Suchergebnisse

A Comparison of Didactics Orders: Degree Courses at «Sapienza » University of Rome.The Italian university system has for several decades been seen as an over-dispersive one. Issues such as the delay in studies, the low number of graduates and the inadequate links with the job market feature in the country's political, social and academic debates. The problematic areas concern, on the one hand, effectiveness (defined as the achievement of objectives) and, on the other hand, efficiency (interpreted as the ratio between outcomes and costs incurred). This article discusses the issue of tertiary education system productivity, reporting data of a research on Rome's «Sapienza» University and comparing them with those available at national and international level (which shows that Italy has one of the lower rates of young graduates, scoring values of about 20 percentage points lower than the average of the OECD countries).The research considered a secondary analysis of longitudinal data on the careers of cohorts enrolled in ten years relating to the 509/1999 pre-reform period (academic years 1991/1992 through 2000/2001) and six post-reform years (academic years 2001/2002 through 2006/2007), proposing a new methodological instrument (multidimensional representations).The paper analyzes the obtaining of a university degree and, through a longitudinal perspective, provides a different comparative «reading» of the university system before and after the introduction of the university reform.

The book contains the results of a research on the outcomes of a communication campaign of the risks related to exposure to chemicals. The initiative, aimed at students of 3rd, 4th and 5th high school classes of the City of Rome, explored the initial level of skills and knowledge on the chemical hazard, and then assessed the increase as a result of an information campaign conducted by experts of Istituto Superiore per la Protezione e la Ricerca Ambientale (ISPRA), in order to spread knowledge on the subject and form a group of aware young citizens.

This action research has been conducted by the Department of Communication and Social Research of the «Sapienza» University of Rome in collaboration with the Institute for Environmental Protection and Research (ISPRA). The aim of the study was to evaluate the efficiency of an information campaign on radioactivity and its risks, implemented by ISPRA, and directed towards students between 14 and 19 years of age in four cities of the Lazio region. The research was conducted using a quasi experimental design with pretest, post-test and non equivalent control group and did not follow a behaviorist concept of experiment, which would have proceeded on the basis of a simple stimulus-response pattern. Instead, the experimental variable, considered as the main stimulus, was taken into account together with contextual and dispositional characteristics, which can in theory intervene in the cause-effect relation but cannot be "manipulated" by the researcher.

International audience ; Anthrax is a non-contagious disease, known since ancient times but it became a matter of global public interest after the bioterrorist attacks in the U.S.A. during the autumn of 2001. The concern of politicians and civil authorities everywhere towards this emergency necessitated a significant research effort and the prevention of new bioterrorist acts. But anthrax is primarily a disease that affects livestock and wildlife; its distribution is worldwide; and it can represent a danger to humans but especially when it occurs in areas considered to be free and in atypical seasons and climatic conditions. The atypicality of the phenomenon may lead health workers to misdiagnosis and, consequently, an inappropriate management of affected carcasses with a consequent and inevitable increase in the risk of human infection. This paper emphasizes the importance of increasing attention to this zoonosis. The biggest risk is its underestimation.

The introduction of Low Emission Zones, urban areas subject to road traffic restrictions in order to ensure compliance with the air pollutants limit values set by the European Directive on ambient air quality (2008/50/EC), is a common and well-established action in the administrative government of cities. The impacts on air quality improvement are widely analysed, whereas the effects and benefits concerning the noise have not been addressed in a comprehensive manner. As a consequence, the definition, the criteria for the analysis and the management methods of a Noise Low Emission Zone are not clearly expressed and shared yet. The LIFE MONZA project (Methodologies fOr Noise low emission Zones introduction And management - LIFE15 ENV/IT/000586) addresses these issues. The first objective of the project, co-funded by the European Commission, is to introduce an easy-replicable method for the identification and the management of the Noise Low Emission Zone, an urban area subject to traffic restrictions, whose impacts and benefits regarding noise issues will be analyzed and tested in the pilot area of the city of Monza, located in Northern Italy. Background conditions, structure, objectives of the project and actions' progress will be discussed in this article.