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This paper presents a reform of the structure of the Italian personal income tax (IRPEF) which combines a plurality of objectives: Simplifying the tax and smoothing the curves of the tax rates; increasing the transparency and comprehensibility of the tax for the taxpayer; providing tax authorities with a tool that can be used for purposes of redistribution in a simple and effective way. A tax function radically different from the current one is proposed, moving from the progressivity by marginal tax rates/income brackets to a continuous average tax rate schedule. Specifically, the curve of the average tax rates is derived by imposing constant elasticity of the after-tax income (residual income progression) for a large range of taxable incomes. The paper presents some tentative simulations of the effects of this reform on tax yield and redistribution based on tax returns data in 2018.

Communicative functions and mind-mindedness in mother-child interactions at 16 months of age. Summary: The present study analyzed maternal child-directed-speech at 16 months of age, by taking into account five communicative functions (Tutorial, Didactic, Conversation, Control and Asynchronic) and the use of Appropriate and Non-Attuned comments referred to mental states (mind-mindedness). 26 child-mother dyads participated and were videotaped during a play session at home. The analyses showed that the Tutorial function was positively correlated with the frequency of appropriate mind-related comments, and the Asynchronic function was positively correlated with the non-attuned comments, but negatively correlated with the appropriate comments. These results suggest that maternal communicative acts intended to support children’s activities are also particularly sensitive to their mental states. Both the measures (communicative functions and mind-mindedness) are determinants of the responsive behaviors of the caregivers during the interaction with children. ___ Lo studio ha analizzato il linguaggio materno rivolto a bambini di 16 mesi di età, considerando l'utilizzo di cinque funzioni comunicative (Tutoriale, Didattica, Conversazione, Controllo e Asincronica) e di commenti Appropriati e Inappropriati in riferimento agli stati interni ("mind-mindedness"). Hanno partecipato 26 coppie madre-bambino osservate in ambiente familiare durante una seduta di gioco. Le analisi hanno evidenziato una correlazione positiva tra la funzione Tutoriale e i commenti Appropriati. Inoltre, la funzione Asincronica correla positivamente con i commenti Inappropriati, ma negativamente con i commenti Appropriati. Questi risultati mostrano come gli atti comunicativi prodotti dalla madre con lo scopo di sostenere l'attività del bambino tendano anche ad essere più sensibili a suoi stati interni. Ambedue le misure considerate (funzioni comunicative e "mind-mindedness") contribuiscono a delineare il comportamento responsivo dell'adulto nei confronti del bambino durante l'interazione.

Adults’ knowledge of child development has been investigated widely, while knowledge of the specific phenomenon of language development - typical and atypical- has been relatively overlooked. Especially, the role of external sources of communicative development has been rarely investigated. This work aims at ascertaining what lay people know about the role of adults’ linguistic input, and the effectiveness and type of rehabilitation interventions on children’s atypical language acquisition. Sixty adults were administered a semi-structured interview regarding typical development, atypical development and remedial interventions. Main results have already been reported (deFabritiis2010). Here it is detailed that only 58 % of respondents thought that adult linguistic input has an influence on children’s language. While considering therapies for language disorders, 44% adults mentioned specifically-language-related- interventions, 11% mood-related-interventions, 14% general cognitive stimulations, 0% “ book-reading” usefulness. Only 10 % of participants answered that optimal linguistic development is due to quality of language input, and 66% to general environmental stimulation, 0% to early reading books. As the resulting knowledge about adults’ linguistic input influence and professional interventions reveals distant from current scientific approach, the opportunity to disseminate better scientific information about language development and remedial intervention programmes is discussed (Girolametto et al., 2003).

Two novel alleles at the goat CSN1S2 locus have been identified: CSN1S2(F) and CSN1S2(D). Sequence analyses revealed that the CSN1S2(F) allele is characterized by a G --> A transition at the 13th nucleotide in exon 3 changing the seventh amino acid of the mature protein from Val to Ile. The CSN1S2(D) allele, apparently associated with a decreased synthesis of alpha s2-casein, is characterized by a 106-bp deletion, involving the last 11 bp of the exon 11 and the first 95 bp of the following intron. Methods (PCR-RFLP and PCR) for identification of carriers of these alleles have been developed.

The goat CSN1S2 locus is characterized by the presence of three alleles, A, B and C, all associated with about 2.5 g/l of protein per allele. The SDS±PAGE analysis of 441 individual milk samples obtained from goats belonging to a population reared in Southern Italy showed that the milk produced by three goats did not apparently contain as2-casein, whereas milk produced by 37 goats showed a less intense electrophoretic band of this casein fraction (about 50%). These results can be explained by hypothesizing the presence of another allele at this locus, CSN1S20, associated with a `null' content of as2-casein. Southern blot, PCR and PCR±RFLP analyses of the DNA region containing the CSN1S2 gene of individuals producing milk with and without as2-casein did not show differences between the two groups. As a consequence, goats producing milk without as2-casein carry an apparently intact gene. The ®rst results obtained by sequencing part of the CSN1S20 allele revealed a G®A transition at nucleotide 80 of the 11th exon which creates a stop codon and could be responsible for the absence of the as2-casein in goat milk. This mutation eliminates a NcoI restriction site. A test based on this polymorphism has been established in order to identify carriers of the CSN1S20 allele.

