Value transmission in primary schools: are teachers’ acculturation orientations a moderator?

The transmission of human values to primary school pupils is key, which is acknowledged in curricula in a variety of cultural contexts worldwide. The present study presents data from the multicultural and multilingual region of Bolzano in Northern Italy (n = 422 pupils in k = 30 classrooms). In addition to class teachers’ values as predictors of their pupils’ values we investigated whether teachers’ acculturation orientations would strengthen the relationship between teachers’ and children’s values, thereby acting as moderators. We focused on the opposing acculturation orientations of integration-transformation versus exclusion. A multilevel analysis showed that teachers’ conservation values (tradition, conformity, and security) significantly predicted their pupils’ conservation values, and that teachers’ openness to change values (self-direction, stimulation, and hedonism) significantly predicted their pupils’ openness to change values. This indicates successful value transmission in the classroom. Teachers’ self-transcendence (benevolence and universalism) and self-enhancement (achievement and power) values did not significantly predict pupils’ values. As expected, teachers’ acculturation orientations were related to their values, but they did not play a role in predicting pupils’ values. Implications for value transmission in the school context and for acculturation research are discussed

Taking appreciation to heart: appreciation at work and cardiovascular risk in male employees.

INTRODUCTION While perceived appreciation at work has been associated with self-reported health and wellbeing, studies considering biological health markers are lacking. In this study, we investigated whether appreciation at work would relate to coronary heart disease (CHD) risk as well as the specificity of this proposed association. METHODS Our study comprised a total of 103 male participants, including apparently healthy, medication-free, non-smoking men in the normotensive to hypertensive range (n = 70) as well as medicated hypertensive and CHD patients (n = 33). CHD risk was assessed by blood pressure [mean arterial pressure (MAP)], the diabetes marker glycated hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c), blood lipids [total cholesterol (TC)/high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL-C) ratio], coagulation activity (D-dimer and fibrinogen), and inflammation [interleukin (IL)-6, tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), and C-reactive protein (CRP)]. Perceived appreciation at work, as well as potentially confounding psychological factors (social support, self-esteem, and work strain due to a lack of appreciation), were measured by self-report questionnaires. RESULTS We found higher appreciation at work to relate to lower overall composite CHD risk (p's ≤ 0.011) and, in particular, to lower MAP (p's ≤ 0.007) and lower blood lipids (p's ≤ 0.031) in medication-free participants as well as all participants. This overall association was independent of confounding factors, including related psychological factors (p's ≤ 0.049). DISCUSSION Our findings indicate that appreciation at work might be an independent health-promoting resource in terms of CHD risk. Implications include that encouraging appreciation at work may help reduce the development and progression of CHD

Dynamic control of decision and movement speed in the human basal ganglia

To optimally adjust our behavior to changing environments we need to both adjust the speed of our decisions and movements. Yet little is known about the extent to which these processes are controlled by common or separate mechanisms. Furthermore, while previous evidence from computational models and empirical studies suggests that the basal ganglia play an important role during adjustments of decision-making, it remains unclear how this is implemented. Leveraging the opportunity to directly access the subthalamic nucleus of the basal ganglia in humans undergoing deep brain stimulation surgery, we here combine invasive electrophysiological recordings, electrical stimulation and computational modelling of perceptual decision-making. We demonstrate that, while similarities between subthalamic control of decision- and movement speed exist, the causal contribution of the subthalamic nucleus to these processes can be disentangled. Our results show that the basal ganglia independently control the speed of decisions and movement for each hemisphere during adaptive behavior

European Echinococcosis Registry: Human Alveolar Echinococcosis, Europe, 1982–2000

Surveillance for alveolar echinococcosis in central Europe was initiated in 1998. On a voluntary basis, 559 patients were reported to the registry. Most cases originated from rural communities in regions from eastern France to western Austria; single cases were reported far away from the disease-“endemic” zone throughout central Europe. Of 210 patients, 61.4% were involved in vocational or part-time farming, gardening, forestry, or hunting. Patients were diagnosed at a mean age of 52.5 years; 78% had symptoms. Alveolar echinococcosis primarily manifested as a liver disease. Of the 559 patients, 190 (34%) were already affected by spread of the parasitic larval tissue. Of 408 (73%) patients alive in 2000, 4.9% were cured. The increasing prevalence of Echinococcus multilocularis in foxes in rural and urban areas of central Europe and the occurrence of cases outside the alveolar echinococcosis–endemic regions suggest that this disease deserves increased attention

