Preliminary Validation of the CI-FRA Checklist: A Simple Screening Tool for Measuring the Early Signs of Reading and Spelling Disorders in Italian Primary Students

Although several screening tests for recognizing early signs of reading and spelling difficulties have been developed, brief and methodologically grounded tools for teachers are very limited. The present study aimed to lay the foundation for a new screening tool for teachers: the Checklist for early Indicators of risk Factors in Reading Ability (CI-FRA). The proposed checklist consists of 20 items, based on a 7-point Likert scale, and it investigates five domains: reading, writing, attention, and motor skills. Six hundred sixtyseven children were evaluated by 40 teachers during the first year of primary school and, longitudinally, in the second year. Exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) were applied to verify structural validity. Concurrent validity was assessed by Spearman correlation to analyze the link between CI-FRA and reading and spelling standardized tests and cognitive tests. Reliability was assessed by Cronbach a and interclass correlation coefficient. The CFA reported a three-factor structure as the optimal solution, including language (reading and writing), visuospatial attention, and fine motor skills subscales. Good reliability, good internal consistency, and acceptable test\u2013 retest indices were found. Concurrent validity was confirmed by significant correlations between CI-FRA total score and standardized reading and spelling test, as well as by correlations between CI-FRA subscales and neuropsychological standardized test scores. Preliminary evaluation of sensitivity by receiver operating characteristic curves showed that the CI-FRA score has particularly high sensitivity and specificity for word reading speed deficit. In conclusion, the results confirm that CI-FRA is a theoretically grounded and statistically valid tool that could help the teachers to screen for early signs of reading and spelling difficulties

I laboratori divulgativi INAF-OAC: l’astronomia è un gioco da ragazzi!

Da svariati anni il settore Divulgazione e Didattica dell'INAF-Osservatorio Astronomico di Cagliari dedica particolare attenzione alla progettazione e realizzazione di laboratori divulgativi sull'astronomia. Tali laboratori vengono proposti regolarmente durante eventi speciali presso biblioteche pubbliche, eventi dedicati al grande pubblico, nei festival scientifici e letterari, locali e nazionali. In questo report, primo di una serie, viene presentata la filosofia e lo schema generale adottato per la progettazione dei laboratori proposti dall'INAF-OAC e vengono descritti degli esempi specifici

Blu e il cielo: un progetto didattico sperimentale per la scuola dell’infanzia.

Il progetto didattico generale è presentato nelle pagine web: https://www.oa-cagliari.inaf.it/divulgazione/page.php?id_page=124&level=4 https://play.inaf.it/le-avventure-di-blu/In questo report riassumeremo le linee generali di un progetto didattico pilota (“Blu e il cielo”) realizzato dall'INAF-Osservatorio Astronomico di Cagliari durante l'anno scolastico 2018-2019. Il progetto è stato sviluppato nell’ambito delle attività di progettazione e produzione di materiali didattici per studenti di qualsiasi età e livello scolastico, che INAF porta avanti da anni a livello sia locale sia nazionale. In particolare, il progetto descritto nel presente report è stato recentemente sviluppato attorno a un personaggio guida, una sfera blu chiamata Blu, che si propone di diventare un elemento iconografico identificativo delle attività didattiche INAF per i bambini della fascia prescolare o dei primi anni della scuola primaria

Less air pollution did not explain the decline in admissions for AMI during the first wave of COVID-19 pandemic in Sardinia, Italy

During the COVID-19 pandemic, hospitalizations for acute myocardial infarction (AMI) decreased worldwide. We compared the admissions for AMI in the four regional 24/7 cath lab during the national lockdown, the 8 weeks before the lockdown, the 8 weeks after the e lockdown, and the corresponding time period in 2019 and we analyzed the average level of pollution in the studies areas. A marked decline in AMI admissions was observed during the lockdown period in comparison with the 8 weeks before the lockdown (p < 0.0001) and a significant increase in the 8 weeks after the lockdown (p < 0.00001). No significant change in air pollutants density were highlighted. Since air pollution did not change substantially in our region, the environment factor cannot explain the decline in the number of admissions for AMI we recorded during the lockdown. Fear of contagion is the most plausible reason for the drop of hospitalizations during the lockdown period

OpenIPMC: a free and open source Intelligent Platform Management Controller

OpenIPMC is a free and open source firmware designed to operate as an Intelligent Platform Management Controller (IPMC). An IPMC is a fundamental component of electronic boards conformant to the Advanced Telecommunications Computing Architecture (ATCA) standard, currently being adopted by a number of high energy physics experiments, and is responsible for monitoring the health parameters of the board, managing its power states, and providing board control, debug and recovery functions to remote clients. OpenIPMC is based on the FreeRTOS real-time operating system and is designed to be architecture-independent, allowing it to be built for a variety of different Microcontrollers. Having a fully free and open source code is an innovative aspect for this kind of firmware, allowing full customization by the user. In this work we present the features and structure of OpenIPMC and its example implementations on Xilinx Zynq UltraScale+ (ZynqUS+), Espressif ESP32, and ST Microelectronics STM32 architectures.Comment: 8 pages, double-column, 9 figures, 2 tables. Paper submitted as proceeding for the IEEE Real-Time 2020 conferenc

Misure di temperatura di rumore con diversi materiali, sulla copertura del Gregoriano di SRT

