Analisi delle implicazioni dell’applicazione dell’emission trading scheme al trasporto aereo

Al fine di valutare il contributo che il settore del trasporto aereo potrebbe offrire all’efficace perseguimento, su scala europea, degli obiettivi del Protocollo di Kyoto, il presente lavoro intende analizzare le caratteristiche del sistema di emissions trading e le implicazioni della sua futura estensione al settore del trasporto aereo. Il lavoro richiama le dinamiche che hanno informato il processo europeo di codecisione volto alla modifica della Direttiva ETS 2003/87/CE, per poi focalizzarsi sulla valutazione degli impatti che potranno prodursi, con specifico riferimento al quadro nazionale italiano, a seguito dell’applicazione del meccanismo agli operatori aerei. In particolare, si evidenziano le criticità associate al funzionamento del sistema, essenzialmente riconducibili alla necessità di conciliare il carattere internazionale dell’attività del trasporto aereo con il ruolo oggi assunto dagli Stati Membri quali effettivi garanti del rispetto degli obiettivi ambientali. Più specificamente, il lavoro si articola a partire dall’analisi dei criteri che sono stati individuati per l’attribuzione delle responsabilità di gestione del sistema ETS, sottolineando quegli elementi che, attraverso l’estensione all’aviazione, ne accresceranno il “carattere comunitario”, ridimensionando le competenze nazionali a favore di una maggior centralità delle istituzioni europee. Quindi, nell’intento di fornire un ordine di grandezza dei costi che l’estensione del sistema all’aviazione produrrà, si procede con la stima del contributo alle emissioni di gas serra prodotte dal trasporto aereo italiano, esaminandone le peculiarità a partire dall’osservazione e dall’analisi diretta di singoli dati specifici del settore.Protocollo di Kyoto, quote di emissione, trasporto aereo.

Combined Point of Care Tools Are Able to Improve Treatment Adherence and Health-Related Quality of Life in Patients with Severe Hemophilia: An Observational Prospective Study

Introduction: Ultrasound (US) assessment of joints is an evolving point of care tool for the detection of early joint arthropathy (Napolitano M, Kessler CM. Hemophilia A and B. Consultative Hemostasis and Thrombosis, Kitchens, 4th edition); population pharmacokinetic (pop-PK) studies are adopted as a useful instrument to set the prophylaxis regimen for patients with hemophilia, they may improve adherence (Nagao A.et al. Thromb Res. 2019 Jan; 173:79-84) and reduce the annual bleeding rate (ABR). Adherence to continuous intravenous administrations of factor VIII or Factor IX products is challenging, thus patients may experience breakthrough bleedings while on prophylaxis. Repeated US examinations of joint status have recently been advocated to attempt to remedy sub-optimal medication adherence (Di Minno A et al., Blood Rev. 2019 Jan;33:106-116). Aim of the current prospective analysis was to evaluate the impact of combined US assessment and pop-PK study on adherence to treatment and health related quality of life in patients with severe hemophilia A(HA) and B (HB) under regular prophylaxis. Material and methods: This prospective observational study was performed at a single tertiary center from January 2017 to June 2019. Research was conducted following the Helsinki Declaration. All patients included in the study provided a written informed consent for study participation. Patients with severe HA and HB routinely underwent, as part of regular 12-months follow-up visits, the following: US joints evaluation of elbows, knees and ankles using the HEAD-US protocol, treatment adherence evaluation by VERITAS-Pro questionnaire, health –related quality of life assessment by the standardized EQ-5D,EQ-VAS and pop-PK study (WAPPS-Hemo, McMaster University) as needed (i.e.in case of changes in life style, planned treatment switch); each patient visualised US and his estimated PK profile during medial encounters. Compliance to the prescribed treatment was also determined by analysis of patient diaries with infusion logs. Statistical analysis was performed using the SPSS software version 25.0 (SPSS Chicago, IL). Statistical tests were 2-sided, with a significance threshold of 0.05. Results: Twenty consecutive males with severe haemophilia were included in the current analysis, 13 with severe HA, 2 with HA with previous inhibitors and 5 HB, with a median age of 30 (range 14- 56) years and a median ABR of 5 (range:0-12). Nine patients were under primary prophylaxis, 8 under secondary prophylaxis and 3 under tertiary prophylaxis, they all self-infused at home. Four patients had one target joint and 3 patients had multiple target joints. For each enrolled subject, HEAD-US score, VERITAS-pro, EQ5D and EQ-VAS score were assessed at enrolment (T0) and at 12 (T12) and 24 (T24) months follow-up visits, respectively. Pop-PK was assessed in 11 patients: in 7 (5 HA,2 HB) it was assessed twice, before and after treatment switch to extended half-life (EHL) products, in 4 it was assessed once to modify prophylaxis treatment schedules for a more active life-style (N=2) or weight changes (N=2). Median ABR was 4 at T12 and 3.8 at T24. Reported breakthrough bleeds at T12 were 14, mainly trauma-related (N= 8) or affecting target joints (N=4), they were not reported at T24 in patients with PK-driven modified schedules (N=4) and in 4 patients under EHL treatments. Mean HEAD-US score at T0 resulted 8 (range:0-16), at T24 it was 6 (range:0-16). Mean Veritas-Pro score values were 42.7 at TO, 40.1 at T12 and 38.7 at T24. At T0, EQ-5D mean utility score was 0.82 (range: 0.68-1), at T24, the mean was 0.87 (range:0.72-1). In detail, at 24 months follow-up, there was a statistically significant (p<0.05) improvement in adherence to treatment with particular reference to the dimensions of communication and skipped doses. A tendency toward improved HEAD-US score, higher adherence and better quality of life scores, was observed in particular in patients switched to EHL products at T24, at a mean of 10 months after switching (range: 6-22 months). Conclusion: Several combined measures of haemophilia treatment monitoring, allowing visual assessment of joints status and PK profile estimates by patients have here shown to improve treatment adherence and quality of life in patients with HA and HB, this may be not only related to new available treatments but also to an increased awareness and education of patients

