Nickel Cobaltite/Multi-walled Carbon Nanotube Flexible Sensor for the Electrochemical Detection of Dopamine Released by Human Neural Cells

The importance of dopamine as a biomarker in both physiological and social domains has piqued the scientist’s interest. The development of miniaturized electrochemical devices capable of delivering a timely output...

The Impact of the Magnitude of the Group of Bullies on Health-Related Quality of Life and Academic Performance Among Adolescents

This study examines the consequences that physical and verbal/social victimization by peers and the magnitude of the groups of bullies have on academic performance and the psychological and social domains of Health-related Quality of Life (HRQoL). 1428 secondary school students in the south-east Spain completed the Spanish version of the “Adolescent Peer Relations Instrument-Bullying” and “KIDSCREEN-52” questionnaires in order to analyse, respectively, peer victimization and the psychological and social domains of HRQoL. Data on sociodemographic characteristics and academic achievement was also collected. Findings emphasise the potential of peer victimization in all its forms as risk factors explaining poor HRQoL in psychological, social and emotional domains. The number of bullies was an imponent and significant risk factor that explains a worse HRQoL in the five socio-psychological dimensions studied (Odds Ratio 4.08, Odds Ratio 9.25, Odds Ratio 4.69, Odds Ratio 2.91, Odds Ratio 11.92). Nevertheless, peer victimization rarely seems to affect academic achievement. Results suggest that much of prevention and intervention are still needed to reduce peer victimization, focusing on large bullies’ groups and their harmful impact on adolescent’s HRQoL.

Scoping review on medical and social domains of ageing research in Singapore (2008-2018)

Introduction: To examine how ageing research in medical and social domains in Singapore has transformed over time, this scoping review examined the number, types and characteristics of journal publications on ageing in Singapore from 2008 to 2018. Methods: Using relevant search terms, articles were extracted from multiple databases and then screened and reviewed for eligibility and inclusion by independent reviewers. Data such as title of the study, authors, year of publication, name of journal, type of journal, study design and the kind of data used were charted from the included articles for evidence synthesis. Results: Since 2008, there has been a steady increase in the number of publications on ageing in medical and social domains in Singapore. In the medical domain, publications in Ophthalmology formed the largest group of the existing medical literature on ageing in Singapore (22%), followed by Physical Functioning, which involved physiological measurements of physical well-being (17%) and Geriatrics (16%). Non-medical publications comprised 38% of all the included publications, with publications on the social aspects of ageing forming the largest group in this cluster (43%), followed by publications on Prevention (19%) and Healthcare Services (18%). Most studies were observational in study design (82%), with only 3% of interventional studies. Conclusion: While ageing research had expanded in Singapore in the last decade, it was predominantly discipline-specific and observational in design. As ageing issues are complex, with biology intersecting with psychology and sociology, we call for greater interdisciplinary collaboration, interventional studies and more research in understudied and emerging areas.

Loneliness in older parents: marital transitions, family and social connections, and separate bedrooms for sleep

Objectives This research innovatively analyzed the marital transitions (i.e., divorce and widowhood) of older Taiwanese parents, their sleep problems and spousal specific characteristics (i.e., separate bedrooms for sleep and marital relationships) as well as their social and family connections, all of which were simultaneously reflected in emotional and social domains of loneliness. Methods Data are from 1645 older parents from Northern Taiwan. Loneliness was assessed by a De Jong-Gierveld short scale with emotional and social domains. We conducted multivariate logistic regression to examine the associations of marital transitions and family/social connections regarding sleep problems and psychological well-being with loneliness in social and emotional domains. Besides sleep problems and individual socioeconomic status, we included data on couples’ sleeping arrangements and marital relationships. Results Social loneliness was significantly associated with being divorced (AOR = 1.80, 95% CI 1.13–2.86) and living alone (AOR = 1.50, 95% CI 1.02–2.23). In contrast, strong family cohesion and frequent weekly contact with friends were associated with lower social loneliness. Married parents who slept in separate bedrooms were more likely than bed-sharing couples to feel emotional and social loneliness, despite adjusting for their sleep problems. Furthermore, satisfactory spousal relationships significantly decreased the magnitude of associations in the social domain. Discussion Our findings support significant associations between loneliness in later life and major marital transitions, family and social connections and sleep problems which differ in social and emotional domains. Independent of relationship satisfaction, separate bedrooms relate to higher risks of emotional loneliness in older adults.

