Emotions and Digital Well-being. The rationalistic bias of social media design in online deliberations

In this chapter we argue that emotions are mediated in an incomplete way in online social media because of the heavy reliance on textual messages which fosters a rationalistic bias and an inclination towards less nuanced emotional expressions. This incompleteness can happen either by obscuring emotions, showing less than the original intensity, misinterpreting emotions, or eliciting emotions without feedback and context. Online interactions and deliberations tend to contribute rather than overcome stalemates and informational bubbles, partially due to prevalence of anti-social emotions. It is tempting to see emotions as being the cause of the problem of online verbal aggression and bullying. However, we argue that social media are actually designed in a predominantly rationalistic way, because of the reliance on text-based communication, thereby filtering out social emotions and leaving space for easily expressed antisocial emotions. Based on research on emotions that sees these as key ingredients to moral interaction and deliberation, as well as on research on text-based versus non-verbal communication, we propose a richer understanding of emotions, requiring different designs of online deliberation platforms. We propose that such designs should move from text-centred designs and should find ways to incorporate the complete expression of the full range of human emotions so that these can play a constructive role in online deliberations

Patient safety education at Japanese nursing schools: results of a nationwide survey

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Patient safety education is becoming of worldwide interest and concern in the field of healthcare, particularly in the field of nursing. However, as elsewhere, little is known about the extent to which nursing schools have adopted patient safety education into their curricula. We conducted a nationwide survey to characterize patient safety education at nursing schools in Japan.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Response rate was 43% overall. Ninety percent of nursing schools have integrated the topic of patient safety education into their curricula. However, 30% reported devoting less than five hours to the topic. All schools use lecture based teaching methods while few used others, such as role playing. Topics related to medical error theory are widely taught, e.g. human factors and theories & models (Swiss Cheese Model, Heinrich's Law) while relatively few schools cover practical topics related to error analysis such as root cause analysis.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Most nursing schools in Japan cover the topic of patient safety, but the number of hours devoted is modest and teaching methods are suboptimal. Even so, national inclusion of patient safety education is a worthy, achievable goal.</p

The Big Drink Debate: perceptions of the impact of price on alcohol consumption from a large scale cross-sectional convenience survey in north west England

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>A large-scale survey was conducted in 2008 in north west England, a region with high levels of alcohol-related harm, during a regional 'Big Drink Debate' campaign. The aim of this paper is to explore perceptions of how alcohol consumption would change if alcohol prices were to increase or decrease.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A convenience survey of residents (≥ 18 years) of north west England measured demographics, income, alcohol consumption in previous week, and opinions on drinking behaviour under two pricing conditions: low prices and discounts and increased alcohol prices (either 'decrease', 'no change' or 'increase'). Multinomial logistic regression used three outcomes: 'completely elastic' (consider that lower prices increase drinking and higher prices decrease drinking); 'lower price elastic' (lower prices increase drinking, higher prices have no effect); and 'price inelastic' (no change for either).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Of 22,780 drinkers surveyed, 80.3% considered lower alcohol prices and discounts would increase alcohol consumption, while 22.1% thought raising prices would decrease consumption, making lower price elasticity only (i.e. lower prices increase drinking, higher prices have no effect) the most common outcome (62%). Compared to a high income/high drinking category, the lightest drinkers with a low income (adjusted odds ratio AOR = 1.78, 95% confidence intervals CI 1.38-2.30) or medium income (AOR = 1.88, CI 1.47-2.41) were most likely to be lower price elastic. Females were more likely than males to be lower price elastic (65% vs 57%) while the reverse was true for complete elasticity (20% vs 26%, P < 0.001).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Lower pricing increases alcohol consumption, and the alcohol industry's continued focus on discounting sales encourages higher drinking levels. International evidence suggests increasing the price of alcohol reduces consumption, and one in five of the surveyed population agreed; more work is required to increase this agreement to achieve public support for policy change. Such policy should also recognise that alcohol is an addictive drug, and the population may be prepared to pay more to drink the amount they now feel they need.</p

