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Fostered by the recent advancements in photonic technologies, the need for all-optical dynamic control on complex photonic elements is emerging as more and more relevant, especially in integrated photonics and metasurface-based flat-optics. In this framework, optically-induced anisotropy has been proposed as powerful mean enabling tuning functionalities in several planar architectures. Here, we design and fabricate an anisotropic two-dimensional bull’s eye cavity inscribed within an optically-active polymeric film spun on a one-dimensional photonic crystal sustaining Bloch surface waves (BSW). Thanks to the cavity morphology, two surface resonant modes with substantially orthogonal polarizations can be coupled within the cavity from free-space illumination. We demonstrate that a dynamic control on the resonant mode energies can be easily operated by modulating the orientation of the optically-induced birefringence on the surface, via a polarized external laser beam. Overall, reversible blue- and red-shifts of the resonant BSWs are observed within a spectral range of about 2 nm, with a moderate laser power illumination. The polymeric structure is constituted by a novel blend of an azopolymer and a thermally-sensitive resist, which allows a precise patterning via thermal scanning probe lithography, while providing a significant structural integrity against photo-fluidization or mass-flow effects commonly occurring in irradiated azopolymers. The proposed approach based on tailored birefringence opens up new pathways to finely control the optical coupling of localized surface modes to/from free-space radiation, particularly in hybrid organic–inorganic devices.

Narcisa Mandras,1 Monica Argenziano,2 Mauro Prato,1 Janira Roana,1 Anna Luganini,3 Valeria Allizond,1 Vivian Tullio,1 Nicole Finesso,4 Sara Comini,1 Bruno Emilio Bressan,4 Francesca Pecoraro,4 Giuliana Giribaldi,4 Adriano Troia,5 Roberta Cavalli,2 Anna Maria Cuffini,1,* Giuliana Banche1,* 1Department of Public Health and Pediatric Sciences, University of Torino, Turin, 10126, Italy; 2Department of Drug Science and Technology, University of Torino, Turin, 10125, Italy; 3Department of Life Sciences and Systems Biology, University of Torino, Turin, 10123, Italy; 4Department of Oncology, University of Torino, Turin, 10126, Italy; 5Istituto Nazionale di Ricerca Metrologica, Turin, 10135, Italy*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Valeria Allizond, Department of Public Health and Pediatric Sciences, University of Torino, Via Santena 9, Turin, 10126, Italy, Tel +390116705644, Fax +390112365644, Email valeria.allizond@unito.itPurpose: Medium versus low weight (MW vs LW) chitosan-shelled oxygen-loaded nanodroplets (cOLNDs) and oxygen-free nanodroplets (cOFNDs) were comparatively challenged for biocompatibility on human keratinocytes, for antimicrobial activity against four common infectious agents of chronic wounds (CWs) – methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), Streptococcus pyogenes, Candida albicans and C. glabrata – and for their physical interaction with cell walls/membranes.Methods: cNDs were characterized for morphology and physico-chemical properties by microscopy and dynamic light scattering. In vitro oxygen release from cOLNDs was measured through an oximeter. ND biocompatibility and ability to promote wound healing in human normoxic/hypoxic skin cells were challenged by LDH and MTT assays using keratinocytes. ND antimicrobial activity was investigated by monitoring upon incubation with/without MW or LW cOLNDs/cOFNDs either bacteria or yeast growth over time. The mechanical interaction between NDs and microorganisms was also assessed by confocal microscopy.Results: LW cNDs appeared less toxic to keratinocytes than MW cNDs. Based on cell counts, either MW or LW cOLNDs and cOFNDs displayed long-term antimicrobial efficacy against S. pyogenes, C. albicans, and C. glabrata (up to 24 h), whereas a short-term cytostatic effects against MRSA (up to 6 h) was revealed. The internalization of all ND formulations by all four microorganisms, already after 3 h of incubation, was showed, with the only exception to MW cOLNDs/cOFNDs that adhered to MRSA walls without being internalized even after 24 h.Conclusion: cNDs exerted bacteriostatic and fungistatic effects, due to the presence of chitosan in the outer shell and independently of oxygen addition in the inner core. The duration of such effects strictly depends on the characteristics of each microbial species, and not on the molecular weight of chitosan in ND shells. However, LW chitosan was better tolerated by human keratinocytes than MW. For these reasons, the use of LW NDs should be recommended in future research to assess cOLND efficacy for the treatment of infected CWs.Keywords: chitosan nanodroplets, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus pyogenes, Candida spp, chronic wounds

This study investigated whether teachers' observations of pragmatic language competence predict literacy skills (and the reverse) in students referred for reading disabilities in Oman. A sample of 574 at-risk children between 7 and 12 years old participated. Teachers rated students' pragmatic language, reading, and written expression. Results showed (a) teachers rated female students significantly higher in all three areas, while ratings were not different across grades; (b) relationships between pragmatics and literacy skills were significantly stronger for girls than for boys; (c) after controlling for gender and grade, pragmatic language competence accounted for significant unique variance in both reading and written expression; and (d) after controlling for gender and grade, reading and writing both contributed significant unique variance to pragmatic skills, and the standardized regression coefficients suggested stronger effects of literacy skills on pragmatics than pragmatics on literacy skills. Implications for school professionals and future research directions are discussed.