Lo scopo di questo lavoro è quello di valutare l’incremento della temperatura di rumore nei ricevitori banda K (18 - 26 GHz) e banda C (5.5 – 7.7 GHz), posizionati, rispettivamente, nel fuoco gregoriano e nella Beam waveguide del Sardinia Radio Telescope (SRT), in seguito all’inserimento di una nuova protezione come copertura della Vertex room. La necessità di tale studio è dovuta alle criticità presentate dall’attuale materiale usato come protezione della stanza del fuoco gregoriano del radio telescopio. Il materiale di base attualmente in uso è lo Styrodur 3035CS, un polistirene espanso estruso che ha un bassissima attenuazione, come dimostrato dal suo notevole utilizzo nelle finestre dei diversi ricevitori sviluppati in questi anni all’INAF, ma con l’inconveniente di peggiorare le sue prestazioni col tempo a causa dei danni procurati dagli agenti atmosferici (quali raggi UV, pioggia, ghiaccio). Al fine di ridurre l’usura dello Styrodur, abbiamo testato l’utilizzo di diversi elementi protettivi superficiali come vernici, prodotti idrorepellenti e teli di Goretex e polietilene, stimando l’effetto di queste protezioni sulla temperatura di rumore del sistema. Per tale verifica è stata misurata la variazione della temperatura di sistema Tsys del radiotelescopio al variare del tipo di protezione utilizzato

The first ASIC prototype of a 28 nm time-space front-end electronics for real-time tracking

A front-end ASIC for 4D tracking is presented. The prototype includes the block necessary to build a pixel front-end chain for timing measurement, as independent circuits. The architecture includes a charge-sensitive amplifier, a discriminator with programmable threshold, and a time- to-digital converter. The blocks were designed with target specifications in mind including: an area occupation of 55 μm × 55 μm, a power consumption tens of micro ampere per channel and timing a resolution of at least 100 ps. The prototype has been designed and integrated in 28 nm CMOS technology. The presented design is part of the TimeSpOT project which aims to reach a high-resolution particle tracking both in space and in time, in order to provide front-end circuitry suitable for next generation colliders

SARS-CoV-2 recombinants: genomic comparison between XBF and its parental lineages

Recombination events are very common and represent one of the primary drivers of RNA virus evolution. The XBF SARS-CoV-2 lineage is one of the most recently generated recombinants during the COVID-19 pandemic. It is a recombinant of BA.5.2.3 and BA.2.75.3, both descendants of lineages that caused many concerns (BA.5 and BA.2.75, respectively). Here, we performed a genomic survey focused on comparing the recombinant XBF with its parental lineages to provide a comprehensive assessment of the evolutionary potential, epidemiological trajectory, and potential risks. Genetic analyses indicated that although XBF initially showed the typical expansion depicted by a steep curve, causing several concerns, currently there is no indication of significant expansion potential or a contagion rate surpassing that of other currently active or previously prevalent lineages. BSP indicated that the peak has been reached around 19 October 2022 and then the genetic variability suffered slight oscillations until early 5 March 2023 when the population size reduced for the last time starting its last plateau that is still lasting. Structural analyses confirmed its reduced potential, also indicating that properties of NTDs and RBDs of XBF and its parental lineages present no significant difference. Of course, cautionary measures must still be taken and genome-based monitoring remains the best tool for detecting any important changes in viral genome composition

Genetic and structural analyses reveal the low potential of the SARS‐CoV‐2 EG.5 variant

The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 EG.5 lineage is the latest variant under monitoring, and it is generating significant concern due to its recent upward trend in prevalence. Our aim was to gain insights into this emerging lineage and offer insights into its actual level of threat. Both genetic and structural data indicate that this novel variant presently lacks substantial evidence of having a high capacity for widespread transmission. Their viral population sizes expanded following a very mild curve and peaked several months after the earliest detected sample. Currently, neither the viral population size of EG.5 nor that of its first descendant is increasing. The genetic variability appear to be flattened, as evidenced by its relatively modest evolutionary rate (9.05 × 10−4 subs/site/year). As has been observed with numerous prior variants, attributes that might theoretically provide advantages seem to stem from genetic drift, enabling the virus to continually adjust to its host, albeit without a clear association with enhanced dangerousness. These findings further underscore the necessity for ongoing genome-based monitoring, ensuring preparedness and a well-documented understanding of the unfolding situation

Integrative genome-based survey of the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron XBB.1.16 variant

The XBB.1.16 SARS-CoV-2 variant, also known as Arcturus, is a recent descendant lineage of the recombinant XBB (nicknamed Gryphon). Compared to its direct progenitor, XBB.1, XBB.1.16 carries additional spike mutations in key antigenic sites, potentially conferring an ability to evade the immune response compared to other circulating lineages. In this context, we conducted a comprehensive genome-based survey to gain a detailed understanding of the evolution and potential dangers of the XBB.1.16 variant, which became dominant in late June. Genetic data indicates that the XBB.1.16 variant exhibits an evolutionary background with limited diversification, unlike dangerous lineages known for rapid changes. The evolutionary rate of XBB.1.16, which amounts to 3.95 × 10−4 subs/site/year, is slightly slower than that of its direct progenitors, XBB and XBB.1.5, which have been circulating for several months. A Bayesian Skyline Plot reconstruction suggests that the peak of genetic variability was reached in early May 2023, and currently, it is in a plateau phase with a viral population size similar to the levels observed in early March. Structural analyses indicate that, overall, the XBB.1.16 variant does not possess structural characteristics markedly different from those of the parent lineages, and the theoretical affinity for ACE2 does not seem to change among the compared variants. In conclusion, the genetic and structural analyses of SARS-CoV-2 XBB.1.16 do not provide evidence of its exceptional danger or high expansion capability. Detected differences with previous lineages are probably due to genetic drift, which allows the virus constant adaptability to the host, but they are not necessarily connected to a greater danger. Nevertheless, continuous genome-based monitoring is essential for a better understanding of its descendants and other lineages