Research Expanding Current Understandings of Bullying in Sweden

This paper discusses the on-going research on the phenomenon of bullying in the Department of Child andYouth Studies at Stockholm University. The paper describes the reasons, and how to contribute with anunderstanding of bullying as a social group phenomenon, and specifically focuses on inductive ethnographicand cyberethnographic approaches toward peer-to-peer interactions in schools, preschools and on theInternet. The understanding of this phenomenon is based on a Swedish interdisciplinary approach whichincludes children’s perspectives. The objective is to explore bullying as a complex social group phenomenonwhich allows for a focus on the process of bullying, thus creating an opportunity for the enhancement of theunderstanding of inter- and intra-connected actions and perspectives. This article is intended to contribute toa discussion on a broadening of the conceptualization of the phenomenon of bullying

Comparative-experimental study of different roof types in a tropical climate

Introduction: The implementation of green roofs in buildings has become increasingly common, because it is an ecological construction alternative that provides great benefits, which range from reducing air pollution to improving air conditioning inside of the buildings. Objective: This article aims to evaluate whether extensive green roofs are an energy-valuable option in a tropical climate compared to a thermoacoustic, clay tile, and concrete roof. Methodology: An experimental study was carried out in summer (December) in a tropical climate, where the internal temperature of two identical small buildings was compared except for the roof type. Both small buildings were built with a low construction standard according to buildings of families with low income in this region. Data of internal temperatures and other climatic conditions were analyzed to compare the influence of the roof type on the inner shelter temperature. Results: In these experiments, the average inner shelter temperature of green roofs was lower than the same temperature for thermoacoustic, clay tile and concrete roof and resulted in average temperature differences of 1.8 °C, 0.9 °C and 1.5 °C, respectively (depending on environmental conditions). Conclusions: It was possible to show that the green roof has a greater thermal inertia compared to the others. However, the temperature difference between the green roof and the other roof types was in the same range as in studies conducted in other climatic regions, therefore no special benefit of the green roof has been derived in a warm-tropical climate in this study. However, the low building standard can be of great interest for a final evaluation and the authors recommend to conduct further studies.Resumen Introducción: La implementación de techos verdes en las edificaciones se ha vuelto cada vez más común, debido a que es una alternativa de construcción ecológica que brinda grandes beneficios que van desde la reducción de la contaminación en el aire, hasta la mejora de la climatización dentro de los edificios. Objetivo: Este artículo tiene como objetivo evaluar si los techos verdes extensivos son una opción energéticamente valiosa en un clima tropical en comparación con un techo termoacústico, de tejas de barro y concreto.  Metodología: Se realizó un estudio experimental en verano (diciembre) en clima tropical donde se comparó la temperatura interna de dos cubículos idénticos excepto del tipo de techo. Los cubículos fueron construidos de bajo estándar de construcción como se construyen casas unifamiliares de personas de bajos ingresos. Los datos de temperaturas internas y demás condiciones climáticas se analizaron para comparar la influencia del tipo de techo en la temperatura interna del cubículo.  Resultados: En los experimentos realizados, la temperatura interna promedio en los techos verdes fue menor que la misma temperatura de los techos termoacústicos, de tejas de barro y concreto, con diferencias de 1.8 °C, 0.9 °C y 1.5 °C, respectivamente (dependiendo de las condiciones ambientales). Conclusiones: Se pudo evidenciar que el techo verde presenta una mayor inercia térmica con respecto a los demás. Sin embargo, la diferencia de temperatura entre el techo verde y los otros tipos de techo estuvo en el mismo rango que en los estudios realizados en otras regiones climáticas, por lo tanto, no se ha derivado ningún beneficio especial del techo verde en un clima cálido tropical en este estudio. Sin embargo, el bajo estándar de construcción puede ser de gran interés para una evaluación final y los autores recomiendan realizar más estudios

A neural model of valuation and information virality

Information sharing is an integral part of human interaction that serves to build social relationships and affects attitudes and behaviors in individuals and large groups. We present a unifying neurocognitive framework of mechanisms underlying information sharing at scale (virality). We argue that expectations regarding self-related and social consequences of sharing (e.g., in the form of potential for self-enhancement or social approval) are integrated into a domain-general value signal that encodes the value of sharing a piece of information. This value signal translates into population-level virality. In two studies (n = 41 and 39 participants), we tested these hypotheses using functional neuroimaging. Neural activity in response to 80 New York Times articles was observed in theory-driven regions of interest associated with value, self, and social cognitions. This activity then was linked to objectively logged population-level data encompassing n = 117,611 internet shares of the articles. In both studies, activity in neural regions associated with self-related and social cognition was indirectly related to population-level sharing through increased neural activation in the brain’s value system. Neural activity further predicted populationlevel outcomes over and above the variance explained by article characteristics and commonly used self-report measures of sharing intentions. This parsimonious framework may help advance theory, improve predictive models, and inform new approaches to effective intervention. More broadly, these data shed light on the core functions of sharing—to express ourselves in positive ways and to strengthen our social bonds

