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Maschi invisibili. I giovani sex offenders in carico presso l’USSM di Palermo nelle rappresentazioni del servizio
No full textLa presente tesi dottorale analizza, in prospettiva interpretativista e costruzionista, come l’istituzione della giustizia minorile – osservata dal punto di vista del servizio sociale – contribuisca a rendere comprensibile, descrivibile e oggetto di intervento la figura del minore autore di reato sessuale. La domanda di ricerca che muove il lavoro è sintetizzabile come segue: come e attraverso quali pratiche discorsive e organizzative, l’USSM di Palermo (e in particolare il Gruppo EOS) costruisce la figura del “minore autore di reato sessuale” e la rende valutabile e gestibile nel dialogo con l’autorità giudiziaria, e con quali effetti sull’interpretazione, naturalizzazione, o invisibilizzazione del genere e della maschilità nei percorsi di trattamento? Il presente lavoro di tesi si avvale del genere come specifica categoria critica, con un focus specifico sulla maschilità come costrutto e prodotto sociale piuttosto che come attributo individuale, analizzandolo come sfondo normativo spesso naturalizzato e per questo non detto.Nel primo capitolo vengono definiti oggetto, cornice teorica e lessico analitico, precisando la scelta costruzionista e la necessità di osservare il sex offending minorile come esito (socio-giuridico) di processi definitori, organizzativi e discorsivi. Nel secondo capitolo la ricerca ricostruisce il contesto storico-istituzionale della giustizia minorile italiana e delle trasformazioni normative recenti che incidono su tempi, vincoli e linguaggi dell’intervento, mostrando come il lavoro dei servizi si interfacci non soltanto con il minore autore di reato sessuale, ma con un complesso sistema che richiede da parte del servizio l’assolvimento di compiti riconducibili alle istanze sia educative che di controllo. Il terzo capitolo esplicita disegno, accesso al campo e strategia metodologica del lavoro di ricerca. In particolare, la fonte documentale utilizzata è composta da 99 relazioni psicosociali riferite a 23 casi di abuso sessuale e, inoltre, da 11 interviste semistrutturate somministrate a operatrici e operatori del gruppo EOS dell’USSM di Palermo. A partire da tali strumenti e contenuti – e utilizzando una metodologia di ricerca mixed methods – è possibile osservare come i linguaggi rispettivamente formali e informali concorrano in modo performativo alla costruzione e rappresentazione dei minori autori di reato sessuale e della pratica professionale in sé. L’analisi integra lettura qualitativa e strumenti di analisi testuale quali-quantitativa (T-LAB Plus 2021), così da rendere osservabili sia le categorie interpretative e le logiche pratiche dei e delle professionisti/e, sia le modalità semantiche e le strutture ricorrenti della scrittura valutativa. Nel quarto capitolo l’analisi delle interviste ricostruisce le cornici professionali alla base della presa in carico (responsabilizzazione, collaborazione, negazione, gestione del rischio, ruolo della famiglia), evidenziando al contempo un aspetto fondamentale: nonostaante una popolazione quasi interamente maschile, la maschilità tende a restare sullo sfondo come ovvietà non problematizzata, ed emerge soprattutto in forma indiretta, nella eccezionalità (come nel caso di reati agiti da maschi su maschi, o da femmine), ma mai in riferimento al reato sessuale compiuto dal minore maschio nei confronti di minori di genere femminile. Nel quinto capitolo l’analisi delle relazioni con T-LAB mostra in particolare la centralità della dimensione gestionale e valutativa dei casi, in cui categorie semantiche specifiche funzionano come criteri moralizzati di accesso a opportunità, misure e riconoscimenti istituzionali. In questo quadro, il genere opera spesso per sottrazione: il femminile è più facilmente nominabile, mentre il maschile tende a coincidere con il non detto, contribuendo a depoliticizzare le dinamiche di potere e a trattare la maschilità come naturale piuttosto che come costruzione sociale.In conclusione, la tesi sostiene che il trattamento istituzionale del sex offending minorile non è soltanto un insieme di tecniche, ma un dispositivo discorsivo-organizzativo che produce realtà sociali definendo soggetti, stabilendo aspettative di cambiamento, normalizzando alcune letture del rischio ma