Nudging gender desegregation: a field experiment on the causal effect of information barriers on gender inequalities in higher education

In this article, we propose and test a novel explanation for gender segregation in Higher Education that focuses on the misperceptions of economic returns to fields of study. We frame this explanation within the literature emphasizing the role of gender-stereotypical preferences and occupational plans, and we argue that counselling activities in school can play a crucial role in either reinforcing or countering the weight of these expressive mechanisms relative to more instrumental considerations involving occupational prospects of different fields. In particular, we suggest that the availability of reliable, ready-to-use information on these prospects enhances the probability that students, particularly females, opt for more rewarding fields. To test this argument, we present the results of a field experiment conducted in Italy that confronted high school seniors with detailed information concerning returns to tertiary education and field of study differentials, and we assess how girls and boys reacted to this counselling intervention

Gender, information barriers and fields of study choice: a field experiment

In this article we propose and test a novel explanation for the segregation of wom-en in less rewarding fields of study in tertiary education that focuses on the lack of knowledge of the profitability of different fields, a mechanism that has arguably received limited attention in previous research. We frame this explanation in the context of research that emphasizes the role of gender-stereotypical curricular preferences and occupational plans for gender differences across fields, and we argue that school counseling can play a crucial role in either reinforcing or counter-ing these mechanisms by providing students with transparent information about returns to educational investments. To test this hypothesis we carried out a field experiment which confronted a random sample of over 9000 Italian high school seniors with detailed information concerning the profitability of fields of study and the vocational alternatives to college. Contrary to the claim that girls are less ca-reer-oriented than boys, we found that the former were much more reactive to this information initiative. Indeed, this intervention substantially improved the occupa-tional prospects of the girls by reducing their overrepresentation in weak fields and by enhancing their participation in vocational HE as an alternative to leaving the educational system after high school graduation. These findings support the hy-pothesis that information barriers fuel gender inequality in educational choices and suggest that light-touch, cost-effective counseling interventions that provide all students with the same information can have significant gender-equalizing effects

How do freshwater organisms cross the “dry ocean”? A review on passive dispersal and colonization processes with a special focus on temporary ponds

Lakes and ponds are scattered on Earth’s surface as islands in the ocean. The organisms inhabiting these ecosystems have thus developed strategies to pass the barrier represented by the surrounding land, disperse and colonise new environments. The evidences of a high potential for passive long-range dispersal of organisms producing resting stages inspired the idea that there were no real barriers to their actual dispersal, and that their distribution was only limited by the ecological characteristics of the available habitats. The development of genetic techniques allowed to criticise this view and revealed the existence of a more complex and diverse biological scenario governed by an assortment of historical and ecological factors. In this paper we review the literature related to the passive dispersal of organisms producing resting stages among inland lentic ecosystems, with special emphasis to temporary ponds, which represent “isolated” ecosystems both in space and in time, and are characterised by high levels of biological diversity. The existence of a sharp decoupling between “dispersal potential” and “actual establishment rates” is stressed, thus urging a definitive overcome of the so-called “Everything is Everywhere” hypothesis in order to gain a proper understanding of the biogeography and ecology of inland-water organisms

Tuning of dye optical properties by environmental effects: a QM/MM and experimental study

The present work is aimed to a deeper investigation of two recently synthesized heteroaromatic fluorophores by means of a computational multilayer approach, integrating quantum mechanics (QM) and molecular mechanics (MM). In particular, dispersion of the title dyes in a polymer matrix is studied in connection with potential applications as photoactive species in luminescent solar concentrators (LSCs). Molecular dynamics simulations, based on accurate QM-derived force fields, reveal increased stiffness of these organic dyes when going from CHCl3 solution to polymer matrix. QM/MM computations of UV spectra for snapshots extracted from MD simulations show that this different flexibility permits to explain the different spectral shapes obtained experimentally for the two different environments. Moreover, the general spectroscopic trends are well reproduced by static computations employing a polarizable continuum description of environmental effects

Shared Book Reading Interventions and Children's Skills

Over the past two decades, a growing number of randomised controlled trials have assessed the impact on children's language skills of interventions encouraging parents to read books to their children. We present the results of a meta-analysis of the impact of 30 such interventions. Results indicate that they are often ineffective, and that only one specific methodology (dialogic reading), displays systematically positive impacts. Moreover, effective interventions display weaker impacts on low-socioeconomic groups, thus raising equity issues, and on younger children. Our systematic analysis of the research designs of these studies points at three major weaknesses. First, only short-term outcomes are measured, most often within six months after the conclusion of the intervention, and even within such a narrow time window, we find indications that treatment impacts fade out. A second limitation concerns the limited range of outcomes measured (receptive or expressive vocabulary). Finally these studies display low external validity (ad hoc sampling, small sample sizes, lack of multi-site experiments, scant evidence outside Anglo-saxon countries)

