Fever of unknown origin (FUO) can be an unusual first clinical manifestation of pheochromocytoma. Pheochromocytomas are tumors that may produce a variety of substances in addition to catecholamines. To date, several cases of IL-6-producing pheochromocytomas have been reported. This report describes a 45-year-old woman with pheochromocytoma who was admitted with FUO, normal blood pressure levels, microcytic and hypochromic anemia, thrombocytosis, hyperfibrinogenemia, hypoalbuminemia, and normal levels of urine and plasma metanephrines. After adrenalectomy, fever and all inflammatory findings disappeared.

Physics is fundamental to secure future needs for scientific and technological competence (Angell et al., 2004), but many countries experience a drop in students’ performances in international assessments (Organisation for Economic Co-operation Development [OECD], 2018), as well as in rates of enrolment in undergraduate programs in scientific disciplines (STEM). Socio-constructivist theories have produced a reforming movement in several educational systems, in particular in the area of sciences, but teacher often consider them an idealistic view of education and do not consider themselves metacognitively competent enough to foster thinking in the classroom. In this study, we investigated the efficacy of different teaching methods on high-school students’ conceptual knowledge of physics, after the effect of science-related beliefs and critical thinking skills was controlled. We adopted a mixed-method with sequential design, in which quantitative and qualitative data flow are inter-mixed. In specific, we interviewed four high school physics teachers to identify teaching approaches (qualitative approach) and compared them in terms of efficacy on students’ performances (quantitative approach). Four teachers and 77 10th grade students participated. Teachers were interviewed during the school years and asked questions about their teaching experience, their teaching approach (Kang and Wallace, 2005) and their epistemic beliefs (Tsai, 2002). Students performances in Science-related beliefs (Conley et al., 2004), critical thinking (Cornell Critical Thinking Test Level X, Millman et al., 2005), and conceptual knowledge in physics (The Force and Motion Conceptual Evaluation, Ramlo, 2002) were evaluated twice, at the beginning and at the end of the school year. The independent-sample t-tests on pre-test variables did not reveal any statistically significant difference between groups. Results from the complex samples GLM revealed statistically significant differences on post-test scores in conceptual knowledge in physics, after the effect of covariates was controlled. Overall, the study contributes to our understanding on current teaching practices in school, and their effect on students’ conceptual understanding of physics concepts.

Online reputational systems are nowadays widely and effectively adopted by several online platforms to support and improve peoples’ interactions and communication. Despite the research approached and modeled social dynamics of reputational systems in different domains, adopting different frameworks, the role played by psycho-social factors, and personality traits, determining the individual susceptibility to online reputation is still elusive. To study such mediation effects, we implemented a modified online version of the Ultimatum Game, in which participants (215 adolescents) played before as proposers, and then as responders, always knowing the reputation of their interactors. Furthermore, after the reception phase, participants could evaluate the received offers, giving positive or negative feedback to their proposers. Despite the participants’ belief they were playing with their schoolmates, the interactors’ role was always fulfilled by bots characterized by standardized behaviors. Our results show how psychological traits influence the participants’ behavior in all the game phases, as well as in the rating dynamics. Reputation seems to have a direct effect only in the allocation behavior, while, in regards the other dynamics of the game (i.e., acceptance and rating), it comes into play in a complex interaction with the psychological dimensions.

No abstract

No abstract