How a secondary school as an organization defines and embeds the term college readiness

With the many reforms and initiatives regarding college readiness, understanding how organizations use rhetoric to determine and define what college readiness is and what it looks like can either reinforce dominant institutional structures and practices, or create new definitions and understanding leading to institutional change. Through a rhetorical framework (Alvesson, 1993), members of an organization are not only conformists but also strategic agents who through the use of rhetoric construct and shape knowledge and institutional life. A case study was conducted of one secondary high school that included administrators and teachers who work within the context of college readiness. Through the lens of institutional theory this study used interviews, focus groups, and material culture to explore how an organizations understanding and interpretation guide the activities within the organization coupled with the internal and external expectations to conform to the norms placed on them by the policy environment and the need to maintain legitimacy in light of increased scrutiny. Findings demonstrate how institutional expectations guide the behavior and actions of this secondary school and how organizational rhetoric is used to construct the appearance of what it means to be college ready in an effort to conform to the expectations and norms of the institutional environment

Mn- and Fe-carbonate rich layers in Meso-Cenozoic shales as proxies of environmental conditions: A case study from the southern Apennine, Italy

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Seismotectonics and landslides of the Crati Graben (Calabrian Arc, Southern Italy)

The Crati Graben is a depression of Plio-Holocene age mainly controlled by extensional N–S striking faults and WNW–ESE transcurrent faults, in its northern and southern extremity. It is characterized by high landslide susceptibility due to the particular geo-structural pattern and seismotectonic characters. Landslides involve many villages, infrastructure and food crops, bringing serious economic and social damage. The seismotectonic and landslides Main Map of the Crati Graben, described in this paper, represents an update in detail of the framework of landslide risk areas and shows the main active and recent faults of the Crati Graben. The landslides and the faults, have been identified and classified, originally at detail scale (1:5000) and, then, represented at 1:50,000 scale. The geo-structural and geomorphological data were analysed in a geographic information system. The work has revealed a correlation between the trend of faults with respect to the distribution of landslides and of the historical and instrumental seismicity. The work presents an updated knowledge framework of risk conditions of the study zone, where risk areas related to slope instability are hierarchically classified according to the destructive potential of landslides. This document may be therefore a useful reference in planning and prioritising in the design of interventions for the safety of slopes and waterways

Control system for a nanogrid for home application: dynamic analysis and and implementation aspects using a behaviour tree

Dottorato di Ricerca in Science and Engineering of Environment, Construction and Energy. Ciclo XXXUniversità della Calabria

Mn- and Fe-carbonate rich layers in Meso.Cenozoic shales as proxies of environmental conditions: a case study from the southern Apennine, Italy

Mn-rich layers and interbedded shales from a well exposed natural section of the Northern-Calabrian Unit (Late Jurassic– Early Oligocene) in the surroundings of the Terranova del Pollino village, southern Italy, have been mineralogically and chemically analyzed, in order to reveal the factors controlling their formation. Mn-rich layers are composed of micas/clay minerals, rhodochrosite, siderite, chlorite and quartz whereas shales are formed by micas, clay minerals, chlorite, quartz, and feldspars. The MnO abundances in the Mn-rich layers, which are depleted relatively to the UCC in SiO2, TiO2, Al2O3, Na2O, K2O, and P2O5, are in the range of 11.01 18.41 (wt. %). R-mode Factor analysis indicate that SiO2, Al2O3, TiO2, Na2O and K2O have high positive weights in the first factor (59.8% of the total variance) whereas high negative weights are observed for Fe2O3, MnO, and CaO. This factor accounts for the competition between the terrigeneous component, the authigenic carbonate phases accumulating Mn and Fe which likely formed during paucity of detrital supply. The negative weight of CaO and MnO in this factor, the higher Ca contents in the Mn-rich layers compared to shales, and the lack of calcite, suggest the presence of a mixed Mn–Ca carbonate rather than pure rhodochrosite. It is generally retained that Ca– rhodochrosite precipitates within the pore waters of reducing sediments since neither rhodochrosite nor siderite can form in equilibrium with bottom seawater. Thus the resulting sediment should be a mixing between the detrital component and the authigenic one. Assuming Al2O3 as an index of the detrital component, it is clearly envisaged that in the Al2O3/MnO vs. Al2O3 diagram the carbonate-rich samples fall on the mixing curve having as end members the average shale and the richest MnO sediment. This supports the idea that carbonate-rich samples formed through precipitation of carbonate minerals in the pore waters of the terrigenous detritus accumulating at the sea bottom. Further the REE distribution of unaltered marine carbonates is expected to be representative of ambient seawater where carbonates precipitated. Carbonates normalized to fine-grained siliciclastic sediments, have typical HREE enrichment, negative Ce-anomaly, and lower total REE. In our case, the carbonate-rich samples normalized to the average composition of the interbedded freecarbonate shale, show HREE enrichment, lower total REE contents, and the lack of negative Ce-anomaly, due to the anoxic environment of formation for Mn– and Fe–carbonate. Finally was observed that the mineralization is enhanced if the site of accumulation is protected from dilution by clastic sediment input. The alternation between Mn– and Fe–carbonate silts and carbonate-free shales along the studied sedimentary succession, were likely controlled by eustatic sea-level oscillations which are well documented in the western Tethys during Middle and Late Triassic

