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Seen as one of the essential domains for active citizenship, examining how students relate to science has become crucial. Based on a person-centered approach, this article investigates self-related dispositions and motivation in science using the 2015 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) data set. By employing a latent profile analysis, student profiles were investigated among 11,583 15-year-old-students in Italy. Five distinct student groups were identified. The index of economic, social, and cultural status (ESCS), immigrant background, gender, study programs, and the accompanying learning environment were also inspected. Each group was observed against particular subdomains in science competence in line with the PISA framework and environmental awareness. The results indicate the profiles differed on the examined covariates and showed distinct patterns relative to achievement and environmental awareness. However, differences in achievement between the profiles could not be explained by students' variability in immigrant background or ESCS across the examined groups.

This study provides new insights onto spatial and temporal trends of seafloor macro-litter in the abyssal seafloor of Sardinian channel, in central western Mediterranean (Italy). Trawl surveys were conducted at depths between 884 and 1528 m, thus focusing on one of the least investigated marine environments. None of the considered sites was litter free, with plastics being numerically dominant (57% of items), followed by metal (11%) and glass (16%). Recorded densities and weight ranged between 49.9 and 499 items km−2 and 1.4 and 1052 kg km−2. In the most contaminated sites, the weight of the litter collected in nets represented up to nine times the biomass of benthic megafauna, and, overall, in 60% of hauls macro-litter mass outweighed the biomass collected. Moreover, we report that megafauna was observed to be more abundant in sites where macro-litter presence was more severe. More studies are needed to elucidate the nature of this correlation, with biota being more abundant in hotspots of accumulation of seafloor macro-litter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is a consensus that the items proposed by the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) program allow us to focus on the outcomes of the processes of appropriation and transformation of learning tools at the end of compulsory schooling, particularly regarding the key competencies for lifelong learning and citizenship in digital societies. Taking into account these assumptions, this paper focuses on a fine-grained analysis of the dynamics of students' performance when they are confronted with a question from the mathematics domain in PISA 2012, through the example of the Climbing Mount Fuji item (question 1). In the context of the interaction dynamics (between a student and a research assistant), twelve 15-year-old students from Naples (Campania, Italy) were requested to think aloud when answering the question 1 of the item. Verbatim transcripts of the interactions are analyzed from the point of view of the PISA framework, the mathematical educational framework, and the socio-psychological approach based on didactic contract. The results show that the students involved in this task commit themselves in a complex reasoning, relying on mathematical requirements (e.g., different mathematical procedures) in an attempt to resolve ambiguities in the text, also referring to their everyday school life, activated by the didactic contract implied by the scenario of the question. The interweaving of PISA performances, mathematical procedures, and the socio-psychological approach to test assessment is discussed as a tool for a better understanding of teaching and learning activities.

This paper deals with an empirical study undertaken at the University of Bologna about the social representations of music held by university students studying to become teachers in nursery, kindergarten and primary education. An open questionnaire was submitted to the university students at the beginning and end of the music education teaching courses over the academic years 2003-2006. Eight hundred and fifty-five questionnaires were collected. We first classified the answers in different categories. Then we undertook frequency counts of the specific key words and carried out multiple correspondence analysis to analyse the co-occurrence of words. The results show significant co-occurrence of words concerning the prototype of "musical child" and the conceptions of "music", "musicality", "music teacher" and "music education". Some "turning points" concerning the conceptions of music and prototypes of the musical child occurred during the music education courses, showing that these concepts become richer, more professional and more varied in their nature. In conclusion, university music training could be one of the fields for explicating students' knowledge of music and developing their self-efficacy. (Contains 2 tables and 6 figures.)

Achievement evaluation in school contexts may be considered as a kind of social judgment, which is affected by social and moral determinants since it is not merely an estimation of pupils' accomplishment (Dompnier, Pansu, & Bressoux, 2006; Weiner, 2003). Teachers' judgments have been investigated starting from the analysis of two theoretical approaches: the norm of internality (Dubois, 2003), and the attributional approach to social motivation (Weiner, 2006). In order to study the social valorization of internal explanations referring to effort in school context, an empirical research has been conducted. Our study investigates how teachers evaluate fictitious pupils, which are supposed to explain events by means of different types of causal explanations. According to our results, pupils providing effort-based explanations receive more positive judgments. Findings are discussed by considering effort as a key principle of school environments. (Contains 4 notes.)