Income Inequality and Redistribution in Sub-Saharan Africa

The theoretical expectation postulated by standard economic theory is that high inequality would lead to higher redistribution via the collective action of the median voter. In this paper, we adopt an instrumental variable approach to test the median voter hypothesis with specific reference to sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Overall, we find a positive relationship between inequality and redistribution, especially among middle-income countries, which is driven by the abundance of natural resource rents. Thus, our results do not provide strong evidence to support the median voter theorem, but instead, call for alternative interpretations, more closely to the existence of multiple steady states

Physical Agent Modalities in Early Osteoarthritis: A Scoping Review

Abstract: Early osteoarthritis (EOA) still represents a challenge for clinicians. Although there is no consensus on its definition and diagnosis, a prompt therapeutic intervention in the early stages can have a significant impact on function and quality of life. Exercise remains a core treatment for EOA; however, several physical modalities are commonly used in this population. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the role of physical agents in the treatment of EOA. A technical expert panel (TEP) of 8 medical specialists with expertise in physical agent modalities and musculoskeletal conditions performed the review following the PRISMA‐ScR (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta‐ Analyses Extension for Scoping Reviews) model. The TEP searched for evidence of the following physical modalities in the management of EOA: “Electric Stimulation Therapy”, “Pulsed Electromagnetic field”, “Low‐Level Light Therapy”, “Laser Therapy”, “Magnetic Field Therapy”, “Extracorporeal Shockwave Therapy”, “Hyperthermia, Induced”, “Cryotherapy”, “Vibration therapy”, “Whole Body Vibration”, “Physical Therapy Modalities”. We found preclinical and clinical data on transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS), extracorporeal shockwave therapy (ESWT), lowintensity pulsed ultrasound (LIPUS), pulsed electromagnetic fields stimulation (PEMF), and whole‐body vibration (WBV) for the treatment of knee EOA. We found two clinical studies about TENS and PEMF and six preclinical studies—three about ESWT, one about WBV, one about PEMF, and one about LIPUS. The preclinical studies demonstrated several biological effects on EOA of physical modalities, suggesting potential disease‐modifying effects. However, this role should be better investigated in further clinical studies, considering the limited data on the use of these interventions for EOA patients

Improvement of Legionnaires' disease diagnosis using real-time PCR assay: a retrospective analysis, Italy, 2010 to 2015

