The central objectives of this paper are to enhance the understanding of how consumers in develop... more The central objectives of this paper are to enhance the understanding of how consumers in developed economies value credence attributes and to understand their preferences for red-pulp kiwifruit. To achieve this, we utilised the choice experiment method through surveys conducted in Italy, Spain, France, and Germany, targeting kiwifruit consumers through specific questionnaires. Regarding red kiwifruit, a significant percentage of those who are already familiar with them either purchase or intend to purchase them. What is equally interesting is the high percentage of those who declared themselves to be undecided about making a purchase. Specific marketing actions can be directed towards the following two categories: converting the intention to purchase into an actual purchase and shifting the current inclination towards an intention or act of purchase, for example, by improving the knowledge about this relatively unknown fruit. This paper contributes to the market chain by assessing ...
Inmodern societies, the role of governments in education is a matter of extensive debate and rese... more Inmodern societies, the role of governments in education is a matter of extensive debate and research (Glenn and De Groof, 2004); understanding which policies are best for improving school quality leads public attention to swing from resources (Hanushek, 2003) and rigid state control of educational organization to accountability (Hanushek and Kimko, 2000; UNESCO, 2005; Bishop and Woessmann, 2001).With respect to the latter, recent studies have shown that school quality, as measured by test scores in basic competencies (literacy and mathematics), is directly related to individual earnings, productivity, and economic growth. The same studies find that school quality is better in institutional settings characterized by strong accountability systems and by school autonomy with regard to school planning, staff hiring policies, and drafting of the curricula. The depicted landscape suggests the creation of “quasi-markets” in education, where a plurality of providers manage schools while th...
A variety of human activities - sport, education, finance, research, professional development, fe... more A variety of human activities - sport, education, finance, research, professional development, feeding - require the participation of judges in order to evaluate aspects that are difficult to be measured directly. As this evaluations may have important consequences on the examined subjects, it is necessary to research the maximum objectivity in the evaluation process. The Rasch model is the unique statistical model that assures the construction of objective measurements, even in the presence of judges evaluations. This paper reviews Rasch models theory and proposes an application to data concerning the evaluation of projects presented for a funding competition. The serious alterations that arise from the use of the rough scores instead of the Rasch measures are explored.
Journal of Educational and Behavioral Statistics, 2011
This article proposes a multilevel model for the assessment of school effectiveness where the int... more This article proposes a multilevel model for the assessment of school effectiveness where the intake achievement is a predictor and the response variable is the achievement in the subsequent periods. The achievement is a latent variable that can be estimated on the basis of an item response theory model and hence subject to measurement error. Ignoring covariate measurement error leads to biased parameter estimates. To address this problem, a likelihood-based measurement error adjustment for multilevel models is proposed. In particular, the method deals with a covariate measured with error that has a random coefficient. An application to educational data from the Italian region of Lombardy illustrates the method. Manuscript received January 21, 2009 Revision received November 24, 2009 Accepted January 17, 2010
The leader peptide of a recombinant MnSOD (rMnSOD-Lp) constitutes the carrier that allows rMnSOD ... more The leader peptide of a recombinant MnSOD (rMnSOD-Lp) constitutes the carrier that allows rMnSOD to penetrate tumor cells. A synthetic preparation of rMnSOD-Lp was ⁶⁸Ga labeled (rMnSOD-Lp- ⁶⁸Ga) and injected into animals bearing spontaneous mammary cancers, followed by PET examinations, which demonstrated unambiguously the tumor sites in all the animals, suggesting that if rMnSOD-Lp was able to transport the radioisotope into tumor cells, it would also be able to deliver cytotoxic molecules. The rMnSOD-Lp was, therefore, conjugated to cisplatin (rMnSOD-Lp-CC) and added to cultured tumor cells. Equal concentrations of cisplatin were used for the tests. After treating the ovarian cancer cells with 11.1 μg of cisplatin alone, analysis by atomic absorbance spectrophotometry was able to detect only 6 ng of platinum, whereas when the same cells were treated with the same amount of cisplatin conjugated to leader peptide rMnSOD, 387 ng of platinum were detected, i.e., an amount 80 times greater. Only the tumor cells died following treatment with rMnSOD-Lp-CC; molecular analysis revealed that its addition generated an increasing expression of Erk-2 and Bax products, which could be inhibited only by a selective MAP/ERK kinase inhibitor (PD98059), revealing that rMnSOD-Lp-CC has an apoptotic function, exactly as occurs when using the cisplatin alone. Data are statistically significant and indicate that by using rMnSOD-Lp-CC, the cisplatin can be transformed from an agent with antireplicative activity into a specific and selective antitumor molecule, increasing its therapeutic index. We think that rMnSOD-Lp-CC deserves to be considered as a new antitumor agent.