WOSMIP II- Workshop on Signatures of Medical and Industrial Isotope Production

Medical and industrial fadioisotopes are fundamental tools used in science, medicine and industry with an ever expanding usage in medical practice where their availability is vital. Very sensitive environmental radionuclide monitoring networks have been developed for nuclear-security-related monitoring [particularly Comprehensive Test-Ban-Treaty (CTBT) compliance verification] and are now operational

Didattica e inclusione scolastica - Inklusion im Bildungsbereich

The inequalities in education, which have also been exposed by the pandemic, highlight the need for alternatives and new horizons. The seventh edition of the conference series "Didattica e Inclusione Scolastica – Inclusion in Education", which was organized for the first time under the direction of the Competence Center for Inclusion in Education of the Free University of Bozen-Bolzano, offered a space to deal with the priorities of a just and inclusive education during this time. This volume opens up a dialogue on inclusive didactics, which builds a bridge between german- and Italian-speaking traditions through its multilingual and intercultural orientation. The twelve contributions open up from different perspectives theoretical references, methods and instruments for the development of an inclusive school with a special focus on didactics.Die Ungleichheiten im Bildungsbereich, die auch durch die Pandemie zutage getreten sind, verdeutlichen die Notwendigkeit von Alternativen und neuen Horizonten. Die siebte Ausgabe der Tagungsreihe „Didattica e Inclusione Scolastica – Inklusion im Bildungsbereich“, welche erstmals unter der Leitung des Kompetenzzentrums für Inklusion im Bildungsbereich der Freien Universität Bozen veranstaltet wurde, bot einen Raum zur Auseinandersetzung mit den Prioritäten einer gerechten und inklusiven Bildung in dieser Zeit. Dieser Band eröffnet einen Dialog über inklusive Didaktik, der durch seine mehrsprachige und interkulturelle Ausrichtung eine Brücke zwischen deutsch- und italienischsprachigen Traditionen schlägt. Die zwölf Beiträge erschließen aus unterschiedlichen Blickwinkeln theoretische Bezüge, Methoden und Instrumente für die Entwicklung einer inklusiven Schule mit besonderem Augenmerk auf die Didaktik.Le disuguaglianze in ambito educativo, emerse anche a causa della pandemia, indicano la necessità di alternative e nuovi orizzonti. La settima edizione del Convegno “Didattica e Inclusione Scolastica – Inklusion im Bildungsbereich”, organizzato per la prima volta dal Centro di Competenza per l’Inclusione Scolastica della Libera Università di Bolzano, ha voluto creare uno spazio per mettere a fuoco le priorità per un’educazione equa ed inclusiva in questo tempo. Con questo volume si dà avvio ad un dialogo sulla didattica inclusiva che si fa plurilingue ed interculturale, creando un ponte fra le tradizioni di lingua italiana e tedesca. I dodici contributi presenti delineano, da prospettive diverse, riferimenti teorici, metodologie e strumenti per lo sviluppo della scuola inclusiva, con un’attenzione particolare alla dimensione didattica

Genetic landscape of congenital insensitivity to pain and hereditary sensory and autonomic neuropathies

Congenital insensitivity to pain (CIP) and hereditary sensory and autonomic neuropathies (HSAN) are clinically and genetically heterogeneous disorders exclusively or predominantly affecting the sensory and autonomic neurons. Due to the rarity of the diseases and findings based mainly on single case reports or small case series, knowledge about these disorders is limited. Here, we describe the molecular workup of a large international cohort of CIP/HSAN patients including patients from normally under-represented countries. We identify 80 previously unreported pathogenic or likely pathogenic variants in a total of 73 families in the >20 known CIP/HSAN-associated genes. The data expand the spectrum of disease-relevant alterations in CIP/HSAN, including novel variants in previously rarely recognized entities such as ATL3-, FLVCR1- and NGF-associated neuropathies and previously under-recognized mutation types such as larger deletions. In silico predictions, heterologous expression studies, segregation analyses and metabolic tests helped to overcome limitations of current variant classification schemes that often fail to categorize a variant as disease-related or benign. The study sheds light on the genetic causes and disease-relevant changes within individual genes in CIP/HSAN. This is becoming increasingly important with emerging clinical trials investigating subtype or gene-specific treatment strategies

