Imparare la matematica con Number Worlds: un intervento quinquennale nella scuola primaria

The Number Worlds (NW) program is based on Case’s theory of cognitive development and conceptual learning, and it promotes the learning of mathematical concepts through playful-manipulative activities and respecting children’s level of development. This five years-research is meant to develop an Italian adaptation of the program, compare it with traditional teaching, and determine the impact of working memory (WM) on math learning. 56 primary school children participated in the research. Since grade I, 13 pupils (controls) followed traditional teaching of math; 43 children worked with NW, 3 hours a week for 7 months. The pupils were assessed with two WM tests, the Number Knowledge Test (NKT), and the Number Line Estimation Task (NLET) at the beginning of Grade I and at the end of each Grade. At the end of Grade V, the AC-MT battery was also administered. The experimental group improved more than controls onthe NKT and NLET from Grade I to IV. At the end of Grade V, both groups showed a «ceiling effect» in the NKT and NLET performance. However, a difference in favour of the experimental group was found in some AC-MT tasks. WM, together with the curriculum, was predictive of mathematics performance up to class IV

Relationships Between the Early Development of Drawing and Language: The Role of Executive Functions and Working Memory

Background: Extensive research examined the development of both language and drawing, but the relationship between these symbolic representation systems is less investigated and controversial. Working memory and executive functions seem to be involved in the acquisition of both drawing and language, but how they are involved in the relation between language and drawing is still unclear. Objective: This article reviews the relevant literature and, as a synthesis, outlines a set of models that future research could use to specify the developmental relations between language, drawing, working memory, and executive functions. Drawing and Language: Four theoretical positions are discussed: (a) drawing and language emerge from the same general-domain symbolic resource; (b) drawing and language as two independent systems; (c) drawing as a form of language (d) drawing influenced by language. Executive Functions and Working Memory: The literature on the role of executive functions and working memory in the development of either drawing or language is rather fragmentary, but on the whole, it indicates that these domain-general cognitive resources and abilities are involved in supporting the development of these representation systems. An ongoing controversy on the structure of executive functions in early childhood adds further complexity to the debate on their role. Conclusions: A set of models is outlined that systematically embodies the different theoretical views regarding (a) executive function development and (b) the relations of drawing development with language, executive function, and working memory. Future research can benefit from explicit models of the causal relations between these aspects of cognitive development

Assessing individual performance in team sports: A new method developed in youth volleyball

Studying the role of individual differences in team sports performance is a challenge. The main problem is having an available measure of individual performance of each member of the team. In particular, in youth sports, where the level of specialization is reactively low, it appears appropriate that this measure takes the entire performance of the athlete into consideration (i.e., that it assesses all of the athlete\u2019s gestures), while maintaining an ecological validity criterion. Therefore, we devised and calculated an individual assessment measure in volleyball following the subsequent steps: Firstly, we video-recorded at least three volleyball games for each of the 114 youth volleyball players who participated in the study. Then, two independent expert observers evaluated each individual performance by attributing a score to every single gesture performed by the athletes during the games. The derived individual score was adjusted and controlled for the team performance measure, namely the result of each Set the athlete participated in (and for the amount of participation of the athlete to each game). The final measure of individual performance in volleyball proved to be reliable, showing a high level of interrater agreement (r = .841, p < .001) and a significant correlation with the amount of experience in volleyball (r = .173, p < .05)

A new species of a solitary coral (Scleractinia, Turbinoliidae) from the San Julián Formation (Upper Oligocene, Santa Cruz) in its stratigraphic and paleoenvironmental context