Efficacy and tolerability of therapies set under pharmacogenetic tools suggestions: A systematic review with meta-analysis about mood disorders

Background: Bipolar Disorder (BD) and Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) have a huge impact on functioning and quality of life; moreover, they are linked to extensive direct and indirect costs. This systematic review with metaanalysis aims to evaluate the utility of pharmacogenetic tests (PGT) in terms of efficacy and tolerability into the routine clinical treatment of mood disorders. Materials and methods: The first part of the review is a qualitative overview of the PGTs used in the included studies. The second part aims to compare, in terms of efficacy and tolerability, patients affected by BD and MDD treated as usual (TAU), according to the clinicians\u2019 prescribing attitude, versus patients whose psychopharmacological treatments were set up following the PGT suggestions. Results: 6 studies on MDD and 2 studies on BD were included. Regarding MDD, the meta-analysis shows a significantly higher number of patients achieving better outcome in terms of efficacy, through the evaluation of response rate and remission rate at the HDRS (Hamilton Depression Rating Scale) in the group of patients treated under the PGT suggestions; regarding BD the meta-analysis does not show any significant difference in terms of efficacy. In terms of adverse events, the available data suggest promising results about the utility of PGT to set more tolerated therapies. Conclusions: Although the limited number of studies, results confirm the importance of PGT in setting up psychopharmacological therapies as a support to clinicians\u2019 choices

Production and characterization of PHAs by pure culture using protein hydrolysates as sole carbon source

Protein hydrolysates obtained from discarded biomass can be further upgraded into high market value products, in the optic of a circular bioeconomy. In this work, residues from the cultivation of alfalfa, soybean and rice, and bovine wet blue shavings were fermented with mixed microbial cultures obtaining high concentrations of volatile fatty acid (up to 50 times compared to the original hydrolysate), mainly butyric and acetic acid. This rich medium was used for growing the bacterium Thauera sp., a known producer of polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs), biodegradable polymers with potential to replace petrol-based plastics. The overall process resulted in the production of 1.4 gPHAs/L, with a conversion rate of 32% for the alfalfa hydrolysates when considering the COD given by the initial VFAs. The obtained biopolymer was poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate), as confirmed by the presence of characteristic peaks and by the melting temperatures and thermo-oxidative degradation in the expected range; the polymer has a high degree of purity, being without inorganic residues. This work showed the feasibility of a process aimed at the valorisation of protein hydrolysates into high-market value products such as bioplastics

Papillary fibroelastoma, unusual cause of stroke in a young man: a case report

Abstract Background Papillary fibroelastoma is the third most common primary benign tumor with an incidence of up to 0.33% in autopsy series; it accounts for approximately 75% of all cardiac valvular tumors. Case presentation We describe a rare case of a 28-Year-old man that while playing football, had a sudden onset of neurological deficit: aphasia, right hemiparesis and right facial numbness. Transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) showed a 10x10 mm mass attached to the anterior mitral valve leaflet. The patient was treated surgically for the prevention of further embolic complications. Histologic examination of the resected mass revealed a papillary fibroelastoma. It is the third most frequent primary cardiac tumor, after myxoma and fibroma, and the most common primary tumor of heart valves. Despite the benign nature of this tumor, it carries very high risk of embolic complications. The successful complete resection of the papillary fibroelastoma is curative and the long-term postoperative prognosis is excellent. Conclusions Differential diagnosis of cardiac masses requires clinical informations, laboratory tests, blood cultures and appropriate use of imaging modalities. Papillary fibroelastoma is a potential cause of embolic stroke in the young. The prompt surgical excision of papillary fibroelastoma is curative and the long-term postoperative prognosis is excellent

Seismotectonics and landslides of the Crati Graben (Calabrian Arc, Southern Italy)

<p>The Crati Graben is a depression of Plio-Holocene age mainly controlled by extensional N–S striking faults and WNW–ESE transcurrent faults, in its northern and southern extremity. It is characterized by high landslide susceptibility due to the particular geo-structural pattern and seismotectonic characters. Landslides involve many villages, infrastructure and food crops, bringing serious economic and social damage. The seismotectonic and landslides <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17445647.2016.1223760" target="_blank">Main Map</a> of the Crati Graben, described in this paper, represents an update in detail of the framework of landslide risk areas and shows the main active and recent faults of the Crati Graben. The landslides and the faults, have been identified and classified, originally at detail scale (1:5000) and, then, represented at 1:50,000 scale. The geo-structural and geomorphological data were analysed in a geographic information system. The work has revealed a correlation between the trend of faults with respect to the distribution of landslides and of the historical and instrumental seismicity. The work presents an updated knowledge framework of risk conditions of the study zone, where risk areas related to slope instability are hierarchically classified according to the destructive potential of landslides. This document may be therefore a useful reference in planning and prioritising in the design of interventions for the safety of slopes and waterways.</p