Search

The contribution offers historical, legislative, and mapping elements of initiatives to contrast educational poverty within the decentralization processes in the national context. The roles of the Ministry of Education in its action as central coordinator and of peripheral bodies, including the Regional School Offices (USR), are part of the analysis. Specific attention is paid to the role of the Regions and organizations delegated by governments in the implementation of initiatives to combat educational poverty within the difficult decentralization processes implemented in the country. Main results underline the need to strengthen the role of peripheral entities to allow greater effectiveness in the calibration of interventions.

Increasing attention has been paid to the vertical and horizontal dimensions of education in recent years. The vertical dimension refers to the decentralization of powers towards intermediate public and non-public organizations. The horizontal dimension refers to school managers’ and teachers’ power to create school networks and peer relations among schools. National and supranational governing bodies, based on the increasing legitimacy of polycentrism in assessment measures, are adapting their approach to a decentralized decision-making process, creating a link between local and core systems. Focusing on a specific study of decentralization in Italy, a review of the main laws and directions regulating the evaluation system will be introduced to describe the main actions implemented at a decentralized level to support schools in the process of self-assessment and improvement. Specific attention is paid to the definition of the objects and main activities of funded projects, enabling us to identify the main areas of attention in schools in reference to the outcomes, processes and main activities developed in the field. The documentary analysis of both web portals and funded projects shows the complexity of the improvement process due to the articulated ways in which schools proposed it.

Epidemiological and experimental studies have demonstrated that urban pollutants can cause chronic inflammation and higher tumour incidence in the dog airways. To assess if objectively measured lung changes can be proposed as a model to monitor public health risks related to air pollution, a retrospective study has been undertaken on 200 formalin fixed paraffin embedded randomly selected samples of canine lungs archived from 1975 to 2005. Histological sections stained with HE, Perls for iron and Masson trichrome for collagen, have been observed in transmitted and polarised light to assess the deposit of particulate matter and the degree of interstitial fibrosis. All parameters have been graded subjectively and also measured objectively by image analysis, and related to the dog age, sex, breed, lung changes and the epoch of sampling. Pneumoconiosis ranged from 0,02 to 1,52% of lung tissue, and was represented by black dust or grey crystalline refractile particles within macrophages in the peribronchiolar and perivascular interstitium. There was significant correlation between pneumoconiosis degree as subjectively estimated or measured by image analysis, but there was not strict association with other considered parameters. Regardless of concurrent diseases, interstitial fibrosis ranged from 0,55 to 34,95% of lung tissue, and was associated with higher deposits of crystalline dusts.

Ce rapport contient l’analyse des principaux résultats de l’enquête sur les conditions de vie des ménages en Haïti après le séisme (ECVMAS) réalisée en 2012 par l’IHSI en partenariat avec DIAL et la Banque mondiale (BM). Ces travaux ont bénéficié d’un financement de l’Agence Nationale de la Recherche (projet de recherche Evaluation d’Impact en Haïti Après le Séisme (EISHA)) et du programme NOPOOR de la Commission Européenne. Ce rapport matérialise et illustre la réussite de cette collaboration. Il reflète aussi la réussite moins visible mais non moins importante de la production de nouveaux outils et d’un savoir-faire permettant d’améliorer la connaissance des conditions de vie de la population après le séisme et mieux comprendre les dynamiques à l’½uvre dans le marché du travail. De par les spécificités et la complexité de la société haïtienne, il a fallu faire preuve de créativité et d’originalité afin de pouvoir mieux l’appréhender.