En depósitos marino-someros de la costa de la provincia de Santa Cruz (Patagonia austral, Argentina), pertenecientes a la Formación San Julián (Oligoceno superior), se hallaron pequeños corales scleractínidos de la familia Turbinoliidae. Las ejemplares descriptos corresponden a Sphenotrochus aff. gardineri y Bothrophoria compressa n. sp. que representa el segundo registro del género. De acuerdo con la asociación de facies y al resto del conjunto de invertebrados, estos corales solitarios y libres (posiblemente semi-excavadores) habrían vivido en aguas templadas a cálidas (Mar Juliense) y sobre substratos arenosos de la plataforma interior-anteplaya superiorA new species of a solitary coral (Scleractinia, Turbinoliidae) from the San JuliánFormation (Upper Oligocene, Santa Cruz) in its stratigraphic and paleoenvironmental context.Small scleractinian corals (Family Turbinoliidae) were collected from the Late Oligocene San Julián Formation, in Santa Cruz province (southern Patagonia, Argentina). The specimens were assigned to Sphenotrochus aff. gardineri and to Bothrophoria compressa n. sp., the second record of the genus. According to the lithofacies association and the remaining fossil invertebrates, these free-living and ahermatypic turbinoliids would have lived in temperate to warm waters (Juliense sea) and in sandy substrates of the inner shelf-upper shoreface.Fil: Erdmann, Silvia. No especifíca;Fil: Bellosi, Eduardo Sergio. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales "Bernardino Rivadavia"; ArgentinaFil: Morra, Guillermo A.. No especifíca

Remote sensing-based estimation of gross primary production in a subalpine grassland

This study investigates the performances in a terrestrial ecosystem of gross primary production (GPP) estimation of a suite of spectral vegetation indexes (VIs) that can be computed from currently orbiting platforms. Vegetation indexes were computed from near-surface field spectroscopy measurements collected using an automatic system designed for high temporal frequency acquisition of spectral measurements in the visible near-infrared region. Spectral observations were collected for two consecutive years in Italy in a subalpine grassland equipped with an eddy covariance (EC) flux tower that provides continuous measurements of net ecosystem carbon dioxide (CO2) exchange (NEE) and the derived GPP. Different VIs were calculated based on ESA-MERIS and NASA-MODIS spectral bands and correlated with biophysical (Leaf area index, LAI; fraction of photosynthetically active radiation intercepted by green vegetation, f IPARg), biochemical (chlorophyll concentration) and ecophysiological (green light-use efficiency, LUEg) canopy variables. In this study, the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) was the index best correlated with LAI and f IPARg (r = 0.90 and 0.95, respectively), the MERIS terrestrial chlorophyll index (MTCI) with leaf chlorophyll content (r = 0.91) and the photochemical reflectance index (PRI551), computed as (R531 −R551)/(R531 +R551) with LUEg (r = 0.64). Subsequently, these VIs were used to estimate GPP using different modelling solutions based on Monteith’s lightuse efficiency model describing the GPP as driven by the photosynthetically active radiation absorbed by green vegetation (APARg) and by the efficiency (") with which plants use the absorbed radiation to fix carbon via photosynthesis. Results show that GPP can be successfully modelled with a combination of VIs and meteorological data or VIs only. Vegetation indexes designed to be more sensitive to chlorophyll content explained most of the variability in GPP in the ecosystem investigated, characterised by a strong seasonal dynamic of GPP. Accuracy in GPP estimation slightly improves when taking into account high frequency modulations of GPP driven by incident PAR or modelling LUEg with the PRI in model formulation. Similar results were obtained for both measured daily VIs and VIs obtained as 16-day composite time series and then downscaled from the compositing period to daily scale (resampled data). However, the use of resampled data rather than measured daily input data decreases the accuracy of the total GPP estimation on an annual basis.JRC.H.4-Monitoring Agricultural Resource

A Combined Nucleic Acid and Protein Analysis in Friedreich Ataxia: Implications for Diagnosis, Pathogenesis and Clinical Trial Design

