Benefici percepiti della lettura ad alta voce in età prescolare: analisi di uno strumento di monitoraggio per la fascia d’età 0-6

In an extremely complex framework such as the Italian education system, which moves between innovative impulses and a tendency towards conservation, emerges the need to promote teaching practices that make it possible to increase literacy levels from early childhood. This study fits into this panorama, within the broader context of ‘Leggere: Forte! Ad alta voce fa crescere l’intelligenza’, an educational policy promoted by the Tuscany Region in collaboration with the University of Perugia. The purpose of this study is to investigate what emerged from the subjective perceptions of educators and teachers who joined the action-research project, systematically and intensively reading aloud to chil-dren aged 0-6 in various educational services, through the analysis of a monitoring tool: an ongoing semi-structured diary. This study also aims to understand whether the subjective perceptions of educators provide support to the evidence in the literature on the positive effects of reading aloud in the development of pre-school children. The diaries compiled by educators provided important insights with respect to the improvement of different dimensions perceived as related to the practice of reading aloud: cognitive, emotive-relational, linguistic and interest. Finally, limitations, implications and and future prospects of the present study will be discussed.In an extremely complex framework such as the Italian education system, which moves between innovative impulses and a tendency towards conservation, emerges the need to promote teaching practices that make it possible to increase literacy levels from early childhood. This study fits into this panorama, within the broader context of ‘Leggere: Forte! Ad alta voce fa crescere l’intelligenza’, an educational policy promoted by the Tuscany Region in collaboration with the University of Perugia. The purpose of this study is to investigate what emerged from the subjective perceptions of educators and teachers who joined the action-research project, systematically and intensively reading aloud to chil-dren aged 0-6 in various educational services, through the analysis of a monitoring tool: an ongoing semi-structured diary. This study also aims to understand whether the subjective perceptions of educators provide support to the evidence in the literature on the positive effects of reading aloud in the development of pre-school children. The diaries compiled by educators provided important insights with respect to the improvement of different dimensions perceived as related to the practice of reading aloud: cognitive, emotive-relational, linguistic and interest. Finally, limitations, implications and and future prospects of the present study will be discussed

Impact on construction project planning council of aqueduct Fruticas Chipaque

En los últimos años Colombia ha tenido un papel destacado en el escenario internacional por ser un país emergente económicamente, fortaleciendo significativamente los aspectos más relevantes para el desarrollo de un país. Dentro de estos factores relevantes se encuentra la construcción de infraestructurapública, que aporta grandes beneficios y brinda bienestar a la comunidad en general. Sin embargo muchas de estas obras se han visto afectadas por la mala planeación con la que se programan, incurriendo en sobrecostos que han llevado en el mejor de los casos a tiempos más largos de ejecución y en los casos más críticos al abandono de los proyectos, causando un notorio detrimento en el patrimonio de la nación y de los colombianos. Una vez revisada la información concerniente a la construcción del acueducto Fruticas del municipio de Chipaque se pudo determinar que son varios los factores que intervinieron para que su ejecución no se realizara dentro de los tiempos establecidos, siendo los más relevantes una pésima planeación de la obra dentro de su parte inicial y una gestión del riesgo inadecuada e inoportuna. El propósito fundamental de este artículo es hacer un análisis de un caso específico de un mal proyecto de construcción de infraestructura pública en Colombia, con el fin emitir algunas conclusiones, que de ser tenidas en cuenta, contribuyan a evitar que nuevos casos similares a este se presenten, afectando directamente a la economía del país y al mejoramiento de la calidad de vida de todos los colombianos.In recent years Colombia has had a prominent role on the international stage for being an economically emerging country, significantly strengthening the most important for a country's development issues. These relevant factors are the construction of public infrastructure, which provides great benefits and provides welfare to the community. However many of these works have been affected by the poor planning that are programmed with, incurring cost overruns that led to the best at longer runtimes and the most critical project abandonment cases causing a noticeable detriment to the heritage of the nation and Colombians. After reviewing the information concerning the construction of Fruticas aqueduct Township Chipaque it was determined that several factors intervened to your execution is not carried out within the established time, the most important being a lousy planning of the work within part of their initial management and inadequate and inappropriate risk. The main purpose of this paper is to analyze a specific case of a bad project to build public infrastructure in Colombia, to issue some conclusions, which if taken into account, help prevent new cases similar to this one submit, directly affecting the economy and improving the quality of life for all Colombians

