Survive to stay connected: patterns of user experiences in a Life Long Learning digital platform

In an ever-changing world, having the right competences for the job market represents a key challenge for sustained employability. To address this need a growing number of digital platform for life long learning (LLL) has been developed. Anyway, it is less known how users navigate and use these platforms. The present study represents a one of the first attempts to fill this gap, offering a deep analysis for the identification of latent subgroups of learners with similar behaviours on a digital LLL platform. Then, the identified subgroups are described in terms of personal features and survival profiles. Findings reveal three distictive latent classes, with very different survival profiles. The analysis provides interesting insights about how the administators of a digital LLL platform can better personalize their contents according to the type of learner, to support and let them stay on the platform, acquiring the needed skills for the job market

The effect of ICT on schools’ efficiency: Empirical evidence on 23 European countries

In the last two decades, ICT use in schools grew exponentially. In this paper, the relationship between ICT and school’s efficiency and the mechanisms through which ICT can enhance schools’ productivity are investigated, using PISA 2018 data for about 5400 schools. Empirically, we analyze school’s efficiency in producing ICT-mediated instructional time as well as final educational output, by implementing a network Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) model. The analysis is complemented by a conditional DEA to account for the presence of possible external drivers of schools’ efficiency. Results show that the average schools’ efficiency in using ICT is relatively low, and that it is mainly driven by the ability of translating ICT-mediated instructional time into learning, rather than by the amount of ICT and human resources. This evidence is consistent across countries. By investigating the role of ICT in schools’ efficiency the paper provides insights to guide the transition of digital technology into learning

The Costs, Quality, and Scalability of Blended Learning in Postgraduate Management Education

With its combination of online and face-to-face interaction, blended learning is increasingly being employed in postgraduate education. To date, most empirical research on the topic has focused on the design and relative effectiveness of online versus in-person learning. Meanwhile, any exploration of the costs of its delivery has often been neglected. In this study, we propose a framework to assess the costs and cost-effectiveness of alternative designs of blended postgraduate programs, and then empirically apply it to an innovative blended Master of Business Administration (MBA) course as compared with similar MBAs taught at the same institution, with the differences lying in their proportions of online content and the intensity of their use. We applied the Community of Inquiry framework to show that the program with the most intensive use of online learning is also the most effective in terms of student cognitive gain. However, it is not the most cost-effective when compared to other, less online-intensive alternatives. We also found that this result depends on the scalability constraints imposed by the design of the programs. The implications of the scalability versus the quality versus the costs of blended education are then discussed

Diet and Health in Middle Bronze Age Italy : a metaproteomic analysis of human dental calculus in two case-studies

Shotgun metaproteomics applied to dental calculus is a tool that is providing unprecedented insights in ancient diet and health reconstruction [1][2]. We apply a proteomic analysis of dental calculus deposits from individuals of two contemporaneous populations, Bovolone (Verona) and Sant’Abbondio (Pompeii), in order to provide more insight into the diet and health of individuals in middle Bronze Age Italy. Here we find that differences in protein preservation among individuals make comparing the two populations challenging. Nevertheless, we detect a number of dietary proteins, including wheats and eggs, which gains insight into food consumption practices during this period of social and economic change

Stable isotope evidence for dietary diversification in the pre-Columbian Amazon

Archaeological research is radically transforming the view that the Amazon basin and surrounding areas witnessed limited societal development before European contact. Nevertheless, uncertainty remains on the nature of the subsistence systems and the role that aquatic resources, terrestrial mammalian game, and plants had in supporting population growth, geographic dispersal, cultural adaptations and political complexity during the later stages of the pre-Columbian era. This is exacerbated by the general paucity of archaeological human remains enabling individual dietary reconstructions. Here we use stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis of bone collagen to reconstruct the diets of human individuals from São Luís Island (Brazilian Amazon coast) dated between ca. 1800 and 1000 cal BP and associated with distinct ceramic traditions. We expanded our analysis to include previously published data from Maracá and Marajó Island, in the eastern Amazon. Quantitative estimates of the caloric contributions from food groups and their relative nutrients using a Bayesian Mixing Model revealed distinct subsistence strategies, consisting predominantly of plants and terrestrial mammals and variably complemented with aquatic resources. This study offers novel quantitative information on the extent distinct food categories of polyculture agroforestry systems fulfilled the caloric and protein requirements of Late Holocene pre-Columbian populations in the Amazon basin.Introduction Results - Stable isotope analysis and Bayesian dietary reconstruction Discussion Methods - Geographic and archaeological contexts - Sample preparation for stable isotopic analysis - Statistical analysis and Bayesian stable isotope mixing model

