Even more discouraged? The NEET generation at the age of COVID-19

This paper evaluates if and to what extend the risk of becoming Not in Employment, Education or Training (NEET) has worsened during the Covid-19 pandemic in Italy. The analysis is based on a unique dataset from the merging of two sample surveys, the Italian Labor Force Survey and the Institutional Quality Index dataset. We find that the probability of being NEET significantly increased during the pandemic, but heterogeneously between age cohorts and geographical areas. The most affected categories have been young people (aged 25-34) and those living in North-West regions. Females are mostly affected compared to males, especially those experiencing motherhood and living in a Southern province. Investment in education reduces the NEET status, mainly for age-group 25-34 in the South. Participation in the civil society significantly reduces the probability to being NEET. Finally, active policies conducted at regional level are a further educational investment that protect from becoming NEET, although their effectiveness is not significant in the Southern regions. We provide novel evidence to inform policymakers and help building evidencebased policies, tailored on local needs

Who lost the most? Distributive effects of COVID-19 pandemic

This paper investigates what happened to the wage distribution in Italy during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. It shows which categories of workers and economic sectors have suffered more than others and to what extent both the actual level of smart-working and the ability to Working From-Home can influence the wage distribution. We use a unique dataset relying on the merging of two sample surveys: the Italian Labor Force Survey set up by National Institute of Statistics and the Italian Survey of Professions conducted by the National Institute for Public Policy Analysis. We estimate quantile regression models accounting for selection. First, the findings reveal that the pandemic has affected the wages of the whole workers, but the effect is higher at the bottom of the wage distribution. Second, the actual working from home mitigates the negative distributional consequences of the COVID-19 observed for those at the bottom of the wage distribution. However, the advantage of workers at the bottom tail of the wage distribution seems to lessen in the long term once the health emergency is passed. Third, looking at sectoral heterogeneity, retail and the restaurant are the most hit sectors in terms of wage loss. Fourth, separating by gender, men have been mostly hit by the pandemic, particularly at lowest deciles, though they benefited more from working at home at higher deciles. Finally, women appear as the one that in the long run would benefit more from increasing working from home possibility

Accelerating urban scale simulations leveraging local spatial 3D structure

[EN] This paper presents a hybrid methodology for accelerating Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations intertwining inferences from deep neural networks (DNN). The strategy leverages the local spatial data of the velocity field to leverage three-dimensional convolutional kernels within DNN. The hybrid workflow is composed of two-step cycles where CFD solvers calculations are utilized to feed predictive models, whose inferences, in turn, accelerate the simulation of the fluid evolution compared with traditional CFD. This approach has proved to reduce 30% time-to-solution in an urban scale study case, which leads to generating massive datasets at a fraction of the cost.Researcher S. Iserte was supported by postdoctoral fellowship APOSTD/2020/026 from GVA-ESF. While researcher A. Macias was supported by predoctoral fellowship FDGENT from GVA. CTE-Power cluster of the Barcelona Supercomputing Center, and Tirant III cluster of the Servei d'Informatica of the University of Valencia were leveraged in this research. Authors want to thank the anonymous reviewers whose suggestions significantly improved the quality of this manuscript.Iserte, S.; Macías, A.; Martínez-Cuenca, R.; Chiva, S.; Paredes Palacios, R.; Quintana-Ortí, ES. (2022). Accelerating urban scale simulations leveraging local spatial 3D structure. Journal of Computational Science. 62:1-11. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jocs.2022.1017411116

Inhibition of alpha oscillations through serotonin-2A receptor activation underlies the visual effects of ayahuasca in humans

