La comunicazione interculturale: analisi critica di un'esperienza sul campo

È ormai un dato di fatto la presenza di bambini e ragazzi stranieri nel nostro Paese, si può affermare quindi che la nostra scuola, e la nostra società, sono strutturalmente connotate in senso multiculturale. Ne consegue l’importanza sia di orientare l’agire educativo verso un approccio di tipo interculturale, che ponga attenzione sia all’insieme che alla specificità delle culture dei ragazzi stranieri, che di mettere in campo risorse, professionalità specifiche e competenze. Il presente elaborato intende indagare il fenomeno immigratorio nel nostro Paese ed in particolare nella Provincia e nel Comune di Pisa, mettendo in evidenza l’effettiva esigenza di attuare nel contesto scolastico la pratica della mediazione culturale, intesa come dimensione fondamentale dell’educazione interculturale, in modo da favorire la comunicazione tra culture diverse e la loro integrazione sociale. La scuola diventa, quindi, luogo privilegiato di mediazione culturale i cui effetti educativi si distendono nel corso del tempo e si prolungano attraverso le generazioni. È necessario creare una rete sinergica che coinvolga non solo l’istituzione scolastica, ma il territorio, le famiglie italiane e straniere, gli alunni stessi. Tutte queste figure possono svolgere la loro piccola parte di mediazione. Solo così si può favorire un cambiamento nell’organizzazione della scuola: caratterizzato da nuove forme di educazione e convivenza sociale e culturale. Se manca questo tipo di orientamento, se manca un’armonica sinergia tra le parti, la figura professionale del mediatore rischia di essere inefficiente e di non giungere al cambiamento richiesto dall’attuale società multiculturale. L’educazione interculturale perciò non è finalizzata solamente a rimuovere le condizioni di svantaggio degli studenti stranieri ma vuole educare alla cittadinanza. Ne consegue che sia il personale scolastico che le figure professionali dei mediatori culturali, proprio per la loro delicata funzione inerente la formazione dei bambini/ragazzi debbano ricevere un’adeguata e continua formazione. Queste riflessioni emergono dall’analisi dei dati relativi agli immigrati e ai minori stranieri nel nostro territorio, dalle considerazioni sulla figura del mediatore e della documentazione relativa ad un progetto chiamato “Scuola e Immigrazione: per un’azione di sistema”, realizzato dal Comune di Pisa

URBAN DATA COLLECTION USING A BIKE MOBILE SYSTEM WITH A FOSS ARCHITECTURE

European community is working to improve the quality of the life in each European country, in particular to increase the quality air condition and safety in each city. The quality air is daily monitored, using several ground station, which do not consider the variation of the quality during the day, evaluating only the average level. In this case, it could be interesting to have a “smart” system to acquire distributed data in continuous, even involving the citizens. On the other hand, to improve the safety level in urban area along cycle lane, road and pedestrian path, exist a lot of algorithms for visibility and safety analysis; the crucial aspect is the 3D model considered as “input” in these algorithms, which always needs to be updated. A bike has been instrumented with two digital camera as Raspberry PI-cam. Image acquisition has been realized with a dedicated python tool, which has been implemented in the Raspberry PI system. Images have been georeferenced using a u-blox 8T, connected to Raspberry system. GNSS data has been acquired using a specific tool developed in Python, which was based on RTKLIB library. Time synchronization has been obtained with GNSS receiver. Additionally, a portable laser scanner, an air quality system and a small Inertial platform have been installed and connected with the Raspberry system. The system has been implemented and tested to acquire data (image and air quality parameter) in a district in Turin. Also a 3D model of the investigated site has been carried. In this contribute, the assembling of the system is described, in particular the dataset acquired and the results carried out will be described. different low cost sensors, in particular digital camera and laser scanner to collect easily geospatial data in urban area

UAV data acquisition and analysis for a Cultural Landscape Heritage: the emergency area of the Vallone d’Elva.

