Developing the use of visual representations to explain basic astronomy phenomena

Several decades of research have contributed to our understanding of students’ reasoning about astronomical phenomena. Some authors have pointed out the difficulty in reading and interpreting images used in school textbooks as factors that may justify the persistence of misconceptions. However, only a few studies have investigated to what extent usual textbook images influence students’ understanding of such phenomena. This study examines this issue exploring 13-14 years old students’ explanations, drawings and conceptions about three familiar phenomena: change of seasons, Moon phases and solar/lunar eclipses. The research questions that guided the study were: RQ1) How are students’ explanations and visual representations about familiar astronomical phenomena affected by different imagesupport conditions? RQ2) How are students’ conceptions about familiar astronomical phenomena affected by different image-support conditions? RQ3) Which features of the used images most affected the students’ visual representations and explanations of familiar astronomical phenomena? To answer our research questions, we designed three instructional contexts under increasing support conditions: textbook images and text; teaching booklets with specially designed images and text; only text. To analyze students’ drawings, we used exploratory factor analysis to deconstruct drawings into their most salient elements. To analyze students’ explanations, we adopted a constant comparison method identifying different levels of increasing knowledge. To investigate students’ conceptions, we used a mixed multiple choice/true false baseline questionnaire. For RQ1, results show that the specially designed images condition was effective in helping students producing informed drawings in comparison to text-only condition for all phenomena, and more effective than textbook images condition when one considers seasonal change drawings. Concerning RQ2, the specially designed images condition was the most effective for all phenomena. Concerning RQ3, prevalent elements of astronomy images that affected students’ explanations and visual representations were: elliptical Earth's orbit, position of the Sun with respect to the Moon orbit, Sun, Moon and Earth alignment. Our findings confirm concerns about textbook astronomy images, whose features may interfere with the identification of the relevant factors underlying the phenomena. Moreover, findings of this study suggest that affordances of the specially designed images may play an essential role in scaffolding meaningful understanding of the targeted phenomena. Implications for teaching through and learning from visual representations in astronomy education are briefly discussed

VKORC1 and CYP2C9 polymorphisms related to adverse events in case-control cohort of anticoagulated patients

Vitamin K antagonists (VKAs) are highly effective but have a narrow therapeutic index and require routine monitoring of the INR. The primary aim of pharmacogenetics (PGx) is to optimize patient care, achieving drug treatments that are personalized according to the genetic profile of each patient. The best-characterized genes involved in VKA PGx involve pharmacokinetics (VKORC1) and pharmacodynamics (CYP2C9) of VKA metabolism. The role of these genes in clinical outcomes (bleeding and thrombosis) during oral anticoagulant (OAC) therapy is controversial. The aim of the present study was to evaluate any potential association between genotype VKORC1 and CYP2C9 and adverse events (hemorrhagic and/or thrombotic), during initiation and long-term VKA treatment, in Caucasian patients. Furthermore, we aimed to determine if the concomitant prescription of other selected drugs affected the association between genotype and adverse events.We performed a retrospective, matched case-control study to determine associations between multiple gene variants, drug intake, and any major adverse effects in anticoagulated patients, monitored in 2 Italian anticoagulation clinics.Our results show that anticoagulated patients have a high risk of adverse events if they are carriers of 1 or more genetic polymorphisms in the VKORC1 (rs9923231) and CYP2C9 (rs1799853 and rs1057910) genes.Information on CYP2C9 and VKORC1 variants may be useful to identify individualized oral anticoagulant treatment for each patient, improve management and quality of VKA anticoagulation control, and monitor drug surveillance in pharmacovigilance programs

Microglia Polarization, Gene-Environment Interactions and Wnt/β-Catenin Signaling: Emerging Roles of Glia-Neuron and Glia-Stem/Neuroprogenitor Crosstalk for Dopaminergic Neurorestoration in Aged Parkinsonian Brain.