rendendo contemporaneamente poco visibili – se non invisibili – altre dimensioni, tra cui la maschilità. L’obiettivo principale del presente lavoro si traduce nella messa in luce, attraverso una metodologia mista, della grammatica, delle modalità di gestione implicite interne, con cui il servizio sociale costruisce il caso e nel mostrare come l’invisibilità del genere maschile non sia semplicemente una mancanza casuale, ma un effetto strutturale di naturalizzazione che incide sulle pratiche e sui loro esiti.This doctoral dissertation adopts an interpretivist and constructionist perspective to examine how the juvenile justice institution – observed from the standpoint of social work – contributes to making the figure of the minor who has committed a sexual offence intelligible, describable, and amenable to intervention. The guiding research question can be summarised as follows: how, and through which discursive and organisational practices, does the Palermo USSM (and in particular the EOS Group) construct the figure of the “minor who has committed a sexual offence” and render it assessable and manageable in dialogue with judicial authorities and with – effects on the interpretation, naturalisation, or invisibilisation of gender and masculinity within treatment pathways? This dissertation employs gender as a specific critical category, with a particular focus on masculinity as a construct and social product rather than an individual attribute, analysing it as a normative background that is often naturalised and therefore left unspoken.Chapter one defines the object of study, the theoretical framework, and the analytical lexicon, specifying the constructionist stance and the need to observe juvenile sexual offending as the (socio-legal) outcome of definitional, organisational, and discursive processes. Chapter two reconstructs the historical-institutional context of the Italian juvenile justice system and recent legislative changes that shape the timing, constraints, and language of intervention, showing how service work interfaces not only with the minor who has committed a sexual offence, but also with a complex system that requires the service to fulfil tasks attributable both to educational aims and to control imperatives. Chapter three sets out the research design, field access, and methodological strategy. Specifically, the documentary corpus consists of 99 psychosocial reports referring to 23 cases of sexual abuse and, in addition, 11 semi-structured interviews administered to practitioners of the EOS Group within the Palermo USSM. On the basis of these tools and materials – and by using a mixed-methods research approach – it is possible to observe how formal and informal languages performatively contribute to the construction and representation of minors who have committed sexual offences, as well as of professional practice itself. The analysis integrates qualitative reading with quali-quantitative textual analysis tools (T-LAB Plus 2021), thereby making visible both the interpretive categories and practical logics of professionals and the semantic modalities and recurring structures of evaluative writing . In chapter four, the analysis of the interviews reconstructs the professional frames underlying case management (responsibilisation, collaboration, denial, risk management, the role of the family), while also highlighting a fundamental point: despite an almost entirely male population, masculinity tends to remain in the background as an unexamined obviousness, resurfacing mainly in indirect form, in exceptional cases (such as offences committed by males against males, or by females), but never with reference to the sexual offence committed by a male minor against minors of female gender. In chapter five, the analysis of the reports using T-LAB shows in particular the centrality of the managerial and evaluative dimension of cases, in which categories function as moralised criteria for access to opportunities, measures, and institutional recognition. Within this framework, gender often operates through subtraction: the feminine is more readily nameable, whereas the masculine tends to coincide with what is left unsaid, contributing to the depoliticisation of power dynamics and treating masculinity as natural rather than as a social construction.In conclusion, the dissertation argues that the institutional treatment of juvenile sexual