Age and Gender-related Variations of Molecular and Phenotypic Parameters in A Cohort of Sicilian Population: from Young to Centenarians

People are living longer, but lifespan increase does not coincide with a boost in health-span. Thus, improving the quality of life of older people is a priority. Centenarians reach extreme longevity in a relatively good health status, escaping or delaying fatal or strongly invalidating diseases. Therefore, studying processes involved in longevity is important to explain the biological mechanisms of health and well-being, since knowledge born from this approach can provide valuable information on how to slow aging. We performed the present study in a well characterized very homogeneous sample of 173 people from Western Sicily, to update existing literature on some phenotypic aspects of aging…

DISUGUAGLIANZE DI REDDITO NELLE AREE URBANE: QUANTO CONTA LA CASA?

Evaluation of the vibrations transmitted to the hand-arm system in the use of portable harvesters for olives

The use of portable harvesters in olives harvesting is presently widely diffused in Sicily, south Italy, both to reduce the costs of production and to assure the olive oil quality. Nevertheless, it's well known that the use of such tools may involve risk of exposure to vibration transmitted to the hand-arm system which is a potential cause of muscular/skeletal pains, and specific pathologies such as Hand-Arm Vibration Syndrome (HAVS), Vibration-Induced White Finger (VWF) and Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS). The aim of this study was to assess the level of exposure to vibration transmitted to the hand-arm system of the operators during the use of portable harvesters for olives. Two different co…

Self-Perceived Health, Objective Health, and Quality of Life among People Aged 50 and Over: Interrelationship among Health Indicators in Italy, Spain, and Greece

It is well known that self-perceived health (SPH), even if it is a subjective health indicator, is significantly associated with objective health and quality of life (QoL) in the general population. Whether it can be considered an indicator of cognitive functioning and quality of life in the elderly is still an open issue. This study used a data-driven approach to investigate the interrelationship among SPH, non-communicable diseases (NCDs), QoL, and cognitive functioning to answer this question. The study sample included information about 12,831 people living in Italy, Spain, and Greece, extracted from the Survey on Health, Aging, and Retirement in Europe, in the year 2015. The additive Ba…

Measures of Efficiency in the Environmental Context

Evaluating the effect of organization and context on technical efficiency: a second-stage DEA analysis of Italian hospitals

Objective: the purpose of this study was to compare the technical efficiency of Italian hospitals at a regional level and to examine if differences could be explained by organisational and contextual factors. Technical efficiency was defined as the ability of the operating units evaluated to use optimal resource levels for their level of output.Methods: the effect of external factors was explored through a second stage Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA). Efficiency scores were calculated for each hospital using the DEA method (Stage I). Through Tobit regression analysis, the estimated efficiency scores were regressed against a set of organisational and contextual characteristics beyond manager…

A Hierarchical Model for Analysing Consumption Patterns in Italy Before and During the Great Recession

The paper aims to explore how the Great Recession of the twenty-first century has impacted on the consumption behaviour of Italian households. Following a hierarchical approach, the study investigates differences in consumption behaviour at both household and regional levels. Using micro data on Italian Household Expenditure for the years 2002, 2006, 2010 and 2012, multilevel and two-step regression models have been estimated. The analysis has been performed for four different consumption categories: food, housing, work-related and leisure. The analysis reveals that the economic crisis led to increasing income elasticity for each category of consumption, especially for food, the most essent…

L'ACCESSO ALL'ABITAZIONE DI RESIDENZA: UN'ANALISI MULTILEVEL SULLE FAMIGLIE ITALIANE

Objectives. Income inequalities depend on a large range of components, which influence living conditions of private households. Not all these elements are strictly monetary, and non-monetary components sometimes can be even more important than monetary ones. While international literature has devoted considerable attention to the study of distribution, relevance and inequalities concerning monetary income, the same cannot be said for its non monetary components. Despite this lack of attention in the literature, non monetary components often influence dramatically living conditions of private households. One of the most important component of non-monetary income is imputed rents from owner-o…

Measuring sustainable economic development through a multidimensional Gini index

This paper analyses the evolution of sustainable economic development inequality in Italy as regards the efforts made by each administrative Region, as a response to the main EU policies issued by the environmental and energy sector. For this purpose a multidimensional generalization of the Gini index has been performed, taking into account two different dimensions (energy and environment), in a time frame of six years (2008-2013). The multidimensional Gini results confirm the positive effect recorded by certain EU policies in determining a reduction in the inequality levels among the Italian Regions. A counterfactual analysis further underlined the relevant role played by the energetic dim…

Statistical Advances in Epidemiology and Public Health

The key role of statistical modeling in epidemiology and public health is unquestionable [...]

