Gaming and social interactions in the rehabilitation of brain injuries: a pilot study

Physical rehabilitation of brain injuries and strokes is a time consuming and costly process. Over the past decade several studies have emerged looking at the use of highly sophisticated technologies, such as robotics and virtual reality to tap into the needs of clinicians and patients. While such technologies can be a valuable tool to facilitate intensive movement practice in a motivating and engaging environment, success of therapy also depends on self-administered therapy beyond hospital stay. With the emergence of low-cost gaming consoles such as the Nintendo Wii, new opportunities arise for home-therapy paradigms centred on social interactions and values, which could reduce the sense of isolation and other depression related complications. In this paper we examine the potential, user acceptance and usability of an unmodified Nintendo Wii gaming console as a low-cost treatment alternative to complement current rehabilitation programmes.

Social and material influences on the Kelabit dwelt environment

Relations with the environment are key to the ways in which people pursue their dwelling practices. The complex processes of globalisation challenge the isolation of rural groups, consequently affecting their perception and use of the environment. One such place where this can be seen is the Kelabit Highlands of northern Sarawak (Malaysian Borneo), where the recent arrival of commercial logging has allowed local people to make wider connections via the logging roads. Cultural and historic traditions are reconstituted in the light of new material relations with a dynamic environment, which can be seen reflected in changing customs of housebuilding.

Telefantasy tower blocks: space, place and social realism shake-ups in Misfits

This article considers the ways in which British youth telefantasy Misfits (E4, 2009–13) takes up and makes strange urban spaces familiar from social-realist narratives. Filmed on the sprawling East London estate, Thamesmead, the programme chronicles a group of young offenders who are given powers by a freak storm, turning them into ‘ASBO superheroes’. Misfits depends on its British urban landscapes for the assertion of its ‘authenticity’ within British youth television, using spaces and landscapes familiar from urban youth exploitation cinema and television's narratives of the underclass. After situating the series within existing cultural discourses and recent developments in social-realist representations, the article explores how Misfits disrupts what have become signifiers for the ‘real’ – the brutalism of housing estates, the grey of the concrete and sky – by making them strange, turning them into telefantasy. The series presents the estate as an uncanny place: the domestic, social-realist world shifted into a fantastical space by the storm. Through close analysis, this article explores how the familiar spaces become skewed and unsettling to match our protagonists' isolation, shifting bodies and scrambled sense of self.

Adaptive social protection: mapping the evidence and policy context in the agriculture sector in south Asia

An aim of government and the international community is to respond to global processes and crises through a range of policy and practical approaches that help limit damage from shocks and stresses. Three approaches to vulnerability reduction that have become particularly prominent in recent years are social protection (SP), disaster risk reduction (DRR) and climate change adaptation (CCA). Although these approaches have much in common, they have developed separately over the last two decades. However, given the increasingly complex and interlinked array of risks that poor and vulnerable people face, it is likely that they will not be sufficient in the long run if they continue to be applied in isolation from one another. In recognition of this challenge, the concept of Adaptive Social Protection (ASP) has been developed. ASP refers to a series of measures which aims to build resilience of the poorest and most vulnerable people to climate change by combining elements of SP, DRR and CCA in programmes and projects. The aim of this paper is to provide an initial assessment of the ways in which these elements are being brought together in development policy and practice. It does this by conducting a meta-analysis of 124 agricultural programmes implemented in five countries in south Asia. These are Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Pakistan. The findings show that full integration of SP, DRR and CCA is relatively limited in south Asia, although there has been significant progress in combining SP and DRR in the last ten years. Projects that combine elements of SP, DRR and CCA tend to emphasise broad poverty and vulnerability reduction goals relative to those that do not. Such approaches can provide valuable lessons and insights for the promotion of climate resilient livelihoods amongst policymakers and practitioners.

Chronic social stress in rainbow trout: Does it promote physiological habituation?

The effect of chronic social stress on growth, energetic substrates and hormones was tested in rainbow trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss. After a 14-day isolation period, the fish were paired for 8 days. In order to expose fish to chronic intermittent social contact during pairing, they were maintained in direct contact with each other during the first day. After that, a black plastic screen partition was introduced in each tank, preventing direct contact between animals. Every day the partition was removed for 30 min, allowing physical interaction between fish. At the end of pairing period, they were isolated again for 13 days. Fish were weighed and blood was sampled frequently during the experiment. Plasma levels of cortisol, growth hormone, glucose, total protein and free amino acids were quantified. Both dominants and subordinates had specific growth rate decreased during the pairing period, but only subordinates increased when the stressor was abolished (dominants: 0.32 +/- 0.21 and 0.24 +/- 0.41, subordinates: -0.77 +/- 0.29 and 0.37 +/- 0.31, respectively). Dominants showed a higher cortisol level one week after pairing condition had been abolished than subordinates (dominants: 56.76 +/- 13.26, subordinates: 31.89 +/- 13.36). We conclude that chronic condition of intermittent social stress represents a stressful condition for animals of both hierarchical ranks and a treatment of one daily short direct contact between conspecifics does not promote habituation in fish, as mentioned for other stressors. (C) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Proteomic characterization of the multiple forms of the PLAs from the venom of the social wasp Polybia paulista

