Sonneradon A Extends Lifespan of Caenorhabditis elegans by Modulating Mitochondrial and IIS Signaling Pathways

Aging is related to the lowered overall functioning and increased risk for various age-related diseases in humans. Sonneradon A (SDA), a new compound first extracted from the edible fruits of mangrove Sonneratia apetala, showed remarkable antiaging activity. However, the role of SDA in antiaging remains unclear. In this article, we studied the function of SDA in antiaging by using the animal model Caenorhabditis elegans. Results showed that SDA inhibited production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) by 53%, and reduced the accumulation of aging markers such as lipids and lipofuscins. Moreover, SDA also enhanced the innate immune response to Pseudomonas aeruginosa infection. Genetic analysis of a series of mutants showed that SDA extended the lifespan of the mutants of eat-2 and glp-1. Together, this effect may be related to the enhanced resistance to oxidative stress via mitochondrial and insulin/insulin-like growth factor-1 signaling (IIS) pathways. The results of this study provided new evidence for an antiaging effect of SDA in C. elegans, as well as insights into the implication of antiaging activity of SDA in higher organisms.

Application of Statistics in Human Resource Management

The chapter gives an outline of the shift in HRM from being intuitive to quantitative in its decision making and overall functioning. The role of HRM is transforming with application of statistical techniques that make HR more evidence based and accountable. The chapter will discuss some successful applications of statistical techniques, basic and, in HRM by renowned organizations worldwide as well as elucidate upon some of the most applied statistical techniques. After reading this chapter learner will appreciate the need for applying Statistics in HRM, have an understanding of the avenues for application of statistical tools and get an outline of the various statistical techniques that are appropriate for different HR functions.

Formación académica del psicólogo en la atención del adulto mayor: retos

The purpose of this research paper was to carry out a bibliographical revision on the academic training of the psychologistfor the caregiving of elders, in Venezuela. Its relevance relays on providing innovating information in the area, for this subject has been little explored in this country. Therefore, it is important to consider all knowledge and experiences held by the professional psychologist on this stage of human development, from an academic perspective. The access to new knowledge will allow generating programs for appropriate psychological intervention directed to elders, whether these be institutionalized or non-institutionalized; aiming, not only to improve life quality of an old person, but also to address to it from the different areas of its overall functioning. To conclude, we can highlight that it actually exist the imperious need to train academically Venezuelan psychologist, as one of those professionals sufficiently competent with scientific knowledge to provide proper attention to this population.

Engaging Employees Through a Virtuous Environment! Does Positive Affect Mediate in the Relationship?

The Problem The high rate of disengagement among the workforce affects the overall functioning of the organizations as disengaged employees are not only dissatisfied but can also spread negativity among their fellows. Therefore, there is an emerging need to ascertain how organizations can contribute in reducing such disengagement. The Solution Findings from this study suggests that an organizational environment of respect, trust, forgiveness, and care and concern can solve the problem of disengagement. Such an environment requires management support in creating a culture that recognizes the role of empathy in boosting positive emotions and reducing employees’ negativity. The Stakeholders Human resource development practitioners, researchers, scholars, managers, and others who are interested in pursuing research in this area.

Brain Asymmetry: Towards an Asymmetrical Neurovisceral Integration

Despite the ancestral evidence of an asymmetry in motor predominance, going through the inspiring discoveries of Broca and Wernicke on the localization of language processing, continuing with the subsequent noise coinciding with the study of brain function in commissurotomized patients—and the subsequent avalanche of data on the asymmetric distribution of multiple types of neurotransmitters in physiological and pathological conditions—even today, the functional significance of brain asymmetry is still unknown. Currently, multiple evidence suggests that functional asymmetries must have a neurochemical substrate and that brain asymmetry is not a static concept but rather a dynamic one, with intra- and inter-hemispheric interactions between its various processes, and that it is modifiable depending on changing endogenous and environmental conditions. Furthermore, based on the concept of neurovisceral integration in the overall functioning of an organism, some evidence has emerged suggesting that this integration could be organized asymmetrically, using the autonomic nervous system as a bidirectional communication pathway, whose performance would also be asymmetric. However, the functional significance of this distribution, as well as the evolutionary advantage of an asymmetric nervous organization, is still unknown.