offending is not merely a set of techniques, but a discursive-organisational dispositif that produces social realities by defining subjects, establishing expectations of change, normalising certain readings of risk, while simultaneously rendering other dimensions – among them masculinity – scarcely visible, if not invisible. The main aim of this work is to bring to light, through a mixed methodology, the grammar and implicit internal management practices through which social work constructs the case, and to show how the invisibility of male gender is not simply an accidental omission, but a structural effect of naturalisation that shapes practices and their outcomes
Levonorgestrel-releasing intra-uterine device alone for managing early-stage endometrial cancer and endometrial hyperplasia with atypia in patients unfit for surgery: the ENDOIUD study
No full textObjective: This study aimed to clarify the role of levonorgestrel-releasing intrauterine device as a stand-alone therapy in managing patients with endometrial atypical hyperplasia/endometrial cancer who are not suitable for surgery, through the evaluation of cause-specific survival and the control of vaginal bleeding. Methods: This is a retrospective, multi-center study conducted in 9 referral gynecologic centers in Italy. Data regarding the clinical and oncological outcomes of patients with endometrial atypical hyperplasia/endometrial cancer (International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics Stage I) were analyzed. Patients were judged unsuitable surgery due to an American Society of Anesthesiologists score >= 3 and the presence multiple severe co-morbidities and, therefore, triaged to receive levonorgestrel-releasing intra-uterine device alone. Results: A total of 78 women were enrolled. Fifteen patients (19.2%) had a diagnosis of endometrial atypical hyperplasia, whereas the other 63 (80.8%) had endometrial cancer. The baseline hemoglobin levels averaged 11.6 (range; 6-16), increasing to 12.1 (range; 7.8-14.9) during follow-up after levonorgestrel-releasing intra-uterine device insertion (p = .003). No patient experienced any side effects, and bleeding control was rated as excellent in most patients. Median disease-free survival was 43 months (range; 5-120) and median overall survival was 45 months (range; 5-120). Conclusions: Levonorgestrel-releasing intra-uterine device alone is a safe and effective approach, showing no side effects, and a promising oncological outcome in women with early-stage endometrial atypical hyperplasia/endometrial cancer unfit for surgery. Future prospective studies are required to clarify how to select patient candidates for this therapy and how to predict response to levonorgestrel-releasing intrauterine device
Real-World Safety and Effectiveness of Zanubrutinib versus Ibrutinib in CLL: The CLL-ZANU2024 Italian Cohort
No full text: Bruton tyrosine kinase inhibitors (BTKis) have dramatically changed the therapeutic landscape of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), with ibrutinib, first-in-class, demonstrating durable efficacy even in high-risk patients. However, off-target adverse events (AEs) have raised concerns, prompting the development of more selective second-generation BTKi, as zanubrutinib, designed to improve tolerability while maintaining efficacy. Despite encouraging results from clinical trials, real-world data comparing zanubrutinib with ibrutinib remain limited. In this multicenter, retrospective study, we analyzed 934 CLL patients treated outside clinical trials, including 393 receiving zanubrutinib and 541 receiving ibrutinib. We evaluated time to treatment discontinuation (TTD) and time to next treatment or death (TTNTD) in both the overall cohort and a propensity score-matched population. Zanubrutinib-treated patients experienced lower 12-month discontinuation rates (overall:12.6% versus 21.4%; matched:12.4% versus 20.2%) and higher 12-month TTNTD rates (overall:91.9% versus 83.0%; matched:93.2% versus 83.4%). Multivariable analyses confirmed zanubrutinib as an independent predictor of longer TTD and TTNTD, while high-risk features, including age, relapsed/refractory disease, Binet stage C, TP53 disruption, ECOG 2-3, and congestive heart failure, were consistently associated with poorer outcomes. AEs leading to discontinuation, particularly atrial fibrillation, bleeding, and infections, were less frequent with zanubrutinib, reflecting its favorable safety profile. These findings provide real-world evidence that zanubrutinib offers more durable disease control and improved persistence compared with ibrutinib, reinforcing its clinical value as a preferred second-generation BTKi. Nevertheless, the relatively short follow-up for zanubrutinib warrants cautious interpretation of long-term outcomes and underscores the need for ongoing observation to fully characterize its durability and safety
