An Overview of the Obese-Asthma Phenotype in Children

Asthma is the most common chronic disease in childhood. Overweight and obesity are included among the comorbidities considered in patients with difficult-to-treat asthma, suggesting a specific phenotype of the disease. Therefore, the constant increase in obesity prevalence in children and adolescents raises concerns about the parallel increase of obesity-associated asthma. The possible correlation between obesity and asthma has been investigated over the last decade by different authors, who suggest a complex multifactorial relationship. Although the particular non-eosinophilic endotype of obesity-related asthma supports the concept that high body weight precedes asthma development, there is ongoing debate about the direct causality of these two entities. A number of mechanisms may be involved in asthma in combination with obesity disease in children, including reduced physical activity, abnormal ventilation, chronic systemic inflammation, hormonal influences, genetics and additional comorbidities, such as gastroesophageal reflux and dysfunctional breathing. The identification of the obesity-related asthma phenotype is crucial to initiate specific therapeutic management. Besides the cornerstones of asthma treatment, lifestyle should be optimized, with interventions aiming to promote physical exercise, healthy diet, and comorbidities. Future studies should clarify the exact association between asthma and obesity and the mechanisms underlying the pathogenesis of these two related conditions with the aim to define personalized therapeutic strategies for asthma management in this population.

Neutrality in the Study of Religion

The Archive is a feature of the Bulletin in which previous publications are reprinted to reinforce the modern relevance of archived arguments. “Neutrality in the Study of Religion,” originally published in 1981, comes from Dr. John H. Whittaker (1945-2019), who was the Department Chair of Philosophy and Religious Studies at Louisiana State University until 2006. This article is relevant 30 years after its original publication, as it explores an ongoing debate in the field: the limits of objectivity in religious studies. Whittaker critiques a claim made by sociologist Robert Bellah in order to argue that religion can and should be taught from what he terms a “neutral” standpoint that encourages critical inquiry. The role of the scholar of religion as a researcher, observer, and teacher is one that remains contended across the field of religious studies today.

The Role of Bioeconomy in the Future Energy Scenario: A State-of-the-Art Review

The bioeconomy aims at decreasing reliance on fossil fuels, preventing or reducing climate change, eliminating insecurity, and efficiently using resources; however, fierce controversy exists on conceivable pathways to accomplish these objectives. The transport sector alone, which encompasses all other industrial sectors, has grown with regard to its energy demand by 50% over the past 30 years. The aim of this paper is to promote a dialogue as to whether an economy based on biomass can be more sustainable than today’s existing economies, considering that the economy needs to expand and be boosted, while creating a cascading and recycling system. This semi-systematic review paper discusses four research questions based on findings from the last 20 years: (i) What are the crucial issues in the ongoing debate on the development of a sustainable bioeconomy concept? (ii) Where are the major conflicting points and focuses? (iii) How does the bioeconomy follow current urbanization and land-abandonment trends? (iv) How will the crisis linked to the COVID-19 pandemic change these previous scenarios? As it is not easy to currently predict which pathway will be the most effective, whether it be the one taken as of now or a specific novel pathway, this article recommends following a strategy that is diverse regarding its approaches to shaping the bioeconomy and further funding of renewable energy sources, along with the involvement of urban planning. In addition, conclusions are validated through a questionnaire completed by 51 experts in the field.

Polish Consumers’ Understanding of Different Front-of-Package Food Labels: A Randomized Experiment

Dietary practices are a key behavioral factor in chronic disease prevention; one strategy for improving such practices population-wise involves front-of-package labels (FoPL). This online randomized study, conducted in a quota-based sample of 1159 Polish adults (mean age = 40.9 ± 15.4 years), assessed the objective understanding of five FoPL: Health Star Rating, Multiple Traffic Lights, NutriScore, Reference Intakes (RI) and Warning Label. Objective understanding was evaluated by comparing results of two nutritional quality ranking tasks (without/with FoPL) using three food categories (breakfast cereals, cakes, pizza). Associations between FoPL exposure and objective understanding were assessed via multivariable ordinal logistic regression. Compared to RI and across food categories, significant improvement in objective understanding was seen for NutriScore (OR = 2.02; 95% CI: 1.41–2.91) and Warning Label (OR = 1.61; 95% CI: 1.12–2.32). In age-stratified analyses, significant improvement in objective understanding compared to RI emerged mainly among adults aged 18–30 years randomized to NutriScore (all food categories: OR = 3.88; 95% CI: 2.04–7.36; cakes: OR = 6.88; 95% CI: 3.05–15.51). Relative to RI, NutriScore was associated with some improvement in objective understanding of FoPL across and within food categories, especially among young adults. These findings contribute to the ongoing debate about an EU-wide FoPL model.

