By mid-1942 the Allies were losing the Mediterranean war: Malta was isolated and its civilian population faced starvation. In June 1942 the British Royal Navy made a stupendous effort to break the ...Axis stranglehold. The British dispatched armed convoys from Gibraltar and Egypt toward Malta. In a complex battle lasting more than a week, Italian and German forces defeated Operation Vigorous, the larger eastern effort, and ravaged the western convoy, Operation Harpoon, in a series of air, submarine, and surface attacks culminating in the Battle of Pantelleria. Just two of seventeen merchant ships that set out for Malta reached their destination. In Passage Perilous presents a detailed description of the operations and assesses the actual impact Malta had on the fight to deny supplies to Rommel's army in North Africa. The book's discussion of the battle's operational aspects highlights the complex relationships between air and naval power and the influence of geography on littoral operations.
This paper addresses the international and internal digital divides that exist across and within the European member states according to the educational attainment of their populations. Our results ...suggest that even for those European countries that are outperforming their counterparts in terms of digital development, such as Finland, some internal gaps still remain and need to be addressed. In other countries, as in the cases of Malta, Spain, and Portugal, the divides are a matter for concern. These findings would probably be overlooked if we worked only with aggregate levels, as is usual. Consequently, this paper draws attention to the importance of complementing cross-country analysis of the digital divide with an assessment of internal gaps.
•We addressed the relationship between education and digital divide among the EU-28.•Using three educational levels allow to assess international and internal divides.•Two dimensions in the European digital divide were found.•Even the most digital developed countries have present internal divides.•Using only aggregate levels would probably cause losing some important insights.
•Gender inequality and sexual harassment are still prevalent in medical education.•A clear support system is needed for effective medical education.•Understanding sexual harassment and gender ...inequality is required to inform policy.
Gender inequality and sexual harassment are rampant within medical schools and medical work environments. Gender inequality is defined as a ‘legal, social and cultural situation in which sex and/or gender determine different rights and dignity for women and men’ while sexual harassment is ‘behaviour characterized by the making of unwelcome and inappropriate sexual remarks or physical advances in a workplace or other professional or social situation.’ This study was conducted to establish the extent of gender inequality and sexual harassment in Malta's only state medical school and to identify shortcomings of the support system.
A literature-based anonymous questionnaire was formulated by the authors. The survey link was distributed among all medical students following the course of ‘Doctor of Medicine and Surgery ‘at the University of Malta during academic year 2021/2022. Statistical analyses were performed.
The authors obtained a total response rate of 14.35%. Of the 102 medical students that participated, the majority were women (67.65%; n=69). More women (n=69) who study medicine claim to have experienced instances of gender inequality compared to men (n=33). Instances reported as gender inequality tended to occur during clinical practice and the perpetrators were mainly identified to be male medical doctors. Sexual harassment was reported by 12% of women and 3% men who participated in this study. This mostly occurred during clinical practice and was identified to have been carried out by male authority figures as well as colleagues. Most students who experienced sexual harassment as well as gender inequality claimed that they did not report this occurrence (81.25% CI95%: 53.69–95.03).
It is evident that gender inequality and sexual harassment still exist in medical education. Although a support system is in place, this is not clear to students. Authors recommend increasing awareness of the structure of the support system to combat these phenomena.
Some Syrian and Somali refugees, who flee via the Mediterranean route, reach Malta, one of the European countries. This paper focuses on the present anxieties and hopes of those asylum seekers living ...in a continuous timeline of suffering, based on research conducted in and around refugee detention facilities and refugee residential centres of Maltese Catholic monasteries. It will discuss the current situation of people whose daily life has become normalised as it is, their ongoing anxieties, their non-sharing of suffering and anxieties with the people of the host country, and the social-entrepreneurial movements working to find their way amid this situation. The study concludes that neither a change through the repetitive intrusion of the past into the present, as in a flashback, nor a narrative memory created in the present by recounting past events, but the creation of memories about past hardships based on present sufferings and anxieties and the mutual conceptualisation of a future based on the shared memories will lead to consider the compassionate co-design of a society of coexistence.
► Significant cost and carbon savings for offshore PV integration. ► Maximum savings at circa 315MW for thin film PV integration. ► Minimum generating capacity of turbines significant in cost of ...electricity. ► Part-load efficiencies of current system could hugely limit the integration of renewables.
The islands of Malta are located in the Mediterranean basin enjoying 5.3kWh/m2/day of solar insolation, at a latitude of 35°50N. Electricity generation for the islands is dependent upon imported fossil fuels for combustion. The available solar resource could be exploited to offset the current generation of electricity using solar photovoltaic technology (PV). Due to the limited land availability onshore, the offshore environment surrounding the Maltese islands were considered for the installation of PV floating on the sea surface. The output from such an installation would have to be integrated with the existing conventional electricity generation infrastructure, which currently relies on gas and steam turbine technology.
