Instrumental activities of daily living performance in healthy and cognitively intact seniors from a Brazilian sample and its relation to age and other socio-demographic variables

Background: Studies on functional capacity in community-dwelling older people have shown associations between declines in instrumental activities of daily living (IADL) and several factors. Among these, age has been the most consistently related to functional capacity independent of other variables. We aimed at evaluating the performance of a sample of healthy and cognitively intact Brazilian older people on activities of daily living and to analyze its relation to social-demographic variables. Methods: We conducted a secondary analysis of data collected for previous epidemiological studies with community-dwelling subjects aged 60 years or more. We selected subjects who did not have dementia or depression, and with no history of neurological diseases, heart attack, HIV, hepatitis or arthritis (n = 1,111). Functional capacity was assessed using the Brazilian version of the Older American Resources and Services Questionnaire (BOMFAQ). ADL performance was analyzed according to age, gender, education, and marital status (Pearson's chi(2), logistic regression). Results: IADL difficulties were present in our sample, especially in subjects aged 80 years or more, with lower levels of education, or widowed. The logistic regression analysis results indicated that "higher age" and "lower education" (p <= 0.001) remained significantly associated with IADL difficulty. Conclusions: Functional decline was present in older subjects even in the absence of medical conditions and cognitive impairment. Clinicians and researchers could benefit from knowing what to expect from older people regarding IADL performance in the absence of medical conditions.

Evaluation of the prevalence and nutritional and social determinants of overweight in a population of schoolchildren: a cross-sectional analysis of 5,037 children

Objective: To evaluate the prevalence and nutritional and social determinants of overweight in a population of schoolchildren in Southern Brazil. Methods: Cross-sectional descriptive study of 5,037 children of both genders, between 6 and 10.9 years of age, from public and private schools of Maringa, Parana, Brazil. Evaluation of factors associated with excess weight (overweight and obesity) included gender, age, school type, socioeconomic level, education of the head of the family, eating habits, and means of commuting to school. After univariate analysis (Fisher's exact test), we adjusted a logistic regression model and used Wald's test for decision-making (p < 0.05). Results: The mean age was 8.7 +/- 1.3 years, with 52.8% females; 79.1% of the students attended public school and 54.6% had families of socioeconomic class A or B. Regarding nutritional status, 24% of children were overweight (7% obesity, 17% overweight). Being male, attending a private school, and having a head of the family with over four years of education were significantly associated with excess weight. In relation to food, inadequate intake of,carbohydrates was associated with a 48% greater chance of overweight/obesity (p < 0.001; OR: 1.48; 95% CI: 1.25-1.76), Conclusion: The prevalence of overweight found in this study is approximate to that reported in national studies. Its association with gender and inadequate food intake indicates that these factors should be considered in initiatives aimed at preventive measures in childhood.

Dominance hierarchies and social status ascent opportunity: Anticipatory behavioral and physiological adjustments in a Neotropical cichlid fish

In this work we characterized the social hierarchy of non-reproductive individuals of Cichlasoma dimerus (Heckel, 1840). independently for both sexes, and its relationship to the opportunity for social status ascent. Female and male individuals who were located on the top rank of the social hierarchy, ascended in social status when the opportunity arose, therefore indicating that dominance is directly correlated with social ascent likelihood. Dominance was positively correlated with size in males but not in females, suggesting for the latter a relationship with intrinsic features such as aggressiveness or personality rather than to body and/or ovarian size. Physiological and morphometrical variables related to reproduction, stress and body color were measured in non-reproductive fish and correlated with dominance and social ascent likelihood. Dominance was negatively correlated with plasma cortisol levels for both sexes. No correlation with dominance was found for androgen plasma levels (testosterone and 11-ketotestosterone). No correlation was detected between dominance and the selected morphological and physiological variables measured in females, suggesting no reproductive inhibition in this sex at a physiological level and that all females seem to be ready for reproduction. In contrast, social hierarchy of non-reproductive males was found to be positively correlated with follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) pituitary content levels and gonadosomatic indexes. This suggests an adaptive mechanism of non reproductive males, adjusting their reproductive investment in relation to their likelihood for social status ascent, as perceived by their position in the social hierarchy. This likelihood is translated into a physiological signal through plasma cortisol levels that inhibit gonad investment through pituitary inhibition of FSH, representing an anticipatory response to the opportunity for social status ascent. (C) 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The school environment as a teacher. The role of space and place in enhancing ecological literacy and social competence development in children and young people