Exploring Image Watermarking in Digital Collections of Ancient Coins
No full textThis paper investigates invisible blind watermark approaches as a security mechanism to track ownership in online digital collection of ancient coin images. Recent deep-based architectures are compared in addition to traditional transformation-domain approaches. Besides evaluating watermarking for the task-specific images, this analysis takes into account challenging attacks obtained by combining both geometric or photometric attacks to test the actual effectiveness of compared methods for practical purposes. Moreover, the sequential application of pair of watermarking methods is considered with the intention of increasing the robustness of the joint watermarking and as an additional form of attack. Experimental evaluation shows that deep-based watermarking is robust to most of the base attacks and that sequential joint watermarking can improve upon the robustness of the original methods. Finally, although the strength of recent approaches to common attacks is sufficient, complex combined attacks remain still a challenge
Training needs of juvenile justice operators working with young muslims in Italy: a Sicilian case study
No full textPurpose
The main aim of the study is to identify the training needs of juvenile justice professionals working with Muslim minors and young people. The Italian juvenile justice system faces numerous challenges in protecting the well-being of young people of Islamic faith under its care. These individuals, often subjected to psychological violence due to the double stigma of being both immigrants and Muslims, may experience low levels of well-being. Combined with the psychological stress of arrest and detention, this can increase their vulnerability. In the absence of adequate protective factors, these conditions may facilitate a path toward criminal careers, from which disengagement is particularly difficult.
Design/methodology/approach
An online questionnaire was administered to 74 helping professionals (50% response rate) operating in custodial and non-custodial facilities of the Juvenile Justice Center of Sicily Region (Italy), who work with young people and young adults of Islamic faith.
Findings
Nearly half of operators (45.9%) self-reported poor or sufficient multicultural competences. The most critical training needs identified were intercultural communication (73%), psychological support (68%) and intercultural approaches (68%). Language barriers and ethnic prejudice emerged as the primary challenges for young Muslims (76% each), followed by cultural identity issues (57%). Operators reported limited access to cultural mediators (mentioned by 75.5% as a barrier) and insufficient collaboration with local Islamic associations. Only 20.3% of respondents indicated adequate institutional provisions for religious practices (halal food, prayer spaces and spiritual care).
Research limitations/implications
The study’s findings were not nationally representative. Juvenile justice in Italy varies significantly between regions due to differences in available resources and the specific characteristics of migration flows. However, Sicily hosts four of Italy’s 17 juvenile detention facilities and serves as a primary entry point for migration flows from Africa. Furthermore, while sharing fundamental principles with other European countries, the Italian system has distinctive features that make international comparisons challenging.
Practical implications
Based on the findings, the Universities of Padua, Verona, Bari and Palermo, together with the Department of Juvenile and Community Justice, signed a letter of intent in February 2025 to define collaboration modalities and initiate an operational agreement. Such initiatives can serve as protective factors for young Muslims’ well-being, fostering individualized interventions and integrated support.
