Conceptions of art : a case study of elementary teachers, a principal, and an art teacher.

This qualitative case study investigated elementary teachers\u27 concepts of art, their anxieties associated with art practices, and a principal\u27s decision making concerning art in the curriculum. Two in-depth interviews were conducted with 12 participants to determine their knowledge base, family and educational backgrounds, conceptions of art, and the relationship with the art teacher. Observations of classroom art activities were carried out over a period of six months and recorded in a field log. Visual images in the school building were analyzed for content. Data were analyzed through open and pattern coding. Through axial coding, clusters of data were organized by commonalities and patterns arranged around the axis category of teachers\u27 conception of art. Through the metaphor of The Medium of Water representing teachers\u27 understanding of art, six themes were developed explaining the results of this study: (1) Skimming the Surface of the Water---describes classroom teachers\u27 inadequate backgrounds. A lack of exposure, education, and familiarity connected to art knowledge was linked to how art was superficially conceptualized and valued. (2) Wading in the Shallows---describes classroom teachers\u27 shallow conceptions of art. (3) A Choice Not to Dive---describes manifestations of classroom teachers\u27 conceptions of art and implementation of art. Images displayed within classrooms and corridors were found to be predominately commercially adult-generated and/or student-generated from the art curriculum. (4) Fear of the Water---describes anxieties associated with the teaching and making of art. Anxious participants did not consider themselves artistic and used less art in their classrooms. (5) Unable to Take the Plunge---describes a knowledgeable principal\u27s indecision. While being knowledgeable and sympathetic to art, she was unable to make a case for an art-inclusive program, and (6) Drowning in Responsibilities---describes an overwhelmed art teacher. Her isolation contributed to an inability to collaborate with other teachers and responsibility to integrate fell mostly to her. Her teaching objectives and values did not match with classroom teachers\u27. All participants\u27 concerns were coping with curricular pressures, high-stakes testing, and lack of time in the schedule. Because of these issues, art was not a priority in this school\u27s curriculum

Ocular manifestations in Gorlin-Goltz syndrome

Background: Gorlin-Goltz syndrome, also known as nevoid basal cell carcinoma syndrome, is a rare genetic disorder that is transmitted in an autosomal dominant manner with complete penetrance and variable expressivity. It is caused in 85% of the cases with a known etiology by pathogenic variants in the PTCH1 gene, and is characterized by a wide range of developmental abnormalities and a predisposition to multiple neoplasms. The manifestations are multiple and systemic and consist of basal cell carcinomas in various regions, odontogenic keratocistic tumors and skeletal anomalies, to name the most frequent. Despite the scarce medical literature on the topic, ocular involvement in this syndrome is frequent and at the level of various ocular structures. Our study focuses on the visual apparatus and its annexes in subjects with this syndrome, in order to better understand how this syndrome affects the ocular system, and to evaluate with greater accuracy and precision the nature of these manifestations in this group of patients. Results: Our study confirms the presence of the commonly cited ocular findings in the general literature regarding the syndrome [hypertelorism (45.5%), congenital cataract (18%), nystagmus (9%), colobomas (9%)] and highlights strabismus (63% of the patients), epiretinal membranes (36%) and myelinated optic nerve fiber layers (36%) as the most frequent ophthalmological findings in this group of patients. Conclusions: The presence of characteristic and frequent ocular signs in the Gorlin- Goltz syndrome could help with the diagnostic process in subjects suspected of having the syndrome who do not yet have a diagnosis. The ophthalmologist has a role as part of a multidisciplinary team in managing these patients. The ophthalmological follow-up that these patients require, can allow, if necessary, a timely therapy that could improve the visual prognosis of such patients

long term administration of low doses of mycotoxins in poultry 1 residues of ochratoxin a in broilers and laying hens

Abstract The occurrence and amount of residues of ochratoxin A (OA) in poultry tissues and organs were investigated in a trial aimed at measuring the effects of contamination approaching the patterns more frequently found in natural situations (i.e., small doses of OA in the diet for long periods). Hubbard male broilers and laying hens were treated with an OA-contaminated feed (50 ppb) from the 14th day of age onward. Both groups were further divided into subgroups, some of which underwent continual treatment (64 and 169 days, respectively) and others that were withdrawn from administration (maximum 28 and 82 days, respectively). Determination of residues was performed by high performance liquid chromatography. Residues in liver were higher in broilers (up to 11.0 ppb) than in hens (1.5 ppb), whereas the reverse occurred in kidney (up to .8 and 5.8 ppb, respectively). Residues (.8 ppb) were also in hen thigh muscle but not in breast muscle. Residues of OA in poultry appear to be of possible public health concern. Suggestions for monitoring are given

Self help groups in a city of Tuscany: Reconstruction of the second generation model of work for professionals and services

