Le disuguaglianze dei redditi italiani sono cresciute a favore dell’1% più ricco che, in proporzione, paga meno tasse rispetto al restante 99% dei contribuenti. Lo dimostra uno studio congiunto di Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna di Pisa e Università di Milano-Bicocca, pubblicato dalla rivista scientifica Journal of the European Economic Association.

Nel suo complesso, il sistema fiscale italiano appare “blandamente progressivo” e, come sottolineano ricercatrici e ricercatori in questo studio, “diventa addirittura regressivo” per il 5% degli italiani più abbienti, che pagano un’aliquota effettiva inferiore al 95% dei contribuenti. Lo studio ha inoltre confermato che esistono importanti differenze in relazione alla tipologia di reddito prevalente: sono i lavoratori dipendenti a pagare più imposte, seguiti dai lavoratori autonomi, dai pensionati e, infine, da chi percepisce soprattutto rendite finanziarie e locazioni immobiliari.

Aerosol particles play a key role in cooling the planet. They can either directly affect how much sunlight ends up on the surface of the Earth or indirectly through cloud formation, to which they contribute. New particles form from a variety of gas molecules, and these particles form everywhere on the planet.

To understand the circumstances in which these particles are formed, researchers conduct measurements in various environments all over the world. For example, the Finnish flagship station SMEAR II has conducted measurements in the boreal forest for 25 years.
However, the boreal forest is an extremely large area, and much of its contribution to aerosol formation has still not been explored, especially in its Siberian and Canadian parts.
Previous studies have suggested that particle formation is rare in Siberia. However, a recent study by the University of Helsinki showed that particle formation in Siberia was frequent and was connected to heat conditions. The results of the study were published in January in the journal Environmental Research Letters.

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden have shown that nasal drops with IgA antibodies can protect mice from SARS-CoV-2 infection. The results imply a new way to protect individuals at high risk from different variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus and possibly other infections. The study is published in PNAS.

Different types of antibodies have different functions in the body. IgA antibodies are part of the so-called adaptive immune system and reside naturally in the mucosal membranes of the airways. Absence or low levels of mucosal IgA is known to be associated with an increased risk of SARS-CoV-2 breakthrough infections.

The current COVID-19 vaccines mainly stimulate an IgG antibody response in the body, and earlier studies have shown that their ability to protect against infection with the new Omicron variants of the virus is limited.

All patients receiving highest dose had significant T cell responses that correlated with significant reduction in risk of relapse.

A vaccine showed potential to prevent relapse of KRAS-mutated pancreatic and colorectal cancers for patients who had previously undergone surgery, according to a Phase I trial led by researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. Results were published today in Nature Medicine.

In the trial, patients with pancreatic and colorectal cancer who were considered at high risk of relapse received a maximum of 10 doses of the ELI-002 vaccine targeted toward KRAS G12D and G12R mutations. T cell responses were seen in 84% of all patients and in 100% of those in the two highest dose cohorts, including those who received the recommended Phase II dose of 10 mg.

È di oltre 26 tonnellate il carico di “pellet” in plastica contenuto nel container che lo scorso 8 dicembre è stato disperso in mare dalla nave Taconao, al largo della costa del Portogallo.

Ora la marea di piccoli granuli di plastica bianca, miliardi di minuscole palline che vengono prodotte e spedite da una parte all’altra del Pianeta per essere utilizzate come materia prima per costruire oggetti di uso quotidiano, si sta diffondendo sulle spiagge di La Coruña e Mariña lucense, in Galizia, regione del nord-ovest della Spagna, e molti volontari si stanno muovendo per liberare le coste.
Il primo allarme alla giunta regionale è arrivato proprio il 13 dicembre, quando parte della marea di plastica ha raggiunto la spiaggia di Ribera (La Coruna). Ma solo il 5 gennaio l’amministrazione della Regione ha attivato il Protocollo di emergenza per inquinamento marino ma al livello più basso. Nella mattinata dell’8 gennaio la Procura generale per l’Ambiente spagnola ha annunciato l’apertura di un’inchiesta.

An extended follow-up study conducted at the University of Jyväskylä shows that low cardiorespiratory fitness in adolescence is associated with higher risk for cardiovascular and metabolic diseases in middle age. The study provides real-life evidence for the far-reaching consequences of deteriorating fitness in youth.

