Challenges for the Evaluation of the P.I.P.P.I. - Programme of Intervention for Prevention of Institutionalisation: between Partecipative and Experimental Pathways

Evaluation is constantly requested by governments and decision-makers, to prove that social policies and actions undertaken are effective in responding to problems. Also programmes contrasting child neglect are involved in such request to guarantee that children enjoy their childhood and ensure access to quality service. This paper focuses on an Italian evaluation experience of one such programme named the P.I.P.P.I. (Programme of Intervention for Prevention of Institutionalisation), the outcome of a collaboration between the University of Padua and the Italian Ministry of Welfare. The paper questions and challenges the experimental designs normally used for these evaluation purposes, highlighting how knowledge of effective treatments is far from the practices delivered. The study proposes an innovative evaluation path in which the participative evaluation, where the professionals build their own knowledge through an evaluation in the field, coexists with the choice of matching as a (quasi) experimental evaluation, responding to the Government\u2019s request for effective investments

P.I.P.P.I.: What has changed? How and why? The empirical evidence

This paper provides a summary of the results of the P.I.P.P.I. Program in achieving the prefixed goals on the final, intermediate and proximal outcome variables, regarding children\u2019s development, the positive exercise of parental competences and the effective action of services respectively. Therefore, the main purpose is to describe the impact of the program on the overall well-being of children and families in relation to the processes implemented. This is possible thanks to the wealth of information gathered by professionals through the tools provided for the analysis, design and monitoring activities in the work with families

Nanomanufacturing of titania interfaces with controlled structural and functional properties by supersonic cluster beam deposition

Great emphasis is placed on the development of integrated approaches for the synthesis and the characterization of ad hoc nanostructured platforms, to be used as templates with controlled morphology and chemical properties for the investigation of specific phenomena of great relevance for technological applications in interdisciplinary fields such as biotechnology, medicine and advanced materials. Here we discuss the crucial role and the advantages of thin film deposition strategies based on cluster-assembling from supersonic cluster beams. We select cluster-assembled nanostructured titania (ns-TiO2) as a case study to demonstrate that accurate control over morphological parameters can be routinely achieved, and consequently over several relevant interfacial properties and phenomena, like surface charging in a liquid electrolyte, and proteins and nanoparticles adsorption

La realta occupazionale del Laureato Magistrale in Scienze Infermieristiche e Ostetriche

Professioni sanitarie come quella ostetrica e infermieristica affondano le loro radici in una storia molto antica, in cui si sono alternate fasi di valorizzazione e di involuzione sociale che, probabilmente, in parte motivano la costituzione di un’identità professionale che oggi appare ancora fragile in Italia. Il Corso di Laurea Magistrale in Scienze Infermieristiche e Ostetriche rappresenta il livello graduate del mondo anglosassone e pur raffigurando un modello di professionalità proprio dell’ Advanced Pratictioner Nurse non viene ufficialmente riconosciuto come tale in Italia. Di fatto ai livelli successivi di preparazione (laurea triennale, master di primo livello, laurea magistrale) non corrispondono ruoli diversi. Non è tutt’oggi chiara quindi la spendibilità del titolo nel contesto sanitario in assenza di norme che regolino le prospettive occupazionali e di carriera. Questa tesi si prefigge questo scopo: analizzare le realtà occupazionali e i rispettivi ruoli “avanzati” dei laureati magistrali in Scienze Infermieristiche e Ostetriche nel breve termine dal conseguimento del titolo, valutando gli ambiti occupazionali e i ruoli ricoperti da Infermieri e Ostetriche in possesso della Laurea Magistrale, nonché le implicazioni degli suddetti aspetti in termini di gratificazione e aspettative personali

Introduction: rupture and continuity in the Italian literary field 1926-1960

Introduction to the Special Issu

Challenges for the Evaluation of the P.I.P.P.I. - Programme of Intervention for Prevention of Institutionalisation: between Partecipative and Experimental Pathways

Evaluation is constantly requested by governments and decisionmakers, to prove that social policies and actions undertaken are effective in responding to problems. Also, programmes contrasting child neglect are involved in such request to guarantee that children enjoy their childhood and ensure access to quality service. This paper focuses on an Italian evaluation experience of such a programme, thanks to the collaboration between University of Padua and Italian Ministry of Welfare. It is called P.I.P.P.I. - Programme of Intervention for Prevention of Institutionalisation. The paper questioned and challenged the experimental designs normally used for these evaluation purposes, highlighting how knowledge of effective treatments is far from the practices delivered. The study purposes an innovative evaluation path, intertwining the participative evaluation where the professionals build their own knowledge through an evaluation in the field, with the choice of matching as (quasi) experimental evaluation, responding to the Government’s request of effective investments

