The construction of self in relationships: narratives and references to mental states during picture-book reading interactions between mothers and children

Previous studies showed that mothers vary in the way in which they discuss past experiences with their children, since they can exhibit narrative (elaborative) or paradigmatic (repetitive) styles to different extents. Given this background, the aim of the present study was to analyze differences in the mothers’ use of narrative styles and mental state language (MSL), as a function of children’s age and gender. Thirty dyads consisting of mothers and their 4- to 6-year-old children were observed during a picture-book reading interaction. Maternal utterances were coded according to the categories described by Tessler and Nelson (1994), classifying each mother as Narrative or Paradigmatic. Eight categories of MSL were analyzed: perceptual, emotional (positive and negative), volitional, cognitive, communicative, and moral. The results confirmed the existence of the two maternal styles observed in the earlier studies. Importantly, we found that the mothers of younger children were more narrative than paradigmatic, whereas the opposite pattern occurred for the mothers of older children (they were more paradigmatic than narrative). As concerns MSL, the results indicated that the use of communicative terms was significantly more frequent for narrative than for paradigmatic mothers, and decreased linearly with children’s age. Lastly, the mothers of younger children referred their MSL more frequently to the book characters than to themselves or to the child. Taken together, these results support the idea that mothers adapt their narrative styles and MSL input to the growing abilities of their children, therefore contributing to the development of social understanding

Maternal mind-mindedness and communicative functions in free-play and mealtime contexts: Stability, continuity and relations with child language at 16 months

AbstractThe present study aimed at investigating the contextual stability, the contextual continuity and the concurrent associations between maternal measures (general language, communicative functions and mind-mindedness) and child measures (total number of word types and tokens) in two different contexts, free-play and mealtime. To this purpose, the interactions occurring between 25 mothers and their 16-month-old children in each context were video-recorded, transcribed and later coded for the selected measures. Significant contextual stability was observed in the mothers' production of general language measures (total number of utterances, total number of words and MLU), in the children's production of word types and tokens, and in some communicative functions (Tutorial, Control and Asynchronous). No contextual stability was found for the mothers' production of attuned mind-related comments. For continuity, both mothers and children produced more utterances and words in the free-play than in the mealtime context; the production of attuned mind-related comments and the use of the Control function were also more frequent in the free-play context. Lastly, the analysis of the concurrent correlations indicated that, especially in the mealtime context, the number of words produced by children was positively associated with the number of words produced by mothers and by their use of the Tutorial and Didactic functions, but negatively associated with their use of the Control function. The mothers' production of attuned mind-related comments bore no relation with children's expressive language. Similarities and differences with previous findings are discussed

Performances of rainfall energy harvester

In this paper the performances of rainfall energy harvesting by means of piezoelectric transducers is presented. Diverse studies agree on the level of suitable generated voltage on the electrodes of a piezoelectric transducer subjected to rainfall, but a complete characterization on the supplied power is still missing. This work, in order to limit optimistic forecasts, takes into account the behavior of the transducers subjected to real and also artificial rainfall, condition that has shown promising behavior in laboratory. In order to increase the energy harvesting and also define its limits different loads have been taken into account. Only commercial transducers have been considered: a lead zirconate titanate and polyvinylidene difluoride transducer

Memory for symmetry and perceptual binding in patients with schizophrenia

The present study investigated the use of perceptual binding processes in schizophrenic (SC) patients and matched healthy controls, by examining their performance on the recall of symmetrical (vertical, horizontal and diagonal) and asymmetrical patterns varying in length between 2 and 9 items. The results showed that, although SC patients were less accurate than controls in all conditions, both groups recalled symmetrical patterns better than asymmetrical ones. The impairment of SC patients was magnified with supra-span symmetrical arrays, and they were more likely to reproduce symmetrical patterns as asymmetrical, particularly at medium and high length levels. Hierarchical regression analyses further indicated that the between-group differences in the recall of supra-span vertical and horizontal arrays, which require a greater involvement of visual pattern processes, remained significant after removing the variance associated with performance on asymmetrical patterns, which primarily reflects intrafigural spatial processes. It is proposed that schizophrenia may be associated with a specific deficit in the formation and retrieval of the global visual images of studied patterns and in the use of the on-line information about the type of symmetry being tested to guide retrieval processes. © 2013 Elsevier B.V

Piezoelectric model of rainfall energy harvester

In this paper a model to predict the harvest of the energy contained in rainfall by means of piezoelectric transducers is presented. Different studies agree on the level of suitable generated voltage on the electrodes of a piezoelectric transducer subjected to rainfall, but a complete characterization on the supplied power is still missing. This work, in order to limit optimistic forecasts, compares the behavior of the transducers subjected to real and artificial rainfall, a condition that has shown promising behavior in laboratory

