From educational poverty to academic success assessment. Concepts, indicators and tools validated at national level

The article discusses several models for contrasting educational poverty, demonstrating the need for actions aimed at increasing the resilience of disadvantaged children and adolescents. Different types of factors promoting resilience, on which a direct intervention of teachers and educators is possible, are identified. Subsequently, tools for evaluating these resilience factors at the individual as well as at the group-level are presented, describing their theoretical approach, their scope and their psychometric properties. For each presented indicator, the available information about gender differences and immigrant background differences is reporte

The Validation of a Scale Measuring Teaching Styles in the Italian Context

AbstractThe teaching style is important because it influences students’ school-related motivation, emotion, and performance. The main purpose of this study is to examine psychometric properties and construct validity of a short version of the Problems In School questionnaire (PIS). A multi-group confirmatory factor analysis (MCFA) is performed to test the scale theoretical structure and the metric invariance across teachers’ length of service. Results of MCFA are consistent with the hypothesized scale structure and show measurement invariance across different lengths of teaching service. The reliability of the scales in terms of internal consistency ranged from .61 to .69

Measuring Process-oriented Teaching

AbstractProcess-oriented teaching is generally recognized as a way to promote lifelong learning, which in turn is tied to a demand of modern society. The purpose of this study is to examine psychometric properties and construct validity of Process-Oriented Teaching Questionnaire. A multi-group confirmatory factor analysis (MCFA) is performed to test the scale theoretical structure and the metric invariance across teachers’ length of service. Results of MCFA are consistent with the hypothesized scale structure and show measurement invariance across different lengths of teaching service. The reliability of the scales in terms of internal consistency ranged from .81 to .87

Mapping and characterization of G-quadruplexes in Mycobacterium tuberculosis gene promoter regions

Mycobacterium tuberculosis is the causative agent of tuberculosis (TB), one of the top 10 causes of death worldwide in 2015. The recent emergence of strains resistant to all current drugs urges the development of compounds with new mechanisms of action. G-quadruplexes are nucleic acids secondary structures that may form in G-rich regions to epigenetically regulate cellular functions. Here we implemented a computational tool to scan the presence of putative G-quadruplex forming sequences in the genome of Mycobacterium tuberculosis and analyse their association to transcription start sites. We found that the most stable G-quadruplexes were in the promoter region of genes belonging to definite functional categories. Actual G-quadruplex folding of four selected sequences was assessed by biophysical and biomolecular techniques: all molecules formed stable G-quadruplexes, which were further stabilized by two G-quadruplex ligands. These compounds inhibited Mycobacterium tuberculosis growth with minimal inhibitory concentrations in the low micromolar range. These data support formation of Mycobacterium tuberculosis G-quadruplexes in vivo and their potential regulation of gene transcription, and prompt the use of G4 ligands to develop original antitubercular agents

Backdating systematic shell ornament making in Europe to 45,000 years ago.

Personal ornaments are commonly linked to the emergence of symbolic behavior. Although their presence in Africa dates back to the Middle Stone Age, evidence of ornament manufacturing in Eurasia are sporadically observed in Middle Palaeolithic contexts, and until now, large-scale diffusion has been well documented only since the Upper Palaeolithic. Nevertheless, little is known during the period between ca. 50,000 and 40,000 years ago (ka), when modern humans colonized Eurasia replacing existing hominin populations such as the Neandertals, and a variety of “transitional” and/or early Upper Palaeolithic cultures emerged. Here, we present shell ornaments from the Uluzzian site of Grotta del Cavallo in Italy, southern Europe. Our results show evidence of a local production of shell beads for ornamental purposes as well as a trend toward higher homogeneity in tusk bead shape and size over time. The temporal interval of the layers of interest (45–40 ka) makes Cavallo the earliest known shell ornament making context in Europe

Association of Variants in the SPTLC1 Gene With Juvenile Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis

