A MIXED-METHOD CASE STUDY OF THE EFFECTS OF QUESTION FORMULATION TECHNIQUE ON CLASSROOM ENGAGEMENT IN A SECONDARY EARTH SCIENCE CLASSROOM AND TEACHERS’ PERCEPTIONS OF THIS SHIFT

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect on classroom engagement of question formulation technique (QFT), which teaches students how to produce, improve, and prioritize their own questions. This study took place at a medium-sized suburban high school between September 2018 and May 2019. The sample included 263 students (53.7% male and 46.3% female) from twelve earth science classes taught by five different teachers; 80.5% were freshmen, 6.7% were sophomores, 10.1% were juniors, and 2.7% were seniors. Students completed the Classroom Engagement Inventory (CEI) before and after the intervention. The CEI is a classroom-level survey that uses self-reporting to measure multiple dimensions of engagement: affective engagement, behavioral engagement, cognitive engagement, and disengagement. Students rated each of the CEI’s 24 statements on a 5-point scale that ranged from every day (1) to never (5). Each student’s total engagement was the sum of the students’ ratings of the 24 statements. At the end of the study a paired-sample t assessed indicated significant differences in the means for total engagement between the beginning and end of the year. Themes emerged from hand coding of an open-ended question added to the posttest CEI. The themes indicated that 71% of students found QFT to be a useful tool for classroom engagement. Semistructured interviews conducted with the teachers and analyzed using Guskey’s five critical levels of professional development indicated that teachers found the professional development to be successful. These findings can help with the design of future studies that evaluate classroom practices that increase student classroom engagement. The findings can also assist with the planning of professional development that accompanies these practices

A case of musical preference for Johnny Cash following deep brain stimulation of the nucleus accumbens

Music is among all cultures an important part of the live of most people. Music has psychological benefits and may generate strong emotional and physiological responses. Recently, neuroscientists have discovered that music influences the reward circuit of the nucleus accumbens, even when no explicit reward is present. In this clinical case study, we describe a 60-year old patient who developed a sudden and distinct musical preference for Johnny Cash following deep brain stimulation targeted at the nucleus accumbens for treatment-refractory obsessive-compulsive disorder. This case report substantiates the assumption that the nucleus accumbens is involved in musical preference, based on the observation of direct stimulation of the accumbens with deep brain stimulation. It also shows that accumbens DBS can change musical preference without habituation of its rewarding properties

Harmony of transitions in assessing interpersonal motivations in transcripts analysis can discriminate between Adult Attachment Interview secure and disorganized individuals

SUMMARY. Aim. Assessing Interpersonal Motivations in Transcripts (AIMIT) is a validated coding system to assess the activation of interpersonal motivational systems (IMS) in the transcripts of psychotherapy sessions. The Transition Index (TI) is an AIMIT measure that reflects the levels of organisation, synchronisation and harmony amongst two or more IMS when they are rapidly shifting or simultaneously in the clinical dialogue. It is supposed to be a measure of integration and coherence of the patient’s state of mind within the psychotherapeutic sessions. It has also been hypothesized that low TI could be a marker for disorganization of attachment of the patient leading to difficulties in the therapeutic relationships and ruptures in the therapeutic alliance. In order to assess this hypothesis we tested its capability to discriminate between Adult Attachment Interview (AAI) organized and disorganized individuals. Methods. Two groups of 15 transcriptions of AAI matched for age and sex, one classified as free-autonomous and one as disorganized, were analysed by the AIMIT method. Results. Compared to organized individuals, disorganized patients at AAI reported lower TI scores (3.7±0.63 vs 3.0±0.53; F=2.98, p=0.005). Furthermore, TI showed a good discriminant capability (Wilks’ Lambda=0.77, p=0.004). Discussion and Conclusion. This result seems to confirm the usefulness and reliability of AIMIT analysis in evaluating the interpersonal difficulties which often characterize the therapeutic relationship with disorganized attachment patient

