Challenging Behaviors in Young Children: The Father\u27s Role

In this study, the authors examined the parenting practices, developmental expectations, and stress levels of 136 fathers and the challenging and prosocial behaviors of their 1- to 5-year-old children. In addition, the authors systematically addressed fathers\u27 qualitative concerns about their parenting. The authors divided the participants into 4 groups and controlled for family socioeconomic status (SES) and the focus child\u27s gender. Results showed a significantly higher use of corporal and verbal punishment and parenting stress among lower income fathers. Secondary analyses demonstrated a significant effect of paternal disciplinary practices that emphasized the frequent use of corporal and verbal punishment on child behavior problems, regardless of SES level. On a positive note, fathers from both lower and higher SES groups had reasonable developmental expectations for their boys and girls, and they reported similar frequencies of their children\u27s prosocial behavior. The authors discuss the need for early parent education programs that include fathers and that teach specific strategies to address child behavior problems

Empathy Nudging as a New Component of Conservation Programs

In this article we continue discussing our vision for appealing to other than self-interest-only (profit maximization) in public policies on conservation of farming land. We look specifically at the downstream water pollution problem (i.e. agricultural practices of upstream farmers leading to soil erosion and chemical/fertilizer runoff, which results in poor water quality downstream). We are trying to find less costly solutions which will result in farmers using conservation technologies that decrease the impact of their agricultural practices on downstream rivers and lakes. One possible solution is to nudge for empathy, to encourage the farmers to consider the results of their choices from the perspective of the affected people, to encourage them to walk in the shoes of people who carry the negative effect of the pollution. As a result of doing so, these farmers might then join in the shared cause of improved water quality downstream, and change farming practices upstream, with lower costs overall

Empathy Conservation: What Did We Learn From the Experiments Testing the Metaeconomic Framework and Dual-interest Theory?

This article summarizes our experimental research testing the metaeconomics framework (MEF) and dual-interest theory (DIT), which suggests an im-portant and substantive role for empathy in the design of conservation policy to achieve sustaina-bility (for more detail, see http://agecon-cpanel.unl.edu/lynne/metaecon/Lynneetal2014TragedyCommons.pdf ) MEF and DIT posit that individuals are motivated by two inseparable, yet conflicting interests: self-interest and other (shared with others)-interest. This conflict gets resolved through empathy tem-pering self-interest, resulting in a balanced decision, in which neither of the interests is maximized, but we rather observe sacrifices in both inter-ests. Empathy is based on imagining the struggle of others, on “walking-in-the-shoes-of-others” and, as a result, perhaps joining in sympathy with a shared cause like conservation and sustainability

Empathy Nudging Increases Conservation of Farming Land

One of the major challenges of environmental policy with regard to conservation is that it must often rely on voluntary and non-selfish actions of individuals. Traditionally policy makers rely on direct regulation and financial incentives, but both approaches face problems. Regulations may lead to resentment and the costs of perfect enforcement are prohibitively high. Financial incentives can be perverse and may lead to unintended consequences, including crowding out of intrinsic motivation. In addition, behavioral economics and economic psychology studies demonstrate that the assumptions of the neoclassical economic models (such as self-interest only, rationality, and willpower) on which the policy design often relies do not always hold in the field

IRIS Guidelines: Early Intervention in Psychosis IRIS Guidelines Update September 2012

Revision of the original 1998 IRIS Guidelines

Identification of a brainstem locus that inhibits tumor necrosis factor

In the brain, compact clusters of neuron cell bodies, termed nuclei, are essential for maintaining parameters of host physiology within a narrow range optimal for health. Neurons residing in the brainstem dorsal motor nucleus (DMN) project in the vagus nerve to communicate with the lungs, liver, gastrointestinal tract, and other organs. Vagus nerve-mediated reflexes also control immune system responses to infection and injury by inhibiting the production of tumor necrosis factor (TNF) and other cytokines in the spleen, although the function of DMN neurons in regulating TNF release is not known. Here, optogenetics and functional mapping reveal cholinergic neurons in the DMN, which project to the celiacsuperior mesenteric ganglia, significantly increase splenic nerve activity and inhibit TNF production. Efferent vagus nerve fibers terminating in the celiac-superior mesenteric ganglia form varicose-like structures surrounding individual nerve cell bodies innervating the spleen. Selective optogenetic activation of DMN cholinergic neurons or electrical activation of the cervical vagus nerve evokes action potentials in the splenic nerve. Pharmacological blockade and surgical transection of the vagus nerve inhibit vagus nerve-evoked splenic nerve responses. These results indicate that cholinergic neurons residing in the brainstem DMN control TNF production, revealing a role for brainstem coordination of immunity

Age-related differences in integrin expression in peripheral blood lymphocytes

Alpha integrins play an important role in cell to cell and cell to extra-cellular matrix interactions required for an effective T-lymphocyte-mediated immune response, however little is known about age related differences in expression of alpha integrins on T-cells in humans. We here measured alpha-4 (α4) integrin (CD49d) expression on T-lymphocytes via peripheral blood sampling, comparing parameters between cohorts of young and old adults. No age-related differences were found for the absolute numbers of T-cells, although the percentage of CD4+ T-cells in older adults was significantly greater and the percentage of CD8+ T-cells lower than in younger cohorts. Percentage and absolute numbers of CD3+ T-cells co-expressing CD49d were significantly lower in older adults compared to younger cohorts, and the percentage of gated CD4+ and CD8+ cells that co-labelled positively for CD49d was also reduced in this group. There were no age-related differences in circulating levels of cytokines (Type I interferons) that are known to regulate cell surface integrin expression. Reduced expression of alpha integrins on T-cells may be an early indicator of the loss of homeostatic control that occurs with ageing, contributing to diminished effector T-cell responses during senescence

Challenges of one-year longitudinal follow-up of a prospective, observational cohort study using an anonymised database:Recommendations for trainee research collaboratives

Background: trainee research collaboratives (TRCs) have pioneered high quality, prospective ‘snap-shot’ surgical cohort studies in the UK. Outcomes After Kidney injury in Surgery (OAKS) was the first TRC cohort study to attempt to collect one-year follow-up data. The aims of this study were to evaluate one-year follow-up and data completion rates, and to identify factors associated with improved follow-up rates. Methods: in this multicentre study, patients undergoing major gastrointestinal surgery were prospectively identified and followed up at one-year following surgery for six clinical outcomes. The primary outcome for this report was the follow-up rate for mortality at 1 year. The secondary outcome was the data completeness rate in those patients who were followed-up. An electronic survey was disseminated to investigators to identify strategies associated with improved follow-up. Results: of the 173 centres that collected baseline data, 126 centres registered to participate in one-year follow-up. Overall 62.3% (3482/5585) of patients were followed-up at 1 year; in centres registered to collect one-year outcomes, the follow-up rate was 82.6% (3482/4213). There were no differences in sex, comorbidity, operative urgency, or 7-day postoperative AKI rate between patients who were lost to follow-up and those who were successfully followed-up. In centres registered to collect one-year follow-up outcomes, overall data completeness was 83.1%, with 57.9% (73/126) of centres having ≥95% data completeness. Factors associated with increased likelihood of achieving ≥95% data completeness were total number of patients to be followed-up (77.4% in centres with < 15 patients, 59.0% with 15–29 patients, 51.4% with 30–59 patients, and 36.8% with > 60 patients, p = 0.030), and central versus local storage of patient identifiers (72.5% vs 48.0%, respectively, p = 0.006). Conclusions: TRC methodology can be used to follow-up patients identified in prospective cohort studies at one-year. Follow-up rates are maximized by central storage of patient identifiers