Retrospective cytological evaluation of indeterminate thyroid nodules according to the British Thyroid Association 2014 classification and comparison of clinical evaluation and outcomes

The cytology of 130 indeterminate nodules (Thy 3) was retrospectively reviewed according to the British Thyroid Association 2014 classification. Nodules were divided into Thy 3a (atypical features) and Thy 3f (follicular lesion) categories. Histology was available as a reference for 97 nodules. Pre-surgical evaluations comprised biochemical tests, color-Doppler ultrasonography (US), semi-quantitative elastography-US (USE), contrast-enhanced US (CEUS), and mutation analysis from cytological slides. Thyroid malignancy was the final diagnosis for 19% of surgically-treated nodules. No statistically significant difference in the risk of malignancy was found between Thy 3a (26%) and Thy 3f (14%) nodules. Histology of the Thy 3a and Thy 3f nodules showed a higher incidence of Hurtle cell adenomas in Thy 3f (29%) than in Thy 3a (3%) nodules (P=0.01). The only pre-surgical difference concerned the BRAF V600E mutation, which was positive in some Thy 3a but not in any Thy 3f nodules (P=0.04). Receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) analysis was used to obtain cut-off values from US (score), USE (ELX 2/1 strain index), and CEUS (time-topeak index and peak index) data. The cut-off values were similar for Thy 3a and Thy 3f nodules. Data showed that malignancy can be suspected if the US score is >2, ELX 1/2 strain index >1, time-to-peak index >1, and peak index <1. In a sub-group of 24 revised nodules (12 Thy 3a and 12 Thy 3f) with histology as a reference, the diagnostic power of cumulative pre-surgical analysis by means of US, USE, and CEUS showed high positive and negative predictive values (83% and 100%, respectively) for the presence of malignancy in Thy 3a and Thy 3f nodules. In conclusion, in our series of revised Thy 3 nodules, malignancy was low and displayed no significant differences between Thy 3a and Thy 3f categories. The use of cut-offs based on histology as a reference could reduce surgery. Our data support the conviction that, in mutation-negative Thy 3a and Thy 3f nodules, observation should be the first choice when not all instrumental results are suspect.     

On the road again: Researcher mobility inside the R&D network

This paper examines the roles of international assignments and other forms of researcher mobility inside the integrated R&D networks of six of the largest European pharmaceutical companies. From in-depth interviews with R&D managers and scientists it is found that, while the use of international assignments is both limited and often not aimed specifically at the transfer of knowledge, other forms of short-term mobility are widely employed. But what is transferred through such short-term visits is narrow in focus and often related to specific projects whereas international assignments enable the transfer of broader and more complex knowledge. The potential impact of these changes in the inter-unit mobility patterns of researchers may be to limit both the exploitation of potential synergies across disciplines and the creation of enduring and strong personal ties among researchers working in distant locations.     

Developing a Performance Measurement System for University Central Administrative Services

Central administrative services have recently received increasing attention from practitioners and academics due to the challenging need to both manage scarce resources and provide high-quality services. In this context, performance measurement systems (PMSs) may assume a central role, although an unresolved debate remains on the claimed benefits of accountability and the difficulties that have emerged in defining and managing proper measures. This paper contributes to this debate by presenting the results of a study in which a PMS for central administrative services has been developed and tested through an action research approach drawing on actor network theory. The experiment was carried out in 15 Italian universities and five areas of services were dealt with: student support, research support, accounting, human resources, and logistics and procurement. The highly participative method resulted in a comparable system with a complete set of cost and quality indicators across the participating universities. These data proved to be useful at managerial and policy level, providing insights on the presence of scale effects and on the relative importance of quality dimensions for users of services. Participating in the project encouraged the university staff to use indicators in decision making.     

‘Slow Science’: Building scientific concepts in physics in high school

In this study, a progressive-learning approach to physics, based on knowledge-building pedagogy, was compared to a content-centered approach in which explanations, experiments, and discussions are centered on the transmission of knowledge. Forty-six students attending the first year of high school participated in this study over a whole school year. Students’ knowledge and mastery of physics concepts were assessed through questionnaires containing both open-ended and multiple-choice questions. Overall, the ‘progressive-learning' group outperformed the content-centered group. Results are discussed in relation to the theoretical background and the experimental teacher's diary of classroom activities. The main conclusion achieved by this study is that the teaching of physics should be slow, cyclic, and developmentally appropriate for the context.     

