Students' Evaluation of Teaching at a Large Italian University: Measurement Scale Validation

This paper aims to verify the measurement capacity of the tool for teaching assessment at the University of Padua (Italy). The study is part of a project of improvement of the academic educational innovation and the quality of academic teaching: an evaluative research approach allows, indeed, reflection on teaching practice useful to share problems and find common solutions. The focus of this work is on contents and characteristics of statistical validity and reliability of the instrument used at Padua University, in the online survey to measure students' opinion on didactic activities (first-cycle, second-cycle, and single-cycle degree courses)

Evaluating quality of the didactics at university: The opportunities offered by latent class modeling

Purpose Students\u2019 evaluation of teaching quality plays a major role in higher education. Satisfaction is not directly observable, nevertheless it can be measured through multi-item measurement scales. These instruments are extremely useful and their importance requires accurate development and validation procedures. The aim of this paper is showing how latent class analysis can improve the procedures for developing and validating a multi-item measurement scale for measuring students\u2019 evaluation of teaching and, at the same time, provides a deeper insight in the phenomenon under investigation. Design/Methodology/Approach The traditional literature highlights specific protocols along with statistical instruments to be used for achieving this goal. However, these tools are suited for metric variables but they are adopted even when the nature of the observed variables is different, as it often occurs, since in many cases the items are ordinal. Latent class analysis takes explicitly into account the ordinal nature of the variables and also the fact that the object of interest is unobservable. Findings The data refer to the questionnaire to evaluate didactics to the students of the University of Padua. Within Latent class analysis allows an insight of scale properties, such as dimensionality, validity and reliability. Moreover, results provide a deeper view in the way students use the scale to report satisfaction suggesting to revise the instrument according to the suggestion by the National Agency for University Evaluation. Originality The paper gives an original contribution on two sides. On the side of methods, it introduces a more accurate methodology for evaluating scales to measure students' satisfaction. On the side of applications, it provides important suggestions to the university management to improve the process of quality of the didactics evaluation

Students' evaluation of teaching at a large Italian university: validation of measurement scale

This paper aims at verifying the measurement capacity of a tool for teaching assessment at the University of Padova (Italy). The study is part of a project for improving academic educational innovations and the quality of academic teaching: an evaluative research approach thus allows reflection on useful teaching practices to share problems and find common solutions. This paper focuses on the contents and characteristics of statistical validity and the reliability of the tool used, in an online survey to measure students\u2019 opinions of teaching (first-cycle, second-cycle, and single-cycle degree courses)

Analysis of fracture behaviour in active materials for lithium ion batteries

Abstract Several strong points make lithium ion battery one of the most widespread energy storage system. Nevertheless, one of the biggest drawbacks is the progressive damage which affects active materials, and influences cycle life as well. The hosting process of lithium ions causes the rise of mechanical stress in active material, which ultimately leads to the propagation of micro-flaws already present in fresh material. Finally, the damage of active material and solid-electrolyte interphase growth caused by cracks propagation result in capacity drop. The distribution of Mode I stress intensity factor is calculated along the semi-elliptical crack front on the outer surface and in the core of a three-dimensional spherical active material particle. A 3D and 2D finite element method analysis is performed in ANSYS Mechanical APDL starting from the mechanical stress state in active material computed with the electrochemical-mechanical model presented in previous works. The model is built using collapsed singular elements along the crack front, the not-singular version of these elements is used to model the outlying region of the crack area. The dependence of stress intensity factor on geometry size is deepened to evaluate the most critical condition. Moreover, the influence of current rate on stress intensity factor is investigated, in order to identify a current threshold beyond stress intensity factor is greater than the toughness of active material, and cracks start to propagate

High-Dimensional ICA Analysis Detects Within-Network Functional Connectivity Damage of Default-Mode and Sensory-Motor Networks in Alzheimer’s Disease

High-dimensional independent component analysis (ICA), compared to low-dimensional ICA, allows to conduct a detailed parcellation of the resting-state networks. The purpose of this study was to give further insight into functional connectivity (FC) in Alzheimer's disease (AD) using high-dimensional ICA. For this reason, we performed both low- and high-dimensional ICA analyses of resting-state fMRI data of 20 healthy controls and 21 patients with AD, focusing on the primarily altered default-mode network (DMN) and exploring the sensory-motor network. As expected, results obtained at low dimensionality were in line with previous literature. Moreover, high-dimensional results allowed us to observe either the presence of within-network disconnections and FC damage confined to some of the resting-state subnetworks. Due to the higher sensitivity of the high-dimensional ICA analysis, our results suggest that high-dimensional decomposition in subnetworks is very promising to better localize FC alterations in AD and that FC damage is not confined to the DMN

A Novel Study and Meta-Analysis of the Genetic Variation of the Serotonin Transporter Promoter in the Italian Population Do Not Support a Large Effect on Alzheimer's Disease Risk

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disorder whose clinical onset is mainly characterized by memory loss. During AD progression, behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD) frequently occur. In this paper we evaluated the association between AD and the short/long (S/L) functional polymorphism of the promoter region of the 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) transporter gene (SLC6A4). The S-allele shows a 2-fold reduced transcriptional rate, causing an imbalance in 5-HT intracellular availability that might in turn trigger behavioral and cognitive alterations. We also genotyped the SLC6A4 promoter functional variant rs25531 (A → G). By comparing the genotypic and allelic frequencies in an Italian population of 235 AD and 207 controls, we found an association between 5-HTTLPR and AD (odds ratio for the L-allele versus the S-allele: 0.74, associated P value = .03), while no difference was found for the rs25531. A meta-analysis of studies in Italy assessing 5-HTTLPR and AD risk gave an estimation of odds ratio for the L-allele versus the S-allele of 0.85 (associated P value = .08). Overall, our findings are not supportive of a large genetic effect of the explored polymorphisms on AD risk