The assessment of EU photovoltaic trend by using PCA and DEA techniques

Aim of this work is, firstly, to produce a synthetic indicator able to identify the main factors that allowed the Photovoltaic (“PV” since now) diffusion from 1996 (PV wide diffusion starting date) to 2010, in 14 selected countries (on the basis of the best performance at EU level, showed by the time series considered) and, secondly, we want to evaluate the technical efficiency of these countries in terms of efficient resources utilization and cost efficiency. For this scope a two steps analysis is performed. In the first step, by using the Principal Component Analysis (PCA) technique, we will identify specific weights of the variables considered for each year, and the roles (in terms of we…

Una stima dell’occupazione straniera per regione

Foreigners are a very important resource for Italy not only for the evolution of the Italian society (through for example the contribution they provide to the natural balance, with a fertility rate about twice that of Italian) but also for their important role in our labor market (see Istat, 2009). But when we want to measure the dimension of phenomenon and, through it, to determine significance levels of foreign presence in the territory, there is enormous difficulties in the collection of information. In this job to solve this problem we consider small area estimation methods. We use the continuous labor force survey conducted by ISTAT for the year 2008. Then to choose the best model we c…

The Question of Comparison of Health Care Units: A Critical review

Psicosomatica e ischemia cardiaca:correlazio ne tra eventi stressanti,meccanismi di dife sa,personalità e stili di vita.

Quality evaluation of grapes for mechanical harvest using vis NIR spectroscopy

Mechanical harvest of grapes is one of the operations that mostly influence the quality of the future wine. The shaking frequency of the harvesting machine is usually adjusted on the basis of the grape berry characteristics in order to limit grape juice production that is a potential cause of uncontrolled fermentations. These evaluations usually require time, personnel and laboratory analyses. The introduction of a vis NIR system to rapidly and reliably evaluate the berry properties in field before mechanical harvest could be a good alternative. The aim of this study was to evaluate the feasibility of applying vis NIR spectroscopy as a non-destructive technique on grapes cv. Syrah and Chard…

Closed tank pneumatic press application to improve Sauvignon Blanc wine quality and nutraceutical properties

The machines used in the winemaking process directly affect the quality of wine and its nutraceutical properties. Grapes-pressing is a very important step in winemaking as it may promote the presence and/or absence of enzymatic processes on the must, leading to the creation of different products in terms of chemical composition, starting from the same grapes. The aim of the study was to compare two different pressing systems of Sauvignon Blanc grapes using an innovative pneumatic discontinuous closed tank press in two operating modes: the traditional pressing mode in presence of oxygen and the inert pressing mode, performed through grapes pressing under inert gas with nitrogen recovery. Che…

Consumption Patterns and Family Life-Cycle. Some Evidence from Italy

As a social and economic entity the family is changing continuously. Changes in family size and composition have significant effects on the family decision making process. The Italian context is an interesting subject for research as a result of the impact of demographic and economic changes in the early 2000s on new family structures and economic behaviour. Furthermore, in Italy in contrast to the past, both men and women are aiming for job security and satisfaction before marrying and starting a family. In the light of that, it is particularly interesting to investigate if consumption behaviour changes along the life cycle stages. Considering different family life stages enables us to exp…

Ischemia Cardiaca e Psicosomatica: ruolo di eventi stressanti e stili di vita

Objective: the aim of our study was to evaluate the role of stressful events, lifestyles and various socio-environmental factors in the beginning of ischemic cardiac diseases, together with cardiovascular factors. Materials and methods: 64 patients with recent cardiac ischemia and 64 controls matched 1:1, according to their sex and age, have been evaluated. The study required the filling in of clinico-anamnestic reports and the evaluation of stressful events, using the Holmes Rahe scale. Results: in the 44% of the patients who had a heart ischemia, an emotional striking event occurred few day before, with a 28% incidence of work and family problems. The mean score of the Holmes Social Readj…