Integrity in UNESCO World Heritage Sites. A comparative study for rural landscapes

Since 2005, Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) is the standard by which United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) evaluates world cultural heritage site suitability. The sites worthy of UNESCO preservation as well as the parameters used to demonstrate OUV are diverse. Our study focused on the uniquely distinguished rural landscape sites and the OUV parameter of integrity. Integrity however, is an elusive concept for which UNESCO provides no definitional protocol, and for which the scientific community objects to a static or pure historical interpretation. Given this, our work aims to analyse the concept of integrity and how it can be used to preserve the heritage of rural landscapes. After reviewing the UNESCO approach, we focused on the international scientific debate on the meaning and application of integrity. We designed and conducted a comparative study of UNESCO rural landscapes selected from the 2011 World Heritage List. Documents describing the historical, rural, and agro-ecological features of each of the fourteen rural sites were analysed. From this, several historical and ecological parameters were chosen as “values to have” and several socio-economic and management parameters were chosen as “values to maintain” to assess the integrity of each landscape. Our results found integrity to be a value of both cultural and natural landscapes and that it is key to site identity. We demonstrated that UNESCO assigns a high value to the following parameters: historical features, traditional crops and local products, land-use and agricultural practice permanence, and the presence of architecture related to agricultural activity. Finally, we found the relationship between culture and nature to characterize best the integrity of a rural landscape, rather than nature or culture alone.     

Mechanical properties of the triceps surae: Differences between football and non-football players

Abstract

We investigated the mechanical properties of the triceps surae between professional, junior, and non-football players. Fifty-nine men participated in this study. The mechanical properties of the right legs’ triceps surae were measured in vivo using a free oscillation technique; no significant differences existed between the groups. The mean results for musculo-articular stiffness, damping coefficient, and damping ratio were as follows: professional football players (21523 N· m^?1, 330.8 N · s · m^?1, and 0.201); junior football players (21063 N · m^?1, 274.4 N · s · m^?1, and 0.173); and non-players (19457 N · m^?1, 281.5 N · s · m^?1, and 0.184). When analysed according to position, the results were as follows: defender (21447 N · m^?1, 308.6 N · s · m^?1, and 0.189); midfielder (20762 N · m^?1, 250.7 N · s · m^?1, and 0.157); winger (21322 N · m^?1, 335.1 N · s · m^?1, and 0.212); forward (22085 N · m^?1, 416.2 N · s · m^?1, and 0.254); and non-players (19457 N · m^?1, 281.5 N · s · m^?1, and 0.184).

Thus, football training, football games, and the position played had no effect on triceps surae mechanical properties. These results may be attributed to opposing adaptations between different types of training that are usually implemented in football. Alternatively, the minimum strain amplitude and/or frequency threshold of the triceps surae required to trigger adaptations of mechanical properties might not be achieved by football players with football training and matches.     

Foreign language learning difficulties in Italian children: are they associated with other learning difficulties?

A group of seventh- and eighth-grade Italian students with low achievement (LA) in learning English as a foreign language (FL) was selected and compared to a group with high achievement (HA) in FL learning. The two groups were matched for age and nonverbal intelligence. Two experiments were conducted to examine the participants' verbal and nonverbal learning skills, such as native language reading accuracy, speed and comprehension, calculation, and attention and self-regulation. Both experiments showed that the LA group seemed at risk for reading comprehension difficulties, but its reading speed and accuracy were within the average range according to Italian norms. The results also excluded the possibility that FL learning difficulties of LA participants could be associated with a deficit in calculation. Furthermore, according to teachers' ratings, children with LA appeared at risk for attention-deficit disorder (ADD). The pattern of learning difficulties of seventh- and eighth-grade participants with LA appeared to be not completely comparable with that of high school students at risk of FL learning difficulties as described in the literature.     

Cross-linguistic analysis of vocabulary in young children: spanish, dutch, French, hebrew, italian, korean, and american english

The composition of young children's vocabularies in 7 contrasting linguistic communities was investigated. Mothers of 269 twenty-month-olds in Argentina, Belgium, France, Israel, Italy, the Republic of Korea, and the United States completed comparable vocabulary checklists for their children. In each language and vocabulary size grouping (except for children just learning to talk), children's vocabularies contained relatively greater proportions of nouns than other word classes. Each word class was consistently positively correlated with every other class in each language and for children with smaller and larger vocabularies. Noun prevalence in the vocabularies of young children and the merits of several theories that may account for this pattern are discussed.     

Is sports science answering the call for interdisciplinary research? A systematic review

Sports science research is traditionally monodisciplinary despite calls for an interdisciplinary focus. The primary purpose of this systematic review was to identify studies on talent identification, talent selection and competition performance to determine whether interdisciplinary research is being conducted. Thirty-six studies met the selection criteria. These studies were critiqued relative to sport, skill level, sport science sub-disciplines included, and whether the research was multidisciplinary or interdisciplinary. The secondary purpose of the review was to critique the level of analysis and level of representative task design in performance tests used in the studies. Twenty-five studies were categorised as interdisciplinary, with 11 categorised as multidisciplinary. Thirteen sports were represented with soccer the most frequent followed by field hockey, Australian Rules football, handball and rugby league. Thirty-two studies completed their analysis at a group level and four at an individual level. A total of 337 performance tests were rated for representative task design with 64 categorised as low, 123 as medium and 150 as high. The results pertaining to interdisciplinary studies and individual analyses are discussed in relation to constraints theory, which predicts that interacting variables can explain sport performance. Sports science research is beginning to fulfil the call for interdisciplinary research. Future research, however, needs to consider individual analyses and representative task design of tests to progress sports science knowledge.