Dilbert Moments

Developing and delivering a project to an agreed schedule is fundamentally what project managers do. There is still an ongoing debate about schedule delays. This research investigates the development of schedules through semi-structured in-depth interviews. The findings reveal that half of the respondents believe that delays reported in the media are not real and should be attributed to scope changes. IT project managers estimating techniques include bottom-up estimates, analogy, and expert judgement. Impeding factors reported for the development of realistic schedules were technical (e.g. honest mistakes) and political (e.g. completion dates imposed by the sponsor). Respondents did not mention any psychological factors, although most were aware of optimism bias. However, they were not familiar with approaches to mitigate its impacts. Yet, when these techniques were mentioned, the overwhelming majority agreed that these mitigation approaches would change their schedule estimate.

An Exploratory Study of the Digital Competences of Italian Accountants: Some Preliminary Results

Purpose - This paper examines the current digital competences of Italian accountants and to what extent these competences are evident in their competence profiles. Methodology - In this study, 6,442 profiles of accountants, extracted from the professional social network LinkedIn, were analysed using the technique for the analysis of textual data. Findings - The results of the study reveal that the male users expose more often in their professional profiles the possession of information technology skills than female accountants. Moreover, the results highlight a limited development of data analytics skills, which are reported in only 13% of the LinkedIn profiles analysed. Furthermore, the findings also show that there is a gap between the digital competences held by accountants who belong to different geographical areas. The accountants living in northern Italy, in fact, report more digital competences in their LinkedIn profiles than those living in central and southern Italy. Originality - This study stimulates the ongoing debate on the competence’s changes of the accountants in the digital technology era.

Downsizing Teaching: The Case for Seminars as the Backbone of Law Degrees

This article is aimed at contributing to the ongoing debate on the purpose of law school and the work of law teachers, calling for a scholarship-based approach to teaching, centred on culture, research and method and advocating for seminars to replace lectures as the core method of teaching delivery in law schools. The article addresses, under this perspective, the salient elements of legal education: the philosophy of a teacher, the function of lectures and seminars, the problem of the time necessary to gain the required preparation, the importance of reading and the role played by assessment in the economy of a law degree. It is argued that teaching delivery methods should be the subject of constant reflection, and that the drafting of law school curricula should aim at cultivating the intellectual abilities and curiosity of law students, focussing on their education rather than their mere instruction.

Between Architecture and Planning: Urban Design Education in Poland against a Background of Contemporary World Trends

Urban design, as an academic discipline, was born in the 20th century in response to challenges related to the planning, design, and renewal of urbanized areas. Since then, there has been an ongoing debate about the scope, scientific basis, and teaching formula of the discipline. The aim of this article was to assess the formula for teaching urban design at an academic level in Poland, considering global trends in this field. The theoretical framework involved a review of contemporary scientific concepts, which provided the basis for extracting the most popular and well-recognized domains, definitions, and dimensions of urban design. The research results confirm that urban design has permanently taken its place between architecture and urban planning. In Poland, but not only, the elements of both the theory and practice of urban design are dispersed among various master’s degree courses. This is not conducive to strengthening the position of urban design as such, and in Poland, it may be one of the reasons for deepening spatial chaos.

Newer generation antidepressants and withdrawal effects: reconsidering the role of antidepressants and helping patients to stop

In England, the prescribing of antidepressants, primarily the newer generation antidepressant classes, has steadily increased over recent years. There is ongoing debate about how the efficacy of these drugs is viewed, their place in therapy and the harms associated with stopping them. Much of the evidence of their efficacy comes from short-term placebo-controlled trials which tend not to include outcomes that are of greatest relevance to patients, such as social functioning or quality of life, but rather restrict outcomes narrowly to symptom measures. On such measures these studies do not demonstrate clinically significant differences from placebo for depression. A range of adverse effects are also recognised, often greater in naturalistic studies of long-term antidepressants users than those measured in short-term efficacy studies, including emotional numbing, sexual difficulties, fatigue and weight gain. There is increasing recognition that withdrawal symptoms from antidepressants are common and that these symptoms can be severe and long-lasting in some patients. Recent guidance on how to stop antidepressants in a tolerable way has been presented by the Royal College of Psychiatrists. We believe that increasing awareness about the difficulty that some patients have in stopping antidepressants should lead to more cautious prescribing practice, with antidepressants given to fewer patients and for shorter periods of time. This article discusses the perceived benefits and harms of antidepressant use.