Electroforetic analysis by means of SDS-PAGE and UREA-PAGE of individual milk samples obtained from goat belonging to a population reared in the penisula sorrentina evidenced a novel allele, called CSN1S2D, apparently associated with a decreased synthesis rate of as2-casein. Such allele, whose frequency is 0.019, is characterized by a 105 bp deletion, involving the last 11 bp of 11th exon and the first 94 bp of the downstream intron.

individuazione e caratterizzazione di un allele nullo al locus codificante per la caseina as2 nella specie caprina

Previous research has emphasized the importance of gesture in early communicative development. These studies have reported that gestures are used frequently during the first two years of life and may play a transitional role in the language acquisition process. The aim of this study is to compare early word and gesture use in children with DS and in typically-developing children to investigate potential differences in the relationship between gestural and verbal communication in early language development. Ten children from upper-middle class families participated in the study. The five children with DS (3 boys and 2 girls) had an average chronological age of 47.6 months, an average mental age of 22.4 months, and an average language age of 18 months. Each child with DS was matched to a typically developing child on the basis of gender, language age, and observed expressive vocabulary size. Children were videotaped for 30 minutes as they interacted spontaneously with their mothers. All communicative and intelligible gestures and words produced by the children were transcribed from the videotapes. Data analyses focused on: a) overall production of gestures and words (i.e., gesture and word tokens); b) the size of children’s gestural and verbal repertoires (i.e., gesture and word types); and c) production and informational content of gesture-word combinations. Although children with DS had significantly smaller gestural repertoires than their language age-matched peers, there was no reliable difference between the two groups in the overall use of gesture. In addition, children with DS produced two-element combinations (primarily gesture-word combinations) and did so at a rate comparable to that observed among their TD counterparts. However, no two-word combinations were observed among children with DS, and there were also group differences in the information contained in children’s gesture-word combinations. Taken together, these findings suggest that in addition to the well-documented global delays in early communicative development, children with DS may exhibit additional pockets of delay, specifically in making the transition from one- to two-word speech. Results are further discussed in terms of their implications for understanding the organization of the developing gesture-language system and for the assessment of gesture in young children with communicative delays and disorders.

By means of PCR the DNA region spanning from the 17th to the 18th exon of the goat CSN1S2 gene was amplified. PCR products were digested with PstI endonuclease. Digestion products showed a triallelic polymorphism (A, B and C). The frequencies of A, B and C alleles in 155 goats of undefined type reared in Southern Italy were 0.31, 0.40 and 0.29, respectively

PCR primers, VQ5 and VQ14, were designed from regions. of goat as2-Cn cDNA sequence (GenBank accession no X65160)' corresponding to exons 17 and 18 of bovine as2-Cn gene (GenBank accession no. M943227).' The amplified DNA fragments revealed a polymorphism. Two alleles were observed: the A allele (showing a fragment of about 3300 bp) and the B allele (showing a fragment of about 3700 bp). Frequencies of the two alleles determined in 150 unrelated goats of undefined genetic type reared in Southern Italy were 0.6 (A) and 0.4 (B).

This study investigated COVID-19 preventive behaviors in young adults, exploring the predictive roles of health locus of control and pandemic fear. A sample of 188 Italian young adults (Mage = 22.76, SDage = 1.95; 85% girls) completed an anonymous online survey assessing preventive behaviors, health locus of control styles (i.e. internal, chance, powerful others), and two dimensions of pandemic fear. Fear for COVID-19 consequences—but not general fear for contagion—significantly predicted prevention behaviors, and it also moderated the relationships between each health locus of control style and preventive behaviors. Our findings have relevant implications for research and social policies.

The purpose of the current study was to verify whether mental state language (MSL), as derived from narrative and persuasive writings, impacted on pragmatic abilities. Seventy-five third-grade and 84 fifth-grade pupils were enrolled. The study involved two assessment time-points. At T1, narrative and persuasive writing tasks were administered, and MSL was obtained for the both kinds of the tasks. Three months later at T2, pragmatic abilities were evaluated. Results showed that MSL used in persuasive text predicted pragmatic ability only among the fifth graders, controlling for gender. These results were discussed through the lens of past investigations and new lines of research were suggested for educational context.

Background Maladaptive emotion regulation strategies are predictive of negative outcomes in adolescence which, in turn, may impact on later well-being. Objective The current study aimed at testing the moderating role of emotional self-efficacy on the relation between expressive suppression and the engagement in internalizing behavior, controlling for gender effect. Method A total of 526 adolescents (Mage = 14.7 years, age range = 14–17 years) filled out self-report questionnaires evaluating expressive suppression, emotional regulatory self-efficacy, and internalizing behavior, respectively. Results Suppressors with lower positive emotion self-efficacy were more likely to engage in internalizing behavior than suppressors with higher positive emotion self-efficacy. Conclusions Despite several limitations, the study provided preliminary insights on the role played by emotional self-efficacy in the relation between expressive suppression and internalizing behavior in middle adolescence.