Television has become a nearly ubiquitous feature in children's cultural landscape. A review of the research into young children's learning from television indicates that the likelihood that children ...will learn from screen media is influenced by their developing social relationships with on-screen characters, as much as by their developing perception of the screen and their symbolic understanding and comprehension of information presented on screen. Considering the circumstances in which children under 6 years learn from screen media can inform teachers, parents, and researchers about the important nature of social interaction in early learning and development. The findings reviewed in this article suggest the social nature of learning, even learning from screen media.
Preschool-aged children are exposed to fantasy stories with the expectation that they will learn messages in those stories that are applied to real-world situations. We examined children's transfer ...from fantastical and real stories. Over the course of 2 studies, 31/2-to 51/2-year-old children were less likely to transfer problem solutions from stories about fantasy characters than stories about real people. A combined analysis of the participants in the 2 studies revealed that the factors predicting transfer differed for the fantasy and real stories. These findings are discussed within the context of their implications for preschoolers' developing boundaries between fantasy and real worlds.
Those interested in the intersection of science and Christianity, rightfully pay attention to specific issues in the landscape of science and religion. Despite progress made in science-religion ...scholarship, asking and answering thorny questions and unearthing new ones, it sometimes appears that these advances make little progress shifting the narrative in individuals or culture. In this article, I argue that for progress in difficult conversations, such as those between science and Christianity, we must acknowledge and account for the psychology of the individuals engaging in these conversations. This article discusses how normal psychological processes involved in reasoning may influence engagement with science-religion material. I conclude by offering several suggestions to increase the fruitfulness of these conversations.
This research sought to gauge the extent to which doctors, nurses and paramedics in Australia were concerned about contracting SARS‐CoV‐2 during the country's first wave of the virus in April 2020.
...Australian registered doctors, nurses and paramedics (n=580) completed an online questionnaire during April 16–30, 2020 (period immediately following the highest four‐week period (first wave) of SARS‐CoV‐2 confirmed cases in Australia).
During April 2020, two‐thirds of participants felt it was likely they would contract SARS‐CoV‐2 at work. Half the participants suggested Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) supplies were inadequate for them to safely perform their job, with two‐thirds suggesting management advised them to alter normal PPE use. One‐third of participants suggested they were dissatisfied with their employer's communication of COVID‐19 related information.
After reports of PPE shortages during Australia's first SARS‐CoV‐2 wave, and suggestions access to PPE was still limited during Australia's second wave five months later, we must forecast for this and future pandemics ensuring adequate access to PPE for frontline healthcare workers. Further, ensuring consistent and standardised pathways for communication to staff (acknowledging the reality that information may rapidly change) will help alleviate frustration and anxiety.
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a debilitating neurodegenerative disease with profound unmet need. In patients carrying genetic mutations, elevations in neurofilament light (NfL) have been ...shown to precede symptom onset, however, the natural history of NfL in general ALS patients is less characterized.
We performed a secondary analysis of the UK Biobank Pharma Proteomics Project (UKB-PPP), a subset of the UK Biobank, a population-based cohort study in the United Kingdom, to examine plasma NfL levels in 237 participants subsequently diagnosed with ALS. We applied logistic and Cox proportional hazards regression to compare cases to 42,752 population-based and 948 age and sex-matched controls. Genetic information was obtained from exome and genotype array data.Results and Conclusions: We observed that NfL was 1.42-fold higher in cases vs population-based controls. At two to three years pre-diagnosis, NfL levels in patients exceeded the 95
percentile of age and sex-matched controls. A time-to-diagnosis analysis showed that a 2-fold increase in NfL levels was associated with a 3.4-fold risk of diagnosis per year, with NfL being most predictive of case status at two years (AUC = 0.96). Participants with genetic variation that might put them at risk for familial disease (N = 46) did not show a different pattern of association than those without (N = 191).
Our findings show that NfL is elevated and discriminative of future ALS diagnosis up to two years prior to diagnosis in patients with and without genetic risk variants.
Cognitive impairment is common amongst people experiencing homelessness, yet cognitive screening and the collection of history of brain injury rarely features in homelessness service delivery ...practice. The purpose of this research was to scope and map strategies for screening for the potential presence of cognitive impairment or brain injury amongst people experiencing homelessness and identify instruments that could be administered by homelessness service staff to facilitate referral for formal diagnosis and appropriate support. A search was conducted across five databases, followed by a hand search from relevant systematic reviews. A total of 108 publications were included for analysis. Described in the literature were 151 instruments for measuring cognitive function and 8 instruments screening for history of brain injury. Tools that were described in more than two publications, screening for the potential presence of cognitive impairment or history of brain injury, were included for analysis. Of those regularly described, only three instruments measuring cognitive function and three measuring history of brain injury (all of which focused on traumatic brain injury (TBI)) may be administered by non-specialist assessors. The Trail Making Test (TMT) and the Ohio State University Traumatic Brain Injury Identification Method (OSU TBI-ID) are both potentially viable tools for supporting the identification of a likely cognitive impairment or TBI history in the homelessness service context. Further population-specific research and implementation science research is required to maximise the potential for practice application success.