Neuroinflammatory processes are recognized key contributory factors in Parkinson's disease (PD) physiopathology. While the causes responsible for the progressive loss of midbrain dopaminergic (mDA) neuronal cell bodies in the subtantia nigra pars compacta are poorly understood, aging, genetics, environmental toxicity, and particularly inflammation, represent prominent etiological factors in PD development. Especially, reactive astrocytes, microglial cells, and infiltrating monocyte-derived macrophages play dual beneficial/harmful effects, via a panel of pro- or anti-inflammatory cytokines, chemokines, neurotrophic and neurogenic transcription factors. Notably, with age, microglia may adopt a potent neurotoxic, pro-inflammatory "primed" (M1) phenotype when challenged with inflammatory or neurotoxic stimuli that hamper brain's own restorative potential and inhibit endogenous neurorepair mechanisms. In the last decade we have provided evidence for a major role of microglial crosstalk with astrocytes, mDA neurons and neural stem progenitor cells (NSCs) in the MPTP- (1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine-) mouse model of PD, and identified Wnt/β-catenin signaling, a pivotal morphogen for mDA neurodevelopment, neuroprotection, and neuroinflammatory modulation, as a critical actor in glia-neuron and glia-NSCs crosstalk. With age however, Wnt signaling and glia-NSC-neuron crosstalk become dysfunctional with harmful consequences for mDA neuron plasticity and repair. These findings are of importance given the deregulation of Wnt signaling in PD and the emerging link between most PD related genes, Wnt signaling and inflammation. Especially, in light of the expanding field of microRNAs and inflammatory PD-related genes as modulators of microglial-proinflammatory status, uncovering the complex molecular circuitry linking PD and neuroinflammation will permit the identification of new druggable targets for the cure of the disease. Here we summarize recent findings unveiling major microglial inflammatory and oxidative stress pathways converging in the regulation of Wnt/β-catenin signaling, and reciprocally, the ability of Wnt signaling pathways to modulate microglial activation in PD. Unraveling the key factors and conditons promoting the switch of the proinflammatory M1 microglia status into a neuroprotective and regenerative M2 phenotype will have important consequences for neuroimmune interactions and neuronal outcome under inflammatory and/or neurodegenerative conditions

Integrating Practice-Based Activities and Visual Representations to Foster Students’ Understanding of Basic Astronomy Phenomena: An Example about Seasonal Changes.

This study investigates how different combinations of practice-based activities and visual representations affect students’ learning about seasonal changes. We adopted a pre-post 3 × 2 experimental design in which we first randomly assigned 12 intact 9th-grade classes (N = 337 students) to either a “practice-based activity” or a “no practice-based activity” and then to one of the following conditions: “specially designed images”; “textbook images”; “no images”. We used a draw-and-explain task and a mixed multiple-choice true/false questionnaire, the Seasons Concepts Inventory (SCI), to assess students’ conceptual understanding of seasons before and after participating to one of the teaching conditions. Data were analyzed using a 2-way between subjects factorial analysis of variance (ANOVA). The results indicate a significant interaction effect between the experimental conditions. Students in the “practice-based activity” condition outperformed students in the “no practice-based activity” condition, regardless of the type of image used. However, the students in the “specially designed images” condition performed significantly better than those in the “textbook images” and “no images” conditions in both the draw-and-explain task and the SCI instrument, regardless of the practice-based activity condition. Furthermore, the students in the “no practice-based activity” condition who were taught with the specially designed images did not perform significantly different from the students in the “practice-based activity” condition who were taught with the same types of images. Our study has implications for astronomy education practice in that it shows advantages and limitations of combining two approaches that are usually implemented separately. This study has also broader educational implications in that it demonstrates that when combining two different teaching approaches, the effec tiveness of each approach may depend on the specific combination adopted