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Selective isolation of dematiaceous fungi from the workers of Atta laevigata (Formicidae: Attini)

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Caribbean social structures and the changing world of men

Includes bibliography

A interferência da luminosidade na agressividade e na hierarquia social de ciclídeos

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Isolation and characterisation of microsatellite loci in the wasp Mischocyttarus cassununga

Mischocyttarus cassununga, a primitively eusocial Brazilian wasp, commonly found in urban environments, is an interesting model for studies on the evolution of social behaviour in hymenopteran insects. In this study, we constructed a microsatellite-enriched genomic library and presented primers for 18 microsatellite loci. For the analysis, 20 unrelated females were screened and all loci obtained were polymorphic. PCR amplification revealed from 3 (Mcas5b) to 17 (Mcas53b) alleles per locus (). We detected the levels of observed (H (o)) and expected (H (e)) heterozygosities ranging from 0.150 to 0.950 and 0.261 to 0.920, respectively. The polymorphic information content ranged from 0.238 to 0.915, averaging 0.680. All loci were in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium and linkage disequilibrium was not detected after sequential Bonferroni correction (P > 0.05). These molecular markers will allow further studies on sociogenetic structure, extensive population genetic analysis and diversity of M. cassununga and other Mischocyttarini species.

Social Networks, Segregation and Poverty in Sao Paulo

The associations between segregation and urban poverty have been intensely scrutinized by the sociology and urban studies literatures. More recently, several studies have emphasized the importance of social networks for living conditions. Yet relatively few studies have tested the precise effects of social networks, and fewer still have focused on the joint effects of residential segregation and social networks on living conditions. This article explores the associations between networks, segregation and some of the most important dimensions of access to goods and services obtained in markets: escaping from social precariousness and obtaining monetary income. It is based on a study of the personal networks of 209 individuals living in situations of poverty in seven locales in the metropolitan area of Sao Paulo. Using network analysis and multivariate techniques, I show that relational settings strongly influence the access individuals have to markets, leading some individuals into worse living conditions and poverty. At the same time, although segregation plays an important role in poverty, its effects tend to be mediated by the networks in which individuals are embedded. Networks in this sense may enhance or mitigate the effects of isolation produced by space.

The Making of a Shiite Bourgeoisie in Lebanon Political Mobilisation, Economic Resources and Formation of a Social Group

The thesis analyses the making of the Shiite middle- and upper/entrepreneurial-class in Lebanon from the 1960s till the present day. The trajectory explores the historical, political and social (internal and external) factors that brought a sub-proletariat to mobilise and become an entrepreneurial bourgeoisie in the span of less than three generations. This work proposes the main theoretical hypothesis to unpack and reveal the trajectory of a very recent social class that through education, diaspora, political and social mobilisation evolved in a few years into a very peculiar bourgeoisie: whereas Christian-Maronite middle class practically produced political formations and benefited from them and from Maronite’s state supremacy (National Pact, 1943) reinforcing the community’s status quo, Shiites built their own bourgeoisie from within, and mobilised their “cadres” (Boltanski) not just to benefit from their renovated presence at the state level, but to oppose to it. The general Social Movement Theory (SMT), as well as a vast amount of the literature on (middle) class formation are therefore largely contradicted, opening up new territories for discussion on how to build a bourgeoisie without the state’s support (Social Mobilisation Theory, Resource Mobilisation Theory) and if, eventually, the middle class always produces democratic movements (the emergence of a social group out of backwardness and isolation into near dominance of a political order). The middle/upper class described here is at once an economic class related to the control of multiple forms of capital, and produced by local, national, and transnational networks related to flows of services, money, and education, and a culturally constructed social location and identity structured by economic as well as other forms of capital in relation to other groups in Lebanon.

