"A gentle push": barnets inskolning i förskolan

An absolute majority of all Swedish children begins to attend preschool at some point between the age of one and five. The acclimatisation to preschool means a great change in every small child's life. They leave all that is well known, the parent and their home, to face a whole new environment with new kids and adults to get to know and learn to trust. The purpose of this study has been to find out how the professionals in preschool reflect upon the child's acclimatisation at preschool. More specifically we wanted answers to how the preschool teachers, in their work with the child's acclimatisation, relates to the today, in preschool, much debated relationship between the two perspectives care and pedagogy. This qualitative study is based on ten interviews with preschool teachers at different preschools in a small town in Sweden. The analysis is based on a presentation of the interview material compared with earlier research and the theoretical aspects we have chosen, which are Bronfenbrenners Ecological Systems Theory and the Object Relations Theory. While working with this paper it has come clear to us that there is no explicit or common definition of the concept of care within preschool, while there is a clear definition of the concept of pedagogy. The result of the study shows that the preschool teachers we interviewed found it difficult to separate and describe the two perspectives apiece. When we asked them to try we found that they overall had a harder time describing the concept of care and more easily could describe the concept of pedagogy. We also noticed differences in which of the two perspectives the preschool teachers had as their main focus while talking about the child's acclimatisation. Literature, articles and interviews did all let us see that pedagogy is emphasized during the education on the expense of care and that there is a possibility this may lead to a deterioration of the concept of care. All of the interviewed claimed that they didn't get enough or even any knowledge about the child's acclimatisation during their education

Psykoterapeutisk utveckling genom Deliberate Practice

A survey study was conducted to examine the relationship between Deliberate Practice (DLP) and treatment outcome in psychotherapy. To date, only one study has previously examined this connection. The study was conducted at a university counselling centre at Lund University. 130 student therapists were asked what they do an average week to improve themselves as therapists. They were also asked about their motivation to conduct psychotherapy, their previous psychotherapy related experience and the quality of their supervision. The survey answers were compared with their treatment outcomes. 52 student therapists answered the survey. A relationship was found between the amount of discussed psychotherapy and treatment outcomes. Discussing psychotherapy may vitalize psychotherapy and raise opportunity to exchange concrete experiences. This might benefit the treatment. The amount of previous credits in psychology at a university level was also related to treatment outcomes. Educational background may give the therapist a broad psychological knowledge and could deepen the understanding of human nature. This knowledge may benefit psychotherapy. More precise measurement of DLP within psychotherapy is needed in future research. DLP should be tested experimentally to give a clearer picture of its role for the development of therapist skills.En enkätstudie utfördes för att undersöka sambandet mellan Deliberate Practice (DLP) och behandlingsutfall i psykoterapi. Endast en studie i världen har tidigare undersökt detta samband. Denna enkätstudie utfördes på psykoterapimottagningen vid Lunds universitet. 130 studentterapeuter som bedrivit terapi på mottagningen tillfrågades om vad de gör en genomsnittlig vecka för att utvecklas som terapeuter. De tillfrågades även hur motiverade de är att bedriva terapi, deras tidigare psykoterapirelaterade erfarenhet och kvaliteten på psykoterapihandledningen. Studenternas svar på enkäten jämfördes med deras behandlingsutfall. 52 studentterapeuter besvarade enkäten. Studien hittade ett positivt samband mellan mängden diskuterad psykoterapi och behandlingsutfall. Att diskutera psykoterapi kan sannolikt levandegöra ämnet och ge ett utbyte av konkreta erfarenheter, vilket kan förbättra behandlingen. Mängden tidigare lästa högskolepoäng inom psykologi hade också ett positivt samband med behandlingsutfallet. Högskolepoäng inom psykologi kan tänkas ge terapeuten en psykologisk allmänbildning och fördjupade kunskaper om hur människor fungerar. Denna kunskap kan vara hjälpsam vid behandling. En mer precis mätning av DLP inom psykoterapi behövs i framtida studier. DLP bör testas experimentellt för att få en klarare bild av dess roll för utveckling av terapeutisk kompetens

Characterization of Stem-Like Cells in Mucoepidermoid Tracheal Paediatric Tumor

Stem cells contribute to regeneration of tissues and organs. Cells with stem cell-like properties have been identified in tumors from a variety of origins, but to our knowledge there are yet no reports on tumor-related stem cells in the human upper respiratory tract. In the present study, we show that a tracheal mucoepidermoid tumor biopsy obtained from a 6 year-old patient contained a subpopulation of cells with morphology, clonogenicity and surface markers that overlapped with bone marrow mesenchymal stromal cells (BM-MSCs). These cells, designated as MEi (mesenchymal stem cell-like mucoepidermoid tumor) cells, could be differentiated towards mesenchymal lineages both with and without induction, and formed spheroids in vitro. The MEi cells shared several multipotent characteristics with BM-MSCs. However, they displayed differences to BM-MSCs in growth kinectics and gene expression profiles relating to cancer pathways and tube development. Despite this, the MEi cells did not possess in vivo tumor-initiating capacity, as proven by the absence of growth in situ after localized injection in immunocompromised mice. Our results provide an initial characterization of benign tracheal cancer-derived niche cells. We believe that this report could be of importance to further understand tracheal cancer initiation and progression as well as therapeutic development