Simple Summary: The European spiny lobster Palinurus elephas is a species with a high commercial value that inhabits the Mediterranean Sea and the adjacent Atlantic waters and is classified by IUCN as vulnerable due to its continuous overfishing. In this study, we analyse the reproductive parameters of P. elephas populations in two different fully protected areas, including their surrounding commercial zones, in Sardinia (Italy, central-western Mediterranean), where a restocking programme was carried out. Here, data on fecundity, size at maturity, vitellogenin concentration and temporal trends of egg production of P. elephas was provided, and the relevance of this information for fisheries management and conservation planning is discussed. In 1990s, the European spiny lobster Palinurus elephas, one of the most commercially important species in the Mediterranean, exhibited a population decline. For this reason, fully protected areas (FPAs) appeared effective in re-establishing natural populations and supporting fishery-management objectives. Here, the reproductive parameters of P. elephas populations in two different FPAs (Su Pallosu and Buggerru, central-western Mediterranean), where a restocking programme was carried out, and in their surrounding commercial zones, were investigated from quantitative and qualitative perspectives. The comparison of fecundity between females collected inside and outside FPAs did not show statistical differences as well as the vitellogenin concentration, which did not vary among eggs of different size classes of females caught inside and outside the FPAs, indicating the same reproductive potential. The study demonstrated a benefit of overexploited populations in terms of enhancement of egg production overtime (15 years for Su Pallosu and 6 years for Buggerru) with a mean egg production 4.25–5.5 times higher at the end of the study than that observed at the beginning of the study. The main driver of eggs production appeared to be size, with larger lobsters more present inside the FPAs than outside. Given these results, the dominant contribution of the two studied FPAs to the regional lobster reproduction is remarkable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Recurrence of tuberculosis (TB) can be the consequence of relapse or exogenous reinfection. The study aimed to assess the factors associated with exogenous TB reinfection. Methods: Prospective cohort study based on the TB database, maintained at the Division of Infectious Diseases, Luigi Sacco Hospital (Milan, Italy). Time period: 1995-2010. Inclusion criteria: (1) ≥2 episodes of culture-confirmed TB; (2) cure of the first episode of TB; (3) availability of one Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolate for each episode. Genotyping of the M. tuberculosis strains to differentiate relapse and exogenous reinfection. Logistic regression analysis was used to assess the influence of risk factors on exogenous reinfections. Result: Of the 4682 patients with TB, 83 were included. Of these, exogenous reinfection was diagnosed in 19 (23 %). It was independently associated with absence of multidrug resistance at the first episode [0, 10 (0.01-0.95), p = 0.045] and with prolonged interval between the first TB episode and its recurrence [7.38 (1.92-28.32) p = 0.004]. However, TB relapses occurred until 4 years after the first episode. The risk associated with being foreign born, extrapulmonary site of TB, and HIV infection was not statistically significant. In the relapse and re-infection cohort, one-third of the patients showed a worsened drug resistance profile during the recurrent TB episode. Conclusions: Exogenous TB reinfections have been documented in low endemic areas, such as Italy. A causal association with HIV infection could not be confirmed. Relapses and exogenous reinfections shared an augmented risk of multidrug resistance development, frequently requiring the use of second-line anti-TB regimens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adsorptive cathodic stripping voltammetry (AdCSV) with HDME and a chloranilic acid ligand was used in the trace analysis of uranyl ions at pH = 2 in low-ionic-strength groundwaters around mining areas. Upon optimization, the limit of detection around 0.10 µg L-1 was found with linearity up to 10 µg L-1. In the abandoned mining area of Val Vedello (Orobic Alps, Italy), measured uranium concentrations in water ranged from 0.3 µg L-1 above the uranium mineralization levels to 145 µg L-1 in groundwaters percolating from mine galleries. Such uranium concentrations are related to natural weathering effects of CO2 and/or hydrogen carbonate ion on uranium mineralizations under oxic conditions. A marked seasonal dependence was then found, in agreement with literature data on a pre-operational survey dating back to 1980-1981. No significant chemical impact of the abandoned mining activity on groundwater quality could be found. Accordingly, no significant increase in contaminants derived from the heat-burn of explosives, such as chloride and nitrate, in groundwaters from mine galleries was found. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]