In 2012 the European Union adopted the Regulation No. 1151/2012, which, among others, defines the... more In 2012 the European Union adopted the Regulation No. 1151/2012, which, among others, defines the legal framework to protect the originality and authenticity of mountain foods through the “Mountain Product” quality scheme. The research aims to analyze people’s attitudes towards mountain foods and the EU Mountain Product label, as well as their area of origin, i.e., the mountains. For the purpose of this research, the Rasch model was used since its properties make it suitable to identify the measure of interest. The results allow us to identify potential leverage to plan promotional activities in order to enhance the value of mountain food, raise awareness on the EU label, thus improving the sustainability of mountain farms and regions.
llo profesional, alimentación- requieren la participación de jueces en la evaluación de aspectos ... more llo profesional, alimentación- requieren la participación de jueces en la evaluación de aspectos que son difíciles de medir de forma directa. Como estas evaluaciones pueden tener consecuen-cias relevantes para los sujetos examinados, es necesario investigar la máxima objetividad del proceso evaluador. El modelo de Rasch es el único procedimiento estadístico que asegura la medición objetiva, incluso en el proceso evaluador de jueces. Este artículo repasa la teoría del modelo de Rasch y propone una aplicación de datos relativos a la evaluación de proyectos finan-ciados. Se examinan también las alteraciones significativas que se detectan cuando se emplean los modelos de las mediciones de Rasch. A variety of human activities- sport, education, finance, research, professional development, feeding- require the participation of judges in order to evalúate aspects that are difficult to be measured directly. As this evaluations may have important consequences on the examined subjects, it is ...
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations supports the production of edible ins... more The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations supports the production of edible insects as a promising and sustainable source of nutrients to meet the increasing demand for animal-derived products by the growing world population. Even if insects are part of the diet of more than two billion people worldwide, the practice of eating insects (entomophagy) raises challenging questions for Western countries where this is not a habit. The research applied the Rasch models and showed that, in the case of hunger or need, 70.8% of the sample declared that they would be willing to eat insects. The willingness to habitually consume and pay for insect food is very low, but the percentages are higher than people who had actually had insect tasting experiences. This demonstrates that a communication process is necessary that aims to overcome psychological/cultural barriers. Only in this way will it be possible to increase the propensity to consume insects.
The data arising from the “HOPE –WG1 SSQ Questionnaire”, gathered on almost 1500 students in 27 s... more The data arising from the “HOPE –WG1 SSQ Questionnaire”, gathered on almost 1500 students in 27 sites around Europe, has been analyzed using Rasch models, in order to extract and measure factors inspiring to study physics. In particular, using a Rating Scale Model (Wright & Masters, 1982) and Principal Components Analysis (PCA) of standardized residuals, we identified and measured two main latent traits: FACTOR A, characterized by curiosity for the world and interest in its comprehension, and FACTOR B, characterized by the wish to get an interesting job, enhancing employment prospects, stimulus from visiting museums, laboratories, seeing things on the TV or internet, learning interesting things at schools, receiving encouragement from parent and friend and information during visit from universities staff. These factors, interacting with other personal characteristics such as sex, level of knowledge of physics and so on, may influence performance, decisions, goals and preferences. We...
