Semantic Mining based on graph theory and ontologies. Case Study: Cell Signaling Pathways

In this paper we use concepts from graph theory and cellular biology represented as ontologies, to carry out semantic mining tasks on signaling pathway networks. Specifically, the paper describes the semantic enrichment of signaling pathway networks. A cell signaling network describes the basic cellular activities and their interactions. The main contribution of this paper is in the signaling pathway research area, it proposes a new technique to analyze and understand how changes in these networks may affect the transmission and flow of information, which produce diseases such as cancer and diabetes. Our approach is based on three concepts from graph theory (modularity, clustering and centrality) frequently used on social networks analysis. Our approach consists into two phases: the first uses the graph theory concepts to determine the cellular groups in the network, which we will call them communities; the second uses ontologies for the semantic enrichment of the cellular communities. The measures used from the graph theory allow us to determine the set of cells that are close (for example, in a disease), and the main cells in each community. We analyze our approach in two cases: TGF-β and the Alzheimer Disease.

"Natural Enemies" or Intentional Allies? Teachers' & Parents' Perspectives on Middle School Boys of Color

This study examined the perspectives and “shared knowledge” of parents and teachers of boys of color. The following overarching research question guided this study: “What do parents and teachers want each other to know about their middle school son or student of color regarding academics, engagement, and behavior?” Additionally, it explored the challenges and opportunities for shared knowledge and understanding of their (respective) son’s’ or students’ academics and engagement. The methodology was qualitative in nature and the intent in conducting this case study was to describe, interpret, and explain the “shared knowledge” between these stakeholders at a predominantly minority middle school. A sample of seven parents and seven teachers from one school in a mid-Atlantic state participated in interviews and focus groups. Results indicated that parents and teachers of boys of color viewed each other as “intentional allies.” Results further showed that parents and teachers were aware of the challenges faced by boys of color in and out of school. That awareness was reflected in strategies that both groups employed to support, prepare, and protect their son/students. Lastly, the study found that teachers received no formal training in building parent-teacher partnerships, but gathered experimental knowledge on how to build those relationships. These findings have implications for teacher education programs, schools, parents, and teachers.

Effect of the synthetic coumarin, ethyl 2-oxo-2H-chromene-3-carboxylate, on activity of Crotalus durissus ruruima sPLA2 as well as on edema and platelet aggregation induced by this factor

We show that ethyl 2-oxo-2H-chromene-3-carboxylate (EOCC), a synthetic coumarin, irreversibly inhibits phospholipase A(2) (sPLA2) from Crotalus durissus ruruima venom (sPLA2r) with an IC(50) of 3.1 +/- 0.06 nmol. EOCC strongly decreased the V(max) and K(m), and it virtually abolished the enzyme activity of sPLA2r as well as sPLA2s from other sources. The edema induced by 5PLA2r + EOCC was less than that induced by 5PLA2r treated with p-bromophenacyl bromide, which was more efficient at neutralizing the platelet aggregation activity of native 5PLA2r. Native 5PLA2r induced platelet aggregation of 91.54 +/- 9.3%, and sPLA2r +/- EOCC induced a platelet aggregation of 18.56 +/- 6.5%. EOCC treatment also decreased the myotoxic effect of sPLA2r. Mass spectrometry showed that EOCC formed a stable complex with sPLA2r, which increased the mass of native 5PLA2r from 14,299.34 da to 14,736.22 Da. Moreover, the formation of this complex appeared to be involved in the loss of 5PLA2r activity. Our results strongly suggest that EOCC can be used as a pharmacological agent against the 5PLA2 in Crotalus durissus sp. venom as well as other sPLA2s. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Road to Bali: ERIA Perspectives on the WTO Ministerial and Asian Integration

The World Trade Organization’s (WTO) forthcoming Ninth Ministerial Conference in Bali comes at a critical juncture for the multilateral trade body, long mired in the Doha Round stalemate. Beyond offering a critical first test at consensus-building and institutional renewal, the Bali Ministerial affords a unique opportunity to gauge contrasting perceptions across ASEAN and East Asian countries of the continued relevance of the WTO to trade and economic governance within the region and beyond. Resulting from the collaborative efforts of the Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA), the Universitas Pelita Harapan (UPH) and the World Trade Institute at the University of Bern (WTI), this policy research initiative offers comparative scholarship on some of the key questions arising from the forthcoming WTO Ministerial gathering from an East Asian perspective. Specifically, it explores what scholars in the region expect the Bali Ministerial to produce by way of tangible outcomes and whether the Ministerial will restore the momentum needed to bring the Doha Round to a successful conclusion. Contributors also investigate how relevant the WTO remains to the multiple processes of deepening economic integration in ASEAN and East Asia (e.g. AEC, TPP, RCEP) and, importantly, what lessons in rule-design and market opening WTO Members could usefully draw from the ongoing march towards the establishment of an ASEAN Economic Community.

