Dissertation Presentation: Teacher Efficacy and Culturally Responsive Teaching Techniques

Teachers who believe in their ability to create meaningful learning experiences exert a powerful influence over the achievement of the students they come in contact with. Educators are currently being confronted with increasing numbers of minority students in their classrooms; in order to engage these students, issues of diversity need to be a central part of instruction. Using Villegas and Lucas\u27s (2002) six qualities that define a culturally responsive teacher and Ball\u27s (2009) process for preparing teachers to be effective in cul-turally diverse classrooms. We\u27ll examine theories and best practices, which can be used to create a safe classroom space for risk taking and learning for teachers and students

THE EFFECTS OF PERCEIVED QUALITY OF PERFORMANCE ON PRICE-VALUE, SATISFACTION, AND BEHAVIOURAL INTENTIONS BY GOLFERS\u27 RESIDENT TYPES

A model is developed that considers the effects of perceived quality of performance on price-value, satisfaction, and behavioural intentions. The model was tested using data from 3,235 surveys of golfers on Prince Edward Island, a golfing destination in Canada. Three golfer types were identified: tourists, permanent residents, and seasonal residents. An exploratory factor analysis was completed to develop five measures of perceived golf course quality. Three multiple regression models were then used to examine the relationships among the constructs. This appears to be the first study that models golfer behaviors and intentions by resident type. The results indicate a significant positive relationship between perceived quality and the feeling that value was received for the golf fee paid. The significant positive relationship was also observed between perceived quality, price-value, and satisfaction; and between perceived quality, pricevalue, satisfaction, and intentions to return to golf and to recommend the course. Overall, the results provide support for a causal relationship between the constructs. The study contributes to a better understanding of golfers’ perceptions and behavioural intentions by resident type

The Effects of Conditioning and Gender on Ratings of Perceived Exertion During Physical Exercise

The purpose of this investigation was to determine if gender played a factor in perception during physical exertion, and whether those perceptions were influenced by conditioning level. Sixteen male and sixteen female volunteer subjects, ranging in age from 21 to 35, constituted the sample for this study. The Bruce protocol for a Symptom­-Limited Graded Exercise test was the instrument utilized to evaluate heart rate during the maximal physical exercise program. A ventilatory analyzer measured each subject\u27s maximal oxygen consumption. Borg\u27s Rated Perceived Exertion Scale was employed for subjective evaluation of an individual\u27s perception of effort. The t-test compared mean scores of RPE during test 1 and test 2, and was utilized to determine significant difference. Analysis of variance and Scheffe post hoc tests were used to determine if there were differences between males and females, or between the conditioned and non­conditioned subjects. The Pearson product-moment was employed to determine correlation between heart rate and RPE values. It was hypothesized that there would be a significant RPE difference at the alpha value .05, between males and females, and between conditioning levels of those subjects

Neonatal intensive care parent satisfaction: a multicenter study translating and validating the Italian EMPATHIC-N questionnaire

Background: In Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICUs), parent satisfaction and their experiences are fundamental to assess clinical practice and improve the quality of care delivered to infants and parents. Recently, a specific instrument, the EMpowerment of PArents in THe Intensive Care-Neonatology (EMPATHIC-N), has been developed in the Netherlands. This instrument investigated different domains of care in NICUs from a family-centered care perspective. In Italy, no rigorous instruments are available to evaluate parent satisfaction and experiences in NICU with family-centered care. The aim of this study was to translate and validate the EMPATHIC-N instrument into Italian language measuring parent satisfaction. Methods: A psychometric study was conducted in nine Italian NICUs. The hospitals were allocated across Italy: four in the North, four in Central region, one in the South. Parents whose infants were discharged from the Units were enrolled. Parents whose infants died were excluded. Results: Back-forward translation was conducted. Twelve parents reviewed the instrument to assess the cultural adaptation; none of the items fell below the cut-off of 80% agreement. A total of 186 parents of infants who were discharged from nine NICUs were invited to participate and 162 parents responded and returned the questionnaire (87%). The mean scores of the individual items varied between 4.3 and 5.9. Confirmatory factor analysis was performed and all factor loadings were statistically significant with the exception of item ‘Our cultural background was taken into account’. The items related to overall satisfaction showed a higher trend with mean values of 5.8 and 5.9. The Cronbach’s alpha’s (at domain level 0.73-0.92) and corrected item-total scale correlations revealed high reliability estimates. Conclusions: The Italian EMPATHIC-N showed to be a valid and reliable instrument measuring parent satisfaction in NICUs from a family-centered care perspective. Indeed, it had good psychometric properties, validity, and reliability. Furthermore, this instrument is fundamental for further research and internationally benchmarking