The primary purpose of this study is to investigate the degree to which register knowledge, register-specific motivation, and diverse linguistic features are predictive of human judgment of writing quality in three registers--narrative, informative, and opinion. The secondary purpose is to compare the evaluation metrics of register-partitioned automated writing evaluation models in three conditions: (1) register-related factors alone, (2) linguistic features alone, and (3) the combination of these two. A total of 1006 essays (n = 327, 342, and 337 for informative, narrative, and opinion, respectively) written by 92 fourth- and fifth-graders were examined. A series of hierarchical linear regression analyses controlling for the effects of demographics were conducted to select the most useful features to capture text quality, scored by humans, in the three registers. These features were in turn entered into automated writing evaluation predictive models with tuning of the parameters in a tenfold cross-validation procedure. The average validity coefficients (i.e., quadratic-weighed kappa, Pearson correlation r, standardized mean score difference, score deviation analysis) were computed. The results demonstrate that (1) diverse feature sets are utilized to predict quality in the three registers, and (2) the combination of register-related factors and linguistic features increases the accuracy and validity of all human and automated scoring models, especially for the registers of informative and opinion writing. The findings from this study suggest that students' register knowledge and register-specific motivation add additional predictive information when evaluating writing quality across registers beyond that afforded by linguistic features of the paper itself, whether using human scoring or automated evaluation. These findings have practical implications for educational practitioners and scholars in that they can help strengthen consideration of register-specific writing skills and cognitive and motivational forces that are essential components of effective writing instruction and assessment.

Background:. Nurtec, a versatile migraine medication, has gained popularity. However, the awareness of migraine surgery remains uncertain. Methods:. Following a descriptive approach, this cross-sectional study used Google Trends data as of December 1, 2023, to analyze internet search patterns. Approval from Vanderbilt University’s institutional review board and adherence to Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology guidelines were confirmed. Monthly relative search volume (RSV) data for “migraine surgery,” “Nurtec,” and “Rimegepant” were collected from January 1, 2004, to November 11, 2023, within the United States. Statistical analysis involved determining mean monthly RSV values and percentage changes for critical periods. Results:. For “Nurtec,” a significant surge in RSV occurred from March 2020 to April 2020 (344%). Additional peaks were observed from June 2020 to July 2020 (66%), October 2020 to December 2020 (169%), May 2021 to June 2021 (33%), and May 2023 to June 2023 (14%). “Migraine surgery” exhibited a notable 400% increase in RSV, from March 2005 to May 2005. However, post-2006, RSV for “migraine surgery” consistently remained low without noticeable peaks. Conclusions:. The analysis of RSV trends for “Nurtec” and “migraine surgery” from 2004 to 2023 reveals the impact of pivotal events and marketing strategies on public interest. The distinct peaks in “Nurtec” RSV align with Food & Drug Administration approvals and marketing campaigns, highlighting the medication’s accessibility. Conversely, the consistently low RSV for “migraine surgery” indicates limited awareness, emphasizing the need for enhanced promotion and education regarding surgical interventions.

Several vaccines against chikungunya fever have been developed and tested, and one has been recently licensed. We performed a meta-analysis to estimate the immunogenicity and safety of all chikungunya vaccines that have been progressed to clinical trial evaluation (VLA1553; mRNA-1388/VAL-181388; PXVX0317/VRC-CHKVLP059-00-VP; ChAdOx1 Chik; MV-CHIK). We included trials retrieved from MedLine, Scopus, and ClinicalTrials.gov. The outcomes were the rates of seroconversion/seroresponse and serious adverse events (SAEs) after the primary immunization course. We retrieved a total of 14 datasets, including >4000 participants. All candidate chikungunya vaccines were able to elicit an immunogenic response in ≥96% of vaccinated subjects, regardless of the vaccination schedule and platform used, and the seroconversion/seroresponse rates remained high 6 to 12 months after vaccination for most vaccines. Four of the five candidate vaccines showed a good overall safety profile (no data were available for ChAdOx1 Chik), with no significant increase in the risk of SAEs among the vaccinated, and a low absolute risk of product-related SAEs. Overall, the present findings support the potential use of the candidate vaccines for the prevention of chikungunya and the current indication for use in adult travelers to endemic regions of the licensed VLA 1553 vaccine. In order to extend chikungunya vaccination to a wider audience, further studies are needed on individuals from endemic countries and frail populations.

