The University of Macerata (Italian: Università degli Studi di Macerata) is a public university located in Macerata, Italy. It is one of the oldest universities in Europe that are still functioning.
This paper is in line with research that analyzes the careers of European parliamentarians, adopting a comparative and cross-sectional approach and taking into account previous and subsequent political experiences in a multilevel perspective. Indeed, we propose a comparison between two similar cases, namely two southern European countries that have a quasi-federal system or are affected by an important regionalization process - Spain and Italy - and we examine a rather long time period ranging from the IV to the IX EP legislature. Our dataset consists of 508 observations, 195 relating to Spanish members of the European Parliament (MEPs) and 313 to Italian ones. By relying on the recent systematization, we propose to classify MEPs' career models - which are our dependent variable - into four types: the EU shorter-termers, the 'stepping stone' MEPs, the EU long-termers, and the 'multilevel surfers'. A multinominal regression analysis was conducted to understand which political factors (party affiliation of MEPs, length of previous career, critical European Parliament [EP] elections) may have a specific impact on each career type. We found that, after the 2014 EP critical election, the probability of MEPs engaging in the EP decreases, as they are more likely to develop a short-term career model than a long-term one. In addition, previous national experience and a regional executive career are the best predictors of a multilevel career.
The Italian Ministry of Justice and that of Health have established two strategies to limit the spread of COVID-19 in prisons: progressive isolation from the external world and adoption of practices to identify possible cases and to treat infected subjects. After the announcement of regulations revolts erupted in numerous Italian prisons. The motivations and effects of these strategy are discussed critically into the search for a balance between the right to health and other rights of prisoners in Italian prisons with the problem of an occupancy level of 121.75%.
Greenhouse gases in the atmosphere pose a risk to human life and ecosystems. The planet’s temperature is gradually increasing, causing changes in weather patterns, rising sea levels, and extreme weather events. In 2015, countries agreed on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which includes 17 goals, one of which is climate action. As an EU member, Italy has committed to reducing GHG emissions by 55
As Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems evolve from classical to hybrid classical-quantum architectures, traditional notions of security—mainly centered on technical robustness—are no longer sufficient. This study aims to provide an integrated security ethics compliance framework that bridges technical and ethical dimensions across the AI lifecycle. By adopting a security ethics-by-design approach, the framework introduces mitigation measures in relation to key ethical principles capable of addressing emerging risks and considering AI governance needs in the initial AI design and development phases. This study proposes a novel framework, currently absent from the literature, to address security ethics challenges in both classical and hybrid systems. Key contributions include the integration of post-quantum and quantum cryptography, particularly homomorphic encryption, to ensure long-term privacy and security in hybrid AI. The framework also includes bias testing and explainable AI techniques to promote fairness and explainability, and to prevent safety-related vulnerabilities—such as algorithmic bias—from serving as vectors for malicious, discriminatory attacks. Ultimately, it provides a preliminary roadmap for embedding ethical security considerations throughout the lifecycle of classical and hybrid AI systems.
Understanding the role of individual factors associated with positive academic outcomes is fundamental to providing effective support for students with specific learning disabilities (SLDs) throughout their academic careers. The present study aimed to investigate group differences between students with and without SLDs and to examine the relationships between study-related factors, social, emotional, and behavioral (SEB) skills, and student outcomes (achievement, academic and life satisfaction, and burnout) in a sample of 752 university students (133 male; Mage = 22.28 years, SDage = 5.35; 125 with SLDs). The results of the group comparisons showed that students with SLDs reported lower scores in academic self-efficacy, SRL strategies, and self-management skills. This finding suggests that their difficulties may extend beyond the academic domain. Furthermore, we ran a multivariate regression model including study-related factors and SEB skills as independent variables and student outcomes as dependent variables. The results showed that the associations of study-related factors and SEB skills with student outcomes were comparable between students with and without SLDs, although cooperation skills were significantly associated with academic burnout in students without SLDs, but not in students with SLDs. These findings have the potential to inform the development of student-centered practice and policy.