Study of conductive polymers for bioelectronics

138 p.Durante esta tesis doctoral se han desarrollado nuevos polímeros orgánicos conductores para su aplicación en bioelectrónica. Partiendo del material más famoso y utilizado hoy en día el PEDOT:PSS, se han podido mejorar propiedades como la biocompatibilidad, estabilidad y funcionabilidad. Todo ello, nos ha llevado a nuevos materiales que pueden servir para mejorar diferentes aplicaciones como sensores, electrodos cutáneos o scaffolds para ingeniería tisular. En el primer capítulo hemos sustituido el polímero aniónico PSS con otros más bio-tolerante los Glicosaminoglicanos (GAGs). Estos polímeros están presentes en nuestro cuerpo y llevan grupos sulfonatos y carboxilatos, los cuales pueden interaccionar con la cadena de PEDOT y estabilizar la carga positiva. El material final presenta efecto antiinflamatorio muy útil en vista de un implante corporal, para contrastar la inflamación resultante. En el segundo capítulo nos hemos enfocado en introducir en la formulación de PEDOT:PSS un nuevo agente reticulante. La divinilsulfona (DVS), es un reticulante muy conocido en bioquímica, que se utiliza para reticular, biomoléculas. Sustituyendo GOPS, el reticulante más utilizado, por DVS, se puede llegar a una conductividad tres veces mayor, sin perder propiedades mecánicas. El exceso es fácil de quitar y es muy estables a lo largo de los días en contacto con una solución acuosa de tampón fosfato, medio ideal para células. En el último capítulo, hemos hablado de como intervenir directamente en la estructura molecular de la parte conductora. Para pode llevarlo a cabo hemos elegido cambiar el enfoque del EDOT a ProDOT mucho más fácil de sintetizar. Hemos desarrollado una síntesis, que, en solo tres pasos, permite de conectar un grupo carboxílico al ProDOT. Finalmente lo hemos fácilmente funcionalizado con 3 moléculas útiles en bioelectronica: tetraetileneglycol, Dopamine y un radical libre (TEMPO)

Utilizing Priming to Identify Optimal Class Ordering to Alleviate Catastrophic Forgetting

In order for artificial neural networks to begin accurately mimicking biological ones, they must be able to adapt to new exigencies without forgetting what they have learned from previous training. Lifelong learning approaches to artificial neural networks attempt to strive towards this goal, yet have not progressed far enough to be realistically deployed for natural language processing tasks. The proverbial roadblock of catastrophic forgetting still gate-keeps researchers from an adequate lifelong learning model. While efforts are being made to quell catastrophic forgetting, there is a lack of research that looks into the importance of class ordering when training on new classes for incremental learning. This is surprising as the ordering of "classes" that humans learn is heavily monitored and incredibly important. While heuristics to develop an ideal class order have been researched, this paper examines class ordering as it relates to priming as a scheme for incremental class learning. By examining the connections between various methods of priming found in humans and how those are mimicked yet remain unexplained in life-long machine learning, this paper provides a better understanding of the similarities between our biological systems and the synthetic systems while simultaneously improving current practices to combat catastrophic forgetting. Through the merging of psychological priming practices with class ordering, this paper is able to identify a generalizable method for class ordering in NLP incremental learning tasks that consistently outperforms random class ordering.Comment: Accepted to IEEE International Conference on Semantic Computing (ICSC) 202

Implementazione dell'iniziativa OMS/UNICEF Comunità Amica dei Bambini(BFCI): il percorso dell'Asl 1 Massa e Carrara

ABSTRACT Obiettivi: Obiettivo di questa tesi è descrivere il percorso intrapreso dall'ASL1 Massa e Carrara, già in possesso per il Punto Nascita del riconoscimento di Ospedale Amico dei Bambini, per implementare il progetto OMS/UNICEF di Comunità Amica dei Bambini, osservando gli effetti che un tale progetto apporta in termini di approccio alla cultura dell'allattamento al seno. Materiali e Metodi: La documentazione elaborata dall'ASL 1, comprensiva di Policy, dichiarazioni, poster e allegati è stata analizzata sulla base dei modelli forniti dall'UNICEF. I dati raccolti nel monitoraggio del percorso sono stati analizzati e riportati, con particolare attenzione per la formazione dei professionisti e per i tassi e la tipologia di allattamento alla dimissione, a 3 e 6 mesi nell'anno 2014. I dati sui tassi di allattamento sono stati confrontati con la media regionale e con i dati raccolti nell'anno 2012 quando sul territorio dell'ASL 1 il Punto Nascita era già riconosciuto come Amico dei Bambini ma ancora non era stato avviato il percorso per il riconoscimento della comunità. Risultati: I risultati ottenuti sono molteplici. Si è osservato un aumento del tasso di allattamento esclusivo del 21.1% a 3 mesi e del 49% a 6 mesi. Un aumento della soddisfazione e della partecipazione delle donne ai servizi offerti. Una maggior sensibilità al tema dell'allattamento da parte dei professionisti sanitari e non. La creazione e il consolidamento della rete tra Punto Nascita BFHI, servizi ASL e Agenzie del Territorio. Conclusioni: Le iniziative OMS/UNICEF Baby Friendly si sono rivelate un importante mezzo per consolidare le buone pratiche basate su evidenze scientifiche in tema di allattamento, permettendo di aumentare non solo i tassi di allattamento esclusivo alla dimissione e nel tempo, ma anche di favorire un approccio culturale positivo e supportivo per le donne che allattano e per il loro nucleo familiare

