La metodología “Decoding the Disciplines” navega desde la Universidad de Indiana a las instituciones superiores europeas: Un paradigma para la formación del profesorado en pensamiento científico favorecido por ERASMUS +

Traducción de italiano a castellano de manuscrito original de S. Chistolini por C.G.Madonna

The birth of 'citizenship and constitution' in Italian schools : a new wall of competences or transition to intercultural education?

It seems to be impossible to study education and pedagogy without considering the question of competences and abilities which are the new ID for European and worldwide citizenship. Our discussion starts from an analytical point of view with the aim of examining the conditions of learning in Europe and the future of our systems of higher education. Are we able to communicate the values and traditions of our common historical and cultural heritage or are we facing ungovernable challenges? The era of competences finds fertile ground in a pragmatist mind, while the construction of European citizenship navigates in the waters of the great Mediterranean Sea, cradle of ancient civilisations. Italy could be an interesting example of how Citizenship and Constitution become part of the school curriculum, at all levels, taking the place of Civic Education and Intercultural Education in teaching-training programmes.peer-reviewe

Decoding the Disciplines in higher education institutions

[EN] Decoding the Disciplines is a methodology aimed to support teachers and students of University to tackle obstacles and difficulties in learning process. It is assumed that students come to classroom with different level of secondary school preparation and teachers are generally reinforcing the inequalities in principle deplored as form of injustice in our society. The question of giving tools that students need to succeed in our disciplines requires new strategies intend to make teaching effective in line with the development of the democratic vision of teaching. The methodology represents a dynamic sequence of steps based on the understanding of the content of discipline taught and learned. All disciplines are involved,  humanities as well as sciences. Under the Erasmus Plus Programme some European Universities are collecting relevant evidences  to understand what to teach about an academic discipline. Monitoring students' learning and motivation means to bring out the bottlenecks, which hinder the achievement of knowledge and slow down the learning process leading to failure. Presentation of initial results aims to share the benefits of this methodology able to guide students to master basic mental operations required in university courses. Decoding emerges as challenge and option for policy-makers of higher education.http://ocs.editorial.upv.es/index.php/HEAD/HEAD18Chistolini, S. (2018). Decoding the Disciplines in higher education institutions. Editorial Universitat Politècnica de València. 1-8. https://doi.org/10.4995/HEAD18.2018.8137OCS110198102

Prophylaxis for venous thromboembolic disease in pregnancy and the early postnatal period

Some women are at risk of forming blood clots in a deep vein during pregnancy, after a caesarean birth, or during the first few weeks after childbirth. If part of the clot breaks off and lodges in a blood vessel in the lungs, it can be life-threatening. Preventive treatments include blood-thinning drugs to prevent clots, support stockings, and exercise soon after the birth to keep circulation moving. However, some drugs might cause problems such as increased blood loss after the birth. Drugs used include heparin, low molecular weight heparin and aspirin. We included 16 randomised controlled studies in the review but only 13 trials with 1774 women contributed data for the outcomes of interest. We did not find enough evidence from the trials to be sure about the effects of these different preventive treatments.This means there is not enough evidence to show which are the best ways to prevent deep vein thrombosis (DVT) during or following pregnancy, or after a caesarean birth

International Survey in Eight Countries about Teachers and Teaching Profession

International Survey in Eight Countries about Teachers and Teaching Profession An international team of experts from Belgium, Italy, Poland, Slovakia, Turkey and the USA employed a questionnaire to identify the deontology of teachers from infant to secondary school in eight countries. The survey was implemented between 2004 and 2007. The socio-cultural concept of Verstehen (understanding) as described in the work of Max Weber, points to the clear significance of being a teacher at this time in history. Qualitative and quantitative analysis allow for an understanding that the teacher is exactly that, in any context. The ideal typology of the teacher is the result of training at a university level and working in the school system. Phenomenal differentiations characterise the various situations and broaden the perspective of the study, including an identification of the shared features of the profession. The strong, common core is the responsibility towards fellow teachers balanced out by a weak, yet common note of regret regarding the scant social prestige of being a teacher. There seems to be a lack of communication between the personal and social aspects involved in shaping the professional identity. The social image of teachers weighs heavily on their professional status due to the inevitable political implications it results in and the considerable effect on institutional behaviour. Teachers listen, but they are not heard; teachers are committed, but remain unrecognised; teachers evaluate, but are evaluated in turn. The issue of the social importance of the profession of teachers in our societies emerges as a crucial point in the perspective of educating young generations

Project-Based Learning Curiculum Promotes Executive Functioning Skills in Students

The proposed curriculum explores the executive functioning skills of a child and how a Project Based Learning (PBL) approach is a highly effective way to promote a student's Executive Functioning Skills. The purpose of this PBL curriculum is to show that it allows students to develop their executive functioning skills. The importance of implementing a PBL education is discussed, as well as effective PBL teaching approaches. These effective teaching approaches are directly connected with the Executive Functioning Skills. Executive Functioning Skills are defined and explained. Teachers who understand the Executive functioning skills of their students can more effectively teach their students. The proposed PBL curriculum allows students to create a restaurant, throughout the unit, the students will utilize all of their executive skills. After completing the PBL unit, the students will gain stronger executive skills and long-term retention of all of the content discussed. This curriculum focuses on knowledge of the real world, promotes critical thinking, and focuses on how the individual student learns. This curriculum satisfies several of the Common Core standards, Art standards, and the California History- Social Science Content Standards and allows students to collaborate, while enhancing their executive functioning skills.Includes bibliographical references (pages 41-44)California State University, Northridge. Department of Elementary Education

