Adolescents\u27 self-attributed moral emotions following a moral transgression: relations with delinquency, confidence in moral judgment, and age

The study investigates adolescents\u27 self-attributed moral emotions following a moral transgression by expanding research with children on the happy-victimizer phenomenon. In a sample of 200 German adolescents from Grades 7, 9, 11, and 13 (M = 16.18 years, SD = 2.41), participants were confronted with various scenarios describing different moral rule violations and asked to judge the behavior from a moral point of view. Subsequently, participants\u27 strength of self-evaluative emotional reactions was assessed as they were asked to imagine that they had committed the moral transgression by themselves. Results indicate that the intensity of self-attributed moral emotions predicted adolescents\u27 self-reported delinquent behavior even when social desirability response bias was controlled. Further, as adolescents\u27 metacognitive understanding of moral beliefs developed, self-attributed moral emotions and confidence in moral judgment became more closely associated. No general age-related change in adolescents\u27 self-attributed moral emotions was found. Overall, the study provides evidence for a coordination process of moral judgment and moral emotion attributions that continues well beyond childhood and that corresponds with the more general notion of the formation of a moral self in adolescence

Handlungsmuster von Lehrerinnen und Lehrern beim Einsatz neuer Medien. Grundlagen eines Projekts zur empirischen Unterrichtsforschung

Ziel des vorzustellenden Projekts ist es in einem ersten Schritt, Handlungsmuster von Lehrpersonen beim Einsatz von neuen Medien im Unterricht der Fächer Deutsch, Mathematik und Informatik der Sekundarstufe II zu identifizieren. Zu diesem Zweck werden Videoaufnahmen von 30 Unterrichtsstunden im Hinblick auf zugrunde liegende ‚Unterrichtsscripts’ (i.e. didaktische Routinen) analysiert und die subjektiven Theorien der Lehrkräfte zum Lehren und Lernen erhoben. Bei der Zusammensetzung der Stichprobe findet neben der Variation der Fachzugehörigkeit der Expertisegrad der Lehrpersonen bezogen auf den Einsatz neuer Medien Berücksichtigung, und zwar in zwei Abstufungen (hoch – niedrig). Auf diese Weise wird ermöglicht, in einem zweiten Schritt begründet Hypothesen zu Zusammenhängen zwischen Handlungsmustern sowie Fach und Expertise als Kontextfaktoren zu generieren und mögliche Geltungsbereiche zu beschreiben. Über diese Grundlagenforschung hinausgehend sollen in einem dritten Schritt anhand der gewonnenen Erkenntnisse Interventionen entwickelt werden, die eine Weiterentwicklung von Lehrerhandeln beim Einsatz neuer Medien im Unterricht ermöglichen. Hier stellt sich allerdings die Frage, wie sich Handeln grundsätzlich verändern lässt

If Physicians “Don’t Ask” and LGBT Patients “Don’t Tell,” Then Who’s Talking ?: Educational Strategies for Addressing Health Care Disparities Facing LGBT Patients

Numerous disparities exist in the provision of health services to LGBT people. The utilization of theoretical-grounded and empirically- tested adult educational strategies (e.g., deliberate practice and concept mapping) within medical education may improve the quality of health services offered to LGBT people

Knowledge-Driven Multi-Locus Analysis Reveals Gene-Gene Interactions Influencing HDL Cholesterol Level in Two Independent EMR-Linked Biobanks

Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) are routinely being used to examine the genetic contribution to complex human traits, such as high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C). Although HDL-C levels are highly heritable (h2∼0.7), the genetic determinants identified through GWAS contribute to a small fraction of the variance in this trait. Reasons for this discrepancy may include rare variants, structural variants, gene-environment (GxE) interactions, and gene-gene (GxG) interactions. Clinical practice-based biobanks now allow investigators to address these challenges by conducting GWAS in the context of comprehensive electronic medical records (EMRs). Here we apply an EMR-based phenotyping approach, within the context of routine care, to replicate several known associations between HDL-C and previously characterized genetic variants: CETP (rs3764261, p = 1.22e-25), LIPC (rs11855284, p = 3.92e-14), LPL (rs12678919, p = 1.99e-7), and the APOA1/C3/A4/A5 locus (rs964184, p = 1.06e-5), all adjusted for age, gender, body mass index (BMI), and smoking status. By using a novel approach which censors data based on relevant co-morbidities and lipid modifying medications to construct a more rigorous HDL-C phenotype, we identified an association between HDL-C and TRIB1, a gene which previously resisted identification in studies with larger sample sizes. Through the application of additional analytical strategies incorporating biological knowledge, we further identified 11 significant GxG interaction models in our discovery cohort, 8 of which show evidence of replication in a second biobank cohort. The strongest predictive model included a pairwise interaction between LPL (which modulates the incorporation of triglyceride into HDL) and ABCA1 (which modulates the incorporation of free cholesterol into HDL). These results demonstrate that gene-gene interactions modulate complex human traits, including HDL cholesterol

Genome-wide association analysis identifies six new loci associated with forced vital capacity

Forced vital capacity (FVC), a spirometric measure of pulmonary function, reflects lung volume and is used to diagnose and monitor lung diseases. We performed genome-wide association study meta-analysis of FVC in 52,253 individuals from 26 studies and followed up the top associations in 32,917 additional individuals of European ancestry. We found six new regions associated at genome-wide significance (P < 5 × 10−8) with FVC in or near EFEMP1, BMP6, MIR129-2–HSD17B12, PRDM11, WWOX and KCNJ2. Two loci previously associated with spirometric measures (GSTCD and PTCH1) were related to FVC. Newly implicated regions were followed up in samples from African-American, Korean, Chinese and Hispanic individuals. We detected transcripts for all six newly implicated genes in human lung tissue. The new loci may inform mechanisms involved in lung development and the pathogenesis of restrictive lung disease

Finishing the euchromatic sequence of the human genome

The sequence of the human genome encodes the genetic instructions for human physiology, as well as rich information about human evolution. In 2001, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium reported a draft sequence of the euchromatic portion of the human genome. Since then, the international collaboration has worked to convert this draft into a genome sequence with high accuracy and nearly complete coverage. Here, we report the result of this finishing process. The current genome sequence (Build 35) contains 2.85 billion nucleotides interrupted by only 341 gaps. It covers ∼99% of the euchromatic genome and is accurate to an error rate of ∼1 event per 100,000 bases. Many of the remaining euchromatic gaps are associated with segmental duplications and will require focused work with new methods. The near-complete sequence, the first for a vertebrate, greatly improves the precision of biological analyses of the human genome including studies of gene number, birth and death. Notably, the human enome seems to encode only 20,000-25,000 protein-coding genes. The genome sequence reported here should serve as a firm foundation for biomedical research in the decades ahead

Reconstruction of teachers cognitive structures as challenge for educational research

Dargelegt werden die theoretischen und methodologischen Grundlagen empirischer Forschung, die zu klären versucht, worin die Ursachen für die Gleichförmigkeit des unterrichtlichen Handelns deutscher Lehrerinnen und Lehrer liegen. Zur Rekonstruktion ihrer kognitiven Strukturen erfolgt in theoretischer Hinsicht eine Bezugnahme auf die psychologische Skripttheorie und das Forschungsprogramm Subjektive Theorien. In empirischer Hinsicht werden die einzelnen Schritte der Erhebung von Unterrichtsskripts mit Hilfe von Videostudien und von subjektiven Theorien der Lehrpersonen mit Hilfe von Konstruktinterviews vorgestellt und reflektiert. Dabei findet insbesondere die schwierige Frage der theoriegeleiteten Entwicklung von Indikatoren und deren datenbasierte Operationalisierung Berücksichtigung, mit denen gewährleistet werden muss, dass gleichzeitig die derzeitige Unterrichtsrealität angemessen abgebildet wird und zukunftsoffen innovative Entwicklungen aufgenommen werden können. Schließlich werden Methoden der Datenauswertung diskutiert, die auf den besonderen Charakter lediglich nominalskalierter Daten Bezug nehmen (v. a. Cluster- bzw. Latent-Class-Analysen). (ZPID

