Career-choice readiness in adolescence: Developmental trajectories and individual differences

Developing career-choice readiness is an important task in adolescence, but current theory and research has provided a rather static view of the phenomenon. The present study investigated the development of career-choice readiness among a group of 325 Swiss students assessed four times every 5 months from seventh through eighth grade. A variable-centered approach applying latent curve modeling showed not only a linear increase of readiness over time but also significant inter-individual differences in the level and development of readiness. Higher levels were predicted by more self-esteem and generalized self-efficacy and fewer perceived barriers while increase in readiness was predicted by increase in occupational information. A person-centered approach applying latent class-growth analysis identified four distinct developmental trajectories: high-increasing (42%), high-decreasing (5%), moderate-increasing (42%), and constantly low (11%). Students with different trajectories showed significant differences in core self-evaluations, occupational knowledge, and barriers. The results suggest that environmental demands promote a developmental trend in readiness development that overrules individual differences for the majority of students. Individual differences affect the level of readiness to a greater extent than the process of its development. Career information seems pivotal for readiness increase.

Individual predictors of adolescents' vocational interest stabilities

The study investigated the predictive utility of interest profile differentiation, coherence, elevation, congruence, and vocational identity commitment and career maturity (career planning and exploration) on the 10-month interest stability of 292 Swiss eighth-grade students: profile, rank, and level stabilities were assessed. Controlling for socio-demographic and vocational interest type variables, measures of differentiated and coherent vocational interests were significant predictors of profile stability. Interest elevation predicted more rank and level stability. The career development variables explained only a non-significant additional amount of variance in the different stability measures.

Does the (structural) context matter? Analysing individual and structural factors of members’ commitment to sports clubs

Introduction: Over the last decades, Swiss sports clubs have lost their "monopoly" in the market for sports-related services and increasingly are in competition with other sports providers. For many sport clubs long-term membership cannot be seen as a matter of course. Current research on sports clubs in Switzerland – as well as for other European countries – confirms the increasing difficulties in achieving long-term member commitment. Looking at recent findings of the Swiss sport clubs report (Lamprecht, Fischer & Stamm, 2012), it can be noted, that a decrease in memberships does not equally affect all clubs. There are sports clubs – because of their specific situational and structural conditions – that have few problems with member fluctuation, while other clubs show considerable declines in membership. Therefore, a clear understanding of individual and structural factors that trigger and sustain member commitment would help sports clubs to tackle this problem more effectively. This situation poses the question: What are the individual and structural determinants that influence the tendency to continue or to quit the membership? Methods: Existing research has extensively investigated the drivers of members’ commitment at an individual level. As commitment of members usually occurs within an organizational context, the characteristics of the organisation should be also considered. However, this context has been largely neglected in current research. This presentation addresses both the individual characteristics of members and the corresponding structural conditions of sports clubs resulting in a multi-level framework for the investigation of the factors of members’ commitment in sports clubs. The multilevel analysis grant a adequate handling of hierarchically structured data (e.g., Hox, 2002). The influences of both the individual and context level on the stability of memberships are estimated in multi-level models based on a sample of n = 1,434 sport club members from 36 sports clubs. Results: Results of these multi-level analyses indicate that commitment of members is not just an outcome of individual characteristics, such as strong identification with the club, positively perceived communication and cooperation, satisfaction with sports clubs’ offers, or voluntary engagement. It is also influenced by club-specific structural conditions: stable memberships are more probable in rural sports clubs, and in clubs that explicitly support sociability, whereas sporting-success oriented goals in clubs have a destabilizing effect. Discussion/Conclusion: The proposed multi-level framework and the multi-level analysis can open new perspectives for research concerning commitment of members to sports clubs and other topics and problems of sport organisation research, especially in assisting to understand individual behavior within organizational contexts. References: Hox, J. J. (2002). Multilevel analysis: Techniques and applications. Mahwah: Lawrence Erlbaum. Lamprecht, M., Fischer, A., & Stamm, H.-P. (2012). Die Schweizer Sportvereine – Strukturen, Leistungen, Herausforderungen. Zurich: Seismo.

