Do university students know how they perform?

The aim of the research is to study the capacity for self-evaluation of University studentsundergoing tests involving mathematics, linguistic and formal reasoning. Subjects wereasked to estimate the number of correct answers and subsequently to compare theirperformance with that of their peers. We divided the subjects into three groups on the basisof performance: poor, middle and top performers. The results demonstrate that all thesubjects in all tests showed good awareness of their level of actual performance. Analyzingcomparative assessments, the results reported in literature by Kruger and Dunning wereconfirmed: poor performers tend to significantly overestimate their own performance whilst top performers tend to underestimate it. This can be interpreted as a demonstration thatthe accuracy of comparative self-evaluations depends on a number of variables: cognitiveand metacognitive factors and aspects associated with self-representation. Our conclusion is that cognitive and metacognitive processes work as “submerged” in highly subjectiverepresentations, allowing dynamics related to safeguarding the image one has of oneself toplay a role

An educational intervention to promote healthy lifestyles in preschool children: a cluster-RCT

OBJECTIVE: Promoting four healthy behaviours among preschool children:⩾4 servings of fruit and vegetables/day, ⩾2 h/day of active play, ⩽1 h per day of TV-watching and 0 sugar sweetened beverages/day. METHODS: We conducted a c-RCT on 425 3-year-old children at 16 childcare centres based in Cesena, Italy. We randomly allocated eight childcare centres (199 children) to the intervention group and eight childcare centres (226 children) to the control group. All the randomized childcare centres completed our study protocol. Parents recorded their children's target behaviours at home over 3 Saturdays, at baseline and at follow-up. Then trained nurses measured children's weight and height. We conducted a 6-month-long intervention trial in local health care centres where nurses and primary care pediatricians, respectively, conducted two subsequent motivational interviews with parents to encourage children's healthy behaviours at home. At the same time, teachers involved children in learning experiences about healthy behaviours. Our primary outcome is a children's combined health behaviour score (CHBS) at home. Our secondary outcomes measure the BMI z-score and the percentage of children that show a BMI trajectory crossing upward. After collecting the CHBS and BMI data at baseline as well as at 1- and 2-year follow-ups, we performed an Intent-to-Treat (ITT) analysis. RESULTS: After 2 years from baseline, 48.4% of intervention group children showed a low-risk CHBS in comparison with 28.0% of control group children. A multilevel analysis showed that they were by far more likely to achieve low-risk scores (adjusted OR: 3.41; 95% CI: 1.48-7.88; P=0.004). Our BMI outcomes showed no significant difference between groups. CONCLUSIONS: A multidimensional educational intervention, which consists of motivational interviews with parents and teacher-led learning experiences for children, improved preschool children's CHBS in the long term without influencing the outcomes of BMI z-score and BMI increase.In September 2012, OROGEL S.p.A., a company based in via Dismano 2600, I-47522, Cesena, Forlì Cesena, Italy, granted €10 000 in support of our educational intervention. This sponsor had no role in designing and conducting our study; collecting, managing, analysing and interpreting its data; and preparing, reviewing and approving our paper

On the Need of Intermediate Complexity General Circulation Models: A "SPEEDY" Example

processes that allows realistic and fast climate simula -tions that often involve large ensembles for the purpose of reducing uncertainty and estimation of the forced and internal variability of the system. The forced signal is typically estimated by an ensemble mean of many simulations, but ensembles of state-of-the-art models are often too small to reduce the remaining internal variability. The ensemble size needed to estimate the mean accurately depends on the signal-to-noise ratio for the variable and region under consideration. For example, the ensemble size to estimate midlatitude 500-hPa height accurately is about 20, which is larger than most ensembles used in seasonal hindcast data-sets or climate projections performed by individual centers. Intermediate complexity models can also be used efficiently to investigate the sensitivity of simu-lated climate to changes in parameters in the physical parameterizations. Another application is related to climate change. For example, Forest et al. (2002) and Sokolov at al. (2009) use the MIT Integrated Global System Model (MIT IGSM) to investigate topics such as climate sensitivity, aerosol forcing, ocean heat uptake rate, and probabilistic projections of climate change. There are many intermediate complexity system models of intermediate complexity (EMICs). A number of them are participating in the IPCC Fifth Assessment Report and can be found at http://climate .uvic.ca/EMICAR5 (one of which is based on a previous version of the model introduced here). This website also provides information about experiments that are performed with these models that range from en-sembles of 1,000-year-long historical simulations to the assessment of different C

Eddy saturation and frictional control of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current