La dimensione spaziale nella relazione tra cambiamento della popolazione e demografia di impresa

A New Wireless Device for Real-Time Mechanical Impact Evaluation in a Citrus Packing Line

Abstract. Postharvest handling of fresh fruit is a potential source of bruising and damage, with significant consequences for fruit quality and marketability. In the last 30 years, different types of impact-recording devices (also called electronic fruits or pseudo-fruits) have been developed with the aim of measuring the impacts experienced by fruits during postharvest operations. The aim of this study was to develop and test a novel wireless instrumented sphere to study the critical points in a citrus packing line by measuring the impacts experienced by fruits in real-time. The non-commercial device was based on a MEMS (micro-electro-mechanical system) sensor node with a sensing range fro…

Household Determinant of Health in Italy: a Gender Analysis

Interpreting the decomposition of gender earnings gap

In this paper we discuss a decomposition of the gender monthly earnings differential into three components: the first is due to differences in individual characteristics, the second is due to discrimination and the last to the differential in hours worked. The Oaxaca-Blinder hourly wage decomposition is perfectly integrated into the decomposition of the monthly earnings gap. In order to evaluate the effects of this components on the monthly earnings gap, we calculate counterfactual earnings gaps, estimating what would happen if various aspects relating to the two genders were equal (for example, educational level), and then we compare these with the empirical earnings gap. The aim of the co…

miR-126-3p and miR-21-5p as Hallmarks of Bio-Positive Ageing; Correlation Analysis and Machine Learning Prediction in Young to Ultra-Centenarian Sicilian Population

Human ageing can be characterized by a profile of circulating microRNAs (miRNAs), which are potentially predictors of biological age. They can be used as a biomarker of risk for age-related inflammatory outcomes, and senescent endothelial cells (ECs) have emerged as a possible source of circulating miRNAs. In this paper, a panel of four circulating miRNAs including miR-146a-5p, miR-126-3p, miR-21-5p, and miR-181a-5p, involved in several pathways related to inflammation, and ECs senescence that seem to be characteristic of the healthy ageing phenotype. The circulating levels of these miRNAs were determined in 78 healthy subjects aged between 22 to 111 years. Contextually, extracellular miR-1…

The photovoltaic growth in the European Union requires stronger RES support

Since the adoption of the EU Directive, 2001/77/EC, the production of electricity from renewable energy sources has progressed. Apart from the indicative target proposed by the Directive, actually no other tools of policy monitoring exist. To fill this gap, we propose a dynamic method able to capture this multidimensional phenomenon, providing an assessment tool to measure the technical efficiency performances of EU countries in the photovoltaic sector (1996–2010). Results show how technical efficiencies of countries are, from one hand, due to problems belonging to the economic and political contexts in which they operate, on the other hand driven by specific political support schemes adopt…

Demographic change, new business formation and spatial concentration of population

This paper investigates the role of urbanization in the relation between population change and new business formation. The hypothesis of research is that population change significantly influences new business formation only in regions at lower urbanization. This hypothesis is based on the idea that local demand and growing population are significant determinants of new business formation only for rural regions. Using Italian data, we find evidence in support of this hypothesis. Moreover, we find that evidence of spatial dependence in the relation between population change, new business formation and urbanization.

The effect of support schemes on Photovoltaic installed capacity in Europe: a WDEA-STATIS analysis

The European Union (EU) has been committed to promoting Renewable Energy Sources (RES) since 1985, focusing its attention on the financial coordination needed to support the sector, and the possibility of harmonizing support scheme systems. Starting from this assumption, the aim of this study is to provide, by means of STATIS together with windows DEA analysis, a response about which kind of support schemes have worked best in a sample of 11 EU Member States over the last 15 years in terms of Photovoltaic overall installed capacity, the most expensive RES technology.

Risk exposure to vibration and noise in the use of agricultural track-laying tractors.

