568 research outputs found
Covert-overt prejudices towards the intellectual disabilities at school: A study on teachers and non-teachers of southern Italy
Intellectual Disabilities (ID) is a neurodevelopmental disorder with considerable individual variability in type and severity. Due to overt and covert prejudices around ID, however, society tends to generalize this condition. Also, in schools, teachersâ attitudes toward students with IDs often differ from those toward regular students. The purpose of this study is to examine the levels of overt and covert prejudices toward ID of curricular and support teachers and non-teachers, in a sample of Southern Italian citizens, by evaluating age, gender and socioeconomic differences, as well as the associations of prejudice with education about and contact with ID. Six hundred and sixty-four participants (484 F; 38% teachers), 18â70 years old (M = 38.72; SD = 14.79) participated in the study. The Modern and Classical Prejudices Scale was administered in paper and online forms. Sociodemographic measures, as well as measures around ID education and contact with people with ID were collected. The results show that teachers had higher levels of classical prejudices compared to non-teacher participants. Teachers of primary schools showed higher levels of classical and modern prejudices. No gender and socioeconomic status (SES) differences were found in the whole sample. The entry of children with Intellectual Disabilities into primary school can be strongly influenced by teachersâ prejudices. Therefore, the need for teachersâ information and training on Intellectual Disabilities is evident
Genetic diversity of phytoplasmas associated with flavescence doreÌe at vineyard scale on the Ischia Island (Campania, Italy)
Flavescence doreÌe (FD) is the most
important grapevine yellows, constituting a great
threat in all major viticultural areas in Europe. The FD
causal agent is an incidentally cited phytoplasma species
termed âCandidatus Phytoplasma vitisâ (FDp),
listed as a quarantine organism in Europe and mainly
transmitted from vine to vine by the monophagous
leafhopper Scaphoideus titanus. In the present study,
the genetic variability of FDp identified in symptomatic
plants located in a vineyard cv. Biancolella on
the Ischia Island (Campania, Italy) was investigated.
Our results unveiled for the first time the presence of
FDp strains belonging to the subgroup 16SrVâC with
a low genetic variability within map and rp genetic
markers, reflecting an homogeneous genetic lineage
of phytoplasma population examined in the present
study. Phylogeny and nucleotide sequence analyses
can also suggest the possible involvement of other
insect vectors and plant hosts in the FD epidemiology
on the Island. Further investigation to ascertain
the presence of putative vectors and plant hosts
representing inoculum sources should be carried out
to reinforce the preliminary results obtained in the
present study
Polish metric spaces with fixed distance set
We study Polish spaces for which a set of possible distances A 86R+ is fixed in advance. We determine, depending on the properties of A, the complexity of the collection of all Polish metric spaces with distances in A, obtaining also example of sets in some Wadge classes where not many natural examples are known. Moreover we describe the properties that A must have in order that all Polish spaces with distances in that set belong to a given class, such as zero-dimensional, locally compact, etc. These results lead us to give a fairly complete description of the complexity, with respect to Borel reducibility and again depending on the properties of A, of the relations of isometry and isometric embeddability between these Polish spaces
Prejudices towards people with intellectual disabilities: reliability and validity of the Italian Modern and Classical Prejudices Scale
Background
Prejudices and negative attitudes towards intellectual disabilities (IDs) may hinder social inclusion of ID individuals, limiting their wellâbeing. This study investigated the psychometric characteristics of the Italian Modern and Classical Prejudices Scale (MCPSâIT) towards people with ID and the effects of gender, age and socioâeconomic status (SES) on prejudices.
Method
The MCPSâIT was administered to 474 adults (69% women, age range 18â70 years, M = 33.13) in conjunction with a questionnaire evaluating socioâdemographic information (SES), the contact and the education about ID people and the social dominance orientation.
Results
Results confirmed that Italian MCPS has a twoâfactor structure that measures in a reliable and valid way prejudice towards people with ID. Multivariate analyses of variance confirmed a weak gender difference in both scales and age differences in modern scale. No SES differences were found.
Conclusion
The Italian MCPS represents a valid scale that can be used to monitor the social context of people with ID
Diffusion mechanisms of localised knots along a polymer
We consider the diffusive motion of a localized knot along a linear polymer
chain. In particular, we derive the mean diffusion time of the knot before it
escapes from the chain once it gets close to one of the chain ends.
Self-reptation of the entire chain between either end and the knot position,
during which the knot is provided with free volume, leads to an L^3 scaling of
diffusion time; for sufficiently long chains, subdiffusion will enhance this
time even more. Conversely, we propose local ``breathing'', i.e., local
conformational rearrangement inside the knot region (KR) and its immediate
neighbourhood, as additional mechanism. The contribution of KR-breathing to the
diffusion time scales only quadratically, L^2, speeding up the knot escape
considerably and guaranteeing finite knot mobility even for very long chains.Comment: 7 pages, 2 figures. Accepted to Europhys. Let
Average Structures of a Single Knotted Ring Polymer
Two types of average structures of a single knotted ring polymer are studied
by Brownian dynamics simulations. For a ring polymer with N segments, its
structure is represented by a 3N -dimensional conformation vector consisting of
the Cartesian coordinates of the segment positions relative to the center of
mass of the ring polymer. The average structure is given by the average
conformation vector, which is self-consistently defined as the average of the
conformation vectors obtained from a simulation each of which is rotated to
minimize its distance from the average conformation vector. From each
conformation vector sampled in a simulation, 2N conformation vectors are
generated by changing the numbering of the segments. Among the 2N conformation
vectors, the one closest to the average conformation vector is used for one
type of the average structure. The other type of the averages structure uses
all the conformation vectors generated from those sampled in a simulation. In
thecase of the former average structure, the knotted part of the average
structure is delocalized for small N and becomes localized as N is increased.
