Age, dyslexia subtype and comorbidity modulate rapid auditory processing in developmental dyslexia

The nature of Rapid Auditory Processing (RAP) deficits in dyslexia remains debated, together with the specificity of the problem to certain types of stimuli and/or restricted subgroups of individuals. Following the hypothesis that the heterogeneity of the dyslexic population may have led to contrasting results, the aim of the study was to define the effect of age, dyslexia subtype and comorbidity on the discrimination and reproduction of nonverbal tone sequences.Participants were 46 children aged 8 - 14 (26 with dyslexia, subdivided according to age, presence of a previous language delay, and type of dyslexia). Experimental tasks were a Temporal Order Judgment (TOJ) (manipulating tone length, ISI and sequence length), and a Pattern Discrimination Task. Dyslexic children showed general RAP deficits. Tone length and ISI influenced dyslexic and control children’s performance in a similar way, but dyslexic children were more affected by an increase from 2 to 5 sounds. As to age, older dyslexic children’s difficulty in reproducing sequences of 4 and 5 tones was similar to that of normally reading younger (but not older) children. In the analysis of subgroup profiles, the crucial variable appears to be the advantage, or lack thereof, in processing long vs short sounds. Dyslexic children with a previous language delay obtained the lowest scores in RAP measures, but they performed worse with shorter stimuli, similar to control children, while dyslexic-only children showed no advantage for longer stimuli. As to dyslexia subtype, only surface dyslexics improved their performance with longer stimuli, while phonological dyslexics did not. Differential scores for short vs long tones and for long vs short ISIs predict nonword and word reading, respectively, and the former correlate with phonemic awareness.In conclusion, the relationship between nonverbal RAP, phonemic skills and reading abilities appears to be characterized by complex interactions with subgroup characteristics

Assessing the mechanical stability of trees in artificial plantations of Pinus nigra J. F. Arnold using the LWN tool under different site indexes

In young black pine plantations, the most valuable and interesting thinning scheme is mainly based on the positive selection of dominant and well-shaped trees to be candidates for carbon sequestration, timber production and natural regeneration. The mechanical stability of candidate trees is here a fundamental skill that must be taken into account and the slenderness ratio (HD) is one of the main indicators. HD has been recently proved to be correlated to the living whorl number (LWN) by Cantiani & Chiavetta (2015). In this study, the statistical model was re-calibrated in order to study the influence of soil fertility on the HD - Living whorls number (LWN) relationship.The fertility-balanced models estimated a different LWN threshold. The model for the highest fertility class (Site index 24) estimated 12 LWN (RMSE of 20%). Similarly, a lower value were detected for the other two fertility classes, SI20 and SI16, where 10 LWN were considered enough with an associated RMSE of 16% and 17% respectively. Compared to the general model provided by Cantiani & Chiavetta (11 LWN with 18% of RMSE) the site index approach improved the accuracy and reliability

How to Teach Ecology to Students of Environmental Engineering

[EN] The paper illustrates a set of teaching practices applied by the author in the course of Ecology, addressed to third year students of the First Cycle Degree (BSc) in Environmental and Land Engineering, at the University of Trento (Italy). The features of the university context and the main characteristics of these students are described, also referring to changes which have occurred over time. On the basis of a twenty-five-year teaching experience, the author highlights the challenges and opportunities of an approach aimed at involving students in the learning process, raising interest and curiosity towards ecological issues, stimulating students’ emotional competencies and their capacity to critically reflect on their own educational experience. In conclusion some comments are made regarding the need for a greater engagement by the academic staff towards non-conventional teaching and learning experiences. In particular, a more integrated method of evaluation of the quality of teaching is sought, effective in taking into account different approaches and techiniques and comparing learning outcomes.Cantiani, M. (2019). How to Teach Ecology to Students of Environmental Engineering. En HEAD'19. 5th International Conference on Higher Education Advances. Editorial Universitat Politècnica de València. 703-710. https://doi.org/10.4995/HEAD19.2019.9124OCS70371

L'approccio partecipativo nella pianificazione forestale

Abstract: The paper stresses the importance of public participation in natural resources planning and management, with particular concern for forest planning. The function of participation is defined, main methods and tools are reviewed, pointing out, for each of them, the possibility of application in participatory forest planning. Finally opportunities and limits of the participatory approach are taken into consideration particularly concerning the Italian situation

An approach to public involvement in forest landscape planning in Italy: a case study and its evaluation

In Italy, in the last decade, there have been both new social requests and an ever-increasing sensitivity towards the multiplicity of values attributed to forests. This has led to a profound revision of the structure of forest planning. This paper illustrates the planning system, characterised by a hierarchical approach, focusing on the upper level, that is Forest Landscape Management Plan (FLMP). At this level of planning, attention to the different needs and targets expressed by the population is considered of strategic importance and thus requires a participative attitude. In the first part of the paper the authors show the approach currently used in forest landscape planning, through a case study carried out in a rural area of the Appennine mountains, focusing in particular on the method established for the process of participation. In the second part, the quality of participation in the case study is analysed, after describing the methodology followed in order to identify a set of criteria for success, deemed particularly relevan

Social Perceptions and Forest Management Strategies in an Italian Alpine Community

Abstract Individuals' perceptions are becoming increasingly relevant as a central component of social and environmental sustainability. As a result, the social dimension has become a fundamental element of sustainable forest management. To investigate people's perceptions of forest management, it is necessary to analyze values and norms in the social and cultural context and, at the same time, to consider individual preferences for forest management strategies. Trento municipality in northeast Italy was chosen as a study area because of its location in the European Alpine region and because of the links that exist between individuals and forest resources. A structured questionnaire was sent to 1000 randomly selected household heads. Responses were analyzed, taking into consideration the relationship between perceptions and respondents' gender, age, education, and geographical location; this allowed highlighting of statistical differences between groups. Results confirmed the importance of gender, age, and..

Early impact of alternative thinning approaches on structure diversity and complexity at stand level in two beech forests in Italy

Stand structure, tree density as well as tree spatial pattern define natural dynamics and competition process. They are therefore parameters used to define any silvicultural management type. This work aims to report first data resulting from a silvicultural experiment in beech forests. The objective of the trial is testing the structure manipulation in terms of diversity and the reduction of inter-tree competition of different thinning approaches. Alternative thinning methods have been applied in two independent experimental sites located in the pre-Alps and Southern Apennines, in Italy. Specific goals were to: (i) verify the impact early after thinning implementation on forest structure through a set of diversity and competition metrics resulting from a literature review; (ii) the sensitivity of tested indexes to effectively detect thinning manipulation. Main result show the low sensitivity of stand structure indexes and the ability of competition metrics to detect thinning outcome