Formación: Camino elegido (Opción y propuesta) para el crecimiento personal y vocacional

La formación como proceso dirigido al desarrollo integral del individuo tanto en términos de personalidad psicológica como en términos profesionales se propone como objetivo el desarrollo global de las potencialidades y el aumento de las capacidades psíquicas, refiriéndose a la esfera emocional y a las actitudes del hombre. El análisis detallado de los procesos formativos incide también en los diversos aspectos que permitirán al individuo mejorar las capacidades laborales en las personas, en los valores y dimensiones éticas y de responsabilidad social; con referencia específica a la formación para el trabajo social en función de la mejora de las organizaciones y los servicios. Se considera necesario fomentar una cultura de formación que haga posible la adopción de nuevas actitudes, comportamientos y competencias de la mano, de la mente y del corazón, apuntando a la elevación de la naturaleza humana

A cost-effectiveness analysis of seminatural wetlands and activated sludge wastewater-treatment systems

A cost-effectiveness analysis was performed to evaluate the competitiveness of seminatural Free Water Surface wetland (FWS) compared to traditional wastewater- treatment plants. Six scenarios of the service costs of three FWS wetlands and three different wastewater-treatment plants based on active sludge processes were compared. The six scenarios were all equally effective in their wastewater-treatment capacity. The service costs were estimated using real accounting data from an experimental wetland and by means of a market survey. Some assumptions had to be made to perform the analysis. A reference wastewater situation was established to solve the problem of the different levels of dilution that characterize the inflow water of the different systems; the land purchase cost was excluded from the analysis, considering the use of public land as shared social services, and an equal life span for both seminatural and traditional wastewater-treatment plants was set. The results suggest that seminatural systems are competitive with traditional biotechnological systems, with an average service cost improvement of 2.1-fold to 8- fold, according to the specific solution and discount rate. The main improvement factor was the lower maintenance cost of the seminatural systems, due to the self-regulating, low artificial energy inputs and the absence of waste to be disposed. In this work, only the waste-treatment capacity of wetlands was considered as a parameter for the economic competitiveness analysis. Other goods/services and environmental benefits provided by FWS wetlands were not considered

A cost-effectiveness analysis of seminatural wetlands and activated sludge wastewater-treatment systems

A cost-effectiveness analysis was performed to evaluate the competitiveness of seminatural Free Water Surface wetland (FWS) compared to traditional wastewater- treatment plants. Six scenarios of the service costs of three FWS wetlands and three different wastewater-treatment plants based on active sludge processes were compared. The six scenarios were all equally effective in their wastewater-treatment capacity. The service costs were estimated using real accounting data from an experimental wetland and by means of a market survey. Some assumptions had to be made to perform the analysis. A reference wastewater situation was established to solve the problem of the different levels of dilution that characterize the inflow water of the different systems; the land purchase cost was excluded from the analysis, considering the use of public land as shared social services, and an equal life span for both seminatural and traditional wastewater-treatment plants was set. The results suggest that seminatural systems are competitive with traditional biotechnological systems, with an average service cost improvement of 2.1-fold to 8- fold, according to the specific solution and discount rate. The main improvement factor was the lower maintenance cost of the seminatural systems, due to the self-regulating, low artificial energy inputs and the absence of waste to be disposed. In this work, only the waste-treatment capacity of wetlands was considered as a parameter for the economic competitiveness analysis. Other goods/services and environmental benefits provided by FWS wetlands were not considered

Determination of Mycotoxins in Plant-Based Meat Alternatives (PBMAs) and Ingredients after Microwave Cooking

In this study, we investigate the role of microwave cooking in reducing mycotoxin contamination in plant-based food matrices, with a focus on veggie burgers (purchased and home-made) and their ingredients (soybean, potatoes, zucchini, carrots). Two different conditions were studied (Max–Min) that were 800 W for 60 s and 800 W for 90 s, respectively. The degradation patterns of aflatoxins (AFB1, AFB2, AFG1, AFG2), fumonisins (FB1, FB2, FB3), trichothecenes (T2, HT2, ZEA), and ochratoxin A (OTA) were studied. The extraction procedures were conducted with the QuEChERS extraction, and the analyses were conducted with liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). Principal component analysis (PCA) showed that degradation under microwave cooking varies considerably across different food matrices and cooking conditions. This study provides valuable insights into the degradation of mycotoxins during microwave cooking and underscores the need for more research in this area to ensure food safety

Modeling macroalgal forest distribution at Mediterranean scale : present status, drivers of changes and insights for conservation and management