Student motivation to write is a pivotal factor influencing their writing achievement. However, individual motivation to write is not independent of the learning environment. It also is crucial for teachers to develop their own efficacy, knowledge, and ability in writing and writing instruction to help them utilize effective instructional methods that stimulate students' motivation to write and further promote their writing achievement. Given these considerations, we utilized a two-level hierarchical linear model to examine the relationships among student motivation, teacher personal and professional traits, teacher writing instruction, and writing achievement at student and teacher levels. Our analysis of the dataset, which included 346 fourth and fifth graders nested within 41 classrooms, found that motivation had a positive predictive effect on writing ability at both student and teacher levels. Moreover, female students, fifth graders, and typically achieving students demonstrated higher writing achievement than their counterparts. While there were no significant effects of teacher efficacy, knowledge, ability, or professional development on student writing achievement, we observed that higher frequency of classroom management practices during writing instruction had a significant negative effect on student writing achievement. Our full model revealed that the relationship between student motivation and achievement was negatively moderated by teachers' increased use of instructional practices related to process features and using writing instruction materials, but positively moderated by increased use of varied teaching tactics. Overall, our findings emphasize the importance of contextual factors in understanding the complexity of student writing achievement and draw attention to the need for effective instructional practices to support students' writing development.

In this study of more than 1,000 typical and at-risk elementary Arabic-speaking students in Oman, we explore relationships between pragmatic (and other) language skills, literacy, cognition, and behavior and the degree to which demography impacts performance on associated tasks. We found, in most cases, that females performed better than males, students' performance improved between Grades 2 and 4 but declined in Grade 5, and at-risk students performed as well as their nonreferred peers except on a working memory task. Pragmatic competence was the best predictor of literacy proficiency, and vice versa, for both groups when controlling for other variables. Findings are discussed in the context of Omani education and the limited attention given to pragmatics in research on connections between language and literacy.

We conducted a scoping review following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses to map the available research describing verbal pragmatic skills development and problems in school-age children with primary language impairments and children with language-learning disabilities. A total of 112 reports met inclusion criteria for our review. Many studies were published in journals focused on communication disorders between the years 2000 and 2019 and targeted K-12 children in the United States or the United Kingdom with developmental language disorder who were most often compared with age-matched typically developing peers using a group comparison research design. Over 60% of the studies had fewer than 25 participants in the target group. Nearly two thirds of study participants were boys, and most were Caucasian from middle- to upper-income families. The majority of studies used multiple outcome measures in data analyses, most often norm-referenced and researcher-designed tests, language sample analysis, and rating scales. A third of studies omitted information about outcome measure reliability and nearly all studies omitted validity data. Several studies are described in detail as examples and a summary of the major findings from the reviewed studies is presented.

Purpose: The Access to Literacy Assessment System--Phonological Awareness (ATLAS-PA) was developed for use with children with speech and/or language impairment. The subtests (Rhyming, Blending, and Segmenting) are appropriate for children who are 3-7 years of age. ATLAS-PA is composed entirely of receptive items, incorporates individualized levels of instruction, and is adaptive in nature. Method: To establish the construct validity of ATLAS-PA, we collected data from children with typical development (n = 938) and those who have speech and/or language impairment (n = 227). Results: Rasch analyses indicated that items fit well together and formed a unidimensional construct of phonological awareness. Differential item functioning was minimal between the two groups of children, and scores on ATLAS-PA were moderately to strongly related to other measures of phonological awareness. Information about item functioning was used to create an adaptive version of ATLAS-PA. Conclusions: Findings suggest that ATLAS-PA is a valid measure of phonological awareness that can be used with children with typical development and with speech and/or language impairment. Its adaptive format minimizes testing time and provides opportunities for monitoring progress in preschool and early elementary classrooms.

Purpose: The Access to Literacy Assessment System--Phonological Awareness (ATLAS-PA) was developed for use with children with speech and/or language impairment. The subtests (rhyming, blending, segmenting) are appropriate for children who are 3 to 7 years of age. ATLAS-PA is comprised entirely of receptive items, incorporates individualized levels of instruction, and is adaptive in nature. Method: To establish construct validity of ATLAS-PA, we collected data from children with typical development (n = 938) as well as those who have speech and/or language impairment (n = 227). Results: Rasch analyses indicated that items fit well together and formed a unidimensional construct of phonological awareness. Differential item functioning was minimal between the two groups of children and scores on ATLAS-PA were moderately to strongly related to other measures of phonological awareness. Information about item functioning was used to create an adaptive version of ATLAS-PA. Conclusions: Findings suggest that ATLAS-PA is a valid measure of phonological awareness that can be used with children with typical development and with speech and/or language impairment. Its adaptive format minimizes testing time and provides opportunities for monitoring progress in preschool and early elementary classrooms. [This article was published in "Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools" (EJ1270209).]