Gain-of-function mutations in the LRRK2 gene cause Parkinson’s disease (PD), increasing phosphorylation of RAB GTPases through hyperactive kinase activity. We find that LRRK2-hyperphosphorylated RABs ...disrupt the axonal transport of autophagosomes by perturbing the coordinated regulation of cytoplasmic dynein and kinesin. In iPSC-derived human neurons, knockin of the strongly hyperactive LRRK2-p.R1441H mutation causes striking impairments in autophagosome transport, inducing frequent directional reversals and pauses. Knockout of the opposing protein phosphatase 1H (PPM1H) phenocopies the effect of hyperactive LRRK2. Overexpression of ADP-ribosylation factor 6 (ARF6), a GTPase that acts as a switch for selective activation of dynein or kinesin, attenuates transport defects in both p.R1441H knockin and PPM1H knockout neurons. Together, these findings support a model where a regulatory imbalance between LRRK2-hyperphosphorylated RABs and ARF6 induces an unproductive “tug-of-war” between dynein and kinesin, disrupting processive autophagosome transport. This disruption may contribute to PD pathogenesis by impairing the essential homeostatic functions of axonal autophagy.
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•Parkinson’s-associated LRRK2-p.R1441H impairs axonal autophagosomal transport•Knockout of LRRK2-opposing phosphatase PPM1H phenocopies hyperactive LRRK2•Transport deficits are linked to regulatory imbalance between ARF6 and phospho-RABs
Dou et al. find that the opposing activities of LRRK2 kinase and PPM1H phosphatase dictate a regulatory balance for the motors that drive axonal autophagosome transport. Hyperactive LRRK2, which is associated with Parkinson’s disease (PD), is predicted to contribute to PD pathogenesis by disrupting the essential homeostatic pathway of autophagy.
Emergency service (ambulance, police, fire) call-takers and dispatchers are often exposed to duty-related trauma, placing them at increased risk for developing mental health challenges like stress, ...anxiety, depression, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Their unique working environment also puts them at-risk for physical health issues like obesity, headache, backache, and insomnia. Along with the stress associated with being on the receiving end of difficult calls, call-takers and dispatchers also deal with the pressure and demand of following protocol despite dealing with the variability of complex and stressful situations.
A systematic literature review was conducted using the MEDLINE, PubMed, CINAHL, and PsychInfo databases.
A total of 25 publications were retrieved by the search strategy. The majority of studies (n = 13; 52%) reported a quantitative methodology, while nine (36%) reported the use of a qualitative research methodology. One study reported a mixed-methods methodology, one reported an evaluability assessment with semi-structured interviews, one reported on a case study, and one was a systematic review with a narrative synthesis.
Challenges to physical health included: shift-work leading to lack of physical activity, poor nutrition, and obesity; outdated and ergonomically ill-fitted equipment, and physically confining and isolating work spaces leading to physical injuries; inadequate breaks leading to fatigue; and high noise levels and poor lighting being correlated with higher cortisol levels. Challenges to mental health included: being exposed to traumatic calls; working in high-pressure environments with little downtime in between stressful calls; inadequate debriefing after stressful calls; inappropriate training for mental-health-related calls; and being exposed to verbally aggressive callers. Lack of support from leadership was an additional source of stress.
Emergency service call-takers and dispatchers experience both physical and mental health challenges as a result of their work, which appears to be related to a range of both operational and support-based issues. Future research should explore the long-term effects of these physical and mental health challenges.
Many Veterans who served in Iraq and Afghanistan struggle with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and the effects of traumatic brain injuries (TBI). Some people with a history of TBI report a ...constellation of somatic, cognitive, and emotional complaints that are often referred to as postconcussive symptoms (PCS). Research suggests these symptoms may not be specific to TBI. This study examined the impact of PTSD treatment on PCS in combat Veterans seeking treatment for PTSD. As part of a larger randomized control trial, 198 Operation Iraqi Freedom, Operation Enduring Freedom, Operation New Dawn (OIF/OEF/OND) Veterans with PTSD received Prolonged Exposure Therapy, sertraline, or the combination. Potential deployment related TBI, PCS, PTSD and depression symptoms were assessed throughout treatment. Linear mixed models were used to predict PCS change over time across the full sample and treatment arms, and the association of change in PTSD and depression symptoms on PCS was also examined. Patterns of change for the full sample and the subsample of those who reported a head injury were examined. Results showed that PCS decreased with treatment. There were no significant differences across treatments. No significant differences were found in the pattern of symptom change based on TBI screening status. Shifts in PCS were predicted by change PTSD and depression. Results suggest that PCS reduced with PTSD treatment in this population and are related to shift in depression and PTSD severity, further supporting that reported PCS symptoms may be better understood as non-specific symptoms.
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