Avocado and Flaxseed Oleogels: the prospect of a healthy saturated fat substitute

Oleogelation is a novel technique that represents the forming of liquid oils into a gel-like structure by entrapping the liquid phase into a thermo-reversible and three-dimensional gel network. There has been a great interest in Oleogelation in many areas like pharmaceutics, food, and cosmetics. Oleogels are used to reduce the saturated and trans fatty acids in foods, making them healthier. The consumption of saturated and trans fatty acids increases the risk of cardiovascular diseases (Pehlivanoglu, Demirci, Toker, 2017). Avocado oil is high in oleic monounsaturated fatty acids and substantial amounts of health beneficial phytochemicals, such as vitamins and phytosterols. Avocado oil is rich in omega fatty acids that are good for human health, especially in preventing cardiovascular diseases (Wang et al., 2018). Safflower oil (SFO) from the seeds of Carthamus tinctorius L (Yenice variety) is colorless and flavorless and rich in linoleic acid (about 76% of total fat, a polyunsaturated FA) (He M, Armentano LE. 2011). Waxes are the most efficient oleogelators because of their ability to start crystallization at lower concentrations, easy to find, and they are natural. According to the FDA, waxes have been proven to be a good oleogelator, are natural, and have been recognized to have GRAS (generally recognized as safe) status (FDA,2018). Many types of oils and waxes can be used. For a successful oleogel, it is essential to find the right oil binding capacity (Patel et al., 2014). Three types of waxes were utilized; rice bran wax (4 and 8%), and carnauba, and candelilla wax (3 and 6%). The wax can affect the taste and texture of the food. It is essential to find the right ratio of wax to oil because a higher amount of wax will result in a strong and brittle gel. Otherwise, a small amount of wax will not create a stable gel. The objective of this study was to find the minimum amount of waxes to add in avocado oil and flaxseed oil to produce a stable oleogels useful for the food industry. The stability of the oleogel was analyzed with Oil Binding Capacity (OBC) Method and the visualization method at two different conditions (room temperature and 35 ºC) during two different times (Day 1 and Day 7). The fatty acid composition of the oils was evaluated by gas chromatography (Florence et al., 2012). Candelilla wax has the most significant oil binding capacity, and it is also the most stable, even at higher temperatures. Carnauba wax is slightly stable but only with 8% wax. Rice bran wax was not stable at all with 3% wax at room and oven temperature. It had the lowest oil binding capacity out of all three waxes. Higher amounts of wax improve the oil binding capacity

Headache prevalence in the population of L’Aquila (Italy) after the 2009 earthquake

Stress induced by the events of daily life is considered a major factor in pathogenesis of primary tension-type headache. Little is known about the impact that could have a more stressful event, like a natural disaster, both in patients with chronic headache, both in people that do not had headache previously. The aim of the present study was to observe the prevalence of headache in the population following the devastating earthquake that affected the province of L’Aquila on April 6, 2009. The study population was conducted in four tent cities (Onna, Bazzano, Tempera-St. Biagio, Paganica). Sanitary access is recorded in the registers of medical triage, in the first 5 weeks, after the April 6, 2009. The prevalence of primary headache presentation was 5.53% (95% CI 4.2–7.1), secondary headache was 2.82% (95% CI 1.9–4.9). Pain intensity, assessed by Numerical Rating Scale score showed a mean value of 7 ± 1.1 (range 4–10). The drugs most used were the NSAIDs (46%) and paracetamol (36%), for impossibility of finding causal drugs. This study shows how more stressful events not only have an important role in determining acute exacerbation of chronic headache, but probably also play a pathogenic role in the emergence of primary headache. Also underlines the lack of diagnostic guidelines or operating protocols to early identify and treat headache in the emergency settings