In the last decades, the technology progress in the cultural and environmental field has had a loud growth. The authors applied drone and terrestrial photogrammetric techniques for a complete survey on a complex Cultural Landscape Heritage, requiring protection and promoting actions. These technologies were used to obtain even more detailed 3D point clouds, terrain models, orthophotos (also new quasi-vertical product) with a centimetre accuracy, for tourism development and landslide hazard prevention on road and villages, also reducing survey costs in a complex and limited orography site

Circulating thyrotropin is upregulated by estradiol

After encountering two women with serum thyrotropin (TSH) levels greater in periovulatory phase than in other days of the menstrual cycle, we hypothesized that TSH levels could be sensitive to changes in circulating estrogens in women. The objective of this study was to evaluate whether serum TSH increases after an induced acute increase of serum estradiol, and compare serum TSH increase with that of prolactin (PRL) which is a classic estradiol-upregulated pituitary hormone. In this retrospective study, we resorted to stored frozen sera from 55 women who had undergone the GnRH agonist (buserelin)-acute stimulation test of ovarian steroidogenesis. This test, that is preceded by dexamethasone administration to suppress adrenal steroidogenesis, had been performed to show an increased buserelin-stimulated response of 17-hydroxyprogesterone, a response that is frequent in polycystic ovary syndrome. Fifty-five women had enough serum volume at pertinent times (first observation early in the follicular phase and all times of the test) to permit assay of serum estradiol, TSH and PRL. Before dexamethasone administration, estradiol averaged 26.4 ± 15.5 pg/ml (reference range 23–139, follicular phase), TSH 1.78 ± 0.86 mU/L (reference range 0.3–4.2) and PRL 409.4 ± 356 mU/L (reference range 70.8–556) (mean ± SD). Serum estradiol, TSH and PRL averaged 47.2 ± 27 pg/ml, 0.77 ± 0.48 mU/L and 246.4 ± 206.8 mU/L just prior to the buserelin injection, but they peaked at 253.4 ± 113.5 pg/ml (nv 83–495, midcycle), 3.30 ± 1.65 mU/L and 540.3 ± 695.2 mU/L after injection. The responses to buserelin of estradiol, TSH and PRL were of wide magnitude. There was a significant correlation between TSH peak and serum estradiol peak, betweeen AUC0-24 h-TSH and AUC0-24 h-estradiol, or between PRL peak and estradiol peak and AUC0-24 h -PRL and AUC0-24 h-estradiol in only a subgroup of women. Therefore, women with estradiol-dependent increase in serum TSH do exist. Reference bands of serum TSH dependent on the phases of the menstrual cycle should be available

A cortical mechanism linking saliency detection and motor reactivity in rhesus monkeys

: Sudden and surprising sensory events trigger neural processes that swiftly adjust behavior. To study the phylogenesis and the mechanism of this phenomenon, we trained two male rhesus monkeys to keep a cursor inside a visual target by exerting force on an isometric joystick. We examined the effect of surprising auditory stimuli on exerted force, scalp electroencephalographic (EEG) activity, and local field potentials (LFP) recorded from the dorso-lateral prefrontal cortex. Auditory stimuli elicited (1) a biphasic modulation of isometric force: a transient decrease followed by a corrective tonic increase, and (2) EEG and LFP deflections dominated by two large negative-positive waves (N70 and P130). The EEG potential was maximal at the scalp vertex, highly reminiscent of the human 'vertex potential'. Electrocortical potentials and force were tightly coupled: the P130 amplitude predicted the magnitude of the corrective force increase, particularly in the LFPs recorded from deep rather than superficial cortical layers. These results disclose a phylogenetically-preserved cortico-motor mechanism supporting adaptive behavior in response to salient sensory events.Significance Statement Survival in the natural world depends on an animal's capacity to adapt ongoing behavior to unexpected events. To study the neural mechanisms underlying this capacity, we trained monkeys to apply constant force on a joystick while we recorded their brain activity from the scalp and, invasively, from the prefrontal cortex contralateral to the hand holding the joystick. Unexpected auditory stimuli elicited a biphasic force modulation: a transient reduction followed by a corrective adjustment. The same stimuli also elicited EEG and LFP responses, dominated by a biphasic wave that predicted the magnitude of the behavioral adjustment. These results disclose a phylogenetically-preserved cortico-motor mechanism supporting adaptive behavior in response to unexpected events

