309 research outputs found
Economic factors affecting obesity: an application in Italy
No full textThe World Health Organization has stated that obesity is spreading around the world like a “global epidemic”. In 2004 the percentage of obese people in the Italian population was 9%, but the trend s increasing in recent years. Focusing on this country, the purpose of the paper is to analyze the socio-economic variables affecting obesity by means of a survey conducted in a consumer sample. Our analysis is based on a survey conducted in Italy, and the sample was composed of 999 consumers. We used a binary logit model and the dependent variable is body mass index (BMI), expressed in a dichotomic way (seriously overweight and obese, value 1, and normal weight, value 0). The results show that the condition of the seriously overweight and obese increases with age, especially in people over 65 of age. Also gender is correlated with the pathology: being seriously overweight and obese is far more likely for men than for women. An inverse relation was shown between obesity and education, and between obesity and the level of food knowledge. The results highlight that disadvantaged social categories are more susceptible to the problem of overweight and obesity. A policy implication of the analysis, to limit the spread of obesity, could lie in programs aimed at improving health and food awareness and focused on these minority groups.economics of obesity, BMI and consumer, logit model, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Health Economics and Policy,
Supplementary_Material – Supplemental material for No evidence of effectiveness of mirror therapy early after stroke: an assessor-blinded randomized controlled trial
No full textSupplemental material, Supplementary_Material for No evidence of effectiveness of mirror therapy early after stroke: an assessor-blinded randomized controlled trial by Paola Antoniotti, Laura Veronelli, Antonio Caronni, Alessia Monti, Evdoxia Aristidou, Maria Montesano and Massimo Corbo in Clinical Rehabilitation</p
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No full textDetecting pathogens and mounting immune responses upon infection is crucial for animal health. However, these responses come at a high metabolic price (McKean and Lazzaro, 2011, Kominsky et al., 2010), and avoiding pathogens before infection may be advantageous. The bacterial endotoxins lipopolysaccharides (LPS) are important immune system infection cues (Abbas et al., 2014), but it remains unknown whether animals possess sensory mechanisms to detect them prior to infection. Here we show that Drosophila melanogaster display strong aversive responses to LPS and that gustatory neurons expressing Gr66a bitter receptors mediate avoidance of LPS in feeding and egg laying assays. We found the expression of the chemosensory cation channel dTRPA1 in these cells to be necessary and sufficient for LPS avoidance. Furthermore, LPS stimulates Drosophila neurons in a TRPA1-dependent manner and activates exogenous dTRPA1 channels in human cells. Our findings demonstrate that flies detect bacterial endotoxins via a gustatory pathway through TRPA1 activation as conserved molecular mechanism.sponsorship: Vlaams Instituut voor Biotechnologie Alessia Soldano Luis Franco Guangda Liu Natalia Mora Emre Yaksi Bassem A Hassanr Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek G.0702.12 Alessia Soldano Yeranddy A Alpizar Brett Boonen Alejandro Lopez-Requena Natalia Mora Thomas Voets Rudi Vennekens Bassem A Hassan Karel Talaverar Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek G.0077.15 Alessia Soldano Yeranddy A Alpizar Brett Boonen Alejandro Lopez-Requena Natalia Mora Thomas Voets Rudi Vennekens Bassem A Hassan Karel Talaverar Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek G.0680.10 Alessia Soldano Yeranddy A Alpizar Brett Boonen Alejandro Lopez-Requena Natalia Mora Thomas Voets Rudi Vennekens Bassem A Hassan Karel Talaverar Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek G.0681.10 Alessia Soldano Yeranddy A Alpizar Brett Boonen Alejandro Lopez-Requena Natalia Mora Thomas Voets Rudi Vennekens Bassem A Hassan Karel Talaverar Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek G.0503.12 Alessia Soldano Yeranddy A Alpizar Brett Boonen Alejandro Lopez-Requena Natalia Mora Thomas Voets Rudi Vennekens Bassem A Hassan Karel Talaverar Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek G.0654.15 Alessia Soldano Yeranddy A Alpizar Brett Boonen Alejandro Lopez-Requena Natalia Mora Thomas Voets Rudi Vennekens Bassem A Hassan Karel Talaverar Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek G.0761.10N Alessia Soldano Yeranddy A