Moral Attitudes Toward Pharmacological Cognitive Enhancement (PCE): Differences and Similarities Among Germans With and Without PCE Experience

Pharmacological cognitive enhancement (PCE), the use of illicit and/or prescription drugs to increase cognitive performance, has spurred controversial discussion in bioethics. In a semi-structured interview study with 60 German university students and employees, differences and similarities in moral attitudes toward PCE among 30 experienced participants (EPs) vs. 30 inexperienced participants (IPs) were investigated. Substances EPs used most often are methylphenidate, amphetamines, tetrahydrocannabinol and modafinil. Both EPs and IPs addressed topics such as autonomous decision making or issues related to fairness such as equality in test evaluation and distortion of competition. While most EPs and IPs were convinced that the decision of whether or not to use PCE is part of their individual freedom, their views varied considerably with regard to fairness. IPs considered issues related to fairness as much more critical than EPs. Thus, a person’s moral attitudes toward PCE may not only depend on moral common sense, but also on whether they have used illegal and/or prescription drugs for PCE before. This points to the importance of including the various relevant stakeholder perspectives in debates on the ethical and social implications of PCE

Williams-Beuren-Syndrom: Textkompetenz und narrative Fähigkeiten

In dieser Diplomarbeit soll untersucht werden, ob Personen mit Williams-Beuren-Syndrom Textkompetenz und narrative Fähigkeiten besitzen. Anfangs wird auf kognitive-, soziale- und sprachliche Fähigkeiten eingegangen, um sich ein Bild des Verhaltens dieser Personen machen zu können. Zusätzlich werden die Themen Theory of Mind und Grammatik behandelt. Anhand unterschiedlicher Studien sollen Vergleiche angestellt werden. Unter anderem wurden Kinder mit Down-Syndrom, Specific Language Impairment (SLI) oder unauffällige Kinder und Kinder mit Williams-Beuren-Syndrom miteinander verglichen. Hierbei wurden die Kinder beispielsweise in Bezug auf Theory of Mind, Grammatik oder Textkompetenz und narrative Fähigkeiten getestet. Das Hauptaugenmerk dieser Arbeit liegt darin, die Personen mit Williams-Beuren-Syndrom anhand der Frog-Story in Bezug auf Textkompetenz und narrative Fähigkeiten zu untersuchen. Die Kinder mit Williams-Beuren-Syndrom wurden mit unauffälligen Kindern, Kindern mit Down-Syndrom und mit Kindern verschiedener Muttersprachen verglichen. Als Fallbeispiel wurden Daten des Mädchens Kathi, zur Zeit der Testung im Alter von 13 Jahren, aus einer Studie von Schleicher (2006) herangezogen. Diese Ergebnisse wurden in Bezug auf das Geschichtenerzählen mit den Kindern mit Williams-Beuren-Syndrom der anderen Studien verglichen und diskutiert. Zusätzlich wurden die Fähigkeiten in Bezug auf Textkompetenz und narrative Fähigkeiten von Kathi besprochen und anderen Studien gegenübergestellt. Weiters wurde auf Probleme hinsichtlich einer oberflächlichen Betrachtung des Williams-Beuren-Syndroms hingewiesen. In der Literatur wurde das Syndrom oft als „besonders“ beschrieben, jedoch ist es schwierig diese Aussage außerhalb eines bestimmten Kontexts zu sehen beziehungsweise zu verstehen.This thesis examines the sense for text competence and abilities of narratives by people with Williams syndrome. First the thesis gives an overview of cognitive-, social- and linguistically abilities to get a better understanding of the Williams syndrome. Two further topics examine theory of mind and grammar. On the basis of different studies the thesis gives some comparisons between children with Down syndrome, Specific Language Impairment or typically-developing children and children with Williams syndrome. The children were tested concerning theory of mind, grammar or text competence and narrative structures. The main focal point of this thesis is on determining the persons with Williams syndrome concerning the Frog-Story (Mayer, 1969) on text competence and narrative abilities. The children with Williams syndrome were compared with typically developing children, children with Down syndrome and children with different mother tongues. The data of a girl named Kathi, her age at that time was 13 years, was taken as a case study of the survey of Schleicher (2006). The results of this study are compared and discussed with the children with Williams syndrome of the other studies regarding story telling. Furthermore the results of Kathi’s story telling and the abilities regarding text competence and narratives are debated and opposed to other studies. In addition it is important to refer the problems, which occur if one looks too superficial at the Williams syndrome. The literature often describes the syndrome as something “special”, however it is very difficult to understand or view this evidence beyond a certain context

