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Educational systems play a pivotal role to prevent social exclusion and discrimination and to promote equity, mutual understanding and respect. Teachers, in particular, are required to take an active stand in supporting social inclusion, adapting their practices and developing new skills to successfully deal with the increasingly diverse range of learners in their classrooms. Therefore, enhancing teachers’ intercultural skills and competencies represents a key priority in the contemporary challenging educational context. The present study aims at describing the psychological framework underpinning the development of an original e-learning tool created for teachers and educators to self-assess and to improve their intercultural skills and competencies. In particular, the study will describe in detail the Dryden and Constantinou’ Model of Effective Communication and the Rahim’ Model of Conflict Management styles, clarifying their application for the design of a Technologically Enhanced Educational Role-Playing Game (EduTechRPG), namely ACCORD Game, developed to train teachers to deal with interethnic conflicts within realistic school context scenarios.

6° Congresso nazionale FIMUA, Modena 12-14 settembre 2002

This study explored the influence of five multicultural personality traits (i.e., Cultural Empathy, Open-Mindedness, Social Initiative, Emotional Stability, Flexibility) in predicting management styles (i.e., Integrating, Obliging, Compromising, Dominating, Avoiding) adopted by teachers from five European countries (Austria, Belgium, Germany, Italy, Spain) to deal with intercultural conflict that may arise within classes with and between students. Potential differences according to socio-demographic characteristics (i.e., Gender, Age, Working Seniority, Country of belonging) were also examined. Data from 589 secondary school teachers indicated that teachers who were more open-minded reported greater adoption of Integrating and Obliging styles when managing intercultural conflicts with and between students; while teachers who were less culturally empathic and flexible were more likely to adopt the Dominating style, and those who possess lower social initiative and flexibility were more likely to adopt the Avoiding style. Teachers who possess lower levels of emotional stability showed greater adoption of the Obliging style. Differences across socio-demographic characteristics were also found. Findings provided evidence to develop interventions aiming to foster effectiveness in classroom management of intercultural conflicts by underlining how multicultural personality may influence teachers’ ways to act and adjust to the educational demands of the increasingly multicultural school environment.

Si presenta un’idea progettuale nel campo delle opere di Ingegneria Naturalistica (IN) basata su una serie di principi quali: 1) il riutilizzo di materiali di scarto e la loro immissione nel ciclo produttivo; 2) l’uso di risorse rinnovabili; 3) l’ecosostenibilità e l’adeguatezza ambientale dell’opera IN proposta. Questi punti rappresentano proprio i canoni dell’Economia Circolare (sistema economico che può rigenerarsi da solo garantendo l’ecosostenibilità) che vengono applicati nella realizzazione di un’opera di IN. Ovviamente, non sarà sviluppato il tema economico ma quello costruttivo di un’opera di IN che si inquadra perfettamente nello spirito di questo approccio economico così attuale e diremmo oggi ormai indispensabile per una crescita sostenibile nel rispetto dell’ambiente. L’elemento base dell’opera proposta è una versione moderna della fascina che, come ben noto, è la raccolta di rami di piccola dimensione, di origine antichissima. L’intervento descrive l’idea posta a base del progetto di manufatto e la susseguente realizzazione di prototipi dell’opera IN brevettata dall’Università di Palermo. Il processo realizzativo è coerente con le politiche economiche dell’Unione Europea, per le quali l’economia è circolare quando un sistema conserva il più a lungo possibile il valore dei prodotti, dei materiali e delle risorse economiche, implementando il riutilizzo, la riparazione, la rigenerazione o il riciclaggio dei prodotti e riducendo di conseguenza la produzione di rifiuti. Coerente anche con “Il Green Deal europeo” che vuole tendere a costruire un modello economico che oltre ad essere sostenibile, crei opportunità e riduca l’inquinamento climatico. È parte di questi obiettivi una “politica dei prodotti sostenibili” che riduca in modo significativo i rifiuti e laddove non sia possibile, ne recuperi il valore economico, azzerandone o minimizzandone l'impatto sull'ambiente e i cambiamenti climatici. Un approccio questo che rispetta inoltre il principio DNSH (Do No Significant Harm) previsto dal Regolamento (UE) 2020/852, del 18 giugno 2020, relativo all’istituzione di un quadro (Regolamento Tassonomia) che favorisce e definisce “investimento sostenibile” le attività economiche che contribuiscono a raggiungere un obiettivo ambientale e/o un obiettivo sociale, a condizione però che tali investimenti “non arrechino un danno significativo”. Per il manufatto proposto si tiene conto del ciclo di vita dei sarmenti e dei servizi forniti dalle attività vitivinicole senza arrecare un danno significativo ai sei obiettivi ambientali contemplati nel regolamento Tassonomia, ovvero: a) alla mitigazione dei cambiamenti climatici; b) all’adattamento ai cambiamenti climatici; c) all’uso sostenibile e alla protezione delle acque e delle risorse marine; d) all’economia circolare, compresi la prevenzione e il riciclaggio dei rifiuti: e) alla prevenzione e alla riduzione dell’inquinamento dell’aria, dell’acqua o del suolo; f) alla protezione e al ripristino della biodiversità e degli ecosistemi. Quindi utile e soprattutto DNSH in coerenza per l’utilizzo dell’Ingegneria Naturalistica come “Investimento sostenibile” per le misure del PNRR (Piano Nazionale di Ripresa e Resilienza) dei Paesi dell’Unione Europea. È dunque questo il contesto in cui vanno lette ed interpretate le norme europee ed italiane sui sottoprodotti dell’economia circolare.

