Representation of Sound Objects within Early-Stage Auditory Areas: A Repetition Effect Study Using 7T fMRI.

Environmental sounds are highly complex stimuli whose recognition depends on the interaction of top-down and bottom-up processes in the brain. Their semantic representations were shown to yield repetition suppression effects, i. e. a decrease in activity during exposure to a sound that is perceived as belonging to the same source as a preceding sound. Making use of the high spatial resolution of 7T fMRI we have investigated the representations of sound objects within early-stage auditory areas on the supratemporal plane. The primary auditory cortex was identified by means of tonotopic mapping and the non-primary areas by comparison with previous histological studies. Repeated presentations of different exemplars of the same sound source, as compared to the presentation of different sound sources, yielded significant repetition suppression effects within a subset of early-stage areas. This effect was found within the right hemisphere in primary areas A1 and R as well as two non-primary areas on the antero-medial part of the planum temporale, and within the left hemisphere in A1 and a non-primary area on the medial part of Heschl's gyrus. Thus, several, but not all early-stage auditory areas encode the meaning of environmental sounds.

Neural detection of complex sound sequences in the absence of consciousness.

The neural response to a violation of sequences of identical sounds is a typical example of the brain's sensitivity to auditory regularities. Previous literature interprets this effect as a pre-attentive and unconscious processing of sensory stimuli. By contrast, a violation to auditory global regularities, i.e. based on repeating groups of sounds, is typically detectable when subjects can consciously perceive them. Here, we challenge the notion that global detection implies consciousness by testing the neural response to global violations in a group of 24 patients with post-anoxic coma (three females, age range 45-87 years), treated with mild therapeutic hypothermia and sedation. By applying a decoding analysis to electroencephalographic responses to standard versus deviant sound sequences, we found above-chance decoding performance in 10 of 24 patients (Wilcoxon signed-rank test, P < 0.001), despite five of them being mildly hypothermic, sedated and unarousable. Furthermore, consistently with previous findings based on the mismatch negativity the progression of this decoding performance was informative of patients' chances of awakening (78% predictive of awakening). Our results show for the first time that detection of global regularities at neural level exists despite a deeply unconscious state.

Citizenship education in Switzerland before, during and after the First World War

Citizenship education was intensively discussed during the 1910s. Patriotic ideals and the love of the fatherland were described with diligence in teachers' journals. After the outbreak of the World War I, Swiss teachers reacted immediately to the new circumstances and published lessons in their weekly teacher journals for every day of school for different grade levels. These lessons comprised current events and civic education as well as didactical instructions for the teacher. In pupils' essays, citizens are often depicted as religious members of society who are industrious and hardworking, whereas in the journals, religious aspects are related to peace but not to citizenship education. As a multilingual and neutral country, Switzerland struggled with major domestic problems due to the cultural conflict between the French- and the German-speaking regions, especially during wartime. However, teachers promoted unity from the beginning. Therefore, changes and continuities during this decade concerning citizenship education are of crucial research interest. The practical sections of teachers' journals, including lessons and didactical instructions, and pupils' essays provide insight into what happened in the classrooms. Which forms of national identity and citizenship were taught in classrooms before, during and shortly after WW1 in public schools in Switzerland? How did pupils describe the current issues of war and citizenship?

Implementing evidence-based patient and family education on oral anticoagulation therapy: a community-based participatory project.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: This study aimed at developing and implementing evidence-based patient and family education on oral anticoagulation therapy. BACKGROUND: The number of persons with chronic diseases who live at home is increasing. They have to manage multiple diseases and complex treatments. One such treatment is oral anticoagulation therapy, a high risk variable dose medication. Adherence to oral anticoagulation therapy is jeopardised by limited information about the medications, their risk and complications, the impact of individual daily routine and the limited inclusion of family members in education. Hence, improved and tailored education is essential for patients and families to manage oral anticoagulation therapy at home. DESIGN AND METHODS: A community-based participatory research design combined with the Precede-Proceed model was used including a systematic literature review, posteducation analysis, an online nurse survey, a documentation analysis and patient/family interviews. The study was conducted between April 2010-December 2012 at a department of general internal medicine in a teaching hospital in Switzerland. Participants were the department's nursing and medical professionals including the patients and their families. RESULTS: The evidence-based patient and family education on oral anticoagulation therapy emerged comprising a learning assessment, teaching units, clarification of responsibilities of nurse professionals and documentation guidelines. CONCLUSION AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: The inclusion of the whole department has contributed to the development and implementation of this evidence-based patient family education on oral anticoagulation therapy, which encompasses local characteristics and patient preferences. This education is now being used throughout the department.

