Breaking ground in cross-cultural research on the fear of being laughed at (gelotophobia): A multi-national study involving 73 countries

The current study examines whether the fear of being laughed at (gelotophobia) can be assessed reliably and validly by means of a self-report instrument in different countries of the world. All items of the GELOPH (Ruch and Titze, GELOPH46, University of Düsseldorf, 1998; Ruch and Proyer, Swiss Journal of Psychology 67:19-27, 2008b) were translated to the local language of the collaborator (42 languages in total). In total, 22,610 participants in 93 samples from 73 countries completed the GELOPH. Across all samples the reliability of the 15-item questionnaire was high (mean alpha of .85) and in all samples the scales appeared to be unidimensional. The endorsement rates for the items ranged from 1.31% through 80.00% to a single item. Variations in the mean scores of the items were more strongly related to the culture in a country and not to the language in which the data were collected. This was also supported by a multidimensional scaling analysis with standardized mean scores of the items from the GELOPH15. This analysis identified two dimensions that further helped explaining the data (i.e., insecure vs. intense avoidant-restrictive and low vs. high suspicious tendencies towards the laughter of others). Furthermore, multiple samples derived from one country tended to be (with a few exceptions) highly similar. The study shows that gelotophobia can be assessed reliably by means of a self-report instrument in cross-cultural research. This study enables further studies of the fear of being laughed at with regard to differences in the prevalence and putative causes of gelotophobia in comparisons to different culture

Women’s experiences of their sexuality after confirmed breast cancer diagnosis seen from an activity perspective

Introduktion Det finns en kunskapslucka kring kvinnors upplevelser av sin sexualitet efter bekräftad bröstcancerdiagnos. Sexuell hälsa är ett relevant ämne för arbetsterapeuter som kräver vidare forskning för att kunna erbjuda dessa kvinnor individanpassat stöd inom ramarna för sexuell hälsa och arbetsterapi. Syftet med studien var att identifiera kvinnors upplevelser kring sin sexualitet efter bekräftad bröstcancerdiagnos. Metoden som användes var en kvalitativ intervjustudie med semistrukturerade intervjufrågor. Informanterna rekryterades genom ett bekvämlighetsurval. Tio kvinnor med bekräftad bröstcancer intervjuades, materialet analyserades enligt en kvalitativ innehållsanalys. Resultat Innehållsanalysen resulterade i fyra teman; Sexualiteten påverkas av en förändrad kropp och självbild, Ingen vill ta ansvar för sexualiteten, Sexualiteten bortprioriterades när cancern kastade omkull livet och Det finns ett behov av att prata om sexualitet. Slutsatsen av studien är att kvinnorna inte tänkte på sin sexualitet direkt efter bröstcancerbeskedet utan först när behandlingarna påbörjats. Kvinnorna upplevde att vården brast i frågor kring sexualitet och återgång till betydelsefulla aktiviteter.Introduction There is a knowledge gap around women’s experiences of their sexuality after a confirmed breast cancer diagnosis. Sexual health is a relevant topic for occupational therapists that requires further research to offer these women individualized support within the frames of sexual health and occupational therapy. The purpose of this study was to identify women’s experiences about their sexuality after a confirmed breast cancer diagnosis. The chosen method was a qualitative interview study with semi-structured interview questions. The informants were recruited through a convenience sampling. Ten women with confirmed breast cancer were interviewed, the data were analyzed according to a qualitative content analysis. Results The content analysis resulted in four themes; The sexuality is affected by a changed body and body image, No one wants to take responsibility for sexuality, Sexuality was de-prioritized when cancer overthrew life and There is a need to talk about sexuality. The conclusion of the study is that women did not think of their sexuality when receiving a breast cancer diagnosis. However, they did think about it when starting the breast cancer treatments. The women experienced deficiencies in healthcare related to sexuality and return to meaningful occupations

Women’s experiences of their sexuality after confirmed breast cancer diagnosis seen from an activity perspective