Social Cognition, Face Processing, and Oxytocin Receptor Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms in Typically Developing Children

Recent research has provided evidence of a link between behavioral measures of social cognition (SC) and neural and genetic correlates. Differences in face processing and variations in the oxytocin receptor (OXTR) gene have been associated with SC deficits and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) traits. Much work has examined the qualitative differences between those with ASD and typically developing (TD) individuals, but very little has been done to quantify the natural variation in ASD-like traits in the typical population. The present study examines this variation in TD children using a multidimensional perspective involving behavior assessment, neural electroencephalogram (EEG) testing, and OXTR genotyping. Children completed a series of neurocognitive assessments, provided saliva samples for sequencing, and completed a face processing task while connected to an EEG. No clear pattern emerged for EEG covariates or genotypes for individual OXTR single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). However, SNPs rs2254298 and rs53576 consistently interacted such that the AG/GG allele combination of these SNPs was associated with poorer performance on neurocognitive measures. These results suggest that neither SNP in isolation is risk-conferring, but rather that the combination of rs2254298(A/G) and rs53576(G/G) confers a deleterious effect on SC across several neurocognitive measures. Copyright 2014. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Estrategias para la reinserción social de jóvenes en conflicto con la ley

La justicia penal adolescente es un sistema de administración judicial que extiende los derechos y garantías del debido proceso a los adolescentes a quienes se acuse de haber participado en la comisión de una infracción a la ley penal. Se podría decir que las finalidades de la justicia penal juvenil, por orden de importancia son: Administrar justicia de forma democrática. Fomentando la responsabilización del adolescente que ha cometido una infracción penal; promoviendo su integración social y favoreciendo la participación de la comunidad en el proceso de reinserción social, mediante la oferta de servicios y programas para el cumplimiento de medidas socio-educativas. Cabe preguntarse ¿Las instituciones correccionales son coadyuvantes en la reinserción de los jóvenes en conflicto con la ley de tal modo que no vuelvan a confrontar con el orden jurídico vigente cuando egresen? La respuesta es muy compleja porque si bien desde la situación de las instituciones el aislamiento que sufre el joven no les da defensas para poder cambiar sus circunstancias de vida a la hora de reingresar a la sociedad y esto lleva a una alta probabilidad de volver a delinquir. Sin embargo las Ciencias Sociales plantean otras alternativa para logran la inserción de los jóvenes, una de ellas, se inclina a la estimulación de la resiliencia. Esta implica: sobreponerse a las dificultades y tener éxito a pesar de estar expuestos a situaciones de alto riesgo; mantener la competencia bajo presión, esto significa adaptarse con éxito y recuperarse de un trauma ajustándose de forma exitosa a los acontecimientos negativos de la vida.

The role of the social environment in non-suicidal self-injury among LGBTQ youth: A mixed methods study

Non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI), such as cutting and burning, is a widespread social problem among lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning (LGBTQ) youth. Extant research indicates that this population is more than twice as likely to engage in NSSI than heterosexual and cisgender (non-transgender) youth. Despite the scope of this social problem, it remains relatively unexamined in the literature. Research on other risk behaviors among LGBTQ youth indicates that experiencing homophobia and transphobia in key social contexts such as families, schools, and peer relationships contributes to health disparities among this group. Consequently, the aims of this study were to examine: (1) the relationship between LGBTQ youth's social environments and their NSSI behavior, and (2) whether/how specific aspects of the social environment contribute to an understanding of NSSI among LGBTQ youth. This study was conducted using an exploratory, sequential mixed methods design with two phases. The first phase of the study involved analysis of transcripts from interviews conducted with 44 LGBTQ youth recruited from a community-based organization. In this phase, five qualitative themes were identified: (1) Violence; (2) Misconceptions, Stigma, and Shame; (3) Negotiating LGBTQ Identity; (4) Invisibility and Isolation; and (5) Peer Relationships. Results from the qualitative phase were used to identify key variables and specify statistical models in the second, quantitative, phase of the study, using secondary data from a survey of 252 LGBTQ youth. The qualitative phase revealed how LGBTQ youth, themselves, described the role of the social environment in their NSSI behavior, while the quantitative phase was used to determine whether the qualitative findings could be used to predict engagement in NSSI among a larger sample of LGBTQ youth. The quantitative analyses found that certain social-environmental factors such as experiencing physical abuse at home, feeling unsafe at school, and greater openness about sexual orientation significantly predicted the likelihood of engaging in NSSI among LGBTQ youth. Furthermore, depression partially mediated the relationships between family physical abuse and NSSI and feeling unsafe at school and NSSI. The qualitative and quantitative results were compared in the interpretation phase to explore areas of convergence and incongruence. Overall, this study's findings indicate that social-environmental factors are salient to understanding NSSI among LGBTQ youth. The particular social contexts in which LGBTQ youth live significantly influence their engagement in this risk behavior. These findings can inform the development of culturally relevant NSSI interventions that address the social realities of LGBTQ youth's lives.