PV reconfiguration systems: A technical and economic study

Dynamical electrical array reconfiguration strategies for grid-connected PV systems have been proposed as solution to improve energy production due to the mismatch effect of PV plants during partial shading conditions. Strategies are based on the use of dynamic connections between PV panels given by the employment of switches that allow for each panel the series, parallel or exclusion connections, physically changing the electrical connections between the related PV modules, consequentially modifying the layout of the plant. Usually the cost of the dynamic matrix is not taken into account. This novel work evaluates the economic advantages obtained by the use of reconfiguration strategies in PV systems, by taking into consideration the price of energy due to incentives in different European and non-European countries and correlates it with the employment of two types of reconfigurators, with different internal structures. For each of the incentives proposed by the different Countries, the main strength and weakness points of the possible investment are highlighted and critically analyzed. From this analysis, it can be stated that the adoption of reconfiguration systems, in certain cases, can be a very convenient solution

Positive and negative effects of collaboration on suggestibility and false memory in online groups

Previous studies demonstrated the positive and negative efects of collaboration on memory (both veridical and false recall) and suggestibility in face-to-face contexts. However, it remains unclear whether the same results can be observed in a virtual context. To clarify this issue, the present study examined the performance of 10 nominal triads and 10 collaborative triads in a fully online setting. Participants interacted live, in videoconference and were tested with the Gudjonsson Suggestibility Scale (GSS) and the Deese/Roediger-McDermott (DRM) task. For the GSS, the results replicated the in-person pattern of results, with collaborative triads showing the standard inhibition efect in the immediate and delayed (after 24 h) recall tasks; in addition, collaborative triads were less suggestible than nominal triads. For the DRM, we likewise found that collaboration decreased the recall and recognition of both studied items (the standard inhibitory effect) and critical lures (the error-pruning effect). We therefore conclude that remembering in a virtual context exhibits the same general properties as its in-person counterpart, at least when using a videoconference setting

Epidemiological HIV infection surveillance among subjects with risk behaviours in the city of Messina (Sicily) from 1992 to 2015.

Introduction. Epidemiological studies are a key element to know the evolution and spread of HIV infection among the world population. The knowledge of the epidemiological dynamics improves the strategies of prevention and monitoring.Methods. We examined 2,272 subjects who voluntarily underwent to HIV testing from January 1992 to December 2015. For each subject, an anonymous form was filled to get information on personal data, sexual habits and exposure to risk factors.Results. The number of subjects who underwent to the screening test has increased over the years and the average age of the tested subjects has decreased over time. The main motivation to undergo HIV testing was unprotected sex. Even if the heterosexual subjects who carried out the test were more numerous of homosexuals, it is highlighted, during the years, an increase in the latter.Conclusions. Although the number of performed tests has increased over the years, the persistence of unprotected sex shows an inadequate perception of risk. Therefore, it is necessary to implement programs to increase the general awareness of HIV infection. It is also essential to constantly monitor behaviour, risk perception and the application of the screening test via surveillance systems in order to implement effective and efficient prevention

Seroprevalence study on the diffusion of the West Nile Virus among blood donors, healthcare workers, jockeys, grooms and fowlers, veterinary surgeons and hunters in Messina (Italy)

Introduction. West Nile virus (WNV) is a mosquito-transmitted flavivirus widely distributed in Africa, Middle East, Asia, Southern Europe and in 1999 was first identified in the United States as a cause of disease in New York City. It mainly circulates among birds, but can infect many species of mammals. Epidemics can occur in rural as well as urban areas. Methods. 1,280 sera were collected during 2006 from 80 stable workers, as jockey and grooms, 100 fowlers, 500 blood donors, 600 healthcare workers, 100 veterinary surgeons and 100 hunters in the Messina province to evaluate the prevalence of the WNV infection, by ELISA test, in relation to risk exposure or not. Results. None of the 1280 subjects examined has shown positive for antibodies anti WN virus. Conclusion. Among the strategies of control and surveillance, finally, in our opinion, are and will be indispensable the programs of continuous antibody survey in all the risk categories and in the general population in order to succeed to preview which effects could have the presence of infections from WNV, also imported from other zones where the virus is constantly present, in future and which it could be the impact of geographic factors on the epidemic spread of the disease

The Attentional Boost Effect in Young and Adult Euthymic Bipolar Patients and Healthy Controls

In the Attentional Boost Effect (ABE), stimuli encoded with to-be-responded targets are later recognized more accurately than stimuli encoded with to-be-ignored distractors. While this effect is robust in young adults, evidence regarding healthy older adults and clinical populations is sparse. The present study investigated whether a significant ABE is present in bipolar patients (BP), who, even in the euthymic phase, suffer from attentional deficits, and whether the effect is modulated by age. Young and adult euthymic BP and healthy controls (HC) presented with a sequence of pictures paired with target or distractor squares were asked to pay attention to the pictures and press the spacebar when a target square appeared. After a 15-min interval, their memory of the pictures was tested in a recognition task. The performance in the detection task was lower in BP than in HC, in both age groups. More importantly, neither young nor adult BP exhibited a significant ABE; for HC, a robust ABE was only found in young participants. The results suggest that the increase in the attentional demands of the detection task in BP and in adult HC draws resources away from the encoding of target-associated stimuli, resulting in elimination of the ABE. Clinical implications are discussed