The specificity and the development of social-emotional competence in a multi-ethnic-classroom

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Ethnic diversity in schools increases due to globalization. Thus, the children's social-emotional competence development must be considered in the context of a multi-ethnic classroom.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>In this study, the social-emotional competence of 65 Asian-American and Latin-American children was observed at the beginning and the end of their kindergarten year.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Initially, significant differences existed among these ethnic groups in respect to moral reasoning. Furthermore, the male children showed more dysregulated aggression but the female children implemented more moral reasoning than their male counterparts. These ethnic specificities did not disappear over the course of the year. In addition, a significant change in avoidance strategies as well as expressed emotions in the narrative took place over the course of one year.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Ethnic specificity in social-emotional competence does exist independent of gender at the beginning as well as at the end of the kindergarten year in a multi-ethnic kindergarten classroom.</p

Age and the Neural Network of Personal Familiarity

BACKGROUND: Accessing information that defines personally familiar context in real-world situations is essential for the social interactions and the independent functioning of an individual. Personal familiarity is associated with the availability of semantic and episodic information as well as the emotional meaningfulness surrounding a stimulus. These features are known to be associated with neural activity in distinct brain regions across different stimulus conditions (e.g., when perceiving faces, voices, places, objects), which may reflect a shared neural basis. Although perceiving context-rich personal familiarity may appear unchanged in aging on the behavioral level, it has not yet been studied whether this can be supported by neuroimaging data. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We used functional magnetic resonance imaging to investigate the neural network associated with personal familiarity during the perception of personally familiar faces and places. Twelve young and twelve elderly cognitively healthy subjects participated in the study. Both age groups showed a similar activation pattern underlying personal familiarity, predominantly in anterior cingulate and posterior cingulate cortices, irrespective of the stimulus type. The young subjects, but not the elderly subjects demonstrated an additional anterior cingulate deactivation when perceiving unfamiliar stimuli. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Although we found evidence for an age-dependent reduction in frontal cortical deactivation, our data show that there is a stimulus-independent neural network associated with personal familiarity of faces and places, which is less susceptible to aging-related changes

Living on Cold Substrata: New Insights and Approaches in the Study of Microphytobenthos Ecophysiology and Ecology in Kongsfjorden

Organisms in shallow waters at high latitudes are under pressure due to climate change. These areas are typically inhabited by microphytobenthos (MPB) communities, composed mainly of diatoms. Only sparse information is available on the ecophysiology and acclimation processes within MPBs from Arctic regions. The physico-chemical environment and the ecology and ecophysiology of benthic diatoms in Kongsfjorden (Svalbard, Norway) are addressed in this review. MPB biofilms cover extensive areas of sediment. They show high rates of primary production, stabilise sediment surfaces against erosion under hydrodynamic forces,and affect the exchange of oxygen and nutrients across the sediment-water interface. Additionally, this phototrophic community represents a key component in the functioning of the Kongsfjorden trophic web, particularly as a major food source for benthic suspension- or deposit-feeders. MPB in Kongsfjorden is confronted with pronounced seasonal variations in solar radiation, low temperatures, and hyposaline (meltwater) conditions in summer, as well as long periods of ice and snow cover in winter. From the few data available, it seems that these organisms can easily cope with these environmental extremes. The underlying physiological mechanisms that allow growth and photosynthesis to continue under widely varying abiotic parameters, along with vertical migration and heterotrophy, and biochemical features such as a pronounced fatty-acid metabolism and silicate incorporation are discussed. Existing gaps in our knowledge of benthic diatoms in Kongsfjorden, such as the chemical ecology of biotic interactions, need to be filled. In addition, since many of the underlying molecular acclimation mechanisms are poorly understood, modern approaches based on transcriptomics, proteomics, and/or metabolomics, in conjunction with cell biological and biochemical techniques, are urgently needed. Climate change models for the Arctic predict other multifactorial stressors, such as an increase in precipitation and permafrost thawing, with consequences for the shallow-water regions. Both precipitation and permafrost thawing are likely to increase nutrient-enriched, turbid freshwater runoff and may locally counteract the expected increase in coastal radiation availability. So far, complex interactions among factors, as well as the full genetic diversity and physiological plasticity of Arctic benthic diatoms, have only rarely been considered. The limited existing information is described and discussed in this review

A Daily Diary Approach to the Examination of Chronic Stress, Daily Hassles and Safety Perceptions in Hospital Nursing

