Aineülesed eesmärgid õppe- ja kasvatustöö kavandamisel, läbiviimisel ja tagasisidestamisel

Käesolev TÜ haridusuuringute ja õppekavaarenduse keskuse projekti “Läbivate teemade aineõppes rakendamise metoodika” täitjate koostatud tekst on mõeldud toeks põhikooli ja gümnaasiumi riikliku õppekava arendustöös. Tekst on vahekokkuvõte senises õppekavatöös ainealaste eesmärkide alal tehtust, mille eesmärk on: - selgitada aineüleste eesmärkide, sh läbivate teemade kui nende kandjate rolli ja vajalikkust (nii riiklikus kui kooli) õppekavas; - selgitada, kuidas aineülesed eesmärgid võivad riikliku ja kooli õppekava tasandil toetada õppeainete omavaheliste ning aineõpetuse ja klassiväliste tegevuste vaheliste sünergiapotentsiaalide ärakasutamist; - anda soovitusi edaspidiseks

Acute COVID-19 severity and mental health morbidity trajectories in patient populations of six nations: an observational study

Background Long-term mental and physical health consequences of COVID-19 (long COVID) are a persistent public health concern. Little is still known about the long-term mental health of non-hospitalised patients with COVID-19 with varying illness severities. Our aim was to assess the prevalence of adverse mental health symptoms among individuals diagnosed with COVID-19 in the general population by acute infection severity up to 16 months after diagnosis. Methods This observational follow-up study included seven prospectively planned cohorts across six countries (Denmark, Estonia, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, and the UK). Participants were recruited from March 27, 2020, to Aug 13, 2021. Individuals aged 18 years or older were eligible to participate. In a cross-sectional analysis, we contrasted symptom prevalence of depression, anxiety, COVID-19-related distress, and poor sleep quality (screened with validated mental health instruments) among individuals with and without a diagnosis of COVID-19 at entry, 0–16 months from diagnosis. In a cohort analysis, we further used repeated measures to estimate the change in mental health symptoms before and after COVID-19 diagnosis. Findings The analytical cohort consisted of 247 249 individuals, 9979 (4·0%) of whom were diagnosed with COVID-19 during the study period. Mean follow-up was 5·65 months (SD 4·26). Participants diagnosed with COVID-19 presented overall with a higher prevalence of symptoms of depression (prevalence ratio [PR] 1·18 [95% CI 1·03–1·36]) and poorer sleep quality (1·13 [1·03–1·24]) but not symptoms of anxiety (0·97 [0·91–1·03]) or COVID-19-related distress (1·05 [0·93–1·20]) compared with individuals without a COVID-19 diagnosis. Although the prevalence of depression and COVID-19-related distress attenuated with time, individuals diagnosed with COVID-19 but never bedridden due to their illness were consistently at lower risk of depression (PR 0·83 [95% CI 0·75–0·91]) and anxiety (0·77 [0·63–0·94]) than those not diagnosed with COVID-19, whereas patients who were bedridden for more than 7 days were persistently at higher risk of symptoms of depression (PR 1·61 [95% CI 1·27–2·05]) and anxiety (1·43 [1·26–1·63]) than those not diagnosed throughout the study period. Interpretation Severe acute COVID-19 illness—indicated by extended time bedridden—is associated with long-term mental morbidity among recovering individuals in the general population. These findings call for increased vigilance of adverse mental health development among patients with a severe acute disease phase of COVID-19.Funding Nordforsk, Horizon2020, Wellcome Trust, and Estonian Research Council

Indiviididevaheliste erinevuste monoamiinergiline regulatsioon rottide uudistavas käitumises ning psühhostimulaatorite käitumist aktiveerivad efektid