Opening up innovation processes through contests in the food sector

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate how an adequate mix of technological, organisational and managerial tools might support Open Innovation (OI) processes achieved by contests in the food sector. Design/methodology/approach: The methodology of this paper is exploratory in nature. Data have been gathered about the 140 innovation contests launched by the best global food brands (2013 BusinessWeek/Interbrand Best Global Brands) over the last decade. Findings: The research highlights the main changes that have occurred over the last decade, showing that the choice of platform type for contest launches is often neglected or considered as an ancillary element. Indeed, it is a choice that embeds another set of technological, organisational and managerial tools that strongly influence the collaborative behaviour (and the participation itself) of partners throughout the innovation process. Research limitations/implications: Companies investigated in this paper consist exclusively of top brands in the sector. Future research should strive to obtain larger samples, develop a set of fine-grained hypotheses, and test them by using appropriate statistical techniques. Originality/value: This paper fills an inexplicable gap in academic literature due to the fact that food companies are those that mainly use contests in order to implement OI but they are scarcely researched regarding this issue

Biodiversity of Lactobacillus plantarum from traditional Italian wines

In this study, 23 samples of traditional wines produced in Southern Italy were subjected to microbiological analyses with the aim to identify and biotype the predominant species of lactic acid bacilli. For this purpose, a multiple approach, consisting in the application of both phenotypic (API 50CHL test) and biomolecular methods (polymerase chain reaction-denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis and 16S rRNA gene sequencing) was used. The results showed that Lactobacillus plantarum was the predominant species, whereas Lb. brevis was detected in lower amount. In detail, out of 80 isolates 58 were ascribable to Lb. plantarum and 22 to Lb. brevis. Randomly amplified polymorphic DNA-polymerase chain reaction was used to highlight intraspecific variability among Lb. plantarum strains. Interestingly, the cluster analysis evidenced a relationship between different biotypes of Lb. plantarum and their origin, in terms of wine variety. Data acquired in this work show the possibility to obtain several malolactic fermentation starter cultures, composed by different Lb. plantarum biotypes, for their proper use in winemaking processes which are distinctive for each wine

Tissue response evaluation of the mucosa of the tympanic cavity of guinea pigs, when receiving biodegradable implant

PURPOSE:To evaluate the tissue response of the mucosa of the tympanic cavity of guinea pigs, when receiving biodegradable implant.METHODS:A total of 20 male guinea pigs were divided into 2 groups. After paracentesis in both ears, a biodegradable polymer of poly lactic-co-glycolic acid was implanted in only one middle ear. Histological analysis using neutrophil exudate and vascular neoformation (acute inflammation) and fibroblast proliferation and mononuclear inflammatory cells (chronic inflammation) as parameters was performed after 10 and 30 days of survival (groups 1 and 2, respectively).RESULTS:Four ears in group 1 and 7 in group 2 had an increase of neutrophil exudate. Vascular neoformation occurred in ears with or without the implant, in both groups. Fibroblast proliferation and mononuclear inflammatory cells (lymphocytes and macrophages) increased in ears with implant in group 2.CONCLUSION:The tissue response by histological analysis of the mucosa of the tympanic cavity of guinea pigs, when receiving biodegradable implant, showed no statistically significant difference between ears with or without the implant.Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP), Escola Paulista de Medicina (EPM) Department of OtorhinolaryngologyFederal University of Minas Gerais Faculty of PharmacyFederal University of Minas GeraisUSP Faculty of Medicine of Ribeirao PretoUniversidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP), Escola Paulista de Medicina (EPM) Department of Otorhinolaryngology and Head and Neck SurgeryFederal University of São PauloFederal University of São Paulo Medical SchoolUNIFESP, EPM, Department of OtorhinolaryngologyUNIFESP, EPM, Department of Otorhinolaryngology and Head and Neck SurgeryUNIFESP, Medical SchoolSciEL

Does Existential Flexibility Associate With Individuals’ Acceptance of Inequality? A Study Relating Existential Questing to Values and to Prejudice

This study investigated whether existential quest, a relatively new construct defining individual willingness to reflect on existential issues such as the meaning of life and death, was negatively associated with generalized prejudice through the mediation with personal values of universalism and conservation (conformity, security, and tradition). A structural equation model was performed on a convenience sample of 1136 Italian adults. Results confirmed a negative indirect relationship with generalized prejudice mediated by universalism. Findings support the argument that engagement with existential issues is associated with the value of universalism, which in turn is associated with lower levels of generalized prejudice. The present study contributes to the scholarly literature to explain the concept of existential quest