In the case of the latter average structure, the average structure changes from
a double loop structure for small N to a single loop structure for large N,
which indicates the localization-delocalization transition of the knotted part.Comment: 15 pages, 19 figures, uses jpsj2.cl
'Candidatus Phytoplasma asteris', a novel phytoplasma taxon associated with aster yellows and related diseases
Aster yellows (AY) group (16SrI) phytoplasmas are associated with over 100 economically important diseases worldwide and represent the most diverse and widespread phytoplasma group. Strains that belong to the AY group form a phylogenetically discrete subclade within the phytoplasma clade and are related most closely to the stolbur phytoplasma subclade, based on analysis of 16S rRNA gene sequences. AY subclade strains are related more closely to their culturable relatives, Acholeplasma spp., than any other phytoplasmas known. Within the AY subclade, six distinct phylogenetic lineages were revealed. Congruent phylogenies obtained by analyses of tuf gene and ribosomal protein (rp) operon gene sequences further resolved the diversity among AY group phytoplasmas. Distinct phylogenetic lineages were identified by RFLP analysis of 16S rRNA, tuf or rp gene sequences. Ten subgroups were differentiated, based on analysis of rp gene sequences. It is proposed that AY group phytoplasmas represent at least one novel taxon. Strain OAY, which is a member of subgroups 16SrI-B, rpI-B and tufI-B and is associated with evening primrose (Oenothera hookeri) virescence in Michigan, USA, was selected as the reference strain for the novel taxon 'Candidatus Phytoplasma asteris'. A comprehensive database of diverse AY phytoplasma strains and their geographical distribution is presented
Design of a high power production target for the Beam Dump Facility at CERN
The Beam Dump Facility (BDF) project is a proposed general-purpose facility
at CERN, dedicated to beam dump and fixed target experiments. In its initial
phase, the facility is foreseen to be exploited by the Search for Hidden
Particles (SHiP) experiment. Physics requirements call for a pulsed 400 GeV/c
proton beam as well as the highest possible number of protons on target (POT)
each year of operation, in order to search for feebly interacting particles.
The target/dump assembly lies at the heart of the facility, with the aim of
safely absorbing the full high intensity Super Proton Synchrotron (SPS) beam,
while maximizing the production of charmed and beauty mesons. High-Z materials
are required for the target/dump, in order to have the shortest possible
absorber and reduce muon background for the downstream experiment. The high
average power deposited on target (305 kW) creates a challenge for heat
removal. During the BDF facility Comprehensive Design Study (CDS), launched by
CERN in 2016, extensive studies have been carried out in order to define and
assess the target assembly design. These studies are described in the present
contribution, which details the proposed design of the BDF production target,
as well as the material selection process and the optimization of the target
configuration and beam dilution. One of the specific challenges and novelty of
this work is the need to consider new target materials, such as a molybdenum
alloy (TZM) as core absorbing material and Ta2.5W as cladding.
Thermo-structural and fluid dynamics calculations have been performed to
evaluate the reliability of the target and its cooling system under beam
operation. In the framework of the target comprehensive design, a preliminary
mechanical design of the full target assembly has also been carried out,
assessing the feasibility of the whole target system.Comment: 17 pages, 18 figure
Bispecific PD1-IL2v and anti-PD-L1 break tumor immunity resistance by enhancing stem-like tumor-reactive CD8<sup>+</sup> T cells and reprogramming macrophages.
Immunotherapies have shown remarkable, albeit tumor-selective, therapeutic benefits in the clinic. Most patients respond transiently at best, highlighting the importance of understanding mechanisms underlying resistance. Herein, we evaluated the effects of the engineered immunocytokine PD1-IL2v in a mouse model of de novo pancreatic neuroendocrine cancer that is resistant to checkpoint and other immunotherapies. PD1-IL2v utilizes anti-PD-1 as a targeting moiety fused to an immuno-stimulatory IL-2 cytokine variant (IL2v) to precisely deliver IL2v to PD-1 <sup>+</sup> T cells in the tumor microenvironment. PD1-IL2v elicited substantial infiltration by stem-like CD8 <sup>+</sup> T cells, resulting in tumor regression and enhanced survival in mice. Combining anti-PD-L1 with PD1-IL2v sustained the response phase, improving therapeutic efficacy both by reprogramming immunosuppressive tumor-associated macrophages and enhancing T cell receptor (TCR) immune repertoire diversity. These data provide a rationale for clinical trials to evaluate the combination therapy of PD1-IL2v and anti-PD-L1, particularly in immunotherapy-resistant tumors infiltrated with PD-1 <sup>+</sup> stem-like T cells
Hamiltonian walks on Sierpinski and n-simplex fractals
We study Hamiltonian walks (HWs) on Sierpinski and --simplex fractals. Via
numerical analysis of exact recursion relations for the number of HWs we
calculate the connectivity constant and find the asymptotic behaviour
of the number of HWs. Depending on whether or not the polymer collapse
transition is possible on a studied lattice, different scaling relations for
the number of HWs are obtained. These relations are in general different from
the well-known form characteristic of homogeneous lattices which has thus far
been assumed to hold for fractal lattices too.Comment: 22 pages, 6 figures; final versio
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