Health professionals’ and patients’ perspectives on pelvic floor muscle training adherence : 2011 ICS State-of-the-Science Seminar research paper IV of IV

Aims There is scant information on pelvic floor muscle training (PFMT) adherence barriers and facilitators. A web-based survey was conducted (1) to investigate whether responses from health professionals and the public broadly reflected findings in the literature, (2) if responses differed between the two groups, and (3) to identify new research directions. Methods Health professional and public surveys were posted on the ICS website. PFMT adherence barriers and facilitators were divided into four categories: physical/condition, patient, therapy, and social-economic. Responses were analyzed using descriptive statistics from quantitative data and thematic data analysis for qualitative data. Results Five hundred and fifteen health professionals and 51 public respondents participated. Both cohorts felt “patient-related factors” constituted the most important adherence barrier, but differed in their rankings of short- and long-term barriers. Health professionals rated “patient-related” and the public “therapy-related” factors as the most important adherence facilitator. Both ranked “perception of PFMT benefit” as the most important long-term facilitator. Contrary to published findings, symptom severity was not ranked highly. Neither cohort felt the barriers nor facilitators differed according to PFM condition (urinary/faecal incontinence, pelvic organ prolapse, pelvic pain); however, a large number of health professionals felt differences existed across age, gender, and ethnicity. Half of respondents in both cohorts felt research barriers and facilitators differed from those in clinical practice. Conclusions An emphasis on “patient-related” factors, ahead of “condition-specific” and “therapy-related,” affecting PFMT adherence barriers was evident. Health professionals need to be aware of the importance of long-term patient perception of PFMT benefits and consider enabling strategies.

The old and the oldest-old: Do they have different perspectives on adjustment to aging?

Background: Older adults experience varying challenges in old age. This study aims to explore the indicators of adjustment to aging (AtA) and to examine the potential explanatory mechanisms of a correlational model for AtA for the old and oldest-old adults. Methods: This qualitative study comprised demographics and semistructured interviews. Complete information on 152 older adults aged between 75 years and 102 years (mean ¼ 83.76 years; standard deviation ¼ 6.458). Data was subjected to content analysis. The correlational model of indicators of AtA was analyzed using a multiple correspondence analysis. Results: “Occupation and achievement” was the most mentioned indicator of AtA by the old participants (17.7%), whereas “existential meaning and spirituality” was the most verbalized indicator of AtA for the oldest-old participants (16.9%). AtA was explained by a three-factor model for each age group. For the old participants, the largest factor “occupational and social focus” accounted for 33.6% of total variance, whereas for the oldest-old participants, “spirituality and health focus” represented 33.5% of total variance. Conclusion: The outcomes presented in this paper stressed the varied perspectives concerning AtA, contoured in two different models, and the need of considering these when designing and implementing programs in health care for the old and the oldest-old.

Health professionals’ and patients’ perspectives on pelvic floor muscle training adherence : 2011 ICS State-of-the-Science Seminar research paper IV of IV

Aims There is scant information on pelvic floor muscle training (PFMT) adherence barriers and facilitators. A web-based survey was conducted (1) to investigate whether responses from health professionals and the public broadly reflected findings in the literature, (2) if responses differed between the two groups, and (3) to identify new research directions. Methods Health professional and public surveys were posted on the ICS website. PFMT adherence barriers and facilitators were divided into four categories: physical/condition, patient, therapy, and social-economic. Responses were analyzed using descriptive statistics from quantitative data and thematic data analysis for qualitative data. Results Five hundred and fifteen health professionals and 51 public respondents participated. Both cohorts felt “patient-related factors” constituted the most important adherence barrier, but differed in their rankings of short- and long-term barriers. Health professionals rated “patient-related” and the public “therapy-related” factors as the most important adherence facilitator. Both ranked “perception of PFMT benefit” as the most important long-term facilitator. Contrary to published findings, symptom severity was not ranked highly. Neither cohort felt the barriers nor facilitators differed according to PFM condition (urinary/faecal incontinence, pelvic organ prolapse, pelvic pain); however, a large number of health professionals felt differences existed across age, gender, and ethnicity. Half of respondents in both cohorts felt research barriers and facilitators differed from those in clinical practice. Conclusions An emphasis on “patient-related” factors, ahead of “condition-specific” and “therapy-related,” affecting PFMT adherence barriers was evident. Health professionals need to be aware of the importance of long-term patient perception of PFMT benefits and consider enabling strategies.