Toward the design of alkynylimidazole fluorophores: computational and experimental characterization of spectroscopic features in solution and in poly(methyl methacrylate)

The possibilities offered by organic fluorophores in the preparation of advanced plastic materials have been increased by designing novel alkynylimidazole dyes, featuring different push and pull groups. This new family of fluorescent dyes was synthesized by means of a one-pot sequential bromination–alkynylation of the heteroaromatic core, and their optical properties were investigated in tetrahydrofuran and in poly(methyl methacrylate). An efficient in silico pre-screening scheme was devised as consisting of a step-by-step procedure employing computational methodologies by simulation of electronic spectra within simple vertical energy and more sophisticated vibronic approaches. Such an approach was also extended to efficiently simulate one-photon absorption and emission spectra of the dyes in the polymer environment for their potential application in luminescent solar concentrators. Besides the specific applications of this novel material, the integration of computational and experimental techniques reported here provides an efficient protocol that can be applied to make a selection among similar dye candidates, which constitute the essential responsive part of those fluorescent plastic materials

Translationally controlled tumor protein in prostatic adenocarcinoma: correlation with tumor grading and treatment-related changes

12Prostate cancer is the second leading cause of cancer-related death. The androgen deprivation therapy is the standard treatment for advanced stages. Unfortunately, virtually all tumors become resistant to androgen withdrawal. The progression to castration-resistance is not fully understood, although a recent paper has suggested translationally controlled tumor protein to be implicated in the process. The present study was designed to investigate the role of this protein in prostate cancer, focusing on the correlation between its expression level with tumor differentiation and response to treatment. We retrieved 292 prostatic cancer specimens; of these 153 had been treated only by radical prostatectomy and 139 had undergone radical prostatectomy after neoadjuvant treatment with combined androgen blockade therapy. Non-neoplastic controls were represented by 102 prostatic peripheral zone specimens. In untreated patients, the expression of the protein, evaluated by RT-qPCR and immunohistochemistry, was significantly higher in tumor specimens than in non-neoplastic control, increasing as Gleason pattern and score progressed. In treated prostates, the staining was correlated with the response to treatment. An association between protein expression and the main clinicopathological factors involved in prostate cancer aggressiveness was identified. These findings suggest that the protein may be a promising prognostic factor and a target for therapy.openopenRocca, Bruno Jim; Ginori, Alessandro; Barone, Aurora; Calandra, Calogera; Crivelli, Filippo; De Falco, Giulia; Gazaneo, Sara; Tripodi, Sergio; Cevenini, Gabriele; Del Vecchio, Maria Teresa; Ambrosio, Maria Raffaella; Tosi, PieroRocca, BRUNO JIM; Ginori, Alessandro; Barone, Aurora; Calandra, Calogera; Crivelli, Filippo; DE FALCO, Giulia; Gazaneo, Sara; Tripodi, Sergio; Cevenini, Gabriele; DEL VECCHIO, MARIA TERESA; Ambrosio, MARIA RAFFAELLA; Tosi, Pier

Clinical correlates of "pure" essential tremor: the TITAN study

BackgroundTo date, there are no large studies delineating the clinical correlates of "pure" essential tremor (ET) according to its new definition.MethodsFrom the ITAlian tremor Network (TITAN) database, we extracted data from patients with a diagnosis of "pure" ET and excluded those with other tremor classifications, including ET-plus, focal, and task-specific tremor, which were formerly considered parts of the ET spectrum.ResultsOut of 653 subjects recruited in the TITAN study by January 2022, the data of 208 (31.8%) "pure" ET patients (86M/122F) were analyzed. The distribution of age at onset was found to be bimodal. The proportion of familial cases by the age-at-onset class of 20 years showed significant differences, with sporadic cases representing the large majority of the class with an age at onset above 60 years. Patients with a positive family history of tremor had a younger onset and were more likely to have leg involvement than sporadic patients despite a similar disease duration. Early-onset and late-onset cases were different in terms of tremor distribution at onset and tremor severity, likely as a function of longer disease duration, yet without differences in terms of quality of life, which suggests a relatively benign progression. Treatment patterns and outcomes revealed that up to 40% of the sample was unsatisfied with the current pharmacological options.DiscussionThe findings reported in the study provide new insights, especially with regard to a possible inversed sex distribution, and to the genetic backgrounds of "pure" ET, given that familial cases were evenly distributed across age-at-onset classes of 20 years. Deep clinical profiling of "pure" ET, for instance, according to age at onset, might increase the clinical value of this syndrome in identifying pathogenetic hypotheses and therapeutic strategies