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“Largest-large” families in Italy: what do we know about them?
No full textFrom 1961 in Italy the average number of individuals per household decreased from 3.6 to 2.4 in 2011 and to 2.2 in 2022, and the proportion of households with six or more members or more from 14.4% to 1.4% and 1.2% respectively. Large families, particular those with four or more children, are often associated with poverty, but, given their rarity, they are extremely difficult to study. They are essentially unknown, especially in contexts of very low fertility, such as Italy. We aim to characterize families with four or more children (largest-large families) and to identify the socio-demographic factors that distinguish them from families with one or two children (small families) which represent the prevailing model. To do this, we apply multivariate logistic models to microdata from the 2011 Italian Population and Housing Census. This is the last Census conducted in Italy on universal population basis. Sample surveys are usually not large enough to enable in-depth analyses of the processes underlying the formation of this type of families. The census source also allows analyses to be conducted separately for the native and non-native populations. Results suggest a socio-economic polarization of largest-large families and a negative association with women’s education among both native and non-native populations. Among Italian couples only, re-partnering is a predictor of having a largest-large family and couples in which the male partner is self-employed are more likely to have four or more children than those with employed men. Regional cultural and institutional differences also play a non-negligible role
The Principle of Visual Reality
No full textThe Principle of Visual Reality defines invariant physical, perceptual, and informational constraints required for perceived realism in images and cinematic scenes. The framework synthesizes findings from perception science, optics, cinematography, and visual cognition to explain why certain images appear real while others appear artificial, independent of resolution, tools, or technology.
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.1850016
Distraction under Competition in Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
No full textData and code repository for the "Heightened Distraction under Competition in Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder" project. Repository includes behavioral, electrophysiyoligcal, and limited demographic data. All analysis scripts and functions are publicly available.
Link to preprint: https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.03.15.711932v
Margins of Society: The role of loneliness and belonging on the psychological impact of transnegativity
No full textZayne’s Law of Visual Reality
No full textZayne’s Law of Visual Reality formalizes the invariant physical, perceptual, and informational constraints required for perceived realism. This OSF project serves as the canonical research record linked to the original Zenodo DOI and documents the law’s scope, implications, and future empirical extensions
Momentary Predictors of Dissociation in Functional Neurological Disorder: An Ecological Momentary Assessment-Based Study
No full textIntroduction: Evidence suggests that dissociation may play a role in the manifestation of functional neurological disorder (FND). Dissociative experiences are frequently reported in FND, yet their dynamic associations with affective and physiological states remain underexplored. This study aimed to examine dissociative symptoms in daily life in FND, to identify predictors of dissociation using ecological momentary assessment (EMA) combined with wearable heart-rate monitoring.
Methods: Seventeen individuals with FND (functional seizures/motor symptoms) and seventeen age- and gender-matched healthy controls completed EMA via pseudorandom smartphone prompts eight times daily for one week. Dissociation (depersonalisation, derealisation, amnesia), negative affect, and subjective arousal were assessed using items modified from validated scales, while heart-rate was continuously recorded via Fitbit devices. Data were aggregated at week-level for between-group comparisons and analysed using Mann-Whitney U tests. Multilevel modelling was conducted to examine momentary associations between predictors (negative affect, subjective arousal, heart-rate) and dissociative symptoms within the FND group. Time-lagged analyses explored temporal relationships between the predictors and dissociative symptoms.
Results: The FND group reported significantly higher dissociative symptoms across the week compared to controls: amnesia (U=63, p=0.004), depersonalisation (U=63.5, p=0.004), and derealisation (U=84, p=0.034). Effect sizes were moderate-large for amnesia and depersonalisation (r=0.56), and small-moderate for derealisation (r=0.42). Negative affect (p-values=<0.001, β=0.094-0.111), subjective arousal (p-values=<0.001, β=0.102-0.124), and heart-rate (p-values=0.01-0.006, β= 0.078-0.091) were each significant concurrent predictors of all three dissociative symptom types. In combined models, negative affect and subjective arousal remained robust predictors across all symptom domains, whereas heart-rate lost significance. Time-lagged analyses did not yield significant associations.