Can space and place foster child development, and in particular social competence and ecological literacy? If yes, how can space and place do that? This study shows that the answer to the first question is positive and then tries to explain the way space and place can make a difference. The thesis begins with the review of literature from different disciplines – child development and child psychology, education, environmental psychology, architecture and landscape architecture. Some bridges among such disciplines are created and in some cases the ideas from the different areas of research merge: thus, this is an interdisciplinary study. The interdisciplinary knowledge from these disciplines is translated into a range of design suggestions that can foster the development of social competence and ecological literacy. Using scientific knowledge from different disciplines is a way of introducing forms of evidence into the development of design criteria. However, the definition of design criteria also has to pass through the study of a series of school buildings and un-built projects: case studies can give a positive contribution to the criteria because examples and good practices can help “translating” the theoretical knowledge into design ideas and illustrations. To do that, the different case studies have to be assessed in relation to the various themes that emerged in the literature review. Finally, research by design can be used to help define the illustrated design criteria: based on all the background knowledge that has been built, the role of the architect is to provide a series of different design solutions that can give answers to the different “questions” emerged in the literature review.

Trust and Social Networks in a Changing Europe.

This project set out to investigate the effects of the recent massive social transitions in Eastern Europe on the everyday social lives of the inhabitants of three very different nations: Georgia, Russia and Hungary. It focused in particular on the availability and nature of the support networks available to three different segments of each of the societies (manual workers, students and entrepreneurs) and the impact of network participation on psychological and physical well-being. The group set four specific questions to investigate: the part played by individual psychological beliefs in the formation and maintenance of social networks and the consequent formation of trusting relations; the implication of the size and quality of these networks for mental health; the nature of the social groups inhabited by the respondents and the implication of their work schedule and daily routines on the maintenance of a social and family life; and an analysis of how cultures vary in their social networks and intimacy. Three different methods were used to examine social support and its implications: structured questionnaires, semi-structured short interviews and a media analysis of newspaper materials. The questionnaires were administered to 150 participants in each country, equally divided between students studying full time, manual workers employed in factories, and business people (small kiosk owners, whose work and life style differs considerably from that of the manual workers). The questionnaires investigated various predictors of social support including the locus of control, relationship beliefs, individualism-collectivism and egalitarianism, demographic variables (age, gender and occupation), social support, both in general and in relation to significant events that have occurred since the transition from communism. Those with an internal locus of control were more likely to report a higher level of social support, as were collectivists, while age too was a significant predictor, with younger respondents enjoying higher levels of support, regardless of the measures of support employed. Respondents across the cultures referred to a decline of social support and the group also found a direct correlation between social support and mental health outcomes. All 450 respondents were interviewed on their general responses to changes in their lives since the fall of communism and the effects of their work lives on their social lives and the home environment. The interviews revealed considerable variations in the way in which work-life offered opportunities for a broader social life and also provided a hindrance to the development of fulfilling relationships. Many of the work experiences discussed were culture specific, with work having a particularly negative impact on the social life of Russian entrepreneurs but being seen much more positively in Georgia. This may reflect the nature of support offered in a society as overall support levels were lowest in Russia, meaning that social support may be of particular importance there. The way in cultural values and norms about personal relationships are transmitted in a culture is a critical issue for social psychologists and the group examined newspaper articles in those newspapers read by the respondents in each of the three countries. These revealed a number of different themes. The concept of a divided society and its implications for personal relationships was clearest in Russian and Hungary, where widely-read newspapers dwelt on the contrast between "new Russians/Hungarians" and the older, poorer ones and extended considerable sympathy to those suffering from neglect in institutions. Magyar Nemzet, a paper widely read by Hungarian students reflects the generally more pessimistic tone about personal relationships in Russia and Hungary and gave a particularly detailed analysis of the implications this holds for human relations in a modern society. In Georgia, however, the tone of the newspapers is more positive, stressing greater social cohesion. Part of this cohesion is framed in the context of religion, with the church appealing to a broader egalitarianism, whereas in less egalitarian Hungary appeals by the Church are centred more on the nuclear family and its need for expansion in both size and influence. The division between the sexes was another prominent issue in Hungary and Russia, while the theme of generational conflict also emerged in Hungarian and Georgian papers, although with some understanding of "young people today". The team's original expectation that the different newspapers read by the different groups of respondents would present differing images of personal relationships was not fulfilled, as despite variations in style, they found little clear "ideological targeting" of any particular readership. They conclude that the vast majority of respondents recognised that the social transition from communism has had a significant impact on the well-being of social relationships and that this is a pertinent issue for all segments of society. While the group see the data collected as a source to be worked on for some time in the future, their initial impressions include the following. Social support is clearly an important concern across all three countries. All respondents (including the students) lament the time taken up by their heavy work schedules and value their social networks and family ties in particular. The level of social support differs across the countries investigated, with Georgian apparently enjoying significantly higher levels of social support. The analysis produced an image of a relatively cohesive and egalitarian society in which even the group most often seen as distant from the general population, business people, is supported by a strong social network. In contrast, the support networks available to the Russian respondents seem particularly weak and reflect a general sense of division and alienation within the culture as a whole. The implications of low levels of social support may vary across countries. While Russians reported the lowest level of mental health problems, the link between social support and mental health may be strongest in that country. In contrast, in Hungary it is the link between fatalism and mental health problems which is particularly strong, while in Georgia the strongest correlation was between mental health and marital quality, emphasising the significance of the marital relationship in that country.

