The formative tutoring programme in preventing university drop-outs and improving students' academic performance. The case study of the University of Padova (Italy)

The Spanish model of Tutoria Formativa de Carrera may be viewed as a useful strategy to improve student performance and prevent the drop-out phenomenon. In order to verify its adaptability to the Italian academic context, an experimental programme was carried out in three first-cycle degree courses in an Italian university: case studies were chosen according to their high drop-out and low performance rates. A year-long programme of tutoring, together with peer and service tutoring, was proposed to enrolled students, the main aims being to facilitate the transition between secondary school and university, to foster students' integration within the university context and their approach to university-level study, and to guide them towards conscious decisions about their personal and professional careers. By means the innovative approach based on primary prevention and student-centred perspective, substantial results were obtained, highlighting the educational dimension of tutoring, by integration of peer and service tutoring with a new tutoring role for the teaching staff

Accuracy of Vitalograph lung monitor as a screening test for COPD in primary care.

Microspirometry may be useful as the second stage of a screening pathway among patients reporting respiratory symptoms. We assessed sensitivity and specificity of the Vitalograph® lung monitor compared with post-bronchodilator confirmatory spirometry (ndd Easy on-PC) among primary care chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients within the Birmingham COPD cohort. We report a case-control analysis within 71 general practices in the UK. Eligible patients were aged ≥40 years who were either on a clinical COPD register or reported chronic respiratory symptoms on a questionnaire. Participants performed pre- and post-bronchodilator microspirometry, prior to confirmatory spirometry. Out of the 544 participants, COPD was confirmed in 337 according to post-bronchodilator confirmatory spirometry. Pre-bronchodilator, using the LLN as a cut-point, the lung monitor had a sensitivity of 50.5% (95% CI 45.0%, 55.9%) and a specificity of 99.0% (95% CI 96.6%, 99.9%) in our sample. Using a fixed ratio of FEV1/FEV6 < 0.7 to define obstruction in the lung monitor, sensitivity increased (58.8%; 95% CI 53.0, 63.8) while specificity was virtually identical (98.6%; 95% CI 95.8, 99.7). Within our sample, the optimal cut-point for the lung monitor was FEV1/FEV6 < 0.78, with sensitivity of 82.8% (95% CI 78.3%, 86.7%) and specificity of 85.0% (95% CI 79.4%, 89.6%). Test performance of the lung monitor was unaffected by bronchodilation. The lung monitor could be used in primary care without a bronchodilator using a simple ratio of FEV1/FEV6 as part of a screening pathway for COPD among patients reporting respiratory symptoms

Natural vs anthropogenic streams in Europe: History, ecology and implications for restoration, river-rewilding and riverine ecosystem services

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Elsevier via the DOI in this recordIn Europe and North America the prevailing model of “natural” lowland streams is incised-meandering channels with silt-clay floodplains, and this is the typical template for stream restoration. Using both published and new unpublished geological and historical data from Europe we critically review this model, show how it is inappropriate for the European context, and examine the implications for carbon sequestration and Riverine Ecosystem Services (RES) including river rewilding. This paper brings together for the first time, all the pertinent strands of evidence we now have on the long-term trajectories of floodplain system from sediment-based dating to sedaDNA. Floodplain chronostratigraphy shows that early Holocene streams were predominantly multi-channel (anabranching) systems, often choked with vegetation and relatively rarely single-channel actively meandering systems. Floodplains were either non-existent or limited to adjacent organic-filled palaeochannels, spring/valley mires and flushes. This applied to many, if not most, small to medium rivers but also major sections of the larger rivers such as the Thames, Seine, Rhône, Lower Rhine, Vistula and Danube. As shown by radiocarbon and optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating during the mid-late Holocene c. 4–2 ka BP, overbank silt-clay deposition transformed European floodplains, covering former wetlands and silting-up secondary channels. This was followed by direct intervention in the Medieval period incorporating weir and mill-based systems – part of a deep engagement with rivers and floodplains which is even reflected in river and floodplain settlement place names. The final transformation was the “industrialisation of channels” through hard-engineering – part of the Anthropocene great acceleration. The primary causative factor in transforming pristine floodplains was accelerated soil erosion caused by deforestation and arable farming, but with effective sediment delivery also reflecting climatic fluctuations. Later floodplain modifications built on these transformed floodplain topographies. So, unlike North America where channel-floodplain transformation was rapid, the transformation of European streams occurred over a much longer time-period with considerable spatial diversity regarding timing and kind of modification. This has had implications for the evolution of RES including reduced carbon sequestration over the past millennia. Due to the multi-faceted combination of catchment controls, ecological change and cultural legacy, it is impractical, if not impossible, to identify an originally natural condition and thus restore European rivers to their pre-transformation state (naturalisation). Nevertheless, attempts to restore to historical (pre-industrial) states allowing for natural floodplain processes can have both ecological and carbon offset benefits, as well as additional abiotic benefits such as flood attenuation and water quality improvements. This includes rewilding using beaver reintroduction which has overall positive benefits on river corridor ecology. New developments, particularly biomolecular methods offer the potential of unifying modern ecological monitoring with the reconstruction of past ecosystems and their trajectories. The sustainable restoration of rivers and floodplains designed to maximise desirable RES and natural capital must be predicated on the awareness that Anthropocene rivers are still largely imprisoned in the banks of their history and this requires acceptance of an increased complexity for the achievement and maintenance of desirable restoration goals.OSL dating from the Severn-Wye Basin was undertaken at the Geochronology Laboratories, University of Gloucestershire under grants from the EU Leader+ Programme (administered by English Heritage) and the Leverhulme Flood and Flow Project (RPG-2016-004)

