The Hubble Effective Potential

We generalize the effective potential to scalar field configurations which are proportional to the Hubble parameter of a homogeneous and isotropic background geometry. This may be useful in situations for which curvature effects are significant. We evaluate the one loop contribution to the Hubble Effective Potential for a massless scalar with arbitrary conformal and quartic couplings, on a background for which the deceleration parameter is constant. Among other things, we find that inflationary particle production leads to symmetry restoration at late times.Comment: 32 pages, 6 figures, version 2 published in JCAP with some typoes corrected and two additional reference

The pullout program day a week school for gifted children: Effects on social–emotional and academic functioning

Background: Gifted children learn differently compared to their peers in several ways. However, their educational needs are often not met in regular schools, which may result in underachievement and social-emotional and behavioral problems. A pullout program, the "Day a Week School" (DWS), was offered to gifted children in 25 elementary schools from neighborhoods of higher and lower SES in Amsterdam. Objective: To investigate whether DWS decreases children's social-emotional and behavior problems and parents' stress, and improves children's self-concept, enjoyment at school, and academic achievement. Methods: Gifted children (grades 3-5) were selected through a standardized identification procedure assessing "out-of-the box", logical, and creative thinking and motivation (n = 89). Children, as well as both their parents and teachers, completed questionnaires before the start of DWS and after 2,5 months. Results were analyzed for all children and for at-risk children with higher levels of psychopathology before starting DWS. Results: Analyses on the total group showed small positive effects on children's self-reported self-concept dimensions, scholastic competence and behavioral conduct, as well as on fathers' reported child prosocial behavior. In the at-risk group, children reported medium positive effects on scholastic competence and behavioral conduct, and on sleep problems and worry, and small improvements on enjoyment at school. Parents of at-risk children reported decreased child's somatic complaints and decreased social-emotional and behavioral problems. Finally, teachers reported higher academic achievement and medium positive effects on inattention-hyperactivity in the at-risk group. Conclusions: Day a Week School appears to be a promising pullout program for gifted children, particularly for children at-risk for psychopathology. © 2013 Springer Science+Business Media New York

Wonen op de zorgboerderij : dag en nacht profiteren van de kwaliteiten van de boerderij

Deze brochure gaat in op varianten van wonen op een zorgboerderij aan de hand van concrete voorbeelden

The Unilever Study: Positive effects on stress and risk for dropout from work after the Finding Peace in a Frantic World Training

Organizations are confronted with a constant need for efficiency, which affects the working atmosphere, often typified by velocity, time pressure, competition, job insecurity, and information overload, which may lead to stress, burnout, work-life disbalance, and lowered work functioning. This study evaluated an 8-week, 1.5 h-per-week group-based standardized mindfulness program (“Finding peace in a frantic world”), applied on-site in a large multinational company. In a naturalistic longitudinal design self-selected employees (n = 150) completed measurements at wait-list, pre-test, post-test, and 2 and 6 months follow-up. Nearly all participants followed at least five out of eight sessions, were highly satisfied with the training (8.3 out 10), and almost 90% intended to continue with mindfulness practices. Primary outcomes were stress and risk for dropout from work. Using multilevel analyses, mean pre-test scores were compared to the other measurement occasions, and the rate of change in the training period (M = 67 days; SD = 12) was compared to the rate of change in the wait-list period (M = 29 days; SD = 8). Direct and long-term positive effects on risk for dropout from work (p < .001; effect size (ES) = 0.67, 0.73, and 0.88, respectively) and stress (p < .001; ES = 0.72, 0.86, and 1.02, respectively) were found. The risk for dropout from work declined from 54.4% at wait-list (45.8% at pre-test) to 16.4% at 6 months follow-up, and declined significantly faster (p < .001) during the training than during the wait-list period, but stress did not. In addition, positive effects on secondary measures of psychological well-being and functioning at work were found. In conclusion, a standardized mindfulness training in a multinational company reduces stress and risk for dropout and improves well-being and functioning at work, also in the long term, but a comparison of the training against alternative stress-reducing interventions is needed

Diverse architectural properties of Sso10a proteins: Evidence for a role in chromatin compaction and organization

Macromolecular Biochemistr