Predictors of mortality of patients with acute respiratory failure secondary to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease admitted to an intensive care unit: A one year study

BACKGROUND: Patients with acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) commonly require hospitalization and admission to intensive care unit (ICU). It is useful to identify patients at the time of admission who are likely to have poor outcome. This study was carried out to define the predictors of mortality in patients with acute exacerbation of COPD and to device a scoring system using the baseline physiological variables for prognosticating these patients. METHODS: Eighty-two patients with acute respiratory failure secondary to COPD admitted to medical ICU over a one-year period were included. Clinical and demographic profile at the time of admission to ICU including APACHE II score and Glasgow coma scale were recorded at the time of admission to ICU. In addition, acid base disorders, renal functions, liver functions and serum albumin, were recorded at the time of presentation. Primary outcome measure was hospital mortality. RESULTS: Invasive ventilation was required in 69 patients (84.1%). Fifty-two patients survived to hospital discharge (63.4%). APACHE II score at the time of admission to ICU {odds ratio (95 % CI): 1.32 (1.138–1.532); p < 0.001} and serum albumin (done within 24 hours of admission) {odds ratio (95 % CI): 0.114 (0.03-0.432); p = 0.001}. An equation, constructed using the adjusted odds ratio for the two parameters, had an area under the ROC curve of 91.3%. For the choice of cut-off, sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive value for predicting outcome was 90%, 86.5%, 79.4% and 93.7%. CONCLUSION: APACHE II score at admission and SA levels with in 24 hrs after admission are independent predictors of mortality for patients with COPD admitted to ICU. The equation derived from these two parameters is useful for predicting outcome of these patients

Hybrid simulation-optimization methods: A taxonomy and discussion

The possibilities of combining simulation and optimization are vast and the appropriate design highly depends on the problem characteristics. Therefore, it is very important to have a good overview of the different approaches. The taxonomies and classifications proposed in the literature do not cover the complete range of methods and overlook some important criteria. We provide a taxonomy that aims at giving an overview of the full spectrum of current simulation-optimization approaches. Our study may guide researchers who want to use one of the existing methods, give insights into the cross-fertilization of the ideas applied in those methods and create a standard for a better communication in the scientific community. Future reviews can use the taxonomy here described to classify both general approaches and methods for specific application fields.The possibilities of combining simulation and optimization are vast and the appropriate design highly depends on the problem characteristics. Therefore, it is very important to have a good overview of the different approaches. The taxonomies and classifications proposed in the literature do not cover the complete range of methods and overlook some important criteria. We provide a taxonomy that aims at giving an overview of the full spectrum of current simulation-optimization approaches. Our study may guide researchers who want to use one of the existing methods, give insights into the cross-fertilization of the ideas applied in those methods and create a standard for a better communication in the scientific community. Future reviews can use the taxonomy here described to classify both general approaches and methods for specific application fields. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Self-Mating in the Definitive Host Potentiates Clonal Outbreaks of the Apicomplexan Parasites Sarcocystis neurona and Toxoplasma gondii

Tissue-encysting coccidia, including Toxoplasma gondii and Sarcocystis neurona, are heterogamous parasites with sexual and asexual life stages in definitive and intermediate hosts, respectively. During its sexual life stage, T. gondii reproduces either by genetic out-crossing or via clonal amplification of a single strain through self-mating. Out-crossing has been experimentally verified as a potent mechanism capable of producing offspring possessing a range of adaptive and virulence potentials. In contrast, selfing and other life history traits, such as asexual expansion of tissue-cysts by oral transmission among intermediate hosts, have been proposed to explain the genetic basis for the clonal population structure of T. gondii. In this study, we investigated the contributing roles self-mating and sexual recombination play in nature to maintain clonal population structures and produce or expand parasite clones capable of causing disease epidemics for two tissue encysting parasites. We applied high-resolution genotyping against strains isolated from a T. gondii waterborne outbreak that caused symptomatic disease in 155 immune-competent people in Brazil and a S. neurona outbreak that resulted in a mass mortality event in Southern sea otters. In both cases, a single, genetically distinct clone was found infecting outbreak-exposed individuals. Furthermore, the T. gondii outbreak clone was one of several apparently recombinant progeny recovered from the local environment. Since oocysts or sporocysts were the infectious form implicated in each outbreak, the expansion of the epidemic clone can be explained by self-mating. The results also show that out-crossing preceded selfing to produce the virulent T. gondii clone. For the tissue encysting coccidia, self-mating exists as a key adaptation potentiating the epidemic expansion and transmission of newly emerged parasite clones that can profoundly shape parasite population genetic structures or cause devastating disease outbreaks

Population-level deficit of homozygosity unveils CPSF3 as an intellectual disability syndrome gene.