The simulation of action disorganisation in complex activities of daily living

Action selection in everyday goal-directed tasks of moderate complexity is known to be subject to breakdown following extensive frontal brain injury. A model of action selection in such tasks is presented and used to explore three hypotheses concerning the origins of action disorganisation: that it is a consequence of reduced top-down excitation within a hierarchical action schema network coupled with increased bottom-up triggering of schemas from environmental sources, that it is a more general disturbance of schema activation modelled by excessive noise in the schema network, and that it results from a general disturbance of the triggering of schemas by object representations. Results suggest that the action disorganisation syndrome is best accounted for by a general disturbance to schema activation, while altering the balance between top-down and bottom-up activation provides an account of a related disorder - utilisation behaviour. It is further suggested that ideational apraxia (which may result from lesions to left temporoparietal areas and which has similar behavioural consequences to action disorganisation syndrome on tasks of moderate complexity) is a consequence of a generalised disturbance of the triggering of schemas by object representations. Several predictions regarding differences between action disorganisation syndrome and ideational apraxia that follow from this interpretation are detailed

Simultaneous Extraction of the Fermi constant and PMNS matrix elements in the presence of a fourth generation

Several recent studies performed on constraints of a fourth generation of quarks and leptons suffer from the ad-hoc assumption that 3 x 3 unitarity holds for the first three generations in the neutrino sector. Only under this assumption one is able to determine the Fermi constant G_F from the muon lifetime measurement with the claimed precision of G_F = 1.16637 (1) x 10^-5 GeV^-2. We study how well G_F can be extracted within the framework of four generations from leptonic and radiative mu and tau decays, as well as from K_l3 decays and leptonic decays of charged pions, and we discuss the role of lepton universality tests in this context. We emphasize that constraints on a fourth generation from quark and lepton flavour observables and from electroweak precision observables can only be obtained in a consistent way if these three sectors are considered simultaneously. In the combined fit to leptonic and radiative mu and tau decays, K_l3 decays and leptonic decays of charged pions we find a p-value of 2.6% for the fourth generation matrix element |U_{e 4}|=0 of the neutrino mixing matrix.Comment: 19 pages, 3 figures with 16 subfigures, references and text added refering to earlier related work, figures and text in discussion section added, results and conclusions unchange

Assessing the influence of one astronomy camp over 50 years

The International Astronomical Youth Camp has benefited thousands of lives during its 50-year history. We explore the pedagogy behind this success, review a survey taken by more than 300 previous participants, and discuss some of the challenges the camp faces in the future.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figure

Global analysis of ecological niche conservation and niche shift in exotic populations of monkeyflowers (Mimulus guttatus, M. luteus) and their hybrid (M. x robertsii)