Originality/value
This contribution provides a snapshot of the training needs of practitioners working with Muslim young people. At present, there are no other similar studies in Italy; in fact, it has also been authorized by the Department of Juvenile and Community Justice, which is headquartered in Rome (Italy)
Effects of alternative feeds on Paracentrotus lividus broodstock: Asseswesment of egg nutritional composition and larval development
No full textFour alternative feeds, composed of lettuce discards (72 %) and an animal meal (fish, krill, mussel or anchovy discards, 8 %), and a macroalgae-based feed (Laminaria sp. and Ulva sp.), used as control treatment, were tested on Paracentrotus lividus (Lamarck, 1816) broodstock. Adult female were fed for four months, then spawning was induced and obtained eggs were fertilised to analyse the first larval developmental stages. Feed effects were assessed by analysing nutritional composition and fatty acid (FA) profile of the eggs and by analysing larval development. Both evaluations were also conducted on specimens from the natural environment as wild control. Eggs from experimental sea urchins showed similar protein and lipid content, despite the different composition of the experimental diets, while FA profiles reflected feed composition and highlighted differences between wild and farmed sea urchins. Eggs released by wild sea urchins had high concentrations of long chain polyunsaturated FA (LC-PUFA), in detail arachidonic (ARA), eicosapentaenoic and docosahexaenoic acids, while eggs from sea urchins fed lettuce-based feeds had high levels of linoleic and alpha-linolenic acids. Intermediate products of endogenous biosynthesis pathway for long chain polyunsaturated FA, absent in the tested feeds, were found in experimental eggs confirming the ability of sea urchin to elongate and desaturate PUFA to LC-PUFA. Higher levels of LC-PUFA, notably ARA, were found in the eggs of urchins from the wild. Finally, wild eggs promoted a better larval development, followed by eggs from macroalgae-fed specimens, suggesting that formulated feeds for full-cycle production should include a direct source of LC-PUFA
Neurophysiological Study of Spatial Cognition and Language Through Augmented and Virtual Reality
No full textVirtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) are immersive technologies that can potentially be used to explore neurophysiological topics, such as spatial cognition and language. VR and AR technologies overcome the ecological validity limitations of laboratory experiments, offering high experimental control and reproducibility thanks to their intrinsic immersion.
However, technological challenges remain in developing immersive platforms in terms of reproducibility and user comfort. Calibration of the resources used and the design process must ensure that the user’s physiological conditions remain unaltered.
This work presents a VR/AR platform designed to replicate controllable neurophysiological experiments already conducted in real-world environments. The goal is to develop a tool capable of replicating experimental models that can be used to delve deeper into complex cognitive paradigms such as extra-personal space remapping and spatial semantic processing.
User experience was assessed using the Simulator Sickness Questionnaire (SSQ). Preliminary results suggest that the platform is well-received and increases ecological validity by allowing the manipulation of relevant variables to study neurophysiological processes, helping to overcome methodological limitations often encountered in traditional laboratory settings
BOOK OF ABSTRACT - 17 ICIT ISLANDS CONFERENCE -OTIE
No full textThis Abstract Book brings together the scientific contributions presented at the 17th OTIE International Islands Conference, offering a multidisciplinary overview of the main research topics addressed. The selected abstracts reflect the diversity of theoretical perspectives and methodological approaches, as well as the relevance of the issues discussed. The publication aims to foster academic dialogue, promote knowledge dissemination, and support the development of future research collaborations
Chloremia Disturbances in Critical Care: A Narrative Review of Pathophysiology, Clinical Impact and Management Strategies
No full textChloride, the leading extracellular anion, plays a crucial role in acid-base balance, fluid homeostasis, and neuromuscular function. Despite historical underrecognition, emerging evidence demonstrates significant associations between chloremia disturbances and critical care outcomes. This paper aims to narratively review the pathophysiology, clinical features, and management strategies of chloremia disturbances in critically ill patients. Chloremia disturbances are common in ICU patients, with both hypochloremia (<96 mEq/L) and hyperchloremia (>106 mEq/L) independently associated with increased mortality, prolonged ICU length of stay, and organ dysfunction. In sepsis, chloride levels exhibit a prognostic value, with threshold effects around 105 mEq/L. Hyperchloremia particularly increases acute kidney injury risk, while hypochloremia correlates with prolonged mechanical ventilation. The choice of resuscitation fluids significantly influences clinical outcomes, with balanced crystalloids potentially reducing adverse events if compared to normal saline solutions. Recent large-scale trials demonstrate lower rates of major adverse kidney events with chloride-restrictive strategies. Optimal management requires careful patient monitoring along with acid-base assessment. Treatment approaches must identify underlying causes to avoid complications. Prevention strategies include protocol-based fluid therapy, medication selection consideration, and early intervention in high-risk patients. Emerging technologies, including continuous monitoring systems and machine learning algorithms, offer promising advances for predicting and managing chloride disturbances