Macroalgal forests are one of the most productive and valuable marine ecosystems, but yet strongly exposed to fragmentation and loss. Detailed large-scale information on their distribution is largely lacking, hindering conservation initiatives. In this study, a systematic effort to combine spatial data on Cystoseira C. Agardh canopies (Fucales, Phaeophyta) was carried out to develop a Habitat Suitability Model (HSM) at Mediterranean scale, providing critical tools to improve site prioritization for their management, restoration and protection. A georeferenced database on the occurrence of 20 Cystoseira species was produced collecting all the available information from published and grey literature, web data portals and co-authors personal data. Data were associated to 55 predictor variable layers in the (ASCII) raster format and were used in order to develop the HSM by means of a Random Forest, a very effective Machine Learning technique. Knowledge about the distribution of Cystoseira canopies was available for about the 14% of the Mediterranean coastline. Absence data were available only for the 2% of the basin. Despite these gaps, our HSM showed high accuracy levels in reproducing Cystoseira distribution so that the first continuous maps of the habitat across the entire basin was produced. Misclassification errors mainly occurred in the eastern and southern part of the basin, where large gaps of knowledge emerged. The most relevant drivers were the geomorphological ones, followed by anthropogenic variables proxies of pollution and urbanization. Our model shows the importance of data sharing to combine a large number of spatial and environmental data, allowing to individuate areas with high probability of Cystoseira occurrence as suitable for its presence. This approach encourages the use of this modeling tool for the prediction of Cystoseira distribution and for supporting and planning conservation and management initiatives. The step forward is to refine the spatial information of presence-absence data about Cystoseira canopies and of environmental predictors in order to address species-specific assessments.peer-reviewe

Disposable Platform Provides Visual and Color-Based Point-of-Care Anemia Self-Testing

Anemia, or low blood hemoglobin (Hgb) levels, afflicts 2 billion people worldwide. Currently, Hgb levels are typically measured from blood samples using hematology analyzers, which are housed in hospitals, clinics, or commercial laboratories and require skilled technicians to operate. A reliable, inexpensive point-of-care (POC) Hgb test would enable cost-effective anemia screening and chronically anemic patients to self-monitor their disease. We present a rapid, standalone, and disposable POC anemia test that, via a single drop of blood, outputs color-based visual results that correlate with Hgb levels. METHODS. We tested blood from 238 pediatric and adult patients with anemia of varying degrees and etiologies and compared hematology analyzer Hgb levels with POC Hgb levels, which were estimated via visual interpretation using a color scale and an optional smartphone app for automated analysis. RESULTS. POC Hgb levels correlated with hematology analyzer Hgb levels (r = 0.864 and r = 0.856 for visual interpretation and smartphone app, respectively), and both POC test methods yielded comparable sensitivity and specificity for detecting any anemia (n = 178) (/dl) (sensitivity: 90.2% and 91.1%, specificity: 83.7% and 79.2%, respectively) and severe anemia (n = 10) (/dl) (sensitivity: 90.0% and 100%, specificity: 94.6% and 93.9%, respectively). CONCLUSIONS. These results demonstrate the feasibility of this POC color-based diagnostic test for self-screening/self-monitoring of anemia. TRIAL REGISTRATION. Not applicable. FUNDING. This work was funded by the FDA-funded Atlantic Pediatric Device Consortium, the Georgia Research Alliance, Children\u27s Healthcare of Atlanta, the Georgia Center of Innovation for Manufacturing, and the InVenture Prize and Ideas to Serve competitions at the Georgia Institute of Technology

Timing of initiation of oral anticoagulants in patients with acute ischemic stroke and atrial fibrillation comparing posterior and anterior circulation strokes

Background: The aim of this study in patients with acute posterior ischemic stroke (PS) and atrial fibrillation (AF) were to evaluate the risks of recurrent ischemic event and severe bleeding and these risks in relation with oral anticoagulant therapy (OAT) and its timing. Methods: Patients with PS were prospectively included; the outcome events of these patients were compared with those of patients with anterior stroke (AS) which were taken from previous registries. The primary outcome was the composite of: stroke recurrence, TIA, symptomatic systemic embolism, symptomatic cerebral bleeding and major extracranial bleeding occurring within 90 days from acute stroke. Results: A total of 2,470 patients were available for the analysis: 473 (19.1%) with PS and 1,997 (80.9%) AS. Over 90 days, 213 (8.6%) primary outcome events were recorded: 175 (8.7%) in patients with AS and 38 (8.0%) in those with PS. In patients who initiated OAT within 2 days, the primary outcome occurred in 5 out of 95 patients (5.3%) with PS compared to 21 out of 373 patients (4.3%) with AS (OR 1.07; 95% CI 0.39-2.94). In patients who initiated OAT between days 3 and 7, the primary outcome occurred in 3 out of 103 patients (2.9%) with PS compared to 26 out of 490 patients (5.3%) with AS (OR 0.54; 95% CI 0.16-1.80). Conclusions: Patients with posterior or anterior stroke and AF appear to have similar risks of ischemic or hemorrhagic events at 90 days with no difference concerning the timing of initiation of OAT