The additive and interactive roles of aggression, prosocial behavior, and social preference in predicting resource control in young children

Distinguishing between physical and social aggression, this study examined whether the predictive effect of aggression on resource control a) is moderated by prosocial behavior and b) corresponds to a linear or a curvilinear trend. Moderating effects of children’s social preference among peers and child sex in this context were also tested. Based on a sample of 682 kindergarten children (348 girls; average age 72.7 months, 3.6 SD), multilevel regressions revealed additive linear effects of social preference and prosociality on resource control. Moderate (but not high) levels of social aggression also facilitated resource control for disliked children. There was no such threshold effect for well liked children, who increasingly controlled the resource the more socially aggressive they were. In contrast, physical aggression hampered resource control unless used very modestly. The present study has a number of positive features. First, the distinction between physical and social aggression improves our understanding of the relation between aggression and social competence and sketches a more differentiated picture of the role of different forms of aggression in resource control. Second, this study combines the concept of resource control with the concept of social preference and investigates curvilinear effects of aggression. Third, the direct observation of resource control in the Movie Viewer increases the internal validity of this study.

Assessing Calling in Chinese College Students: Development of a Measure and Its Relation to Hope

Research suggests that perceiving a calling towards a particular career is relatively frequent among college students in Western cultures. However, little is known about how this applies to other cultural contexts. This study assessed the perception of career as a calling in the Chinese culture. Study 1 reports the development of the Chinese Calling Scale (CCS), based on a sample of 788 Chinese college students, and identifies three dimensions of a calling: Altruism, Guiding Force, and Meaning and Purpose. Measurement invariance across gender is supported by the CCS. In Study 2, the convergent and criterion validity of the CSS is examined based on a sample of 387 college students. The CCS is strongly related to an existing calling measure and moderately related to life meaning and life satisfaction. Study 3 examines the relation between calling, hope, life meaning, life satisfaction, and career decidedness among 518 college students. The findings reveal that hope significantly mediated the relation of calling with career decidedness, life meaning, and life satisfaction. In summary, this study provides a new scale to assess calling in Chinese culture and is the first to explore how calling relates to dispositional hope.

Psychosocial construction of time and social change

This paper analyzes the psychosocial construction of the conceptions of time and social change, and their relation with the notion of progress set up by modernity as well as their contradictory aspects, considering their historicity as psychosocial and social phenomena. The social construction of the notion of time is discussed; it responds to social organization forms, thus turning the social changes into historical and temporal landmarks. The association between social changes and social movements is argued and the concept of progress is deconstructed. Finally, the importance of the idea of movement in the construction of time, change and progress concepts is pointed out; it is also explained how modernity imbued such notions with direction and goals, in the direction of an arrow, according to the prevailing interests, while modeling them in its own image and likeness.

Psychosocial construction of time and social change

This paper analyzes the psychosocial construction of the conceptions of time and social change, and their relation with the notion of progress set up by modernity as well as their contradictory aspects, considering their historicity as psychosocial and social phenomena. The social construction of the notion of time is discussed; it responds to social organization forms, thus turning the social changes into historical and temporal landmarks. The association between social changes and social movements is argued and the concept of progress is deconstructed. Finally, the importance of the idea of movement in the construction of time, change and progress concepts is pointed out; it is also explained how modernity imbued such notions with direction and goals, in the direction of an arrow, according to the prevailing interests, while modeling them in its own image and likeness.