Does context matter? Analysing structural and individual factors of member commitment in sport clubs

This article addresses factors that infl uence member commitment in sport clubs. Based on the theory of social action and the economic behaviour theory, it focuses not only on individual characteristics of club members but also on the corresponding structural conditions of sport clubs. Accordingly, a multilevel framework is developed for explaining member commitment in sport clubs. Different multilevel models were estimated in order to analyse the infl uences of both the individual and corresponding context Level in a sample of n = 1,699 members of 42 Swiss and German sport clubs. The multilevel analysis permitted an adequate handling of hierarchically structured data. Results of These multilevel analyses indicated that the commitment of members is not just an outcome of individual characteristics such as strong identifi cation with their club, positively perceived (collective) solidarity, satisfaction with their sport club, or voluntary engagement. It is also determined by club-specific structural conditions: commitment proves to be more probable in rural sport clubs and clubs that explicitly support sociability. Furthermore, cross-level effects in relation to member commitment were also found between the context variable sociability and the individual variable identification.

Simulating Carbon Stocks and Fluxes of an African Tropical Montane Forest with an Individual-Based Forest Model

Tropical forests are carbon-dense and highly productive ecosystems. Consequently, they play an important role in the global carbon cycle. In the present study we used an individual-based forest model (FORMIND) to analyze the carbon balances of a tropical forest. The main processes of this model are tree growth, mortality, regeneration, and competition. Model parameters were calibrated using forest inventory data from a tropical forest at Mt. Kilimanjaro. The simulation results showed that the model successfully reproduces important characteristics of tropical forests (aboveground biomass, stem size distribution and leaf area index). The estimated aboveground biomass (385 t/ha) is comparable to biomass values in the Amazon and other tropical forests in Africa. The simulated forest reveals a gross primary production of 24 tcha-1yr-1. Modeling above- and belowground carbon stocks, we analyzed the carbon balance of the investigated tropical forest. The simulated carbon balance of this old-growth forest is zero on average. This study provides an example of how forest models can be used in combination with forest inventory data to investigate forest structure and local carbon balances.

Thematic thinking and individual performance in research and development

Individuals differ in their preference for processing information on the basis of taxonomic, feature-based similarity, or thematic, relation-based similarity. These differences, which have been investigated in a recently emerging research stream in cognitive psychology, affect innovative behavior and thus constitute an important antecedent of individual performance in research and development (R&D) that has been overlooked so far in the literature on innovation management. To fill this research gap, survey and test data from the employees of a multinational information technology services firm are used to examine the relationship between thematic thinking and R&D professionals' individual performance. A moderated mediation model is applied to investigate the proposed relationships of thematic thinking and individual-level performance indicators. Results show a positive relationship between thematic thinking and innovativeness, as well as individual job performance. While the results do not support the postulated moderation of the innovativeness–job performance relationship by employees' political skill, they show that the relationship between thematic thinking and job performance is fully mediated by R&D professionals' innovativeness. The present study is thus the first to reveal a positive relationship between thematic thinking and innovative performance.

The impact of testosterone, tibolone and black cohosh on purified mammary and placental 17β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 1

Abstract Context: Mammary and placental 17β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 1 (17βHSD1). Objective: To assess the impact of testosterone, tibolone, and black cohosh on purified mammary and placental 17βHSD1. Materials and methods: 17βHSD1 was purified from human mammary gland and placenta by column chromatography, its activity was monitored by a radioactive activity assay, and the degree of purification was determined by gel electrophoresis. Photometric cofactor transformation analysis was performed to assess 17βHSD1 activity without or in presence of testosterone, tibolone and black cohosh. Results: 17βHSD1 from both sources displayed a comparable basal activity. Testosterone and tibolone metabolites inhibited purified mammary and placental 17βHSD1 activity to a different extent, whereas black cohosh had no impact. Discussion: Studies on purified enzymes reveal the individual action of drugs on local regulatory mechanisms thus helping to develop more targeted therapeutic intervention. Conclusion: Testosterone, tibolone and black cohosh display a beneficial effect on local mammary estrogen metabolism by not affecting or decreasing local estradiol exposure.