Pesquisa sobre a expansão do conhecimento atual do bullying na Suécia

This paper discusses the on-going research on the phenomenon of bullying in the Department of Child and Youth Studies at Stockholm University. The paper describes the reasons, and how to contribute with an understanding of bullying as a social group phenomenon, and specifically focuses on inductive ethnographic and cyberethnographic approaches toward peer-to-peer interactions in schools, preschools and on the Internet. The understanding of this phenomenon is based on a Swedish interdisciplinary approach which includes children’s perspectives. The objective is to explore bullying as a complex social group phenomenon which allows for a focus on the process of bullying, thus creating an opportunity for the enhancement of the understanding of inter- and intra-connected actions and perspectives. This article is intended to contribute to a discussion on a broadening of the conceptualization of the phenomenon of bullying.Este documento plantea la investigación permanente sobre el fenómeno de matoneo en el Departamento de Estudios de Niñez y Juventud de la Universidad de Estocolmo. El documento describe las razones, y cómo contribuir con el entendimiento del matoneo como un fenómeno de un grupo social, y específicamente se enfoca en el empleo de etnografía inductiva y ciber-etnografía hacia las interacciones entre pares en los colegios, preescolar y en Internet. La comprensión de este fenómeno se basa en un enfoque interdisciplinario sueco que incluye las perspectivas de los niños. El objetivo es explorar el matoneo como un fenómeno de grupo social complejo, que permite un enfoque en el proceso de matoneo, y por tanto creando una oportunidad de ampliar el entendimiento de acciones y perspectivas inter e intra- conectadas. La intensión de este artículo es contribuir a la discusión de ampliar la conceptualización del fenómeno del bullying.Este artigo discute a pesquisa em curso sobre o fenômeno do bullying no Departamento de Estudos da Criança e da Juventude na Universidade de Estocolmo. O documento descreve as razões, e como contribuir com a compreensão do bullying como um fenômeno social de grupo e, especificamente, enfoca-se em abordagens etnográficas e cyber-etnográficas indutivas sobre interações entre pares em escolas, pré-escolas e internet. A compreensão deste fenômeno está baseado numa abordagem interdisciplinar sueca que inclui a perspectiva das crianças. O objetivo é explorar o bullying como um fenômeno social complexo de grupo que permite enfocar o processo de bullying criando, assim, uma oportunidade para melhorar o conhecimento das ações e perspectivas inter e intra-conectadas. Este artigo tem a intenção de contribuir para uma discussão sobre a ampliação da conceptualização do bullying

Nonlinear polarization holography of nanoscale iridium films

The phasing problem of heterodyne-detected nonlinear spectroscopy states that the relative time delay between the exciting pulses and a local oscillator must be known with subcycle precision to separate absorptive and dispersive contributions. Here, a solution to this problem is presented which is the time-domain analogue of holographic interferometry, in which the comparison of two holograms reveals changes of an objects size and position with interferometric precision (i.e. to fractions of a wavelength of light). The introduced method, called nonlinear polarization holography, provides equivalent information as attosecond nonlinear polarization spectroscopy but has the advantage of being all-optical instead of using an attosecond streak camera. Nonlinear polarization holography is used here to retrieve the time-domain nonlinear response of a nanoscale iridium film to an ultrashort femtosecond pulse. Using density matrix calculations it is shown that the knowledge of the nonlinear response with subcycle precision allows to distinguish excitation and relaxation mechanisms of low-energetic electrons that depend on the nanoscale structure of the iridium film

Erfassung von Wissensorganisationssystemen in BARTOC - Ergebnis eines Projektseminars an der Hochschule Hannover

Das Basel Register of Thesauri, Ontologies & Classifications (BARTOC) hat sich innerhalb weniger Jahre mit mehr als 2.700 Einträgen zu einem umfangreichen Verzeichnis von Wissensorganisationssystemen entwickelt. Im Sommersemester 2017 wurde diese Entwicklung von einem Projektseminar mit Bachelor-Studierenden der Hochschule Hannover begleitet. Eine Revision und Erweiterung der Inhalte von BARTOC führte zu einer besseren Abdeckung ausgewählter Metadatenfelder. Darüber hinaus wurden verschiedene Statistiken, Informationsmaterialien und ein neues Logo erstellt

