Finnish children who experienced narcolepsy after receiving the Pandemrix vaccine during the 2009-2010 H1N1 pandemic demonstrated high level of psychosocial problems

https://doi.org/10.1111/apa.16233ABSTRACT Aim We assessed psychosocial burdens in children who developed narcolepsy after receiving the Pandemrix H1N1 vaccine during the 2009-2010 pandemic. Parental quality of life was also assessed. Methods This multicentre study covered four of the five Finnish University Hospital Districts, which dealt with about 90% of the paediatric narcolepsy cases after the Pandemrix vaccination. The medical records of children diagnosed from 2010-2014 were reviewed. The questionnaires included the Youth Self Report (YSR), Children?s Depression Inventory (CDI), the Child Behaviour Checklist (CBCL) and questions on parental resources, stress and quality of life. Results We obtained the medical records of 94 children who were aged 5-17 years at the time of their narcolepsy diagnosis and questionnaire data for 73 of those children. Most children had strong narcolepsy symptoms 25% had CDI scores that suggested depression. In addition, 41% had total CBCL problem scores above the clinically significant limit and 48% were anxious, withdrawn and had somatic complaints. Sleep latency was weakly associated with the CBCL total problem score. Half of the children needed psychiatric interventions and parental stress was common. Conclusion Depression and behavioural problems were common in children with narcolepsy after the Pandemrix vaccination and their parents frequently reported feeling stressed.Peer reviewe

Antipredatory Function of Head Shape for Vipers and Their Mimics

Most research into the adaptive significance of warning signals has focused on the colouration and patterns of prey animals. However, behaviour, odour and body shape can also have signal functions and thereby reduce predators' willingness to attack defended prey. European vipers all have a distinctive triangular head shape; and they are all venomous. Several non-venomous snakes, including the subfamily Natricinae, commonly flatten their heads (also known as head triangulation) when disturbed. The adaptive significance of this potential behavioural mimicry has never been investigated

The academic–vocational divide in three Nordic countries : implications for social class and gender

In this study we examine how the academic–vocational divide is manifested today in Finland, Iceland and Sweden in the division between vocationally (VET) and academicallyoriented programmes at the upper-secondary school level. The paper is based on a critical re-analysis of results from previous studies; in it we investigate the implications of this divide for class and gender inequalities. The theoretical lens used for the synthesis is based on Bernstein´s theory of pedagogic codes. In the re-analysis we draw on previous studies of policy, curriculum and educational praxis as well as official statistics. The main conclusions are that contemporary policy and curriculum trends in all three countries are dominated by a neo-liberal discourse stressing principles such as “market relevance” and employability. This trend strengthens the academic–vocational divide, mainly through an organisation of knowledge in VET that separates it from more general and theoretical elements. This trend also seems to affect VET students’ transitions in terms of reduced access to higher education, particularly in male-dominated programmes. We also identify low expectations for VET students, manifested through choice of textbooks and tasks, organisation of teacher teams and the advice of career counsellors.Peer reviewe

A typology of competitive actions

In this dissertation I posit that prior research on competitive dynamics – while having contributed significantly to enhancing understanding concerning competitive interaction of companies – lacks both a theoretically rigorously derived definition for competitive action and an equally rigorously theoretically derived typology of such actions. Hence, I intend to contribute to this literature by proposing a rigorously derived definition for competitive action and by developing a typology which addresses, theoretically, the variety (i.e. the ontology) of different competitive actions. In both conceptual and typological development the central underlying theoretical premise is the philosophical theory of action, a body of knowledge which has, to my best knowledge, not previously been applied in the context of competitive dynamics. With regard to conceptual development, this theoretical perspective addresses the notion of intentionality: because competitive action is generally perceived as intentional (goal-directed, purposeful) action, this perspective allows the concept of competitive action to be elaborated by studying in depth what the notion of intention implies in a competitive setting. In typological development, in turn, the philosophical theory of action provides one of the two typological dimensions by enumerating different elementary actions which apply not only to competitive action but instead to all human action. This typological dimension is supplemented by the general theory of competition which, in turn, enumerates different domains of action in competitive interaction. The results of this dissertation consist of a theoretically rigorously derived definition for competitive action and a 64-item typology of theoretically possible competitive actions. As the typological development is in a central role in this dissertation, I demonstrate its validity in two ways. First, I compare the proposed typology against all prior typologies of competitive actions reviewed in this dissertation and find it to cover the variety of competitive actions substantially more broadly than any other prior typology. Moreover, I demonstrate that a central notion in the proposed typology, that of forbearing (to act) is not present in any of the prior typologies. And second, as the proposed typology is intended to be useful in subsequent empirical research in competitive dynamics, I illustrate, evaluate and discuss its applicability in an empirical research setting and generally find it to be applicable, with certain reservations, which mainly stem from the typological approach itself. In addition to the direct conceptual and typological contributions to the literature on competitive dynamics this study also opens and discusses various avenues for new research, most of which concern comparing the current classificatory approach with alternative approaches, including taxonomic development