Occurrence and Functions of PACAP in the Placenta

Pituitary adenylate cyclase activating polypeptide (PACAP) is an endogenous neuropeptide with a widespread distribution both in the nervous system and peripheral organs. The peptide is also present in the female gonadal system, indicating its role in reproductive functions. While a lot of data are known on PACAP-induced effects in oogenesis and in the regulation of gonadotropin secretion at pituitary level, its placental effects are somewhat neglected in spite of the documented implantation deficit in mice lacking endogenous PACAP. The aim of the present review is to give a brief summary on the occurrence and actions of PACAP and its receptors in the placenta. Radioimmunoassay (RIA) measurements revealed increased serum PACAP levels during the third trimester and several changes in placental PACAP content in obstetrical pathological conditions, further supporting the function of PACAP during pregnancy. Both the peptide and its receptors have been shown in different parts of the placenta and the umbilical cord. PACAP influences blood vessel and smooth muscle contractility of the uteroplacental unit and is involved in regulation of local hormone secretion. The effects of PACAP on trophoblast cells have been mainly studied in vitro. Effects of PACAP on cell survival, angiogenesis and invasion/proliferation have been described in different trophoblast cell lines. PACAP increases proliferation and decreases invasion in proliferative extravillous trophoblast cells, but not in primary trophoblast cells, where PACAP decreased the secretion of various angiogenic markers. PACAP pretreatment enhances survival of non-tumorous primary trophoblast cells exposed to oxidative stress, but it does not influence the cell death-inducing effects of methotrexate in proliferative extravillous cytotrophoblast cells. Interestingly, PACAP has pro-apoptotic effect in choriocarcinoma cells suggesting that the effect of PACAP depends on the type of trophoblast cells. These data strongly support that PACAP plays a role in normal and pathological pregnancies and our review provides an overview of currently available experimental data worth to be further investigated to elucidate the exact role of this peptide in the placenta

Optical and electrical properties of (Ti-V)Ox thin film as n-type Transparent Oxide Semiconductor

In this paper, the influence of vanadium doping on optical and electrical properties of titanium dioxide thin films has been discussed. The (Ti-V)Ox thin films was deposited on silicon and Corning glass substrates using high energy reactive magnetron sputtering process. Measurements performed with the aid of x-ray diffraction revealed, that deposited thin film was composed of nanocrystalline mixture of TiO2-anatase, V2O3 and β-V2O5 phases. The amount of vanadium in the thin film, estimated on the basis of energy dispersive spectroscopy measurement, was equal to 3 at. %. Optical properties were evaluated based on transmission and reflection measurements. (Ti-V)Ox thin film was well transparent and the absorption edge was shifted by only 11 nm towards longer wavelengths in comparison to undoped TiO2. Electrical measurements revealed, that investigated thin film was transparent oxide semiconductors with n-type electrical conduction and resistivity of about 2.7 · 105 Ωcm at room temperature. Additionally, measured I-V characteristics of TOS-Si heterostructure were nonlinear and asymmetrical

Analiza zachowań krzyżówki (Anas platyrhynchos) w zależności od okresu fenologicznego i wielkości stada

The subject of the study is the behaviour of Mallard’s Anas platyrhynchos and was carried out in the city of Szczecin (Poland) in 2009–2010. We compared frequency of fights, rapes, courtships, copulations and whistles on a water basins within both big and small flocks, and in different phenology periods. The study shows significant relationship between season, number of ducks on a pond and frequency of fights, as well as between whistles and fights, whistles and season and courtships and season. The results show that the most active period for ducks are the autumn and winter months (pairing period), while more aggressive behaviours can be observed when the population density is high.Przedmiotem badań były zachowania kaczki krzyżówki Anas platyrhynchos . Badania zostały przeprowadzone w Szczecinie w latach 2009–2010. Porównano częstość występowania walk, kopulacji wymuszonych (gwałtów), zalotów, standardowych kopulacji oraz wydawanych przez samce gwizdów w dużych i małych stadach ptaków oraz podczas różnych pór roku. Badania wykazują znaczącą zależność między sezonem i liczbą kaczek na zbiorniku wodnym a częstotliwością walk, a także między gwizdami i walkami, gwizdami i sezonem oraz zalotami i sezonem fenologicznym. Wykazano, że okres największej aktywności ptaków przypada na jesień i zimę (czas tworzenia się par). Najwięcej zachowań agresywnych można zaobserwować natomiast przy wysokim zagęszczeniu populacji