Tracking individual membrane proteins and their biochemistry: The power of direct observation

The advent of single molecule fluorescence microscopy has allowed experimental molecular biophysics and biochemistry to transcend traditional ensemble measurements, where the behavior of individual proteins could not be precisely sampled. The recent explosion in popularity of new super-resolution and super-localization techniques coupled with technical advances in optical designs and fast highly sensitive cameras with single photon sensitivity and millisecond time resolution have made it possible to track key motions, reactions, and interactions of individual proteins with high temporal resolution and spatial resolution well beyond the diffraction limit. Within the purview of membrane proteins and ligand gated ion channels (LGICs), these outstanding advances in single molecule microscopy allow for the direct observation of discrete biochemical states and their fluctuation dynamics. Such observations are fundamentally important for understanding molecular-level mechanisms governing these systems. Examples reviewed here include the effects of allostery on the stoichiometry of ligand binding in the presence of fluorescent ligands; the observation of subdomain partitioning of membrane proteins due to microenvironment effects; and the use of single particle tracking experiments to elucidate characteristics of membrane protein diffusion and the direct measurement of thermodynamic properties, which govern the free energy landscape of protein dimerization. The review of such characteristic topics represents a snapshot of efforts to push the boundaries of fluorescence microscopy of membrane proteins to the absolute limit.

Growth in Virologically Suppressed HIV Positive Children on Antiretroviral Therapy: Individual and Population-Level References

BACKGROUND Combination antiretroviral therapy (ART) suppresses viral replication in HIV-infected children. The growth of virologically suppressed children on ART has not been well documented. We aimed to develop dynamic reference curves for weight-for-age z scores (WAZ) and height-for-age z scores (HAZ). RESULTS A total of 4,876 children were followed for 7,407 person-years. Analyses were stratified by baseline z-scores and age, which were the most important predictors of growth response. The youngest children showed the most pronounced increase in weight and height initially but catch-up growth stagnated after 1-2 years. Three years after starting ART, WAZ ranged from -2.2 (95% Prediction interval -5.6 to 0.8) in children with baseline age "5 years and z-score "-3 to 0.0 (-2.7 to 2.4) in children with baseline age "2 years and WAZ "-1. For HAZ the corresponding range was -2.3 (-4.9 to 0.3) in children with baseline age"5 years and z-score "-3 to 0.3 (-3.1 to 3.4) in children with baseline age 2-5 years and HAZ "-1. CONCLUSIONS We have developed an online tool to calculate reference trajectories in fully suppressed children. The web application could help to define 'optimal' growth response and identify children with treatment failure.

A 1.8-kb insertion in the 3'-UTR of RXFP2 is associated with polledness in sheep

Sheep breeds show a broad spectrum of different horn phenotypes. In most modern production breeds, sheep are polled (absence of horns), whereas horns occur mainly in indigenous breeds. Previous studies mapped the responsible locus to the region of the RXFP2 gene on ovine chromosome 10. A 4-kb region of the 3'-end of RXFP2 was amplified in horned and polled animals from seven Swiss sheep breeds. Sequence analysis identified a 1833-bp genomic insertion located in the 3'-UTR region of RXFP2 present in polled animals only. An efficient PCR-based genotyping method to determine the polled genotype of individual sheep is presented. Comparative sequence analyses revealed evidence that the polled-associated insertion adds a potential antisense RNA sequence of EEF1A1 to the 3'-end of RXFP2 transcripts.

Neuroanatomy of intergroup bias: A white matter microstructure study of individual differences

Intergroup bias - the tendency to behave more positively towards an ingroup member than an outgroup member - is a powerful social force, for good and ill. And though it is widely demonstrated, intergroup bias is not universal, as it is characterized by significant individual differences. Recently, attention has begun to turn to whether neuroanatomy might explain these individual differences in intergroup bias. However, no research to date has examined whether white matter microstructure could help determine differences in behavior towards ingroup and outgroup members. In the current research, we examine intergroup bias with the third-party punishment paradigm and white matter integrity and connectivity strength as determined by diffusion tensor imaging (DTI). We found that both increased white matter integrity at the right temporal-parietal junction (TPJ) and connectivity strength between the right TPJ and the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (DMPFC) were associated with increased impartiality in the third-party punishment paradigm, i.e., reduced intergroup bias. Further, consistent with the role that these brain regions play in the mentalizing network, we found that these effects were mediated by mentalizing processes. Participants with greater white matter integrity at the right TPJ and connectivity strength between the right TPJ and the DMPFC employed mentalizing processes more equally for ingroup and outgroup members, and this non-biased use of mentalizing was associated with increased impartiality. The current results help shed light on the mechanisms of bias and, potentially, on interventions that promote impartiality over intergroup bias.