Introduktion Det finns en kunskapslucka kring kvinnors upplevelser av sin sexualitet efter bekräftad bröstcancerdiagnos. Sexuell hälsa är ett relevant ämne för arbetsterapeuter som kräver vidare forskning för att kunna erbjuda dessa kvinnor individanpassat stöd inom ramarna för sexuell hälsa och arbetsterapi. Syftet med studien var att identifiera kvinnors upplevelser kring sin sexualitet efter bekräftad bröstcancerdiagnos. Metoden som användes var en kvalitativ intervjustudie med semistrukturerade intervjufrågor. Informanterna rekryterades genom ett bekvämlighetsurval. Tio kvinnor med bekräftad bröstcancer intervjuades, materialet analyserades enligt en kvalitativ innehållsanalys. Resultat Innehållsanalysen resulterade i fyra teman; Sexualiteten påverkas av en förändrad kropp och självbild, Ingen vill ta ansvar för sexualiteten, Sexualiteten bortprioriterades när cancern kastade omkull livet och Det finns ett behov av att prata om sexualitet. Slutsatsen av studien är att kvinnorna inte tänkte på sin sexualitet direkt efter bröstcancerbeskedet utan först när behandlingarna påbörjats. Kvinnorna upplevde att vården brast i frågor kring sexualitet och återgång till betydelsefulla aktiviteter.Introduction There is a knowledge gap around women’s experiences of their sexuality after a confirmed breast cancer diagnosis. Sexual health is a relevant topic for occupational therapists that requires further research to offer these women individualized support within the frames of sexual health and occupational therapy. The purpose of this study was to identify women’s experiences about their sexuality after a confirmed breast cancer diagnosis. The chosen method was a qualitative interview study with semi-structured interview questions. The informants were recruited through a convenience sampling. Ten women with confirmed breast cancer were interviewed, the data were analyzed according to a qualitative content analysis. Results The content analysis resulted in four themes; The sexuality is affected by a changed body and body image, No one wants to take responsibility for sexuality, Sexuality was de-prioritized when cancer overthrew life and There is a need to talk about sexuality. The conclusion of the study is that women did not think of their sexuality when receiving a breast cancer diagnosis. However, they did think about it when starting the breast cancer treatments. The women experienced deficiencies in healthcare related to sexuality and return to meaningful occupations

Översiktlig klimat- och sårbarhetsanalys för Järfälla kommun

IVL Svenska Miljöinstitutet har genomfört en översiktlig klimat- och sårbarhetsanalys av Järfälla kommun. Syftet med uppdraget har varit att analysera hur extrema väderhändelser och framtida klimatförändringarna kan påverka ett antal utvalda sektorer och system inom Järfälla kommuns geografiska område. Utifrån analysen har även olika anpassningsåtgärder, vilka kan vidtas för att minska sårbarheten i olika sektorer och system, identifierats. Analysen är avgränsad till att omfatta följande sektorer och system: • Bebyggelse • Infrastruktur (elsystem, fjärrvärme, dricksvattenförsörjning, avlopps- och dagvattensystem) • Kommunikationer (vägar och järnvägar) • Hälsa (värmeböljor och smittspridning) Analysen är också avgränsad till att omfatta klimatfaktorerna temperatur, nederbörd, ras, skred och erosion. Översvämningar av vattendrag omfattas inte av analysen eftersom detta analyseras i ett separat projekt. SMHI:s klimatanalyser för Stockholms län, vilka bygger på ett scenario med begränsade växthusgasutsläpp (RCP4.5) och ett med höga växthusgasutsläpp (RCP8.5), visar att klimatet i framtiden kommer att bli varmare och blötare. Årsmedeltemperaturen beräknas öka med 3 till 5 grader mot slutet av seklet och det kommer att bli vanligare med värmeböljor. Årsmedelnederbörden ökar med 20 till 30 procent mot slutet av seklet. Ökad nederbörd och förändrade nederbördsmönster ökar risken för ras, skred och erosion. Bebyggelsen i Järfälla kommun kan allvarligt påverkas av framtida klimatförändringar. Ökad temperatur kan medföra att uppvärmningsbehovet minskar samtidigt som kylbehovet ökar. Ökad nederbörd kan leda till översvämningar i lågpunker i landskapet, särskilt områden med mycket hårdgjorda ytor och otillräckliga avrinningsmöjligheter. Högre temperatur i kombination med mer nederbörd ökar risken för fukt- och rötskador och medför ökade underhållskostnader. I Järfälla kommun finns ett antal områden, i huvudsak i anslutning till sjöar, vattendrag, dalgångar och större diken med förutsättningar för ras och skred.Klimat- och sårbarhetsutredningen och även flera senare utredningar och forskningsrapporter har konstaterat att Sverige i hög grad kommer att påverkas av klimatförändringar och att det är nödvändigt att påbörja anpassningen till ett förändrat klimat. Mot bakgrund av detta har Järfälla kommun gett IVL Svenska Miljöinstitutet i uppdrag att analysera hur kommunen kan påverkas av framtida klimatförändringar

QCM-D as a method for monitoring enzyme immobilization in mesoporous silica particles

Enzyme immobilization in mesoporous materials is a field of great interest, with applications in biocatalysis and biosensing. However, the actual immobilization process is not well understood and has mainly been studied by indirect measurements. The present work demonstrates a direct method for real time study of enzyme immobilization in mesoporous silica particles using quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation monitoring (QCM-D). Silica-coated sensors were grafted with amine groups followed by adsorption of small (40 nm), spherical mesoporous silica particles, after which the enzyme immobilization into the mesoporous particles could be studied in real time. The influence of pH on the immobilization efficiency was studied using two different enzymes; lipase from Rhizopus oryzae and feruloyl esterase from Fusarium oxysporum. The results showed that the silica particles adsorbed readily to the amine-grafted surface. The QCM-D measurements indicated that considerably more enzyme was immobilized into mesoporous silica particles than to non-porous silica particles and to a flat silica surface. The viscoelastic effect of the immobilized enzymes was visualized by plotting the frequency shift against the corresponding dissipation. It was observed that the immobilization into the porous particles can be divided into two regimes where the first regime is suggested to represent adsorption to the outer surface and pore openings and the second regime represents further adsorption inside the pores. In summary, we demonstrated QCM-D as a novel method for understanding enzyme immobilization in mesoporous particles in real time and the approach may be of general use for studies of entrapment of molecules into porous particles