A 24-amino acid leader peptide of a new human recombinant manganese superoxide dismutase can ente... more A 24-amino acid leader peptide of a new human recombinant manganese superoxide dismutase can enter cells and carry molecules. Here, we demonstrated that six of the 24 amino acids penetrate cells through a particular gate represented by a specific amino acid sequence of the oestrogen receptor (ER). We analysed the internalization of the synthetic hexapeptide and the cytotoxic activity of the hexapeptide conjugated to cisplatin on a cell line panel. In most cell lines, the hexapeptide delivered an amount of cisplatin that was 2 to 8 times greater than that released by cisplatin when the drug was used alone. This increased delivery increases the therapeutic index of cisplatin and reduces side effects caused by a high dosage or long-term treatment times. We may consider this hexapeptide a new molecular carrier to deliver molecules with therapeutic activity into ER+ cells for diagnostic purposes and clinical or immune therapy.
This paper deals with the problem of defining appropriate efficiency and effectiveness indicators... more This paper deals with the problem of defining appropriate efficiency and effectiveness indicators for the impact evaluation and implementation evaluation of professional training programs. Data on programs (held by the Tuscany regional administration) and on their participants were available, together with a follow-up one year after the completion of the course. A two-equation variance component model has been proposed, in order to obtain measures of relative effectiveness: the first one is the net effect of each program on the probability of finding a job, while the second one measures the net effect on the participants' judgement about the program itself. The efficiency of each program has been derived from the estimation of a stochastic cost frontier. The three indicators, together with a fourth one concerning the estimated minimum cost per student, have been used in a multicriteria analysis to rank the programs, as an aid for decision-makers.
Among the phenomena of transition from useless to useful in the landscape-cultural mosaic is that... more Among the phenomena of transition from useless to useful in the landscape-cultural mosaic is that of the farmers' changing perceptions of the environment and the creation of externalities to their micro-chain underlying business, or those of others. The objective of this study is to verify whether there is a connection between those perceptions and the management classes of their farms, in regards to both environmental aspects and to their participation in joint initiatives. From the statistical analysis of 30 FVG micro-chains, it was found that multi-active advanced farms perceive most of the improvements that are derived from their activities or the activities of others. Additionally, their willingness to engage in joint-initiatives is significant in certain aspects. Whereas amateur farmers are sceptical about their ability to positively affect the landscape and the environment, conventional farmers are much more confident that their own actions are more effective than those o...
The central objectives of this paper are to enhance the understanding of how consumers in develop... more The central objectives of this paper are to enhance the understanding of how consumers in developed economies value credence attributes and to understand their preferences for red-pulp kiwifruit. To achieve this, we utilised the choice experiment method through surveys conducted in Italy, Spain, France, and Germany, targeting kiwifruit consumers through specific questionnaires. Regarding red kiwifruit, a significant percentage of those who are already familiar with them either purchase or intend to purchase them. What is equally interesting is the high percentage of those who declared themselves to be undecided about making a purchase. Specific marketing actions can be directed towards the following two categories: converting the intention to purchase into an actual purchase and shifting the current inclination towards an intention or act of purchase, for example, by improving the knowledge about this relatively unknown fruit. This paper contributes to the market chain by assessing ...
Inmodern societies, the role of governments in education is a matter of extensive debate and rese... more Inmodern societies, the role of governments in education is a matter of extensive debate and research (Glenn and De Groof, 2004); understanding which policies are best for improving school quality leads public attention to swing from resources (Hanushek, 2003) and rigid state control of educational organization to accountability (Hanushek and Kimko, 2000; UNESCO, 2005; Bishop and Woessmann, 2001).With respect to the latter, recent studies have shown that school quality, as measured by test scores in basic competencies (literacy and mathematics), is directly related to individual earnings, productivity, and economic growth. The same studies find that school quality is better in institutional settings characterized by strong accountability systems and by school autonomy with regard to school planning, staff hiring policies, and drafting of the curricula. The depicted landscape suggests the creation of “quasi-markets” in education, where a plurality of providers manage schools while th...
A variety of human activities - sport, education, finance, research, professional development, fe... more A variety of human activities - sport, education, finance, research, professional development, feeding - require the participation of judges in order to evaluate aspects that are difficult to be measured directly. As this evaluations may have important consequences on the examined subjects, it is necessary to research the maximum objectivity in the evaluation process. The Rasch model is the unique statistical model that assures the construction of objective measurements, even in the presence of judges evaluations. This paper reviews Rasch models theory and proposes an application to data concerning the evaluation of projects presented for a funding competition. The serious alterations that arise from the use of the rough scores instead of the Rasch measures are explored.