Clinical relevance of DPYD variants c.1679T>G, c.1236G>A/HapB3, and c.1601G>A as predictors of severe fluoropyrimidine-associated toxicity: a systematic review and meta-analysis of individual patient data

BACKGROUND The best-known cause of intolerance to fluoropyrimidines is dihydropyrimidine dehydrogenase (DPD) deficiency, which can result from deleterious polymorphisms in the gene encoding DPD (DPYD), including DPYD*2A and c.2846A>T. Three other variants-DPYD c.1679T>G, c.1236G>A/HapB3, and c.1601G>A-have been associated with DPD deficiency, but no definitive evidence for the clinical validity of these variants is available. The primary objective of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to assess the clinical validity of c.1679T>G, c.1236G>A/HapB3, and c.1601G>A as predictors of severe fluoropyrimidine-associated toxicity. METHODS We did a systematic review of the literature published before Dec 17, 2014, to identify cohort studies investigating associations between DPYD c.1679T>G, c.1236G>A/HapB3, and c.1601G>A and severe (grade ≥3) fluoropyrimidine-associated toxicity in patients treated with fluoropyrimidines (fluorouracil, capecitabine, or tegafur-uracil as single agents, in combination with other anticancer drugs, or with radiotherapy). Individual patient data were retrieved and analysed in a multivariable analysis to obtain an adjusted relative risk (RR). Effect estimates were pooled by use of a random-effects meta-analysis. The threshold for significance was set at a p value of less than 0·0167 (Bonferroni correction). FINDINGS 7365 patients from eight studies were included in the meta-analysis. DPYD c.1679T>G was significantly associated with fluoropyrimidine-associated toxicity (adjusted RR 4·40, 95% CI 2·08-9·30, p<0·0001), as was c.1236G>A/HapB3 (1·59, 1·29-1·97, p<0·0001). The association between c.1601G>A and fluoropyrimidine-associated toxicity was not significant (adjusted RR 1·52, 95% CI 0·86-2·70, p=0·15). Analysis of individual types of toxicity showed consistent associations of c.1679T>G and c.1236G>A/HapB3 with gastrointestinal toxicity (adjusted RR 5·72, 95% CI 1·40-23·33, p=0·015; and 2·04, 1·49-2·78, p<0·0001, respectively) and haematological toxicity (adjusted RR 9·76, 95% CI 3·03-31·48, p=0·00014; and 2·07, 1·17-3·68, p=0·013, respectively), but not with hand-foot syndrome. DPYD*2A and c.2846A>T were also significantly associated with severe fluoropyrimidine-associated toxicity (adjusted RR 2·85, 95% CI 1·75-4·62, p<0·0001; and 3·02, 2·22-4·10, p<0·0001, respectively). INTERPRETATION DPYD variants c.1679T>G and c.1236G>A/HapB3 are clinically relevant predictors of fluoropyrimidine-associated toxicity. Upfront screening for these variants, in addition to the established variants DPYD*2A and c.2846A>T, is recommended to improve the safety of patients with cancer treated with fluoropyrimidines. FUNDING None.

SMARTnet: First Experience of Setting Up a Telescope System to Survey the Geostationary Ring

Space debris in geostationary orbits may be detected with optical telescopes when the objects are illuminated by the Sun. The advantage compared to Radar can be found in the illumination: radar illuminates the objects and thus the detection sensitivity depletest proportional to the fourth power of the d istance. The German Space Operation Center, GSOC, together with the Astronomical Institute of the University of Bern, AIUB, are setting up a telescope system called SMARTnet to demonstrate the capability of performing geostationary surveillance. Such a telescope system will consist of two telescopes on one mount: a smaller telescope with an aperture of 20cm will serve for fast survey while the larger one, a telescope with an aperture of 50cm, will be used for follow-up observations. The telescopes will be operated by GSOC from Oberpfaffenhofen by the internal monitoring and control system called SMARTnetMAC. The observation plan will be generated by MARTnetPlanning seven days in advance by applying an optimized planning scheduler, taking into account fault time like cloudy nights, priority of objects etc. From each picture taken, stars will be identified and everything not being a star is treated as a possible object. If the same object can be identified on multiple pictures within a short time span, the trace is called a tracklet. In the next step, several tracklets will be correlated to identify individual objects, ephemeris data for these objects are generated and catalogued . This will allow for services like collision avoidance to ensure safe operations for GSOC’s satellites. The complete data processing chain is handled by BACARDI, the backbone catalogue of relational debris information and is presented as a poster.