Human exposure to mechanical vibration may represent a significant risk factor for exposed workers in the agricultural sector. Also, noise in agriculture is one of the risk factors to be taken into account in the evaluation of workers’ health and safety. One of the major sources of discomfort for the workers operating a tractors is the noise to which they are exposed during work. The aim of this study was to evaluate the risk of exposure to whole-body vibration for the operator driving track-laying tractors in vineyard orchard and the noise level. The experimental tests were performed with six different track-laying tractors coupled with the same rototilling machine. The results showed that…

La dimensione spaziale nella relazione tra cambiamento della popolazione e formazione di nuove imprese

Questo contributo analizza la relazione tra cambiamento della popolazione e formazione di nuove imprese con particolare attenzione al ruolo dello spazio. Viene infatti, da un lato, analizzata l'influenza della concentrazione spaziale della popolazione rispetto la relazione di interesse, dall'altro, viene utilizzata una specificazione econometrica che tenga conto della correlazione spaziale presente nei dati. Lo studio condotto sulle province italiane per il periodo 2004/2007, mette in luce alcuni aspetti degni di nota. Tra questi, è di particolare interesse l'evidenza che nelle province con maggiore ritorno, in termini di natalità delle imprese, da un incremento della popolazione sono quell…

Un'analisi delle Differenze di Genere nel Mercato del Lavoro in Italia

Crescita Economica e Condizione Femminile

IS FAMILY HEALTH DETERMINANT? A GENDER-SPECIFIC MULTILEVEL ANALYSIS IN ITALY

Background: The traditional model of the ltalian family, the married couple with children, is suffering a declining trend and many other family types are imposing. The aim of this paper is (i) to assess the role of family structure as determinant of perceived health and (ii) to investigate the existence of a geographical gradient of health. Methods: The study is based on data taken from the 2004 EU-SILC survey of Eurostat and regards people living in ltaly, aged 25 years and over. Results: Living alone or in an extended family with-out children is perceived an adverse health determinant for both sexes. Living in a traditional family with two children is protective for women health. The nort…

An Innovative Malaxer Equipped with SCADA Platform for Improving Extra Virgin Olive Oil Quality

Agriculture 4.0 is gaining more attention, and all companies are thinking about innovating machines to increase income and improve the quality of the final products. In the agro-food sector, there is space for innovation, as it is far behind the industrial sector. This paper reports an industrial-scale study on the application of an innovative system for the extraction of Sicilian EVOO (extra virgin olive oil) to improve both process management and the quality of the product. Based on previous studies, the authors suggested an innovative machine equipped with a SCADA (supervisory control and data acquisition system) for oxygen and process duration monitoring and control. The objective of th…

Acceleration Assessment During Mechanical Harvest of Grapes Using a non Commercial Instrumented Sphere

The use of the harvesting machine for grape wine has the limit of the production of must coming out from the detachment of the berries that could reflect negatively on the quality of the final product. It depends on many factors including grapes variety, ripeness and frequency of the harvesting machine shakers. The shaking frequency generally adopted is the one that achieves the maximum harvest efficiency, that means high work capacity and low grape juice production. In this paper, the authors present a new system to measure the accelerations received by grapevine during mechanical harvest with the aim of evaluating the influence of the shaking frequency on the quality of the must obtained.…

uality Evaluation of “Tardivo di Ciaculli” Mandarins in Post-Harvest Processing on an Industrial Scale Using a Portable Vis/NIR Device

Abstract. Vis/NIR technology is widely used today to quickly and non-destructively evaluate fruit and vegetable qualities, and many applications have been found since the 1990s. However, no industrial-scale applications can further consolidate the use of non-destructive techniques in post-harvest processing. This study aims to test the possibility of applying vis/NIR technology in a modern citrus-processing plant to assess the damage that the fruits eventually suffer when they are processed on an industrial scale and the evolution of their key quality parameters in a period of 10 days after harvest. The spectral acquisitions were performed using a portable vis/NIR device, which operated in …

Regional consumption patterns in Italy: a Multilevel Approach

Consumption Behaviour Across Regions: a Multilevel Approach.