AimTo evaluate real-time PCR as a diagnostic method for Legionnaires' disease (LD). Detection of Legionella DNA is among the laboratory criteria of a probable LD case, according to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, although the utility and advantages, as compared to culture, are widely recognised.MethodsTwo independent laboratories, one using an in-house and the other a commercial real-time PCR assay, analysed 354 respiratory samples from 311 patients hospitalised with pneumonia between 2010-15. The real-time PCR reliability was compared with that of culture and urinary antigen tests (UAT). Concordance, specificity, sensitivity and positive and negative predictive values (PPV and NPV, respectively) were calculated.ResultsOverall PCR detected eight additional LD cases, six of which were due to Legionella pneumophila (Lp) non-serogroup 1. The two real-time PCR assays were concordant in 99.4% of the samples. Considering in-house real-time PCR as the reference method, specificity of culture and UAT was 100% and 97.9% (95% CI: 96.2-99.6), while the sensitivity was 63.6% (95%CI: 58.6-68.6) and 77.8% (95% CI: 72.9-82.7). PPV and NPV for culture were 100% and 93.7% (95% CI: 91.2-96.3). PPV and NPV for UAT were 87.5% (95% CI: 83.6-91.4) and 95.8% (95% CI: 93.5-98.2).ConclusionRegardless of the real-time PCR assay used, it was possible to diagnose LD cases with higher sensitivity than using culture or UAT. These data encourage the adoption of PCR as routine laboratory testing to diagnose LD and such methods should be eligible to define a confirmed LD case

Francesca Scaturro's Quick Files

The Quick Files feature was discontinued and it’s files were migrated into this Project on March 11, 2022. The file URL’s will still resolve properly, and the Quick Files logs are available in the Project’s Recent Activity

An Empirical Investigation on Income Inequalities

La ricerca intende valutare la relazione tra distribuzione del reddito ed alcune variabili aggregate, attraverso uno studio dettagliato della disuguaglianza basato sull’impiego di misure alternative e sul computo di alcune scomposizioni dei più noti indici. Il primo capitolo propone una rassegna dei più significativi contributi della letteratura, sia teorica che empirica, ponendo particolare attenzione ai meccanismi attraverso cui la disuguaglianza può avere effetti sulla crescita. Il secondo capitolo presenta la stima di un modello di crescita per un panel di Paesi OCSE, ad alto reddito, utilizzando misure alternative di disuguaglianza calcolate a partire da un dataset di micro-dati armonizzati a livello internazionale. Inoltre, integrando la letteratura di riferimento, alcune scomposizioni dei più noti indici sono state calcolate, consentendo in tal modo uno studio approfondito della disuguaglianza tra gruppi di reddito e al loro interno. Tuttavia, le limitate dimensioni del panel esaminato non hanno consentito la valida applicazione degli stimatori preposti a stimare in modo consistente la regressione di crescita oggetto dell’analisi. Di conseguenza, nel terzo capitolo, il dataset è stato ampliato includendo ulteriori Paesi, ad alto, medio e basso reddito. Con riferimento al nuovo panel, tra le variabili di interesse - crescita e disuguaglianza - emerge l’evidenza di un’associazione non lineare. Il quarto capitolo, infine, assume una diversa prospettiva e mira a studiare gli impatti distributivi dello sviluppo finanziario, analizzando la possibile associazione tra credito al settore privato e disuguaglianza. In questo caso, obiettivo dell’analisi è valutare se l’impatto della variabile credito risulta omogeneo, o differisce invece, lungo la distribuzione del reddito. A tal fine, sono state utilizzate misure alternative di disuguaglianza, caratterizzate da una diversa sensibilità a trasferimenti di reddito che interessano parti diverse della distribuzione, o relative a vari gruppi di reddito.The research aims to empirically investigate the relationship between income distribution and some aggregate variables, by developing a detailed study of inequality through the assessment of alternative measures and the computation of some decompositions. In the first Chapter, the most influential contributions of the literature, both theoretical and empirical, have been reviewed, and the mechanisms through which inequality may affect growth have been highlighted and discussed. The second Chapter deals with the estimation of the relationship of interest in a panel of high-income, OECD countries, for which a rich set of inequality measures has been built using internationally harmonized microdata on income. In addition, some decompositions of the most commonly used inequality indexes have been computed, allowing a punctual study of the within- and the between-group inequality, thus adding to the reference empirical literature relying mostly on the Gini index. However, the limited number of available observations and the restricted dimension of the panel do not allow for a proper application to the reference growth model of those estimators controlling for both the heterogeneity and the endogeneity bias. As a consequence, in the third Chapter an extended dataset has been assembled, including high, middle and low-income countries, in order to check whether more robust results can be obtained. By estimating the reference model, evidence of non-linearities in the relationship between inequality and growth in fact emerges. Finally, the fourth Chapter reverses somehow the perspective and aims to focus on the distributional impact of financial development, by assessing the association between the credit to the private sector and inequality. The analysis points to understand, in particular, whether the effects of credit are homogeneous or rather differentiated along the income distribution