The 45-year study combined the same participants’ fitness test data from adolescence (12–19 years) with information on diabetes, hypertension, and coronary heart disease as well as self-measurements of waist circumference from the ages of 37 to 44 and/or 57 to 64 years. The associations of cardiorespiratory, muscular and speed-agility fitness with the health conditions were investigated separately and by combining the diseases and risk factors into a cardiometabolic risk score to indicate the burden of the conditions.
The results showed that low cardiorespiratory fitness in adolescence was associated with a higher burden of cardiometabolic conditions up to the age of 57 to 64 years. Moreover, in females, low adolescent cardiorespiratory fitness increased the risk of hypertension in middle age, and in males, low speed-agility was associated with increased waist circumference in late middle age.

Una ricerca internazionale che ha coinvolto l’Università Statale di Milano e l’IRCCS Istituto Auxologico Italiano identifica una nuova causa predisponente alla formazione di aneurismi
dell’aorta toracica: un deficit di specifiche selenoproteine, provocato da un difetto ereditario, che porta dell’accumulo di stress ossidativo. Lo studio fornisce inoltre dati preliminari a supporto dell’efficacia di trattamenti preventivi a base di antiossidanti.
Pubblicato su Nature Communications uno studio internazionale che ha coinvolto l’Università Statale di Milano e l’IRCCS Istituto Auxologico Italiano e che ha identificato una nuova causa predisponente alla formazione di pericolosi aneurismi dell’aorta toracica, come conseguenza dell’accumulo di stress ossidativo provocato da un difetto ereditario che comporta il deficit di specifiche selenoproteine (SeP). La ricerca si è avvalsa di dati raccolti in soggetti umani e in modelli murini e di zebrafish.

I gelada, scimmie che vivono sugli altopiani etiopi, sbadigliano vocalizzando, creando delle sinfonie che si propagano tra i gruppi. Il fenomeno è stato osservato da un gruppo di etologi ed etologhe delle Università di Pisa e di Rennes che ha lavorato due mesi nello NaturZoo di Rheine e ha poi pubblicato i risultati della ricerca svolta sulla rivista Scientific Reports.

Il team composto da Luca Pedruzzi, dottorando fra Pisa e Rennes, Martina Francesconi ed Elisabetta Palagi, rispettivamente dottoranda e professoressa dell’Ateneo Pisano, e da Alban Lemasson, professore a Rennes, ha evidenziato che le particolari vocalizzazioni dei gelada associate agli sbadigli avrebbero un ruolo nel mantenere i legami sociali, anche in situazioni in cui il contatto visivo risulta impossibile. Gli animali infatti sbadigliano al solo sentire lo sbadiglio di altri esemplari, e il suono sembra essere particolarmente contagioso quando emesso da maschi dello stesso gruppo, individui cioè con un “peso sociale” maggiore.

Announcing a new article publication for Zoonoses journal. The health consequences among COVID-19 convalescent patients 30 months post-infection were described and the potential risk factors were determined.
In August 2022 217 COVID-19 convalescent patients were recruited who had been diagnosed with COVID-19 in February 2020. These convalescent patients were residents of multiple districts in Wuhan, China. All convalescent patients completed a detailed questionnaire, laboratory testing, a 6-min walk test, a Borg dyspnea scale assessment, lung function testing, and had a chest CT. The potential risk factors for health consequences among COVID-19 convalescent patients 30 months post-infection were identified using a multivariate logistic regression model.

Primate social organization is more flexible than previously assumed. According to a new study led by UZH, the first primates probably lived in pairs, while only around 15 percent of individuals were solitary.

Primates – and this includes humans – are thought of as highly social animals. Many species of monkeys and apes live in groups. Lemurs and other Strepsirrhines, often colloquially referred to as “wet-nosed” primates, in contrast, have long been believed to be solitary creatures, and it has often been suggested that other forms of social organization evolved later. Previous studies have therefore attempted to explain how and when pair-living evolved in primates.

More recent research, however, indicates that many nocturnal Strepsirrhines, which are more challenging to investigate, are not in fact solitary but live in pairs of males and females. But what does this mean for the social organization forms of the ancestors of all primates? And why do some species of monkey live in groups, while others are pair-living or solitary?