Preventing Obesity: The Impact of Parental Involvement on Children’s Nutritional Health

Child obesity rates have dramatically risen over the past years, tripling from 5% in the 1970s to 15% in the early 2000s (Anderson, Butcher and Schanzenbach). The concern about this so-called epidemic has not escaped academic study. Economists have been especially interested in identifying the causes of obesity. Once the causes of obesity are identified, policy makers and families can make plans to improve child health. Some economic studies find parental involvement to be a strong influence on children’s obesity because the parent is able to mediate factors in the home environment that relate to food-related activities. This research utilizes variables that reflect parental involvement from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Survey—Kindergarten to determine the relationship between parental involvement and children’s nutritional health, including junk food consumption and obesity. Using a fixed effects model, this study finds that some parent activities in the household have an impact on child junk food purchase and consumption, but there is limited impact found on child BMI

Effective Childrearing of Young School-Aged Children: Evidence from College Enrolled Mothers

A large amount of research relates a mother’s education and child academic achievement, but little has focused on the timing of a mother’s college enrollment. Previous research (Estelle 2011) finds significant gains in children’s reading scores when a mother is enrolled in college during the child’s kindergarten year. The cause of those gains are unknown. This collaborative economic research project focuses on father involvement to determine if the presence of a father figure in the household affects child academic achievement. If so, and if father involvement also increases during a mother’s enrollment, we would consider fathers to be an important mechanism of the maternal enrollment benefit for children

Andreina Ricci:archeologia e città tra identità e progetto

Il testo 'Attorno alla nuda pietra' di Andreina Ricci, attraverso un approccio critico, racchiude riflessioni e tematiche legate al significato che i beni archeologici rivestono nell’immaginario dei cittadini e nella elaborazione delle identità collettive

CONOSCENZA E CONSERVAZIONE. PROSPETTIVE PER LE DOMUS DI PIAZZA DELLA VITTORIA A PALERMO.

Il tema di ricerca possiede un carattere multidisciplinare, coinvolge ampi settori e, con un approccio metodologico di tipo olistico, mette in evidenza le complessità storiche, artistiche, architettoniche, archeologiche e urbanistiche, tenendo conto delle differenti implicazioni sul piano sia tecnologico che museografico. Il caso di studio scelto, per elaborare una strategia d’intervento e riproponibile in altri contesti, è costituito dalle Domus di Piazza della Vittoria a Palermo, un exemplum di complesso residenziale unico nell’ambito della città, arricchito dalla presenza di importanti mosaici che testimoniano la circolazione di possibili culti praticati nell’area occidentale della Sicilia. Un'attenta fase analitica e d'indagine del Bene archeologico permette di dare un valido contributo non soltanto al processo di conoscenza del suo valore storico e culturale, uno strumento fondamentale per adottare le scelte conservative più opportune e per definire i criteri di messa in valore e di fruizione, ma anche al processo conservativo. Il caso di studio ha consentito di approfondire un approccio metaprogettuale che si basa sulla ricerca di una metodologia appropriata, con l’obiettivo di sviluppare riflessioni nell’ambito della vasta tematica della valorizzazione e della fruizione.The research topic has a multidisciplinary nature, involving various sectors and, with a methodological approach in a holistic style, it highlights the complexity of historical, artistic, architectural, archaeological and urban planning, taking into account the diverse implications, both technological and museological . The case study chosen , to develop an intervention strategy that can also be re-proposed in other contexts, is the Domus in Piazza della Vittoria in Palermo, an example of a single, residential complex in the city environment, enriched by the presence of important mosaics that testify to the movement of possible religious cults in western Sicily. A careful analytical phase and investigation of archaeological asset provides a valuable contribution not only to the conservation process, but also to the process of discovering its historical and cultural value, a fundamental tool for selecting the most appropriate approaches to conservation and defining the criteria for valorization and fruition. The case study has consented us to investigate a meta-design approach that is based on finding an appropriate methodology , with the aim of developing ideas in the context of the wide-ranging themes of valorization and fruition

Primeiras abordagens a uma fenomenologia do limpo e do sujo. Objectos, práticas e experiências entre passado e actualidade

Mestrado em Antropologia da Cultura Material e dos ConsumosO objectivo principal do trabalho de projecto é apresentar, por um lado, a natureza e as características da pesquisa até agora desenvolvida ao longo do ano académico 2010/2011, e por outro, definir o conjunto de objectivos futuros que constituem o projecto que se entende desenvolver. Afrontar-se-ão, nesta introdução, as etapas mais importantes que vieram a designar o assunto da investigação, salientado os aspectos teóricos que mais contribuíram para a sua definição e interpretação, ilustrando, em seguida, os objectivos que constituem a proposta da futura indagação. Deixamos aos capítulos seguintes o objectivo de ilustrar, mais aprofundadamente, as trajectórias específicas que a pesquisa tem vindo a tecer, conjugando em si a trama que os dados de campo relevaram, com a urdidura das teorias socioculturais, onde merecem particular destaque as da cultura material, dos consumos, das comunicações, do património, da identidade e da globalização

The Stroke-Induced Increase of Somatostatin-Expressing Neurons is Inhibited by Diabetes: A Potential Mechanism at the Basis of Impaired Stroke Recovery

Type 2 diabetes (T2D) hampers recovery after stroke, but the underling mechanisms are mostly unknown. In a recently published study (Pintana et al. in Clin Sci (Lond) 133(13):1367\u20131386, 2019), we showed that impaired recovery in T2D was associated with persistent atrophy of parvalbumin+ interneurons in the damaged striatum. In the current work, which is an extension of the abovementioned study, we investigated whether somatostatin (SOM)+ interneurons are also affected by T2D during the stroke recovery phase. C57Bl/6j mice were fed with high-fat diet or standard diet (SD) for 12\ua0months and subjected to 30-min transient middle cerebral artery occlusion (tMCAO). SOM+ cell number/density in the striatum was assessed by immunohistochemistry 2 and 6\ua0weeks after tMCAO in peri-infarct and infarct areas. This was possible by establishing a computer-based quantification method that compensates the post-stroke tissue deformation and the irregular cell distribution. SOM+ interneurons largely survived the stroke as seen at 2\ua0weeks. Remarkably, 6\ua0weeks after stroke, the number of SOM+ interneurons increased (vs. contralateral striatum) in SD-fed mice in both peri-infarct and infarct areas. However, this increase did not result from neurogenesis. T2D completely abolished this effect specifically in the in the infarct area. The results suggest that the up-regulation of SOM expression in the post-stroke phase could be related to neurological recovery and T2D could inhibit this process. We also present a new and precise method for cell counting in the stroke-damaged striatum that allows to reveal accurate, area-related effects of stroke on cell number