The Antarctic Circumpolar Current is the strongest current in the ocean and has a pivotal impact on ocean stratification, heat content, and carbon content. The circumpolar volume transport is relatively insensitive to surface wind forcing in models that resolve turbulent ocean eddies, a process termed “eddy saturation.” Here a simple model is presented that explains the physics of eddy saturation with three ingredients: a momentum budget, a relation between the eddy form stress and eddy energy, and an eddy energy budget. The model explains both the insensitivity of circumpolar volume transport to surface wind stress and the increase of eddy energy with wind stress. The model further predicts that circumpolar transport increases with increased bottom friction, a counterintuitive result that is confirmed in eddy-permitting calculations. These results suggest an unexpected and important impact of eddy energy dissipation, through bottom drag or lee wave generation, on ocean stratification, ocean heat content, and potentially atmospheric CO2

Curva di apprendimento nella scialoendoscopia diagnostica e interventistica per le patologie salivari ostruttive

La scialoendoscopia è un nuovo strumento diagnostico e chirurgico che offre l’opportunità di trattare alcune patologie delle ghiandole salivari con procedure non invasive e con risultati potenzialmente superiori alle precedenti tecniche. Come per tutte le nuove tecniche, per raggiungere rapidamente risultati paragonabili a quelli riportati in letteratura, è indispensabile un corretto programma di formazione che segua una graduale curva di apprendimento. Questo include un appropriato programma diagnostico, una corretta selezione dei pazienti e la conoscenza delle possibili insidie operatorie. Abbiamo eseguito uno studio retrospettivo confrontando le prime 141 procedure (74 parotidee e 67 sottomandibolari) eseguite con questa tecnica nel nostro Dipartimento dal 2009 al 2013 con analoghe esperienze riportate in letteratura. I pazienti sono stati divisi in 3 gruppi: Gruppo A (le prime 49 procedure effettuate), gruppo B (le successive 50), Gruppo C (le ultime 42 procedure effettuate). Fra i tre gruppi non sono state evidenziate differenze statisticamente significative nei tempi medi di durata delle procedure, nella percentuale di ricorrenza della sintomatologia dopo il trattamento, nel numero di pazienti che hanno necessitato di più trattamenti e nell’incidenza di complicanze minori. Non sono state riportate complicanze maggiori. Con l’acquisizione di una maggiore esperienza da parte dei chirurghi si è evidenziato un progressivo calo del numero di interventi eseguiti in anestesia generale rispetto a quelli in anestesia locale (51% vs 18% vs 14%). Solo in tre casi su 130 ghiandole trattate (2.3%) è stato necessario eseguire un’asportazione ghiandolare. Per i calcoli salivari è stato valutato il tipo di tecnica utilizzato per l’estrazione e la percentuale d’insuccesso che era analoga nei tre gruppi (13.6% vs 15% vs 15%). I nostri risultati non differiscono sostanzialmente da quelli riportati in letteratura. Abbiamo risolto la difficoltà iniziale nella cateterizzazione del dotto con esercizi chirurgici su cadavere o su teste di maiale. La mancanza di precisione degli strumenti diagnostici radiologici può essere migliorata autonomizzando il chirurgo nell’esecuzione delle ecografie pre e post-operatorie. Viene infine sottolineata l’opportunità di creare dei centri di scialoendoscopia con un bacino di utenza di circa 1 o 2 milioni di abitanti in modo da concentrare le patologie, far fronte agli elevati costi della strumentazione necessaria e poter guadagnare la necessaria esperienza nelle gestione delle varie tecniche chirurgiche

Sensitivity of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation to South Atlantic freshwater anomalies

The sensitivity of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) to changes in basin integrated net evaporation is highly dependent on the zonal salinity contrast at the southern border of the Atlantic. Biases in the freshwater budget strongly affect the stability of the AMOC in numerical models. The impact of these biases is investigated, by adding local anomaly patterns in the South Atlantic to the freshwater fluxes at the surface. These anomalies impact the freshwater and salt transport by the different components of the ocean circulation, in particular the basin-scale salt-advection feedback, completely changing the response of the AMOC to arbitrary perturbations. It is found that an appropriate dipole anomaly pattern at the southern border of the Atlantic Ocean can collapse the AMOC entirely even without a further hosing. The results suggest a new view on the stability of the AMOC, controlled by processes in the South Atlantic. <br/

Verticale temperatuurgradiënten in geconditioneerde kassen: Effecten op groei, ontwikkeling en onderliggende processen bij tomaat

