Time response of a landslide to meteorological events

International audienceA landslide affecting two small villages located on the Northwestern Italian Apennines has been investigated since the year 2000 through the use of different equipment. A complex monitoring system has been installed in the area. The system includes several inclinometers, piezometers and a raingauge. An Automatic Inclinometric System (AIS) has been also installed that automatically performs measurements, twice a day, along the entire length of a pipe that is 45 m deep. This monitoring system has been set up to identify a methodology that allowed to deal with landslides, trying to predict their behaviour beforehand for warning purposes. Previous researches carried out in the same area for a period of about 7 months, in the year 2000, have allowed to identify a correlation between deep slope movements and rainfalls. In particular, it has been possible to determine the time lag needed for a rainfall peak to produce a corresponding peak of the landslide movements; this time lag was of 9 days. This result was possible because the AIS allows to obtain, as mentioned, daily inclinometric measurements that can be correlated with the recorded rainfalls. In the present report we have extended the analysis of the correlation between deep slope movements and rainfalls to a greater period of observation (2 years) to verify over this period the consistency of the time lag mentioned above. The time lag previously found has been confirmed. We have also examined the possibility to extend to the entire landslide body the correlation that has been found locally, analyzing the results of the remaining inclinometric tubes with traditional reading installed on the landslide and comparing them with the results of the AIS. The output of the tubes equipped with piezometric cells has also been analyzed. The relations existing among rainfalls, ground water level oscillations and the related slope movements have been explore

Identifying learning preferences among Italian undergraduate students studying the sociology of religion : drawing on psychological type preferences

This study argues that the notion of learning preferences (rooted within a coherent and established theory of personality and individual differences) may be more fruitful than the largely contested notion of learning styles. The case is illustrated by extrapolation from psychological type theory in the light of the profile of 581 students enrolled in undergraduate programmes embracing the sociology of religion at Padua University, Italy, employing the Italian translation of the Francis Psychological Type Scales. Overall the data demonstrated a relatively balanced need for teaching and learning approaches appropriate for introverts and extraverts, for sensing types and intuitive types, and for feeling types and thinking types. At the same time, the group was heavily weighted in terms of judging types over perceiving types, indicating a priority toward structured and disciplined presentation of the curriculum

A functional biological network centered on XRCC3: a new possible marker of chemoradiotherapy resistance in rectal cancer patients

Preoperative chemoradiotherapy is widely used to improve local control of disease, sphincter preservation and to improve survival in patients with locally advanced rectal cancer. Patients enrolled in the present study underwent preoperative chemoradiotherapy, followed by surgical excision. Response to chemoradiotherapy was evaluated according to Mandard's Tumor Regression Grade (TRG). TRG 3, 4 and 5 were considered as partial or no response while TRG 1 and 2 as complete response. From pretherapeutic biopsies of 84 locally advanced rectal carcinomas available for the analysis, only 42 of them showed 70% cancer cellularity at least. By determining gene expression profiles, responders and non-responders showed significantly different expression levels for 19 genes (P < 0.001). We fitted a logistic model selected with a stepwise procedure optimizing the Akaike Information Criterion (AIC) and then validated by means of leave one out cross validation (LOOCV, accuracy = 95%). Four genes were retained in the achieved model: ZNF160, XRCC3, HFM1 and ASXL2. Real time PCR confirmed that XRCC3 is overexpressed in responders group and HFM1 and ASXL2 showed a positive trend. In vitro test on colon cancer resistant/susceptible to chemoradioterapy cells, finally prove that XRCC3 deregulation is extensively involved in the chemoresistance mechanisms. Protein-protein interactions (PPI) analysis involving the predictive classifier revealed a network of 45 interacting nodes (proteins) with TRAF6 gene playing a keystone role in the network. The present study confirmed the possibility that gene expression profiling combined with integrative computational biology is useful to predict complete responses to preoperative chemoradiotherapy in patients with advanced rectal cance

Religious education for spiritual bricoleurs? the perceptions of students in ten Christian-ethos secondary schools in England and Wales