To assess the feasibility of floating PV being integrated with the existing fossil plant, monthly trend consumption data for Malta were analysed. The change in gasoil and heavy fuel oil (HFO) consumption resulting from the part load efficiency variation and the displacement of electricity generation from the PVs were estimated. A cost analysis was prepared for the system integration analysis specifically accounting for the reduction in combustion of fossil fuels at the power station and the capital expenditures and operating costs due to the floating PV installation. Aside from the basic cost-benefit of a floating PV installation, CO2 savings are also considered.
Background
Back pain is the commonest musculoskeletal complaint across the world. The Covid‐19 pandemic led to mitigating measures including remote working that enhanced a sedentary lifestyle. The ...aim of this study was to investigate whether back pain complaints have increased from pre‐Covid‐19 to during the Covid‐19 period among the adult population of Malta, while exploring the possible contributing factors.
Methods
An online survey was distributed through social media targeting the adult population of Malta. Questions on sociodemographic data, occurrence of back pain pre‐Covid‐19 and since the onset of Covid‐19 was gathered, along with changes in behavioural attitudes, daily routine and physical activity. Descriptive and multiple logistic regression analyses were performed.
Results
Out of the 388 responders, 30% experienced chronic back pain pre‐Covid‐19, 49% experienced back pain since Covid‐19, with the majority of the latter claiming that they never experienced back pain before Covid‐19. Significant changes were present in daily routine and physical activity (PA) patterns. Indeed, continuously sitting down (OR: 15.53; p ≤ 0.01), no PA (OR: 4.22; p ≤ <0.01), once a week PA (OR: 5.74; p ≤ <0.01), two to three times PA a week (OR: 2.58; p = 0.05) and four to five PA a week (OR: 3.46; p = 0.02) were associated with experiencing new onset back pain since the onset of Covid‐19, when adjusted for sex, age, education and employment status.
Conclusion
The pandemic has changed population behaviour resulting in an enhanced back pain occurrence. This is anticipated to impact the individual’s disability adjusted life years as well as increase the burden on the economy and healthcare services. A designated multidisciplinary action plan is recommended to reduce back pain impact.
The presence of perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) in rain water on the Maltese Islands is reported here for the first time and an extensive survey of these substances in surface water also reported. ...The Maltese archipelago lies at the centre of the Mediterranean Sea and consists of three main inhabited islands: Malta, Gozo and Comino. Surface water was collected from 41 valleys during the months of February and March 2015 at the peak of the wet season. Rain water was collected during the months of December 2014, February, August, September and October 2015. PFASs were extracted from the water samples using solid phase extraction and the extracts were then analysed using ultra performance liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry in tandem (UPLC-MS/MS). All surface and rain water samples were contaminated with at least one PFAS. PFOS (<LOD – 8.6ng/L) and PFOA (ND – 16ng/L) were the two major PFASs being detected in 100% and 95% of the surface waters respectively. The ΣPFAS concentrations in rain water ranged between 0.38ng/L (1st October 2015) and 6ng/L (21st February 2015). The Maltese archipelago is surrounded by sea and disconnected from any other mainland; therefore the results confirm that remote environments can become contaminated by PFASs from rain events depending on wind prevailing trajectories.
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•The occurrence and distribution of 2 perfluorosulfonates and 5 perfluorocarboxylates in the Maltese surface and rain water were investigated.•PFOA and PFOS were the most abundant PFASs in surface water.•Except for a few samples PFAS concentrations and PFAS composition in precipitation were quite uniform suggesting common sources.•Air masses from source regions yielded rain with higher ƩPFAS concentrations than ones travelling over sea or having rain events prior to sampling.
Skin diseases are listed among the most common health issues in refugee camps, yet the lack of skilled professionals, scarce diagnostics and formularies lead to inadequate provision of care for these ...people. This perspective highlights the possible role of dermatologists in escalating dermatological care to migrants and displaced persons in humanitarian crises.
With a storied history of being fierce defenders against the Church's enemies, the members of the Order of Malta are professed "monk-warriors." They act as the noble, chivalrous, and battle-scarred ...knights while also the servant of the poor and sick. For hundreds of years, the Church has been indebted to them for their military prowess. But the Order of Malta was, and is, much more than what legend and history celebrate. From its twelfth-century foundation, it has been a religious order. At its core are the three evangelical vows that lay religious men and women (for much of the order's history) have taken. This book brings to the fore the religious nature of the order, so long overshadowed by its glorious military tradition and, more recently, its global charitable activities. It focuses not on the monk-warrior but on the twenty-plus members of the order who have been canonized and beatified for their extraordinary lives of love, prayer, and dedication. The book offers the reader a series of brief biographies on some of the most diverse groups of saints to come from one religious order, from peasants to popes and everything in between. In applying historical analysis to the lives of these holy men and women, the author demonstrates that one need not hide behind hagiographic generalities or far-fetched stories to find examples of true virtue in the lives of these Hospitallers.
This study presents five themes which were highlighted by Maltese educators and parents when reflecting on their experience of sustaining the education of their students and children during the ...COVID-19 pandemic. By capturing these voices, the study seeks to gain insight into how these educators and parents reflected on their practice and daily experiences and how this has impinged on the educational experience of the students.
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