Photodynamic therapy for the eradication of biofilms formed by catheter associated Pseudomonas aeruginosa strains

Pseudomonas aeruginosa has emerged as a major opportunistic pathogen causing catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CA-UTIs) associated with high mortality and morbidity. In this study 18 P. aeruginosa isolates from urine of catheterized patients were evaluated for in vitro biofilm formation.All the tested strains showed the ability to form biofilm more thicker than those formed by a cohort of 29 blood culture strains belonging to the same species. Photodynamic antimicrobial chemotherapy (PACT) is a novel antimicrobial treatment that exploits a photosensitizer (PS) and visible light to induce lethal oxidative damages in bacterial cells and could be used as local antimicrobial approach in CA-UTIs. Here we tested the susceptibility of planktonic and sessile cultures of P. aeruginosa strains, the model strain PAO1 and CA-UTI isolates, to photodynamic inactivation with a di cationic porphyrinic photosensitizer, the 5, 15-di (N-benzyl-4-pyridynium)-porphyrin di chloride.Although Pseudomonas aeruginosa is regarded as a difficult target for antimicrobial chemotherapy, satisfactory bactericidal activities on both planktonic and biofilm cultures were observed

Effective artifact removal in resting state fMRI data improves detection of DMN functional connectivity alteration in Alzheimer's disease

Artifact removal from resting state fMRI data is an essential step for a better identification of the resting state networks and the evaluation of their functional connectivity (FC), especially in pathological conditions. There is growing interest in the development of cleaning procedures, especially those not requiring external recordings (data-driven), which are able to remove multiple sources of artifacts. It is important that only inter-subject variability due to the artifacts is removed, preserving the between-subject variability of interest\u2014crucial in clinical applications using clinical scanners to discriminate different pathologies and monitor their staging. In Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients, decreased FC is usually observed in the posterior cingulate cortex within the default mode network (DMN), and this is becoming a possible biomarker for AD. The aim of this study was to compare four different data-driven cleaning procedures (regression of motion parameters; regression of motion parameters, mean white matter and cerebrospinal fluid signal; FMRIB's ICA-based Xnoiseifier\u2014FIX\u2014cleanup with soft and aggressive options) on data acquired at 1.5 T. The approaches were compared using data from 20 elderly healthy subjects and 21 AD patients in a mild stage, in terms of their impact on within-group consistency in FC and ability to detect the typical FC alteration of the DMN in AD patients. Despite an increased within-group consistency across subjects after applying any of the cleaning approaches, only after cleaning with FIX the expected DMN FC alteration in AD was detectable. Our study validates the efficacy of artifact removal even in a relatively small clinical population, and supports the importance of cleaning fMRI data for sensitive detection of FC alterations in a clinical environment

Qualitative Immune Modulation by Interleukin-2 (IL-2) Adjuvant Therapy in Immunological Non Responder HIV-Infected Patients

BACKGROUND: Treatment of HIV-infected patients with interleukin-2 (IL-2) produces significant increases in CD4 T cell counts; however an associated qualitative improvement in cells function has yet to be conclusively demonstrated. By measuring mycobacterial killing activity, we evaluated IL-2-mediated functional immune enhancement ex vivo in immunological non-responders (INRs). METHODS AND FINDINGS: PBMC from 12 immunological non-responders (INRs) (CD4+<200/µl, HIV-RNA<50 cp/ml) on combination antiretroviral treatment (cART) were collected at baseline, and after 3 IL-2 cycles. Eight INRs receiving only cART were studied as controls. After 21 days of PBMC incubation with a virulent M. avium suspension, counts of residual colony forming units (CFUs) and concentrations of TNF-α, IL-10 and IFN-γ were determined. In IL-2 treated patients, a significant reduction in mean residual CFUs of PBMC cultures was observed (p<0.01). Moreover, following IL-2 treatment, significant increases in PBMC's IFNγ production (p = 0.02) and substantial reductions in IL-10 levels were observed. CONCLUSIONS: IL-2 therapy restores the ability of the lympho-monocyte system in eliciting an effective response against mycobacterial infections. Our data indicate the possibility of a clinical role held by IL-2 in enhancing the immune function of subjects unable to achieve immune competence through cART alone

Tuning PFKFB3 Bisphosphatase Activity Through Allosteric Interference

The human inducible phospho-fructokinase bisphosphatase isoform 3, PFKFB3, is a crucial regulatory node in the cellular metabolism. The enzyme is an important modulator regulating the intracellular fructose-2,6-bisphosphate level. PFKFB3 is a bifunctional enzyme with an exceptionally high kinase to phosphatase ratio around 740:1. Its kinase activity can be directly inhibited by small molecules acting directly on the kinase active site. On the other hand, here we propose an innovative and indirect strategy for the modulation of PFKFB3 activity, achieved through allosteric bisphosphatase activation. A library of small peptides targeting an allosteric site was discovered and synthesized. The binding affinity was evaluated by microscale thermophoresis (MST). Furthermore, a LC-MS/MS analytical method for assessing the bisphosphatase activity of PFKFB3 was developed. The new method was applied for measuring the activation on bisphosphatase activity with the PFKFB3-binding peptides. The molecular mechanical connection between the newly discovered allosteric site to the bisphosphatase activity was also investigated using both experimental and computational methods