The characteristics of reflexivity of younger and middle adolescents

The article is devoted to the problem of development of reflection in the adolescence at the age 11–12 and 13–14. It is shown that there are differences in development of reflexivity of younger and middle adolescents. The structure of relations between reflexivity and locus of control and empathy is investigated by means of factor analysis. The specific of reflexivity of younger and middle adolescents is analyzed. Data are given is used for adaptation of program aimed for development of younger and middle adolescents’ reflexivity by means of debate technology.В статье рассматривается проблема развития рефлексии у подростков 11–12 и 13–14 лет. Выявлены различия в развитии рефлексивности у младших и средних подростков. Посредством факторного анализа и учена структура связей рефлексивности с локусом контроля и эмпатией, проанализирована специфика рефлексивности младших и средних подростков. Полученные результаты используются для адаптации программы по развитию рефлексивности у данных возрастных групп с помощью технологии «Дебаты»

Overview of the Cohort Consortium Vitamin D Pooling Project of Rarer Cancers

The Cohort Consortium Vitamin D Pooling Project of Rarer Cancers (VDPP) brought together 10 cohorts to conduct a prospective study of the association between vitamin D status, measured as serum concentrations of 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D), and the development of 7 rarer cancer sites: endometrial, esophageal, gastric, kidney, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, ovarian, and pancreatic cancers. The cohorts come from 3 continents, with participants from a wide range of latitude who are racially diverse. Across each cancer site, there was no evidence of a protective association between higher concentrations of 25-hydroxyvitamin D (>75 nmol/L) and cancer outcome. An increased risk at very high levels (≥100 nmol/L) was noted for pancreatic cancer, confirming previous reports. The articles included in this issue detail the overall design and governance of the project, correlates of vitamin D status, and results from the cancer site-specific investigations. The Vitamin D Pooling Project realizes a major goal of consortium efforts, namely, to rigorously test hypotheses for rarer cancer outcomes that may not be adequately addressed in any one prospective cohort study. The results of this study have application for the planning and conduct of intervention trials, especially in determining potential risks

Changes in serum calcium, phosphate, and PTH and the risk of death in incident dialysis patients: A longitudinal study

Elevated bone mineral parameters have been associated with mortality in dialysis patients. There are conflicting data about calcium, parathyroid hormone (PTH), and mortality and few data about changes in bone mineral parameters over time. We conducted a prospective cohort study of 1007 incident hemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis patients. We examined longitudinal changes in bone mineral parameters and whether their associations with mortality were independent of time on dialysis, inflammation, and comorbidity. Serum calcium, phosphate, and calcium–phosphate product (CaP) increased in these patients between baseline and 6 months (P<0.001) and then remained stable. Serum PTH decreased over the first year (P<0.001). In Cox proportional hazards models adjusting for inflammation, comorbidity, and other confounders, the highest quartile of phosphate was associated with a hazard ratio (HR) of 1.57 (1.07–2.30) using both baseline and time-dependent values. The highest quartiles of calcium, CaP, and PTH were associated with mortality in time-dependent models but not in those using baseline values. The lowest quartile of PTH was associated with an HR of 0.65 (0.44–0.98) in the time-dependent model with 6-month lag analysis. We conclude that high levels of phosphate both at baseline and over follow-up are associated with mortality in incident dialysis patients. High levels of calcium, CaP, and PTH are associated with mortality immediately preceding an event. Promising new interventions need to be rigorously tested in clinical trials for their ability to achieve normalization of bone mineral parameters and reduce deaths of dialysis patients

Leibniz, Acosmism, and Incompossibility

Leibniz claims that God acts in the best possible way, and that this includes creating exactly one world. But worlds are aggregates, and aggregates have a low degree of reality or metaphysical perfection, perhaps none at all. This is Leibniz’s tendency toward acosmism, or the view that there this no such thing as creation-as-a-whole. Many interpreters reconcile Leibniz’s acosmist tendency with the high value of worlds by proposing that God sums the value of each substance created, so that the best world is just the world with the most substances. I call this way of determining the value of a world the Additive Theory of Value (ATV), and argue that it leads to the current and insoluble form of the problem of incompossibility. To avoid the problem, I read “possible worlds” in “God chooses the best of all possible worlds” as referring to God’s ideas of worlds. These ideas, though built up from essences, are themselves unities and so well suited to be the value bearers that Leibniz’s theodicy requires. They have their own value, thanks to their unity, and that unity is not preserved when more essences are added

Arctic air pollution: Challenges and opportunities for the next decade

The Arctic is a sentinel of global change. This region is influenced by multiple physical and socio-economic drivers and feedbacks, impacting both the natural and human environment. Air pollution is one such driver that impacts Arctic climate change, ecosystems and health but significant uncertainties still surround quantification of these effects. Arctic air pollution includes harmful trace gases (e.g. tropospheric ozone) and particles (e.g. black carbon, sulphate) and toxic substances (e.g. polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons) that can be transported to the Arctic from emission sources located far outside the region, or emitted within the Arctic from activities including shipping, power production, and other industrial activities. This paper qualitatively summarizes the complex science issues motivating the creation of a new international initiative, PACES (air Pollution in the Arctic: Climate, Environment and Societies). Approaches for coordinated, international and interdisciplinary research on this topic are described with the goal to improve predictive capability via new understanding about sources, processes, feedbacks and impacts of Arctic air pollution. Overarching research actions are outlined, in which we describe our recommendations for 1) the development of trans-disciplinary approaches combining social and economic research with investigation of the chemical and physical aspects of Arctic air pollution; 2) increasing the quality and quantity of observations in the Arctic using long-term monitoring and intensive field studies, both at the surface and throughout the troposphere; and 3) developing improved predictive capability across a range of spatial and temporal scales

Visit-to-visit variability of lipid measurements as predictors of cardiovascular events.

BACKGROUND:Higher visit-to-visit variability in risk factors such as blood pressure and low-density lipoprotein (LDL)-cholesterol are associated with an increase in cardiovascular (CV) events. OBJECTIVE:The purpose of this study was to determine whether variability in high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) and triglyceride levels predicted coronary and CV events in a clinical trial population with known coronary disease. METHODS:We assessed intraindividual variability in fasting high-density lipoprotein (HDL)-cholesterol, triglyceride, and LDL-cholesterol measurements among 9572 patients in the Treating to New Targets trial and correlated the results with coronary events over a median follow-up of 4.9 years. RESULTS:In the fully adjusted Cox model, 1 standard deviation of average successive variability, defined as the average absolute difference between successive values, was associated with an increased risk of a coronary event for HDL-cholesterol (hazard ratio [HR] 1.16, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.11-1.21, P &lt; .0001), for triglycerides (HR 1.09, 95% CI 1.04-1.15, P = .0005), and for LDL-cholesterol (HR 1.14, 95% CI 1.09-1.19, P &lt; .0001). Similar results were found for the 3 other measures of variability, standard deviation, coefficient of variability, and variability independent of the mean. Similar results were seen for CV events, stroke, and nonfatal myocardial infarction. Higher variability in triglyceride and LDL-cholesterol, but not HDL-cholesterol, was predictive of incident diabetes. The correlation among the variability of the 3 lipid measurements was weak. CONCLUSION:Visit-to-visit variability in fasting measurements of HDL-cholesterol, triglycerides, and LDL-cholesterol are predictive of coronary events, CV events, and for triglyceride and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol variability, incident diabetes. The mechanisms accounting for these associations remain to be determined