Building study-related relationships : How student relationships and readiness affect academic outcome in higher education

The present dissertation explores students’ perception of their own readiness for higher education and students’ study related relations and the effect on academic outcome. The complexity of student engagement and academic success means that it is relevant to conduct in-depth studies of particular student populations, to explore how certain factors play out in that specific context. First, students’ perceptions of their readiness for HE studies in relation to academic outcome and socioeconomic and academic background factors were explored. Then, threepapers focused students’ study-related networks: how students form working, learning and friendship relations and to what extent these overlap in multiplex relations, and how these relations relate to academic outcome; howstudents perceive their study-related networks, in relation to academic outcome; and, how the emergency transition to online teaching during the Covid-19 pandemic affected students’ study-related networks.The research presented in the dissertation has a mixed-method approach and applied both quantitative and qualitative data collection methods. Three studies were based on responses from a cohort of business students ata teaching intense Swedish university. The fourth study explored responses from students from two different types of institutions, one teaching intensive and one research intensive university. One important finding was that there was a gap between self-perceived readiness and actual readiness (PaperI), and results indicated no correlations between readiness and academic outcome. Students were confident in their own skills at the beginning of the semester and did not modify their perception after one semester of studies. Thus, academic staff with teaching responsibility must be more explicit about what is expected of students. Furthermore, student multiplex relations were found to correlate significantly with academic outcome. This finding was further supported by research presented in both Paper III and IV, where students reported that their multiplex relations were important for both social and academic success, as well as well-being. According to the students, it was here the main work with assignments and learning was done (Paper III). These interactions helped studentsremain engaged in their studies. It was the multiplex relations that remained when learning transitioned online during the Covid-19 pandemic (Paper IV). Many students had only a small number of multiplex relations (1-5 students) and this pattern is consistent with patterns found in Paper II and in the comparative study (Paper IV). Commuter students had fewer relationships than campus students. Finally, there was also a strong tendency toward social homophily in the networks, which could be negative for knowledge development. At the same time,the coexistence of affective and instrumental ties in one relation creates beneficial synergies. In conclusion, the multiplex networks could be seen as semi-professional work groups based on trust. Like in a workplace, many had their main social life elsewhere, but were joined in the shared enterprise of completing an education. The pooling of skills and knowledge helped students accomplish their goals. One important implication is that education programs and academic teachers need to create relationship rich environments in the classrooms to enable students to work together to create productive and supportive networks and learn to work together with mutual respect. A strategic framework for relationship building is discussed

Pillipidu 2014

http://www.ester.ee/record=b4413521~S47*es

Social support utilization’s effect on post-traumatic stress symptoms: a Danish cross-sectional study of 383 ambulance personnel

IntroductionSocial support is considered an important factor in prevention of mental illness. However, little is known about the association between ambulance personnel’s use of multiple types of social support and post-traumatic stress symptoms (PTSS). This study aims to assess if number of used social support types predicts PTSS for ambulance personnel. Apart from assessing the main effect of social support utilization, we were interested in investigating if social support utilization moderated the effect of frequency of critical events on PTSS.Materials and methodsA total of 383 ambulance personnel completed a survey consisting of validated questionnaires. Hierarchical multiple linear regression analyses were performed to assess the association between frequency of traumatic exposure and utilization of social support and PTSS as outcome variable.ResultsHigher number of utilized social support types was associated with higher levels of PTSS (β = 0.15, p <.001). When serving as a moderator of the association between frequency of exposure to critical incidents and PTSS, social support utilization had a significant and positive interaction effect (β = 0.26, p = .049). 307 participants had used 2 or 3 types of informal support during the past year, whereas 81 had used 2 or 3 types of formal support.ConclusionTo our knowledge, this is the first study investigating the relationship between utilization of multiple, concurrent social support types and PTSS. This study suggests that to understand the effects of social support among ambulance personnel, it is necessary to assess the utilization of multiple concurrent support types, contributing factors to social support use, and different patterns of social support utilization that constitutes professional life in ambulance work

