253 research outputs found
Identità multiple : 10, 11, 12 dicembre 2020, Università di Pisa, Dipartimento di civiltà e forme del sapere
No full textQuali sono e come si manifestano i tratti dell’identità sociale? Quali dinamiche coinvolgono l’identità dell’individuo in un contesto di disuguaglianza sociale? In che modo la religione influisce sulla definizione dell’appartenenza comunitaria? Come le diverse esperienze di mobilità condizionano la definizione di appartenenza a una comunità? In che modo fattori di genere, etnia e classe contribuiscono alla definizione di una subalternità e diversità dell’altro? Studiosi e studiose di diverse nazionalità hanno cercato di rispondere in una prospettiva diacronica dalle società antiche fino alla progressiva costruzione di diverse forme di appartenenza e definizione comunitaria del XX secolo. A cura di Riccardo Andreozzi, Alessandro Galli, Michela Guidi, Silvia Lischi, Michele Magri, Gaia Manetti, Sara Quaggio e Bruno Walter Renato Toscano
Coherent motion and coherent form perception in developmental dyslexia
No full textThe role of visual perception in Developmental Dyslexia (DD) is still controversial. Although the Magnocellular theory of DD has been widely criticized, it is still unclear if the deficit in motion perception is specific for the Magnocellular system or if it is connected to a general difficulty in discriminating signal to noise.
The aim of this study is to investigate dorsal and ventral pathways in different conditions of noise in a population of DD. Seventeen DD and forty-three typically developed (TD) children (age 7-12 years) participated in the study. All the subjects performed the Motion coherence test and the Form coherence test. In the motion coherence test the ability in discriminating the direction of luminance coherent moving dots in different levels of noise is reported. The Form test measures the ability in form recognition in different condition of noise.
The MANOVA showed that DD differed from TD both in the Motion and in the Form coherence tests. Moreover, these differences are significant only in intermediate noise conditions.
These results are in accordance with the noise exclusion theory of DD and added important information about the DD deficit in discriminating signal to noise
Quantification of the enantiomeric excess of two APIs by means of near infrared spectroscopy and chemometrics
No full textA method for the quantification of the enantiomeric excess of two pharmaceutical active ingredients (ibuprofen and epinephrine) in the solid state based on coupling near infrared spectroscopy and chemometrics is proposed. In the case of ibuprofen, in the absence of excipients, the method resulted in an accurate prediction of the enantiopurity of the validation samples (RMSEP <2.0% and practically no bias). On the other hand, the use of "matrix-matched" standards, including the most commonly used excipients, allowed to extend the applicability of the approach also to the analysis of commercial drugs (RMSEP = 7.0%). As far as epinephrine is concerned, very accurate results were obtained (RMSEP<2% and bias = 0.5%). (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved
Preliminary Validation of the CI-FRA Checklist: A Simple Screening Tool for Measuring the Early Signs of Reading and Spelling Disorders in Italian Primary Students
No full textAlthough several screening tests for recognizing early signs of reading and spelling
difficulties have been developed, brief and methodologically grounded tools for teachers
are very limited. The present study aimed to lay the foundation for a new screening tool
for teachers: the Checklist for early Indicators of risk Factors in Reading Ability (CI-FRA).
The proposed checklist consists of 20 items, based on a 7-point Likert scale, and it
investigates five domains: reading, writing, attention, and motor skills. Six hundred sixtyseven
children were evaluated by 40 teachers during the first year of primary school
and, longitudinally, in the second year. Exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory
factor analysis (CFA) were applied to verify structural validity. Concurrent validity was
assessed by Spearman correlation to analyze the link between CI-FRA and reading and
spelling standardized tests and cognitive tests. Reliability was assessed by Cronbach a
and interclass correlation coefficient. The CFA reported a three-factor structure as the
optimal solution, including language (reading and writing), visuospatial attention, and fine
motor skills subscales. Good reliability, good internal consistency, and acceptable test–
retest indices were found. Concurrent validity was confirmed by significant correlations
between CI-FRA total score and standardized reading and spelling test, as well as
by correlations between CI-FRA subscales and neuropsychological standardized test
scores. Preliminary evaluation of sensitivity by receiver operating characteristic curves
showed that the CI-FRA score has particularly high sensitivity and specificity for word
reading speed deficit. In conclusion, the results confirm that CI-FRA is a theoretically
grounded and statistically valid tool that could help the teachers to screen for early
signs of reading and spelling difficulties
Preliminary evidence on machine learning approaches for clusterizing students’ cognitive profile
No full textAssessing the cognitive abilities of students in academic contexts can provide valuable insights for teachers to identify their cognitive profile and create personalized teaching strategies. While numerous studies have demonstrated promising outcomes in clustering students based on their cognitive profiles, effective comparisons between various clustering methods are lacking in the current literature.