Religious Education (RE) in England and Wales functions within a post-secular culture. In the last fifty years, approaches characterised by academic rigour, impartiality, and professionalism have been prioritised. In this post-secular culture, the notion of bricolage aptly describes how some young people seek meaning, explore the spiritual dimension of life, with fragmented understandings of, experiences and encounters with the religious traditions. This paper draws on data from an empirical research project involving 350 students, to explore why students in ten Christian-ethos secondary schools in England and Wales recognised Religious Education (RE) as a significant contributor to their spiritual development. The analysis is illuminated by employing Roebben's (2009) concept of a narthical learning space (NLS) as the lens with which to examine young people’s experiences. Three aspects of RE are explored: the debating of existential questions; opportunities to theologise and reflect; and encounters with the beliefs, practices, and opinions of others. This article argues that the concept of RE as a narthical learning space alongside the notion of young people as spiritual bricoleurs illuminates how the students in this study interpret the contribution of RE to their spiritual development

Technology as 'Applied Science': a Serious Misconception that Reinforces Distorted and Impoverished Views of Science

The current consideration of technology as 'applied science', this is to say, as something that comes 'after' science, justifies the lack of attention paid to technology in science education. In our paper we question this simplistic view of the science-technology relationship, historically rooted in the unequal appreciation of intellectual and manual work, and we try to show how the absence of the technological dimension in science education contributes to a na¿ ve and distorted view of science which deeply affects the necessary scientific and technological literacy of all citizens

Functional Protein Network Activation Mapping Reveals New Potential Molecular Drug Targets for Poor Prognosis Pediatric BCP-ALL

Background: In spite of leukemia therapy improvements obtained over the last decades, therapy is not yet effective in all cases. Current approaches in Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL) research focus on identifying new molecular targets to improve outcome for patients with a dismal prognosis. In this light phosphoproteomics seems to hold great promise for the identification of proteins suitable for targeted therapy. Methodology/Principal Findings: We employed Reverse Phase Protein Microarrays to identify aberrantly activated proteins in 118 pediatric B-cell precursor (BCP)-ALL patients. Signal transduction pathways were assayed for activation/expression status of 92 key signalling proteins. We observed an increased activation/expression of several pathways involved in cell proliferation in poor clinical prognosis patients. MLL-rearranged tumours revealed BCL-2 hyperphosphorylation through AMPK activation, which indicates that AMPK could provide a functional role in inhibiting apoptosis in MLL-rearranged patients, and could be considered as a new potential therapeutic target. Second, in patients with poor clinical response to prednisone we observed the up-modulation of LCK activity with respect to patients with good response. This tyrosine-kinase can be down-modulated with clinically used inhibitors, thus modulating LCK activity could be considered for further studies as a new additional therapy for prednisone-resistant patients. Further we also found an association between high levels of CYCLIN E and relapse incidence. Moreover, CYCLIN E is more expressed in early relapsed patients, who usually show an unfavourable prognosis. Conclusions/Significance: We conclude that functional protein pathway activation mapping revealed specific deranged signalling networks in BCP-ALL that could be potentially modulated to produce a better clinical outcome for patients resistant to standard-of-care therapies

The Diversity of Religious Diversity. Using Census and NCS Methodology in Order to Map and Assess the Religious Diversity of a Whole Country

Religious diversity is often captured in “mapping studies” that use mostly qualitative methods in order to map and assess the religious communities in a given area. While these studies are useful, they often present weaknesses in that they treat only limited geographic regions, provide limited possibilities for comparing across religious groups and cannot test theories. In this article, we show how a census and a quantitative national congregations study (NCS) methodology can be combined in order to map and assess the religious diversity of a whole country (Switzerland), overcoming the problems mentioned above. We outline the methodological steps and selected results concerning organizational, geographic, structural, and cultural diversity

Exploiting Distance Technology to Foster Experimental Design as a Neglected Learning Objective in Labwork in Chemistry

This article deals with the design process of a remote laboratory for labwork in chemistry. In particular, it focuses on the mutual dependency of theoretical conjectures about learning in the experimental sciences and technological opportunities in creating learning environments. The design process involves a detailed analysis of the expert task and knowledge, e.g., spectrophotometry as a method for the determination of the concentration of a compound in a solution. In so doing, modifications in transposing tasks and knowledge to the learning situation can be monitored. The remote laboratory is described, as well as the specific features that alter the degree of fidelity of the learning situation in comparison to the expert one. It is conjectured that these alterations might represent actual benefits for learning