Perceptions and Practices of Stimulating Children’s Cognitive Development Among Moroccan Immigrant Mothers

We explored the perceptions of children’s cognitive development among Moroccan Arabic and Berber immigrant mothers who cannot read, who are less educated, middle educated or highly educated in the Netherlands. A series of in-depth interviews was conducted with 22 mothers with young children (mean age = 5 years and 6 months). Qualitative data analyses revealed five major themes that are of significant importance to these mothers: moral attitudes, social values and religiousness; conversation, reading and playing as stimulating activities; importance attached to education; parental expectations; attributions of school success. The parental perceptions about the cognitive development of young children differed according to their own educational level. Mothers who cannot read and mothers with less education emphasized the development of moral, social and religious values for strengthening the cultural identity of their children. This sense of identity would enable them to function within their own cultural group and help them to perform well at school. School success was attributed in large part to a combination of the efforts of the child and the school. Middle and highly educated mothers, on the other hand, valued scholastic development and attributed school success to their own efforts and to the kind of support the child received. The ethnic background of the parents, whether Arabic or Berber, did not make a difference in the perceptions

Titan Cell Production Enhances the Virulence of Cryptococcus neoformans

ABSTRACT Infection with Cryptococcus neoformans begins when desiccated yeast cells or spores are inhaled and lodge in the alveoli of the lungs. A subset of cryptococcal cells in the lungs differentiate into enlarged cells, referred to as titan cells. Titan cells can be as large as 50 to 100 μm in diameter and exhibit a number of features that may affect interactions with host immune defenses. To characterize the effect of titan cell formation on the host-pathogen interaction, we utilized a previously described C. neoformans mutant, the gpr4 Δ gpr5 Δ mutant, which has minimal titan cell production in vivo . The gpr4 Δ gpr5 Δ mutant strain had attenuated virulence, a lower CFU, and reduced dissemination compared to the wild-type strain. Titan cell production by the wild-type strain also resulted in increased eosinophil accumulation and decreased phagocytosis in the lungs compared to those with the gpr4 Δ gpr5 Δ mutant strain. Phagocytosed cryptococcal cells exhibited less viability than nonphagocytosed cells, which potentially explains the reduced cell survival and overall attenuation of virulence in the absence of titan cells. These data show that titan cell formation is a novel virulence factor in C. neoformans that promotes establishment of the initial pulmonary infection and plays a key role in disease progression

Predicting Filipino Mothers\u27 and Fathers\u27 Reported Use of Corporal Punishment From Education, Authoritarian Attitudes, and Endorsement of Corporal Punishment

The relations of education, authoritarian childrearing attitudes, and endorsement of corporal punishment to Filipino parents\u27 reported use of corporal punishment were examined using two waves of data. Structured interviews using self-report questionnaires were conducted with 117 mothers and 98 fathers from 120 families when their children were 8 years old, and when their children were 9 years old. Path analyses showed that, among mothers, higher education predicted lower authoritarian attitudes, which in turn predicted lower reports of corporal punishment use. Among fathers, higher education predicted lower endorsement of corporal punishment, which in turn predicted lower reports of its use. Results suggest that education has an indirect relation to use of corporal punishment through parenting cognitions, and highlight distinctions in Filipino mothers\u27 and fathers\u27 parenting roles

Automated Analysis of Cryptococcal Macrophage Parasitism Using GFP-Tagged Cryptococci

The human fungal pathogens Cryptococcus neoformans and C. gattii cause life-threatening infections of the central nervous system. One of the major characteristics of cryptococcal disease is the ability of the pathogen to parasitise upon phagocytic immune effector cells, a phenomenon that correlates strongly with virulence in rodent models of infection. Despite the importance of phagocyte/Cryptococcus interactions to disease progression, current methods for assaying virulence in the acrophage system are both time consuming and low throughput. Here, we introduce the first stable and fully characterised GFP–expressing derivatives of two widely used cryptococcal strains: C. neoformans serotype A type strain H99 and C. gattii serotype B type strain R265. Both strains show unaltered responses to environmental and host stress conditions and no deficiency in virulence in the macrophage model system. In addition, we report the development of a method to effectively and rapidly investigate macrophage parasitism by flow cytometry, a technique that preserves the accuracy of current approaches but offers a four-fold improvement in speed