In this study, we aim to compare the effectiveness of two clustering techniques to group students based on their cognitive abilities including general intelligence, attention, visual perception, working memory, and phonological awareness. 292 students, aged 11–15 years, participated in the study.
A two-level approach based on the joint use of Kohonen's Self-Organizing Map (SOMs) and k-means clustering algorithm was compared with an approach based on the k-means clustering algorithm only. The resulting profiles were then predicted via AdaBoost and ANN supervised algorithms.
The results showed that the two-level approach provides the best solution for this problem while the ANN algorithm was the winner in the classification problem.
These results laying the foundations for developing a useful instrument for predicting the students’ cognitive profile
Relazione tra Inibizione Comportamentale valutata da madri e insegnanti e competenze metafonologiche.
No full textThe seasonal response of in situ denitrification and DNRA rates to increasing nitrate availability
No full textClimate change may dramatically increase nitrate (NO3-) production and transport from watersheds to the coastal area due to short-term heavy precipitation events. However, the response of the coastal filter to such pulse NO3- delivery is poorly studied. We measured NO3- reduction rates via denitrification and DNRA in intact sediments collected from the Goro Lagoon (Po River Delta, Italy). We contrasted 2 seasons (spring and summer) and 2 sites (with lower and higher than average lagoon salinity). We performed (NO3-)-N-15 additions along a concentration series (50-2000 mu M) far exceeding the annual NO3- variations (20-150 mu M) to quantify nitrate reduction saturation thresholds. In both seasons and sites denitrification largely outcompeted DNRA and increased along the NO3- gradient, following Michaelis-Menten kinetics. At the site characterized by low salinity, maximum potential denitrification rates decreased from spring to summer, following the decrease in the abundance of burrowing macrofauna. DNRA followed the same seasonal trend but was not affected by NO3- addition. At the site characterized by high salinity, denitrification rates slightly increased and DNRA decreased from spring to summer, despite the establishment of chemically reduced conditions and the increase in pore water free sulfides concentration. The Goro Lagoon sediments displayed elevated buffering capacity against NO3- pulse additions. Such buffer capacity was mainly supported by denitrification through spring bioturbation, decreased summer path length of NO3- to the anoxic zone, and unknown mechanisms preventing sulfide toxicity and the dominance of DNRA at the high salinity site
T Magri, Contratto e convenzione. Razionalità, obbligo e imparzialità in Hobbes e Hume
No full textThe author examines Hobbes and Hume in the light of recent proposals of neo-Hobbesian political theories. Magri concludes that Hobbes and Hume's strategies would be plausible from the point of view of liberal thinking if they succeeded; the difficulty, however, is that both systems fail to overcome the barrier between individual interests and moral and political principles
Internalizing Symptoms in Developmental Dyslexia: A Comparison Between Primary and Secondary School
No full textAlthough the relationship between developmental dyslexia (DD) and the risk of
occurrence of internalizing symptomatology has been widely investigated in the extant
literature, different findings have been reported. In this study, two experiments with two
general purposes are presented. The first study investigates whether the differences
in the severity of internalizing symptoms between DD and controls are greater in
students attending secondary school than in those attending primary school. Sixtyfive
DD and 169 controls attending primary and secondary school took part in the
first study. The diagnosis of dyslexia was obtained from standardized reading tests;
internalizing symptom severity was assessed with the Self Administrated Psychiatric
Scales for Children and Adolescents questionnaire. The results showed that adolescents
with dyslexia had an increased level of self-perceived anxiety, depression and somatic
symptoms, whereas no significant differences between DD and controls emerged
in childhood. In the second study, a cohort of adolescents attending secondary
school (DD = 44; controls = 51) was closely analyzed to clarify whether contextual
and subjective factors could contribute toward exacerbating the risk of internalizing
symptomatology at that age. Internalizing symptom severity was assessed with the
Child Behavior Checklist, Youth Self Report questionnaire, decision-making factors
were measured with the Melbourne Decision Making Questionnaire, and student’s
quality of life was gaged using the Clipper test. The results showed that high levels
of internalizing symptoms in DD were associated with a low level of self-esteem and the
tendency to react to problematic situations with hyperactivation. By contrast, positive
relationships with peers were associated with low symptom severity. In conclusion, the
intensified internalizing symptoms that could emerge in adolescents in association with
the presence of dyslexia are predicted by social protective and risk factors that are
associated with symptom severity. Accordingly, the results suggest that remediation
programs for dyslexia should include implementing motivation strategies, self-esteem
enhancement activities and building peers networks that, starting in childhood, can
prevent the appearance of internalizing symptoms
- …
