Transition After the Technical Professional Degree in Southern Switzerland

AbstractIn the area of Cantone Ticino (CH), lots of students obtain a degree in upper secondary technical-professional education (MPT) every year; for them, a number of different options exists.Research questions have been formulated as follows:-Which paths do young students from Ticino undertake after technical-professional degree?-Which are the most relevant influencing factors and motivations in students’ decision making process?The purpose of the study is identifying and understanding itineraries, motivations and influencing factors of young Italian- speaking Suisse students with an MPT degree in the process of choice.Preliminary interviews with clients and analysis of statistical data have been conducted. Subsequently, 83 face-to-face semi- structured interviews have been administered to students and adults. Students have been asked about their education, choices, advices and counselling; adults have been asked about their perspective on students’ decision making process. Data have been treated according to the principle of triangulation (Denzin, 1970).Interviews showed different motivations for those students who decide to continue studying in a tertiary education institution: while some are guided by specific projection on their own future, others make a choice under the pressure of automatism and inertia. A second issue involved in the decision making process, is whether to stay in the region of origin or to leave.Self-representation, representation of the experience and the weight of socio-cultural aspects, play a crucial role in the decision making process A relevant role is taken by informal networks and word of mouth, confirming the hypothesis that, beyond choice rationality, interpersonal relationships and informal ties define the direction of the choice

Teachers during the COVID-19 Era: The Mediation Role Played by Mentalizing Ability on the Relationship between Depressive Symptoms, Anxious Trait, and Job Burnout

Background: The COVID-19 outbreak caused severe changes in school activities over the past two years. Teachers underwent a re-planning of their teaching approaches, shifting from face-to-face teaching formats to remote ones. These challenges resulted in high levels of burnout. The identification of risk/protective factors contributing to burnout is crucial in order to inform intervention programs. Thus, we hypothesized a mediation role of teachers’ mentalizing ability (processing of emotions, a component of mentalized affectivity) on the relationship between depression, anxiety, and depersonalization (burnout dimension). Two reverse models were computed. Job satisfaction, teachers’ age and gender, school grade, and length of teaching experience served as covariates. Methods: 466 (M(sd) = 46.2 (10.4) years) online questionnaires were completed by Italian teachers of primary (n = 204) and middle (n = 242) schools. Measures of burnout, depression, anxiety, and mentalization were administered. Results: The findings corroborated our hypotheses: in all models, processing emotions served as a mediator on the relationship between depression, anxiety, and depersonalization, and on the reciprocal one. Job satisfaction positively impacted processing emotion, and negatively impacted depression and depersonalization; women teachers reported high levels of the anxious trait. Conclusions: Overall, it can be concluded that the ability to mentalize has a beneficial impact on teachers’ well-being. Policymaking, clinical, and research implications were discussed

Internalizing and externalizing symptoms in children during the COVID-19 pandemic: a systematic mixed studies review

Introduction: Given the vulnerability of children during the COVID-19 pandemic, paying close attention to their wellbeing at the time is warranted. The present protocol-based systematic mixed-studies review examines papers published during 2020–2022, focusing on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on children's internalizing/externalizing symptoms and the determinants thereof. Method: PROSPERO: CRD42022385284. Five databases were searched and the PRISMA diagram was applied. The inclusion criteria were: papers published in English in peer-reviewed journals; papers published between January 2020 and October 2022 involving children aged 5–13 years; qualitative, quantitative, and mixed studies. The standardized Mixed Method Appraisal Tool protocol was used to appraise the quality of the studies. Results: Thirty-four studies involving 40,976 participants in total were analyzed. Their principal characteristics were tabulated. The results showed that children's internalizing/externalizing symptoms increased during the pandemic, largely as a result of disengagement from play activities and excessive use of the internet. Girls showed more internalizing symptoms and boys more externalizing symptoms. Distress was the strongest parental factor mediating children's internalizing/externalizing symptoms. The quality of the studies was appraised as low (n = 12), medium (n = 12), and high (n = 10). Conclusion: Gender-based interventions should be designed for children and parents. The studies reviewed were cross-sectional, so long-term patterns and outcomes could not be predicted. Future researchers might consider a longitudinal approach to determine the long-term effects of the pandemic on children's internalizing and externalizing symptoms