Virtual Blocks: a serious game for spatial ability improvement on mobile devices

This paper presents a novel spatial instruction system for improving spatial abilities of engineering students. A 3D mobile game application called Virtual Blocks has been designed to provide a 3D virtual environment to build models with cubes that help students to perform visualization tasks to promote the development of their spatial ability during a short remedial course. A validation study with 26 freshman engineering students at La Laguna University (Spain) has concluded that the training had a measurable and positive impact on students spatial ability. In addition, the results obtained using a satisfaction questionnaire show that Virtual Blocks is considered an easy to use and stimulating application.This work has been partially supported by the (Spanish) National Program for Studies and Analysis project "Evaluation and development of competencies associated to the spatial ability in the new engineering undergraduate courses" (Ref. EA2009-0025) and the (Spanish) National Science Project "Enhancing Spatial REasoning and VIsual Cognition with advanced technological tools (ESREVIC)" (Ref TIN2010-21296-C02-02)Martín Dorta, NN.; Sanchez Berriel, I.; Bravo, M.; Hernández, J.; Saorin, JL.; Contero, M. (2014). Virtual Blocks: a serious game for spatial ability improvement on mobile devices. Multimedia Tools and Applications. 73(3):1575-1595. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11042-013-1652-0S15751595733Baartmans BG, Sorby SA (1996) Introduction to 3-D spatial visualization. Prentice Hall, Englewood CliffsClements D, Battista M (1992) Geometry and spatial reasoning. In: Grouws DA (ed) Handbook of research on mathematics teaching and learning. New York, pp 420–464Cohen J (1988) Statistical power analysis for the behavioral sciences, 2nd edn. Erlbaum, HillsdaleDe Lisi R, Cammarano DM (1996) Computer experience and gender differences in undergraduate mental rotation performance. Comput Hum Behav 12:351–361Deno JA (1995) The relationship of previous experiences to spatial visualization ability. Eng Des Graph J 59(3):5–17Feng J, Spence I, Pratt J (2007) Playing an action video game reduces gender differences in spatial cognition. Psychol Sci 18(10):850–855French JW (1951) The description of aptitude and achievement tests in terms of rotated factors. Psychometric monograph 5Guilford JP, Lacy JI (1947) Printed classification tests, A.A.F. Aviation Psychological Progress Research Report, 5. US. Government Printing Office, Washington DCHalpern DF (2000) Sex differences and cognitive abilities. Erlbaum, MahwahHöfele C (2007) Mobile 3D graphics: learning 3D graphics with the Java Micro Edition. Editorial ThomsonKajiya JT, Kay TL (1989) Rendering fur with three dimensional textures. In Proceedings of the 16th Annual Conference on Computer Graphics and interactive Techniques SIGGRAPH ’89. ACM Press, New York pp 271–280Linn MC, Petersen AC (1985) Emergence and characterization of gender differences in spatial abilities: a meta-analysis. Child Dev 56:1479–1498Martin-Dorta N, Sanchez-Berriel I, Bravo M, Hernandez J, Saorin JL, Contero M (2010) A 3D educational mobile game to enhance student’s spatial skills, ICALT, pp.6–10, 2010 10th IEEE International Conference on Advanced Learning TechnologiesMartin-Dorta N, Saorin J, Contero M (2008) Development of a fast remedial course to improve the spatial abilities of engineering students. J Eng Educ 27(4):505–514Martin-Dorta N, Saorin JL, Contero M (2011) Web-based spatial training using handheld touch screen devices. Educ Technol Soc 14(3):163–177McGee MG (1979) Human spatial abilities: psychometric studies and environmental, genetic, hormonal, and neurological influences. Psychol Bull 86:889–918Noguera JM, Segura RJ, Ogayar CJ, Joan-Arinyo R (2011) Navigating large terrains using commodity mobile devices. Comput Geosci 37:1218–1233Okagaki L, Frensch PA (1994) Effects of video game playing on measures of spatial performance: gender effects in late adolescence. J Appl Dev Psychol 15(1):33–58Pulli K, Aarnio T, Miettinen V, Roimela K, Vaarala J (2007) Mobile 3D graphics with OpenGL ES and M3G. Editorial Morgan KaufmannQuaiser-Pohl C, Geiser C, Lehmann W (2005) The relationship between computer-game preference, gender, and mental-rotation ability. Personal Individ Differ 40(3):609–619Smith IM (1964) Spatial ability- its educational and social significance. The University of London Press, LondonSorby S (2007) Developing 3D spatial skills for engineering students. Australas Assoc Eng Educ 13(1):1–11Terlecki MS, Newcombe NS (2005) How important is the digital divide? The relation of computer and videogame usage to gender differences in mental rotation ability. 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Axial distribution of myosin binding protein-C is unaffected by mutations in human cardiac and skeletal muscle