The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has broadly impacted university students’ customary life, resulting in remarkable levels of stress and psychological suffering. Although the acute phase of the crisis has been overcome, it does not imply that perceived stress related to the risk of contagion and to the changes in the relational life experienced over more than 1 year of the pandemic will promptly and abruptly decrease. This study aims at comparing university students’ psychological health conditions before and during the COVID-19 pandemic, but also at providing information on how psychological health conditions evolved over the 1 year of the pandemic. We analyzed data from a repeated cross-sectional survey on different samples of university students before the pandemic in 2017 (n = 545) and during the pandemic (n = 671). During the pandemic, data were collected at three stages (Stage 1, April 2020 n = 197; Stage 2, November 2020 n = 274; and Stage 3, April 2021 n = 200). The COVID-19 Student Stress Questionnaire (CSSQ) and the Symptom-Checklist-90-Revised (SCL-90-R) were used to assess, respectively, COVID-19-related stressors (Relationships and Academic Life, Isolation, and Fear of Contagion) and the presence of psychological symptoms. Psychological health conditions were compared at baseline and during the pandemic, whereas both psychological health conditions and perceived levels of COVID-19-related stressors were compared over the three pandemic stages. In addition, Logistic Regression was used to explore the associations between COVID-19-related stressors and psychological symptoms. Findings revealed a significant increase in symptoms of Depression (DEP), Phobic-Anxiety (PHOB), Obsessive-Compulsive (O-C), and Psychoticism (PSY) from pre to during the pandemic. Perceived levels of COVID-19-related stress and specific psychological symptoms significantly increased as the pandemic was progressing. COVID-19-related stressors emerged as significantly associated with several psychopathological symptoms. Findings are discussed with the aim of providing tailored interventions to prevent mental disease and promote psychological adjustment in this specific stage of transition within this exceptional global emergency.

Despite research progresses, the chance to accurately predict the risk for diabetic nephropathy (DN) is still poor. So far, the first evidence of DN is micro-albuminuria, which is detected only 10–20 years after the onset of diabetes. Our goal is to develop new predictive tools of nephropathy starting from urine, which can be easily obtained using noninvasive procedures and it is directly related to kidney. Since it is reasonable to suppose that, in predisposed patients, the mechanisms leading to nephropathy start acting since the diabetes onset, urine from children with recent diagnosis of type 1 diabetes was subjected to proteomic analysis in comparison to age-matched controls. Targeted confirmation was performed on children with a longer history of diabetes using Western Blotting and applying a urinary lipidomic approach. To definitively understand whether the observed alterations could be related to diabetic nephropathy, urine from diabetic adults with or without albuminuria was also examined. For the first time, lipid metabolisms of prostaglandin and ceramide, which are significantly and specifically modified in association with DN, are shown to be already altered in children with a recent diabetes diagnosis. Future studies on larger cohorts are needed to improve the validity and generalizability of these findings. Data are available via ProteomeXchange with identifier PXD011183 Submission details: Project Name: Urinary proteomics by 2DE and LC-MS/MS. Project accession: PXD011183 Project DOI: https://doi.org/10.6019/PXD011183 Significance Nephropathy is a very common diabetic complication. Once established, its progression can only be slowed down but full control or remission is achieved in very few cases, thus posing a large burden on worldwide health. The first evidence of diabetic nephropathy (DN) is micro-albuminuria, but only 30% of patients with micro-albuminuria progress to proteinuria, while in some patients it spontaneously reverts to normo-albuminuria. Thus, there is clear need for biomarkers that can accurately predict the risk to develop DN. Herein, by applying proteomic and lipidomic approaches on urine samples, we show that alteration of prostaglandin and ceramide metabolisms specifically occurs in association with DN. Interestingly, we demonstrate that the modification of these metabolic pathways is an early event in diabetic patients, suggesting the identified changed proteins as possible predictive biomarkers of diabetes-induced renal function decline.