This study is part of a more extensive project aimed to investigate the effectiveness of self-help group participation in improving quality of life in mental disease. The study is taking place in the Tuscany Region, in Italy. In the first qualitative step of analysis researchers are interested in describing the specific features of the psychiatric self-help movement in Tuscany, comparing different realities, networks, kind of groups. Therefore, our aim is to collect exhaustive information to describe how self-help system work in different provinces at the present moment. The implementation of groups for psychiatric problems is quite young in Italy.  Because of a lack of specific regulation in the directives of the Italian health care system, every local service has implemented groups differently, sometimes enhancing, sometimes dismissing them. Prato, near Florence, is one of the more interesting context for the birth of psychiatric self-help movement in the region: public health services improved groups since early 90’s, it was one of the first self-help reality linked to services in the entire region. Now we are in a “second generation” of professionals, and the original meaning of groups seems to be transformed, sometimes misunderstood. Our objectives of study head us toward an in depth analysis of self-help phenomenon in Prato

Self help groups in a city of Tuscany: Reconstruction of the second generation model of work for professionals and services

This study is part of a more extensive project aimed to investigate the effectiveness of self-help group participation in improving quality of life in mental disease. The study is taking place in the Tuscany Region, in Italy. In the first qualitative step of analysis researchers are interested in describing the specific features of the psychiatric self-help movement in Tuscany, comparing different realities, networks, kind of groups. Therefore, our aim is to collect exhaustive information to describe how self-help system work in different provinces at the present moment. The implementation of groups for psychiatric problems is quite young in Italy.  Because of a lack of specific regulation in the directives of the Italian health care system, every local service has implemented groups differently, sometimes enhancing, sometimes dismissing them. Prato, near Florence, is one of the more interesting context for the birth of psychiatric self-help movement in the region: public health services improved groups since early 90’s, it was one of the first self-help reality linked to services in the entire region. Now we are in a “second generation” of professionals, and the original meaning of groups seems to be transformed, sometimes misunderstood. Our objectives of study head us toward an in depth analysis of self-help phenomenon in Prato

The December 2018 eruption at Etna volcano: a geochemical study on melt and fluid inclusions

This study focus on the Mt Etna December 2018 eruption with the aim of investigating the geochemical characteristics of the feeding magma. New data on major and trace element geochemistry of olivine-hosted melt inclusions (MI) in volcanic products are presented together with the noble gas geochemistry of fluid inclusions (FI) in olivines. The noble gas geochemistry of fluid inclusions (FIs) in olivines was also investigated. The major element composition of MIs is variable from tephrite/trachybasalt to phonotephrite/basaltic trachyandesite

Session H/11.8 -Effect of management and housing on horse welfare Corresponding author: [email protected] Three-dimensional design of a horse stud like better toll for technical choices of housing and welfare

Abstract It is well known that captivity and the following upsetting of the horse natural habits and physiological activities have made the horse defenceless towards the numerous dangers and have exposed it to a wide range of risks. As a consequence, the safety of the infrastructures where the athlete spends the majority of its life time represent a fundamental aspect strictly linked to the prevention modalities of many pathologies found within equestrian veterinary practice. In recent year the three-dimensional designs are more and more utilised to have a complete vision of the structures. In the case of horse studs, the three-dimensional design represents the best solution to verify, in virtual imagines, the technical choices not only for housing bur also for improving welfare conditions. In fact it is possible to hypothesize and to virtually test the operative conditions needed both in terms of structures and welfare. The results of this kind of representation is optimal to research the best welfare conditions. This study refers to a virtual three-dimensional design of an equestrian centre destined to show jumping horses. This facility includes the realization of different structures such as stud and wasting areas, covered grounds, open air fields, open fields, rings, club services, competition arenas with tribunes, jury, services for public, etc.

Status and Trend of the Main Allergenic Pollen Grains and Alternaria Spores in the City of Rome (2003-2019)

Today a large part of the European population is exposed to levels of air pollution exceeding the standards recommended by the World Health Organization. Moreover, air pollution and the seasonal emission of allergenic pollen are progressively affecting human health and can cause severe allergic reactions, particularly when air pollution combines with pollen allergen peaks. Unlike atmospheric pollutants of anthropogenic origin, pollen sources have a pulsating trend that leads to high values in the flowering period and values close to, or equal to, zero in the rest of the year. This aspect makes essential the definition of data coverage standards for the main allergenic taxa. For air quality assessment detailed classification criteria for monitoring stations are defined by international standards, not the same from the European Standards for the Sampling and analysis of airborne pollen grains and fungal spores. This paper describes the status and the air concentration trends of the main allergenic pollen and the Alternaria spore measured in Rome from 2003 to 2019 by the Aerobiological Monitoring Center of Tor Vergata (Rome) and calculated by the Seasonal Kendall test with the open-source OpenAir R package. The analysis was carried out on the daily concentrations of the most widespread allergenic taxa in Italy: Asteraceae, Betulaceae, Corylaceae, Cupressaceae/Taxaceae, Poaceae, Oleaceae, Urticaceae and the Alternaria spores