Early intervention in severe Autism : positive outcome using EDT

Early intervention programs positively affect key behaviours for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Yet, most of these programs do not target children with severe autistic symptomatology associated with intellectual disability (ID).The aim of this study was to investigate psychological and clinical outcomes of children with severe autism and ID enrolled in the Tailored and Inclusive Program for Autism - Tours (TIPA-T). The first step of the TIPA-T is the Exchange and Development Therapy (EDT): an individual neurofunctional intervention, consisting of one-to-one exchanges between a child and a therapist taking place in a pared-down environment. It aims to rehabilitate psychophysiological abilities at the roots of social communication, through structured sequences of “social play”.Cognitive and socio-emotional skills and general development were evaluated with the Social Cognitive Evaluation Battery (SCEB) scale and the Brunet-Lézine scale-Revised, respectively, before and after 9 months of intervention in 32 children with ASD and ID. Autistic symptomatology was evaluated with the Behavior Summarized Evaluation-Revised (BSE-R) scale at 5 time-points in a subset of 14 children, both in individual and group settings. Statistically significant post-intervention improvements were found in cognitive and socio-emotional skills. All but one child showed improvements in at least one social domains, and 78% of children gained one-level in at least 4 social domains. 29 children improved in cognitive domains with 66% of children improving in at least 3 cognitive domains. Autistic symptomatology evaluated in one-to-one settings significantly decreased with therapy; this reduction was observed in more than 85% of children. In group settings, autistic symptomatology also decreased in more than 60% of children. Global developmental age significantly increased by 3.8 months.The TIPA-T, including EDT in particular, improves socio-emotional skills of most children with ASD and reduces autistic symptomatology; yet, with heterogeneous outcomes profiles, in line with the strong heterogeneity of profiles observed in ASD. At the group level, this study highlights the benefits of the TIPA-T for children with severe autism and associated ID. Assessment of autistic core symptoms showed an improvement of social interaction, both in one-to-one and group evaluations, demonstrating the generalizability of the skills learned during the EDT.

Where Ethical and Epistemic Demands Meet

Chapter 5 explores the idea that we face a dilemma with respect to stereotyping: that when stereotypes reflect social reality, people can either do what is best from an epistemic perspective, and allow the stereotypes to influence their judgements, or they can do what is best from an ethical perspective and avoid stereotyping. This chapter shows that although ethical and epistemic demands sometimes conflict in this way, sometimes they can both be met through stereotyping, and at other times they can both be met by not stereotyping. Rather than facing a relatively straightforward dilemma, we face a serious practical difficulty of discerning, in any specific context, whether the application of a stereotype will facilitate the achievement of either or both ethical and epistemic goals. The argument in this chapter is primarily focused on the case study of stereotyping in medicine but applies broadly to stereotyping across various social domains.

THE ROLE OF CONFIDENCE-BUILDING MEASURES IN THE EVOLUTION OF RELATIONS BETWEEN PAKISTAN AND INDIA

This article critically analyzes the role of confidence-building measures (CBMs) in the evolution of relations between Pakistan and India. Relations between these two nuclear-armed states remain in turmoil even after 73 years of independence. The study begins with an overview of the relations/conflicts and a brief history of diplomatic engagements between the two countries since independence from British rule in 1947. We explain the theoretical framework of CBMs by analyzing the strengths and weaknesses of the CBMs approach. Subsequently, we analyze several significant confidence-building initiatives between the two countries in various domains of bilateral relations and identify the spoilers affecting relations between the two countries. Research suggests that Pakistan and India require a comprehensive and integrated approach for CBMs in political, military, economic, environmental, and social domains to foster an environment of mutual trust and peaceful coexistence.