Cyto/Biocompatibility of Dopamine Combined with the Antioxidant Grape Seed-Derived Polyphenol Compounds in Solid Lipid Nanoparticles

none10The loss of nigrostriatal neurons containing dopamine (DA) together with the “mitochondrial dysfunction” in midbrain represent the two main causes related to the symptoms of Parkinson’s disease (PD). Hence, the aim of this investigation is to co-administer the missing DA and the antioxidant grape seed-derived proanthocyanidins (grape seed extract, GSE) in order to increase the levels of the neurotransmitter (which is unable to cross the Blood Brain Barrier) and reducing the oxidative stress (OS) related to PD, respectively. Methods: For this purpose, we chose Solid Lipid Nanoparticles (SLN), because they have been already proven to increase DA uptake in the brain. DA-SLN adsorbing GSE (GSE/DA-SLN) were formulated and subjected to physico-chemical characterization, and their cytocompatibility and protection against OS were examined. Results: GSE was found on SLN surface and release studies evidenced the efficiency of GSE in preventing DA autoxidation. Furthermore, SLN showed high mucoadhesive strength and were found not cytotoxic to both primary Olfactory Ensheathing and neuroblastoma SH-SY5Y cells by MTT test. Co-administration of GSE/DA-SLN and the OS-inducing neurotoxin 6-hydroxydopamine (100 μM) resulted in an increase of SH-SY5Y cell viability. Conclusions: Hence, SLN formulations containing DA and GSE may constitute interesting candidates for non-invasive nose-to-brain delivery.openAdriana Trapani, Lorenzo Guerra, Filomena Corbo, Stefano Castellani, Enrico Sanna, Loredana Capobianco, Anna Grazia Monteduro, Daniela Erminia Manno, Delia Mandracchia, Sante Di Gioia and Massimo ConeseTrapani, Adriana; Guerra, Lorenzo; Corbo, Filomena; Castellani, Stefano; Sanna, Enrico; Capobianco, Loredana; Monteduro, ANNA GRAZIA; Manno, Daniela Erminia; Mandracchia, Delia; Di Gioia and Massimo Conese, Sant

Substituição parcial do farelo de soja pela farinha de carne e ossos em dietas para juvenis de tilápia‑do‑nilo

The objective of this work was to evaluate the effects of the partial replacement of soybean meal by meat and bone meal in diets for juvenile Nile tilapia on digestibility, health, performance, and feeding cost. The experiment was carried out for 14 weeks, with 400 juveniles (4.9±0.6 g) distributed randomly into 16 tanks. The fish were fed with four diets containing 0, 15, 30, and 45% replacement of protein from soybean meal by protein from meat and bone meal. Performance parameters, digestibility, hematology, and feeding cost were evaluated. The best results for weight gain and apparent feed conversion were observed with 40 and 32% replacement, respectively. The lowest feeding cost was obtained with 30 and 45%. There was a linear decrease in the apparent digestibility coefficients of protein with increasing levels of meat and bone meal. Fish fed diets containing up to 24% replacement show increase of hemoglobin concentration. The diet with 32% replacement of protein from soybean meal by protein from meat and bone meal promotes better feeding conversion for Nile tilapia.O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar os efeitos da substituição parcial do farelo de soja pela farinha de carne e ossos em dietas para juvenis de tilápia‑do‑nilo na digestibilidade, na saúde, no desempenho e no custo de arraçoamento. O experimento foi conduzido durante 14 semanas, com 400 juvenis (4,9±0,6 g) distribuídos ao acaso em 16 tanques. Os peixes foram alimentados com quatro dietas contendo 0, 15, 30 e 45% de substituição da proteína do farelo de soja pela proteína da farinha de carne e ossos. Foram avaliados parâmetros de desempenho, digestibilidade, hematologia e custo de arraçoamento. Os melhores resultados para ganho em peso e conversão alimentar aparente foram observados com 40 e 32% de substituição, respectivamente. O menor custo de arraçoamento foi obtido com 30 e 45%. Houve efeito linear decrescente dos coeficientes de digestibilidade aparente da proteína com o aumento nos níveis de farinha de carne e ossos. Os peixes alimentados com dietas contendo até 24% de substituição apresentam aumento da concentração de hemoglobina. A dieta com 32% de substituição da proteína do farelo de soja pela proteína da farinha de carne e ossos promove melhor conversão alimentar para tilápia‑do‑nilo