Myosin binding protein-C (MyBP-C), a major thick filament associated sarcomeric protein, plays an important functional and structural role in regulating sarcomere assembly and crossbridge formation. Missing or aberrant MyBP-C proteins (both cardiac and skeletal) have been shown to cause both cardiac and skeletal myopathies, thereby emphasising its importance for the normal functioning of the sarcomere. Mutations in cardiac MyBP-C are a major cause of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), while mutations in skeletal MyBP-C have been implicated in a disease of skeletal muscle—distal arthrogryposis type 1 (DA-1). Here we report the first detailed electron microscopy studies on human cardiac and skeletal tissues carrying MyBP-C gene mutations, using samples obtained from HCM and DA-1 patients. We have used established image averaging methods to identify and study the axial distribution of MyBP-C on the thick filament by averaging profile plots of the A-band of the sarcomere from electron micrographs of human cardiac and skeletal myopathy specimens. Due to the difficulty of obtaining normal human tissue, we compared the distribution to the A-band structure in normal frog skeletal, rat cardiac muscle and in cardiac muscle of MyBP-C-deficient mice. Very similar overall profile averages were obtained from the C-zones in cardiac HCM samples and skeletal DA-1 samples with MyBP-C gene mutations, suggesting that mutations in MyBP-C do not alter its mean axial distribution along the thick filament

Personal values and involvement in problem behaviors among Bahamian early adolescents: a cross-sectional study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Few studies, particularly in developing countries, have explored the relationship between adolescents and parental values with adolescent problem behaviors. The objectives of the study are to (1) describe adolescents' personal values, their problem behaviors, and the relationships thereof according to gender and (2) examine the relationship between parental values, adolescent values, and adolescents' problem behaviors among sixth-grade students and one of their parents.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The data used in these analyses were from the baseline assessment of a school-based HIV risk reduction intervention being conducted and evaluated among sixth grade students and one of their parents across 9 elementary schools in The Bahamas. Personal values were measured by the Portrait Values Questionnaire (PVQ). Seven reported problem behaviors were queried from the students, which included physical fight with a friend, drank alcohol, beer, or wine, smoked a cigarette, pushed or carried any drugs, carried a gun, knife, screwdriver or cutlass to use as a weapon, had sex and used marijuana or other illicit drugs over the past 6 months. Multilevel modeling for binary data was performed to estimate the associations between adolescent and parental values and adolescent problem behaviors.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Among 785 students, 47% of the students reported at least one problem behavior. More boys (54%) reported having one or more problem behaviors than girls (41%, p < 0.01). Boys compared to girls expressed a higher level of self-enhancement (means score: 36.5 vs. 35.1; p = 0.03), while girls expressed a higher level of self-transcendence (42.3 vs. 40.7; p = 0.03). The results of multilevel modeling indicates that boys with a higher level of self-enhancement and girls with a higher level of openness to change and a lower level of conservation were more likely to report engagement in problem behaviors. Only two parental values (self-transcendence and conservation) were low or modestly correlated with youth' values (openness to change and self-enhancement). Parental-reported values documented limited association on adolescents' reported values and behaviors.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>In designing interventions for reducing adolescents' problem behaviors, it may be important to understand the values associated with specific problem behaviors. Further exploration regarding lack of association between adolescent and parental values and problem behaviors is needed.</p

Phospholipids Trigger Cryptococcus neoformans Capsular Enlargement during Interactions with Amoebae and Macrophages

A remarkable aspect of the interaction of Cryptococcus neoformans with mammalian hosts is a consistent increase in capsule volume. Given that many aspects of the interaction of C. neoformans with macrophages are also observed with amoebae, we hypothesized that the capsule enlargement phenomenon also had a protozoan parallel. Incubation of C. neoformans with Acanthamoeba castellanii resulted in C. neoformans capsular enlargement. The phenomenon required contact between fungal and protozoan cells but did not require amoeba viability. Analysis of amoebae extracts showed that the likely stimuli for capsule enlargement were protozoan polar lipids. Extracts from macrophages and mammalian serum also triggered cryptococcal capsular enlargement. C. neoformans capsule enlargement required expression of fungal phospholipase B, but not phospholipase C. Purified phospholipids, in particular, phosphatidylcholine, and derived molecules triggered capsular enlargement with the subsequent formation of giant cells. These results implicate phospholipids as a trigger for both C. neoformans capsule enlargement in vivo and exopolysaccharide production. The observation that the incubation of C. neoformans with phospholipids led to the formation of giant cells provides the means to generate these enigmatic cells in vitro. Protozoan- or mammalian-derived polar lipids could represent a danger signal for C. neoformans that triggers capsular enlargement as a non-specific defense mechanism against potential predatory cells. Hence, phospholipids are the first host-derived molecules identified to trigger capsular enlargement. The parallels apparent in the capsular response of C. neoformans to both amoebae and macrophages provide additional support for the notion that certain aspects of cryptococcal virulence emerged as a consequence of environmental interactions with other microorganisms such as protists