Design and showcase of a stairs-based testbed for the benchmark of exoskeleton devices: The STEPbySTEP project.

Wearable exoskeletons hold the potential to provide valuable physical assistance across a range of tasks, with applications steadily expanding across different scenarios. However, the lack of universally accepted testbeds and standardized protocols limits the systematic benchmarking of these devices. In response, the STEPbySTEP project, funded within the Eurobench framework, proposes a modular, sensorized, reconfigurable staircase testbed designed as a novel evaluation approach within the first European benchmarking infrastructure for robotics.

A systematic realist synthesis of digital interventions for enhancing mental health at work: contexts, mechanisms, and outcomes.

Background: Digital interventions (DIs) have emerged as promising tools for promoting mental health in the workplace. However, evidence on if, how, and under what circumstances they affect positive outcomes requires elucidation. This systematic realist review aimed to synthesize current knowledge on contexts, mechanisms, and outcomes of workplace DIs to enhance mental health at work.

Integrating collaborative robots in manufacturing, logistics, and agriculture: Expert perspectives on technical, safety, and human factors.

This study investigates the implementation of collaborative robots across three distinct industrial sectors: vehicle assembly, warehouse logistics, and agricultural operations. Through the SESTOSENSO project, an EU-funded initiative, we examined expert perspectives on human-robot collaboration using a mixed-methods approach. Data were collected from 31 technical experts across nine European countries through an online questionnaire combining qualitative assessments of specific use cases and quantitative measures of attitudes, trust, and safety perceptions.

Updating design guidelines for cognitive ergonomics in human-centred collaborative robotics applications: An expert survey.

Within the framework of Industry 5.0, human factors are essential for enhancing the work conditions and well-being of operators interacting with even more advanced and smart manufacturing systems and machines and increasing production performances. Nevertheless, cognitive ergonomics is often underestimated when implementing advanced industrial human-robot interaction.

Occupational safety in homecare organizations: the design and implementation of a train-the-trainer program.

Homecare workers face significant occupational risks, necessitating effective safety training programs. This paper presents a comprehensive Train-the-Trainer (TTT) program developed to enhance occupational safety in homecare organizations. Through an analysis of 229 reported safety events, the frequency and type of incidents, such as injuries during handling, road crashes, slips, trips, and falls, were identified and primarily attributed to human errors and violations.

Does Organizational Commitment to Mental Health Affect Team Processes? A Longitudinal Study.

Purpose: Team processes, such as reflexivity and participation, are critical for organizational sustainability, especially in high-reliability professions such as healthcare. However, little is known about health-related predictors of team processes. Basing our hypotheses on the Input-Process-Output (IPO) model, this study investigates the influence of perceived organizational commitment to mental health (OCMH) on healthcare workers' team reflexivity and participation via mental health-specific leadership (MHsL) and team autonomy.

Integrating Human Barriers in Human Reliability Analysis: A New Model for the Energy Sector.

Human reliability analysis (HRA) is a major concern for organizations. While various tools, methods, and instruments have been developed by the scientific community to assess human error probability, few of them actually consider human factors impact in their analysis. The active role that workers have in shaping their own performance should be taken into account in order to understand the causal factors that may lead to errors while performing a task and identifying which human factors may prevent errors from occurring.

A Cluster Analysis of University Commuters: Attitudes, Personal Norms and Constraints, and Travel Satisfaction.

Higher education institutions are recognised as settings where the community's awareness of sustainable mobility can be strengthened or reshaped. The first objective of the present study was to identify groups of commuters based on their modal choice in a large higher education institution in Italy. The second objective was to compare the groups on socio-demographic and psychosocial variables, specifically attitudes, personal norms, personal constraints, and travel satisfaction.

Visual Scanning Techniques and Mental Workload of Helicopter Pilots During Simulated Flight.

The visual scanning techniques used by helicopter pilots are a critical skill to accomplish safe and correct landing. According to the human information processing theory, visual scanning techniques can be analyzed as a function of fixation location, number, and duration of fixations. This study assessed these techniques in expert and novice pilots during an open sea flight simulation in a low-workload condition, consisting of a daylight and good weather simulation, and in a high-workload condition of night-time, low visibility, and adverse weather conditions.

H-WORK Project: Multilevel Interventions to Promote Mental Health in SMEs and Public Workplaces.

The paper describes the study design, research questions and methods of a large, international intervention project aimed at improving employee mental health and well-being in SMEs and public organisations. The study is innovative in multiple ways. First, it goes beyond the current debate on whether individual- or organisational-level interventions are most effective in improving employee health and well-being and tests the cumulative effects of multilevel interventions, that is, interventions addressing individual, group, leader and organisational levels.

Gender differences in cyclists' crashes: an analysis of routinely recorded crash data.

Previous research on gender differences in road crashes has focussed uniquely on car drivers and there has been little research examining such differences among cyclists. In this study, we investigated gender differences in bicycle crashes, using routinely recorded crash data. The present paper focussed on characteristics related to the type of crashes (type of collision and opponent vehicle), the infrastructure (road type and type of road segment), the environmental (season, road surface condition and weather) and time period (time of the day and day of the week).

Green wave for cyclists: Users' perception and preferences.