The rigid limit in Special Kahler geometry; From K3-fibrations to Special Riemann surfaces: a detailed case study

The limiting procedure of special Kahler manifolds to their rigid limit is studied for moduli spaces of Calabi-Yau manifolds in the neighbourhood of certain singularities. In two examples we consider all the periods in and around the rigid limit, identifying the nontrivial ones in the limit as periods of a meromorphic form on the relevant Riemann surfaces. We show how the Kahler potential of the special Kahler manifold reduces to that of a rigid special Kahler manifold. We extensively make use of the structure of these Calabi-Yau manifolds as K3 fibrations, which is useful to obtain the periods even before the K3 degenerates to an ALE manifold in the limit. We study various methods to calculate the periods and their properties. The development of these methods is an important step to obtain exact results from supergravity on Calabi-Yau manifolds.Comment: 79 pages, 8 figures. LaTeX; typos corrected, version to appear in Classical and Quantum Gravit

Fish silage in farm-made feed for Nile tilapia

O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar o emprego de ração artesanal à base de silagem de resíduo da filetagem de pescado na criação de tilápia-do-nilo (Oreochromis niloticus). Dois mil e setenta juvenis de tilápia revertidos (83,1 g) foram distribuídos em seis viveiros escavados com 230 m2 cada um, na densidade de estocagem de 1,5 peixe por metro quadrado, em delineamento inteiramente casualizado com dois tratamentos (ração artesanal e ração comercial) e três repetições. Foram analisados os parâmetros de desempenho produtivo (sobrevivência, ganho em peso, conversão alimentar aparente, taxa de crescimento específico e coeficiente de variação do peso final), as variáveis de qualidade da água (oxigênio dissolvido, transparência e fósforo e nitrogênio total), o custo de arraçoamento e a composição corporal. Não houve diferença significativa entre as rações para os parâmetros de desempenho produtivo. Verificou-se maior eutrofização da água dos viveiros onde os peixes receberam ração artesanal. O custo por quilograma de peixe produzido com ração artesanal (R$1,07) foi aproximadamente 42$ 1,86). Os peixes alimentados com ração artesanal tiveram teor de lipídios significativamente menor na carcaça.The objective of this work was to evaluate the use of a farm-made feed based on silage of fish filleting residues for Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) farming. Two thousand and seventy masculinized tilapia juveniles (83.1 g) were distributed into six ponds (230 m2), at a stocking density of 1.5 fish per square meter. The experimental design was a completely randomized with two treatments (farm-made and commercial feeds) and three replicates. The performance parameters analyzed were survival, weight gain, apparent feed conversion, specific growth rate, and final weight coefficient of variation. The water quality variables analyzed were dissolved oxygen, transparency, and total phosphorus and nitrogen. Feeding cost and body composition were also evaluated. No significant differences were observed in the performance parameters. Water eutrophication in the ponds with farm-made feed was higher than in ponds with commercial feed. The cost of fish produced using farm-made feed (R$1.07 kg-1) was approximately 42$ 1.86 kg-1). Fish fed with farm-made feed had lower lipid body content than fish fed with commercial feed

A meta-analysis on age-associated changes in blood DNA methylation: Results from an original analysis pipeline for Infinium 450k data

open18noAging is characterized by a profound remodeling of the epigenetic architecture in terms of DNA methylation patterns. To date the most effective tool to study genome wide DNA methylation changes is Infinium HumanMethylation450 BeadChip (Infinium 450k). Despite the wealth of tools for Infinium 450k analysis, the identification of the most biologically relevant DNA methylation changes is still challenging. Here we propose an analytical pipeline to select differentially methylated regions (DMRs), tailored on microarray architecture, which is highly effective in highlighting biologically relevant results. The pipeline groups microarray probes on the basis of their localization respect to CpG islands and genic sequences and, depending on probes density, identifies DMRs through a single-probe or a regioncentric approach that considers the concomitant variation of multiple adjacent CpG probes. We successfully applied this analytical pipeline on 3 independent Infinium 450k datasets that investigated age-associated changes in blood DNA methylation. We provide a consensus list of genes that systematically vary in DNA methylation levels from 0 to 100 years and that have a potentially relevant role in the aging process.This work was supported by the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme (grant agreement no. 259679 “IDEAL”, grant agreement no. 266486 “NU-AGE”, grant agreement no. 305280), by CARISBO foundation and by the Italian Ministry of Health, Progetto Ricerca Finalizzata 2008, convenzione 35: “An integrated approach to identify functional, biochemical and genetic markers for diagnostic and prognostic purposes in the elderly, in the centenarians and in people with dementia, Alzheimer's disease, mild cognitive impairment”.openBacalini MG; Boattini A; Gentilini D; Giampieri E; Pirazzini C; Giuliani C; Fontanesi E; Remondini D; Capri M; Del Rio A; Luiselli D; Vitale G; Mari D; Castellani G; Di Blasio AM; Salvioli S; Franceschi C; Garagnani P.Bacalini MG; Boattini A; Gentilini D; Giampieri E; Pirazzini C; Giuliani C; Fontanesi E; Remondini D; Capri M; Del Rio A; Luiselli D; Vitale G; Mari D; Castellani G; Di Blasio AM; Salvioli S; Franceschi C; Garagnani P

