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Giving the proper citations, it is shown that, except of Lemma 2.4 and Theorem 2.6, almost all the results of the paper in the title have been previously published for ordered hypersemigroups in Eur. J. Pure Appl. Math. and they are not new. There are also two results obtained from ordered semigroups just putting a "o" instead of "o" (that isn't a correct way to work), without reference to ordered semigroups on which the results on ordered hypersemigroups are based. One of them can be obtained as corollary to a theorem in Eur. J. Pure Appl. Math. as well, and it is not new. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although women's representation in STEM fields and occupations has increased, science and math continue to be stereotyped as male domains. This paper links psychological and sociological explanations for gendered disparities in STEM by examining the relationship between the local "micro-situational" female learning environment and the gender gap in academic self-concept in math and science. We applied hybrid models to TIMSS 2015 data comprised of a pseudo-panel of repeated measures for individual student and peer achievement, academic self-concept, utility value, and interest-enjoyment value in math/science (at age 14). We analyzed data from three countries, including a subsample of students who were taught by the same teacher in both math and science, thus eliminating unobserved teacher heterogeneity. Results indicate that female peer climate in the classroom is important for understanding how girls' self-concept in math/science is formed, even though it was unrelated to the gender gap. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Several studies in the mathematical education literature show the effect of students' high school skills in maths on their success at higher levels of education and work. In particular, the importance of maths course taking in US high schools is highlighted to be important for college enrollment and completion. The choice of taking additional maths courses or, as in Italy, of choosing a high-school curriculum with more maths, is not random: it depends on several substantial factors such as gender and socio-economic status. This selection bias implies that the differences in the academic outcomes might be traceable not only to mathematics ability and knowledge. In this paper, the aim is to estimate the treatment effect of attending a relatively new high school curriculum in Italy with more maths, with respect to the traditional track of the scientific "liceo", on two academic outcomes: university enrollment and first-year university performance. After having reduced the selection bias using a caliper multi-level propensity score matching procedure, a multi-state Markov model is used to study the treatment effect on the joint educational outcomes. • The influence of studying more mathematics in high school on academic outcomes. • Multi-level propensity score application on higher education data. • Application of multi-state Markov models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ecoregionalization is the process by which a territory is classified in similar areas according to specific environmental and climatic factors. The climate and the environment strongly influence the presence and distribution of vectors responsible for significant human and animal diseases worldwide. In this paper, we developed a map of the eco-climatic regions of Italy adopting a data-driven spatial clustering approach using recent and detailed spatial data on climatic and environmental factors. We selected seven variables, relevant for a broad set of human and animal vector-borne diseases (VBDs): standard deviation of altitude, mean daytime land surface temperature, mean amplitude and peak timing of the annual cycle of land surface temperature, mean and amplitude of the annual cycle of greenness value, and daily mean amount of rainfall. Principal Component Analysis followed by multivariate geographic clustering using the k-medoids technique were used to group the pixels with similar characteristics into different ecoregions, and at different spatial resolutions (250 m, 1 km and 2 km). We showed that the spatial structure of ecoregions is generally maintained at different spatial resolutions and we compared the resulting ecoregion maps with two datasets related to Bluetongue vectors and West Nile Disease (WND) outbreaks in Italy. The known characteristics of Culicoides imicola habitat were well captured by 2/22 specific ecoregions (at 250 m resolution). Culicoides obsoletus/scoticus occupy all sampled ecoregions, according to its known widespread distribution across the peninsula. WND outbreak locations strongly cluster in 4/22 ecoregions, dominated by human influenced landscape, with intense cultivations and complex irrigation network. This approach could be a supportive tool in case of VBDs, defining pixel-based areas that are conducive environment for VBD spread, indicating where surveillance and prevention measures could be prioritized in Italy. Also, ecoregions suitable to specific VBDs vectors could inform entomological surveillance strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies have shown that educational robotics (ER) may impact student learning, especially in relation to STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) areas. In the STEM framework, particularly for younger children, the "E" and the "T" are considered to be missing letters, because few studies have concentrated on teaching and evaluating technology and engineering through ER activities. This study aimed to develop and test the efficacy of an ER protocol to teach robotics in a sample of 389 students, hypothesizing that girls would be as successful as boys. A Robotics Questionnaire assessing the basics of robotics was developed for this study. A Wilcoxon nonparametric test was performed in order to evaluate improvements (p < 0.05). A Mann–Whitney nonparametric test was performed in order to test the presence of gender differences (p < 0.05). Data indicated significant improvements for all the age ranges considered. No gender differences were found. In order to evaluate the efficacy of a didactic intervention utilizing ER, it is important to assess the impact on children's technological and engineering (robotics, in particular) knowledge. Lay Description: What is already known about this topic: Studies have shown that educational robotics (ER) has a potential impact on student learning.In the STEM framework, the "E" and the "T" are considered the STEM missing letters.What this paper adds: This study aims at developing and testing the efficacy of an ER protocol to teach robotics.The hypothesis that girls will be equally successful than boys is explored too, and no gender differences were found.Implications for practice and/or policy: Our results suggest that ER can be utilized to learn robotics, bringing technology in the schools.ER could be considered as a tool able to contribute to girl's involvement in STEM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper outlines the results of a study aimed at charting the spread and development of the mathematical sciences in Sardinia over the period from 1720, the year in which the island was awarded to the Savoy dynasty following the Treaty of The Hague, to 1848, the year in which King Charles Albert of Sardinia placed Sardinia on a level political and administrative footing with the Kingdom's mainland territory. In particular, the paper analyses the role played in the transmission and spread of mathematics by the Savoy educational institutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The cost of medical treatments may undermine timely and effective access to healthcare. We believe it is useful to examine innovative business models recently introduced in European countries, borrowing from less developed economies. This paper aims to analyze new business models of healthcare service provision that have recently been introduced in Italy, and its social component. In particular, we analyze the low cost business model in Italian healthcare. We carried out a comparative case study of three Italian low-cost organizations. The cases were selected using four social criteria: start-up capital; social value proposition; social value equation; and social profit equation. From the comparative case study, six main themes emerged: 1. Social relationships; 2. recruiting and engagement of medical and nursing personnel; 3. economies of scale; 4. cross subsidization; 5. management of financial surpluses; 6. patient involvement and participation. The cases reveal new ways of healthcare service provision and unravel innovative organizational dimensions falling into the low cost business model. The organizations both maximize profit and respond to the social need for healthcare at relatively low costs. The low cost business model is therefore able to respond to the demand for affordable healthcare, while providing social innovation. • The cases reveal different ways of healthcare service provision. • The cases unravel innovative organizational dimensions falling into the low cost model. • Low cost organizations respond to the social need for healthcare. • The low cost business model respond to the demand for affordable healthcare. • The low cost business model provides social innovation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]