Clinical observations suggest that during times of COVID-19 pandemic lockdown university students exhibit stress-related responses to fear of contagion and to limitations of personal and relational life. The study aims to describe the development and validation of the 7-item COVID-19 Student Stress Questionnaire (CSSQ), a measurement tool to assess COVID-19-related sources of stress among university students. The CSSQ was developed and validated with 514 Italian university students. Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) was conducted with one split-half sub-sample to investigate the underlining dimensional structure, suggesting a three-component solution, which was confirmed by the Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) with the second one split-half sub-sample (CFI = 0.95; TLI = 0.95; RMSEA = 0.06). The CSSQ three subscales measure COVID-19 students’ stressors related to (1) Relationships and Academic Life (i.e., relationships with relatives, colleagues, professors, and academic studying); (2) Isolation (i.e., social isolation and couple’s relationship, intimacy and sexual life); (3) Fear of Contagion. A Global Stress score was also provided. The questionnaire revealed a satisfactory internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha = 0.71; McDonald’s omega = 0.71). Evidence was also provided for convergent and discriminant validity. The study provided a brief, valid and reliable measure to assess perceived stress to be used for understanding the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown among university students and for developing tailored interventions fostering their wellbeing.

Aim\ud \ud Basing on the Demands‐Resources and Individual‐Effects (DRIVE) Model developed by Mark and Smith in 2008, the study aims to propose and test a multi‐dimensional model that combines work characteristics, individual characteristics, and work–family interface dimensions as predictors of nurses' psychophysical health.\ud Methods\ud \ud Self‐report questionnaires assessing work characteristics (effort; rewards; job demands; job control; social support), individual characteristics (socio‐demographic characteristics; coping strategies; Type A behavioral pattern; Type D personality), work–family interface dimensions (work–family interrole conflict; job and life satisfaction), and health outcomes (psychological disease; physical disease) were completed by 450 Italian nurses. Logistic regression analyses and Hayes' PROCESS tool were used to test the proposed model by exploring main, moderating and mediating hypotheses.\ud Results\ud \ud Findings confirmed the proposed theoretical framework including work characteristics, individual characteristics, and work–family interface dimensions as significant predictors of nurses' psychophysical disease. Specific main, moderating and mediating effects were found, providing a wide set of multiple risks and protective factors.\ud Conclusions\ud \ud The study allowed a broader understanding of nurses' work‐related stress process, providing a comprehensive tool for the assessment of occupational health and for the definition of tailored policies and interventions in public healthcare organizations to promote nurses' wellbeing.

Research has shown a direct relationship between infertility-related stress and anxiety in infertile patients. The present study goes into this relationship in depth, testing the moderating role of coping strategies (Seeking Social Support, Avoidant, Positive Attitude, Problem-Solving, Turning to Religion) in the associations between specific infertility-related stress dimensions (Social Concern, Need for Parenthood, Rejection of Childfree Lifestyle, Couple’s Relationship Concern) and State-Anxiety among male and female partners of infertile couples. Gender differences were also explored. Both members of 254 infertile couples completed a questionnaire consisting of Socio-demographics, Fertility Problem Inventory–Short Form (FPI-SF), Coping Orientation to Problem Experienced–New Italian Version (COPE-NIV), and State-Trait Anxiety Inventory-Y (STAI-Y). The results revealed that Social Concern and Couple’s Relationship Concern, in both partners, and Need for Parenthood, in female partners, had positive correlations with State-Anxiety. Seeking Social Support and Avoidant coping were related to increasing levels of State-Anxiety in both partners, whereas Positive Attitude coping strategies were related to lower levels of State-Anxiety in female partners. Problem-Solving and Avoidant coping played moderating roles between specific infertility-related stress dimensions and State-Anxiety in unexpected directions. Problem-Solving exacerbated the negative effects of Social Concern, whereas Avoidant coping buffered the negative effects of several infertility-related stress dimensions in both partners. Interventions to improve stress management and psychological health in infertile couples should consider that the adequacy of coping strategies is inherently situation specific. It therefore follows that patient-centered clinical interventions should consider the potential inadequacy of promoting Problem-Solving strategies, and that even Avoidance can be an efficient strategy for dealing with specific infertility-related stress dimensions.