Purpose: Stress is a significant concern for individuals and organisations. Few studies have explored stress, burnout and patient safety in hospital nursing on a daily basis at the individual level. This study aimed to examine the effects of chronic stress and daily hassles on safety perceptions, the effect of chronic stress on daily hassles experienced and chronic stress as a potential moderator. Method: Utilising a daily diary design, 83 UK hospital nurses completed three end-of-shift diaries, yielding 324 person days. Hassles, safety perceptions and workplace cognitive failure were measured daily, and a baseline questionnaire included a measure of chronic stress. Hierarchical multivariate linear modelling was used to analyse the data. Results: Higher chronic stress was associated with more daily hassles, poorer perceptions of safety and being less able to practise safely, but not more workplace cognitive failure. Reporting more daily hassles was associated with poorer perceptions of safety, being less able to practise safely and more workplace cognitive failure. Chronic stress did not moderate daily associations. The hassles reported illustrate the wide-ranging hassles nurses experienced. Conclusion: The findings demonstrate, in addition to chronic stress, the importance of daily hassles for nurses’ perceptions of safety and the hassles experienced by hospital nurses on a daily basis. Nurses perceive chronic stress and daily hassles to contribute to their perceptions of safety. Measuring the number of daily hassles experienced could proactively highlight when patient safety threats may arise, and as a result, interventions could usefully focus on the management of daily hassles

Die Amsterdam Preoperative Anxiety and Information Scale (APAIS) - erste Erprobung einer deutschsprachigen Version

Objective: Preoperative anxiety influences the result of the treatment in patients. To assess preoperative anxiety the Amsterdam Preoperative Anxiety and Information Scale (APAIS) was developed. The APAIS measures anxiety and the need-for-information with 6 items, with good reliability and validity. This article presents the first test of the German version of this screening instrument.Methods: The German version of the APAIS was tested on 68 patients questioned before surgery on the lower extremities in the Orthopaedic Department of a University Hospital. From 68 patients, 47 (69%) were female and the average age was 55 years. Besides the APAIS, several additional questionnaires with similar or divergent content were administered for testing the convergent and discriminant validity of the APAIS (HADS, SCL-9-K, KASA, COSS, STOA).Results: The two scales anxiety and need-for-information could be replicated by a factor analysis and had high reliability (anxiety: Cronbachs Alpha = 0.92; need-for-information: Cronbachs Alpha = 0.86). As expected the scales of the APAIS correlated highly with different standard questionnaires which measure anxiety (KASA, STOA) and low with questionnaires of divergent contents (HADS depression, COSS). The APAIS-scales are independent of sex, age or previous surgeries. Patients with a higher need-for-information show higher anxiety (r=0.59) prior to surgery.Conclusions: During its first trial the German version of the APAIS proved to be a reliable and valid instrument. Furthermore, it is a good screening instrument to assess preoperative anxiety and need-for-information in clinical practice, especially due to its brevity. In further studies the predictive validity has to be examined in large heterogeneous samples.Zielsetzung: Das präoperative Angstniveau eines Patienten kann entscheidenden Einfluss auf das Behandlungsergebnis haben. Zur Erfassung präoperativer Angst wurde 1996 die Amsterdam Preoperative Anxiety and Information Scale (APAIS) vorgestellt. Dieses Instrument soll die Skalen "Angst vor Anästhesie und Operation" und "Informationsbedürfnis" mit nur sechs Items valide und reliabel erfassen. Dargestellt wird die erste Überprüfung einer deutschen Version dieses Screeninginstruments.Methodik: Die Erprobung erfolgte an 68 Patienten einer orthopädischen Universitätsklinik vor einer Operation an den unteren Extremitäten. 47 (69%) waren weiblich, das Durchschnittsalter betrug 55 Jahre. Zur Prüfung der konvergenten und diskriminanten Validität wurden weitere inhaltsähnliche bzw. -fremde Fragebogenverfahren eingesetzt (HADS, SCL-9-K, KASA, COSS, STOA).Ergebnisse: In der Faktorenanalyse konnten die beiden Skalen repliziert werden. Sie besitzen eine hohe Reliabilität (Angst: Cronbachs Alpha = 0,92; Informationsbedürfnis: Cronbachs Alpha = 0,86). Die Skalen der APAIS korrelieren erwartungsgemäß hoch mit anderen spezifischen Angstfragebögen (KASA, STOA) und niedriger mit inhaltsferneren Verfahren (HADS Depressivität, COSS). Die APAIS-Skalen sind nicht abhängig von Geschlecht, Alter oder bisherigen Operationserfahrungen. Patienten mit einem höheren Informationsbedürfnis haben auch ein höheres Angstniveau (r=0,59).Fazit: In der ersten Erprobung erwies sich die deutsche Version der APAIS als reliables und valides Instrument, das aufgrund seiner Kürze sehr gut zum Screening von präoperativer Angst und Informationsbedürfnis im klinischen Alltag geeignet ist. Weitere Studien, insbesondere zur prädiktiven Validität, müssen an umfangreicheren, heterogeneren Stichproben erfolgen