Is there more than one linkage between Social Network and Inequality?

The paper aims to analyse how income inequality affects social networks strength in fourteen European Countries. We introduce some new evidences by using the ECHP for testing the networks-inequality nexus and being able to construct directly inequality indices from the microdata as well their decomposition. In particular, we focus on two main point: firstly, we analyse how total income inequality could be related to social network; secondly, we introduce the "clustered network" definition, by decomposing total income inequality based on the education level. We test the existence of a pluralism linkage between Social Network and Inequality and many results confirm that the linkage is neither unambiguous nor unidirectional. We introduce and stress some important issue. First, we use dierent levels of social network: narrow, wide and anonymous; second, we use different inequality indexes (different sensitiveness to changes at different part of the income distribution); third, the ambiguous linkage could be explained on one hand by the positive role of emulation and reciprocity behaviors and on the other hand by negative ones of the envy, amoral familism and keeping up with the Joneses mechanisms. Finally, we stress the different roles of within and between components of inequality. Our idea is that higher income inequality - related to the changing education premia - could affect social network formation among individuals through two different channels: higher inequality among dierent educated ind ividuals could raise (clustered networks), while higher inequality among similars could halt the social networks.Social Network ; Inequality ; Clustered Network ; Envy ; Emulation

Falling Behind or Catching Up? Cross-Country Evidence in Intra-Generational Wages Mobility through Pseudo-Panels

The paper aims to encompass evidence on wage distribution and inequality with micro-mobility measures for several countries in the 2000s, by applying pseudo-panel methodology to microdata from the LIS database. Hence, different paths in term of wage growth or stagnation, increasing or declining inequalities and wages convergence over time emerge from comparison across countries. Finally, cohort-based measures of micro-mobility are compared to the corresponding ones obtained from true panel component for some countries

Changes in the proteome of sea urchin Paracentrotus lividus coelomocytes in response to LPS injection into the body cavity

The immune system of echinoderm sea urchins is characterised by a high degree of complexity that is not completely understood. The Mediterranean sea urchin Paracentrotus lividus coelomocytes mediate immune responses through phagocytosis, encapsulation of non-self particles, and production of diffusible factors including antimicrobial molecules. Details of these processes, and molecular pathways driving these mechanisms, are still to be fully elucidated.In the present study we treated the sea urchin P. lividus with the bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and collected coelomocytes at different time-points (1, 3, 6 and 24 hours). We have shown, using label-free quantitative mass spectrometry, how LPS is able to modulate the coelomocyte proteome and to effect cellular pathways, such as endocytosis and phagocytosis, as soon as the immunomodulating agent is injected. The present study has also shown that treatment can modulate various cellular processes such as cytoskeleton reorganisation, and stress and energetic homeostasis.Our data demonstrates, through mass spectrometry and the following functional annotation bioinformatics analysis, how the bacterial wall constituent is sufficient to set off an immune response inducing cytoskeleton reorganisation, the appearance of clusters of heat shock proteins (Hsp) and histone proteins and the activation of the endocytic and phagocytic pathways

A study protocol for identifying aging trajectories toward chronic neurodegenerative diseases by means of Marche regional administrative databases – TREND project

BackgroundPeople are living longer but an increasing number of older people experience chronicity and disability in the latest years of their life. The Marche region is one of the Italian regions where people live the longest lives; therefore, the number of people with age-related chronic diseases is expected to be at least similar, if not higher, compared to the rest of Italy. The identification of the aging trajectories is of huge interest in the arena of public health. Administrative healthcare databases represent valuable reservoirs for reconstructing the trajectories of aging. Here, we present the protocol for a study (TREND project) aimed to integrate existing administrative databases into a Marche regional dataset in order to estimate the prevalence and incidence rates of age-related neurodegenerative diseases (ND), with a specific focus on Parkinsonism and Dementia.MethodsThe TREND Project is a retrospective cross-sectional study. The source population includes permanent residents in the Marche region aged 40 years and older. A minimal dataset has been built up linking data on drug prescriptions, outpatient services, and diagnosis for hospital admission, from 2014 to 2021 in the Marche Region. Data on clinical outcomes (re-hospitalization, mortality, comorbidities), and therapeutic approaches (drugs and medicines) have been integrated with state-of-the-art statistical methods to define patients into different risk clusters and to analyze the aging trend by assessing the Comorbidity Index (CI) as a proxy for chronicity.DiscussionOur research contributes to the integration of existing administrative databases on ND to create a Marche regional ND database, support regional health policy, and better understand patients’ needs and their aging trajectories. This approach could be implemented also at the National level. Moreover, by linking different administrative data sources, this study sheds light on important issues related to ND, such as early-onset dementia; ethical aspects such as anticipated wills; problems of dementia in patients still in the job market, etc. The results of this study will contribute to the successful implementation of integrated care for patients affected by ND at regional or national levels

Nuclear-capture of endosomes depletes nuclear G-actin to promote SRF/MRTF activation and cancer cell invasion