Alpizar Brett Boonen Alejandro Lopez-Requena Natalia Mora Thomas Voets Rudi Vennekens Bassem A Hassan Karel Talaverar Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek G.0596.12 Alessia Soldano Yeranddy A Alpizar Brett Boonen Alejandro Lopez-Requena Natalia Mora Thomas Voets Rudi Vennekens Bassem A Hassan Karel Talaverar Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek G.0565.07 Alessia Soldano Yeranddy A Alpizar Brett Boonen Alejandro Lopez-Requena Natalia Mora Thomas Voets Rudi Vennekens Bassem A Hassan Karel Talaverar KU Leuven GOA/14/011 Alessia Soldano Yeranddy A Alpizar Brett Boonen Luis Franco Alejandro Lopez-Requena Guangda Liu Natalia Mora Emre Yaksi Thomas Voets Rudi Vennekens Bassem A Hassan Karel Talaverar European Commission IUAP P7/13 Alessia Soldano Yeranddy A Alpizar Brett Boonen Luis Franco Alejandro Lopez-Requena Guangda Liu Natalia Mora Emre Yaksi Thomas Voets Rudi Vennekensr KU Leuven OT/12/091 Alessia Soldano Yeranddy A Alpizar Brett Boonen Luis Franco Alejandro Lopez-Requena Guangda Liu Natalia Mora Emre Yaksi Thomas Voets Rudi Vennekens Bassem A Hassan Karel Talaverar KU Leuven PF-TRPLe Alessia Soldano Yeranddy A Alpizar Brett Boonen Luis Franco Alejandro Lopez-Requena Guangda Liu Natalia Mora Emre Yaksi Thomas Voets Rudi Vennekens Bassem A Hassan Karel Talavera (Vlaams Instituut voor Biotechnologie, Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek|G.0702.12, Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek|G.0077.15, Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek|G.0680.10, Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek|G.0681.10, Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek|G.0503.12, Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek|G.0654.15, Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek|G.0761.10N, Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek|G.0596.12, KU Leuven|GOA/14/011, KU Leuven|OT/12/091, European Commission|IUAP P7/13, KU Leuven PF-TRPLe)status: Publishe
CHARACTERIZATION OF NESFATIN-1 IN THE BRAIN AND STOMACH OF THE TELEOSTEAN MODEL FOR AGING RESEARCH NOTHOBRANCHIUS FURZERI
No full textThe anorexigenic peptide Nesfatin-1 (Nesf-1) and its precursor NEFA/nucleobindin 2 (NUCB2) showed a highly conserved structure between mammalian and non-mammalian species [1]. In Mammals, NUCB2/Nesf-1 were detected both in appetite-control hypothalamic nuclei [1] and in peripheral tissues involved in energy metabolism. In particular, NUCB2/Nesf-1 were described in gastric X/A-like endocrine cells and the highest mRNA expression allow to considered stomach as the main sources of circulating Nesf-1 [2]. In Teleosts, similarly to Mammals, NUCB2/Nesf-1 were mostly detected in feeding regulatory hypothalamic nucleus and in gut, with higher expression in the anterior gastrointestinal tract respect to the brain [3-4]. Although tissue distribution of NUCB2/Nesf-1 is well known in Vertebrates, there are few reports on their expression during ontogenesis. This study aimed to examine for the first time the age-related central and peripheral expression of NUCB2/Nesf-1 in the teleost fish Nothobranchius furzeri, a well consolidated model organism for aging research. Experiments were performed on brain and stomach of N. furzeri belonging to MZM 04/10 strain, at the following time points: 5 weeks post hatching (wph) (young-adult, age of sexual maturity) and 27wph (old). Phylogenetic analysis displayed that gene structure was well conserved in N. furzeri, showing 78% of similarity with medaka, the closest related species. Real-Time PCR revealed increased expression levels in old fishes compared to young both in brain and stomach. Then we carried out in situ hybridization against NUCB2 and immunohistochemistry against Nesf-1. Western blot on homogenates of brain confirmed the specificity of Nesf-1 antibody, revealing a band of about 40 kDa. Either in young and aged brains both NUCB2 mRNA transcript and Nesf-1 immunoreactivity cells were detected in the hypothalamic area. Interestingly mRNA expression and protein distribution were observed in non diencephalic regions, specifically telencephalon, optic tectum and semicircular tori at all age stages analyzed. Telencephalon, diencephalon and optic tectum are brain regions involved in appetite control of Teleosts [5]. Either in young and aged stomachs NUCB2 mRNA transcript was detected mainly in the lining epithelium while Nesf-1 immunoreactive cells were distributed in the submucosae. This study represents a step for understanding the regulation of NUCB2/Nesf-1 during vertebrate aging processes
Social Network to analyse the relationship between ‘victim-author’ and ‘motivation’ of violence against women in Italy.
