Progettare, documentare e osservare all\u2019asilo nido: un\u2019esperienza con il software eNido

La ricerca si sviluppa sull\u2019analisi dell\u2019esperienza con il software eNido, in uso dall\u2019anno educativo 2012-2013 presso l\u2019Asilo nido \u201cle Coccole\u201d di Arzergrande in provincia di Pa- dova, in gestione alla Cooperativa sociale Cosep di Padova. L\u2019asilo nido \ue8 un servizio per la prima infanzia che non si limita pi\uf9 ad essere un servi- zio prettamente assistenziale; ma oggi la famiglia e la societ\ue0 attribuisce un importante compito educativo. I servizi per la prima infanzia sono arrivati oggi a riconoscere la centralit\ue0 e valorizzazione del bambino, in quanto soggetto attivo dell\u2019educazione. Tale concetto deve essere ricordato quando si progetta; gli educatori, infatti, sono chiamati a progettare, ossia creare contesti capaci di accogliere differenti ambiti, di integrare e dare senso alle diverse esperienze dei bambini. L\u2019educatore deve anche osservare e documentare, tenendo traccia di ci\uf2 che osserva e progettando possibili rilanci, evi- denziando l\u2019intento pedagogico e l\u2019azione educativa. Con l\u2019evoluzione delle tecnologie e del Web 2.0 si sono modificate le modalit\ue0 di condivisione, documentazione, progetta- zione e catalogazione delle esperienze. Ed \ue8 qui che si inserisce l\u2019analisi del software eNido, un programma web che automatizza le attivit\ue0 didattiche ed amministrative di un asilo nido e fornisce uno strumento di comunicazione con i genitori dei bambini iscritti. Si \ue8 cercato di rilevare se l\u2019utilizzo del software abbia aumentato il livello di competenza delle educatrici nelle aree della progettazione, osservazione e documenta- zione

Plant genetic resources and food security: Stakeholder perspectives on the international treaty on plant genetic resources for food and agriculture

The International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture is a pivotal piece of recent legislation, providing a route map for the use of such resources for sustainable agriculture and food security. This book explains clearly the different interests and views at stake between all players in the global food chain. It touches upon many issues such as international food governance and policy, economic aspects of food and seed trade, conservation and sustainable use of food and agricultural biodiversity, hunger alleviation, ecological concerns, consumers' protection, fairness and equity between nations and generations, plant breeding techniques and socio-economic benefits related to food local economies. The book shows that despite the conflicting interests at stake, players managed to come to an agreement on food and agriculture for the sake of food security and hunger alleviation in the world

Pincer versus Pseudo-Pincer: Isomerism in Palladium(II) Complexes bearing κ3C,S,C ligands

International audienceIn NHC pincer complexes incorporatig a hemilabile donor site, there exists an equilibrium between the true pincer form and a pseudopincer coordination isomer. The influence of the NHC moieties on this isomerism has been studied by DFT calculations

A role for TSPO in mitochondrial Ca2+ homeostasis and redox stress signaling

The 18 kDa translocator protein TSPO localizes on the outer mitochondrial membrane (OMM). Systematically overexpressed at sites of neuroinflammation it is adopted as a biomarker of brain conditions. TSPO inhibits the autophagic removal of mitochondria by limiting PARK2-mediated mitochondrial ubiquitination via a peri-organelle accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS). Here we describe that TSPO deregulates mitochondrial Ca2+ signaling leading to a parallel increase in the cytosolic Ca2+ pools that activate the Ca2+-dependent NADPH oxidase (NOX) thereby increasing ROS. The inhibition of mitochondrial Ca2+ uptake by TSPO is a consequence of the phosphorylation of the voltage-dependent anion channel (VDAC1) by the protein kinase A (PKA), which is recruited to the mitochondria, in complex with the Acyl-CoA binding domain containing 3 (ACBD3). Notably, the neurotransmitter glutamate, which contributes neuronal toxicity in age-dependent conditions, triggers this TSPO-dependent mechanism of cell signaling leading to cellular demise. TSPO is therefore proposed as a novel OMM-based pathway to control intracellular Ca2+ dynamics and redox transients in neuronal cytotoxicity