Global learning experience: developing intercultural competence through virtual exchange

It becomes clearer every day that the world faces a broad array of global challenges that will likely be solved if people – especially young people – from a wide range of backgrounds holding diverse beliefs and practices, develop the competences to sit with those different from themselves to solve problems – or they will not be solved. An evidence-based practice to help mitigate this challenge in higher education has been the proliferation of Information and Communications (ICT) and e-learning strategies. A virtual exchange program, the Global Learning Experience (GLE), provided an ample opportunity to structure collaborative international learning experiences, and thus foster the development of intercultural competence, amongst graduate level counseling and social work students. Using a qualitative paradigm, the authors examined students’ general perceptions about the GLE, how it both benefited students and posed challenges, and, importantly, how it impacted students’ development of intercultural competence

Ancient masonry arches and vaults strengthened with TRM, SRG and FRP composites: Numerical analyses

[EN] The two arches and the three vaults experimentally described in Carozzi et al. (2017) are here analyzed with a novel robust FE lower bound limit analysis code, suitable to predict active failure mechanisms, lines of thrust and collapse loads in absence and presence of TRM, SRG and FRP reinforcement. The approach relies into a discretization into rigid-infinitely resistant quadrilateral elements for masonry, interfaces between contiguous elements exhibiting limited strength and perfectly bonded rigid-plastic trusses representing the reinforcement. For masonry, a No Tension Material NTM model can be adopted to compare with classic Heyman¿s results, but also a limited compressive and tensile strength with a cohesive frictional behavior in shear may be accounted for in a relatively simple fashion, i.e. in principle with the possibility to model shear sliding and compression crushing. Debonding and delamination of the reinforcement are considered in a conventional way, assuming trusses with a limited tensile strength derived from either experimental data available or consolidated formulas from the literature. With the knowledge of the exact position of the hinges provided by limit analysis, 2D FE static analyses with non-linearity and softening concentrated exclusively on hinges are carried out, to simply extend the knowledge beyond collapse loads estimation towards a prediction of initial stiffness and ultimate displacements. In all cases, promising agreement with experiments is observed.Part of the analyses were developed within the activities of Rete dei Laboratori Universitari di Ingegneria Sismica - ReLUIS for the research program funded by the Dipartimento di Protezione Civile.Bertolesi, E.; Milani, G.; Carozzi, FG.; Poggi, C. (2018). Ancient masonry arches and vaults strengthened with TRM, SRG and FRP composites: Numerical analyses. Composite Structures. 187:385-402. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compstruct.2017.12.021S38540218

The human gut microbiota during the initial stages of life: insights from bifidobacteria.

Current scientific literature has identified the infant gut microbiota as a multifaceted organ influencing a range of aspects of host-health and development. Many scientific studies have focused on characterizing the main microbial taxa that constitute the resident bacterial population of the infant gut. This has generated a wealth of information on the bacterial composition of the infant gut microbiota, and on the functional role/s exerted by their key microbial members. In this context, one of the most prevalent, abundant and investigated microbial taxon in the human infant gut is the genus Bifidobacterium, due to the purported beneficial activities is bestows upon its host. This review discusses the most recent findings regarding the infant gut microbiota with a particular focus on the molecular mechanisms by which bifidobacteria impact on host health and well-being

The lung in amyloidosis

Amyloidosis is a disorder caused by misfolding of autologous protein and its extracellular deposition as fibrils, resulting in vital organ dysfunction and eventually death. Pulmonary amyloidosis may be localised or part of systemic amyloidosis.Pulmonary interstitial amyloidosis is symptomatic only if the amyloid deposits severely affect gas exchange alveolar structure, thus resulting in serious respiratory impairment. Localised parenchymal involvement may be present as nodular amyloidosis or as amyloid deposits associated with localised lymphomas. Finally, tracheobronchial amyloidosis, which is usually not associated with evident clonal proliferation, may result in airway stenosis.Because the treatment options for amyloidosis are dependent on the fibril protein type, the workup of all new cases should include accurate determination of the amyloid protein. Most cases are asymptomatic and need only a careful follow-up. Diffuse alveolar-septal amyloidosis is treated according to the underlying systemic amyloidosis. Nodular pulmonary amyloidosis is usually localised, conservative excision is usually curative and the long-term prognosis is excellent. Tracheobronchial amyloidosis is usually treated with bronchoscopic interventions or external beam radiation therapy