Catechol-O-methyltransferase: potential relationship to idiopathic hypertension

Catecholamine signaling pathways in the peripheral and central nervous systems (PNS, CNS, respectively) utilize catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) as a major regulatory enzyme responsible for deactivation of dopamine (DA), norepinephrine (NE) and epinephrine (E). Accordingly, homeostasis of COMT gene expression is hypothesized to be functionally linked to regulation of autonomic control of normotensive vascular events. Recently, we demonstrated that morphine administration in vitro resulted in decreased cellular concentrations of COMT-encoding mRNA levels, as compared to control values. In contrast, cells treated with E up regulated their COMT gene expression. In sum, these observations indicate a potential reciprocal linkage between end product inhibition of COMT gene expression by E and morphine. Interestingly, the observed effects of administered E on COMT gene expression suggest an enhancement of its own catabolism or, reciprocally, a stimulation morphine biosynthesis

The Production of Clitic Pronouns: A Study on Bilingual and Monolingual Dyslexic Children

Clitic production is reported to be challenging for impaired children, suffering from dyslexia or SLI, and for early second language learners too. On the contrary, research has not directly investigated the relation between dyslexia, bilingualism and clitic production. The aim of our study is that of addressing this topic, by analyzing the performance of 4 groups of children in a clitic elicitation task: 25 Italian monolingual dyslexic children (mean age 10;08 years old), 33 Italian monolingual typically developing children (9;99 years old), 25 bilingual dyslexic children with Italian as L2 (10;31 years old) and 31 bilingual typically developing children with Italian as L2 (10;30 years old). As inclusion criteria, bilingual children had at least 5 years of exposure to Italian, including 3 years of consecutive school attendance in Italy. Clitic production was assessed bymeans of an elicitation task in which the pronoun had to be produced either in the simple present or in the present perfect; higher difficulties were expected in this last condition, in which the clitic has to agree in gender and number with the past participle. Results revealed that dyslexic children, both monolingual and bilingual, performed worse than controls both in the simple present and in the present perfect, indicating that clitic production is challenging in dyslexia. As for the bilingual children, instead, differences were found between the two tasks. In the simple present, bilingual children performed very accurately and similarly to their monolingual peers, indicating that a target performance with clitics is accomplished by typically developing children with a longer exposure to Italian and suggesting that previously reported difficulties were related to linguistic immaturity and are likely to disappear as their L2 exposure and competence grow. In the present perfect, instead, both groups of bilinguals performed worse than their monolingual peers, suggesting that bilingualism could exacerbate the difficulties in the most challenging condition. Importantly, however, no negative effect of bilingualism in clitic production was found once controlling for the subjects\u2019 vocabulary, evidencing the importance of lexical competence in the target language for a native-like performance in clitic production

Poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) Derivatives: Innovative Conductive Polymers for Bioelectronics

Poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)s are the conducting polymers (CP) with the biggest prospects in the field of bioelectronics due to their combination of characteristics (conductivity, stability, transparency and biocompatibility). The gold standard material is the commercially available poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene): poly(styrene sulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS). However, in order to well connect the two fields of biology and electronics, PEDOT: PSS presents some limitations associated with its low (bio) functionality. In this review, we provide an insight into the synthesis and applications of innovative poly(ethylenedioxythiophene)-type materials for bioelectronics. First, we present a detailed analysis of the different synthetic routes to (bio) functional dioxythiophene monomer/polymer derivatives. Second, we focus on the preparation of PEDOT dispersions using different biopolymers and biomolecules as dopants and stabilizers. To finish, we review the applications of innovative PEDOT-type materials such as biocompatible conducting polymer layers, conducting hydrogels, biosensors, selective detachment of cells, scaffolds for tissue engineering, electrodes for electrophysiology, implantable electrodes, stimulation of neuronal cells or pan-bio electronics.The work was supported by EU through the projects FP7-PEOPLE-2012-ITN 316832-OLIMPIA and FP7-PEOPLE-2013-ITN 607896-OrgBio. Ana Sanchez-Sanchez is thankful for the Postdoctoral Funding for Doctoral Research Staff Improvement Grant from the Basque Government. David Mecerreyes thanks Becas de Practicas en el Extranjero "Global Training"