Cortisol,interleukins and S100B in delirium in the elderly

In independent studies delirium was associated with higher levels of cortisol, interleukin(IL)s, and S100B. The aim of this study was to simultaneously compare cortisol, IL-6, IL-8, and S100B levels in patients aged 65 years and older admitted for hip fracture surgery with and without delirium. Cortisol, IL-6, IL-8, and S100B were assayed in repeated blood samples. 120 patients (mean age 84 years, 62 patients with delirium) were included. Highest levels of IL-8 (27.1, 95% Confidence Interval (CI): 13.6–53.1 pg/ml) and cortisol (666, 95% CI: 475–859 nmol/L) were before delirium, but of IL-6 (84.3, 95% CI: 46.5–151.4 pg/mL) and S100B (0.18, 95% CI: 0.12–0.24 μg/L) during delirium. In multivariable analysis cortisol, LogIL-6, and LogS100B were significantly associated with delirium, but adjusted for pre-existing cognitive impairment, only LogS100B remained significantly associated. Cortisol, IL-6 and S100B may have a role in the pathogenesis of delirium, but S100B is the strongest independent marker.     

Optimal Scaling of Interaction Effects in Generalized Linear Models

This study involved two phases: first, when classification was based on the calibration sample; and second, in a cross-validation setting. Computer generated data were used. Results obtained from rules based on probabilities of group membership were compared for accuracy when classifying in the discriminant space and in the predictor variable spaces. In the first phase accuracy was greater in the predictor variable spaces, while the reverse was true in the second phase. In general, rules based on probabilities of group membership were approximately equally accurate and more accurate than a rule related to a multiple regression analysis. Other findings are also discussed.     

Multiple Imputation of Item Scores in Test and Questionnaire Data,and Influence on Psychometric Results

The performance of five simple multiple imputation methods for dealing with missing data were compared. In addition, random imputation and multivariate normal imputation were used as lower and upper benchmark, respectively. Test data were simulated and item scores were deleted such that they were either missing completely at random, missing at random, or not missing at random. Cronbach's alpha, Loevinger's scalability coefficient H, and the item cluster solution from Mokken scale analysis of the complete data were compared with the corresponding results based on the data including imputed scores. The multiple-imputation methods, two-way with normally distributed errors, corrected item-mean substitution with normally distributed errors, and response function, produced discrepancies in Cronbach's coefficient alpha, Loevinger's coefficient H, and the cluster solution from Mokken scale analysis, that were smaller than the discrepancies in upper benchmark multivariate normal imputation.     

Social Bonds and White-Collar Crime: A Two-Study Assessment of Informal Social Controls in White-Collar Offenders

ABSTRACT

In two studies, this paper examines age-graded informal social controls (bonds) in white-collar offenders. Using register data, Study 1 compares bonds in a sample of white-collar offenders to a matched control sample, while Study 2 uses probation data to examine bonds within a subsample of white-collar offenders of Study 1. The results show that white-collar offenders, including those who occupy executive positions and those with an adult-crime onset, were characterized by weakened bonds and that early-onset offenders had weaker bonds than adult-onset offenders. Along with the implications of these findings for theory, limitations and directions for future research are presented.     

Social Competence at the Playground: Preschoolers During Recess

Social interactions at the playground have been represented as a rich learning opportunity to hone and master social skills at preschool years. Specifically, all forms of social play (fantasy, role, exercise or rough‐and‐tumble) have been related to children's social competence. The main goal of this study was to examine whether it is a certain kind of social play which facilitates the development of social competence, or if it is just the opportunity for interacting during recess that provides children with an optimal environment for social learning. A total of 73 preschoolers (4–6 years old) were videotaped at the school's playground. Teachers provided assessments of children's social competence. Children's interactions at the playground were assessed through an innovative measuring method, based on radio‐frequency identification devices. The results showed a positive association between exercise play and children's social competence. In contrast with the literature, both forms of pretend play, fantasy and role play were unrelated to children's social competence. Smaller peer groups and longer interactions also demonstrated a positive association with these preschoolers' social competence. The study shows the importance of outdoor physical play for preschoolers' social success. Moreover, the study suggests that the environment in which children play has an important effect on the adaptive nature of their play. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Freedom of Education and Dutch Jewish Schools in the Mid-Nineteenth Century

In the Netherlands of the mid-nineteenth century a political debate took place concerning the desirability of denominational schools. Roman-Catholics and Protestants opposed the current law of 1806, which defined the new state subsidized Dutch primary schools as denominationally neutral, but with an overall Christian identity. They wanted their own schools, in which they could teach doctrine. The new constitution of 1848 and its implementation in the Education Act of 1857 met their demands by allowing freedom of education for all denominations. Quite different was the situation of the Jews. Contrary to other denominations, Jews were supported to set up their own schools, in which doctrine was taught, even after 1817. For them, the freedom of education made a constitutional principle in 1848 meant the freedom to send their children to regular public schools. The result was the disappearance of almost all of the forty-eight authorised Jewish primary schools. In this paper we explore the motives behind these Jewish actions and their meaning in the context of political and social debates that took place in the mid-nineteenth century, motives, which were directly related to matters of emancipation, acculturation, and their desired – or unwanted – affects.     

Exploring how people respond to conflicts between self‐interest and fairness: Influence of threats to the self on affective reactions to advantageous inequity

Two studies examined how people deal with conflicts between their self‐interest concerns and their striving for fairness. Specifically, the affective reactions to outcome arrangements in which people receive better outcomes than comparable other persons, were studied. These arrangements of advantageous inequity constitute situations in which fairness and self‐interest concerns are in conflict. Building on the social psychology of the self, it was predicted, and found, in both field and lab experiments that when people experience a self‐threat, they react more positively to arrangements of advantageous inequity than when not experiencing this threat. This supports the view that people's need for positive information about their selves is an important factor in the underlying psychological processes of the way that people deal with conflicts between their fairness and self‐interest concerns.     

The Factor Structure of Cognitive Functioning in Cognitively Healthy Participants: a Meta-Analysis and Meta-Analysis of Individual Participant Data

Neuropsychology Review - Many neuropsychologists are of the opinion that the multitude of cognitive tests may be grouped into a much smaller number of cognitive domains. However, there is little...     

Generosity and livelihoods: Dictator game evidence on the multidimensional nature of sharing among the Kenyan Maasai

This paper investigates whether sharing behavior is multidimensional and embedded in social organization and modes of economic production. It uses a modified dictator game varying social distance to the recipient and varying the resource (money vs. six in-kind resources) being shared among the pastoral Maasai of Kenya. Results show that both social distance and the nature of the resource matter for sharing as well as their combination. The discussion argues that these findings are consistent with the nature and role of these resources in the pastoral livelihood among the Maasai.