Workplace Sexual Harassment Increases the Risk of PTSD Symptoms with Higher Frequency and Harassment Coming from a Colleague or Leader as Risk Factors

This study examined the effect of workplace sexual harassment on posttraumatic stress (PTSD) symptoms while also examining the effect of harassment frequency, harassment source, and workplace social capital. The sample consisted of 3153 Danish social educators (females 79.3%) responding to the International Trauma Questionnaire (ITQ) and the Copenhagen Psychosocial Questionnaire II item on sexual harassment (COPSOQ). The prevalence of sexual harassment was 22% exposed within the recent year. We found a significant positive relationship between exposure to workplace sexual harassment and PTSD symptoms. Harassment frequency was associated with significantly higher levels of PTSD symptoms. Harassment from a colleague/leader compared to a client was associated with higher levels of PTSD symptoms although the difference was not statistically significant. Workplace social capital had an inverted association with PTSD symptoms, but there was no moderation effect on the relationship between sexual harassment and PTSD. These findings suggest that higher harassment frequency and harassment from a colleague/leader is associated with an increased severity of PTSD symptoms following exposure to workplace sexual harassment. Workplace social capital seems to alleviate level of PTSD symptoms, but did not moderate the association between exposure to workplace sexual harassment and PTSD symptoms. Possibly, feelings of shame and guilt may discourage some employees from disclosing their experiences with colleagues or leaders and thereby seek available support at the workplace. Future studies need to uncover the barriers that prevent victims of sexual harassment from seeking and benefitting from social support available at the workplace

Efficacy of Patient Education and Duloxetine, Alone and in Combination, for Patients With Multisystem Functional Somatic Disorder: Study Protocol for the EDULOX Trial

Background Multisystem functional somatic disorder is characterized by specific patterns of persistent physical symptoms with a complex biopsychosocial etiology. The disorder can lead to disability and personal suffering. Current treatment options require specialized settings, therefore patients often wait a long time to receive specific treatment. Patient education is considered important in most treatment programs, but has only been investigated sparsely as a stand-alone treatment. Pharmacological treatment is limited to tricyclic antidepressants in low doses with not antidepressant properties. Duloxetine has been found effective in single organ functional disorders. As a treatment for multisystem functional somatic disorder, duloxetine could reduce symptoms and treat comorbid anxiety and depression. It may furthermore enhance the effect of patient education through a hypothesized effect on cognitive functioning. The purpose of the EDULOX trial is to study psycho-EDUcation and duLOXetine alone and in combination. Methods This is a nested study design. The parent trial EDULOX1 (n = 424) will compare a patient education program with enhanced usual care in an open-labelled, randomized controlled trial. In addition to this, eligible participants will furthermore receive either duloxetine or active placebo in the nested, double-blinded randomized controlled trial, EDULOX2 (n = 212). Patient and clinician reported outcomes will be collected through questionnaires. Conclusion The EDULOX trial may establish evidence for treatments applicable for the majority of patients with multisystem functional somatic disorder. If effective, duloxetine would be a more tolerable pharmacological treatment option that can target comorbid depression and anxiety, and potentially boost the effect of patient education

Eesti osalemine 6. raamprogrammis

Euroopa Liidu teadus- ja arendustegevuse 6. raamprogramm (2002-2006).Väikeriigi teadlastele on aktiivne rahvusvaheline koostöö üheks ellujäämise tagatiseks. Eesti teadlased on seda teadnud läbi aegade ning kinni haaranud kõigist pakutavatest võimalustest. Neist üheks on olnud EL teaduse ja arendustegevuse alased raamprogrammid, milles osalemist alustati kohe, kui raudne eesriie vähegi paotus, ehkki ametlikult sai Eesti osalemisõiguse alles 5. raamprogrammis 1999. aastal. Seega võime praegusel hetkel öelda, et meil on selja taga juba üle kümne aasta raamprogrammides osalemise kogemust. Käesolev trükis annab teile ülevaate Eesti osalusest 6. raamprogrammis (6RP). Kuuenda raamprogrammi (2002–2006) põhieesmärgiks oli kaasa aidata Euroopa killustunud teadusmaastiku kujunemisele ühtseks Euroopa teadusruumiks