Perceptions of the functioning and effectiveness of nursing regulators in Ghana and South Africa: a cross-sectional study

ObjectiveNursing regulators are important governance structures for nurses who are critical to the achievement of universal health coverage (UHC). This study examined the perspectives of the heads of nursing education institutions (NEIs) in Ghana and South Africa on the functioning and effectiveness of the respective nursing regulators.DesignThis was a cross-sectional survey.SettingThis study was conducted in Ghana and South AfricaParticipantsHeads of accredited NEIs in Ghana (n=65) and in South Africa (n=39).ResultsIn South Africa, the mean score for overall functioning of the South African Nursing Council (SANC) was 4.6 (SD 1.97), whereas the mean score for overall functioning of the Nursing and Midwifery Council of Ghana (N&MC) was 7.1 (SD 1.7) (p<0.0001). Similarly, the mean score for effectiveness of the SANC by NEIs was 5.1, compared with the mean effectiveness score of 7.2 for the N&MC (p<0.001).Compared to the SANC, the heads of NEIs scored the N&MC higher on each of the six functional areas of policy-making (Ghana=7.06; SA=4.56); accreditation (Ghana=7.40; SA=4.10) legal and disciplinary actions (Ghana=6.45; SA=5.52); examination (Ghana=7.84; SA=5.00); registration (Ghana=8.27; SA=5.96) and communication and transparency (Ghana=6.87; SA=6.05).ConclusionBoth the N&MC and SANC are well-established regulators and are vital to ensure that the nursing workforce in each country is able to deliver quality healthcare, thereby contributing to UHC and population health improvements. However, the study findings suggest the need for concerted efforts to improve the functioning and effectiveness of the regulators, especially the SANC. The six functional areas could guide the necessary improvements in regulator functioning and effectiveness, in partnership with relevant stakeholders.

Trajectory of emotion dysregulation in positive and negative affect across childhood predicts adolescent emotion dysregulation and overall functioning

Emotion dysregulation is cross-diagnostic and impairing. Most research has focused on dysregulated expressions of negative affect, often measured as irritability, which is associated with multiple forms of psychopathology and predicts negative outcomes. However, the Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) include both negative and positive valence systems. Emerging evidence suggests that dysregulated expressions of positive affect, or excitability, in early childhood predict later psychopathology and impairment above and beyond irritability. Typically, irritability declines from early through middle childhood; however, the developmental trajectory of excitability is unknown. The impact of excitability across childhood on later emotion dysregulation is also yet unknown. In a well-characterized, longitudinal sample of 129 children studied from ages 3 to 5.11 years through 14 to 19 years, enriched for early depression and disruptive symptoms, we assessed the trajectory of irritability and excitability using multilevel modeling and how components of these trajectories impact later emotion dysregulation. While irritability declines across childhood, excitability remains remarkably stable both within and across the group. Overall levels of excitability (excitability intercept) predict later emotion dysregulation as measured by parent and self-report and predict decreased functional magnetic resonance imaging activity in cognitive emotion regulation regions during an emotion regulation task. Irritability was not related to any dysregulation outcome above and beyond excitability.

Effectiveness of Short-Term Psychodynamic Psychotherapy in Preadolescents and Adolescents Affected by Psychiatric Disorders

Objective Few studies have explored the effectiveness of short-term psychodynamic psychotherapy in children and adolescents. We aimed to investigate its efficacy in a heterogeneous group of young patients. We also wanted to check any relation between the improvement and patients’ age, sex, or diagnostic category.Methods We recruited a group of 123 patients (11 to 19 years old) with a diagnosis of psychiatric disorders confirmed by Kiddie Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia (KSADS). All participants received eight sessions of psychodynamic psychotherapy (“Brief Individuation Psychotherapy” by Senise). They were assessed using the Clinical Global Impression (Severity at baseline, Improvement after treatment), and the Children’s Global Assessment Scale (C-GAS).Results We found a clinically meaningful improvement in most patients (CGI-I 3 or lower; 79 out of 123, 64.2%) and a statistically significant improvement in the overall functioning (as measured by the C-GAS; p<0.001). We found no effect of age or sex of the patient on results obtained; patients with an externalizing disorder had significantly poorer results.Conclusion Our study, although lacking a control group, supports the possibility to use short-term psychodynamic psychotherapy in the treatment of psychiatric disorders in preadolescents and adolescents affected by psychiatric disorders.

A Fuzzy Embeddedness

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in the extractive industries is a relatively new but growing topic for anthropology. To study CSR, anthropologists often conduct ethnography in corporations, which provides a unique perspective to discern the functioning of corporate power, company–community relations, and the mainstream discourses of global governance. However, ethnography in corporations requires further reflexivity about the anthropologist’s positionality and what it can tell us about the functioning of CSR. I build on my experience conducting an ethnography of the Cerrejón mine in Colombia, one of the biggest in the world, and a dialoguewith other anthropologists’ methodological and theoretical reflections about CSR. I elaborate on the conceptualization of ethnographers’ work in corporations as fuzzy embeddedness, to explore the temporary, ambiguous, and often unacknowledged ways in which the ethnographer is immersed in corporate logics, and becomes part of the hierarchies and power relations that corporations enact in the extractive territories. The article develops two main arguments. First, mining corporations see ethnographers as stakeholders in their performance of transparency, therefore turning the relation into an enactment of CSR. Second, empathizing with corporate officials is a productive avenue to understand the functioning and reproduction of CSR. Through the text, I present some methodological considerations and hints about the overall functioning of CSR.