Scuola/Università e mercato del lavoro: la transizione che non c’è. Quello che raccontano i percorsi di formazione e le esperienze di lavoro dei nostri studenti

La ricerca di nessi di causalità nella analisi delle dinamiche dei mercati del lavoro è sempre ardua, e ancora di più se ci si concentra sui fenomeni specificamente connessi al rapporto tra studio e lavoro, su cui intervengono molteplici variabili difficilmente inquadrabili negli schemi teorici utilizzati per spiegare i comportamenti legati alle scelte (individuali e politiche) che ruotano intorno al lavoro. Di fronte a tale incertezza emerge l’importanza dell’osservazione del dato di realtà per spiegare, comprendere e valutare anche le diverse opzioni di regolazione, che d’altra parte, almeno nel nostro Paese, raramente discendono da una adeguata base di conoscenza empirica dei fenomeni su cui intervengono

Improvement of antibiotic prescription in outpatient care: a cluster-randomized intervention study using a sentinel surveillance network of physicians

Objectives To assess the effectiveness of implementing guidelines, coupled with individual feedback, on antibiotic prescribing behaviour of primary care physicians in Switzerland. Methods One hundred and forty general practices from a representative Swiss sentinel network of primary care physicians participated in this cluster-randomized prospective intervention study. The intervention consisted of providing guidelines on treatment of respiratory tract infections (RTIs) and uncomplicated lower urinary tract infections (UTIs), coupled with sustained, regular feedback on individual antibiotic prescription behaviour during 2 years. The main aims were: (i) to increase the percentage of prescriptions of penicillins for all RTIs treated with antibiotics; (ii) to increase the percentage of trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole prescriptions for all uncomplicated lower UTIs treated with antibiotics; (iii) to decrease the percentage of quinolone prescriptions for all cases of exacerbated COPD (eCOPD) treated with antibiotics; and (iv) to decrease the proportion of sinusitis and other upper RTIs treated with antibiotics. The study was registered at ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT01358916). Results While the percentage of antibiotics prescribed for sinusitis or other upper RTIs and the percentage of quinolones prescribed for eCOPD did not differ between the intervention group and the control group, there was a significant increase in the percentage of prescriptions of penicillins for all RTIs treated with antibiotics [57% versus 49%, OR = 1.42 (95% CI 1.08-1.89), P = 0.01] and in the percentage of trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole prescriptions for all uncomplicated lower UTIs treated with antibiotics [35% versus 19%, OR = 2.16 (95% CI 1.19-3.91), P = 0.01] in the intervention group. Conclusions In our setting, implementing guidelines, coupled with sustained individual feedback, was not able to reduce the proportion of sinusitis and other upper RTIs treated with antibiotics, but increased the use of recommended antibiotics for RTIs and UTIs, as defined by the guideline

Plasticità cerebrale e sviluppo del linguaggio nel neonato ipoacusico proveniente dallo screening uditivo universale