Data were collected for this study early in the school year to analyze the direct and indirect effects of word-level literacy skills (word recognition, spelling, and written vocabulary use) and handwriting fluency on writing quality across three genres of typewritten papers. We further explored whether typing fluency and text generation fluency mediated the effects. Finally, we examined whether there was any difference in the effects across three writing genres. Fourth and fifth graders (N = 175) from 21 typical classrooms in 12 different Midwestern U.S. schools participated. Regression path analyses were employed and revealed that word-level literacy skills had both significant direct and serial indirect effects on quality, via typing fluency and then text generation fluency (text length) when controlling for handwriting fluency. Further, handwriting fluency had no direct effect when controlling for word-level literacy skills but did have a significant serial indirect effect on writing quality via typing fluency then text generation fluency. Results indicate that handwriting fluency matters, even when composing on the computer. Stronger transcription fluency, particularly by hand, leads to higher quality writing, likely because less cognitive effort is devoted to transcription. This study adds to limited research on the cross-modal effects of transcription on writing quality.

Data were collected for this study early in the school year to analyze the direct and indirect effects of word-level literacy skills (word recognition, spelling, and written vocabulary use) and handwriting fluency on writing quality across three genres of typewritten papers. We further explored whether typing fluency and text generation fluency mediated the effects. Finally, we examined whether there was any difference in the effects across three writing genres. Fourth and fifth graders (N = 175) from 21 typical classrooms in 12 different Midwestern U.S. schools participated. Regression path analyses were employed and revealed that word-level literacy skills had both significant direct and serial indirect effects on quality, via typing fluency and then text generation fluency (text length) when controlling for handwriting fluency. Further, handwriting fluency had no direct effect when controlling for word-level literacy skills but did have a significant serial indirect effect on writing quality via typing fluency then text generation fluency. Results indicate that handwriting fluency matters, even when composing on the computer. Stronger transcription fluency, particularly by hand, leads to higher quality writing, likely because less cognitive effort is devoted to transcription. This study adds to limited research on the cross-modal effects of transcription on writing quality. [This article was published in "Education Sciences" (EJ1277084).]

Introduction Social connection (SC) is a multi-dimensional concept capturing both the structural–quantitative (e.g., number of social relations, social contact frequency, network structure) and the functional–qualitative dimension (e.g., social support) of social relationships. Although empirical evidence of the association between SC measures and depression has increased significantly in recent years (De Risio et al, J Affect Disord 2024; 345 358–368), very little is known about the extent to which interventions that build SC are effective in improving depressive symptoms. Objectives This umbrella review of systematic reviews/meta-analyses aims to synthesize evidence regarding the effectiveness of SC interventions on depression. Our primary focus is on interventions directly acting upon the natural social network, while indirect interventions that aim to improve social skills, or those that provide professional (formal) or semi-professional support through health services, were excluded. Methods We provide a synthesis of the consistency and magnitude of the effectiveness of SC interventions on depression. We searched PubMed, PsycINFO, Cochrane Library, and EMBASE and 16 reviews/meta-analyses were included. Information on the effectiveness of SC interventions on depression were compared among different populations. The quality/certainty of evidence was assessed using AMSTAR-2 and GRADE tools. Results Included interventions were categorized into the following domains: social support (interventions increasing both perceived and enacted social support from family, friends, and others); social engagement (interventions aimed at strengthening social networks and contrasting social isolation); social inclusion (interventions promoting social integration and access to social capital); social identification (interventions enhancing participants’ identification with a group). Overall, the evidence is rather mixed with some SC interventions resulting in little to no difference in depressive symptoms compared to usual care/other interventions. The most promising interventions appear to be those contrasting social disengagement and reducing social isolation in older individuals and in patients with depression, as well as social inclusion interventions for adolescents and young adults. Conclusions The broader implications of SC as a key determinant of depression call for a deep examination of the impact of interventions/preventive programs on the evolving psychopathology of depressive trajectories and inform on which targeted interventions are more effective, thus guiding public health policies. Disclosure of Interest None Declared

In 1885 Lojacono-Pojero described Cistus skanbergi, also known as the dwarf pink rockrose, from the Island of Lampedusa (Sicily, Italy). Despite becoming extinct in its type locality and being very rare in the Mediterranean Basin, during the last decades the plant corresponding to this name, a natural hybrid between C. parviflorus Lam. and C. monspeliensis L., has been successfully cultivated and introduced worldwide for ornamental purposes. The search carried out in several European herbaria allowed to select as lectotype a specimen collected by Lojacono-Pojero and kept at the herbarium of Kew, to detect other isolectotypes, kept in the herbaria of Geneva and Palermo, and to detect another syntype corresponding to a specimen collected by Gussone and currently kept at the herbarium of Palermo.