Testing Students with Special Educational Needs in Large-Scale Assessments – Psychometric Properties of Test Scores and Associations with Test Taking Behavior

Assessing competencies of students with special educational needs in learning (SEN-L) poses a challenge for large-scale assessments (LSAs). For students with SEN-L, the available competence tests may fail to yield test scores of high psychometric quality, which are—at the same time—measurement invariant to test scores of general education students. We investigated whether we can identify a subgroup of students with SEN-L, for which measurement invariant competence measures of adequate psychometric quality may be obtained with tests available in LSAs. We furthermore investigated whether differences in test-taking behavior may explain dissatisfying psychometric properties and measurement non-invariance of test scores within LSAs. We relied on person fit indices and mixture distribution models to identify students with SEN-L for whom test scores with satisfactory psychometric properties and measurement invariance may be obtained. We also captured differences in test-taking behavior related to guessing and missing responses. As a result we identified a subgroup of students with SEN-L for whom competence scores of adequate psychometric quality that are measurement invariant to those of general education students were obtained. Concerning test taking behavior, there was a small number of students who unsystematically picked response options. Removing these students from the sample slightly improved item fit. Furthermore, two different patterns of missing responses were identified that explain to some extent problems in the assessments of students with SEN-L.Peer Reviewe

Moral Attitudes Toward Pharmacological Cognitive Enhancement (PCE): Differences and Similarities Among Germans With and Without PCE Experience

Pharmacological cognitive enhancement (PCE), the use of illicit and/or prescription drugs to increase cognitive performance, has spurred controversial discussion in bioethics. In a semi-structured interview study with 60 German university students and employees, differences and similarities in moral attitudes toward PCE among 30 experienced participants (EPs) vs. 30 inexperienced participants (IPs) were investigated. Substances EPs used most often are methylphenidate, amphetamines, tetrahydrocannabinol and modafinil. Both EPs and IPs addressed topics such as autonomous decision making or issues related to fairness such as equality in test evaluation and distortion of competition. While most EPs and IPs were convinced that the decision of whether or not to use PCE is part of their individual freedom, their views varied considerably with regard to fairness. IPs considered issues related to fairness as much more critical than EPs. Thus, a person’s moral attitudes toward PCE may not only depend on moral common sense, but also on whether they have used illegal and/or prescription drugs for PCE before. This points to the importance of including the various relevant stakeholder perspectives in debates on the ethical and social implications of PCE

Emotional Dissonance and Job Satisfaction: The Moderating Role of Organisational Commitment and Task Significance

Aim: Emotional dissonance resulting from nurse/patient interactions is usually considered to lead to negative outcomes, such as job dissatisfaction (Yang & Chang, 2008). Although there does exist some general support and acceptance of the positive link between emotional dissonance and job dissatisfaction, there are some inconsistencies in these findings (Pugh, Groth, & Hennig-Thurau, 2010). The aim of our study is to verify whether the relationship between emotional dissonance and job satisfaction can be influenced by organizational commitment and task significance. Method: A questionnaire was distributed to 222 nurses, working in two multidisciplinary hospitals in the Northwest region of Italy. Results and conclusion: Results provide support for the moderating role of organizational affective commitment and task significance. Organizational affective commitment and task significance can help nurses in moderating the detrimental effects of emotional dissonance on job satisfaction. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2013.v4n13p69

International Journal of Africa Nursing Sciences

Background There is growing interest in the relationships between supervisor/co-worker support and nurses’ perceived quality of care and organizational citizenship behaviours. However, few studies have investigated the effects of emotional support of supervisors and colleagues on the performance of nurses over time and the psychological mechanisms that underlie the above-mentioned relationships. Objective The aim of our study was to better understand the process promoting nurses’ perceived quality of care and organizational citizenship centred on helping others. To better understand these processes, we focused on the perceived emotional support originating from the supervisor and that from the co-workers and analysed to which extent they were, over time, related to quality of care and organizational citizenship through work engagement. Method A two-wave design was used to collect the data. Survey data was gathered from 188 nurses from two hospitals in Algeria. Mediation analyses were carried out using structural equation modelling. Results The results revealed that nurses’ work engagement mediates the relationships between quality of care, organizational citizenship behaviour and supervisor and co-workers emotional support. Conclusion Results underlined the importance of putting in place schedules to improve supervisor emotional support, co-worker emotional support and work engagement in order to improve quality of care