Väitekirja elektrooniline versioon ei sisalda publikatsioone.Väitekiri keskendub uudistamiskäitumises esinevate indiviididevaheliste erinevuste neurokeemilise regulatsiooni kirjeldamisele. Rottide püsival uudistamisfenotüübil põhinev loomkatsemudel võib osutuda kasulikuks ärevuse- ja depressiooniuuringutes patogeneetiliste mehhanismide ning võimalike uute farmakoloogiliste sihtmärkide tuvastamisel. Eelnevalt oleme leidnud, et uudiskasti meetodil määratud indiviididevahelised erinevused uudistamisaktiivsuses on ajas püsivad ning need stabiilsed käitumisjooned ennustavad ka rottide tegutsemist teistes ärevuse- ning depressiooniuuringute kontekstis kasutatavates käitumistestides. Kuna varasemalt on leitud, et vähemalt osaliselt on uudistamise ning psühhostimulaatorite mõju neurobioloogilised alusmehhanismid kattuvad ning nii uudistava käitumise regulatsioonis kui ka sõltuvuskäitumises on oluline roll monoamiinergilistel (dopamiini, noradrenaliini ja serotoniini kasutavatel) transmittersüsteemidel, siis uurisime ka psühhostimulaatorite käitumist aktiveerivaid ning tingivaid efekte vähe- ja palju-uudistavate rottidel. Psühhostimulaatorid aktiveerisid proportsionaalselt nii palju- kui väheuudistavate rottide lokomotoorset aktiivsust, kuid psühhostimulaatoriga tingitud paigaeelistuskatses erineva uudistamisfenotüübiga rotid ei erinenud. Leidsime, et palju- ja väheuudistavate rottide käitumuslike erinevustega kaasnevad olulised erinevused keskaju dopamiinisüsteemi aktiivsuses, dopamiini poolt vahendatud käitumine sõltub aga oluliselt noradre¬nergilise süsteemi terviklikkusest. Lisaks erinevustele dopamiinergilises ja noradrenergilises närviülekandes avalduvad vähe- ja palju-uudistavate rottide vahel ajupiirkonniti erinevused ka serotonergiliste süsteemide regulatsioonis

Effect of Neuropeptide S Administration on Ultrasonic Vocalizations and Behaviour in Rats with Low vs. High Exploratory Activity

Neuropeptide S (NPS) is a peptide neurotransmitter that in animal studies promotes wakefulness and arousal with simultaneous anxiety reduction, in some inconsistency with results in humans. We examined the effect of NPS on rat ultrasonic vocalizations (USV) as an index of affective state and on behaviour in novel environments in rats with persistent inter-individual differences in exploratory activity. Adult male Wistar rats were categorised as of high (HE) or low (LE) exploratory activity and NPS was administered intracerebroventricularly (i.c.v.) at a dose of 1.0 nmol/5 µL, after which USVs were recorded in the home-cage and a novel standard housing cage, and behaviour evaluated in exploration/anxiety tests. NPS induced a massive production of long and short 22 kHz USVs in the home cage that continued later in the novel environment; no effect on 50 kHz USVs were found. In LE-rats, the long 22 kHz calls were emitted at lower frequencies and were louder. The effects of NPS on behaviour appeared novelty- and test-dependent. NPS had an anxiolytic-like effect in LE-rats only in the elevated zero-maze, whereas in HE-rats, locomotor activity in the zero-maze and in a novel standard cage was increased. Thus NPS appears as a psychostimulant peptide but with a complex effect on dimensions of affect

Extracellular Dopamine Levels in Nucleus Accumbens after Chronic Stress in Rats with Persistently High vs. Low 50-kHz Ultrasonic Vocalization Response

Fifty-kHz ultrasonic vocalizations (USVs) in response to an imitation of rough-and-tumble play (‘tickling’) have been associated with positive affective states and rewarding experience in the rat. This USV response can be used as a measure of inter-individual differences in positive affect. We have previously shown that rats with persistently low positive affectivity are more vulnerable to the effects of chronic variable stress (CVS). To examine whether these differential responses are associated with dopaminergic neurotransmission in the nucleus accumbens (NAc), juvenile male Wistar rats were categorized as of high or low positive affectivity (HC and LC, respectively), and after reaching adulthood, extracellular dopamine (DA) levels in the NAc shell were measured using in vivo microdialysis after three weeks of CVS. Baseline levels of DA were compared as well as the response to K+-induced depolarization and the effect of glial glutamate transporter EAAT2 inhibition by 4 mM l-trans-pyrrolidine-2,4-dicarboxylate (PDC). DA baseline levels were higher in control LC-rats, and stress significantly lowered the DA content in LC-rats. An interaction of stress and affectivity appeared in response to depolarization where stress increased the DA output in HC-rats whereas it decreased it in LC-rats. These results show that NAc-shell DA is differentially regulated in response to stress in animals with high and low positive affect

True Correlations Between Personality and Psychopathology

A comprehensive multi-rater assessment of the empirical overlap of personality traits and psychopathology