BACKGROUND: Friedreich's ataxia (FRDA) is the most common hereditary ataxia among caucasians. The molecular defect in FRDA is the trinucleotide GAA expansion in the first intron of the FXN gene, which encodes frataxin. No studies have yet reported frataxin protein and mRNA levels in a large cohort of FRDA patients, carriers and controls. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We enrolled 24 patients with classic FRDA phenotype (cFA), 6 late onset FRDA (LOFA), all homozygous for GAA expansion, 5 pFA cases who harbored the GAA expansion in compound heterozygosis with FXN point mutations (namely, p.I154F, c.482+3delA, p.R165P), 33 healthy expansion carriers, and 29 healthy controls. DNA was genotyped for GAA expansion, mRNA/FXN was quantified in real-time, and frataxin protein was measured using lateral-flow immunoassay in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs). Mean residual levels of frataxin, compared to controls, were 35.8%, 65.6%, 33%, and 68.7% in cFA, LOFA, pFA and healthy carriers, respectively. Comparison of both cFA and pFA with controls resulted in 100% sensitivity and specificity, but there was overlap between LOFA, carriers and controls. Frataxin levels correlated inversely with GAA1 and GAA2 expansions, and directly with age at onset. Messenger RNA expression was reduced to 19.4% in cFA, 50.4% in LOFA, 52.7% in pFA, 53.0% in carriers, as compared to controls (p<0.0001). mRNA levels proved to be diagnostic when comparing cFA with controls resulting in 100% sensitivity and specificity. In cFA and LOFA patients mRNA levels correlated directly with protein levels and age at onset, and inversely with GAA1 and GAA2. CONCLUSION/SIGNIFICANCE: We report the first explorative study on combined frataxin and mRNA levels in PBMCs from a cohort of FRDA patients, carriers and healthy individuals. Lateral-flow immunoassay differentiated cFA and pFA patients from controls, whereas determination of mRNA in q-PCR was sensitive and specific only in cFA

Intensive consolidation therapy compared with standard consolidation and maintenance therapy for adults with acute myeloid leukaemia aged between 46 and 60 years: final results of the randomized phase III study (AML 8B) of the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) and the Gruppo Italiano Malattie Ematologiche Maligne dell’Adulto (GIMEMA) Leukemia Cooperative Groups

The most effective post-remission treatment to maintain complete remission (CR) in adults aged between 46 and 60 years with acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) is uncertain. Previously untreated patients with AML in CR after induction chemotherapy with daunorubicin and cytarabine were randomized between two intensive courses of consolidation therapy containing high-dose cytarabine, combined with amsacrine or daunorubicin and a standard consolidation and maintenance therapy containing standard dose cytarabine and daunorubicin. One hundred fifty-eight CR patients were assigned to the intensive group and 157 patients to the standard group. After a median follow-up of 7.5 years, the 4-year survival rate was 32 % in the intensive group versus 34 % in the standard group (P = 0.29). In the intensive group, the 4-year relapse incidence was lower than in the standard group: 55 and 75 %, respectively (P = 0.0003), whereas treatment-related mortality incidence was higher: 22 versus 3 % (P < 0.0001). Two intensive consolidation courses containing high-dose cytarabine as post-remission treatment in patients with AML aged between 46 and 60 years old did not translate in better long-term outcome despite a 20 % lower relapse incidence. Better supportive care and prevention of treatment-related complications may improve the overall survival after intensified post-remission therapy in this age group

Prescription appropriateness of anti-diabetes drugs in elderly patients hospitalized in a clinical setting: evidence from the REPOSI Register