Regional long-term analysis of dietary isotopes in Neolithic southeastern Italy: new patterns and research directions

Isotopic analyses of prehistoric diet have only recently reached the threshold of going beyond site-focused reports to provide regional syntheses showing larger trends. In this work we present the first regional analysis for Neolithic southeastern Italy as a whole, including both substantial original data and a review of the available published data. The results show that dietary isotopes can shed new light on a number of traditional and important questions about Neolithic foodways. First, we observe regional variations in the distribution of stable isotope values across the area, suggesting variability in the Neolithic diet. Secondly, we show that, although the plant food calorific intake was primary for these communities, animal products were also important, representing on average 40% of the total calories. Third, we note that marine fish was only minorly consumed, but that this could be an underestimation, and we observe some variability in the regions considered, suggesting differences in local human-environment interactions. People in different regions of southeastern Italy may have consumed different versions of a common Neolithic diet. Regional synthesis also allows us to take stock of gaps and new directions in the field, suggesting an agenda for Neolithic isotopic research for the 2020s

High-resolution dietary reconstruction of victims of the 79 CE Vesuvius eruption at Herculaneum by compound-specific isotope analysis.

The remains of those who perished at Herculaneum in 79 CE offer a unique opportunity to examine lifeways across an ancient community who lived and died together. Historical sources often allude to differential access to foodstuffs across Roman society but provide no direct or quantitative information. By determining the stable isotope values of amino acids from bone collagen and deploying Bayesian models that incorporate knowledge of protein synthesis, we were able to reconstruct the diets of 17 adults from Herculaneum with unprecedented resolution. Significant differences in the proportions of marine and terrestrial foods consumed were observed between males and females, implying that access to food was differentiated according to gender. The approach also provided dietary data of sufficient precision for comparison with assessments of food supply to modern populations, opening up the possibility of benchmarking ancient diets against contemporary settings where the consequences for health are better understood

E-Cadherin Acts as a Regulator of Transcripts Associated with a Wide Range of Cellular Processes in Mouse Embryonic Stem Cells

We have recently shown that expression of the cell adhesion molecule E-cadherin is required for LIF-dependent pluripotency of mouse embryonic stem (ES) cells.In this study, we have assessed global transcript expression in E-cadherin null (Ecad-/-) ES cells cultured in either the presence or absence of LIF and compared these to the parental cell line wtD3.We show that LIF has little effect on the transcript profile of Ecad-/- ES cells, with statistically significant transcript alterations observed only for Sp8 and Stat3. Comparison of Ecad-/- and wtD3 ES cells cultured in LIF demonstrated significant alterations in the transcript profile, with effects not only confined to cell adhesion and motility but also affecting, for example, primary metabolic processes, catabolism and genes associated with apoptosis. Ecad-/- ES cells share similar, although not identical, gene expression profiles to epiblast-derived pluripotent stem cells, suggesting that E-cadherin expression may inhibit inner cell mass to epiblast transition. We further show that Ecad-/- ES cells maintain a functional β-catenin pool that is able to induce β-catenin/TCF-mediated transactivation but, contrary to previous findings, do not display endogenous β-catenin/TCF-mediated transactivation. We conclude that loss of E-cadherin in mouse ES cells leads to significant transcript alterations independently of β-catenin/TCF transactivation

E-Cadherin Acts as a Regulator of Transcripts Associated with a Wide Range of Cellular Processes in Mouse Embryonic Stem Cells

We have recently shown that expression of the cell adhesion molecule E-cadherin is required for LIF-dependent pluripotency of mouse embryonic stem (ES) cells.In this study, we have assessed global transcript expression in E-cadherin null (Ecad-/-) ES cells cultured in either the presence or absence of LIF and compared these to the parental cell line wtD3.We show that LIF has little effect on the transcript profile of Ecad-/- ES cells, with statistically significant transcript alterations observed only for Sp8 and Stat3. Comparison of Ecad-/- and wtD3 ES cells cultured in LIF demonstrated significant alterations in the transcript profile, with effects not only confined to cell adhesion and motility but also affecting, for example, primary metabolic processes, catabolism and genes associated with apoptosis. Ecad-/- ES cells share similar, although not identical, gene expression profiles to epiblast-derived pluripotent stem cells, suggesting that E-cadherin expression may inhibit inner cell mass to epiblast transition. We further show that Ecad-/- ES cells maintain a functional β-catenin pool that is able to induce β-catenin/TCF-mediated transactivation but, contrary to previous findings, do not display endogenous β-catenin/TCF-mediated transactivation. We conclude that loss of E-cadherin in mouse ES cells leads to significant transcript alterations independently of β-catenin/TCF transactivation