No full textThe paper aims to analyse the phenomenon of Violence against women in the Italian context during 2020. It proposes to study the relationship between ‘victim-author’ and ‘motivation’ in femicides committed in domestic environment. By means of the properties of the Social Network Analysis on bimodal data, the study detected main actors and motivations that generated the homicides with female victims. At the same time, the structural relationships allowed to investigate the existence of motivations that better characterized the action of the various actors. The bipartite graph visualization and centrality scores calculated have demonstrated the effectiveness of the methodology for the pursued objectives
Louis-Philippe Dalembert, «vagabond jusqu’au bout de la fatigue»
No full textThe Haitian novelist and poet Louis-Philippe Dalembert (Port-au-Prince, 1962) has developed in his works of fiction the concept of vagabondage as a literary projection of his biographical wandering through multiple spaces. The aim of this essay is to study the presence of vagabondage and its distinctive features in those novels written by Dalembert that reflect the writer’s perpetual motion: Le Crayon du bon Dieu n’a pas de gomme (1996), L’Autre face de la mer (1998), L’Île du bout des rêves (2003), Les dieux voyagent la nuit (2006). The main characters are constantly moving, they are cosmopolitan wanderers who belong to many places at the same time, just like Dalembert himself. By analyzing the representation of movement in these fictions, we will show that the notion of vagabondage is depicted by the author as a positive and meaningful opportunity for the vagabond who travels across countries, languages and cultures
Bone density in the loggerhead turtle: functional implications for stage specific aquatic habits
No full textUna ridiscussione dei concetti di home e identity nell’Asia globalizzata: il caso di These Foolish Things (2004) e How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia (2013)
No full textThe evolution of postcolonial studies in the last thirty years and the development of a transnational approach in literary studies (Jay 2010) have led to a renewed interest towards the subaltern voices, especially in relation to the phenomena of migration and diaspora and their global effects. In this light, the idea of 'home' is characterized by a sort of porosity and by a new geographical and emotional conceptualization which inevitably influences the personal and collective identities of migrant communities.
The aim of the paper is to analyze these topics from a cultural and literary standpoint through the examination of the two different kinds of migrant flows and postcolonial scenarios depicted in These Foolish Things (2004) by the English author Deborah Moggach, and How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia (2013) by the Pakistan novelist Mohsin Hamid. In these novels, the chaotic Indian framework – the former margin of the British empire – is torn between its colonial past and the current effects of the permeability of its borders. It is, therefore, a perfect global context, wherein the experiences and the feelings of the modern Indian identities are reinterpreted by the two authors
Sulle tracce della fortuna dei Carmina di Ennodio tra Tardoantico e Medioevo
No full textKnowledge of the poems of Magnus Felix Ennodius in Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages is a field of research that has not yet been explored. The essay provides some food for thought on the possible fortune of the Late Antique author starting from Columbanus up to Radulfus Tortarius, identifying in the greatest medieval poets (Aldhelm, Paul the Deacon, Sedulius Scotus) expressions, verbal sequences and original clauses of the poet of Ticinum. The last section is dedicated to the epigraphic field and above all to the Fortleben of notable iuncturae minted by Ennodius in some inscriptions of the 8th-9th century
Gambling challenges public agencies for dependencies treatment (Ser.D.): a case study
No full textThe Italian case is emblematic of the liberalization of gambling and the drive towards its commercialization, taking place in several countries. Despite an uncertain political-legal framework, public services for addiction treatment are adapting to face the challenge posed by gambling. Therefore, a qualitative study was conducted within a sample of public services for addiction (SerT) of an Italian region, involving professionals dedicated to gambling. The Author has attempted to identify the theoretical and practical approach adopted by organizations and professionals, through the comparison with the “chronic disease model” and “public health model
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