Elevers forståelse av naturvitenskapens egenart (NOS)

Denne artikkelen presenterer en studie av seks elever (13–16 år) sin forståelse av naturvitenskapens egenart. Forståelse av naturvitenskapens egenart regnes å være sentralt for et individs evne til å ta informerte beslutninger og valg når det kommer til vitenskapsbaserte problemstillinger. Elevene deltok i en treårig intervensjon med fokus på naturvitenskapelige praksiser og naturvitenskapens egenart, veiledet av norske læreplaner. Elevene laget og testet hypoteser, deltok i planlegging av forsøk, skrev forskningsrapporter og tolket data. I de ulike naturvitenskapelige praksisene ble elevene oppfordret til å uttrykke sin forståelse for naturvitenskapens egenart. Seks elever ble intervjuet om sin forståelse av naturvitenskapens egenart hvert semester på 8., 9. og 10. trinn (unntatt høsten 10. trinn). Resultatene viser at elevene utviklet økt forståelse av flere sentrale aspekter ved naturvitenskapens egenart og en utvikling mot en anerkjennelse av kunnskap som konstruert. Elevene viste manglende forståelse av tolkningens rolle i naturvitenskapen, til tross for at de stadig tolket data i sine utforskninger. Selv om elevene brukte vitenskapelige prinsipper når de reflekterte over problemstillinger, hypoteser og i argumentasjon, så viste de manglende forståelse av slike verdier og prinsipper som underligger den naturvitenskapelige virksomheten. Disse resultatene støtter tidligere funn som vektlegger viktigheten av å hjelpe elevene til å bygge bro mellom aspekter ved naturvitenskapens egenart og elevenes deltakelse i naturvitenskapelige praksise

Employment Trends During Preschool Years Among Mothers of Term Singletons Born with Low Birth Weight

Children born at term with low birth weight (LBW) are regarded growth restricted and are at particular risk of adverse health outcomes requiring a high degree of parental participation in the day-to-day care. This study examined whether their increased risk of special health care needs compared to other children may influence mothers’ opportunities for participation in the labor market at different times after delivery. Data from 32,938 participants in the population-based Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study with singleton children born at term in 2004–2006 were linked to national registers in order to investigate the mothers’ employment status when their children were 1–3 years in 2007 and 4–6 years in 2010. Children weighing less than two standard deviations below the gender-specific mean were defined as LBW children. Although not significantly different from mothers of children in the normal weight range, mothers of LBW children had the overall highest level of non-employment when the children were 1–3 years. At child age 4–6 years on the other hand, LBW was associated with an increased risk of non-employment (RR 1.39: 95 % CI 1.11–1.75) also after adjustment for factors associated with employment in general. In accordance with employment trends in the general population, our findings show that while mothers of normal birth weight children re-enter the labor market as their children grow older, mothers of LBW children born at term participate to a lesser extent in paid employment and remain at levels similar to those of mothers with younger children. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits any use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author(s) and the source are credited

Maternal Sick Leave Due to Psychiatric Disorders Following the Birth of a Child With Special Health Care Needs

Objective Child-related stress following the birth of a child with special health care needs (SHCN) can take a toll on parental health. This study examined how the risk of sick leave due to psychiatric disorders (PD) among mothers of children with SHCN compares with that of mothers of children without SHCN during early motherhood. Methods Responses from 58,532 mothers participating in the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study were linked to national registries and monitored for physician-certified sick leave from the month of their child's first birthday until the month of their child's fourth birthday. Results As compared with mothers of children without SHCN, mothers of children with mild and moderate/severe care needs were at substantial risk of a long-term sick leave due to PD in general and due to depression more specifically. Conclusions Extensive childhood care needs are strongly associated with impaired mental health in maternal caregivers during early motherhoo

Influence of early life factors on social inequalities in psychiatric outcomes among young adult Norwegian men

Background: Social inequalities in health can to a substantial degree be explained by social causation. However, indirect selection by early life factors has been suggested. The main aim of this study was to estimate how much adult social gradients in selected psychiatric outcomes depended on parental and individual characteristics in early life. Methods: The population comprised all males born in Norway 1967–71 (n = 170 678). We compiled data on several social and biological variables from birth onwards from different national registers. Health outcomes were collected from the Cause of Death Register (suicide) and the Labour and Welfare Administration (psychiatric disability, psychiatric sickness absence). Indicator of socio-economic position was education level at the age of 28 years. Men were followed up between 4 and 9 years from the age of 29 years. Results: Crude rates per 100 000 person-years were 21.8 (suicide), 145.7 (disability) and 1164.7 (sickness absence). Social inequalities were strong and consistent for all outcomes. Parental and individual characteristics accounted for a substantial part of the social inequalities in neurosis or personality disorder disability (44.1%) and a moderate role for inequalities in psychiatric sickness absence (25.6%), schizophrenia disability (20.7%) and suicide (17.4%). General ability at the age of 18 years had strongest influence on the social health gradients. Suicide and schizophrenia disability were associated with a combination of high parental and low own education level. Conclusion: This study indicates that indirect selection explains a substantial part of social inequalities in certain psychiatric outcomes and that early life prevention is important to reduce health gradients

