288 research outputs found
Fertility and territorial well-being in Italy .How is fertility related to social, economic and environmental quality?
We analyzed the association between fertility rates and well-being measured at the regional level. How does the gap between intended and realized fertility relate with other well-being indicators measured at the aggregate level in terms of social, economic, environmental conditions? We try to answer this question with reference to Italy in the period 2010-2017 through the analysis of the association between the regional fertility rates and a rich system of regional indicators measuring various aspects of the social, economic and environmental quality (Equitable and Sustainable Well-being or Benessere Equo e Sostenibile - BES, in Italian). The results show that in regions best performing in terms of economic conditions and of the functioning of public services as well as in terms of the quality of the educational system and of the environment, fertility is higher than the national average
Fertility and well-being in the italian regions
We analyse the association between fertility rates and well-being in the Italian regions in the period 2012-2017. Well-being is measured by the indicators of Equitable and Sustainable Well-being (BES), collected by ISTAT since 2013 with the aim of evaluating the economic, social and environmental development of the society through measurement of citizens’ life quality. We expect that the regions performing better in terms of well-being conditions are also those with the highest levels of fertility. Both graphical and panel data regression analyses support our main hypothesis, but also reveal that in different clusters of regions the intensity and direction of the relationship significantly change. Our results also stress the need of taking the different domains of well-being into account while explaining reproductive behaviour of resident population at territorial level
Calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase kinase 2 regulates macrophage-mediated inflammatory responses.
Calcium/calmodulin-dependent kinase kinase 2 (CaMKK2) plays a key role in regulating food intake and energy expenditure at least in part by its actions in hypothalamic neurons. Previously, we showed that loss of CaMKK2 protected mice from high-fat diet (HFD)-induced obesity and glucose intolerance. However, although pair feeding HFD to WT mice to match food consumption of CAMKK2-null mice slowed weight gain, it failed to protect from glucose intolerance. Here we show that relative to WT mice, HFD-fed CaMKK2-null mice are protected from inflammation in adipose and remain glucose-tolerant. Moreover, loss of CaMKK2 also protected mice from endotoxin shock and fulminant hepatitis. We explored the expression of CaMKK2 in immune cells and found it to be restricted to those of the monocyte/macrophage lineage. CaMKK2-null macrophages exhibited a remarkable deficiency to spread, phagocytose bacteria, and synthesize cytokines in response to the Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) agonist lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Mechanistically, loss of CaMKK2 uncoupled the TLR4 cascade from activation of protein tyrosine kinase 2 (PYK2; also known as PTK2B). Our findings uncover an important function for CaMKK2 in mediating mechanisms that control the amplitude of macrophage inflammatory responses to excess nutrients or pathogen derivatives
Invecchiamento e lavoro: un connubio possibile?
La sfida dell’invecchiamento che Italia ed Europa si troveranno ad affrontare nei prossimi decenni è unica nella storia umana. Gran parte di coloro che sono nati oggi potranno vivere oltre i 100 anni. Partendo da un’analisi degli andamenti attuali e previsti della popolazione e della sua struttura per etĂ , il capitolo affronta i temi dell’invecchiamento attivo e produttivo e riflette sulle politiche sociali ed economiche nonchĂ© sulle strategie aziendali necessarie ad incrementare la partecipazione attiva degli anziani alla vita sociale e produttiva, mettendo in evidenza le opportunitĂ derivanti dagli stessi mutamenti demografici per il mercato del lavoro, l’economia e l’intera collettivitĂ
The oxygen-assisted transformation of propane to COx/H2 through combined oxidation and WGS reactions catalyzed by vanadium oxide-based catalysts
This paper reports about the gas-phase oxidation of propane catalyzed by bulk vanadium oxide and by alumina- and silica-supported vanadium oxide. The reaction was studied with the aim of finding conditions at which the formation of H2 and CO2 is preferred over that of CO, H2O and of products of alkane partial oxidation. It was found that with bulk V2O5 considerable amounts of H2 are produced above 400 8C, the temperature at which the limiting reactant, oxygen, is totally consumed. The formation of H2 derived from the combination of: (i) oxidation reactions, with generation of CO, CO2, oxygenates (mainly acetic acid), propylene and H2O, all occurring in the fraction of catalytic bed that operated in the presence of gas-phase oxygen, and (ii) WGS reaction, propane dehydrogenation and coke formation, that instead occurred in the fraction of bed operating under anaerobic conditions. This combination of different reactions in a single catalytic bed was possible because of the reduction of V2O5 to V2O3 at high temperature, in the absence of gas-phase oxygen. In fact, vanadium sesquioxide was found to be an effective catalyst for the WGS, while V2O5 was inactive in this reaction. The same combination of reactions was not possible when vanadium oxide was supported over high-surface area silica or alumina; this was attributed to the fact that in these catalysts vanadium was not reduced below the oxidation state V4+, even under reaction conditions leading to total oxygen conversion. In consequence, these catalysts produced less H2 than bulk vanadium oxide
Health economic assessment tools (HEAT) for walking and for cycling
Physical inactivity is a significant public health
problem in most regions of the world, which
is unlikely to be solved by classical health
promotion approaches alone. The promotion
of active transport (cycling and walking) for
everyday physical activity is a win-win approach;
it not only promotes health but can also lead
to positive environmental effects, especially
if cycling and walking replace short car trips.
Cycling and walking can also be more readily
integrated into people’s busy schedules than,
for example, leisure-time exercise. These forms
of physical activity are also more practicable for
groups of the population for which sport is either
not feasible because of physical limitations or is
not an accessible leisure activity for economic,
social or cultural reasons. There is a large
potential for active travel in European urban
transport, as many trips are short and would
be amenable to being undertaken on foot or
by bicycle. This, however, requires effective
partnerships with the transport and urban
planning sectors, whose policies are key driving
forces in providing appropriate conditions for
such behavioural changes to take place. This has
been recognized by a number of international
policy frameworks, such as the Action Plan for
implementation of the European Strategy for the
Prevention and Control of Noncommunicable
Diseases 2012–2016, adopted by the WHO
Regional Committee for Europe (1). The strategy
identifies the promotion of active mobility as
one of the supporting interventions endorsed
by WHO Member States to address this highpriority
topic in the European Region, as do other
international policy frameworks such as the
Toronto Charter for Physical Activity launched
in May 2010 as a global call for action (2)
Play Picture Making Music Emotional Enrichment (PME) as Wellness Improvement in Captive Non-Human Primates
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