Archivio della ricerca della Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna
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From Clicks to Care: Exploring the Digital Strategies of Italian Health Authorities in Communicating “General Practitioner Selection” Service
Get PDFExploring the gap between notified and diagnosed cases of Foodborne Diseases: evidence from a time-trend analysis in Italy
Get PDFBackground. Foodborne diseases are a major global public health concern, causing significant morbidity and mortality worldwide. The COVID-19 pandemic has had widespread effects on various aspects of life, including the food supply chain, potentially impacting the incidence of foodborne diseases. This study aims to analyze the differences between notified and diagnosed cases and investigate the potential impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on foodborne diseases in the metropolitan area of Bologna, Italy. Study Design. A retrospective time trend analysis from two databases was conducted. Methods. The Local Health Authority of Bologna collected data re/Emilia-Romagna Region on the infectious disease reporting system over a six-year period (2017–2022), which included three years of the COVID-19 pandemic. This data was compared with information collected during the same period at the microbiology laboratory serving the entire metropolitan area of Bologna. Statistical methods included percent change calculations, binomial tests, annual averages, gender and age stratification, and trend analysis with regression. Results. An increase (+34.4%, P-value ≤0.01) in notified cases during the pandemic - compared to the pre-pandemic period - was found. However, no differences were observed in diagnosed cases when comparing the two periods. The year 2021 saw a significant increase in reported cases of foodborne diseases among schoolers (+300.0%) and workers (+133.3%) compared to 2020. On the other hand, diagnosed cases decreased significantly in 2020 (-19.1%, P<0.01) and increased in 2021 (+21.9%, P<0.01). In absolute terms, a stark difference was observed between notified and diagnosed cases across all the study years (2017–2022). Conclusions. This study highlights the discrepancy between notified and diagnosed cases of foodborne diseases and how the COVID-19 pandemic has increased reporting without affecting transmission. These findings contribute to the ongoing discussion on improving foodborne disease reporting systems
Incremental Prognostic Value of Echocardiography Measures of Right Ventricular Systolic Function in Patients With Chronic Heart Failure
Get PDFLa democrazia e i partiti politici nell'Unione europea. Prospettive di diritto costituzionale
No full textAnimal–robot interaction induces local enhancement in the Mediterranean fruit fly Ceratitis capitata Wiedemann
Get PDFAnimal-robot interaction (ARI) is an emerging field that uses biomimetic robots to replicate biological cues, enabling controlled studies of animal behavior. This study investigates the potential for ARI systems to induce local enhancement (e.g. where animals are attracted to areas based on the presence or actions of conspecifics) in the Mediterranean fruit fly,Ceratitis capitata(C. capitata), a major agricultural pest. We developed biomimetic agents that mimicC. capitatain morphology and color, to explore their ability to trigger local enhancement. The study employed three categories of artificial agents: full biomimetic agent (FBA), partial biomimetic agent (PBA) and non-biomimetic agent (NBA) in both motionless and moving states. Flies exposed to motionless FBAs showed a significant preference for areas containing these agents compared to areas with no agents. Similarly, moving FBAs also attracted more flies than stationary agents. Time spent in the release section before making a choice and the overall experiment duration were significantly shorter when conspecifics or moving FBAs were present, indicating thatC. capitatais highly responsive to biomimetic cues, particularly motion. These results suggest that ARI systems can be effective tools for understanding and manipulating local enhancement inC. capitata, offering new opportunities for sustainable pest control in agricultural contexts. Overall, this research demonstrates the potential of ARI as an innovative, sustainable approach to insect population control, with broad applications in both fundamental behavioral research and integrated pest management
A deficient CP24 allele defines variation for dynamic nonphotochemical quenching and photosystem II efficiency in maize
Get PDFMaize (Zea mays L.) is a global crop species in which CO2 assimilation occurs via the C4 pathway. C4 photosynthesis is typically more efficient than C3 photosynthesis under warm and dry conditions; however, despite this inherent advantage, considerable variation remains in photosynthetic efficiency for C4 species that could be leveraged to benefit crop performance. Here, we investigate the genetic architecture of nonphotochemical quenching (NPQ) and photosystem II (PSII) efficiency using a combination of high-throughput phenotyping and quantitative trait loci (QTL) mapping in a field-grown Multi-parent Advanced Generation Inter-Cross (MAGIC) mapping population. QTL mapping was followed by the identification of putative candidate genes using a combination of genomics, transcriptomics, protein biochemistry, and targeted physiological phenotyping. We identified four genes with a putative causal role in the observed QTL effects. The highest confidence causal gene was found for a large effect QTL for photosynthetic efficiency on chromosome 10, which was underpinned by allelic variation in the expression of the minor PSII antenna protein light harvesting complex photosystem II subunit (LHCB6 or CP24), mainly driven by poor expression associated with the haplotype of the F7 founder line. The historical role of this line in breeding for early flowering time may suggest that the presence of this deficient allele could be enriched in temperate maize germplasm. These findings advance our understanding of the genetic basis of NPQ and PSII efficiency in C4 plants and highlight the potential for breeding strategies aimed at optimizing photosynthetic efficiency in maize
Neurotechnologies and the Right to Mental Health
