„Die Vielfalts-Bande … auf Expedition durch die Biodiversität“. Ein Bildungsmaterial zu Biodiversität und Globalem Lernen des Welthauses Bielefeld

Der auf der Grundlage der Biodiversitätskonvention vom Bundesministerium für Umwelt, Naturschutz und Reaktorsicherheit erstellte nationale Strategieplan zum Schutz der Biodiversität sieht unter anderem im Bildungssektor eine Schlüsselfunktion zum Schutz der globalen Biodiversität. Die Nicht-Regierungsorganisation Welthaus Bielefeld e.V. hat in diesem Sinne das neue Bildungsmaterial „Die Vielfalts-Bande … auf Expedition durch die Biodiversität“ entwickelt. (DIPF/Orig.)Based on the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) the Federal Environment Ministry of Germany has created a national strategy for protecting the biological diversity. According to this strategy education has to be seen as a crucial element of the global protection of biodiversity. Therefore the German NGO Welthaus Bielefeld e.V. has developed the new learning material called “The Diversity-Crew … an expedition through global biodiversity”. (DIPF/Orig.

Physician spending and subsequent risk of malpractice claims: observational study

Study question Is a higher use of resources by physicians associated with a reduced risk of malpractice claims? Methods: Using data on nearly all admissions to acute care hospitals in Florida during 2000-09 linked to malpractice history of the attending physician, this study investigated whether physicians in seven specialties with higher average hospital charges in a year were less likely to face an allegation of malpractice in the following year, adjusting for patient characteristics, comorbidities, and diagnosis. To provide clinical context, the study focused on obstetrics, where the choice of caesarean deliveries are suggested to be influenced by defensive medicine, and whether obstetricians with higher adjusted caesarean rates in a year had fewer alleged malpractice incidents the following year. Study answer and limitations The data included 24 637 physicians, 154 725 physician years, and 18 352 391 hospital admissions; 4342 malpractice claims were made against physicians (2.8% per physician year). Across specialties, greater average spending by physicians was associated with reduced risk of incurring a malpractice claim. For example, among internists, the probability of experiencing an alleged malpractice incident in the following year ranged from 1.5% (95% confidence interval 1.2% to 1.7%) in the bottom spending fifth ($19 725 (£12 800; €17 400) per hospital admission) to 0.3$39 379 per hospital admission). In six of the specialties, a greater use of resources was associated with statistically significantly lower subsequent rates of alleged malpractice incidents. A principal limitation of this study is that information on illness severity was lacking. It is also uncertain whether higher spending is defensively motivated. What this study adds Within specialty and after adjustment for patient characteristics, higher resource use by physicians is associated with fewer malpractice claims. Funding, competing interests, data sharing This study was supported by the Office of the Director, National Institutes of Health (grant 1DP5OD017897-01 to ABJ) and National Institute of Aging (R37 AG036791 to JB). The authors have no competing interests or additional data to share

Medicare Spends More on Socially Isolated Older Adults

Socially isolated older adults are at greater risk for poor health and death than their well-connected counterparts. However, information is lacking on whether social isolation among older adults affects health care spending. This study is the first to examine whether social isolation also affects health care spending among older adults. By examining Medicare spending data, this study found that a lack of social contacts among older adults is associated with an estimated $6.7 billion in additional federal spending annually

Robot Programming to Empower Higher Cognitive Functions in Early Childhood

This chapter describes a new approach of educational robotics (ER) aimed at empowering higher cognitive functions in school. As robot programming requires mentally planning complex action sequences before the motor act, ER may promote several crucial cognitive processes underlying learning. During robot programming, the child has to first set the target, second sequentially think through the steps needed to achieve that target, then verify the goal, and eventually reset the plan. All these mental acts involve executive functions (EFs), which are complex higher cognitive processes, crucial in early development because they are the base for abstraction and logical reasoning, decision-making, sequential thinking, and maintaining and updating information in memory and problem-solving. Robot programming may empower EFs not only by improving top-down cognitive control, working memory, and inhibition skills but also by placing the child, more than other passive thought technologies, in front of “objects to think with” in a group setting that stimulates the use of EFs for social and emotional purposes. Recent studies demonstrating, through a rigorous and scientific approach, the effect of ER on EFs in typical and atypical development will be discussed