Comparison of diets for rearing the larvae of Mediterranean fruit fly: nutritional and economic aspects

The Mediterranean fruit fly Ceratitis capitata (Wiedemann, 1824) (Diptera: Tephritidae) is the main pest of fruit crops worldwide due to its broad distribution, direct damages, and adaptation to different hosts. Developing diets for the rearing fruit flies is essential for integrated management of this pest. Mass rearing of parasitoids, selection of preferred hosts, and mass rearing of genetically modified C. capitata strains subsidize methods of biological control, cultural control, and the sterile insect technique (SIT), respectively, depending directly on the mass rearing of the Mediterranean fruit fly. The aim of this study was to assess the effectiveness of artificial diets for rearing C. capitata larvae considering the cost of those most appropriate diets. Nine diets containing different combinations of protein and energy sources (brewer’s yeast, yeast extract, pollen, soybean extract, oatmeal, corn meal, and wheat germ) were formulated. The parameters immature development time (hatching), pupal viability (emerged adults), size and weight of pupae, and adult size (wing length) were assessed. The experiments were conducted in the laboratory under controlled conditions of temperature (26 ± 1 °C) and relative humidity (70% ± 10%). Statistical analysis was performed by using ANOVA with the Tukey’s test for comparison of means. Diets based on oatmeal and soybean extract, both added with brewer’s yeast, yeast extract, or pollen satisfactorily meet the nutritional requirements of C. capitata. Moreover, diets enriched with brewer’s yeast or yeast extract presented the lowest costs; therefore, they could be used in a continuous mass-scale rearing of C. capitata. Diets based on corn meal and soybean extract, both associated with brewer’s yeast, yeast extract, or pollen are more economical, but they should not be used for rearing C. capitata because they decrease the percentage of hatching and extend life cycle. Diets based on wheat germ and oatmeal, both added with brewer’s yeast, yeast extract, or pollen are not adequate for rearing C. capitata

The chromosome analysis of the miscarriage tissue. Miscarried embryo/fetal crown rump length (CRL) measurement: A practical use

Objective To investigate whether miscarried embryo/fetal crown rump length (CRL) measurement may yield a practical application for predicting a conclusive result at the cytogenetic analysis of miscarriage tissue. Our study might help in improving the cytogenetic method, the results of which may be affected by maternal cell contamination (MCC). In particular, we aimed at establishing whether the miscarried embryo/fetal CRL measurement shows accuracy in predicting the possibility of MCC and the scan cut-off value useful to this purpose and, as a result, suggest a multi-step procedure for the genetic ascertainment. Methods Women experiencing at least two miscarriages of less than 20 weeks size at the Pregnancy Loss Unit at Fondazione Policlinico A. Gemelli underwent a scan before surgery. The CRL value was recorded. After the dilatation and courettage (D&C) procedure, miscarriage tissue was processed through the proposed multi-step procedure before performing oligo-nucleotide- based and SNP (single nucleotide polymorphisms)-based comparative genomic hybridization (CGH+SNP) microarray analysis. Results 63 women and 63 miscarriages met the criteria. By using the Receiving Operator Characteristic (ROC) curves, CRL showed an AUC of 0.816 (95%CI:0.703\ub10.928,p<0.001). A CRL24.5 mm cut-off value showed a higher positive likelihood ratio (5.27) but, conversely, a higher negative likelihood ratio (0.64) in predicting the possibility of MCC. Microarray analysis was successful in the totality of cases in which the embryo/fetal origin of miscarriage tissues was proven