Bruci la città. Generi, transfemminismi e spazio urbano

Il libro affronta l’intreccio tra la dimensione del genere e quella della città, attraverso le riflessioni e le pratiche sviluppate dai movimenti femministi e transfemministi in Italia. Utilizzando gli strumenti di diversi ambiti disciplinari (filosofia politica, sociologia, urbanistica), il testo mette a tema lo spazio pubblico, gli spazi transfemministi, gli spazi delle pratiche quotidiane, gli spazi del rapporto con le istituzioni. Il titolo allude al desiderio, come passione e motore dell’azione politica, e al conflitto. Più che un resoconto, infatti, questo libro vuole essere un dialogo a più voci che restituisce la postura critica e conflittuale con cui i movimenti e le pratiche transfemministe oggi contestano, risignificano, trasformano, fanno ardere gli spazi urbani

Trasformare la paura. Pratiche di resistenza femminista, emozioni e spazio urbano

L’articolo si concentra sulla paura come ambito generatore dell’agency dei movimenti femministi. Riconosciuto come una vasta letteratura esplori il legame tra paura e spazio pubblico, rivolgendosi alle donne come obiettivi vulnerabili, e smantellando uno sguardo sulle donne vittimizzante, questo lavoro mira a mettere in evidenza l’azione collettiva femminista come pratica di intervento nello spazio pubblico resistente e conflittuale. Se la paura può essere considerata una gendered emotion, questa è anche matrice e conseguenza della violenza di genere. Il suo potere nel plasmare la vita delle donne e delle persone LGBTQ e la loro possibilità di abitare la città è stato sfidato dai movimenti femministi attraverso un ampio repertorio di azioni, come passeggiate notturne, slut walk, marce e la riappropriazione di edifici abbandonati. Tenendo conto di alcuni casi specifici, in particolare lo spazio femminista delle Cagne Sciolte e la Casa delle donne Lucha Y Siesta a Roma, il paper delinea una dimensione trasformativa e generativa della paura

Krukenberg tumor in an 11-year-old girl

AbstractKrukenberg tumors are uncommon metastatic neoplasms of the ovary with a prominent component of signet ring cells. The occurrence of a Krukenberg tumor in young individuals is rare, with only few cases reported in the second decade of life. The authors describe a case of this tumor diagnosed in an 11-year-old girl, characterized by massive metastatic spread, lack of tumor response and rapidly fatal clinical course. To the best of our knowledge, this is the youngest patient with Krukenberg tumor reported to date

Hindering NAT8L expression in hepatocellular carcinoma increases cytosolic aspartate delivery that fosters pentose phosphate pathway and purine biosynthesis promoting cell proliferation

N-acetylaspartate (NAA) is synthesized by the mitochondrial enzyme NAT8L, which uses acetyl-CoA and aspartate as substrates. These metabolites are fundamental for bioenergetics and anabolic requirements of highly proliferating cells, thus, NAT8L modulation may impinge on the metabolic reprogramming of cancer cells. Specifically, aspartate represents a limiting amino acid for nucleotide synthesis in cancer. Here, the expression of the NAT8L enzyme was modulated to verify how it impacts the metabolic adaptations and proliferative capacity of hepatocellular carcinoma. We demonstrated that NAT8L downregulation is asso-ciated with increased proliferation of hepatocellular carcinoma cells and immortalized hepatocytes. The over -expression of NAT8L instead decreased cell growth. The pro-tumoral effect of NAT8L silencing depended on glutamine oxidation and the rewiring of glucose metabolism. Mechanistically, NAT8L downregulation triggers aspartate outflow from mitochondria via the exporter SLC25A13 to promote glucose flux into the pentose phosphate pathway, boosting purine biosynthesis. These results were corroborated by the analyses of human and mouse hepatocellular carcinoma samples revealing a decrease in NAT8L expression compared to adjacent non -tumoral tissues. Overall, this work demonstrates that NAT8L expression in liver cells limits the cytosolic avail-ability of aspartate necessary for enhancing the pentose phosphate pathway and purine biosynthesis, counter-acting cell proliferation

Phlebovirus detection in phlebotominae vectors captured in endemic areas

The Toscana Virus (TOSV), is a common human pathogen widespread in the Mediterranean area which causes a mild three-day fever. Sandfly collections from the leishmaniosis endemic area of Lampedusa were analysed for TOSV.peer-reviewe

The impact of a Clinical Decision Support System on allergen immunotherapy prescription in children and adults with seasonal allergic rhinitis

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