access to safe and effective local care, and empower women in their family planning decisions.

This working paper aims to clarify some aspects of social housing in Portugal and Italy in order to start a comparative analysis of the interventions in social housing neighbourhood's case studies in the two countries. Divided into three parts, the paper initially discloses an explanation of methodological issues for a housing comparative study, especially for the Southern Europe countries, continuing with the description of housing concepts used in Portugal and Italy and concluding with a preliminary comparison. Despite having the same percentage of social housing, Portugal and Italy are different in the way how to deal with it and this research longs to explain it. The study offers methodological directions on how to conduct a housing comparative research and displays a starting comparison on statistical data, political genealogies, normative concepts and historical frameworks. The purpose is to settle a theoretical basis and reveal some outcomes from the analysis of the social housing in the two countries. This work seeks to contribute to the general debate of comparative housing studies of Southern Europe.

Volatility Post-World War II Italian politics has often been marked by significant political instability and frequent changes of government. The twenty-first century period in Italian politics has been characterised by the emergence of new political forces, the decline of traditional parties, and persistent public policy challenges related to corruption, economic stagnation, and immigration (Albertazzi and Zulianello, 2021). Remarkably, Italy has had an astonishing 69 governments in 79 years. This means that on average, governments in Italy last for just over a year. Our forthcoming book "The Rise of the Radical Right in Italy: A New Balance of Power in the Right-Wing Camp" to be published by Columbia University Press and ibidem Press in June 2024 examines the more worrying trend ...

Considering the recent debates regarding Brexit and the potential negative effects of immigrants on Italian labor market, the main aim of this paper is to assess the impact of immigrants from Italy on the labor market of this country using econometric techniques. Based on these results, one answer regarding the potential exit of Italy from the EU (Italexit) because of the immigration issue is provided. According to a Johansen co-integration test, there was not any long-run relationship between the number of EU immigrants from Italy and the variation of unemployment rate in the period from 1990 to 2019. The estimations based on Bayesian ridge regressions indicated that the number of EU immigrants did not affect labor cost index in business economy, manufacturing or industry, construction and services in the period 2001-2019. The variation in employed immigrants from Italy in the period 2008-2019 depends on changes in risk of poverty or social exclusion, housing cost overburden rate, exports of goods and services, inflation and tax rate on low wage earners and adult participation in learning.

In this paper, I empirically investigate the presence of spillover effects resulting from the strengthening of law enforcement against corruption and organized crime in local governments. Specifically, I take advantage of an Italian law that gives power to the central government to replace democratically elected municipal officials who are potentially connected with mafia with a commission of non-elected administrators. Fixed effects model estimates that focus on a sample of municipalities from three Italian regions (Campania, Calabria and Sicilia) for the period 1998 to 2013 show that the city council dismissal of a municipality fosters a reduction in public investments in neighboring municipalities. Additional empirical evidence suggests that this result could be explained by the presence of law enforcement spillovers potentially reducing misconducts in neighboring municipalities.

International audience ; Objectives: To estimate the attitudes of Italians over the extension of the smoking ban to selected public outdoor areas, including parks, stadiums, beaches, schools and hospitals. Methods: We considered data from 2 Italian surveys on smoking conducted in 2009 and 2010 on a total sample of 6233 individuals, representative of the Italian population aged 15 years or over. Results: The majority of the Italian population was in favour of the extension of smoking bans to selected outdoor areas: 64.6% of Italians supported smoke-free policies in public parks, 68.5% in sports stadiums, 62.1% in beaches, 85.9% in school courtyards and 79.9% in outdoor areas surrounding hospitals. Among current smokers, the corresponding estimates were 32.9% for parks, 38.2% for stadiums, 31.2% for beaches, 67.6% for schools and 55.3% for hospitals. Women, middle-age population and the elderly, subjects from central and southern Italy, and never smokers were more frequently in favour of the extension of the smoking ban to outdoor areas. Support for smoke-free parks and stadiums significantly increased between 2009 and 2010. Conclusions: Extension of smoking ban to selected outdoor areas is supported by the large majority of the Italian population. The overwhelming majority of support for smoke-free school grounds and outdoor areas surrounding hospitals indicates that legislative action is required.

Examines why in an era of national 'corporatism' and the 'welfare state' there has been a vigorous attempt at decentralisation of government functions. Suggests that the introduction of the regional form of political decentralisation since 1970 is best viewed as a response to localised social and economic change in the context of a unque political--geographical inheritance. (SJK)

This Profile briefly presents the main features of the immigration situation in Greece and Italy today. The main aim of the paper is to compare the two countries and highlight their similarities and differences as regards the size and main features of their immigrant populations as well as their migration policies during the last two decades. The study also looks at the geographical and geopolitical features that characterize Greece and Italy and that have played a role in attracting and shaping immigration flows towards these two countries. Although the notion of a Mediterranean cultural or geopolitical area may be considered too vague and elusive, the Mediterranean context is a useful framework for analyzing migration trends in southern Europe in the twenty-first century. Adapted from the source document.