How teachers think about the role of digital technologies in student assessment in mathematics

This study concerns teachers’ use of digital technologies in student assessment, and how the learning that is developed through the use of technology in mathematics can be evaluated. Nowadays math teachers use digital technologies in their teaching, but not in student assessment. The activities carried out with technology are seen as ‘extra-curricular’ (by both teachers and students), thus students do not learn what they can do in mathematics with digital technologies. I was interested in knowing the reasons teachers do not use digital technology to assess students’ competencies, and what they would need to be able to design innovative and appropriate tasks to assess students’ learning through digital technology. This dissertation is built on two main components: teachers and task design. I analyze teachers’ practices involving digital technologies with Ruthven’s Structuring Features of Classroom Practice, and what relation these practices have to the types of assessment they use. I study the kinds of assessment tasks teachers design with a DGE (Dynamic Geometry Environment), using Laborde’s categorization of DGE tasks. I consider the competencies teachers aim to assess with these tasks, and how their goals relate to the learning outcomes of the curriculum. This study also develops new directions in finding how to design suitable tasks for student mathematical assessment in a DGE, and it is driven by the desire to know what kinds of questions teachers might be more interested in using. I investigate the kinds of technology-based assessment tasks teachers value, and the type of feedback they give to students. Finally, I point out that the curriculum should include a range of mathematical and technological competencies that involve the use of digital technologies in mathematics, and I evaluate the possibility to take advantage of technology feedback to allow students to continue learning while they are taking a test.

Pratiche di formative assessment per promuovere abilita di comprensione dei testi. Una sperimentazione in una scuola secondaria di primo grado

I dati delle indagini sugli apprendimenti degli studenti in Italia rivelano l’esistenza di fragilità nell’acquisizione di competenze essenziali e di differenze tra i risultati conseguiti. Per innovare la didattica al fine di adeguarla ai bisogni degli studenti, gli esperti di Docimologia caldeggiano l’uso di pratiche di valutazione formativa, o formative assessment (FA). In ambito internazionale diversi studi hanno mostrato l'efficacia di tali prassi, mentre in Italia non esistono ricerche sperimentali finalizzate a studiarne l’impatto sugli apprendimenti. Il progetto è entrato all’interno di quest’ambito di studi per controllare l’efficacia di un insieme di pratiche di FA sull'incremento delle abilità di comprensione dei testi degli studenti. Lo scopo è stato perseguito realizzando una sperimentazione in una scuola secondaria di primo grado che ha coinvolto gli studenti di due classi prime, i quali sono stati suddivisi a metà attraverso tecniche di randomizzazione per formare i due gruppi, sperimentale e di controllo. Dopo aver effettuato una rilevazione iniziale delle abilità di comprensione dei testi degli studenti (pre-test), è stato realizzato con quelli del gruppo sperimentale un intervento composto da 15 incontri di FA della durata di due ore ciascuno. Alla fine, sono state effettuate due rilevazioni finali (post-test) utilizzando sia la stessa prova utilizzata come pre-test sia una prova parallela. È stata calcolata la differenza post-test-pre-test per ogni gruppo ed è stato verificato quanto avesse influito la partecipazione all’intervento sperimentale su tale differenza tramite test non parametrici. I risultati hanno mostrato un incremento di abilità lievemente maggiore nel gruppo sperimentale, se confrontato con quello del gruppo di controllo, anche se questa differenza tra i due gruppi non è statisticamente significativa. Sebbene le analisi non abbiano consentito di rifiutare l’ipotesi nulla, la rilevanza di tale progetto risiede nel tentativo di aprire il dibattito sull’efficacia di prassi di FA sugli apprendimenti degli studenti in Italia.

Development of quantitative methods for sustainability assessment in process industry