Background Hybridisation associated with biological invasions may generate new phenotypic combinations, allowing hybrids to occupy new ecological niches. To date, few studies have assessed niche shifts associated with hybridisation in recently introduced populations while simultaneously characterising the niche of parental species in both native and introduced ranges. Aims Here, we compared (1) the ecological niche of a novel hybrid monkeyflower, M. × robertsii, with the niches of its two parental taxa (M. guttatus, M. luteus), and (2) the ecological niches of native (Americas) and introduced parental populations (Europe and New Zealand). Methods We assembled >13,000 geo-referenced occurrence records and eight environmental variables and conducted an ecological niche model analysis using maximum entropy, principal component and niche dynamics analysis. Results We found no evidence of niche shift in the hybrid, which may result in potential competition between parental and derived taxa in the introduced range. M. guttatus showed niche conservatism in introduced populations in Europe, but a niche shift in New Zealand, while M. luteus showed a niche shift in Europe. Conclusions The comparison of native and non-native populations of parental taxa, suggests that whether invasions result in niche shifts or not depends on both taxon and geographic region, highlighting the idiosyncratic nature of biological invasions

Unusual explosive growth of a squamous cell carcinoma of the scalp after electrical burn injury and subsequent coverage by sequential free flap vascular connection – a case report

BACKGROUND: Squamous cell carcinomos may arise from chronic ulcerating wounds in scars, most commonly postburn scars. Tumour growth usually takes place over months to years. Localization on the scalp is a relatively rare condition. CASE PRESENTATION: This report presents the case of a 63-year-old man with chronic ulceration of a postburn scar of the scalp due to an electrical burn 58 years ago. Sudden tumour growth started within weeks and on presentation already had extended through the skull into frontal cortex. After radical tumour resection, defect was covered with a free radial forearm flap. Local recurrence occurred 6 weeks later. Subsequent wide excision including discard of the flap and preservation of the radial vessels was followed by transfer of a free latissimus dorsi muscle flap, using the radial vessels of the first flap as recipient vessels. The patient received radiotherapy post-operatively. There were no problems with flap survivals or wound healing. Due to rapidly growing recurrence the patient died 2 months later. CONCLUSION: Explosive SCC tumour growth might occur in post-burn scars after more than 50 years. As a treatment option the use of sequential free flap connections might serve in repeated extensive tumour resections, especially in the scalp region, where suitable donor vessels are often located in distance to the defect

Athletic Cardiac Adaptation in Males Is a Consequence of Elevated Myocyte Mass.

Cardiac remodeling occurs in response to regular athletic training, and the degree of remodeling is associated with fitness. Understanding the myocardial structural changes in athlete's heart is important to develop tools that differentiate athletic from cardiomyopathic change. We hypothesized that athletic left ventricular hypertrophy is a consequence of increased myocardial cellular rather than extracellular mass as measured by cardiovascular magnetic resonance.Forty-five males (30 athletes and 15 sedentary age-matched healthy controls) underwent comprehensive cardiovascular magnetic resonance studies, including native and postcontrast T1 mapping for extracellular volume calculation. In addition, the 30 athletes performed a maximal exercise test to assess aerobic capacity and anaerobic threshold. Participants were grouped by athleticism: untrained, low performance, and high performance (O2max 60 mL/kg per min, respectively). In athletes, indexed cellular mass was greater in high- than low-performance athletes 60.7±7.5 versus 48.6±6.3 g/m(2); P<0.001), whereas extracellular mass was constant (16.3±2.2 versus 15.3±2.2 g/m(2); P=0.20). Indexed left ventricular end-diastolic volume and mass correlated with O2max (r=0.45, P=0.01; r=0.55, P=0.002) and differed significantly by group (P=0.01; P<0.001, respectively). Extracellular volume had an inverse correlation with O2max (r=-0.53, P=0.003 and left ventricular mass index (r=-0.44, P=0.02).Increasing left ventricular mass in athlete's heart occurs because of an expansion of the cellular compartment while the extracellular volume becomes relatively smaller: a difference which becomes more marked as left ventricular mass increases. Athletic remodeling, both on a macroscopic and cellular level, is associated with the degree of an individual's fitness. Cardiovascular magnetic resonance ECV quantification may have a future role in differentiating athlete's heart from change secondary to cardiomyopathy

Current research into brain barriers and the delivery of therapeutics for neurological diseases: a report on CNS barrier congress London, UK, 2017.

This is a report on the CNS barrier congress held in London, UK, March 22-23rd 2017 and sponsored by Kisaco Research Ltd. The two 1-day sessions were chaired by John Greenwood and Margareta Hammarlund-Udenaes, respectively, and each session ended with a discussion led by the chair. Speakers consisted of invited academic researchers studying the brain barriers in relation to neurological diseases and industry researchers studying new methods to deliver therapeutics to treat neurological diseases. We include here brief reports from the speakers