The role of left and right hemispheres in the comprehension of idiomatic language: an electrical neuroimaging study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The specific role of the two cerebral hemispheres in processing idiomatic language is highly debated. While some studies show the involvement of the left inferior frontal gyrus (LIFG), other data support the crucial role of right-hemispheric regions, and particularly of the middle/superior temporal area. Time-course and neural bases of literal vs. idiomatic language processing were compared. Fifteen volunteers silently read 360 idiomatic and literal Italian sentences and decided whether they were semantically related or unrelated to a following target word, while their EEGs were recorded from 128 electrodes. Word length, abstractness and frequency of use, sentence comprehensibility, familiarity and cloze probability were matched across classes.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Participants responded more quickly to literal than to idiomatic sentences, probably indicating a difference in task difficulty. Occipito/temporal N2 component had a greater amplitude in response to idioms between 250-300 ms. Related swLORETA source reconstruction revealed a difference in the activation of the left fusiform gyrus (FG, BA19) and medial frontal gyri for the contrast idiomatic-minus-literal. Centroparietal N400 was much larger to idiomatic than to literal phrases (360-550 ms). The intra-cortical generators of this effect included the left and right FG, the left cingulate gyrus, the right limbic area, the right MTG (BA21) and the left middle frontal gyrus (BA46). Finally, an anterior late positivity (600-800 ms) was larger to idiomatic than literal phrases. ERPs also showed a larger right centro-parietal N400 to associated than non-associated targets (not differing as a function of sentence type), and a greater right frontal P600 to idiomatic than literal associated targets.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The data indicate bilateral involvement of both hemispheres in idiom comprehension, including the right MTG after 350 ms and the right medial frontal gyrus in the time windows 270-300 and 500-780 ms. In addition, the activation of left and right limbic regions (400-450 ms) suggests that they have a role in the emotional connotation of colourful idiomatic language. The data support the view that there is direct access to the idiomatic meaning of figurative language, not dependent on the suppression of its literal meaning, for which the LIFG was previously thought to be responsible.</p

A follow-up study of heroin addicts (VEdeTTE2): study design and protocol

BACKGROUND: In Italy, a large cohort study (VEdeTTE1) was conducted between 1998–2001 to evaluate the effectiveness of treatments in reducing mortality and increasing treatment retention among heroin addicts. The follow-up of this cohort (VEdeTTE2) was designed to evaluate the effectiveness of treatments on long-term outcomes, such as rehabilitation and social re-integration. The purpose of this paper is to describe the protocol of the VEdeTTE2 study, and to present the results of the pilot study carried out to assess the feasibility of the study and to improve study procedures. METHODS: The source population for the VEdeTTE2 study was the VEdeTTE1 cohort, from which a sample of 2,200 patients, traced two or more years after enrolment in the cohort, were asked to participate. An interview investigates drug use; overdose; family and social re-integration. Illegal activity are investigated separately in a questionnaire completed by the patient. Patients are also asked to provide a hair sample to test for heroin and cocaine use. Information on treatments and HIV, HBV and HCV morbidity are obtained from clinical records. A pilot phase was planned and carried out on 60 patients. RESULTS: The results of the pilot phase pointed out the validity of the procedures designed to limit attrition: the number of traced subjects was satisfactory (88%). Moreover, the pilot phase was very useful in identifying possible causes of delays and attrition, and flaws in the instruments. Improvements to the procedures and the instruments were subsequently implemented. Sensitivity of the biological test was quite good for heroin (78%) but lower for cocaine (42.3%), highlighting the need to obtain a hair sample from all patients. CONCLUSION: In drug addiction research, studies investigating health status and social re-integration of subjects at long-term follow-up are lacking. The VEdeTTE2 study aims to investigate these outcomes at long-term follow-up. Results of the pilot phase underline the importance of the pilot phase when planning a follow-up study