Y chromosome haplotypes in Central-South Italy: implication for reference database

One hundred and fifty individuals have been sampled across Central-South Italy and genotyped for Y chromosome STRs by PowerPlex Y system. Comparison with previous Italian databases revealed that majority of Y chromosome variation still need to be sampled. Identification of locus duplications, distribution of genetic variation and firstly identified alleles point to the necessity of more focused sampling strategies for reference databases.     

How Resistance to Change Affects the Implementation of Accrual Accounting in Italian Public Universities: A Comparative Case Study

Following a highly disordered series of reforms, Italian universities will adopt accrual accounting by the end of 2016. This article studies the case of two universities where the new accounting system was introduced early (2013). The aim is to identify the main drivers of resistance to change and determine the types of organizational behavior that can counter this resistance. The results show a positive correlation between overcoming resistance to change and implementing specific organizational practices that may soften its effect. Surprisingly, the article found that resistance was stronger in the university where the situation was less complex.     

State-run media outlets in Central Asia: external regime legitimation through regional conflict and cooperation framing

ABSTRACT

In this article, we empirically examine how the Central Asian states apply external regime legitimation strategies to legitimize their regimes domestically. We used the Central Asia Watch Project’s data from five Central Asian state-run media outlets to examine spatial and temporal changes in regime legitimation strategies. All the Central Asian countries employed external regime legitimation strategies, but those strategies differ based on regime type. Overall, we see continuity and persistence in reporting regional cooperation but underreporting of regional conflict throughout the 2016–2017 timeframe of this study.     

Inaction,under-reaction action and incapacity: communication breakdown in Italy’s vaccination governance

This article explores why governments do not respond to public compliance problems in a timely manner with appropriate instruments, and the consequences of their failure to do so. Utilising a case study of Italian vaccination policy, the article considers counterfactuals and the challenges of governing health policy in an age of disinformation. It counterposes two methods of governing vaccination compliance: discipline, which uses public institutions to inculcate the population with favourable attitudes and practices, and modulation, which uses access to public institutions as a form of control. The Italian government ineffectively employed discipline for a number of years. Epistemological and organisational constraints stymied its efforts to tackle a significant childhood vaccination compliance problem. With a loss of control over the information environment, vaccinations were not served well by exogenous crises, the sensationalism of the news cycle and online misinformation. Hampered by austerity, lack of capacity and epistemic shortcomings, the Italian government did not protect the public legitimacy of the vaccination programme. Instead of employing communications to reassure a hesitant population, they focused on systemic and delivery issues, until it was too late to do anything except make vaccinations mandatory (using modulation). The apparent short-term success of this measure in generating population compliance does not foreclose the need for ongoing governance of vaccine confidence through effective discipline. This is evident for the COVID-19 vaccination campaign, with many Italians still indicating that they would not accept a vaccine despite the devastation that the disease has wrought throughout their country.

     

A New Index for the MMPI‐2 Test for Detecting Dissimulation in Forensic Evaluations: A Pilot Study

This pilot study is the starting point of a potentially broad research project aimed at identifying new strategies for assessing malingering during forensic evaluations. The forensic group was comprised of 67 males who were seeking some sort of certification (e.g., adoption, child custody, driver's license, issuance of gun permits, etc.); the nonforensic group was comprised of 62 healthy male volunteers. Each participant was administered the MMPI‐2. Statistical analyses were conducted on obtained scores of 48 MMPI‐2 scales. In the first step, parametric statistics were adopted to identify the best combination of MMPI‐2 scales that differentiated the two groups of participants. In the second step, frequency‐based, nonparametric methods were used for diagnostic purposes. Results: A model that utilized the best three predictors (“7‐Pt”, “L,” and “1‐Hs”) was developed and used to calculate the Forensic Evaluation Dissimulation Index (FEDI), which features satisfactory diagnostic accuracy (0.9), sensitivity (0.82), specificity (0.81), and likelihood ratio indices (LR+ = 4.32; LR? = 0.22).     

Doing prevention science: A response to Dennis M. Gorman and a brief history of the quasi-experimental study nested within the Seattle Social Development Project

The history of the quasi-experimental intervention test nested within the Seattle Social Development Project (SSDP) is described in the context of the history of delinquency and drug abuse prevention studies before and after 1980. Efforts to identify and assess threats to internal validity associated with the study design are discussed. The pattern of observed results associated with the intervention test is reviewed, and our efforts to advance both prevention theory and preventive interventions in light of these findings are described.