Ayahuasca is an Amazonian psychotropic plant tea typically obtained from two plants, Banisteriopsis caapi and Psychotria viridis. It contains the psychedelic 5-HT2A and sigma-1 agonist N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT) plus ß-carboline alkaloids with monoamine-oxidase (MAO)-inhibiting properties. Although the psychoactive effects of ayahuasca have commonly been attributed solely to agonism at the 5-HT2A receptor, the molecular target of classical psychedelics, this has not been tested experimentally. Here we wished to study the contribution of the 5-HT2A receptor to the neurophysiological and psychological effects of ayahuasca in humans. We measured drug-induced changes in spontaneous brain oscillations and subjective effects in a double-blind randomized placebo-controlled study involving the oral administration of ayahuasca (0.75 mg DMT/kg body weight) and the 5-HT2A antagonist ketanserin (40 mg). Twelve healthy, experienced psychedelic users (5 females) participated in four experimental sessions in which they received the following drug combinations: placebo+placebo, placebo+ayahuasca, ketanserin+placebo and ketanserin+ayahuasca. Ayahuasca induced EEG power decreases in the delta, theta and alpha frequency bands. Current density in alpha-band oscillations in parietal and occipital cortex was inversely correlated with the intensity of visual imagery induced by ayahuasca. Pretreatment with ketanserin inhibited neurophysiological modifications, reduced the correlation between alpha and visual effects, and attenuated the intensity of the subjective experience. These findings suggest that despite the chemical complexity of ayahuasca, 5-HT2A activation plays a key role in the neurophysiological and visual effects of ayahuasca in humans.Postprint (published version

Stents absorbibles y sistema de implantación de stent traqueal absorbible en modelo animal.

Los stents son dispositivos artificiales que se introducen en la luz de una estructura tubular para proporcionar soporte en caso de obstrucción, estenosis o bloqueo y mantener así el flujo habitual. Comúnmente se implantan en vasos sanguíneos, uréteres, vías biliares, árbol traqueobronquial o tubo gastrointestinal, y los materiales usados son derivados de plásticos o metales, y están recubiertos o no con medicamentos. A pesar de sus numerosas ventajas, en patologías de curso pasajero supone un gran inconveniente su extracción o en su defecto la permanencia de un cuerpo extraño en el cuerpo, pudiendo ser causante de futuras obstrucciones. Desde hace unos años se han aprobado los stents absorbibles o biodegradables, fabricados con biopolímeros como el PLLA o la polidoxanona, entre otros, o aleaciones de metales, fundamentalmente de magnesio y hierro; materiales que son inocuos para el organismo, capaces de degradarse completamente en un determinado periodo de tiempo, hasta que la estructura dañada se repare y retome su función. Aunque los stents absorbibles tienen un gran futuro en la medicina, aún hacen falta muchas investigaciones para perfeccionar algunas características, como su fuerza radial o la velocidad de degradación. Actualmente ya se están aplicando en diferentes localizaciones para la resolución de enfermedades como la arterial coronaria, la estenosis esofágica, la anastomosis colorrectal, la estenosis ureteral, etc. Pero en otros casos no hay todavía una solución lo suficientemente resolutiva como es el caso de la vía aérea. Por ello, se describe y pone a prueba el método de implantación de un stent traqueal absorbible en conejos (Oryctolagus cuniculus), mediante vía percutánea. Los resultados son satisfactorios, ya que parece un método sencillo y fácil, que podría aplicarse en el árbol traqueobronquial de pacientes. Palabras clave: stent; estenosis; stent absorbible; traqueal

Comparing serial X-ray crystallography and microcrystal electron diffraction (MicroED) as methods for routine structure determination from small macromolecular crystals.

Innovative new crystallographic methods are facilitating structural studies from ever smaller crystals of biological macromolecules. In particular, serial X-ray crystallography and microcrystal electron diffraction (MicroED) have emerged as useful methods for obtaining structural information from crystals on the nanometre to micrometre scale. Despite the utility of these methods, their implementation can often be difficult, as they present many challenges that are not encountered in traditional macromolecular crystallography experiments. Here, XFEL serial crystallography experiments and MicroED experiments using batch-grown microcrystals of the enzyme cyclophilin A are described. The results provide a roadmap for researchers hoping to design macromolecular microcrystallography experiments, and they highlight the strengths and weaknesses of the two methods. Specifically, we focus on how the different physical conditions imposed by the sample-preparation and delivery methods required for each type of experiment affect the crystal structure of the enzyme