Over education and the great recession. The case of italian PH.D graduates

This paper evaluates the impact of the Great Recession on Ph.D over-education using data drawn from four annual cohorts of Ph.D graduates surveyed by the Italian National Institute of Statistics. Over-education is examined through the definitions of both over-skilling and over-qualification.The results show that over-skilling is positively associated with the Great Recession, whereas the relationship between the crisis and over-qualification is statistically significant only when the estimated model includes interaction terms for the crisis and jobs within academia or R&D-related sectors. More generally, working on research-based activities and study experience abroad are always significant drivers to overcome any kind of job mismatch. Conversely, being self-employed increases the risk of over-education, casting some doubts on the satisfactory additionality of Ph.D employment trajectories beyond academia and research. Finally, in contrast with previous results for graduates, we find that socio-demographic variables do not exert a significant influence on Ph.D over-education. Suggested Citatio

Analisi delle implicazioni dell'applicazione dell'emission trading scheme al trasporto aereo

Al fine di valutare il contributo che il settore del trasporto aereo potrebbe offrire all’efficace perseguimento, su scala europea, degli obiettivi del Protocollo di Kyoto, il presente lavoro intende analizzare le caratteristiche del sistema di emissions trading e le implicazioni della sua futura estensione al settore del trasporto aereo. Il lavoro richiama le dinamiche che hanno informato il processo europeo di codecisione volto alla modifica della Direttiva ETS 2003/87/CE, per poi focalizzarsi sulla valutazione degli impatti che potranno prodursi, con specifico riferimento al quadro nazionale italiano, a seguito dell’applicazione del meccanismo agli operatori aerei. In particolare, si evidenziano le criticità associate al funzionamento del sistema, essenzialmente riconducibili alla necessità di conciliare il carattere internazionale dell’attività del trasporto aereo con il ruolo oggi assunto dagli Stati Membri quali effettivi garanti del rispetto degli obiettivi ambientali. Più specificamente, il lavoro si articola a partire dall’analisi dei criteri che sono stati individuati per l’attribuzione delle responsabilità di gestione del sistema ETS, sottolineando quegli elementi che, attraverso l’estensione all’aviazione, ne accresceranno il “carattere comunitario”, ridimensionando le competenze nazionali a favore di una maggior centralità delle istituzioni europee. Quindi, nell’intento di fornire un ordine di grandezza dei costi che l’estensione del sistema all’aviazione produrrà, si procede con la stima del contributo alle emissioni di gas serra prodotte dal trasporto aereo italiano, esaminandone le peculiarità a partire dall’osservazione e dall’analisi diretta di singoli dati specifici del settore

An Analysis of the Determinants of Over-Education Among Italian Ph.D Graduates

The paper examines the determinants of over-education among Italian Ph.D graduates drawn from the four cohorts 2004, 2006, 2008, 2010 surveyed by the Italian National Institute of Statistics (ISTAT). We study over-education through the definitions of over-skilling, over-qualification and a combination of the two phenomena (genuine over-education). The analysis spans the years 2004–2014 allowing us to investigate job education mismatch before and during the severe economic crisis. The results show that socio-demographic variables do not exert a relevant influence on Ph.D graduates’ over-education contradicting what the empirical literature has found for college graduates. More than socio-demographic variables, those variables related to the doctoral educational path turn out to be positively strategic for the outcome in the labor market. In particular, an experience abroad is always a positive driver to overcome any kind of job mismatch. Similarly, job related characteristics are also relevant determinants of over-education with jobs within the academia or the research sector more often associated with successful labor matching. Conversely, accessing jobs via informal channels or working as self-employed increases the risk of over-education. The investigation of the effect of the recent economic crisis emphasizes how the recession makes the labor market more selective with Ph.D and job-related variables, worsening the risk of incurring in job-education mismatch. Finally, we discuss some policy implications in the light of the empirical findings of our analysis