MODY2 is the most prevalent monogenic form of diabetes in Italy with an estimated prevalence of about 0.5-1.5%. MODY2 is potentially indistinguishable from other forms of diabetes, however, its identification impacts on patients' quality of life and healthcare resources. Unfortunately, DNA direct sequencing as diagnostic test is not readily accessible and expensive. In addition current guidelines, aiming to establish when the test should be performed, proved a poor detection rate. Aim of this study is to propose a reliable and easy-to-use tool to identify candidate patients for MODY2 genetic testing. We designed and validated a diagnostic flowchart in the attempt to improve the detection rate and to increase the number of properly requested tests. The flowchart, called 7-iF, consists of 7 binary "yes or no" questions and its unequivocal output is an indication for whether testing or not. We tested the 7-iF to estimate its clinical utility in comparison to the clinical suspicion alone. The 7-iF, in a prospective 2-year study (921 diabetic children) showed a precision of about the 76%. Using retrospective data, the 7-iF showed a precision in identifying MODY2 patients of about 80% compared to the 40% of the clinical suspicion. On the other hand, despite a relatively high number of missing MODY2 patients, the 7-iF would not suggest the test for 90% of the non-MODY2 patients, demonstrating that a wide application of this method might 1) help less experienced clinicians in suspecting MODY2 patients and 2) reducing the number of unnecessary tests. With the 7-iF, a clinician can feel confident of identifying a potential case of MODY2 and suggest the molecular test without fear of wasting time and money. A Qaly-type analysis estimated an increase in the patients' quality of life and savings for the health care system of about 9 million euros per year.

A new analysis of large-sample surveys in five comparable Sub-Saharan African countries allows measuring for the first time inequality of opportunity in Africa, aside inequality of resources and of living standards. We confirm the prevalence of high levels of inequality among the region’s countries. Yet we also find considerable differences in the structures of this inequality. Furthermore, intergenerational educational and occupational mobility and the equality of opportunity for income between social origins are quite definitely greater in countries where income inequality is lower, such as Ghana and Uganda, than in higher-inequality countries such as Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea and Madagascar.

To the Editor, Activating missense mutations in the gene encoding potassium inwardly rectifying channel, subfamily J, member 11 (KCNJ11) represent the most common cause (40 to 64%, depending on populations) of permanent neonatal diabetes mellitus in patients diagnosed in the first 6 months of life [1, 2]. In addition, KCNJ11 activating mutations can lead to transient/relapsing neonatal diabetes [3, 4]. The KCNJ11 gene encodes the pore-forming subunit (also known as KIR6.2) of the pancreatic beta cell ATP-sensitive potassium channel (KATP), which exerts a pivotal role in glucose-regulated insulin release. In the beta cell, KIR6.2 forms a hetero-octameric complex (4:4) with the sulfonylurea receptor subtype 1 (SUR1); binding to SUR1 by sulfonylureas determines channel closure and insulin secretion [2]. In previously published cases, seven patients have been reported to respond well to the transfer from insulin to oral hypoglycaemic agents [4–8]. Here we report on the replacement of insulin with sulfonylureas in ten Italian children who have mutations in KCNJ11 (R50P, V59M [x4], K170R, R201C and R201H [x3]) and were followed in nine Diabetologia (2006) 49:2210–2213 DOI 10.1007/s00125-006-0329-x

Since the 2010 IAEA-FEC Conference, FTU has exploited improvements in cleaning procedures and in the density control system to complete a systematic exploration of access to high-density conditions in a wide range of plasma currents and magnetic fields. The line-averaged densities at the disruptive limit increased more than linearly with the toroidal field, while no dependence on plasma current was found; in fact, the maximum density of 4.3 × 10 20 m-3 was reached at B = 8 T even at the minimum current of 0.5 MA, corresponding to twice the Greenwald limit. The lack of plasma current dependence was due to the increase in density peaking with the safety factor. Experiments with the 140 GHz electron cyclotron resonance heating (ECRH) system were focused on the sawtooth (ST) period control and on the commissioning of a new launcher with real-time steering capability that will act as the front-end actuator of a real-time system for ST period control and tearing mode stabilization. Various ECRH and electron cyclotron current-drive modulation schemes were used; with the fastest one, the ST period synchronized with an 8 ms modulation period. The observed period variations were simulated using the JETTO code with a critical shear model for the crash trigger. The new launcher was of the plug-in type, allowing quick insertion and connection to the transmission line. Both beam characteristics and steering speed were in line with design expectation. Experimental results on the connection between improved coupling of lower hybrid waves in high-density plasmas and reduced wave spectral broadening were interpreted by fully kinetic, non-linear model calculations. A dual-frequency, time-of-flight diagnostic for the measurement of density profiles was developed and successfully tested. Fishbone-like instabilities driven by energetic electrons were simulated by the hybrid MHD-gyrokinetic XHMGC code. © 2013 IAEA, Vienna.