The increasing aversion to technological risks of the society requires the development of inherently safer and environmentally friendlier processes, besides assuring the economic competitiveness of the industrial activities. The different forms of impact (e.g. environmental, economic and societal) are frequently characterized by conflicting reduction strategies and must be holistically taken into account in order to identify the optimal solutions in process design. Though the literature reports an extensive discussion of strategies and specific principles, quantitative assessment tools are required to identify the marginal improvements in alternative design options, to allow the trade-off among contradictory aspects and to prevent the “risk shift”. In the present work a set of integrated quantitative tools for design assessment (i.e. design support system) was developed. The tools were specifically dedicated to the implementation of sustainability and inherent safety in process and plant design activities, with respect to chemical and industrial processes in which substances dangerous for humans and environment are used or stored. The tools were mainly devoted to the application in the stages of “conceptual” and “basic design”, when the project is still open to changes (due to the large number of degrees of freedom) which may comprise of strategies to improve sustainability and inherent safety. The set of developed tools includes different phases of the design activities, all through the lifecycle of a project (inventories, process flow diagrams, preliminary plant lay-out plans). The development of such tools gives a substantial contribution to fill the present gap in the availability of sound supports for implementing safety and sustainability in early phases of process design. The proposed decision support system was based on the development of a set of leading key performance indicators (KPIs), which ensure the assessment of economic, societal and environmental impacts of a process (i.e. sustainability profile). The KPIs were based on impact models (also complex), but are easy and swift in the practical application. Their full evaluation is possible also starting from the limited data available during early process design. Innovative reference criteria were developed to compare and aggregate the KPIs on the basis of the actual sitespecific impact burden and the sustainability policy. Particular attention was devoted to the development of reliable criteria and tools for the assessment of inherent safety in different stages of the project lifecycle. The assessment follows an innovative approach in the analysis of inherent safety, based on both the calculation of the expected consequences of potential accidents and the evaluation of the hazards related to equipment. The methodology overrides several problems present in the previous methods proposed for quantitative inherent safety assessment (use of arbitrary indexes, subjective judgement, build-in assumptions, etc.). A specific procedure was defined for the assessment of the hazards related to the formations of undesired substances in chemical systems undergoing “out of control” conditions. In the assessment of layout plans, “ad hoc” tools were developed to account for the hazard of domino escalations and the safety economics. The effectiveness and value of the tools were demonstrated by the application to a large number of case studies concerning different kinds of design activities (choice of materials, design of the process, of the plant, of the layout) and different types of processes/plants (chemical industry, storage facilities, waste disposal). An experimental survey (analysis of the thermal stability of isomers of nitrobenzaldehyde) provided the input data necessary to demonstrate the method for inherent safety assessment of materials.

Functional components and lipid quality assessment in vegetable foods: analytical and technological approaches

Lipids are important components that contribute very significantly to nutritional and technological quality of foods because they are the least stable macro-components in foods, due to high susceptibility to oxidation. When rancidity take place, it makes food unhealthy and unacceptable for consumers. Thus, the presence of antioxidants, naturally present of added to foods, is required to enhance shelf life of foods. Moreover, antioxidant like phenolic compounds play an important role in human health enhancing the functionality of foods. The aim of this PhD project was the study of lipid quality and lipid oxidation in different vegetable foods focusing on analytical and technological aspects in order to figure out the effects of lipid composition and bioactive compounds (phenolic compounds, omega-3 fatty acids and dietary fiber) addition on their shelf life. In addition, bioavailability and antioxidant effects of phenolic compounds in human and animals, respectively, were evaluated after consumption of vegetable foods. The first section of the work was focused on the evaluation of lipid quality impact on technological behaviour of vegetable foods. Because of that, cocoa butter with different melting point were evaluated by chromatographic techniques (GC, TLC) and the sample with the higher melting point showed the presence of fatty acids, triglycerides, 2-monoglycerides and FT-IR profile different from genuine cocoa butter, meaning an adding of foreign fat (lauric-fat) not allowed by the law. Looking at lipid quality of other vegetable foods, an accelerated shelf life test (OXITEST®), was used to evaluate of lipid stability to oxidation in tarallini snacks made up using different lipid matrices (sunflower oil, extravirgin olive oil and a blend of extravirgin olive oil and lard). The results showed a good ability of OXITEST® to discriminate between lipid unsaturation and different cooking times, without any samples fat extraction. In the second section, the role of bioactive compounds on cereal based food shelf life was studied in different bakeries by GC, spectrophotometric methods and capillary electrophoresis. It was examined the relationships between phenolic compounds, added with flour, and lipid oxidation of tarallini and frollini. Both products showed an increase in lipid oxidation during storage and antioxidant effects on lipid oxidation were not as expected. Furthermore, the influence of enrichment in polyunsaturated fatty acids on lipid oxidation of pasta was evaluated. The results proved that LC n-3 PUFA were not significantly implicated in the onset of oxidation in spaghetti stored under daylight and accelerated oxidation in a laboratory heater. The importance of phenolic compounds as antioxidant in humans and rats was also studied, by HPLC/MS in the latter section. For this purpose, apigenin and apigenin glycosides excretion was investigated in six women’s urine in a 24 hours study. After a single dose of steamed artichokes, both aglicone and glucuronide metabolites were recovered in 24 h urine. Moreover, the effect of whole grain durum wheat bread and whole grain Kamut® khorasan bread in rats were evaluated. Both cereals were good sources of antioxidants but Kamut® bread fed animals had a better response to stress than wheat durum fed, especially when a sourdough bread was supplied.

Development of a patient-specific model for stroke risk assessment in atrial fibrillation patients

Atrial fibrillation is associated with a five-fold increase in the risk of cerebrovascular events,being responsible of 15-18% of all strokes.The morphological and functional remodelling of the left atrium caused by atrial fibrillation favours blood stasis and, consequently, stroke risk. In this context, several clinical studies suggest that stroke risk stratification could be improved by using haemodynamic information on the left atrium (LA) and the left atrial appendage (LAA). The goal of this study was to develop a personalized computational fluid-dynamics (CFD) model of the left atrium which could clarify the haemodynamic implications of atrial fibrillation on a patient specific basis. The developed CFD model was first applied to better understand the role of LAA in stroke risk. Infact, the interplay of the LAA geometric parameters such as LAA length, tortuosity, surface area and volume with the fluid-dynamics parameters and the effects of the LAA closure have not been investigated. Results demonstrated the capabilities of the CFD model to reproduce the real physiological behaviour of the blood flow dynamics inside the LA and the LAA. Finally, we determined that the fluid-dynamics parameters enhanced in this research project could be used as new quantitative indexes to describe the different types of AF and open new scenarios for the patient-specific stroke risk stratification.