Diabetes is an increasing global health burden with the highest prevalence (24.0%) observed in elderly people. Older diabetic adults have a greater risk of hospitalization and several geriatric syndromes than older nondiabetic adults. For these conditions, special care is required in prescribing therapies including anti- diabetes drugs. Aim of this study was to evaluate the appropriateness and the adherence to safety recommendations in the prescriptions of glucose-lowering drugs in hospitalized elderly patients with diabetes. Data for this cross-sectional study were obtained from the REgistro POliterapie-Società Italiana Medicina Interna (REPOSI) that collected clinical information on patients aged ≥ 65 years acutely admitted to Italian internal medicine and geriatric non-intensive care units (ICU) from 2010 up to 2019. Prescription appropriateness was assessed according to the 2019 AGS Beers Criteria and anti-diabetes drug data sheets.Among 5349 patients, 1624 (30.3%) had diagnosis of type 2 diabetes. At admission, 37.7% of diabetic patients received treatment with metformin, 37.3% insulin therapy, 16.4% sulfonylureas, and 11.4% glinides. Surprisingly, only 3.1% of diabetic patients were treated with new classes of anti- diabetes drugs. According to prescription criteria, at admission 15.4% of patients treated with metformin and 2.6% with sulfonylureas received inappropriately these treatments. At discharge, the inappropriateness of metformin therapy decreased (10.2%, P &lt; 0.0001). According to Beers criteria, the inappropriate prescriptions of sulfonylureas raised to 29% both at admission and at discharge. This study shows a poor adherence to current guidelines on diabetes management in hospitalized elderly people with a high prevalence of inappropriate use of sulfonylureas according to the Beers criteria

Effect of a quality improvement program on compliance to the sepsis bundle in non-ICU patients: a multicenter prospective before and after cohort study

ObjectiveSepsis and septic shock are major challenges and economic burdens to healthcare, impacting millions of people globally and representing significant causes of mortality. Recently, a large number of quality improvement programs focused on sepsis resuscitation bundles have been instituted worldwide. These educational initiatives have been shown to be associated with improvements in clinical outcomes. We aimed to evaluate the impact of a multi-faceted quality implementing program (QIP) on the compliance of a “simplified 1-h bundle” (Sepsis 6) and hospital mortality of severe sepsis and septic shock patients out of the intensive care unit (ICU).MethodsEmergency departments (EDs) and medical wards (MWs) of 12 academic and non-academic hospitals in the Lombardy region (Northern Italy) were involved in a multi-faceted QIP, which included educational and organizational interventions. Patients with a clinical diagnosis of severe sepsis or septic shock according to the Sepsis-2 criteria were enrolled in two different periods: from May 2011 to November 2011 (before-QIP cohort) and from August 2012 to June 2013 (after-QIP cohort).Measurements and main resultsThe effect of QIP on bundle compliance and hospital mortality was evaluated in a before–after analysis. We enrolled 467 patients in the before-QIP group and 656 in the after-QIP group. At the time of enrollment, septic shock was diagnosed in 50% of patients, similarly between the two periods. In the after-QIP group, we observed increased compliance to the “simplified rapid (1 h) intervention bundle” (the Sepsis 6 bundle – S6) at three time-points evaluated (1 h, 13.7 to 18.7%, p = 0.018, 3 h, 37.1 to 48.0%, p = 0.013, overall study period, 46.2 to 57.9%, p &lt; 0.001). We then analyzed compliance with S6 and hospital mortality in the before- and after-QIP periods, stratifying the two patients’ cohorts by admission characteristics. Adherence to the S6 bundle was increased in patients with severe sepsis in the absence of shock, in patients with serum lactate &lt;4.0 mmol/L, and in patients with hypotension at the time of enrollment, regardless of the type of admission (from EDs or MWs). Subsequently, in an observational analysis, we also investigated the relation between bundle compliance and hospital mortality by logistic regression. In the after-QIP cohort, we observed a lower in-hospital mortality than that observed in the before-QIP cohort. This finding was reported in subgroups where a higher adherence to the S6 bundle in the after-QIP period was found. After adjustment for confounders, the QIP appeared to be independently associated with a significant improvement in hospital mortality. Among the single S6 procedures applied within the first hour of sepsis diagnosis, compliance with blood culture and antibiotic therapy appeared significantly associated with reduced in-hospital mortality.ConclusionA multi-faceted QIP aimed at promoting an early simplified bundle of care for the management of septic patients out of the ICU was associated with improved compliance with sepsis bundles and lower in-hospital mortality