Importance: Juvenile amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a rare form of ALS characterized by age of symptom onset less than 25 years and a variable presentation.Objective: To identify the genetic variants associated with juvenile ALS.Design, Setting, and Participants: In this multicenter family-based genetic study, trio whole-exome sequencing was performed to identify the disease-associated gene in a case series of unrelated patients diagnosed with juvenile ALS and severe growth retardation. The patients and their family members were enrolled at academic hospitals and a government research facility between March 1, 2016, and March 13, 2020, and were observed until October 1, 2020. Whole-exome sequencing was also performed in a series of patients with juvenile ALS. A total of 66 patients with juvenile ALS and 6258 adult patients with ALS participated in the study. Patients were selected for the study based on their diagnosis, and all eligible participants were enrolled in the study. None of the participants had a family history of neurological disorders, suggesting de novo variants as the underlying genetic mechanism.Main Outcomes and Measures: De novo variants present only in the index case and not in unaffected family members.Results: Trio whole-exome sequencing was performed in 3 patients diagnosed with juvenile ALS and their parents. An additional 63 patients with juvenile ALS and 6258 adult patients with ALS were subsequently screened for variants in the SPTLC1 gene. De novo variants in SPTLC1 (p.Ala20Ser in 2 patients and p.Ser331Tyr in 1 patient) were identified in 3 unrelated patients diagnosed with juvenile ALS and failure to thrive. A fourth variant (p.Leu39del) was identified in a patient with juvenile ALS where parental DNA was unavailable. Variants in this gene have been previously shown to be associated with autosomal-dominant hereditary sensory autonomic neuropathy, type 1A, by disrupting an essential enzyme complex in the sphingolipid synthesis pathway.Conclusions and Relevance: These data broaden the phenotype associated with SPTLC1 and suggest that patients presenting with juvenile ALS should be screened for variants in this gene.</p

MUSiC : a model-unspecific search for new physics in proton-proton collisions at root s=13TeV

Results of the Model Unspecific Search in CMS (MUSiC), using proton-proton collision data recorded at the LHC at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 35.9 fb(-1), are presented. The MUSiC analysis searches for anomalies that could be signatures of physics beyond the standard model. The analysis is based on the comparison of observed data with the standard model prediction, as determined from simulation, in several hundred final states and multiple kinematic distributions. Events containing at least one electron or muon are classified based on their final state topology, and an automated search algorithm surveys the observed data for deviations from the prediction. The sensitivity of the search is validated using multiple methods. No significant deviations from the predictions have been observed. For a wide range of final state topologies, agreement is found between the data and the standard model simulation. This analysis complements dedicated search analyses by significantly expanding the range of final states covered using a model independent approach with the largest data set to date to probe phase space regions beyond the reach of previous general searches.Peer reviewe

Measurement of prompt open-charm production cross sections in proton-proton collisions at root s=13 TeV

The production cross sections for prompt open-charm mesons in proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 13TeV are reported. The measurement is performed using a data sample collected by the CMS experiment corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 29 nb(-1). The differential production cross sections of the D*(+/-), D-+/-, and D-0 ((D) over bar (0)) mesons are presented in ranges of transverse momentum and pseudorapidity 4 < p(T) < 100 GeV and vertical bar eta vertical bar < 2.1, respectively. The results are compared to several theoretical calculations and to previous measurements.Peer reviewe

Search for new particles in events with energetic jets and large missing transverse momentum in proton-proton collisions at root s=13 TeV

A search is presented for new particles produced at the LHC in proton-proton collisions at root s = 13 TeV, using events with energetic jets and large missing transverse momentum. The analysis is based on a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 101 fb(-1), collected in 2017-2018 with the CMS detector. Machine learning techniques are used to define separate categories for events with narrow jets from initial-state radiation and events with large-radius jets consistent with a hadronic decay of a W or Z boson. A statistical combination is made with an earlier search based on a data sample of 36 fb(-1), collected in 2016. No significant excess of events is observed with respect to the standard model background expectation determined from control samples in data. The results are interpreted in terms of limits on the branching fraction of an invisible decay of the Higgs boson, as well as constraints on simplified models of dark matter, on first-generation scalar leptoquarks decaying to quarks and neutrinos, and on models with large extra dimensions. Several of the new limits, specifically for spin-1 dark matter mediators, pseudoscalar mediators, colored mediators, and leptoquarks, are the most restrictive to date.Peer reviewe