Miracles, monsters and disturbances

The chapter Miracles, Monsters and Disturbances presents new ways in which educators, scientists and designers can collaborate together to explore the role of creativity in education both within and outside the curriculum

Exploring the role of motivational interviewing in adolescent patient-provider communication about type 1 diabetes

Type 1 diabetes (T1D) is one of the most common pediatric chronic illnesses. Glycemic control among patients with T1D often deteriorates during adolescence; yet little is known about the most effective way for providers to communicate with adolescents to prevent this decline. Given the importance of effective communication, examination of effective patient-provider communication strategies is needed. The current investigation used Motivational Interviewing (MI) as a framework to help characterize naturally-occurring adolescent patient-provider communication in medical encounters and examined the relations between provider communication and T1D self-management and control. Participants were five pediatric endocrine providers and 55 adolescents with T1D (49% female; 76% White; M age= 14.8 years, SD= 1.6). Mean T1D duration was 7.9 years (SD= 3.9) and mean baseline HbA1c was 8.58% (SD= 1.4). Adolescents and caregivers completed surveys related to diabetes self-management and psychosocial functioning at a routine endocrinology visit and again at one and three months post-baseline. Medical encounters were audio-recorded and coded. HbA1c was obtained via medical chart review at baseline, three, and six month appointments. Hierarchical multiple regressions revealed that, after controlling for prior MI training (providers) and adolescent baseline HbA1c, age, and race, use of MI non-adherent behavior (e.g., confronting, persuading) was associated with 1) poorer three month HbA1c, F(5,45)= 11.19, p \u3c .001; R2 = .554 and 2) worse adolescent diabetes adherence, F(5, 46)= 9.86, p \u3c .001; R2= .517. MI non-adherent behavior emerged as a significant predictor in each model, t(45)= 2.13,p = .038, β = .242 and t(46) = -2.39, p= .021, β= -.300, respectively. A mediation analysis determined that patient self-efficacy for diabetes self-management mediated the relation between the use of these MI non-adherent behaviors and lower diabetes adherence. In TalkT1me, providers’ overreliance on persuasion and confronting adolescents about the risks of non-adherence was paradoxically associated with poorer glycemic control and adherence. Certain communication techniques that are inconsistent with MI, like confronting or persuading, appear to have a negative impact on diabetes self-care and HbA1c. Results from this evaluation of naturally occurring communication can help guide targeted training efforts to enhance communication and improve diabetes self-care with these vulnerable patients

I CONSORZI TRA PMI COME STRUMENTO DI RECUPERO DI COMPETITIVITA': L'ESPERIENZA DEL SETTORE AUTOTRASPORTO MERCI

Una particolare forma aggregativa che vede come principali protagoniste le piccole e medie imprese, alla ricerca di un espediente per superare i limiti legati alla minore dimensione, è il consorzio. I consorzi tra imprese rappresentano una realtà, particolarmente diffusa nel nostro Paese, di struttura reticolare nella quale numerose aziende convergono al fine di svolgere assieme una coordinazione parziale. Una realtà che si addice fortemente al tema della massiccia presenza delle micro e delle piccole imprese nel tessuto produttivo italiano e della loro tendenza ad associarsi, in particolare in consorzi, è il settore dell’autotrasporto merci; settore che registra una presenza quasi "imbarazzante" di microimprese. Questa realtà di estrema frammentazione è all’origine di una situazione di concorrenza esasperata che impoverisce progressivamente l’intero settore e pone il singolo autotrasportatore in una posizione di forte subordinazione rispetto alla committenza. Nel nostro Paese, come del resto anche in altri Paesi europei in cui il settore ha le stesse caratteristiche, l’unica soluzione per porre rimedio a questa situazione di debolezza contrattuale consiste appunto nel dar vita a forme di aggregazione e di raggruppamento tra le imprese che attribuisca loro, in quanto aggregati tra una molteplicità di autotrasportatori, una diversa fisionomia organizzativa. Un significativo esempio di consorzio tra microimprese di autotrasporto, in Toscana, è il consorzio CON.TR.AR., tra i cui soci compare un'azienda in grado di riprodurre tutte le caratteristiche tipiche di una microimpresa:la ditta ARCA AUTOTRASPORTI

Study of the Evolutionary Role of Nitric Oxide (NO) in the Cephalochordate Amphioxus, “<i>Branchiostoma lanceolatum</i>”