Brain tumor stem cell dancing

Background. Issues regarding cancer stem cell (CSC) movement are important in neu-rosphere biology as cell-cell or cell-environment interactions may have significant impacts on CSC differentiation and contribute to the heterogeneity of the neurosphere. Aims. Despite the growing body of literature data on the biology of brain tumor stem  cells, floating CSC-derived neurospheres have been scarcely characterized from a morphological and ultrastructural point of view. Results. Here we report a morphological and ultrastructural characterization performed  by  live  imaging  and  scanning  electron  microscopy.  Glioblastoma  multiforme  (GBM)  CSC-derived neurospheres are heterogeneous and are constituted by cells, morphologically different, capable of forming highly dynamic structures. These dynamic structures  are regulated by not serendipitous cell-cell interactions, and they synchronously pulsate  following a cyclic course made of “fast” and “slow” alternate phases. Autocrine/paracrine  non  canonical  Wnt  signalling  appears  to  be  correlated  with  the  association  status  of  neurospheres. Conclusions. The results obtained suggest that GBM CSCs can behave both as independents cells and as “social” cells, highly interactive with other members of its species,  giving rise to a sort of “multicellular organism”.   

Maria Montessori e Giuseppina Pizzigoni vestais na renovação pedagógica italiana

This article highlights two women important for pedagogy. María Montessori was a medical doctor who initially carried out research to alleviate the tensions generated by the poor sanitary conditions the children of this society experienced and under which they were educated through traditional strategies that had to be changed. Giuseppina Pizzigoni was a teacher who imagined a new school where children, the offspring of a brutally industrialized society, could be happy while learning. For both women the children’s education, being the task of adults, parents and teachers alike, should be carried out with responsibility and new methodologies they themselves constructed and proposed. For them, the future of humanity lies in the success of this task.El presente artículo destaca dos figuras femeninas de la pedagogía. Maria Montessori es una doctora en medicina que inicialmente realiza investigaciones para aliviar las tensiones generadas por las malas condiciones sanitarias en las que viven los niños de esta misma sociedad, y en las que deben educarse con estrategias tradicionales llamadas a cambiar. Giuseppina Pizzigoni es maestra y piensa en una nueva escuela en la que los niños, hijos de una sociedad brutalmente industrializada, estén felices de aprender. Para ambas, la formación de niños y niñas como labor de adultos, padres y maestros, debe forjarse con responsabilidad y nuevas metodologías que ellas mismas construyen y proponen. En el éxito de esa labor, consideran, se encuentra el futuro de la humanidad.Neste artigo distinguem-se dois ícones femininos da pedagogia. Maria Montessori, doutora em medicina quem inicialmente realizava pesquisa para aliviar as tenções geradas pelas más condições sanitárias nas que vivem as crianças desta mesma sociedade, e nas quais devem se educar com estratégias tradicionais convidadas a mudar. Giuseppina Pizzigoni, mestra que pensa numa nova escola na qual as crianças, filhos duma sociedade brutalmente industrializada, estiverem felizes de aprender.  Para as duas, a formação das crianças como ação dos adultos, padres e mestres, deve se forjar com responsabilidade e novas metodologias que elas mesmas constroem e propõem. No êxito dessa operação, consideram, acha-se o futuro da humanidade

A 3d geological model of the 1963 vajont landslide

The Vajont landslide has been the object of several studies because of its catastrophic consequences and particular evolution. Several qualitative or quantitative models have been presented in the last 50 years, but a complete explanation of all relevant geological and mechanical processes still remains elusive. In order to better understand the mechanics and dynamics of the 1963 event, we have reconstructed the first 3D geological model of the landslide, which allowed us to accurately investigate the landslide structure and kinematics. The input data for the model consisted in: pre- and post-landslide geological maps, pre- and post-landslide orthophotos, pre- and post-landslide digital elevation models, structural data, boreholes, and geophysical data. All these data have been integrated in a 3D geological model implemented in Gocad, using the implicit surface modelling method. Results of the 3D geological model include the depth and geometry of the sliding surface, the volume of the two lobes of the landslide accumulation, kinematics of the landslide in terms of the vector field of finite displacement, and high quality meshes useful for mechanical simulations. The latter can include information about the stratigraphy and internal structure of the rock masses and allow tracing the displacement of different material points in the landslide from the pre-1963-failure to the post-landslide state. As a general geological conclusion, we may say that the structural analysis and the 3D model allowed us to recognize very effectively a sliding surface, whose non-planar geometry is affected by the interference pattern of two regional-scale fold systems. The landslide is partitioned into two distinct and internally continuous rock masses with a distinct kinematics, which are characterised by a very limited internal deformation during the slide. The continuity of these two large blocks points to a very localized deformation, occurring along a thin, continuous and weak cataclastic horizon

Role of Genetic and Acquired Prothrombotic Risk Factors in Genesis of Sudden Sensorineural Hearing Loss.

The methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase C677T mutation, factor V G1691A (factor V Leiden) mutation, prothrombin G20210A mutation and 8 other laboratory values associated with increased thrombotic risk were analyzed in 40 patients with sudden sensorineural hearing loss (SSHL). The results were compared with those obtained from 120 controls not affected by SSHL. We found a statistically significant higher frequency of hyperhomocysteinemia in the SSHL group compared with controls, and that this was also associated with the presence of homozygosity for the MTHFR C677T mutation. The study results suggest that SSHL might be caused, among other factors, by a combination of these 2 variables. We suggest that this analysis of the MTHFR C677T mutation should be further investigated to establish the etiology of SSHL, and that the same analysis should be taken into account in those patients with high levels of homocysteine