Role play simulation games have recently received attention in the training and education fields as a mechanism for providing generative and creative learning. E-learning systems can provide a solid platform upon which role play simulation can be created and implemented to promote both knowledge and competence development. This form of active learning provides a unique tool for training people in different context of applications which may be able to benefit from the availability of open source e-learning tools and overcome lack of access to affordable training and developmental resources. In this paper it will be described the approach and the methodology used to develop a digital single player role play game, named ACCORD, so to provide a new e-learning and flexible tool, to help teachers and educators to autonomously improve and assess their intercultural competencies within the school context.

Scenario-based learning (SBL) has recently received more and more attention in the training and education fields as a mechanism for providing active and generative learning. E-learning systems can provide a solid platform upon which SBL can be created and used to promote relational competences development, and to offer open source e-learning tools so to overcome common lack of access to affordable training resources. Within this paper a project called ACCORD to develop a new e-learning system to promote intercultural skills in terms of intercultural literacy, inclusive education and conflict management will be described. This project aims to prepare secondary school teachers from five European countries (Austria, Belgium, Germany, Italy, Spain) to take an active stand against intercultural conflicts within the school context, by providing SBL and game-based learning approach. The present article will provide an overview of the ACCORD project, highlighting the theoretical framework underpinning its development, the methodologies that have been used, and the main preliminary outcomes.

In the last years tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) has become a leading technology used for neonatal screening purposes. Newborn screening by MS/MS on dried blood spot samples (DBS) has one of its items in methionine levels: the knowledge of this parameter allows the identification of infant affected by homocystinuria (cystathionine β-synthase, CBS, deficiency) but can also lead, as side effect, to identify cases of methionine adenosyltransferase (MAT) type I/III deficiency.We started an expanded newborn screening for inborn errors of metabolism in Campania region in 2007. Here we report our ten years experience on expanded newborn screening in identifying patients affected by hypermethioninemia. During this period we screened approximately 77,000 infants and identified two cases: one case of classical homocystinuria and one patient affected by defect of MAT I/III. In this paper we describe these patients and their biochemical follow-up and review the literature concerning worldwide newborn screening reports on incidence of CBS and MAT deficiency. Keywords: Newborn screening, Hypermethioninemia, MAT I/III deficiency, CBS deficiency

In the present paper, we analyze local field potentials (LFPs) recorded from the secondary motor cortex (M2) and primary visual cortex (V1) of freely moving mice reared in environmental enrichment (EE) and standard condition (SC). We focus on the scaling properties of the signals by using an integrated approach combining three different techniques: the Higuchi method, detrended fluctuation analysis, and power spectrum. Each technique provides direct or indirect estimations of the Hurst exponent H and this prevents spurious identification of scaling properties in time-series analysis. It is well known that the power spectrum of an LFP signal scales as 1/f(β) with β>0. Our results indicate the existence of a particular power spectrum scaling law 1/f(β) with β

A deglycosylation step using Peptide-N-Glycosidase F (PNGaseF) has been introduced in a standard proteomic protocol to more confidently identify egg based binders. The ingenuity of introducing a PNGaseF digestion was aimed at removing the molecular hindrance, made up by the heavily glycosylated egg proteins, before the protease(s) hydrolysis. This novelty in the protocol resulted in obtaining a significant increase of proteolytic egg peptides thus improving the quality and reliability of egg identification in artwork samples. The protocol has been set up on paint replicas and successfully tested on two historical samples of different origin.

An analytical relationship between current density and applied electric field in reversed field pinch (RFP) plasmas has been derived in the framework of the kinetic dynamo theory, that is assuming a radial field-aligned momentum transport caused by the magnetic field stochasticity. This Ohm{close_quote}s law yields current density profiles with a poloidal current density at the edge which can sustain the magnetic field configuration against resistive diffusion. The dependence of the loop voltage on plasma current and other plasma parameters for RFP experiments has been obtained. The results of the theoretical work have been compared with experimental data from the RFX experiment, and a good agreement has been found. {copyright} {ital 1997} {ital The American Physical Society}

An electrostatic electron energy analyser has been inserted for the first time in the outer region of the RFX reversed-field pinch experiment, in order to investigate and characterize the presence of a superthermal electron population. It has been found that these electrons carry most of the current density parallel to the magnetic field. The time evolution during a single discharge of the superthermal electrons current density and parallel temperature indicates that the distortion of the electron distribution function is stationary during the plasma current flat-top phase. The dependence of the superthermal temperature on the plasma parameters has been investigated by varying the plasma density, and a relationship with the ratio of the on-axis applied electric field to the critical electric field for runaway generation has been identified.