Una deprivazione sensoriale prolungata del sistema nervoso centrale comporta una processo di differenziazione delle aree cerebrali diverso da quello che emergerebbe in caso di fisiologiche stimolazioni neurali. Una ipostimolazione da parte del sistema nervoso periferico può, infatti, sottintendere ad un impoverimento delle aree corticali dedicate ad una specifica funzione, con conseguente colonizzazione di tessuto con differenti competenze. E’ dimostrato, inoltre, che tali effetti siano strettamente correlati sia alla durata della deprivazione che all’età biologica del soggetto.In caso di ipoacusia neurosensoriale essere interessate sono in particolare le aree corticali temporali, le quali possono andare incontro a significativi rimaneggiamenti dovuti ad inadeguata stimolazione uditiva; le conseguenze di tale fenomeno soprattutto in età evolutiva sono la compromissione sia delle abilità percettive del messaggio verbale ed, in generale, del fisiologico sviluppo delle abilità linguistico-comunicative. Questo progetto di ricerca intende studiare i processi di deprivazione uditiva di una coorte di neonati affetti da sordità congenita, i possibili meccanismi biologici che li sottintendono, ed i risultati che conseguono ad un precoce intervento terapeutico-riabilitativo. L’ipotesi è che una precoce ed adeguata stimolazione acustica possa creare delle connessioni neuronali che permettano uno sviluppo della abilità di comunicazione audio verbale conformi a quelle di un soggetto normoacusico. La raccolta dei dati ha inizio nell’anno 2006 e prevede un campione di neonati affetti da ipoacusia congenita provenienti dal programma di screening uditivo neonatale (ad oggi circa 200 soggetti). Tali soggetti sono stati diagnosticati precocemente (in media entro il 6 mese di vita) ed inseriti in un programma di . La metodologia di studio è basata su: una periodica valutazione delle performance acustico-percettive, dello sviluppo generale delle abilità comunicative, dello sviluppo psicomotorio e dei prerequisiti alle abilità di apprendimento scolastico. Inoltre, sono stati raccolti dati sia attraverso procedure neuroradiodialogiche (TC, RMN) sia attraverso analisi molecolare del DNA proveniente da sangue o saliva dei soggetti testati. La novità dello studio risiede nella bassa età dei soggetti ipoacusici esaminati, nella frequenza e complessità della metodologia del protocollo valutativo utilizzato e nelle ricerca di correlazioni con i dati oggettivi di laboratorio e diagnostica per immagini

The development of language in babies and the role of the family

Nowadays for deaf children there are many new opportunities that provide enhanced ways of hearing stimulation.These concerns may result as much more significant as the family is engaged in the stimulation program. An NHS program in Campania was launched in 2005. According to these concerns, the family plays a central role both in the diagnostic and the therapeutic intervention of the impaired children. As paradigm of the important role of the family in the rehab project is a comparison between two kids in charge by our team. The outcomes are better in children who received stimulation by the family

Proteome Analysis of Human Perilymph Using an Intraoperative Sampling Method

The knowledge about the etiology and pathophysiology of sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) is still very limited. This study aims at the improvement of understanding different types of SNHL by proteome analysis of human perilymph. Sampling of perilymph was established during inner ear surgeries (cochlear implantation, vestibular schwannoma surgeries), and safety of the sampling method was determined by checking hearing threshold with pure-tone audiometry postoperatively. An in-depth shot-gun proteomics approach was performed to identify cochlear proteins and the individual proteome in perilymph of patients. This method enables the identification and quantification of protein composition of perilymph. The proteome of 41 collected perilymph samples with volumes of 1–12 μL was analyzed by data-dependent acquisition, resulting in overall 878 detected protein groups. At least 203 protein groups were solely identified in perilymph, not in reference samples (serum, cerebrospinal fluid), displaying a specific protein pattern for perilymph. Samples were grouped by patient’s age and surgery type, leading to the identification of some proteins specific to particular subgroups. Proteins with different abundances between different sample groups were subjected to classification by gene ontology annotations. The identified proteins might serve as biomarkers to develop tools for noninvasive inner ear diagnostics and to elucidate molecular profiles of SNHL

Proteome Analysis of Human Perilymph Using an Intraoperative Sampling Method

The knowledge about the etiology and pathophysiology of sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) is still very limited. This study aims at the improvement of understanding different types of SNHL by proteome analysis of human perilymph. Sampling of perilymph was established during inner ear surgeries (cochlear implantation, vestibular schwannoma surgeries), and safety of the sampling method was determined by checking hearing threshold with pure-tone audiometry postoperatively. An in-depth shot-gun proteomics approach was performed to identify cochlear proteins and the individual proteome in perilymph of patients. This method enables the identification and quantification of protein composition of perilymph. The proteome of 41 collected perilymph samples with volumes of 1–12 μL was analyzed by data-dependent acquisition, resulting in overall 878 detected protein groups. At least 203 protein groups were solely identified in perilymph, not in reference samples (serum, cerebrospinal fluid), displaying a specific protein pattern for perilymph. Samples were grouped by patient’s age and surgery type, leading to the identification of some proteins specific to particular subgroups. Proteins with different abundances between different sample groups were subjected to classification by gene ontology annotations. The identified proteins might serve as biomarkers to develop tools for noninvasive inner ear diagnostics and to elucidate molecular profiles of SNHL