Things change: Women’s and men’s marital disruption dynamics in Italy during a time of social transformations, 1970-2003

We study women’s and men’s marital disruption in Italy between 1970 and 2003. By applying an event-history analysis to the 2003 Italian variant of the Generations and Gender Survey we found that the spread of marital disruption started among middle-highly educated women. Then in recent years it appears that less educated women have also been able to dissolve their unhappy unions. Overall we can see the beginning of a reversed educational gradient from positive to negative. In contrast the trend in men’s marital disruption risk appears as a change over time common to all educational groups, although with persisting educational differentials.determinants, educational differences, event history analysis, gender difference, Italy, marital disruption

Why Should We Preserve Fishless High Mountain Lakes?

High mountain lakes are originally fishless, although many have had introductions of non-native fish species, predominantly trout, and recently also minnows introduced by fishermen that use them as live bait. The extent of these introductions is general and substantial often involving many lakes over mountain ranges. Predation on native fauna by introduced fish involves profound ecological changes since fish occupy a higher trophic level that was previously inexistent. Fish predation produces a drastic reduction or elimination of autochthonous animal groups, such as amphibians and large macroinvertebrates in the littoral, and crustaceans in the plankton. These strong effects raise concerns for the conservation of high mountain lakes. In terms of individual species, those adapted to live in larger lakes have suffered a higher decrease in the size of their metapopulation. This ecological problem is discussed from a European perspective providing examples from two study areas: the Pyrenees and the Western Italian Alps. Species-specific studies are urgently needed to evaluate the conservation status of the more impacted species, together with conservation measures at continental and regional scales, through regulation, and at local scale, through restoration actions, aimed to stop further invasive species expansions and to restore the present situation. At different high mountain areas of the world, there have been restoration projects aiming to return lakes to their native fish-free status. In these areas autochthonous species that disappeared with the introduction of fish are progressively recovering their initial distribution when nearby fish-free lakes and ponds are available

Elongation factor-1α accurately reconstructs relationships amongst Psyllid families (Hemiptera: Psylloidea), with possible diagnostic implications

The superfamily Psylloidea (Hemiptera: Sternorrhyncha) lacks a robust multigene phylogeny. This impedes our understanding of the evolution of this group of insects and, consequently, an accurate identification of individuals, of their plant host associations, and their roles as vectors of economically important plant pathogens. The conserved nuclear gene elongation factor-1 alpha (EF-1α) has been valuable as a higher-level phylogenetic marker in insects and it has also been widely used to investigate the evolution of intron/exon structure. To explore evolutionary relationships among Psylloidea, polymerase chain reaction amplification and nucleotide sequencing of a 250-bp EF-1α gene fragment was applied to psyllids belonging to five different families. Introns were detected in three individuals belonging to two families. The nine genera belonging to the family Aphalaridae all lacked introns, highlighting the possibility of using intron presence/absence as a diagnostic tool at a family level. When paired with cytochrome oxidase I gene sequences, the 250 bp EF-1α sequence appeared to be a very promising higher-level phylogenetic marker for psyllids

Reorientação da formação do enfermeiro: análise a partir dos seus protagonistas

RESUMO Objetivo Analisar as mudanças que ocorreram na formação do enfermeiro a partir do programa Pró-Saúde e as suas repercussões na prática profissional de egressos destes cursos. Método Estudo de caso coletivo realizado na região Sul do Brasil. Os casos foram cursos de enfermagem contemplados com o programa Pró-Saúde. Foram realizadas entrevistas com profissionais de saúde, docentes, alunos e egressos dos casos, observação das atividades teórico-práticas em unidades básicas de saúde e análise documental do Projeto Político-Pedagógico dos cursos no ano de 2015. A organização e análise dos dados foram guiadas por perguntas analíticas. Resultados Os reflexos do programa estão presentes na reorientação curricular dos cursos, estímulo e fortalecimento da educação permanente e integração ensino-serviço. Conclusões O programa é reconhecido pelo seu impacto na formação e processo de trabalhos dos egressos. Contudo, é necessário criar políticas locais para garantir a sustentabilidade das ações de integração ensino-serviço