Analyse der Qualität von Aufgaben aus didaktischer und fachlicher Sicht. Ein allgemeines Modell und seine exemplarische Umsetzung im Unterrichtsfach Mathematik

Im vorliegenden Beitrag wird ein allgemeines Modell zur Analyse der Qualität von Aufgaben im Unterricht vorgestellt und seine exemplarische Umsetzung im Fach Mathematik wird erläutert. Aufgaben kommt im Lehr-Lernprozess eine zentrale Bedeutung zu. Als Anforderungen an die Schülerinnen und Schüler sowie Objekt ihrer Aktivitäten sollen sie Lernprozesse anregen. Daher stellt die Ermittlung ihrer Qualität einen bedeutsamen Beitrag zur Ermittlung von Unterrichtsqualität dar. Es werden Merkmale erläutert, denen lernprozessanregende Aufgaben genügen sollten. In diesem Zusammenhang wird ein fachübergreifendes Modell entwickelt, welches die drei Unterrichtsperspektiven Inhalt, Lehren und Lernen umfasst, und es wird ein darauf bezogenes dreistufiges Analyseverfahren vorgestellt, das zwischen dem objektiven Potenzial einer Aufgabe, den intendierten Anforderungen seitens der Lehrperson und der Realisierung dieser Anforderungen im Lehr-Lernprozess unterscheidet. Darüber hinaus erfolgt exemplarisch eine Aufgabenanalyse anhand einer Mathematikstunde in der Jahrgangsstufe 11. (DIPF/Orig.)The following article presents a general model that helps to analyse the quality of learning tasks. To give an example of the impact of this model it is applied to a mathematics lesson. Learning tasks is an important dement of instructional processes since they activate Student learning. For that reason, analysing the quality of learning tasks contributes significantly to an assessment of instructional quality in general. The article presents and discusses criteria for meaningful learning tasks. A cross-curricular model is developed which integrates the three perspectives of instruction: content, teaching and learning. Linked to this model, a three-step analysing method is presented that distinguishes between a task\u27s objective potential, its intended outcome from the perspective of the teacher and its real outcome during the lesson. The example of a mathematics lesson in grade 11 has been chosen to demonstrate how tasks are analysed according to the method presented in this article. (DIPF/Orig.

Phosphorus stocks and speciation in soil profiles of a long-term fertilizer experiment: Evidence from sequential fractionation, P K -edge XANES, and 31 P NMR spectroscopy

Agricultural productivity depends on the use of phosphorus (P) of which not only the topsoil, but also the subsoil, can hold immense stocks. To assess their importance for plant nutrition, we compared the P status of Stagnic Cambisol profiles in experimental plots that received different P fertilizer applications for 16 years. Sequential fractionation was combined with P K-edge X-ray absorption near edge structure (XANES) spectroscopy and liquid 31P nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy to identify the chemical P speciation. Fertilized topsoils showed P stocks larger by a factor of 1.2 to 1.4, and subsoil stocks larger by a factor of 1.3 to 1.5 than the control. P-XANES revealed the predominance of mainly inorganic P species, such as moderately labile Fe- (46 to 92%), Al- (0 to 40%) and Ca- (0 to 21%) P compounds besides organic P (0 to 12%). This was supported by 31P NMR with decreasing proportions of orthophosphate monoesters from topsoil (20 to 28%) towards the second subsoil layer (7 to 13%). In summary, fertilizer application maintained or increased P stocks but only slightly altered the P speciation throughout the profiles. The kind of fertilizers had no significant effect on soil P, only affecting the inorganic P pools. Our findings proved that subsoil P stocks are potentially important contributors to plant nutrition, but their accessibility must be assessed for improved soil P tests and reduced fertilizer recommendations