Journal of Educational and Behavioral Statistics, 2011
This article proposes a multilevel model for the assessment of school effectiveness where the int... more This article proposes a multilevel model for the assessment of school effectiveness where the intake achievement is a predictor and the response variable is the achievement in the subsequent periods. The achievement is a latent variable that can be estimated on the basis of an item response theory model and hence subject to measurement error. Ignoring covariate measurement error leads to biased parameter estimates. To address this problem, a likelihood-based measurement error adjustment for multilevel models is proposed. In particular, the method deals with a covariate measured with error that has a random coefficient. An application to educational data from the Italian region of Lombardy illustrates the method. Manuscript received January 21, 2009 Revision received November 24, 2009 Accepted January 17, 2010
The leader peptide of a recombinant MnSOD (rMnSOD-Lp) constitutes the carrier that allows rMnSOD ... more The leader peptide of a recombinant MnSOD (rMnSOD-Lp) constitutes the carrier that allows rMnSOD to penetrate tumor cells. A synthetic preparation of rMnSOD-Lp was ⁶⁸Ga labeled (rMnSOD-Lp- ⁶⁸Ga) and injected into animals bearing spontaneous mammary cancers, followed by PET examinations, which demonstrated unambiguously the tumor sites in all the animals, suggesting that if rMnSOD-Lp was able to transport the radioisotope into tumor cells, it would also be able to deliver cytotoxic molecules. The rMnSOD-Lp was, therefore, conjugated to cisplatin (rMnSOD-Lp-CC) and added to cultured tumor cells. Equal concentrations of cisplatin were used for the tests. After treating the ovarian cancer cells with 11.1 μg of cisplatin alone, analysis by atomic absorbance spectrophotometry was able to detect only 6 ng of platinum, whereas when the same cells were treated with the same amount of cisplatin conjugated to leader peptide rMnSOD, 387 ng of platinum were detected, i.e., an amount 80 times greater. Only the tumor cells died following treatment with rMnSOD-Lp-CC; molecular analysis revealed that its addition generated an increasing expression of Erk-2 and Bax products, which could be inhibited only by a selective MAP/ERK kinase inhibitor (PD98059), revealing that rMnSOD-Lp-CC has an apoptotic function, exactly as occurs when using the cisplatin alone. Data are statistically significant and indicate that by using rMnSOD-Lp-CC, the cisplatin can be transformed from an agent with antireplicative activity into a specific and selective antitumor molecule, increasing its therapeutic index. We think that rMnSOD-Lp-CC deserves to be considered as a new antitumor agent.
In 2012 the European Union adopted the Regulation No. 1151/2012, which, among others, defines the... more In 2012 the European Union adopted the Regulation No. 1151/2012, which, among others, defines the legal framework to protect the originality and authenticity of mountain foods through the “Mountain Product” quality scheme. The research aims to analyze people’s attitudes towards mountain foods and the EU Mountain Product label, as well as their area of origin, i.e., the mountains. For the purpose of this research, the Rasch model was used since its properties make it suitable to identify the measure of interest. The results allow us to identify potential leverage to plan promotional activities in order to enhance the value of mountain food, raise awareness on the EU label, thus improving the sustainability of mountain farms and regions.
llo profesional, alimentación- requieren la participación de jueces en la evaluación de aspectos ... more llo profesional, alimentación- requieren la participación de jueces en la evaluación de aspectos que son difíciles de medir de forma directa. Como estas evaluaciones pueden tener consecuen-cias relevantes para los sujetos examinados, es necesario investigar la máxima objetividad del proceso evaluador. El modelo de Rasch es el único procedimiento estadístico que asegura la medición objetiva, incluso en el proceso evaluador de jueces. Este artículo repasa la teoría del modelo de Rasch y propone una aplicación de datos relativos a la evaluación de proyectos finan-ciados. Se examinan también las alteraciones significativas que se detectan cuando se emplean los modelos de las mediciones de Rasch. A variety of human activities- sport, education, finance, research, professional development, feeding- require the participation of judges in order to evalúate aspects that are difficult to be measured directly. As this evaluations may have important consequences on the examined subjects, it is ...