Immobilization of feruloyl esterases in mesoporous materials leads to improved transesterification yield

Feruloyl esterases are used in biocatalysis for refinement of hydroxycinnamic acids, a group of compounds with antioxidant and antibacterial properties where modification of solubility is necessary for the compounds to be of interest in different commercial products. In industrially feasible and efficient processes, immobilization of enzymes is often required for sufficient enzyme stability and to enable recovery. In recent years, mesoporous materials have become popular as immobilization support due to advantages such as high protein loading capacity and enhanced enzyme activity because of confinement into pores. We used mesoporous silica, for the first time, as immobilization support for feruloyl esterases. The crude enzyme preparation Depol 740L was adsorbed into two SBA-15 mesoporous silica materials of different pore size and the effects of the immobilization on transesterification of methyl ferulate with 1-butanol into butyl ferulate were studied, tested in a reaction system based on 92.5% 1-butanol and 7.5% MOPS buffer (pH 6.0). Immobilization in mesoporous silica with larger pore size (9 rim) showed higher protein loading and higher specific activity compared to immobilization with smaller pore size (5 nm). Importantly, adsorption into mesoporous silica changed the product specificity of the enzymes to favor transesterification and decrease the rate of hydrolysis compared to free enzymes. The immobilized enzyme had a butyl ferulate yield of up to 90%, significantly higher compared to free enzymes. Additionally, the immobilized enzymes showed an excellent operational stability and reusability. retaining >= 70% of the initial activity after 6 sequential runs, each lasting 6 days. Consequently, we show that mesoporous silica is a robust immobilization support for feruloyl esterases to be used in the development of biocatalysts for customization of the antioxidant properties of hydroxycinnamic acids

A comparison of lipase and trypsin encapsulated in mesoporous materials with varying pore sizes and pH conditions

Immobilized enzymes have an advantage over enzymes free in solution in that they are easily recovered after completed reaction. In addition, immobilization often gives enhanced stability. Entrapment of an enzyme in the pores of a mesoporous material is an attractive procedure since the enzyme is immobilized without any covalent bonding to a support which may be detrimental to the catalytic performance. The objective of this work is to compare the encapsulation and catalytic performance of lipase from Mucor miehei and trypsin from bovine pancreas, two hydrolases with rather dissimilar properties and structures. We also demonstrate the importance of the pore dimensions and the pH for proper function of the encapsulated enzyme. Mesoporous silica particles (SBA-15) with three different pore sizes (50 angstrom, 60 angstrom and 89 angstrom) were synthesized and hexagonal structures with narrow pore size distributions were confirmed with TEM, SAXS and N(2)-adsorption. Lipase and trypsin were encapsulated separately in the silica particles and the results indicate distinct differences between the two enzymes, both in loading capacity and catalytic activity. For trypsin the encapsulation rate and the loading capacity were large with a maximum reached at pH 7.6. The largest product yield was obtained with the particles with 60 angstrom pores, however, the yield was significantly lower than with free trypsin. For lipase optimal encapsulation rate and loading capacity were reached with the particles with 89 angstrom pores at pH 6.0 but were low compared to trypsin. However, the catalytic activity of the encapsulated lipase was more than twice as large as for free lipase, which can be explained by an interfacial activation of lipase at the silica surface

Positive interpretation bias predicts well-being in medical interns

Cognitive theories of emotion posit that affective responses may be shaped by how individuals interpret emotion-eliciting situations. This study tested whether individual differences in interpretation bias (i.e., interpreting ambiguous scenarios in a more negative or positive manner) independently predict trait resilience and depression in medical interns. Interpretation bias and trait resilience scores were assessed in 47 interns prior to their first internship. Depressive symptoms were assessed twice during internship. Nearly half of the sample (42%) scored above the cut-off for mild depressive symptoms during internship, a significant rise compared to the initial assessment. Those with a more positive interpretation bias had higher trait resilience (β = 0.44, p = 0.004) and a 6-fold decreased depressive symptom risk during internship (OR = 6.41, p = 0.027). The predictive power of a positive interpretation bias for decreased depression symptoms held over and above initial depressive symptoms, demographics and trait reappraisal. Assessing positive interpretation bias may have practical utility for predicting future well-being in at risk-populations