UNITO E L’AFRICA. Progetti, iniziative, relazioni per una strategia di Ateneo

Questo documento raccoglie gli esiti di un percorso avviato quasi due anni fa, con una prima richiesta di segnalazione di progetti volta a costruire una mappatura di iniziative in, per e con attori e territori africani che coinvolgevano in vari modi l’Ateneo, con le sue strutture e personale, tra ricerca, didattica, terza missione e cooperazione allo sviluppo

Pixantrone beyond monotherapy: a review

Outcomes for patients with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NHL) that proves refractory to treatment remain poor. Treatment of such patients is individualized and can include enrolment in a clinical trial of novel agents or use of one of a wide array of drug regimens. Initial treatment with anthracyclines such as doxorubicin limits options at later stages of treatment because of anthracycline-related cumulative cardiotoxicity. The aza-anthracenedione pixantrone was developed to reduce the likelihood of cardiotoxicity without compromising efficacy and is currently conditionally approved for use as monotherapy in patients with multiply-relapsed or refractory aggressive B cell NHL. The use of pixantrone in combination therapy, often to replace doxorubicin or mitoxantrone, has or is currently being investigated in numerous studies in patients with aggressive or indolent NHL and is the focus of this review. These include the R-CPOP regimen (rituximab, cyclophosphamide, pixantrone, vincristine, prednisone) for aggressive NHL in the first-line setting, including a study in elderly patients with limited cardiac function, and for patients with relapsed NHL with prior anthracycline exposure; the PSHAP regimen (pixantrone, cytarabine, prednisone, cisplatin), also in the latter setting; the PREBen/PEBen regimen (pixantrone, bendamustine and etoposide with or without rituximab) as salvage therapy; and pixantrone in combination with fludarabine, dexamethasone, and rituximab (FPD-R) for relapsed indolent NHL.Peer reviewe

Molecular Mechanisms Generating and Stabilizing Terminal 22q13 Deletions in 44 Subjects with Phelan/McDermid Syndrome

In this study, we used deletions at 22q13, which represent a substantial source of human pathology (Phelan/McDermid syndrome), as a model for investigating the molecular mechanisms of terminal deletions that are currently poorly understood. We characterized at the molecular level the genomic rearrangement in 44 unrelated patients with 22q13 monosomy resulting from simple terminal deletions (72%), ring chromosomes (14%), and unbalanced translocations (7%). We also discovered interstitial deletions between 17–74 kb in 9% of the patients. Haploinsufficiency of the SHANK3 gene, confirmed in all rearrangements, is very likely the cause of the major neurological features associated with PMS. SHANK3 mutations can also result in language and/or social interaction disabilities. We determined the breakpoint junctions in 29 cases, providing a realistic snapshot of the variety of mechanisms driving non-recurrent deletion and repair at chromosome ends. De novo telomere synthesis and telomere capture are used to repair terminal deletions; non-homologous end-joining or microhomology-mediated break-induced replication is probably involved in ring 22 formation and translocations; non-homologous end-joining and fork stalling and template switching prevail in cases with interstitial 22q13.3. For the first time, we also demonstrated that distinct stabilizing events of the same terminal deletion can occur in different early embryonic cells, proving that terminal deletions can be repaired by multistep healing events and supporting the recent hypothesis that rare pathogenic germline rearrangements may have mitotic origin. Finally, the progressive clinical deterioration observed throughout the longitudinal medical history of three subjects over forty years supports the hypothesis of a role for SHANK3 haploinsufficiency in neurological deterioration, in addition to its involvement in the neurobehavioral phenotype of PMS