European Union (EU) general farm animal directive applicability in Africa and bovine welfare assessment in Italy

The was conducted with objectives focusing on the EU farm animal directive and applicability in Africa focusing in Ethiopia, the welfare assessment and the effect of different bovine respiratory disease (BRD) treatment protocols in beef cattle fattening unit and the calves navel healing and fitness for transport. Different methodology was applied: relevant literates, international organization, regional organization, countries legislations, standards were assessed and reviewed, for assessing beef welfare and biosecurity a modified version of the Italian protocol for assessing beef cattle was adopted which is part of the ClassyFarm monitoring scheme, 264 Limousine bulls with an average age of 11 months at the entrance to fattening unit were considered. Mycoplasma bovis was tested using RT-PCR at arrival and with culture at after 15 days of arrival to the fattening unit. For studying the navel healing and effect on transport the navels of 299 dairy calves (55 males, 244 females) aged 0–90 days were examined. As a conclusion, the European Union (EU) farm directive, could not be completely implement in African countries like Ethiopia, but it could serve as a good starting point, so as after successful identification of the farm animal welfare critical points may help as a starting point with modification to the local situation in the ground. In beef welfare assessment, integration of different assessment parameters could be of useful, when assessing beef welfare, and further continues detail physiological parameters of welfare assessment for integration with other assessment protocols should be studied, our finding indicate that also BRD was a major welfare and health concern in the studied population and evidence the difficulties of antimicrobial treatment of M. bovis associated BRD. In transporting calves with a completely healed navel should be considered best practice because it ensures that calves that are too young are not transported.

Network analysis and machine learning assist drug repurposing and safety assessment in neurological diseases

In recent decades, two prominent trends have influenced the data modeling field, namely network analysis and machine learning. This thesis explores the practical applications of these techniques within the domain of drug research, unveiling their multifaceted potential for advancing our comprehension of complex biological systems. The research undertaken during this PhD program is situated at the intersection of network theory, computational methods, and drug research. Across six projects presented herein, there is a gradual increase in model complexity. These projects traverse a diverse range of topics, with a specific emphasis on drug repurposing and safety in the context of neurological diseases. The aim of these projects is to leverage existing biomedical knowledge to develop innovative approaches that bolster drug research. The investigations have produced practical solutions, not only providing insights into the intricacies of biological systems, but also allowing the creation of valuable tools for their analysis. In short, the achievements are: • A novel computational algorithm to identify adverse events specific to fixed-dose drug combinations. • A web application that tracks the clinical drug research response to SARS-CoV-2. • A Python package for differential gene expression analysis and the identification of key regulatory "switch genes". • The identification of pivotal events causing drug-induced impulse control disorders linked to specific medications. • An automated pipeline for discovering potential drug repurposing opportunities. • The creation of a comprehensive knowledge graph and development of a graph machine learning model for predictions. Collectively, these projects illustrate diverse applications of data science and network-based methodologies, highlighting the profound impact they can have in supporting drug research activities.

The challenges and the limitations in Life Cycle Impact Assessment for metal oxide nanoparticles, a case study on nano- TiO2

Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a chain-oriented tool to evaluate the environment performance of products focussing on the entire life cycle of these products: from the extraction of resources, via manufacturing and use, to the final processing of the disposed products. Through all these stages consumption of resources and pollutant releases to air, water, soil are identified and quantified in Life Cycle Inventory (LCI) analysis. Subsequently to the LCI phase follows the Life Cycle Impact Assessment (LCIA) phase; that has the purpose to convert resource consumptions and pollutant releases in environmental impacts. The LCIA aims to model and to evaluate environmental issues, called impact categories. Several reports emphasises the importance of LCA in the field of ENMs. The ENMs offer enormous potential for the development of new products and application. There are however unanswered questions about the impacts of ENMs on human health and the environment. In the last decade the increasing production, use and consumption of nanoproducts, with a consequent release into the environment, has accentuated the obligation to ensure that potential risks are adequately understood to protect both human health and environment. Due to its holistic and comprehensive assessment, LCA is an essential tool evaluate, understand and manage the environmental and health effects of nanotechnology. The evaluation of health and environmental impacts of nanotechnologies, throughout the whole of their life-cycle by using LCA methodology. This is due to the lack of knowledge in relation to risk assessment. In fact, to date, the knowledge on human and environmental exposure to nanomaterials, such ENPs is limited. This bottleneck is reflected into LCA where characterisation models and consequently characterisation factors for ENPs are missed. The PhD project aims to assess limitations and challenges of the freshwater aquatic ecotoxicity potential evaluation in LCIA phase for ENPs and in particular nanoparticles as n-TiO2.