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High-resolution bathymetry provides critical information to marine geoscientists. Bathymetric big data help characterise the seafloor and its benthic habitats, understand sedimentary records, and support the development of offshore engineering infrastructures. From 27 September to 20 October 2022, the new CNR research vessel Gaia Blu explored the seafloor of the Naples and Pozzuoli gulfs and the Amalfi coastal area (Tyrrhenian Sea, Italy) from 50 to more than 2000 m water depth, acquiring about 5000 km2 of multi-beam echo sounder data. This area is particularly vulnerable to abrupt changes driven by the dynamics of several volcanic complexes, active in the area, and by human-induced impacts reflecting the proximity to the highly populated and touristic coastal area of Naples and nearby famous islands. For these reasons, the seafloor of the area needs to be known and constantly monitored. The digital bathymetric data previously available are restricted to the shallow highly dynamic area of the Gulf of Naples and appear fragmented as they were acquired in successive years, with different goals thereby using a variety of devices, with markedly different spatial resolutions. In this paper, we present bathymetric maps of the Gulf of Naples and adjacent slope basins at unprecedented resolution using three state-of-the-art multi-beam echo sounders. These high-resolution data highlight the technological advances of geophysical surveys achieved over the last 20 years and contribute to assessing the most dynamic areas where changes in the seafloor over time can be quantified. The new digital multi-resolution bathymetric products are openly accessible via Marine Geosciences Data System MGDS (refer to “Data availability” section, Table 8, for datasets and product DOIs), perfectly matching the FAIR (findable, accessible, interoperable, and reusable) and open science principles.

This study administered the Test of Reading Fluency and Pronunciation, Test of Reading Comprehension, and Scale of Home Language Environment in a sample of 156 grade 4 students in Kerala. Falling below the 25th percentile on any two of the three dimensions of reading achievement viz., reading fluency, reading comprehension, and pronunciation, along with teacher identification of the student as reading difficult was used to categorize them as Reading difficult (RD) and Normal Readers. It was found that if the parent doesn't enquire about co-curricular activities in school, it doesn't make the child write Malayalam copy book, does not make the child write a diary, doesn't make the child read textbooks regularly and doesn't make the child read other books than textbooks 6/10 are prone to be an RD by grade 4.

Gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) were prepared by using a green approach that employed orange (citrus sinensis) peel water extract (OPE) as a reducing agent. In this case, the organic compounds present in orange peel were able to reduce Au(III) to Au(0) and, at the same time, to act as a capping agent, functionalizing the surface of the AuNPs, stabilizing them in a water solution. This “green” approach valorizes orange peel waste as a resourceful material and makes the synthetic process of AuNPs more environmentally sustainable, safe, and economically feasible than the traditional methods. The obtained gold nanoparticles (AuNPs@OPE) were characterized by FT–IR, DLS, SEM analysis, and UV–Vis spectroscopy; the latter showed a characteristic surface plasmon resonance (SPR) band at 530 nm, typical of spherical gold nanoparticles. The AuNPs@OPE were then tested as colorimetric sensors for heavy metals in water, showing an affinity and selectivity toward Pb2+. In fact, in the presence of Pb2+, the added cation favors the aggregation process, and, in this case, nanoparticles form clusters due to the interactions between Pb2+ and the carboxyl/hydroxyl groups on the surface of the AuNPs@OPE, increasing the size of the nanostructure. This process is accompanied by a change in color of the AuNPs@OPE from pink to violet, with a formation of a second, new SPR band, at a higher wavelength, relative to the aggregate formation. The colorimetric assay was tested at different times with the addition of Pb2+ ions showing different LOD values of 13.31 µM and 0.05 µM after 15 min and 90 min, respectively. The proposed colorimetric assay was also tested for analyzing Pb2+ in drinking water samples demonstrating the reliability to use AuNPs@OPE with real samples.

In spite of the general agreement that spelling difficulties if monitored and identified early during the schooling will help in giving appropriate support, teachers and teacher-educators using Indian languages including Malayalam, while discussing language difficulties refer more to errors from English than from their mother tongue. In this context, this study identifies spelling errors with respect to vowels, signs, glides, consonants and consonant doubling, in terms of addition, omission and substitution committed in Malayalam writing by Grade 3 students in Kerala. Ten selected pages from Malayalam notebooks of the 100 students were analysed for errors in writing. Most difficult area in writing Malayalam, for beginners, is signs - both vowel signs and diacritic signs. Substitution in large extent, and omission in lesser extent, causes spelling errors. Seven types of substitution of letters that cause spelling errors in a Malayalam are illustrated. A few suggestions for improving spelling instruction are added.