Bringing access and benefit sharing into the digital age

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policies or positions of their affiliated institutions. This work was supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation (#31003A_172977) and the Research Foundation (FWO) Flanders (grant n°12X8318N).Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Standard-model prediction for direct CP violation in K→ππK\to\pi\pi decay

We report the first lattice QCD calculation of the complex kaon decay amplitude $A_0$ with physical kinematics, using a $32^3\times 64$ lattice volume and a single lattice spacing $a$, with $1/a= 1.3784(68)$ GeV. We find Re$(A_0) = 4.66(1.00)(1.26) \times 10^{-7}$ GeV and Im$(A_0) = -1.90(1.23)(1.08) \times 10^{-11}$ GeV, where the first error is statistical and the second systematic. The first value is in approximate agreement with the experimental result: Re$(A_0) = 3.3201(18) \times 10^{-7}$ GeV while the second can be used to compute the direct CP violating ratio Re$(\varepsilon'/\varepsilon)=1.38(5.15)(4.59)\times 10^{-4}$, which is $2.1\sigma$ below the experimental value $16.6(2.3)\times 10^{-4}$. The real part of $A_0$ is CP conserving and serves as a test of our method while the result for Re$(\varepsilon'/\varepsilon)$ provides a new test of the standard-model theory of CP violation, one which can be made more accurate with increasing computer capability.Comment: 9 pages, 3 figures. Updated to match published versio

Image analysis to calibrate French Bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) pods

In order to control the characteristics of a variety, bean breeders have to calibrate pods. This calibration is manually realized, workers have to pass pods through a sieve with holes of different diameter in it, each hole corresponding to a caliber. Pods are weighted, and a repartition in the different calibers in weight is given. This calibration is very tedious, moreover, there is an inter and intra-variability between workers, and the number of characteristics measured is limited.  A new automatic method based on image analysis has been performed, it permits in a limited time, to extract and calculate different pods’ characteristics such as the length, the diameter and the curvature, it offers the possibility to conserve images that is helpful for the traceability of products, and it requires less labor than the actual system (manual ones). Moreover, a relation between surface of pods and weight has been found, allowing the program to give directly the repartition in the different caliber in weight.  An acquisition chain as been installed, composed of a mono CCD sensor camera, manually configured, with a backlight fluorescent system of 5000°K, a tripod and a computer. Images are taken in RAW format, which contrarily to the JPEG is not compressed and avoid edges effects.  Images are pre-processed in order to eliminate the noise and converted in binary images. Then algorithms principally based on morphological mathematics, are applied in order to calculate the different characteristics.  The validation of the program has been performed on more than 150 batches of different varieties of French and butter bean pods along 2008 and 2009.  In this presentation, the image analysis system is described, results obtained with the image analysis system are explained and compared to the manual system

Electromagnetic corrections to light hadron masses

At the precision reached in current lattice QCD calculations, electromagnetic effects are becoming numerically relevant. We will present preliminary results for electromagnetic corrections to light hadron masses, based on simulations in which a $\mathrm{U}(1)$ degree of freedom is superimposed on $N_f=2+1$ QCD configurations from the BMW collaboration.Comment: 7 pages, 2 figures, The XXVIII International Symposium on Lattice Field Theory, June 14-19,2010, Villasimius, Sardinia Ital

Experimental quantum tossing of a single coin

The cryptographic protocol of coin tossing consists of two parties, Alice and Bob, that do not trust each other, but want to generate a random bit. If the parties use a classical communication channel and have unlimited computational resources, one of them can always cheat perfectly. Here we analyze in detail how the performance of a quantum coin tossing experiment should be compared to classical protocols, taking into account the inevitable experimental imperfections. We then report an all-optical fiber experiment in which a single coin is tossed whose randomness is higher than achievable by any classical protocol and present some easily realisable cheating strategies by Alice and Bob.Comment: 13 page