DNA methylation changes in response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy are associated with breast cancer survival

Background: Locally advanced breast cancer is a heterogeneous disease with respect to response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT) and survival. It is currently not possible to accurately predict who will benefit from the specific types of NACT. DNA methylation is an epigenetic mechanism known to play an important role in regulating gene expression and may serve as a biomarker for treatment response and survival. We investigated the potential role of DNA methylation as a prognostic marker for long-term survival (> 5 years) after NACT in breast cancer. Methods: DNA methylation profiles of pre-treatment (n = 55) and post-treatment (n = 75) biopsies from 83 women with locally advanced breast cancer were investigated using the Illumina HumanMethylation450 BeadChip. The patients received neoadjuvant treatment with epirubicin and/or paclitaxel. Linear mixed models were used to associate DNA methylation to treatment response and survival based on clinical response to NACT (partial response or stable disease) and 5-year survival, respectively. LASSO regression was performed to identify a risk score based on the statistically significant methylation sites and Kaplan–Meier curve analysis was used to estimate survival probabilities using ten years of survival follow-up data. The risk score developed in our discovery cohort was validated in an independent validation cohort consisting of paired pre-treatment and post-treatment biopsies from 85 women with locally advanced breast cancer. Patients included in the validation cohort were treated with either doxorubicin or 5-FU and mitomycin NACT. Results: DNA methylation patterns changed from before to after NACT in 5-year survivors, while no significant changes were observed in non-survivors or related to treatment response. DNA methylation changes included an overall loss of methylation at CpG islands and gain of methylation in non-CpG islands, and these changes affected genes linked to transcription factor activity, cell adhesion and immune functions. A risk score was developed based on four methylation sites which successfully predicted long-term survival in our cohort (p = 0.0034) and in an independent validation cohort (p = 0.049). Conclusion: Our results demonstrate that DNA methylation patterns in breast tumors change in response to NACT. These changes in DNA methylation show potential as prognostic biomarkers for breast cancer survival.publishedVersio

Health-related quality of life in patients with newly diagnosed inflammatory bowel disease: an observational prospective cohort study (IBSEN III)

Purpose This unselected, population-based cohort study aimed to determine the level of health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in patients with Crohn’s disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC) at the time of diagnosis compared with a reference population and identify the demographic factors, psychosocial measures, and disease activity markers associated with HRQoL. Methods Adult patients newly diagnosed with CD or UC were prospectively enrolled. HRQoL was measured using the Short Form 36 (SF-36) and Norwegian Inflammatory Bowel Disease Questionnaires. Clinical significance was assessed using Cohen’s d effect size and further compared with a Norwegian reference population. Associations between HRQoL and symptom scores, demographic factors, psychosocial measures, and disease activity markers were analyzed. Results Compared with the Norwegian reference population, patients with CD and UC reported significantly lower scores in all SF-36 dimensions, except for physical functioning. Cohen’s d effect sizes for men and women in all SF-36 dimensions were at least moderate, except for bodily pain and emotional role for men with UC and physical functioning for both sexes and diagnoses. In the multivariate regression analysis, depression subscale scores ≥ 8 on the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, substantial fatigue, and high symptom scores were associated with reduced HRQoL. Conclusion Patients newly diagnosed with CD and UC reported statistically and clinically significantly lower scores in seven of the eight SF-36 dimensions than the reference population. Symptoms of depression, fatigue, and elevated symptom scores were associated with poorer HRQoL.publishedVersio

Maternal sick leave due to psychiatric disorders following the birth of a child with special health care needs

Objective: Child-related stress following the birth of a child with special health care needs (SHCN) can take a toll on parental health. This study examined how the risk of sick leave due to psychiatric disorders (PD) among mothers of children with SHCN compares with that of mothers of children without SHCN during early motherhood. Methods: Responses from 58,532 mothers participating in the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study were linked to national registries and monitored for physician-certified sick leave from the month of their child's first birthday until the month of their child's fourth birthday. Results: As compared with mothers of children without SHCN, mothers of children with mild and moderate/severe care needs were at substantial risk of a long-term sick leave due to PD in general and due to depression more specifically.  Conclusions: Extensive childhood care needs are strongly associated with impaired mental health in maternal caregivers during early motherhoo