Several innovative measures in traffic control applied in Europe have successfully improved the comfort and safety of cycling, among which is the green waves for cyclists. Consecutive traffic lights are synchronised to create a green wave, increasing comfort and decreasing waiting times and related deliberate red-light running. This study focused on exploring the user acceptance of green wave systems and the user evaluation of six distinct interface designs (i.

Human values and beliefs and concern about climate change: a Bayesian longitudinal analysis.

The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of human values on beliefs and concern about climate change using a longitudinal design and Bayesian analysis. A sample of 298 undergraduate/master students filled out the same questionnaire on two occasions at an interval of 2 months. The questionnaire included measures of beliefs and concern about climate change (i.

Cyclists' Anger As Determinant of Near Misses Involving Different Road Users.

Road anger constitutes one of the determinant factors related to safety outcomes (e.g., accidents, near misses).

Unsafe cycling behaviours and near crashes among Italian cyclists.

This study investigates the direct and indirect effect of three types of unsafe behaviours (i.e. errors, generic violations and smartphone-specific violations) on the likelihood of near crashes and actual crashes among Italian cyclists.

Characteristics of cyclist crashes in Italy using latent class analysis and association rule mining.

The factors associated with severity of the bicycle crashes may differ across different bicycle crash patterns. Therefore, it is important to identify distinct bicycle crash patterns with homogeneous attributes. The current study aimed at identifying subgroups of bicycle crashes in Italy and analyzing separately the different bicycle crash types.

Social Influence and Different Types of Red-Light Behaviors among Cyclists.

Accident analysis and studies on traffic revealed that cyclists' violation of red-light regulation is one typical infringement committed by cyclists. Furthermore, an association between cyclists' crash involvement and red-light violations has been found across different countries. The literature on cyclists' psychosocial determinants of red-light violation is still scarce.

PEP and TasP Awareness among Italian MSM, PLWHA, and High-Risk Heterosexuals and Demographic, Behavioral, and Social Correlates.

Post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) has been proposed as a strategy to prevent the acquisition of HIV infection after certain high-risk exposures, and treatment as prevention (TasP) is also being advocated as a means to reduce sexual transmission of HIV. The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of PEP and TasP awareness and their demographic, behavioral, and social correlates in Italy. We conducted a cross-sectional survey of 1,028 high-risk heterosexual men and women, 1,874 non-HIV positive MSM (men who have sex with men), and 694 people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA).

Knowledge, Risk Perceptions, and Xenophobic Attitudes: Evidence from Italy During the Ebola Outbreak.

The purposes of the current study were twofold: (1) to investigate affective and cognitive responses and social-contextual factors related to Ebola and their intercorrelations in a developed country without widespread Ebola transmission; and (2) to examine the relationships among risk perception of Ebola, levels of knowledge about Ebola, and (blatant and subtle) prejudice toward African immigrants. Between January 2015 and March 2015, an anonymous cross-sectional survey was conducted among a convenience sample of 486 Italian adults. Results showed that most participants were not particularly concerned about Ebola and did not feel at risk of acquiring the virus.

Psychometric Properties of a New HIV/AIDS Knowledge Measure for Adults.

The aim of this study was to develop a new 29-item HIV/AIDS knowledge measure and to examine its psychometric properties for three samples of adults: non-HIV-positive heterosexual people, non-HIV-positive men who have sex with men (MSM), and people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA). The authors collected data using an online questionnaire. A total of 9,349 Italian individuals agreed to participate in the study: 694 individuals (7.

Sport commitment and participation in masters swimmers: the influence of coach and teammates.

This study investigated how coach and teammates influence masters athletes' sport commitment, and the effect of functional and obligatory commitments on participation in masters swimming. The sample consisted of 523 masters swimmers (330 males and 193 females) aged between 22 and 83 years (M = 39.00, SD = 10.

Lessons learned about psychosocial responses to disaster and mass trauma: an international perspective.

At the 13th meeting of the European Society for Traumatic Stress Studies in 2013, a symposium was held that brought together international researchers and clinicians who were involved in psychosocial responses to disaster. A total of six disasters that occurred in five countries were presented and discussed. Lessons learned from these disasters included the need to: (1) tailor the psychosocial response to the specific disaster, (2) provide multi-dimensional psychosocial care, (3) target at-risk population groups, (4) proactively address barriers in access to care, (5) recognise the social dimensions and sources of resilience, (6) extend the roles for mental health professionals, (7) efficiently coordinate and integrate disaster response services, and (8) integrate research and evaluation into disaster response planning.

Psychosocial correlates of HIV testing among men who have sex with men in Italy: a cross-sectional study.

The objective of this study was to understand the psychosocial correlates of men having sex with men (MSM) who have never been tested (never testers), MSM who have been tested in the last 12 months (recent testers), and MSM who have been tested before (remote testers). A sample of 14,409 Italian HIV-negative adult MSM was recruited via instant messages to the members of five international commercial websites and through clickable banner advertisements on different websites. The most important correlates of never testers compared to recent testers were younger age, sexual orientation concealment, unawareness of free HIV services, having had a partner of unknown serostatus, and lower levels of HIV testing self-efficacy (i.