The recent COVID-19 pandemic has led to a sudden increase in the speed of the digitization process, which has affected several areas of life (public administration, schools, universities, and healthcare, and extending to so-called “digital citizenship”) [...]

Since the first half of the 20th century there has been an interest in the study of the relationship between autism and autistic-like clinical features and with visual impairments. Autism Spectrum disorders are one of the more worldwide-studied neurodevelopmental disorder with an increasing prevalence in the last ten years. Visual impairment is a condition which derives from several causes (genetic, constitutional, injuries, nutritional and environmental ones). Again, it is a kind of spectrum and an overarching category, because visual impairments range from refractive errors (myopia, hyperopia, astigmatism), to amblyopia, strabismus, and to partial and total blindness. Since the first study of Keeler (1956) which described autistic-like patterns in five preschool children who were totally blind due to retinopathy of prematurity (ROP), a growing number of researchers addressed the relationship between autism and visual impairment. In this paper we focused on it, aiming to discuss on some lessons learned in this field and to discuss some open questions since the first research in this field.

Over 100 years ago, Alois Alzheimer presented the clinical signs and symptoms of what has been later called “Alzheimer Dementia” in a young woman whose name was Augustine Deter [...]

In the last decades, there has been a progressive ageing of the population, known as "demographic revolution" or "demographic transition". Because of the worldwide progressive ageing of population and of the increasing of general life expectancy, the relationship between ageing and disability became a very important one and received a huge interest in research and in socio-sanitary organizations. The aim of this paper is to analyze this relationship and to discuss consequences on participation, inclusion and quality of life of ageing people, according to recent conceptual models of disability and active ageing. A Narrative review of the literature on ageing and disability was undertaken. Search was based on the following electronic databases: PubMed/Medline and Ovid/Psych INFO. A combination of the following keywords was used: (1) "ageing" or "aging" and (2) "disability". Data on the relationship between ageing and disability are discussed according to models proposed by the selected articles.

In February 2020, Italy has been the first country in Europe fighting against COVID-19. In March 2020, Italian government declared national lockdown. Until May 4th, people stayed in home confinement and only the so-called “essential works and activities” were continued. Like in other countries, both for the disease severity and for the risk of death, the higher the age of people the higher the risk. In the first months of 2020, Italy saw a very high number of deaths related to COVID-19, with a huge age effect, and there is an agreement on the view that there had been also an excess of mortality and on the role of mortality as a correct way to reflect the dynamics of the virus’s spread. In this paper we briefly discuss the trends of mortality during the first 4 months of 2020 according to the data by the Italian National Institute of Statistics.