A typology of competitive actions

In this dissertation I posit that prior research on competitive dynamics – while having contributed significantly to enhancing understanding concerning competitive interaction of companies – lacks both a theoretically rigorously derived definition for competitive action and an equally rigorously theoretically derived typology of such actions. Hence, I intend to contribute to this literature by proposing a rigorously derived definition for competitive action and by developing a typology which addresses, theoretically, the variety (i.e. the ontology) of different competitive actions. In both conceptual and typological development the central underlying theoretical premise is the philosophical theory of action, a body of knowledge which has, to my best knowledge, not previously been applied in the context of competitive dynamics. With regard to conceptual development, this theoretical perspective addresses the notion of intentionality: because competitive action is generally perceived as intentional (goal-directed, purposeful) action, this perspective allows the concept of competitive action to be elaborated by studying in depth what the notion of intention implies in a competitive setting. In typological development, in turn, the philosophical theory of action provides one of the two typological dimensions by enumerating different elementary actions which apply not only to competitive action but instead to all human action. This typological dimension is supplemented by the general theory of competition which, in turn, enumerates different domains of action in competitive interaction. The results of this dissertation consist of a theoretically rigorously derived definition for competitive action and a 64-item typology of theoretically possible competitive actions. As the typological development is in a central role in this dissertation, I demonstrate its validity in two ways. First, I compare the proposed typology against all prior typologies of competitive actions reviewed in this dissertation and find it to cover the variety of competitive actions substantially more broadly than any other prior typology. Moreover, I demonstrate that a central notion in the proposed typology, that of forbearing (to act) is not present in any of the prior typologies. And second, as the proposed typology is intended to be useful in subsequent empirical research in competitive dynamics, I illustrate, evaluate and discuss its applicability in an empirical research setting and generally find it to be applicable, with certain reservations, which mainly stem from the typological approach itself. In addition to the direct conceptual and typological contributions to the literature on competitive dynamics this study also opens and discusses various avenues for new research, most of which concern comparing the current classificatory approach with alternative approaches, including taxonomic development

Colour polymorphism in the coconut crab (Birgus latro)

This is the author accepted manuscript.The final version is available from Springer Verlag via the DOI in this record.Coconut crabs (Birgus latro) are strikingly variable in coloration, but the significance of this colour diversity has never been investigated. We studied coloration, morphology, behaviour and background matching of adult coconut crabs, the world’s largest terrestrial invertebrate, at the western edge of its distribution on Pemba Island, Tanzania. Adults are evidently polymorphic; they come in red and blue types (3:1 ratio on Pemba). The best predictor of colour morph was ventral hue, which, using a discriminant function analysis, correctly classified 96% of the crabs assigned into a predefined colour group. In contrast, principal component analyses suggested a degree of overlapping colour variation. We found no evidence that coloration was sex or size-linked. Males were larger than females and the Pemba adult population appeared male-biased (3:1). We also report that red adults may match the background better than do blue adults on land, whereas blue match better near shore than do red. We postulate that although colour diversity in coconut crabs may be genetically determined, potentially through a crustacyanin gene polymorphism influencing the stability of integument pigmentation, its maintenance may involve several ecological drivers.We thank the Revolutionary Government of Zanzibar for permission; the University of California, Davis for funding fieldwork; and two anonymous reviewers for comments. We have no conflict of interest

Investigating the Number of Non-linear and Multi-modal Relationships Between Observed Variables Measuring Growth-oriented Atmosphere

categorical data, survey data, non-linear modeling, structural equation modeling, organizational atmosphere,