In the context of observations that students lack mastery of elementary reading comprehension in Malayalam even by the end of 5-7 years of formal schooling, this study applies multiple regression analysis for reading comprehension. Longitudinal survey data from a representative sample of 159 lower primary students from grade 2 to 4 revealed Reading Comprehension as significantly and positively related to Morphological Awareness, Phonological awareness and Ravens non-verbal ability. The three predictors account for near 1/3 of the variation in reading comprehension in Malayalam of elementary school learners. Findings suggest enhancing phonological and morphological awareness in order to develop reading comprehension. (Includes 3 tables.)

High-resolution bathymetry provides critical information to marine geoscientists. Bathymetric big data help characterise the seafloor and its benthic habitats, understand sedimentary records, and support the development of offshore engineering infrastructures. From September 27th to October 20th, 2022, the new CNR Research Vessel GAIA BLU explored the seafloor of the Naples and Pozzuoli Gulfs, and the Amalfi coastal area (Tyrrhenian Sea, Italy) from 50 to more than 2000 m water depth, acquiring about 5000 km2 of multi beam echosounder data. This area is particularly vulnerable to abrupt changes driven by the dynamics of several volcanic complexes, active in the area, and by human-induced impacts reflecting the proximity to the highly populated and touristic coastal area of Naples and nearby famous islands. For these reasons, the seafloor of the area needs to be known and constantly monitored. The digital bathymetric data previously available are restricted to the shallow highly dynamic area of the Gulf of Naples and appear fragmented as they were acquired in successive years, with different goals thereby using a variety of devices, with markedly different spatial resolutions. In this paper, we present bathymetric maps of the Gulf of Naples and adjacent slope basins at unprecedented resolution using three state-of-the-art multi beam echosounders. These high-resolution data highlight the technological advances of geophysical surveys achieved over the last 20 years and contribute to assessing the most dynamic areas where changes in the seafloor over time can be quantified. The new digital multi-resolution bathymetric products are openly accessible via Marine Geosciences Data System MGDS (refer to section Data Availability, Table 8, for datasets and products DOIs), perfectly matching the FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable) and Open Science Principles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To solve the series of heat balances that EN ISO 52016-1 uses to simulate the dynamic hourly energy requirements of a building, detailed climatic data are required as input. Differently from air temperatures, relative humidity and wind speed, which are easily measurable and available in databases, the direct and diffuse solar irradiances incident on the different inclined and oriented surfaces, which are fundamental for the evaluation of solar gains, must be estimated using one of the many regression models available in the literature. Therefore, in this work, the energy needs of buildings were evaluated with the simplified hourly dynamic method of EN ISO 52016-1 by varying the solar irradiance sets on inclined and oriented surfaces obtained from EN ISO 52010-1 and three other pairs of solar irradiance separation and transposition models. Five European locations and two different window solar transmission coefficients (ggl) were analysed. The results showed that on average, for the heating period and for both ggl, the use of the different methods causes an average error on the calculation of the annual demand of less or slightly more than 5%; while for the cooling period, the average error on the calculation of the annual demand is 16.4% for the case study with ggl = 0.28 and 25.1% for the case study with ggl = 0.63. On the other hand, analysing the root-mean-square-error of the hourly data, using the model contained in TRNSYS as a benchmark, for most of the cases, when varying window orientations, cities and ggl, the model that diverges furthest from the others is that contained in EN ISO 52010-1.

Over 25 mounds have been identified in the Corsica Channel (Mediterranean Sea) through multibeam bathymetric mapping at depth of 400–430 m, with dimensions ranging from 70 to 330 m, achieving maximum heights of 25 m. Two mounds have been explored in detail using a remotely operated vehicle, revealing thick coral growth with a predominance of the branching scleractinian Madrepora oculata as main frame builder and subordinate Desmophyllum pertusum. The solitary scleractinians Desmophyllum dianthus and Javania cailleti add to the biodiversity here, which accounts for at least 50 macro- and megabenthic species. In consideration of the remarkable surface (ca. 5.3 km2) covered by living corals, their density and healthy appearance, and discontinuity with other major cold-water coral (CWC) occurrences in the Mediterranean Sea, we propose that this area represents a distinct CWC province in a sector already known for the presence of pre-modern CWC mounds. Noticeably, well-developed contourite drift systems occur in the Corsica Channel, lending support to their strict spatial link with coral establishment at depth. The ecosystemic value of the new CWC province calls for proper conservation measures to ensure their present Good Environmental Status.