Ethical Perspectives on Big Data in Agri-food: Ownership and Governance for Safety

Big data are reshaping the way we interact with technology, thus fostering new applications to increase the safety-assessment of foods. An extraordinary amount of information is analysed using machine learning approaches aimed at detecting the existence or predicting the likelihood of future risks. Food business operators have to share the results of these analyses when applying to place on the market regulated products, whereas agri-food safety agencies (including the European Food Safety Authority) are exploring new avenues to increase the accuracy of their evaluations by processing Big data. Such an informational endowment brings with it opportunities and risks correlated to the extraction of meaningful inferences from data. However, conflicting interests and tensions among the involved entities - the industry, food safety agencies, and consumers - hinder the finding of shared methods to steer the processing of Big data in a sound, transparent and trustworthy way. A recent reform in the EU sectoral legislation, the lack of trust and the presence of a considerable number of stakeholders highlight the need of ethical contributions aimed at steering the development and the deployment of Big data applications. Moreover, Artificial Intelligence guidelines and charters published by European Union institutions and Member States have to be discussed in light of applied contexts, including the one at stake. This thesis aims to contribute to these goals by discussing what principles should be put forward when processing Big data in the context of agri-food safety-risk assessment. The research focuses on two interviewed topics - data ownership and data governance - by evaluating how the regulatory framework addresses the challenges raised by Big data analysis in these domains. The outcome of the project is a tentative Roadmap aimed to identify the principles to be observed when processing Big data in this domain and their possible implementations.

Management Perspectives on Industrial Heritage: an Exploratory Research

The current research project focuses on the analysis of the critical issues of industrial heritage management in Italy and the preservation of organizational history within the reuse projects of former industrial sites. The organizational and managerial perspective is crucial on two levels. Firstly, it is important in the analysis of the original significance of the site, and in particular its organizational history, and its conservation within the new regeneration strategy. Secondly, it is crucial at the phase of management of reuse projects and its feasibility and sustainability analysis. Based on the analysis of the literature, a unique classification of the reuse strategies that can be implemented in order to regenerate former industrial sites has been formulated. The exploratory research thus adapts a multiple case study design. Eight Italian case studies have been chosen, one for each type of regeneration strategy. Each case study is explored as a stand-alone entity through the analysis of the local differences and idiosyncrasies of the specific context, the factors that stood behind the choice of the reuse strategy and the way the reuse project evolved through the years. Then, the current management of each reuse project is analysed. The narration and musealization of the organizational history is investigated through the spatial dimension, the level of content and the level of expression. Secondly, the case studies are compared through a cross-case analysis from three different perspectives: issues on the phase of preparation and implementation of the reuse projects, critical issues behind the current management of new projects and issues on the ways of preservation and narration of organizational history within the new project. The research shows that all regeneration strategies are affected by the conflict between preservation and change, by the issue of materiality and selectivity.

The role of technology at school: new perspectives on distance education and cyberbullying

The integration of digital technology in school is a complex phenomenon that affects both teaching and peer relationships. Accordingly, the main aim of this dissertation was to investigate the implementation of distance education among Italian teachers during the COVID-19 pandemic and analyze peer relationships concerning cyberbullying and bullying. While the theoretical section provided an overview of the phenomena, four empirical studies were presented. The first one tested a moderated moderation model among 178 secondary teachers on the interactions among perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use of technology and online teaching self-efficacy. Findings showed that each variable significantly predicted the intention to use technology. In addition, a moderation effect of online teaching self-efficacy on perceived usefulness was found. The second study analyzed the differences in factors promoting the integration of digital technology among 357 teachers of different levels and subjects and their positive and negative experiences with distance education. Results revealed several differences in the function of the grade and subjects taught. Moreover, four main themes emerged from the content analysis. The third study investigated the dyadic perception of bullying and cyberbullying among 50 students using the eye-tracker. Findings showed that, despite differences among different kinds of bullying and cyberbullying, the victim and bully were the most observed roles. Finally, the last study tested two multiple mediation models among 563 students on the association between bullying, cyberbullying, and well-being, considering three different variables related to the school context (peer network, teacher support and school connectedness). The results highlighted the importance of peer networks and school connectedness in mediating the association between victimization, cybervictimzation and well-being. Taken together, the findings provided a rich overview of digital technology integration in schools, highlighting positive and negative aspects and its implications for future research and school policies.