Conclusion: Individuals with FND report elevated dissociative symptoms compared to healthy controls. Dissociation was consistently associated with subjective arousal and negative affect, but not heart-rate, underscoring the importance of subjective emotional states over physiological influences on dissociative symptom variability. The absence of temporal effects highlights the transient nature of dissociation in FND. These findings support conceptualising FND through a dissociative lens and emphasise the need for larger longitudinal studies to clarify mechanisms and inform tailored interventions
Suicide and Self-Harm Prevention on Social Media: A Systematic Review of Interventions and User-Led Practices (2014–2025)
No full textSocial media platforms are commonly used for self-harm and suicide-related help-seeking, yet their role in suicide prevention remains underexamined. Synthesising eleven years of empirical research (2014–2025), this review examines the use of social media for self-harm and suicide prevention, focusing on platform-based interventions, user-led practices, and evidence on safety, acceptability and efficacy. In April 2025, a systematic search of five databases identified studies published since 2014. Extracted data included details of the prevention activity or intervention examined and any reported outcomes. Study quality was appraised using the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool. From 16,476 records, 75 studies met inclusion criteria and were classified as reporting either: intervention development or format (17%), intervention evaluation (19%), user experiences (34%) or online behaviours (29%). Social media-based interventions included purpose-designed social networking interventions, programs combining AI-driven risk detection with in-platform interventions, and educational campaigns promoting safe online communication about self-harm and suicide. Community-led practices such as sharing recovery stories and suicide-related peer support provided social connection and emotional relief, though these benefits coexisted with risks including exposure to graphic and instructional content. Users described social media platforms as important avenues for suicide-related help-seeking, particularly when offline clinical support was inaccessible. Few studies evaluated intervention effectiveness or measured changes in self-harm or suicidal behaviour, and most relied on small, non-representative samples. This review reveals a broad range of user-led suicide prevention activities alongside a growing number of platform-based suicide prevention interventions. Rigorous longitudinal and experimental research is needed to determine efficacy and guide safe implementation in real-world settings
Impact of Learning Management Systems on the Student Experience in Health Professions Education: A Scoping Review Protocol
No full textBACKGROUND: Learning management systems (LMS) are integral to post-secondary education for course delivery, assessment and communication. Health professional training programs require learners to balance complex classroom and clinical demands, and LMS analytics data for this population may offer insights into student engagement, self-regulated learning and academic performance. However, the scope, consistency and practical impact of this evidence in the literature remain unclear.
OBJECTIVE: This scoping review explores the depth, breadth, and synthesizes the extent and key findings of research that examines how LMS data are collected, analyzed and used to influence the learning experience in undergraduate health professions education.
METHODS: Following the PRISMA- ScR guidelines, PubMed, ERIC, CINAHL, Scopus, Web of Science, EMBASE and IEEE Xplore were systematically searched for peer-reviewed, primary research, published in English between 2019 and 2025 that involved undergraduate health professional learners. Study selection and data extraction were conducted using the Population-Concept-Context (PCC) framework and synthesized through descriptive and thematic analysis.
RESULTS: Of 1004 manuscripts identified, five met all the pre-determined inclusion criteria. The LMS metrics most explored were activity logs, resource access, participation in discussion forms and temporal engagement patterns. Across the studies, engagement with tasks, self-regulated behaviors and participation were positively correlated with academic performance. Based on LMS analytics, interventions that were designed to improve learning outcomes included personalized supports, smart tutoring systems and modification to LMS design.
CONCLUSIONS: Evidence of the impact of LMS data in health professions students is limited. While LMS-derived metrics show promise for identifying at-risk students to provide targeted supports and interventions, methodological variability and small sample sizes limit generalizability. Future research should adopt theory-driven longitudinal approaches, including artificial intelligence- supported analytics, to better understand how instructors leverage LMS data to improve the learning experience
How Capitalist Globalisation Undermines Traditional Local Knowledge: The Case of Indian Ghani, an Ancient Artisanal Method of Producing Edible Oil, Grappling with the Growing Industrialisation and Liberalisation of the Sector
No full textThis dissertation investigates how capitalist globalisation undermines traditional local knowledge systems, focusing on the Indian ghani, an ancient artisanal method of producing edible oil. The decline of this practice is analysed within the broader context of Western-driven development, agri-food industrialisation, and liberalisation of the edible oil sector. The study examines epistemological tensions between traditional and modern knowledge, the sociocultural and economic significance of the ghani, and the extent to which artisanal practices can coexist with industrial production in contemporary India.
A hybrid deductive–inductive approach was employed, combining a literature review with fieldwork conducted in India. This comprised two surveys allowing both quantitative and qualitative analysis of contributions from a wide range of stakeholders, including civil society, ghani workers, NGOs, industry representatives, and academics.
Findings reveal declining visibility and practical knowledge of the ghani, yet also a strong sociocultural resonance. This paradox reveals a fading practice that continues to embody memory, identity, and resistance to the homogenisation of global models. Economically, small producers face severe disadvantages in competing with industrial plants and cheap imports, while niche markets provide only limited opportunities for survival. The analysis shows how industrial and policy frameworks structurally marginalise artisans, relegating them to peripheral or subordinated roles, while simultaneously rebranding elements of their cultural value for urban elite markets. This process of “eliticisation” risks detaching artisanal production from its community base, transforming a once accessible tradition into a niche commodity.
The study concludes that the decline of the ghani is emblematic of wider processes of epistemic injustice, whereby capitalist globalisation privileges industrial efficiency and consumerist appropriation over cultural continuity, social equity, and ecological sustainability. It calls for a reimagined food system in which artisanal and industrial modes of production are integrated on more equitable terms. Such an approach would recognise the cultural and ecological contributions of traditional practices while harnessing the capacities of modern industry, generating hybrid models that are both more socially just and environmentally resilient. Safeguarding institutions like the ghani is thus not a nostalgic exercise but a vital step towards building plural, inclusive, and sustainable futures