To access publisher's full text version of this article, please click on the hyperlink in Additional Links field or click on the hyperlink at the top of the page marked DownloadPredicting the pathogenicity of biallelic missense variants can be challenging. Here, we use a deficit of observed homozygous carriers of missense variants, versus an expected number in a set of 153,054 chip-genotyped Icelanders, to identify potentially pathogenic genotypes. We follow three missense variants with a complete deficit of homozygosity and find that their pathogenic effect in homozygous state ranges from severe childhood disease to early embryonic lethality. One of these variants is in CPSF3, a gene not previously linked to disease. From a set of clinically sequenced Icelanders, and by sequencing archival samples targeted through the Icelandic genealogy, we find four homozygous carriers. Additionally, we find two homozygous carriers of Mexican descent of another missense variant in CPSF3. All six homozygous carriers of missense variants in CPSF3 show severe intellectual disability, seizures, microcephaly, and abnormal muscle tone. Here, we show how the absence of certain homozygous genotypes from a large population set can elucidate causes of previously unexplained recessive diseases and early miscarriage.Sacchi Foundatio

Literary studies and the academy

In 1885 the University of Oxford invited applications for the newly created Merton Professorship of English Language and Literature. The holder of the chair was, according to the statutes, to ‘lecture and give instruction on the broad history and criticism of English Language and Literature, and on the works of approved English authors’. This was not in itself a particularly innovatory move, as the study of English vernacular literature had played some part in higher education in Britain for over a century. Oxford University had put English as a subject into its pass degree in 1873, had been participating since 1878 in extension teaching, of which literary study formed a significant part, and had since 1881 been setting special examinations in the subject for its non-graduating women students. What was new was the fact that this ancient university appeared to be on the verge of granting the solid academic legitimacy of an established chair to an institutionally marginal and often contentious intellectual pursuit, acknowledging the study of literary texts in English to be a fit subject not just for women and the educationally disadvantaged but also for university men

Förskollärarutbildningens relevans för yrkesverksamma förskollärarstudenter

I Skolverkets (2013) beskrivning av kompetensprofilen för förskollärare går det att läsa om de förmågor en förskollärare ska kunna visa ute i förskolans verksamhet. Tillika förmågor som förskollärarutbildningar behöver kunna erbjuda sina studenter inför kommande yrkesroll och arbetsuppgifter som förskollärare. Syftet med denna uppsats är att studera hur yrkesverksamma förskollärarstudenter ser på utbildningens innehåll i relation till den praktiska yrkesrollen. Liknande undersökningar har gjorts, men som då behandlat andra inriktningar på utbildning varför denna studies problem anses betydelsefullt att forska vidare om. I denna studie har en kvalitativ metod använts då studien utgått ifrån ett frågeformulär besvarat av 6 yrkesverksamma förskollärarstudenter. Studien har vidare analyserats utifrån en lärandemodell av Knud Illeris (2007) om lärandets fundamentala processer där speciellt tillägnelseprocessen valts ut på grund av dess relevans i denna studie. Begreppet transfer har även legat till grund för analysen då dess betydelse kan sammankopplas med just tillägnelseprocessen i vald modell. Resultatet i studien visar att det som yrkesverksamma förskollärarstudenter anser kännetecknar en förskollärares yrkesroll ute i arbetslivet kan likställas med de kunskaper och färdigheter de anser en förskollärare är i behov av ute i arbetslivet. Resultatet i studien visar även att Föflex-utbildningen tillgodoser yrkesverksamma förskollärares behov av kunskaper och färdigheter på olika sätt beroende på om det är teoretiska eller praktiska förmågor. Vidare visar studien att det finns en skillnad vad gäller de teoretiska ämnenas och de praktiska ämnenas möjligheter att transfereras till de yrkesverksamma förskollärarstudenternas arbetsplatser. De praktiska ämnena anses lättare att implementera på arbetsplatsen än de teoretiska. Vad gäller yrkesverksamma förskollärarstudenters drivkraft att lära så varierar den beroende på vilka kurser som studenterna läser. Likaså visar studien att känslor är kopplade till denna drivkraft, vilket i sin tur även påverkar den transfer som sker till arbetsplatsen