Nitric Oxide (NO) is a gaseous molecule that acts in a wide range of biological processes. NO can be produced by enzymatic and non-enzymatic pathways and, in this scenario, the enzyme Nitric Oxide Synthase (NOS) has a great importance for its exclusive role in de novo synthesis of NO. In the present study, the role of the NO in the embryonic development was investigated in the cephalochordate Branchiostoma lanceolatum (amphioxus) with the purpose of acquiring further knowledge on the ancestral role of animal Nos and the acquisition of new NO functions during evolution. Amphioxus has three different Nos genes (NosA, NosB and NosC) that are not orthologues of the three Nos of mammals (NosI, NosII and NosIII) deriving from an independent duplication occurred in the common ancestor of cephalochordates. The three amphioxus Nos genes showed a different temporal and spatial expression during development and a different susceptibility to be induced after immune stimulation. The study of the promoter regions of these genes can be very useful to identify possible diversities in regulation that can lead those peculiar expression features. In amphioxus larva, NO was mainly detected in the developing nervous system and in the pharyngeal area, before and after the mouth opening. The inhibition of NOS activity, and as consequence the enzymatic NO production, during amphioxus neurulation, resulted in the alteration of pharyngeal structures formation in the larvae, in particular opening of the mouth resulted compromised. Moreover, an alteration in larva locomotion was observed. Further studies will be necessary to reveal the exactly molecular mechanisms and the pathways in which II NO acts for establishment of the pharyngeal structures and the neuromuscular junctions early in development. For this purpose, a differential transcriptomic analysis of NOS-inhibited embryos was performed but the results are still very preliminary

On the statistical description of the inbound air traffic over Heathrow airport

We present a model to describe the inbound air traffic over a congested hub. We show that this model gives a very accurate description of the traffic by the comparison of our theoretical distribution of the queue with the actual distribution observed over Heathrow airport. We discuss also the robustness of our model

Investigating Professional Development Models that Assist Teachers in Developing High Quality Teaching Skills: An Action Research Study

Teacher effectiveness and collective efficacy are the leading factors in predicting student achievement (Donohoo, 2016; Eells, 2011; Hattie, 2012; Marzano, 2003; Stronge, Grant, & Xu, 2015; Wright, Horn, and Sanders 1997). as students in the United States continue to be out-performed by other nations, schools are charged with investigating ways to strengthen teacher effectiveness and increase the sense of collective efficacy amongst a school staff. This action research study investigated the effects on teacher reflection, teacher pedagogy, and collective efficacy after implementing three different types of peer observation models. Action research was purposefully chosen as the methodology for this study because of the vested interest in the outcomes by all those involved. Teachers were organized by grade level and randomly assigned to one of three intervention groups: lesson study, teaching and learning tours, and instructional rounds. Over a 12-week period of time, teachers engaged in their assigned type of peer observation a total of four times. Qualitative and quantitative data was collected consisting of pre- and post- Collective Efficacy Scales (CE-SCALE), semi-structured focus group interviews, and pre- and post- teacher observations using the Balanced Literacy Form. Findings supported that when teachers engaged in the different peer observation models, they were able to engage in deep reflection about their teaching and improve their pedagogy. There was no change in pre- and post- collective efficacy scores. This study hopes to inspire other groups of practitioners to use the action research process to identify problems that impact their personal learning environments, collect data, and use that data to determine a course for improvement

Association of Family Structure and Glycemic Control in Adolescents with Type 1 Diabetes: Risk and Protective Factors

Youth with type 1 diabetes (T1D) from single-parent families are more likely to be in poorer glycemic control (HbA1c). Demographic trends indicate more households are composed of unmarried adults and fewer youths. Family density, or a youth: adult ratio, may be a more salient factor than single-parent status in the association with glycemic control. Data from 257 adolescents aged 11-14 years (M = 12.84) at two different sites were collected as part of a randomized control trial of a treatment intervention designed to increase parent involvement and prevent deterioration of adolescent diabetes disease care. Single-parent status was determined by parental report of a sole caregiving adult in a youth’s household. A family density ratio was calculated via parental report of the number of youths to adults in a home. A youth: adult ratio greater than two was considered “high family density” (Liaw & Brooks-Gun, 1994). Diabetes-related risk and protective factors of parental monitoring, youth adherence to disease care behaviors, parental stress, and diabetes-related conflict were measured using parent and youth report questionnaires. Glycemic control was determined via a DCA2000 analyzer with results abstracted from medical chart review. Consistent with the literature, single-parent status was correlated with higher HbA1c (r = .19, p = .01) or poorer glycemic control. Similarly, higher family density also was related to higher HbA1c (r = .32, p \u3c .001). An overall multiple regression model including family structure constructs (single-parent status and density), socioeconomic status, and ethnicity accounted for 18% of the variance in glycemic control. However, family density, β = .22, and SES, β = -.29, were the only significant correlates of glycemic control in the model when considered simultaneously with single-parent status and ethnicity. Although single-parent families have youths in poorer metabolic control, higher family density appears to be a more potent correlate of youth glycemic control perhaps because it might be a more sensitive indicator of available parental time and resources. Family density is significantly related to poorer adherence and greater diabetes-related conflict. Further, poorer adherence and more diabetes-related conflict partially explained the relation between high family density and poorer glycemic control. Family density appears to be an important family structure factor for adolescents with T1D and the identification of risk factors for poorer glycemic control has both clinical and research implications