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations supports the production of edible ins... more The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations supports the production of edible insects as a promising and sustainable source of nutrients to meet the increasing demand for animal-derived products by the growing world population. Even if insects are part of the diet of more than two billion people worldwide, the practice of eating insects (entomophagy) raises challenging questions for Western countries where this is not a habit. The research applied the Rasch models and showed that, in the case of hunger or need, 70.8% of the sample declared that they would be willing to eat insects. The willingness to habitually consume and pay for insect food is very low, but the percentages are higher than people who had actually had insect tasting experiences. This demonstrates that a communication process is necessary that aims to overcome psychological/cultural barriers. Only in this way will it be possible to increase the propensity to consume insects.
The data arising from the “HOPE –WG1 SSQ Questionnaire”, gathered on almost 1500 students in 27 s... more The data arising from the “HOPE –WG1 SSQ Questionnaire”, gathered on almost 1500 students in 27 sites around Europe, has been analyzed using Rasch models, in order to extract and measure factors inspiring to study physics. In particular, using a Rating Scale Model (Wright & Masters, 1982) and Principal Components Analysis (PCA) of standardized residuals, we identified and measured two main latent traits: FACTOR A, characterized by curiosity for the world and interest in its comprehension, and FACTOR B, characterized by the wish to get an interesting job, enhancing employment prospects, stimulus from visiting museums, laboratories, seeing things on the TV or internet, learning interesting things at schools, receiving encouragement from parent and friend and information during visit from universities staff. These factors, interacting with other personal characteristics such as sex, level of knowledge of physics and so on, may influence performance, decisions, goals and preferences. We...
A 24-amino acid leader peptide of a new human recombinant manganese superoxide dismutase can ente... more A 24-amino acid leader peptide of a new human recombinant manganese superoxide dismutase can enter cells and carry molecules. Here, we demonstrated that six of the 24 amino acids penetrate cells through a particular gate represented by a specific amino acid sequence of the oestrogen receptor (ER). We analysed the internalization of the synthetic hexapeptide and the cytotoxic activity of the hexapeptide conjugated to cisplatin on a cell line panel. In most cell lines, the hexapeptide delivered an amount of cisplatin that was 2 to 8 times greater than that released by cisplatin when the drug was used alone. This increased delivery increases the therapeutic index of cisplatin and reduces side effects caused by a high dosage or long-term treatment times. We may consider this hexapeptide a new molecular carrier to deliver molecules with therapeutic activity into ER+ cells for diagnostic purposes and clinical or immune therapy.
This paper deals with the problem of defining appropriate efficiency and effectiveness indicators... more This paper deals with the problem of defining appropriate efficiency and effectiveness indicators for the impact evaluation and implementation evaluation of professional training programs. Data on programs (held by the Tuscany regional administration) and on their participants were available, together with a follow-up one year after the completion of the course. A two-equation variance component model has been proposed, in order to obtain measures of relative effectiveness: the first one is the net effect of each program on the probability of finding a job, while the second one measures the net effect on the participants' judgement about the program itself. The efficiency of each program has been derived from the estimation of a stochastic cost frontier. The three indicators, together with a fourth one concerning the estimated minimum cost per student, have been used in a multicriteria analysis to rank the programs, as an aid for decision-makers.
Among the phenomena of transition from useless to useful in the landscape-cultural mosaic is that... more Among the phenomena of transition from useless to useful in the landscape-cultural mosaic is that of the farmers' changing perceptions of the environment and the creation of externalities to their micro-chain underlying business, or those of others. The objective of this study is to verify whether there is a connection between those perceptions and the management classes of their farms, in regards to both environmental aspects and to their participation in joint initiatives. From the statistical analysis of 30 FVG micro-chains, it was found that multi-active advanced farms perceive most of the improvements that are derived from their activities or the activities of others. Additionally, their willingness to engage in joint-initiatives is significant in certain aspects. Whereas amateur farmers are sceptical about their ability to positively affect the landscape and the environment, conventional farmers are much more confident that their own actions are more effective than those o...
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