Regional Inequalities in Consumption Patterns: A Multilevel Approach to the Case of Italy

Summary The main aim of this paper is to evaluate the disparities in the Italian regions on the demand side. In more detail, an attempt will be made to find if the consumption behaviour of Italian households is different in the regions. With this in mind, Istat's 2000 Italian Family Budget data set was analysed. The data in question, which were collected through a two-stage sample over Italy's 20 regions, contains information regarding the expenses of approximately 23,000 households. In this analysis, both households and regions are considered as units: households are nested in the regions so that the basic data structure is hierarchical. In order to take this hierarchical structure into ac…

European Union commitment towards RES market penetration: From the first legislative acts to the publication of the recent guidelines on State aid 2014/2020

Abstract During the last three decades, the European Union (EU) commitment towards the Renewable Energy Sources (RES) market penetration has been very complex, involving several aspects pertaining to the economic and political action of Member States. This paper seeks to overview the historical development of the legislative EU framework, including a description of the main financial programmes established and managed by the EU Directorates General. Moreover, the work will proceed with the picture of some Investment Funds, ad hoc created for RES undertakings, and managed by the European Investment Bank (EIB) in collaboration with the EU or other foreign Bank Institutes. The delicate matter …

Women, Health and Employment: a Propensity Score Analysis in Italy

Socioeconomic inequality in non-communicable diseases in Europe between 2004 and 2015: evidence from the SHARE survey

Background The scope of this work was to investigate socioeconomic inequalities among European adults aged 50 or older in chronic diseases and behavioural risk factors for these diseases, namely, smoking habits, obesity and physical inactivity, between 2004 and 2015. Methods Data for this study were drawn from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement (SHARE) in Europe, which is a panel database of microdata on health, socioeconomic status and social and family networks of people aged 50 years or older, covering most of the European Union. The predicted number of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) was used to estimate the concentration index and to find the contributions of determinants to …

Lifestyle medicine and psychological well-being toward health promotion: a cross-sectional study on Palermo (Southern Italy) undergraduates

(1) Aim: To assess the attitude toward Lifestyle Medicine and healthy behaviours among students in the healthcare area and to demonstrate its association to psychological well-being

RENDITE IMPUTATE E DISUAGUAGLIANZE DEI REDDITI:UN’ANALISI EMPIRICA SULLE FAMIGLIE ITALIANE

Le condizioni di vita delle famiglie vengono generalmente influenzate da una molteplicità di fattori non tutti rigorosamente monetari, ma che possono esercitare ugualmente un effetto rilevante sul livello di benessere. Mentre la letteratura internazionale si è più volte interrogata sull’impatto delle componenti monetarie del reddito sulle disuguaglianze di reddito, lo stesso non può dirsi per le componenti non monetarie. Obiettivo principale di questo lavoro è valutare l’impatto dei vantaggi in termini di componenti di reddito non monetarie (imputed rent), di cui godono le famiglie che abitano in una casa di proprietà per il fatto che non sono tenute a pagarne l’affitto. In particolare, si …

Family structure is health determinant: a multilevel analysis in Italy

Demographic aspects of aging

Abstract Population aging is occurring in almost all developed countries, albeit with differences in timing and intensity. This unprecedented phenomenon is evident not only in the change in the population age structure, but also in the impressive increase in the average length of life. After describing past, current, and future population trends, this contribution presents theories explaining the reasons for this long-term process that is completely reshaping the age structure of the population. It also describes the inequalities in aging (focusing in particular on the differences by gender, education, and cause of death) and introduces some measures of the individual health and economic co…

A spatial analysis of new business formation: Replicative vs innovative behaviour

Abstract Using spatial econometric tools, the paper examines the spatial structure of new business formation of Italian regions during the period 2004–2007. In particular, the study empirically investigates whether new business formation in a given geographical area may be explained in terms of replicative and/or innovative entrepreneurial behaviour in each area as well as in the neighbouring areas. Additionally, the analysis focuses on the influence of urbanization on the birth of new firms. From the estimation of a Spatial Durbin Model, we find a significant degree of spatial dependence among Italian regions not only in new business formation but also in some of its determinants. We also …

Heart ischemia and psychosomatics: the role of stressful events and lifestyles

Objective: the aim of our study was to evaluate the role of stressful events, lifestyles and various socio-environmental factors in the beginning of ischemic cardiac diseases, together with cardiovascular factors. Materials and methods: 64 patients with recent cardiac ischemia and 64 controls matched 1:1, according to their sex and age, have been evaluated. The study required the filling in of clinico-anamnestic reports and the evaluation of stressful events, using the Holmes Rahe scale. Results: in the 44% of the patients who had a heart ischemia, an emotional striking event occurred few days before, with a 28% incidence of work and family problems. The mean score of the Holmes Rahe Social…