The Polygenic and Monogenic Basis of Blood Traits and Diseases

Blood cells play essential roles in human health, underpinning physiological processes such as immunity, oxygen transport, and clotting, which when perturbed cause a significant global health burden. Here we integrate data from UK Biobank and a large-scale international collaborative effort, including data for 563,085 European ancestry participants, and discover 5,106 new genetic variants independently associated with 29 blood cell phenotypes covering a range of variation impacting hematopoiesis. We holistically characterize the genetic architecture of hematopoiesis, assess the relevance of the omnigenic model to blood cell phenotypes, delineate relevant hematopoietic cell states influenced by regulatory genetic variants and gene networks, identify novel splice-altering variants mediating the associations, and assess the polygenic prediction potential for blood traits and clinical disorders at the interface of complex and Mendelian genetics. These results show the power of large-scale blood cell trait GWAS to interrogate clinically meaningful variants across a wide allelic spectrum of human variation. Analysis of blood cell traits in the UK Biobank and other cohorts illuminates the full genetic architecture of hematopoietic phenotypes, with evidence supporting the omnigenic model for complex traits and linking polygenic burden with monogenic blood diseases

Global patient outcomes after elective surgery: prospective cohort study in 27 low-, middle- and high-income countries.

BACKGROUND: As global initiatives increase patient access to surgical treatments, there remains a need to understand the adverse effects of surgery and define appropriate levels of perioperative care. METHODS: We designed a prospective international 7-day cohort study of outcomes following elective adult inpatient surgery in 27 countries. The primary outcome was in-hospital complications. Secondary outcomes were death following a complication (failure to rescue) and death in hospital. Process measures were admission to critical care immediately after surgery or to treat a complication and duration of hospital stay. A single definition of critical care was used for all countries. RESULTS: A total of 474 hospitals in 19 high-, 7 middle- and 1 low-income country were included in the primary analysis. Data included 44 814 patients with a median hospital stay of 4 (range 2-7) days. A total of 7508 patients (16.8%) developed one or more postoperative complication and 207 died (0.5%). The overall mortality among patients who developed complications was 2.8%. Mortality following complications ranged from 2.4% for pulmonary embolism to 43.9% for cardiac arrest. A total of 4360 (9.7%) patients were admitted to a critical care unit as routine immediately after surgery, of whom 2198 (50.4%) developed a complication, with 105 (2.4%) deaths. A total of 1233 patients (16.4%) were admitted to a critical care unit to treat complications, with 119 (9.7%) deaths. Despite lower baseline risk, outcomes were similar in low- and middle-income compared with high-income countries. CONCLUSIONS: Poor patient outcomes are common after inpatient surgery. Global initiatives to increase access to surgical treatments should also address the need for safe perioperative care. STUDY REGISTRATION: ISRCTN5181700

Trans-ethnic and Ancestry-Specific Blood-Cell Genetics in 746,667 Individuals from 5 Global Populations

Most loci identified by GWASs have been found in populations of European ancestry (EUR). In trans-ethnic meta-analyses for 15 hematological traits in 746,667 participants, including 184,535 non-EUR individuals, we identified 5,552 trait-variant associations at p < 5 × 10−9, including 71 novel associations not found in EUR populations. We also identified 28 additional novel variants in ancestry-specific, non-EUR meta-analyses, including an IL7 missense variant in South Asians associated with lymphocyte count in vivo and IL-7 secretion levels in vitro. Fine-mapping prioritized variants annotated as functional and generated 95% credible sets that were 30% smaller when using the trans-ethnic as opposed to the EUR-only results. We explored the clinical significance and predictive value of trans-ethnic variants in multiple populations and compared genetic architecture and the effect of natural selection on these blood phenotypes between populations. Altogether, our results for hematological traits highlight the value of a more global representation of populations in genetic studies. Delineation of the genetic architecture of hematological traits in a multi-ethnic dataset allows identification of rare variants with strong effects specific to non-European populations and improved fine mapping of GWAS variants using the trans-ethnic approach