In de jaren 2003 tot 2007 is het aantal bedrijven waarop (semi)gesloten geteeld wordt geleidelijk toegenomen. Op alle bedrijven bleken echter vragen te bestaan over de reacties van het gewas op het nieuwe klimaat. Daarom is in 2008 door Wageningen UR Glastuinbouw een onderzoek gestart naar de groei van tomaat in geconditioneerde kassen, waarin veel aandacht wordt besteed aan de fysiologische processen in de plant. Het onderzoek wordt gefinancierd vanuit het programma Kas als Energiebron door Productschap Tuinbouw en het ministerie van EL&I en wordt begeleid door een aantal tomatentelers en een adviseur. Het onderzoek dat in dit rapport wordt beschreven had als centrale vraag hoe een verticale temperatuurgradiënt de processen in de plant beïnvloedt

Sialendoscopy for salivary stones: principles, technical skills and therapeutic experience

La scialoadenite cronica ostruttiva rappresenta una delle più frequenti patologie non-neoplastiche delle ghiandole salivari e la scialoendoscopia è sempre più utilizzata nella sua diagnosi e nel suo trattamento, associata o meno con la litotripsia laser. La scialoendoscopia può essere inoltre associata ad approcci esterni mini-invasivi nelle litiasi troppo voluminose per essere rimosse con un approccio unicamente endoscopico. Il presente articolo riporta lesperienza delle Cliniche Otorinolaringoiatriche dellOspedale SantOrsola-Malpighi di Bologna e dellAzienda Ospedaliero Universitaria di Cagliari, Italia. È stata eseguita unanalisi retrospettiva su 48 pazienti (26 femmine, 22 maschi; età media di 45,3 anni; range 8-83 anni) trattati per patologia cronica ostruttiva delle ghiandole salivari maggiori mediante procedure chirurgiche endoscopiche o combinate da novembre 2010 ad aprile 2016 presso lAzienda-Ospedaliero-Universitaria di Cagliari. I risultati dellOspedale SantOrsola-Malpighi di Bologna erano stati precedentemente pubblicati. Gli aspetti tecnici della scialoendoscopia sono stati accuratamente descritti. I pazienti trattati presso lAzienda Ospedaliero Universitaria di Cagliari presentavano una patologia unilaterale in 40 casi e bilaterale in 8 casi; sono state trattate 56 ghiandole salivari maggiori (22 sottomandibolari e 34 parotidi). 5 pazienti sono stati sottoposti a scialoendoscopia bilaterale per parotite ricorrente giovanile, 10 per patologia ostruttiva non litiasica e 33 (68,75%) presentavano calcoli salivari (1 paziente presentava una litiasi parotidea bilaterale). Solo 8 pazienti sono stati sottoposti a scialectomia radicale per via esterna (5 scialectomie sottomandibolare e 3 parotidectomie). La chirurgia conservativa nei pazienti con scialoadenite cronica ostruttiva appare efficace e può essere realizzata mediante un approccio puramente endoscopico o combinato, con unalta percentuale di successo. La procedura richiede una strumentazione adeguata e deve essere eseguita da un chirurgo esperto, che abbia svolto un training specifico scialoendoscopico, in modo da evitare le possibili complicanze maggiori e minori. La scialectomia tradizionale rappresenta la extrema ratio, limitata nei casi in cui un approccio conservativo sia risultato inefficace o controindicato

On the response of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current transport to climate change in coupled climate models

The CMIP3 (IPCC AR4) models show a consistent intensification and poleward shift of the westerly winds over the Southern Ocean during the 21st century. However, the responses of the Antarctic Circumpolar Currents (ACC) show great diversity in these models, with many even showing reductions in transport. To obtain some understanding of diverse responses in the ACC transport, we investigate both external atmospheric and internal oceanic processes that control the ACC transport responses in these models. While the strengthened westerlies act to increase the tilt of isopycnal surfaces and hence the ACC transport through Ekman pumping effects, the associated changes in buoyancy forcing generally tend to reduce the surface meridional density gradient. The steepening of isopycnal surfaces induced by increased wind forcing leads to enhanced (parameterized) eddy-induced transports that act to reduce the isopycnal slopes. There is also considerable narrowing of the ACC that tends to reduce the ACC transport, caused mainly by the poleward shifts of the subtropical gyres and to a lesser extent by the equatorward expansions of the subpolar gyres in some models. If the combined effect of these retarding processes is larger than that of enhanced Ekman pumping, the ACC transport will be reduced. In addition, the effect of Ekman pumping on the ACC is reduced in weakly stratified models. These findings give insight into the reliability of IPCC-class model predictions of the Southern Ocean circulation, and into the observed decadal-scale steady ACC transport