Lehr- und Prüfungsmethoden im Fach veterinärmedizinische Botanik mit besonderer Berücksichtigung des Konzepts o-test

Um Studierende der Veterinärmedizin für das vorklinische Fach Botanik zu motivieren, wurden "student-generated questions" (MC LEAOD & SNELL 1996) als Basis für die Klausur in die Vorlesung integriert. Bestimmungsübungen mit Kurzexkursionen dienten dazu, das für den Arztberuf entscheidende diagnostische Beobachtungsvermögen (an pflanzlichen Objekten) zu schulen. Zur Prüfung entsprechender praktischer Kompetenzen direkt am Wuchsort der Pflanzen entwickelten wir den outdoor-test (o-test). Ziel war festzustellen, ob (1) durch die neue Schwerpunktsetzung in der Vorlesung eine höhere Motivation für das Fach Botanik erreicht wird, (2) praktische Übungen aus Sicht der Studierenden das diagnostische Beobachten verbessern und (3) der o-test praxistauglich ist. Ergebnis: (1) Die Abnahme der pro Vorlesung generierten Fragen von 61 auf 11 von Semesterbeginn bis zum Ende erwies diese Methode als ungeeignet, um ein höheres fachliches Interesse zu erreichen. (2) Die diagnostische Kompetenz wurde durch Bestimmungsübungen gefördert, doch schien es den Studierenden unsicher, ob ihre Methodenkenntnis für die Anwendung in der Prüfung ausreichen würde. (3) 219 Studierende in 43 (meist) Fünfer-Gruppen absolvierten mit einem Tablet-PC pro Person den einstündigen o‑test im universitätseigenen Botanischen Garten an einem Tag. Der hohe Mittelwert von 89,9 % erreichter Leistung zeigte, dass es misslang, den weiter­gegebenen Informationswert der für alle Teilnehmer identi­schen zehn single choice-Fragen gering zu halten. Andererseits zeigten un­informierte Studierende, welche in den ersten Gruppen den Test durchliefen, normalverteilte Leistungen. Somit waren Anforderungsniveau und didaktische Konzeption der Fragen angemessen. Wenn es gelingt, die eher planerischen Mängel zu beseitigen, bildet der o-test ein praxistaugliches Konzept zur Kontrolle praktischer Lernziele am Standort. 15.04.2011 | Sabine Aboling, Karl-Heinz Windt, Denise Pohl & Jan P. Ehlers (Hannover

Aminoacyl-tRNA-Charged Eukaryotic Elongation Factor 1A Is the Bona Fide Substrate for Legionella pneumophila Effector Glucosyltransferases

Legionella pneumophila, which is the causative organism of Legionnaireś disease, translocates numerous effector proteins into the host cell cytosol by a type IV secretion system during infection. Among the most potent effector proteins of Legionella are glucosyltransferases (lgt's), which selectively modify eukaryotic elongation factor (eEF) 1A at Ser-53 in the GTP binding domain. Glucosylation results in inhibition of protein synthesis. Here we show that in vitro glucosylation of yeast and mouse eEF1A by Lgt3 in the presence of the factors Phe-tRNAPhe and GTP was enhanced 150 and 590-fold, respectively. The glucosylation of eEF1A catalyzed by Lgt1 and 2 was increased about 70-fold. By comparison of uncharged tRNA with two distinct aminoacyl-tRNAs (His-tRNAHis and Phe-tRNAPhe) we could show that aminoacylation is crucial for Lgt-catalyzed glucosylation. Aminoacyl-tRNA had no effect on the enzymatic properties of lgt's and did not enhance the glucosylation rate of eEF1A truncation mutants, consisting of the GTPase domain only or of a 5 kDa peptide covering Ser-53 of eEF1A. Furthermore, binding of aminoacyl-tRNA to eEF1A was not altered by glucosylation. Taken together, our data suggest that the ternary complex, consisting of eEF1A, aminoacyl-tRNA and GTP, is the bona fide substrate for lgt's