Archivio della ricerca della Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna
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On Collectiveness, Arbitrariness and Judicial Comity: The Hungarian Embassy Procedure before the ECtHR
No full textThe relationship between Sense of Community and perceived service quality: rethinking the role of local communities in sustaining rural health and social care
No full textBackground: Rural areas face unique and interconnected challenges that hinder both access to and quality of health and social services. In response, local communities are increasingly called to proactively engage in identifying their own needs and developing solutions. Sense of Community (SoC) has emerged as a key element in building community capacity and resilience, as well as a crucial protective factor for individual health and well-being. However, the influence of SoC on citizens’ perceived service quality remains underexplored. This investigation can provide additional evidence on how SoC reflects the social resources that can be leveraged to address common challenges. To this end, this study examines the relationship between SoC and citizens’ perceived quality of health and social services in rural areas. Methods: Survey data from 405 citizens who participated in a “Population Experience Observatory” within a community-based participatory research in the rural Serchio Valley of Tuscany, Italy, were used. SoC was measured using an 8-item scale, while perceived quality was assessed through two evaluation ratings—one for health services and one for social services. Ordered logistic regressions were conducted to examine the factors influencing SoC and the relationship between SoC and service evaluations, adjusting for other individual-level and health-related factors. Results: Higher SoC was significantly associated with more positive evaluations of both health and social services (AOR: 1.49, 95% CI: 1.32–1.69, p < 0.001, and AOR: 1.57, 95% CI: 1.33–1.77, p < 0.001, respectively). Significant factors positively correlated with SoC included older age, better self-reported health, and receiving help from third-sector organizations. Also being a member of these organizations and being raised in the area were positive predictors of SoC but negatively associated with service evaluations. Conclusions: This study underscored a significant positive relationship between SoC and perceived service quality. As traditional approaches become less viable due to escalating demands and limited resources, SoC could be a valuable asset for local communities in taking more responsibility for their own health. SoC could be central in shaping a new season of rural health and social care policies aimed at ensuring the sustainable delivery of services. Such policies should emphasize the proactive engagement of local communities and the shift in professional roles from sole providers to advocates and enablers of these empowered communities
Intersectional Feminist Analysis of Italy’s National Adaptation Plan: Addressing Gendered Climate Vulnerabilities and Regional Disparities
No full textClimate change exacerbates socio-economic inequalities, disproportionately impacting vulnerable groups, particularly women. These gendered vulnerabilities stem from structural inequalities that limit women’s access to resources, decision-making, and adaptive capacities. International frameworks such as the UNFCCC's Gender Action Plan highlight the necessity of gender-responsive approaches to climate adaptation. However, national and municipal climate strategies often fail to fully integrate intersectional perspectives. This study critically examines Italy’s National Adaptation Plan for Climate Change (PNACC) through an intersectional feminist lens, focusing on gendered climate vulnerabilities and regional disparities. While National Adaptation Plans (NAPs) globally aim to enhance resilience, socio-economic, cultural, and structural challenges often hinder their effectiveness. Italy’s PNACC seeks to address regional imbalances; however, northern regions like Emilia-Romagna benefit from stronger economic and infrastructural support compared to southern regions such as Calabria, which face socio-economic challenges and elevated environmental risks.
The research adopts a mixed-methods approach, integrating policy discourse analysis, legislative review, and socio-economic data assessment to evaluate gender equity within PNACC. By examining adaptation strategies at the municipal level, the study explores how gender-sensitive measures are implemented in different socio-economic and geographical contexts. The comparative analysis of adaptation efforts in Bologna (a well-resourced northern city) and Reggio Calabria (a southern city with economic constraints) reveals stark contrasts in resilience and resource accessibility. Northern regions often leverage community-driven adaptation strategies for stronger resilience, whereas southern regions encounter persistent barriers, including inadequate legal enforcement, unequal resource distribution, and limited participatory governance. These structural disparities underscore the need for tailored, inclusive strategies that address regional vulnerabilities.
Feminist political ecology provides a critical lens through which to assess the interplay of gender, environment, and governance. This framework challenges the assumption that adaptation policies are neutral, instead highlighting the role of power dynamics and social hierarchies in shaping climate resilience. By applying this perspective, the study investigates whether Italy’s adaptation policies adequately consider gendered dimensions and how participatory governance can enhance equity. The findings indicate that while PNACC outlines broad strategies for addressing climate risks, its operationalization at the local level remains fragmented, with gender-responsive policies varying significantly between municipalities. Legal structures, economic capacity, and political will play crucial roles in determining whether adaptation measures actively reduce or inadvertently reinforce existing inequalities.
To assess gender inclusivity in climate adaptation policies, this study considers Sweden’s National Adaptation Strategy (NAS) as a benchmark. Sweden’s approach is widely recognized for integrating gender perspectives into climate governance, prioritizing participatory governance and environmental equity. While Italy’s adaptation policies primarily function at the regional level, Sweden’s NAS operates predominantly at the municipal level, offering a comparative perspective on decentralization and inclusivity in adaptation measures. By referencing Sweden’s framework as a point of comparison, this research critically evaluates the extent to which PNACC incorporates gender-sensitive strategies and where improvements can be made.