Get PDFThe relationship between the right to mental health and neurotechnologieshas not been properly explored yet. This paper replies to the following research ques-tions: a) Can the right to mental health benefit from neurotechnologies?; and b) How does the right to mental health take shape in the context of this kind of technology?We demonstrate that neurotechnologies can contribute to the realisation of the right to mental health. Techniques such as deep brain stimulation, neuroimaging and mo-bile apps can help prevent and treat mental disorders. In addition, we examine how the right to mental health applies in the field of neurotechnologies. In so doing, we present concrete obligations of the State in this regard
Exploiting Classes of Services to Mitigate the Impact of Fading in Free Space Optics Links for Satellite Networks
No full textIn future Free Space Optics (FSO) high-speed links between Earth and satellites, we will use the available transceivers designed for fiber-optics networks. Deep fading events due to FSO propagation can dramatically impact network performance and have an even greater effect because of receivers designed for a stable power. Here, we investigate these effects in an experimental testbed, where we emulate the effect of a single fading event with variable depths, and measured its impact on the receivers. We observe significant different tolerance in a 10 Gbit/s OOK and in a 100 Gbit/s DP-QPSK commercial Optical Transport Network (OTN) transceivers. The results show quite dissimilar impact and largely different recovery times; this allows us to introduce a reliability scheme at network level that assumes two classes of service (gold and best-effort), corresponding to 10 Gbit/s and 100 Gbit/s transmission, respectively. The proposed solution is experimentally validated in the lab, confirming a remarkable reduction of lost packets of gold traffic. This approach, combined also with other fading mitigation techniques, could be a feasible option for future FSO networks, with various classes of service
Event-related potential markers of subjective cognitive decline and mild cognitive impairment during a sustained visuo-attentive task
Get PDFChanging life expectancy in European countries 1990–2021: a subanalysis of causes and risk factors from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021
Get PDFBackground: Decades of steady improvements in life expectancy in Europe slowed down from around 2011, well before the COVID-19 pandemic, for reasons which remain disputed. We aimed to assess how changes in risk factors and cause-specific death rates in different European countries related to changes in life expectancy in those countries before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: We used data and methods from the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study 2021 to compare changes in life expectancy at birth, causes of death, and population exposure to risk factors in 16 European Economic Area countries (Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, and Sweden) and the four UK nations (England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales) for three time periods: 1990–2011, 2011–19, and 2019–21. Changes in life expectancy and causes of death were estimated with an established life expectancy cause-specific decomposition method, and compared with summary exposure values of risk factors for the major causes of death influencing life expectancy. Findings: All countries showed mean annual improvements in life expectancy in both 1990–2011 (overall mean 0·23 years [95% uncertainty interval [UI] 0·23 to 0·24]) and 2011–19 (overall mean 0·15 years [0·13 to 0·16]). The rate of improvement was lower in 2011–19 than in 1990–2011 in all countries except for Norway, where the mean annual increase in life expectancy rose from 0·21 years (95% UI 0·20 to 0·22) in 1990–2011 to 0·23 years (0·21 to 0·26) in 2011–19 (difference of 0·03 years). In other countries, the difference in mean annual improvement between these periods ranged from –0·01 years in Iceland (0·19 years [95% UI 0·16 to 0·21] vs 0·18 years [0·09 to 0·26]), to –0·18 years in England (0·25 years [0·24 to 0·25] vs 0·07 years [0·06 to 0·08]). In 2019–21, there was an overall decrease in mean annual life expectancy across all countries (overall mean –0·18 years [95% UI –0·22 to –0·13]), with all countries having an absolute fall in life expectancy except for Ireland, Iceland, Sweden, Norway, and Denmark, which showed marginal improvement in life expectancy, and Belgium, which showed no change in life expectancy. Across countries, the causes of death responsible for the largest improvements in life expectancy from 1990 to 2011 were cardiovascular diseases and neoplasms. Deaths from cardiovascular diseases were the primary driver of reductions in life expectancy improvements during 2011–19, and deaths from respiratory infections and other COVID-19 pandemic-related outcomes were responsible for the decreases in life expectancy during 2019–21. Deaths from cardiovascular diseases and neoplasms in 2019 were attributable to high systolic blood pressure, dietary risks, tobacco smoke, high LDL cholesterol, high BMI, occupational risks, high alcohol use, and other risks including low physical activity. Exposure to these major risk factors differed by country, with trends of increasing exposure to high BMI and decreasing exposure to tobacco smoke observed in all countries during 1990–2021. Interpretation: The countries that best maintained improvements in life expectancy after 2011 (Norway, Iceland, Belgium, Denmark, and Sweden) did so through better maintenance of reductions in mortality from cardiovascular diseases and neoplasms, underpinned by decreased exposures to major risks, possibly mitigated by government policies. The continued improvements in life expectancy in five countries during 2019–21 indicate that these countries were better prepared to withstand the COVID-19 pandemic. By contrast, countries with the greatest slowdown in life expectancy improvements after 2011 went on to have some of the largest decreases in life expectancy in 2019–21. These findings suggest that government policies that improve population health also build resilience to future shocks. Such policies include reducing population exposure to major upstream risks for cardiovascular diseases and neoplasms, such as harmful diets and low physical activity, tackling the commercial determinants of poor health, and ensuring access to affordable health services. Funding: Gates Foundation