The effect of mergers and acquisitions on the wealth, risk, and efficiency of Latin American banks

Over the last few years, mergers and acquisitions within Latin America\u27s banking sector have significantly increased. From 1995 to 2003, Latin American countries experienced more than one thousand bank merger and acquisition deals. The majority of these mergers and acquisitions have occurred between domestic and foreign banks and, as a result, foreign banks now control more than fifty percent of the banking assets of Latin America\u27s largest economies. In addition to the increased presence of foreign banks in Latin America, the process of mergers and acquisitions has reduced the number of banks in most Latin American countries and this has lead to increased competition. In the literature, it is recognized that the bank merger and acquisition process that has evolved in Latin America is distinct from the process that occurred in developed countries. First, bank mergers and acquisitions in Latin America have occurred mostly amongst domestic (Latin American) and foreign (US and European) banks, while in developed countries they have occurred mainly amongst the country\u27s domestic banks. Second, the Latin American bank merger and acquisition process was primarily motivated by the need to avoid further financial crisis, while in the developed countries it was motivated by the need to reduce excess capacity. Lastly, in Latin America, government authorities initiated the merger and acquisition process, while in developed countries the process was market driven. However, not much else is known regarding the effect of bank mergers and acquisitions in Latin America. As such, overall the objective of this study is to examine whether Latin American bank mergers and acquisitions are beneficial or not to Latin America. Specifically, this study contributes to the literature in three important aspects. First, this study presents evidence on the effect of Latin American bank mergers and acquisitions on shareholders\u27 wealth. Second, it provides evidence on the effect of bank mergers and acquisitions on the risk of Latin American banks. Lastly, it provides evidence on the effect of bank mergers and acquisitions on the efficiency of Latin America banks. The empirical analyses generated important findings regarding the effect of mergers and acquisitions on the wealth, risk, and efficiency of Latin American banks. First, the findings suggest that bank mergers and acquisitions lead to increased shareholder wealth in Latin America. The findings also show that large bank mergers do not yield greater wealth than small bank mergers but that cross-border bank mergers do create greater wealth than domestic bank mergers. Second, Latin American banks did not experience significant changes in risk due to mergers and acquisitions. The findings also reveal that neither large or small bank mergers nor cross-border or domestic bank mergers affect the risks of Latin American banks. Third, the results indicate that bank mergers and acquisitions increase the efficiency of Latin American banks. The results also indicate that large bank mergers are more efficient than small bank mergers and that cross-border bank mergers are not more efficient than domestic bank mergers

Probabilistic approach to provide scenarios of earthquake-induced slope failures (PARSIFAL) applied to the Alcoy Basin (South Spain)

The PARSIFAL (Probabilistic Approach to pRovide Scenarios of earthquake-Induced slope FAiLures) approach was applied in the basin of Alcoy (Alicante, South Spain), to provide a comprehensive scenario of earthquake-induced landslides. The basin of Alcoy is well known for several historical landslides, mainly represented by earth-slides, that involve urban settlement as well as infrastructures (i.e., roads, bridges). The PARSIFAL overcomes several limits existing in other approaches, allowing the concomitant analyses of: (i) first-time landslides (due to both rock-slope failures and shallow earth-slides) and reactivations of existing landslides; (ii) slope stability analyses of different failure mechanisms; (iii) comprehensive mapping of earthquake-induced landslide scenarios in terms of exceedance probability of critical threshold values of co-seismic displacements. Geotechnical data were used to constrain the slope stability analysis, while specific field surveys were carried out to measure jointing and strength conditions of rock masses and to inventory already existing landslides. GIS-based susceptibility analyses were performed to assess the proneness to shallow earth-slides as well as to verify kinematic compatibility to planar or wedge rock-slides and to topples. The experienced application of PARSIFAL to the Alcoy basin: (i) confirms the suitability of the approach at a municipality scale, (ii) outputs the main role of saturation in conditioning slope instabilities in this case study, (iii) demonstrates the reliability of the obtained results respect to the historical dat