Ultimately, this research calls for a reevaluation of Italy’s adaptation policies, emphasizing strengthened legal accountability, equitable resource allocation, and participatory governance approaches that prioritize gender equity. By situating these recommendations within global discussions on gender and climate justice, the study underscores the importance of socially grounded, context-sensitive adaptation measures for sustainable resilience. Addressing climate adaptation through an intersectional lens ensures that policies are not only effective but also just, promoting climate resilience for all communities
Feasibility Study and Preliminary Testing of 3-D Printing on ASICs for MEMS: A Particulate Sensor Case Study
No full textOver the past two decades, additive manufacturing (AM) and 3-D printing have been widely used for producing macroscale industrial components. More recently, researchers have explored their application in fabricating microstructures and micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS). This field faces challenges related to accuracy, resolution, repeatability, scalability, and material compatibility. AM processes are classified into seven categories, with various subtypes and acronyms commonly used in industry. This study, conducted in collaboration between the Sant'Anna Institute of Biorobotics and STMicroelectronics, investigates the feasibility of integrating 3-D printing with application-specific integrated circuit fabrication to create fully functional MEMS. The research focuses on developing capacitive particulate sensors, which detect airborne particles through variations in capacitance between electrode pairs. The project involved the development of two different electrode configurations. Due to limitations in 3-D printing conductive materials at microscopic scales, electrodes were fabricated using a two-step process: 3-D printing with dielectric material followed by gold metallization. Electrical characterization was performed to evaluate resistance and capacitance values. Results indicated challenges in adhesion, uniform metallization, and measurement accuracy, particularly for smaller scale designs. While certain challenges remain, this study offers valuable insights into enhancing AM processes for MEMS production, and lays the groundwork for future developments in microscale 3-D printing technologies
High education for addressing grand challenges: on students’ sensemaking process from inter- to trans-disciplinarity
No full textGiven the role of grand challenges and the urgent need to manage and solve them, we face, as society, the moral imperative to train students to address wicked and complex problems teaching them cross-discipline expertise. Today, an interdisciplinary educational approach is mandatory. Even if universities, identified as essential actors which deal with disruptive development or grand challenges, have begun to organize to offer interdisciplinary programs, the perceptions of students on the effectiveness of these programs are unexplored. The meanings they associate to interdisciplinarity are crucial in shaping their identity and future actions. Through the lens of sensemaking theory, the study explores how students make sense of interdisciplinarity. Drawing on information obtained from semi-structured interviews with students enrolled in the Italian National PhD on Sustainable Development and Climate Change, we show that their process of sensemaking is a closed-loop which includes several steps, but where each of these could be the head or the tail of the entire process. Students, when making sense of interdisciplinarity, achieve a transdisciplinary meaning. The paper contributes to sensemaking theory and research on interdisciplinary education, an essential element for achieving sustainable development
Runtime Monitoring for Edge Applications
No full textIn edge computing, it is common to lack sufficient computational resources to enable a physical separation between applications, making resource sharing unavoidable. However, resource-sharing techniques must ensure that mutually untrusted applications colocated on the same nodes and core to meet timing constraints. To this end, the Linux SCHED_DEADLINE scheduler offers timing isolation and real-time guarantees through resource reservation. However, configuring its parameters is complex, especially in the case of highly variable workloads that are common in dynamic environments, e.g., as in mobility. This paper presents an adaptive monitoring mechanism to dynamically reconfigure SCHED_DEADLINE reservations based on runtime workload behavior. A kernel patch exports execution statistics, enabling realtime parameter adjustments: it increases the runtime allocated when a thread exhausts it before completing, and it reduces the runtime when the resource reservation is underutilized. Our prototype is implemented in Rust and supports the monitoring of threads, process groups, containers, and VMs. Evaluation results demonstrate the flexibility of the tool, showing how it is capable to adapt to different scenarios
PacBio genome assembly of Olea europaea L. subsp. europaea cultivars Frantoio and Leccino
No full textWe present two high-quality genome assemblies for Olea europaea L. cultivars ‘Frantoio’ and ‘Leccino,’ leveraging PacBio HiFi sequencing to achieve approximately 30 × genome coverage for each cultivar. The assemblies span 1.18 Gbp and 1.43 Gbp with contig N50 values of 1.78 Mbp and 45.88 Mbp for ‘Frantoio’ and ‘Leccino,’ respectively. BUSCO analysis revealed a great genome completeness (~97.9%), surpassing many of earlier Olea europaea assemblies and is in par with the most recent one. Repetitive content accounted for ~67.5% in ‘Frantoio’ and ~70.8% in ‘Leccino,’ with long terminal repeats (LTRs) dominating. Notably, a tandem repeat family, Satellite 1, represented ~16.9% and ~8.6% of the ‘Leccino’ and ‘Frantoio’ genomes, respectively. The structural variant (SV) analysis identified cultivar-specific genomic differences, emphasizing the diversity within domesticated olives. This comprehensive analysis provides valuable resources for studying olive genome evolution, domestication, and genetic improvement, underscoring the utility of long-read sequencing for resolving complex genomic features