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In the food chain the identification of household food wastes represents the most problematic aspect to analyze: both as regards the assessment of its qualitative and quantitative aspects and for the detection of measures to reduce or control its generation. In 2012, in fact, the analyzed area showed an inequality index for disposable income of 6.3, and a relative poverty risk index of 42.3. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

In order to get deeper insights into consumers’ wasting behaviors, a survey on food waste generation in households was carried out in a province of Sicily (Italy). The questionnaire has been formulated taking into account the socio-demographic characteristics for the person who, in the family, usually makes the expenditure, in particular: gender, age, marital status, number of household members, education level, type (single, with or without children, married with or without children), worker and/or student if responsible for food shopping, the number of monthly meals, the kind of ready meal eaten (frozen, fresh, canned or freeze-dried), net monthly income for the family, etc. (adapted by Bae et al., 2010). The data collected from the statistical return of the consumers were drawn up to transform the same data into information of simpler and more concise interpretation.

The results of the survey are presented in this paper. They can help understand the reasons for discarding edible food and to identify the food groups that are most wasted.

The analysis of a larger land area or community allows most relevant conclusions. The research has an exploratory perspective since the sample strategy is not probabilistic.

The findings could be susceptible to support practical and social implications for the identification of measures and instruments aimed at reducing food waste and at increasing consumers’ awareness on that issue.

The study can stimulate sustainable consumption and consumer behavior especially in light of the current economic crisis.

The purpose of this paper is to extend international marketing theory by examining country image effects simultaneously from the perspectives of Product-Country Image (PCI), Tourism Destination Image (TDI), and General Country Image (GCI), and by using tourism satisfaction as the central construct in a comprehensive model that investigates post-visit effects in both the product and tourism domains.

International tourists from multiple countries were intercepted at the end of a tourism trip and interviewed in-person using a structured questionnaire, resulting in 498 usable responses for data analysis. The model comprised seven constructs measured with 28 variables and was tested with structural equation modelling.

The study uncovers a number of cross-effects between a country as destination and as producer, and establishes tourism satisfaction as a core construct that is relevant to both the tourism and product facets of place image.

Above all, the study’s findings argue strongly in favour of greater coordination between the “product” and “tourism” sides of place marketing.

The study is original in its integrative analysis of GCI, PCI, and TDI constructs as antecedents and consequences of the tourism experience and, among other original contributions, is the first to investigate the direct link between product beliefs, tourism satisfaction, and post-visit product-related intentions.

This paper aims to present the application and critical reflection on the effects of a intervention for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD): the Soundbeam Imitation Intervention (SII). The intervention is based on the imitation of meaningless body gestures supported by a musical feedback. The rationale underlying SII is that mirror neurons deficit may represent the cause for the incomplete development of social and motor functioning in children with ASD. Following this assumption, it is possible to hypothesise that a systematic activation of this a system through the simultaneous observation-execution of meaningless body gestures may affect functional changes of mirror-related functions.

A sample of 14 children, who were between 5 and 9 years of age, with a diagnosis of ASD were involved in a six weeks’ SII programme. The programme is designed as a three-step progression, where each step includes exercises that focus on an activity: synchronous/one arm imitation, synchronous/two arms imitation and delayed imitation. Exercises are based on repeated movements-melodies associations of increasing difficulty. Motor imitation and social attention were assessed using a synchronous video-modelling task pre and post intervention.

Data highlight significant improvements in imitation accuracy and duration of social sustained attention were achieved.

Data reported in this paper provide preliminary and promising evidence that imitation and social attention skills acquired through SII can be generalised to a video-modelling imitation setting. The SII ordinal execution has included meaningless gestures, usually excluded from previous interventions, and this adds further validity to the training.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the early implementation of a model of mathematics teacher development in Italian schools, inspired by Chinese lesson study (CLS), focusing on similarities and differences.

A research lesson study on fractions in the fourth grade was conducted. The approach was designed based on the theory of semiotic mediation (TSM) enriched by means of quaternary analysis and the variation pedagogy of CLS. In this study, qualitative methods were employed involving the collection of data including lesson plans, observations and post-lesson analyses.

The purpose of this study is to determine what works and what does not work in the Italian context. Answers to the following research questions are provided: How did LS incorporate quaternary analysis and variation pedagogy in the TSM? How and why were changes introduced in the structure of the lesson plan with respect to the CLS? How did members of the Italian Mathematics Teaching Research Group increase their knowledge of teaching methods and content?

The issues to be considered in further studies include the possible conflicts emerging between the cultures of teaching in China and Italy and the way to overcome them.

The main ideas of CLS are consistent with the general indications of the Italian Ministry of Education for the three-year program (2016-2019) of mandatory teacher development.

Reporting the findings of an Italian LS is aimed at exploring the differences and similarities among the different forms of LS, under the influence of cultural and institutional constraints.