Pan-Cancer Analysis of lncRNA Regulation Supports Their Targeting of Cancer Genes in Each Tumor Context

Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) are commonly dys-regulated in tumors, but only a handful are known toplay pathophysiological roles in cancer. We inferredlncRNAs that dysregulate cancer pathways, onco-genes, and tumor suppressors (cancer genes) bymodeling their effects on the activity of transcriptionfactors, RNA-binding proteins, and microRNAs in5,185 TCGA tumors and 1,019 ENCODE assays.Our predictions included hundreds of candidateonco- and tumor-suppressor lncRNAs (cancerlncRNAs) whose somatic alterations account for thedysregulation of dozens of cancer genes and path-ways in each of 14 tumor contexts. To demonstrateproof of concept, we showed that perturbations tar-geting OIP5-AS1 (an inferred tumor suppressor) andTUG1 and WT1-AS (inferred onco-lncRNAs) dysre-gulated cancer genes and altered proliferation ofbreast and gynecologic cancer cells. Our analysis in-dicates that, although most lncRNAs are dysregu-lated in a tumor-specific manner, some, includingOIP5-AS1, TUG1, NEAT1, MEG3, and TSIX, synergis-tically dysregulate cancer pathways in multiple tumorcontexts

Pan-cancer Alterations of the MYC Oncogene and Its Proximal Network across the Cancer Genome Atlas

Although theMYConcogene has been implicated incancer, a systematic assessment of alterations ofMYC, related transcription factors, and co-regulatoryproteins, forming the proximal MYC network (PMN),across human cancers is lacking. Using computa-tional approaches, we define genomic and proteo-mic features associated with MYC and the PMNacross the 33 cancers of The Cancer Genome Atlas.Pan-cancer, 28% of all samples had at least one ofthe MYC paralogs amplified. In contrast, the MYCantagonists MGA and MNT were the most frequentlymutated or deleted members, proposing a roleas tumor suppressors.MYCalterations were mutu-ally exclusive withPIK3CA,PTEN,APC,orBRAFalterations, suggesting that MYC is a distinct onco-genic driver. Expression analysis revealed MYC-associated pathways in tumor subtypes, such asimmune response and growth factor signaling; chro-matin, translation, and DNA replication/repair wereconserved pan-cancer. This analysis reveals insightsinto MYC biology and is a reference for biomarkersand therapeutics for cancers with alterations ofMYC or the PMN

Genomic, Pathway Network, and Immunologic Features Distinguishing Squamous Carcinomas

This integrated, multiplatform PanCancer Atlas study co-mapped and identified distinguishing molecular features of squamous cell carcinomas (SCCs) from five sites associated with smokin

Spatial Organization and Molecular Correlation of Tumor-Infiltrating Lymphocytes Using Deep Learning on Pathology Images

Beyond sample curation and basic pathologic characterization, the digitized H&E-stained images of TCGA samples remain underutilized. To highlight this resource, we present mappings of tumorinfiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) based on H&E images from 13 TCGA tumor types. These TIL maps are derived through computational staining using a convolutional neural network trained to classify patches of images. Affinity propagation revealed local spatial structure in TIL patterns and correlation with overall survival. TIL map structural patterns were grouped using standard histopathological parameters. These patterns are enriched in particular T cell subpopulations derived from molecular measures. TIL densities and spatial structure were differentially enriched among tumor types, immune subtypes, and tumor molecular subtypes, implying that spatial infiltrate state could reflect particular tumor cell aberration states. Obtaining spatial lymphocytic patterns linked to the rich genomic characterization of TCGA samples demonstrates one use for the TCGA image archives with insights into the tumor-immune microenvironment