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21/10/2022 ---- 27/10/2022

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27.10.2022
THEME: ENVIRONMENT

The habit of nose-picking is common in primates and the cause may be evolutionary

Nose-picking is a common behavior in humans, often avoided in public since generally considered rude, “low class”, or even repugnant. Probably for the same reason, it is a behavior that remains poorly understood and studied even in animals. But not for the zoologist Anne-Claire Fabre of the University of Bern, who recently published a paper in the Journal of Zoology reporting noise picking in the lemur species aye-aye. In the same article, she also reviews the presence of this habit in various primate species, showing that it is present in at least 12 species. In the aye-aye lemur - whose characteristic is an extremely long, skinny, and mobile middle finger - accurate imaging shows that the insertion depth during the gesture reaches the pharynx. Since so many primates - many humans included - would utilize their fingers to collect and ingest nasal mucus, the scientists suspect that the behavior may have evolved for selective reasons such as, for instance, a sanitary or even a medical advantage. More studies will be needed to demonstrate any of such advantages. However, nose-picking is possible only in those species - like primates - that have fine manipulative skills, and therefore are sufficiently evolved. Some primates even use utensils to collect mucus from the nose. Once more, nature offers an unparalleled source of information, crucial to understand even those behaviors that pass unseen in our quotidian life. Biodiversity is the only mirror we have for transcending the social paradigms, observing the animal features that we all share, and understanding their importance.

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25.10.2022
THEME: HEALTH

Two respiratory viruses - RSV and Influenza - can fuse together to form a more potent hybrid virus

Each year, about 5 million people are hospitalized with influenza A worldwide. Another common virus, the Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV), is the leading cause of acute infections of the lower respiratory tract in children under five years old. It can spread to the lower respiratory tract, causing pneumonia or bronchiolitis - an inflammation of the small airway passages entering the lungs. Although co-infection is common, it was still unclear how these viruses would respond if they are together in the same cell. A recent study published in Nature Microbiology - led by Prof. Pablo Murcia from the University of Glasgow - showed that the two viruses, rather than competing with one another, can fuse to form a hybrid virus: a more potent and new type of pathogen. Whereas influenza usually infects cells in the nose, RSV tends to go lower down into the respiratory tract reaching the lung cells. The possibility of forming a hybrid may increase the chances of triggering severe lung infections. The study has shown that once formed, the hybrid can infect neighboring cells even in presence of neutralizing antibodies against influenza - which would normally block the infection. A likely explanation is that, although the antibodies still attack the hybrid’s surface, the RSV viral proteins are used as a Trojan horse to resist the attack and penetrate the cells. It is the very first time that such cooperation between two common respiratory viruses has been observed. Researchers believe that these findings could explain why co-infections can lead to significantly worse diseases in some patients, including hard-to-treat viral pneumonia.

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24.10.2022
THEME: POLITICS

A week of records for UK politics: Liz Tuss marks the shortest mandate in history and Rishi Sunak is named Prime Minister

Today Rishi Sunak was named leader of the UK Conservative party and will consequently become the country's next prime minister (in the UK the leader of the majority party is automatically prime minister as well). Sunak's appointment came after British Prime Minister Liz Truss resigned last week, just six weeks into her mandate, after losing the party support mainly due to the serious financial crisis caused by her tax reform. Sunak is 42 years old and is the first non-white person to be named UK Prime Minister. He was born in Southampton, England, where his parents had emigrated from Africa: his father was born in Kenya, and his mother in Tanzania, and both were of Indian descent. In his political career, Sunak was mainly Chancellor of the Exchequer (Minister of Economy) between 2020 and 2022, during the government of Boris Johnson. He is a graduate of Oxford University and also studied at Stanford, in the United States. He had previously worked for the major investment bank Goldman Sachs and entered politics in 2014, among the Conservatives. He is considered a pragmatic politician who belongs to the right wing of the party (in 2016 he voted in favor of Brexit). Sunak will formally take office in the next few hours, after receiving the post from King Charles III. With Miss Tuss’ resignation after only 6 weeks and Sunak’s election, the UK marks two unprecedented records in his political history.

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23.10.2022
THEME: POLITICS

Xi Jinping is confirmed for a third historical mandate

On October 23, after the 20th Communist Party National Congress, Xi Jinping was appointed as the party’s general secretary for another five years with a norm-breaking unprecedented third term. In his opening speech on October 16th, Xi reported the last five year’s successful results: achieving modernization, social stability, economic well-being, national security, solving corruption issues, advancing technology and science, and raising the attention to ecology. All achievements were due, in his words, to the principles of Marxism, which has guided the nation in the past and will continue to give political guidance in the future. In his intervention, Xi Jinping remarked that huge changes are expected in the next five years of the world economic order and that China will be the key country in the social and political international landscape. Referring to the West, he mentioned that “In pursuing modernization, China will not tread the old path of war, colonization, and plunder taken by some countries”. On the Taiwan issue, he made clear that “resolving the Taiwan question and realizing China's complete reunification is, for the Party, a historic mission and an unshakable commitment” and “the policies of peaceful reunification are the best way to realize reunification across the Taiwan Strait”. He added that the party “will continue to strive for peaceful reunification with the greatest sincerity and the utmost effort, but will never promise to renounce the use of force, and we reserve the option of taking all measures necessary”.

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21.10.2022
THEME: POLITICS

EU Council takes measures for Ukraine war and energy market crisis

While Russia continued striking energy infrastructure in Ukraine, the EU council met on October 20-21 to formulate decisions on several open issues including the Ukraine and energy crisis. The council expressed determination “to defend the sovereignty of Ukraine and rules-based international order”. It reiterated “that Russia bears the sole responsibility for the current energy and economic crises” and the “rejection of the illegal annexation by Russia of Ukraine’s Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson regions”. The EU will continue to support Ukraine, providing “political, military, and financial support” and it decides to “conduct an EU Military Assistance Mission in support of Ukraine”. The Council condemns the acts of sabotage against critical infrastructures, such as those against the Nord Stream pipelines, and urges nations to cooperate to enhance the resilience of critical infrastructure. To contain gas pricing, the EU decided to encourage joint purchasing and implement a temporary dynamic price cap on natural gas transactions, in particular to the gas used for electricity generation. This will establish a flexible range for gas prices, but more precise details will be known in the next two to three weeks. During the press conference after the council, French president Emmanuel Macron expressed the feeling that gas pricing is not only concerning Russia but the US too. In his words “American gas is 3-4 times cheaper on the domestic market than the price at which they offer it to Europeans. These are double standards", Macron said. According to him, this should become a topic for discussion, since "it concerns sincerity in transatlantic trade". The Council also discussed external relations and pointed to the need to hold strategic discussions with China in preparation for the EU-ASEAN Commemorative Summit on 14 December 2022. This will be an opportunity to further deepen the European Union’s Strategic Partnership with ASEAN.

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