Signals are relayed from receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs) at the cell surface to effector systems in the cytoplasm and nucleus, and coordination of this process is important for the execution of migratory phenotypes, such as cell scattering and invasion. The endosomal system influences how RTK signalling is coded, but the ways in which it transmits these signals to the nucleus to influence gene expression are not yet clear. Here we show that hepatocyte growth factor, an activator of MET (an RTK), promotes Rab17- and clathrin-dependent endocytosis of EphA2, another RTK, followed by centripetal transport of EphA2-positive endosomes. EphA2 then mediates physical capture of endosomes on the outer surface of the nucleus; a process involving interaction between the nuclear import machinery and a nuclear localisation sequence in EphA2’s cytodomain. Nuclear capture of EphA2 promotes RhoG-dependent phosphorylation of the actin-binding protein, cofilin to oppose nuclear import of G-actin. The resulting depletion of nuclear G-actin drives transcription of Myocardin-related transcription factor (MRTF)/serum-response factor (SRF)-target genes to implement cell scattering and the invasive behaviour of cancer cells

Pregnane-X-receptor mediates the anti-inflammatory activities of rifaximin on detoxification pathways in intestinal epithelial cells

International audienceThe pregnane-X-receptor (PXR) is master gene overseeing detoxification of wide number of xenobiotics and is critical for maintenance of intestinal integrity. The intestinal expression of genes involved in cellular detoxification is down-regulated in patients with inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD). Rifaximin, is a non absorbable antibiotic endowed with a PXR agonistic activity. In the present study we have investigated whether rifaximin activates PXR in primary human colon epithelial cells and human colon biopsies and assessed whether this antibiotic antagonizes the effect of Tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α on expression of PXR and PXR-related genes. Present results demonstrate that primary colon epithelial cells express PXR and that their exposure to rifaximin induces the expression of genes involved in cellular detoxification. Exposure to TNFα reduces the expression of PXR mRNA as well as expression of its target genes. This inhibitory effect was prevented by that co-treatment with rifaximin. Knocking down the expression of PXR in colon epithelial cells by an anti-PXR siRNA, abrogated the counter-regulatory effects exerted by rifaximin on cell exposed to TNFα. Finally, exposure of colon biopsies obtained from ulcerative colitis patients to rifaximin increased the expression of genes involved in xenobiotics metabolism. In aggregate, these data illustrate that rifaximin increases the expression of PXR and PXR-regulated genes involved in the metabolism and excretion of xenobiotics and antagonized the effects of TNFα in intertsinal epithelial cells and colon biopsies. These non-antibiotic effects of rifaximin could contribute to the maintenance of the intestinal barrier integrity against xenobiotics and products generated by luminal bacteria

Differential diagnosis of neurodegenerative dementias with the explainable MRI based machine learning algorithm MUQUBIA

Biomarker-based differential diagnosis of the most common forms of dementia is becoming increasingly important. Machine learning (ML) may be able to address this challenge. The aim of this study was to develop and interpret a ML algorithm capable of differentiating Alzheimer's dementia, frontotemporal dementia, dementia with Lewy bodies and cognitively normal control subjects based on sociodemographic, clinical, and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) variables. 506 subjects from 5 databases were included. MRI images were processed with FreeSurfer, LPA, and TRACULA to obtain brain volumes and thicknesses, white matter lesions and diffusion metrics. MRI metrics were used in conjunction with clinical and demographic data to perform differential diagnosis based on a Support Vector Machine model called MUQUBIA (Multimodal Quantification of Brain whIte matter biomArkers). Age, gender, Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR) Dementia Staging Instrument, and 19 imaging features formed the best set of discriminative features. The predictive model performed with an overall Area Under the Curve of 98%, high overall precision (88%), recall (88%), and F1 scores (88%) in the test group, and good Label Ranking Average Precision score (0.95) in a subset of neuropathologically assessed patients. The results of MUQUBIA were explained by the SHapley Additive exPlanations (SHAP) method. The MUQUBIA algorithm successfully classified various dementias with good performance using cost-effective clinical and MRI information, and with independent validation, has the potential to assist physicians in their clinical diagnosis

The risk of stroke recurrence in patients with atrial fibrillation and reduced ejection fraction

Abstract Background: Atrial fibrillation (AF) and congestive heart failure often coexist due to their shared risk factors leading to potential worse outcome, particularly cerebrovascular events. The aims of this study were to calculate the rates of ischemic and severe bleeding events in ischemic stroke patients having both AF and reduced ejection fraction (rEF) (⩽40%), compared to ischemic stroke patients with AF but without rEF. Methods: We performed a retrospective analysis that drew data from prospective studies. The primary outcome was the composite of either ischemic (stroke or systemic embolism), or hemorrhagic events (symptomatic intracranial bleeding and severe extracranial bleeding). Results: The cohort for this analysis comprised 3477 patients with ischemic stroke and AF, of which, 643 (18.3%) had also rEF. After a mean follow-up of 7.5 ± 9.1 months, 375 (10.8%) patients had 382 recorded outcome events, for an annual rate of 18.0%. While the number of primary outcome events in patients with rEF was 86 (13.4%), compared to 289 (10.2%) for the patients without rEF; on multivariable analysis rEF was not associated with the primary outcome (OR 1.25; 95% CI 0.84–1.88). At the end of follow-up, 321 (49.9%) patients with rEF were deceased or disabled (mRS ⩾3), compared with 1145 (40.4%) of those without rEF; on multivariable analysis, rEF was correlated with mortality or disability (OR 1.35; 95% CI 1.03–1.77). Conclusions: In patients with ischemic stroke and AF, the presence of rEF was not associated with the composite outcome of ischemic or hemorrhagic events over short-term follow-up but was associated with increased mortality or disability