High frequency response of adenine-derived carbon in aqueous electrochemical capacitor

Electrochemical capacitors are attractive power sources, especially when they are able to operate at high frequency (high current regime). In order to meet this requirement their constituents should be made of high conductivity materials with a suitable porosity. In this study, enhanced power and simultaneously high capacitance (120 F g−1 at 1 Hz or 10 A g−1) electrode material obtained from carbonized adenine precursor is presented. A micro/mesoporous character of the carbon with optimal pore size ratio and high surface area was proven by the physicochemical characterization. The beneficial pore structure and morphology resembling highly conductive carbon black, together with a significant nitrogen content (5.5%) allow for high frequency response of aqueous capacitor to be obtained. The carbon/carbon symmetric capacitor (in 1 mol L−1 Li2SO4) has been tested to the voltage of 1.5 V. The cyclic voltammetry indicates a good electrochemical response even at high scan rate (50 mV s−1). The cyclability of the capacitor is comparable to the one operating with commercial carbon (YP50F). The adenine-based capacitor is especially favourable for stationary applications requiring high power.Partners acknowledge M-ERA.NET network, MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 (Ref. PCI2019–103637), CIBER-BBN, ICTS ‘‘NANBIOSIS’’, ICTS ELECMI node "Laboratorio de Microscopias Avanzadas", National Science Centre, Poland (2018/30/Z/ST4/00901), and Ministrstvo za izobraževanje, znanost in šport for financial support and the grant of Ministry of Science and Higher Education in Poland, no. 0911/SBAD/2101. A.V., B.T., E.T. and R.D. additionally acknowledge financial support from the Slovenian Research Agency (ARRS) research core funding P2–0393.Peer reviewe

Persistent anthrax as a major driver of wildlife mortality in a tropical rainforest

Anthrax is a globally important animal disease and zoonosis. Despite this, our current knowledge of anthrax ecology is largely limited to arid ecosystems, where outbreaks are most commonly reported. Here we show that the dynamics of an anthrax-causing agent, Bacillus cereus biovar anthracis, in a tropical rainforest have severe consequences for local wildlife communities. Using data and samples collected over three decades, we show that rainforest anthrax is a persistent and widespread cause of death for a broad range of mammalian hosts. We predict that this pathogen will accelerate the decline and possibly result in the extirpation of local chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes verus) populations. We present the epidemiology of a cryptic pathogen and show that its presence has important implications for conservation

Postdischarge Mortality Prediction in Sub-Saharan Africa.

BACKGROUND: Although the burden of postdischarge mortality (PDM) in low-income settings appears to be significant, no clear recommendations have been proposed in relation to follow-up care after hospitalization. We aimed to determine the burden of pediatric PDM and develop predictive models to identify children who are at risk for dying after discharge. METHODS: Deaths after hospital discharge among children aged <15 years in the last 17 years were reviewed in an area under demographic and morbidity surveillance in Southern Mozambique. We determined PDM over time (up to 90 days) and derived predictive models of PDM using easily collected variables on admission. RESULTS: Overall PDM was high (3.6%), with half of the deaths occurring in the first 30 days. One primary predictive model for all ages included young age, moderate or severe malnutrition, a history of diarrhea, clinical pneumonia symptoms, prostration, bacteremia, having a positive HIV status, the rainy season, and transfer or absconding, with an area under the curve of 0.79 (0.75-0.82) at day 90 after discharge. Alternative models for all ages including simplified clinical predictors had a similar performance. A model specific to infants <3 months old was used to identify as predictors being a neonate, having a low weight-for-age z score, having breathing difficulties, having hypothermia or fever, having oral candidiasis, and having a history of absconding or transfer to another hospital, with an area under the curve of 0.76 (0.72-0.91) at day 90 of follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: Death after discharge is an important although poorly recognized contributor to child mortality. A simple predictive algorithm based on easily recognizable variables could readily be used to identify most infants and children who are at a high risk of dying after discharge