Key Theoretical Principles to Implement the Student-Centered Learning and Teaching Process

The starting point of this article is the United Nations Agenda 2030, an outstanding international project, with a special emphasis on Goal 4 that focuses on providing «Quality Education», an objective that the current global pandemic is making more and more challenging. All the educational agencies, putting academia first, should pursue the aims of Goal 4, setting up a well-established plan with clearly stated objectives. Starting from the controversial principle that «learning is impeded by teaching», some relevant pedagogical practices are examined, such as Retrieval Practice, CLIL, and Microlanguages. Nevertheless, the core of this article deals with some pairs and triples of key theoretical principles, besides some basic theoretical areas, any educator should be familiar with and apply during her/his approach to the learning/teaching process

Educational (di)stances: reimagining ELT in hybrid learning-teaching environments

The outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic abruptly forced educational institutions worldwide to turn to distance learning to keep the educational process going on. The need to use digital resources in the daily teaching and learning practice has inevitably obliged educators at large to think about education in new ways.How can high quality learning, envisaged by the United Nations 2030 Agenda as the fourth Sustainable Development Goal, be ensured to students when working in a hybrid environment? What is the students’ own perception of blended, hybrid and/or of totally online classes? Which contribution can the latest cognitive neuroscience research give to designing effective learning environments, both in-presence and remotely?The teaching profession needs to be profoundly rethought and teachers, as professionals in the field of education, should focus not only on what their students learn, but also on how the learning process can be mediated and boosted, thus prioritizing the authentic nature of any educational institution

STUDENT-CENTERED LEARNING AND TEACHING PROCESS: TWO LECLESSES PLANS WITH PROCEDURES AND IMPLEMENTATION MODES

Drawing from the Routledge International Handbook of Student-centered Learning and Teaching (2021) and Bari’s Convention on Academic Didactic Innovation (2018), while bearing in mind the most relevant theories of modern pedagogy along with the consequent practical implementations of glottodidactics, this article focuses on the objectives of the EU program ET 2020.Great relevance is granted to the learning-teaching approach and the new roles of students and teachers, exemplified through a “lecless” sample plan with objectives, times, number and role of students involved, procedures and assessment. Some works presented by university students during their English classes are finally included

A cost-effectiveness analysis of denosumab for the prevention of skeletal-related events in patients with multiple myeloma in the United States of America

Objective: A large, pivotal, phase 3 trial in patients with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma (MM) demonstrated that denosumab, compared with zoledronic acid, was non-inferior for the prevention of skeletal-related events (SREs), extended the observed median progression-free survival (PFS) by 10.7 months, and showed significantly less renal toxicity. The cost-effectiveness of denosumab vs zoledronic acid in MM in the US was assessed from societal and payer perspectives. Methods: The XGEVA Global Economic Model was developed by integrating data from the phase 3 trial comparing the efficacy of denosumab with zoledronic acid for the prevention of SREs in MM. SRE rates were adjusted to reflect the real-world incidence. The model included utility decrements for SREs, administration, serious adverse events (SAEs), and disease progression. Drug, administration, SRE management, SAEs, and anti-MM treatment costs were based on data from published studies. For the societal perspective, the model additionally included SRE-related direct non-medical costs and indirect costs. The net monetary benefit (NMB) was calculated using a willingness-to-pay threshold of US$150,000. One-way deterministic and probabilistic sensitivity analyses were conducted. Results: From a societal perspective, compared with zoledronic acid, the use of denosumab resulted in an incremental cost of US$26,329 and an incremental quality-adjusted life-year (QALY) of 0.2439, translating into a cost per QALY gained of US$107,939 and a NMB of US$10,259 in favor of denosumab. Results were sensitive to SRE rates and PFS parameters. Limitations: Costs were estimated from multiple sources, which varied by tumor type, patient population, country, and other parameters. PFS and overall survival were extrapolated beyond the follow-up of the primary analysis using fitted parametric curves. Conclusion: Denosumab’s efficacy in delaying or preventing SREs, potential to improve PFS, and lack of renal toxicity make it a cost-effective option for the prevention of SREs in MM compared with zoledronic acid

Immunohistochemical Method and Histopathology Judging for the Systemic Synuclein Sampling Study (S4)

Immunohistochemical (IHC) α-synuclein (Asyn) pathology in peripheral biopsies may be a biomarker of Parkinson disease (PD). The multi-center Systemic Synuclein Sampling Study (S4) is evaluating IHC Asyn pathology within skin, colon and submandibular gland biopsies from 60 PD and 20 control subjects. Asyn pathology is being evaluated by a blinded panel of specially trained neuropathologists. Preliminary work assessed 2 candidate immunoperoxidase methods using a set of PD and control autopsy-derived sections from formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded blocks of the 3 tissues. Both methods had 100% specificity; one, utilizing the 5C12 monoclonal antibody, was more sensitive in skin (67% vs 33%), and was chosen for further use in S4. Four trainee neuropathologists were trained to perform S4 histopathology readings; in subsequent testing, their scoring was compared to that of the trainer neuropathologist on both glass slides and digital images. Specificity and sensitivity were both close to 100% with all readers in all tissue types on both glass slides and digital images except for skin, where sensitivity averaged 75% with digital images and 83.5% with glass slides. Semiquantitative (0-3) density score agreement between trainees and trainer averaged 67% for glass slides and 62% for digital images

Three-dimensional mapping and reconstruction of stem cells in the ampullae of the colonial ascidian Botryllus schlosseri

reservedla tesi analizza le ampolle dell'ascidiaceo botrillo ed in particolare si focalizza sulla ricostruzione e mappatura tridimensionale delle cellule staminali al loro interno. attraverso l'analisi sotto microscopio delle ampolle sono state individuate numerosissime cellule staminali per ogni singola ampolla, queste poi sono state segnate per poi ricostruire una mappa di queste in due ampolle particolarmente ricche di queste cellule