Italian higher education students’ perspectives on internationalization at home and their identity as English as lingua franca users

This study aims to explore the Italian students’ perspectives on using English in English-medium instruction (EMI) programs in light of the practices of internationalization at home (IaH) at the University of Bologna (UNIBO) in Italy and further investigates whether these attitudes affect their language identity as English as lingua franca (ELF) users. To serve this aim, a mixed-method approach was adopted to collect quantitative and in-depth qualitative data in two phases through an online survey and a semi-structured interview. A total number of 78 Italian students participated in the survey, out of which 14 participants were interviewed. The findings of the online survey indicated that most participants (92%) held a positive perspective toward the use of English in EMI programs and the findings from the interviews were in line with the results of the survey. However, the purpose of the interviews was to explore the participants’ views on their language identity as ELF users. Thematic analysis of the interviews revealed that students experience emotional, cognitive, and social transitions in EMI programs in response to their shift from a non-EMI to an EMI academic setting. Overall, all the above-mentioned transitions were positive and could lead to personal development. However, it can be concluded that the EMI context provides few opportunities for the emergence of significant new subject positions mediated by English in this study. The focus on students’ perspectives on the use of English in EMI programs can contribute to the improvement in language policy planning and internationalized curriculum design by policymakers and alleviate tensions over the controversial issue of the Englishization of higher education by considering how EMI students perceive their use of English as ELF users not superior standard English users.

On the effect of confounding in linear regression models: an approach based on the theory of quadratic forms

The main topic of this thesis is confounding in linear regression models. It arises when a relationship between an observed process, the covariate, and an outcome process, the response, is influenced by an unmeasured process, the confounder, associated with both. Consequently, the estimators for the regression coefficients of the measured covariates might be severely biased, less efficient and characterized by misleading interpretations. Confounding is an issue when the primary target of the work is the estimation of the regression parameters. The central point of the dissertation is the evaluation of the sampling properties of parameter estimators. This work aims to extend the spatial confounding framework to general structured settings and to understand the behaviour of confounding as a function of the data generating process structure parameters in several scenarios focusing on the joint covariate-confounder structure. In line with the spatial statistics literature, our purpose is to quantify the sampling properties of the regression coefficient estimators and, in turn, to identify the most prominent quantities depending on the generative mechanism impacting confounding. Once the sampling properties of the estimator conditionally on the covariate process are derived as ratios of dependent quadratic forms in Gaussian random variables, we provide an analytic expression of the marginal sampling properties of the estimator using Carlson’s R function. Additionally, we propose a representative quantity for the magnitude of confounding as a proxy of the bias, its first-order Laplace approximation. To conclude, we work under several frameworks considering spatial and temporal data with specific assumptions regarding the covariance and cross-covariance functions used to generate the processes involved. This study allows us to claim that the variability of the confounder-covariate interaction and of the covariate plays the most relevant role in determining the principal marker of the magnitude of confounding.

New perspectives on A.I. in sentencing. Human decision-making between risk assessment tools and protection of humans rights.

The aim of this thesis is to investigate a field that until a few years ago was foreign to and distant from the penal system. The purpose of this undertaking is to account for the role that technology could plays in the Italian Criminal Law system. More specifically, this thesis attempts to scrutinize a very intricate phase of adjudication. After deciding on the type of an individual's liability, a judge must decide on the severity of the penalty. This type of decision implies a prognostic assessment that looks to the future. It is precisely in this field and in prognostic assessments that, as has already been anticipated in the United, instruments and processes are inserted in the pre-trial but also in the decision-making phase. In this contribution, we attempt to describe the current state of this field, trying, as a matter of method, to select the most relevant or most used tools. Using comparative and qualitative methods, the uses of some of these instruments in the supranational legal system are analyzed. Focusing attention on the Italian system, an attempt was made to investigate the nature of the element of an individual's ‘social dangerousness’ (pericolosità sociale) and capacity to commit offences, types of assessments that are fundamental in our system because they are part of various types of decisions, including the choice of the best sanctioning treatment. It was decided to turn our attention to this latter field because it is believed that the judge does not always have the time, the means and the ability to assess all the elements of a subject and identify the best 'individualizing' treatment in order to fully realize the function of Article 27, paragraph 3 of the Constitution.

State of the art and future perspectives on security metrics and their applications

In modern society, security issues of IT Systems are intertwined with interdisciplinary aspects, from social life to sustainability, and threats endanger many aspects of every- one’s daily life. To address the problem, it’s important that the systems that we use guarantee a certain degree of security, but to achieve this, it is necessary to be able to give a measure to the amount of security. Measuring security is not an easy task, but many initiatives, including European regulations, want to make this possible. One method of measuring security is based on the use of security metrics: those are a way of assessing, from various aspects, vulnera- bilities, methods of defense, risks and impacts of successful attacks then also efficacy of reactions, giving precise results using mathematical and statistical techniques. I have done literature research to provide an overview on the meaning, the effects, the problems, the applications and the overall current situation over security metrics, with particular emphasis in giving practical examples. This thesis starts with a summary of the state of the art in the field of security met- rics and application examples to outline the gaps in current literature, the difficulties found in the change of application context, to then advance research questions aimed at fostering the discussion towards the definition of a more complete and applicable view of the subject. Finally, it stresses the lack of security metrics that consider interdisciplinary aspects, giving some potential starting point to develop security metrics that cover all as- pects involved, taking the field to a new level of formal soundness and practical usability.