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Longevity expectations (LE) are subjective assessments of future health status that can influence a number of individual health protective decisions. This is especially true during a pandemic such as COVID-19, as the risk of ill health depends more than ever on such protective decisions. This paper examines the causal effect of LE on some protective health behaviors and a number of decisions regarding forgoing health care using individual differences in LE. We use data from the Survey of Health Ageing and Retirement in Europe, and we draw on an instrumental variable strategy exploiting individual level information on parental age at death. Consistent with the

Introduction There was significant surge in the academic publications after the onset of COVID-19 outbreak. The aim of this study was to scientometrically analyze all the medical publications on COVID-19 in 2020 as well as the top 100 cited articles. Evidence acquisition We performed a search of the "Web of Science" database using the keywords "COVID," and "corona" on December 20, 2020. Evidence synthesis Our search retrieved a total of 45,420 articles on the topic COVID-19 in the year 2020. Corresponding authors from 143 countries contributed to these articles. The highest number of articles were contributed by corresponding authors from the USA (N.=10299), whereas 50 articles in the top 100 cited articles had corresponding authors from China. Among the top 100 cited, the majority were published from Huazhong University of Science and Technology in China (N.=37). New England Journal of Medicine had the maximum impact (h-index of 57), closely followed by Lancet (h-index=55). Conclusions Scientific publications amount on COVID-19 disease grew at an astonishing pace during 2020. We caution the readers that this rapidity of publication could have missed out on the rigorous review process and the scientific basis of the methods followed.

Virtual Reality (VR) is a robust tool for sponsoring Cultural Heritage sites. It enables immersive experiences in which the user can enjoy the cultural assets virtually, behaving as he/she would do in the real world. The covid-19 pandemic has shed light on the importance of using VR in cultural heritage, showing advantages for the users that can visit the site safely through specific devices. In this work, we present the processes that lead to the creation of an immersive app that makes explorable a famous cultural asset in Sicily, the church of SS. Crocifisso al Calvario. The application creation process will be described in each of its parts, beginning from the digital acquisition of the cultural asset to the development of the user interface. The application is provided for three different VR devices: smartphones equipped with cardboards, headsets, and CAVE. The paper is supported by the 3DLab-Sicilia project, whose main objective is to sponsor the creation, development, and validation of a sustainable infrastructure that interconnects three main Sicilian centres specialized in augmented and virtual reality.

Since the beginning of the ‘reception crisis’ in 2015, the term ‘solidarity’ has been widely employed in Europe by networks supporting migrants in transit. These networks – while increasingly important and prominent in contemporary Europe − are still understudied and have only recently been addressed in migration studies. The research takes place in two crucial border zones: on the one hand, the island of Lampedusa, which is a sea point of entry into Europe through Italy;on the other, the Susa Valley, an alpine point of exit from Italy that allows the passage to France. How are the solidarity networks put together? How do they interact with the mobility practices of migrants in transit? How do the practices of solidarity fit in with the ways authorities act at the border? The ethnographic fieldwork was developed in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic and aims to answer these interconnected research questions. (English) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] RIASSUNTO Dal 2015, inizio della cosiddetta 'crisi dell'accoglienza', il termine solidarieta e stato usato diffusamente in Europa dalle reti che supportano i migranti in transito. Queste reti - sebbene sempre pie importanti nell'Europa contemporanea - sono ancora poco studiate e solo di recente hanno interessato i migration studies. La ricerca e stata sviluppata in due luoghi di frontiera cruciali: da un lato l'Isola di Lampedusa, frontiera in entrata dell'Europa attraverso l'Italia;dall'altro, la Valsusa, frontiera in uscita dall'Italia verso la Francia. Come interagiscono le diverse reti della solidarieta? Come queste si connettono con le pratiche di mobilita dei migranti in transito? Come le pratiche di solidarieta si confrontano con le forme di controllo delle autorita agite al confine? Il campo di ricerca etnografico e stato sviluppato durante la pandemia di COVID-19 e si pone l'obbiettivo di rispondere a queste interconnesse domande di ricerca. (French) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Journal of Modern Italian Studies is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The Velvet Light Trap gathered a diverse group of scholars with a range of specialties related to queer theory and media. This round-table touches on everything from dating apps to the films of John Waters to a livestreamed Indigo Girls concert, demonstrating the myriad ways digitality has affected queer media, representation, and audiences. The researchers began this discussion on 9 March 2020, only for closures due to the COVID-19 pandemic to begin in earnest a few days later. Thus, the participants' contributions began to reflect this fraught period toward the end of the conversation.

Abstract: The COVID-19 pandemic is an unprecedented worldwide event with a massive impact on the economic system. The first Western country that had to face the COVID-19 crisis was Italy, which therefore represents a natural "case study." By using the micro-data and granular policy information available at the Italian Ministry of Economy and Finance, this paper provides a macroeconomic quantitative assessment of the initial emergency fiscal measures introduced in 2020 and an analysis of the impact of the COVID-19 shock during the lockdown. We find that emergency measures avoided an additional fall of GDP of about 4.4% in 2020. The impact of public interventions on the dynamics of investments is particularly significant.

Background: Multi-country studies assessing the quality of maternal and newborn care (QMNC) during the COVID-19 pandemic, as defined by WHO Standards, are lacking.Methods Women who gave birth in 12 countries of the WHO European Region from March 1, 2020 to March 15, 2021 answered an online questionnaire, including 40 WHO Standard-based quality measures. Findings: 21,027 women were included in the analysis. Among those who experienced labour (N=18,063), 49·9% (37·2%-60·7%) perceived a reduction in QMNC due to the COVID-19 pandemic, 41·8% (26·1%- 63·5%) experienced difficulties in accessing antenatal care, 62% (12·6%-99·0%) were not allowed a companion of choice, 31·1% (16·5%-56·9%) received inadequate breastfeeding support, 34·4% (5·2%-64·8%) reported health workers not always using protective personal equipment, and 31·8% (17·8%-53·1%) rated the number of health workers as “insufficient”. Episiotomy was performed in 20·1% (6·1%-66·0%) of spontaneous vaginal births and fundal pressure applied in 41·2% (11·5% -100%) of instrumental vaginal births. In addition, 23·9% women felt they were not treated with dignity (12·8%-59·8%), 12·5% (7·0%-23·4%) suffered abuse, and 2·4% (0·1%-26·2%) made informal payments. Findings were significantly worst among women with elective caesarean (CS) and emergency CS during labour (N=2,964). Multivariate analyses confirmed significant differences among countries, with Croatia, Romania, Serbia showing significant lower QMNC Indexes; younger women and those with operative births also had significant lower QMNC Indexes. Interpretation: Findings reveal large inequities in the QMNC across countries of the WHO European Region. Actions to reduce these inequities and promote high-quality, evidence-based, patient-centred respectful care for all mothers and newborns are urgently needed. Trial Registration: Study registration ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT04847336. Funding: The study was financially supported by the Institute for Maternal and Child Health IRCCS Burlo Garofolo, Trieste, Italy. Declaration of Interest: None to declare. Ethical Approval: The study was approved by the Institutional Review Board of the coordinating centre: the IRCCS Burlo Garofolo Trieste (IRB-BURLO 05/2020 15.07.2020). The study protocol was also reviewed and approved by the ethical committees of three other countries to comply with local regulations: Portugal (Instituto de Saude Publica da Universidade do Porto, CE20159); Norway (Norwegian Regional Committee for Medical Research Ethics, 2020/213047) and Germany (Bielefeld University ethics committee, 2020-176).