Plakophilin 1 deficiency in prostatic tumours is correlated with immune cell recruitment and controls the up‐regulation of cytokine expression post‐transcriptionally

Plakophilin (PKP1) 1 is a member of the arm‐repeat family of catenins and acts as a structural component of desmosomes, which are important stabilizers of cell–cell adhesion. Besides this, PKP1 also occurs in a non‐junctional, cytoplasmic form contributing to post‐transcriptional regulation of gene expression. Moreover, PKP1 is expressed in the prostate epithelium but its expression is frequently downregulated in prostate cancers with a more aggressive phenotype. This observation may imply a tumour‐suppressive role of PKP1. We found that, in prostatic adenocarcinomas with PKP1 deficiency, the occurrence of T‐cells, B‐cells, macrophages and neutrophils were significantly increased. In a PKP1‐deficient prostatic cancer cell line expressing IL8, these levels were statistically meaningfully reduced upon PKP1 re‐expression. When analysing prostatic PKP1 knockdown cell lines, the mRNA and protein levels of additional cytokines, namely CXCL1 and IL6, were upregulated. The effect was rescued upon re‐expression of a PKP1 RNAi‐resistant form. The corresponding mRNAs were co‐precipitated with cytoplasmic PKP1, indicating that they are components of PKP1‐containing mRNA ribonucleoprotein particles. Moreover, the mRNA half‐lives of CXCL1, IL8 and IL6 were significantly increased in PKP1‐deficient cells, showing that these mRNAs were stabilized by PKP1. In an in vitro migration assay, the higher cytokine concentrations led to higher migration rates of THP1 and PBMC cells. This finding implies that PKP1 loss of expression in vivo correlates with the recruitment of immune cells into the tumour area to set up a tumour‐specific environment. One may speculate that this newly established tumour environment has tumour‐suppressive characteristics and thereby accelerates tumour progression and metastasis

Bodyweight Perceptions among Texas Women: The Effects of Religion, Race/Ethnicity, and Citizenship Status

Despite previous work exploring linkages between religious participation and health, little research has looked at the role of religion in affecting bodyweight perceptions. Using the theoretical model developed by Levin et al. (Sociol Q 36(1):157–173, 1995) on the multidimensionality of religious participation, we develop several hypotheses and test them by using data from the 2004 Survey of Texas Adults. We estimate multinomial logistic regression models to determine the relative risk of women perceiving themselves as overweight. Results indicate that religious attendance lowers risk of women perceiving themselves as very overweight. Citizenship status was an important factor for Latinas, with noncitizens being less likely to see themselves as overweight. We also test interaction effects between religion and race. Religious attendance and prayer have a moderating effect among Latina non-citizens so that among these women, attendance and prayer intensify perceptions of feeling less overweight when compared to their white counterparts. Among African American women, the effect of increased church attendance leads to perceptions of being overweight. Prayer is also a correlate of overweight perceptions but only among African American women. We close with a discussion that highlights key implications from our findings, note study limitations, and several promising avenues for future research

Molecular characterisation of sporadic endolymphatic sac tumours and comparison to von Hippel–Lindau disease‐related tumours

Aims: Although inactivation of the von Hippel-Lindau gene (VHL) on chromosome 3p25 is considered to be the major cause of hereditary endolymphatic sac tumours (ELSTs), the genetic background of sporadic ELST is largely unknown. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of VHL mutations in sporadic ELSTs and compare their characteristics to VHL-disease-related tumours. Methods: Genetic and epigenetic alterations were compared between 11 sporadic and 11 VHL-disease-related ELSTs by targeted sequencing and DNA methylation analysis. Results: VHL mutations and small deletions detected by targeted deep sequencing were identified in 9/11 sporadic ELSTs (82%). No other cancer-related genetic pathway was altered except for TERT promoter mutations in two sporadic ELST and one VHL-disease-related ELST (15%). Loss of heterozygosity of chromosome 3 was found in 6/10 (60%) VHL-disease-related and 10/11 (91%) sporadic ELSTs resulting in biallelic VHL inactivation in 8/10 (73%) sporadic ELSTs. DNA methylation profiling did not reveal differences between sporadic and VHL-disease-related ELSTs but reliably distinguished ELST from morphological mimics of the cerebellopontine angle. VHL patients were significantly younger at disease onset compared to sporadic ELSTs (29 vs. 52 years, p < 0.0001, Fisher's exact test). VHL-disease status was not associated with an increased risk of recurrence, but the presence of clear cells was found to be associated with shorter progression-free survival (p = 0.0002, log-rank test). Conclusion: Biallelic inactivation of VHL is the main mechanism underlying ELSTs, but unknown mechanisms beyond VHL may rarely be involved in the pathogenesis of sporadic ELSTs