Psychosocial construction of time and social change

This paper analyzes the psychosocial construction of the conceptions of time and social change, and their relation with the notion of progress set up by modernity as well as their contradictory aspects, considering their historicity as psychosocial and social phenomena. The social construction of the notion of time is discussed; it responds to social organization forms, thus turning the social changes into historical and temporal landmarks. The association between social changes and social movements is argued and the concept of progress is deconstructed. Finally, the importance of the idea of movement in the construction of time, change and progress concepts is pointed out; it is also explained how modernity imbued such notions with direction and goals, in the direction of an arrow, according to the prevailing interests, while modeling them in its own image and likeness.

Cittadinanza, lavoro e diritti sociali nella crisi europea = Citizenship, work and social rights in the European crisis. WP C.S.D.L.E. “Massimo D’Antona”.INT – 100/2013

This paper explores the limits and potentials of European citizenship as a transnational form of social integration, taking as comparison Marshall's classical analysis of the historical development of social rights in the context of the national Welfare State. It is submitted that this potential is currently frustrated by the prevailing negative-integration dimension in which the interplay between Union citizenship and national systems of Welfare State takes place. This negative dimension pervades the entire case law of the Court of Justice on Union citizenship, even becoming dominant – after the famous Viking and Laval judgements – in the ways in which the judges in Luxembourg have built, and limited, what in Marshall’s terms might be called the European collective dimension of “industrial citizenship”. The new architecture of the economic and monetary governance of the Union, based as it is on an unprecedented effort towards a creeping constitutionalisation of a neo-liberal politics of austerity and welfare retrenchment, is destined to strengthen the de-structuring pressures on the industrial-relation and social protection systems of the member States. The conclusions sum-up the main critical arguments and make some suggestions for an alternative path for re-politicising the social question in Europe.

Payroll tax liability and its relation to family unit income: 1971, 1973, & 1974 /

Bibliography: p. 36.

The variable colours of the fiddler crab Uca vomeris and their relation to background and predation

Colour changes in fiddler crabs have long been noted, but a functional interpretation is still lacking. Here we report that neighbouring populations of Uca vomeris in Australia exhibit different degrees of carapace colours, which range from dull mottled to brilliant blue and white. We determined the spectral characteristics of the mud substratum and of the carapace colours of U. vomeris and found that the mottled colours of crabs are cryptic against this background, while display colours provide strong colour contrast for both birds and crabs, but luminance contrast only for a crab visual system. We tested whether crab populations may become cryptic under the influence of bird predation by counting birds overflying or feeding on differently coloured colonies. Colonies with cryptically coloured crabs indeed experience a much higher level of bird presence, compared to colourful colonies. We show in addition that colourful crab individuals subjected to dummy bird predation do change their body colouration over a matter of days. The crabs thus appear to modify their social signalling system depending on their assessment of predation risk.

A Neglected Aspect of Business: Human and Social Capital in the Sri Lankan Tea Plantations

This paper examines idiosyncrasies of tea plantation culture and politics in relation to Sri Lankan national and popular cultural typologies, with special reference to female tea plantation workers. Tea production in Sri Lanka is heavily based on manual labour, and it is the largest industry that provides accommodation for employees and their families. In this paper, it is argued that politico-cultural production relations have dominated labour productivity in tea plantations. Ways in which female workers have been marginalized, through patriarchal politics, ethnicity, religion, education, elitism, and employment are explained. This culture of the plantation community operates negatively with respect to the management agenda. It is also argued that social capital development in tea plantations is important not only for productivity improvement, but also for reasons of political and social obligation for the nation, because migrant plantation workers have been working and living in plantations over 150 years.

Industrial policy, FDI and employment:still a 'missing a strategy'

This paper contrasts the effects of trade, inward FDI and technological development upon the demand for skilled and unskilled workers in the UK. By focussing on industry level data panel data on smaller firms, the paper also contrasts these effects with those generated by large scale domestic investment. The analysis is placed within the broader context of shifts in British industrial policy, which has seen significant shifts from sectoral to horizontal measures and towards stressing the importance of SMEs, clusters and new technology, all delivered at the regional scale. This, however, is contrasted with continued elements of British and EU regional policy which have emphasised the attraction of inward investment in order to alleviate regional unemployment. The results suggest that such policies are not naturally compatible; that while both trade and FDI benefit skilled workers, they have adverse effects on the demand for unskilled labour in the UK. At the very least this suggests the need for a range of policies to tackle various targets (including in this case unemployment and social inclusion) and the need to integrate these into a coherent industrial strategy at various levels of governance, whether regional and/or national. This has important implications for the form of any 'new' industrial policy.