The EN ISO 52016-1:2017 standard introduced a new methodology for the hourly calculation of energy needs that allows the study of the dynamic energy performance of buildings. In this study, a comparative analysis was carried out between two heat transfer models for opaque building elements: the one described in the new standard EN ISO 52016-1:2017 (Annex B) and that proposed by the Italian national annex (Annex A). The analysis, carried out on 1854 cases, showed better results for the heating period than for the cooling period, with a lower Root-Mean-Square Error and Coefficient of Variation of the Root-Mean-Square Error for the model proposed by the Italian National Annex. Increasing the performance of the building by decreasing the solar transmission coefficient of the glazed surfaces leads to a worse Root-Mean-Square Error of about 11%. In addition, a sensitivity analysis of the thermo-physical parameters of the opaque building components was carried out and an alternative method for the calculation of the solar transmission coefficient was evaluated. The latter was able to improve the Root-Mean-Square Error of summer solar gains by 46.7% compared to the method proposed by the standard.

Gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) were prepared by using a green approach that employed orange (citrus sinensis) peel water extract (OPE) as a reducing agent. In this case, the organic compounds present in orange peel were able to reduce Au(III) to Au(0) and, at the same time, to act as a capping agent, functionalizing the surface of the AuNPs, stabilizing them in a water solution. This "green" approach valorizes orange peel waste as a resourceful material and makes the synthetic process of AuNPs more environmentally sustainable, safe, and economically feasible than the traditional methods. The obtained gold nanoparticles (AuNPs@OPE) were characterized by FT–IR, DLS, SEM analysis, and UV–Vis spectroscopy; the latter showed a characteristic surface plasmon resonance (SPR) band at 530 nm, typical of spherical gold nanoparticles. The AuNPs@OPE were then tested as colorimetric sensors for heavy metals in water, showing an affinity and selectivity toward Pb2+. In fact, in the presence of Pb2+, the added cation favors the aggregation process, and, in this case, nanoparticles form clusters due to the interactions between Pb2+ and the carboxyl/hydroxyl groups on the surface of the AuNPs@OPE, increasing the size of the nanostructure. This process is accompanied by a change in color of the AuNPs@OPE from pink to violet, with a formation of a second, new SPR band, at a higher wavelength, relative to the aggregate formation. The colorimetric assay was tested at different times with the addition of Pb2+ ions showing different LOD values of 13.31 µM and 0.05 µM after 15 min and 90 min, respectively. The proposed colorimetric assay was also tested for analyzing Pb2+ in drinking water samples demonstrating the reliability to use AuNPs@OPE with real samples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The last decade had witnessed an unprecedented growth in social networking sites. To some it seems a boon when it comes to belongingness, while, to others it is a cause of concern because of many psychological issues related to them. Aims: This study was designed to find whether the facebook variables are associated to narcissism and loneliness. Also, age and gender differences are studied with respect to narcissism, loneliness and facebook variables. Methods: A cross-sectional, questionnaire based online survey was carried out on facebook users who, reported questions regarding their demographics, use of facebook and completed NPI-16 and a three-item loneliness scale. Results: Facebook users (N=107), aged 18 to 45 years voluntary participated and completed the survey. Results found that facebook profile features (self rating of profile picture, status updates and number of photos) predicted Narcissism while status updates, number of friends and time predicted loneliness. Also age and gender brought significant differences among facebook users on the scores of narcissism, loneliness and facebook variables. Conclusion: Narcissism and loneliness are found to be associated with facebook variables after controlling age and gender. It may be concluded that facebook might be serving as a platform to narcissists where they can present idealized images of themselves. Also indulging in certain facebook activities might be helping the users to elevate their loneliness. Also differences in narcissism, loneliness and facebook variables are accounted to age and gender.

State universities and colleges, as well as their stakeholders, place a high priority on academic achievement and retention rates. This study sought to ascertain the retention rate and academic performance of the "Bachelor of Science in Information Technology (BSIT)" students at the "Iloilo Science and Technology University Miagao Campus". The Office of Campus Registrar and Admission provided the information needed to calculate the retention rate. A total of four (4) batches were examined in this study: batch 2018 (AY 2014-2015 to AY 2017-2018), batch 2019 (AY 2015-2016 to AY 2018-2019), batch 2020 (AY 2016-2017 to AY 2019-2020), and batch 2021. (AY 2017-2018 to AY 2020-2021). The average grades of individuals who graduated in the indicated batch served as the basis for academic performance, for which the pertinent statistics were gathered from the same office. "Percentage, mean, standard deviation, Chi-Square, and one-way ANOVA were the statistical techniques used". [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When the "Animation Council of the Philippines (ACPI)" joined forces with the "Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA)" and "Iloilo Science and Technology University", formerly "Western Visayas College of Science and Technology (WVCT)", to promote technical and vocational (Tech-Voc) education after the 2007 introduction of the 2D Assistant animation program, five batches of applicants totalling more than 100 people, were recruited. What happened to them now that they had completed the animation program? Now, where are they? Do they now work in the targeted animation sector or hold another position? Setting up this tracer aims to track animators' whereabouts, career paths, and employment in a given sector. The data from this study will help technical schools and tertiary institutions improve their curricula and skills in pursuing nationally and internationally competitive and high-quality graduates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]