First Record Of Aplysia Dactylomela Rang, 1828 (Heterobranchia, Aplysiidae) from Pianosa Island (northern Tyrrhenian Sea)

The non-indigenous spotted sea hare Aplysia dactylomela Rang, 1828, entered the Mediterranean Sea from the Atlantic, is recorded for the first time from shallow coastal waters of Pianosa Island in 2015. This record can be considered the first occurrence in the northern Tyrrhenian Sea. One specimen of A. dactylomela was photographed while was feeding on a rock bottom mainly covered with red algae

Citizen science: a successful tool for monitoring biodiversity in Marine Protected Areas

In the last few decades, anthopogenic activities, introduction of Non-Indigenous Species (NIS, i.e. organisms introduced outside of their natural range), and climate changes, have significantly affected Mediterranean marine biodiversity and ecosystem functioning (Coll et al., 2010). All that is also true for Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), whose major aim is biodiversity conservation. Therefore, monitoring and surveillance plans are strongly needed, and the creation of public awareness campaigns might be effective tool to plan effective management and conservation strategies in MPAs. Since intensive monitoring programs could be very expensive, citizen science, the involvement of citizens in science (including conservation, natural resource and environment), could be a useful tool for gathering data in monitoring plan that would otherwise be impossible to collect because of limitations on time and resources (Tulloch et al., 2013). Therefore, citizen science may have management, awareness, education and scientific implications. We report the experience of two citizen science projects carried out in MPAs. Precisely, the project “Blue Paths” and the project “Caulerpa cylindracea – Egadi Islands”. “Blue Paths”, promoted and ideated by the Unified School District ISA 2 “2 Giugno” of La Spezia, with the partnership of Marine Parks and Research Centers (CNR-ISMAR and DLTM) aimed at: 1) monitoring the coastal flora and fauna in selected MPAs within the Ligurian and Tyrrhenian Sea, and 2) promoting a scientific literacy in marine science through the direct involvement of citizens. Researchers, teachers and volunteers worked together to help school students in the identification of the organisms collected during visual census activities. In addition to the high educational value (Mioni et al., 2016), the project had significant scientific fallouts. In particular, a 5 years campaign (May 2014-May 2018) carried out at Pianosa Island, in the National Park of Tuscan Archipelago, allowed to record both time series of data and the presence of the NIS Aplysia dactylomela, a yellowish-brownish opistobranch with black rings that make it easily identifiable (Mioni et al., 2018). The project “Caulerpa cylindracea – Egadi Islands”, sponsored by the STEBICEF Department of the University of Palermo and by the Egadi Islands MPA, aimed at monitoring the spread dynamics of the “sea grape” C. cylindracea within the Egadi Islands MPA. The project, registering 156 sightings, allowed to gather information on the behaviour strategies of this alga but also on other NIS (Mannino, Balistreri, 2018). It also allowed to highlight as the presence of C. cylindracea, favoured the settlement of another NIS, the tube-building sabellid Branchiomma bairdi. In June 2017, another citizen science project “Aliens in the sea”, also sponsored by the STEBICEF Department and aiming at collecting data on 19 marine NIS (vegetal and animal) along the Sicilian coasts, was launched. Citizen science is a rigorous process, indistinguishable from conventional science apart from the participation of volunteers. When properly designed, carried out, and evaluated, citizen science can efficiently generate high-quality data, and help solve problems

La percezione soggettiva del tempo. Ricerca applicata alla pedagogia del lavoro

Il tempo scandito dalle lancette dell’orologio, il cosiddetto “tempo oggettivo” è profondamente differente da quello percepito dall’individuo. Partendo da questa prima ipotesi, direttamente connessa con la modalità soggettiva di “vivere” il tempo, definita orizzonte temporale, si cercherà di capire quanto essa influisca sui diversi ambiti della vita delle persone, sui loro atteggiamenti e sui loro vissuti. In seconda battuta, la ricerca indaga se ogni nostra decisione può essere influenzata, al di là della nostra consapevolezza, da una o più prospettive temporali, ossia dal processo che ci permette di organizzare le nostre esperienze e i nostri vissuti in categorie temporali. Non ultimo ci occuperemo di capire se alcuni determinati orizzonti temporali in contesti specifici siano maggiormente funzionali e adattavi rispetto ad altri