Education and Training in Forensic Intelligence: a New Challenge

From recent calls for positioning forensic scientists within the criminal justice system, but also policing and intelligence missions, this paper emphasizes the need for the development of educational and training programs in the area of forensic intelligence, It is argued that an imbalance exists between perceived and actual understanding of forensic intelligence by police and forensic science managers, and that this imbalance can only be overcome through education. The challenge for forensic intelligence education and training is therefore to devise programs that increase forensic intelligence awareness, firstly for managers to help prevent poor decisions on how to develop information processing. Two recent European courses are presented as examples of education offerings, along with lessons learned and suggested paths forward. It is concluded that the new focus on forensic intelligence could restore a pro-active approach to forensic science, better quantify its efficiency and let it get more involved in investigative and managerial decisions. A new educational challenge is opened to forensic science university programs around the world: to refocus criminal trace analysis on a more holistic security problem solving approach.

Financing public education when altruistic agents have retirement concerns

[cat]El capital humà i, per tant, l’educació tenen un impacte en el benestar futur de la societat. En aquest treball s’estudia la connexió entre el suport dels votants per una educació pública i les preocupacions sobre la seva jubilació. Mostrem com els votants anticipen els efectes positius que té l’educació sobre les pensions futures. Així, el recolzament a un sistema educatiu públic s’incrementa si el sistema de pensions és més redistributiu, cosa que també es dóna entre els ciutadans que prefereixen una educació privada. També mostrem que el tipus d’equilibri “ends against the middle” pot ocórrer fins i tot quan la taxa impositiva preferida pels votants és decreixent amb la renda.

Financing public education when altruistic agents have retirement concerns

[cat]El capital humà i, per tant, l’educació tenen un impacte en el benestar futur de la societat. En aquest treball s’estudia la connexió entre el suport dels votants per una educació pública i les preocupacions sobre la seva jubilació. Mostrem com els votants anticipen els efectes positius que té l’educació sobre les pensions futures. Així, el recolzament a un sistema educatiu públic s’incrementa si el sistema de pensions és més redistributiu, cosa que també es dóna entre els ciutadans que prefereixen una educació privada. També mostrem que el tipus d’equilibri “ends against the middle” pot ocórrer fins i tot quan la taxa impositiva preferida pels votants és decreixent amb la renda.

Qualitative social differentiation in tertiary education in Spain

[cat] En aquest treball, s'estudia si la hipòtesi de la desigualtat efectivament mantinguda “effectively maintained inequality” es cumpleix a Espanya. Es postula que en les transicions terciàries a Espanya, les influències dels pares no es manifesten tant a través de la probabilitat de fer la transició, sinó més aviat a través de les diferències qualitatives associades a aquesta transició en termes de les qualitats dels programes educatius. Analitzem dues característiques qualitatives dels estudis universitaris: la durada del programa i el seu prestigi acadèmic. Identifiquem per a quins individus la influència parental és més important en cada cas.

Qualitative social differentiation in tertiary education in Spain

[cat] En aquest treball, s'estudia si la hipòtesi de la desigualtat efectivament mantinguda “effectively maintained inequality” es cumpleix a Espanya. Es postula que en les transicions terciàries a Espanya, les influències dels pares no es manifesten tant a través de la probabilitat de fer la transició, sinó més aviat a través de les diferències qualitatives associades a aquesta transició en termes de les qualitats dels programes educatius. Analitzem dues característiques qualitatives dels estudis universitaris: la durada del programa i el seu prestigi acadèmic. Identifiquem per a quins individus la influència parental és més important en cada cas.

Transatlantic Influence in the Shaping of Business Education: The Origins of IMD, 1946-1990

The history of the International Institute for Management Development (IMD), one of the most prestigious business schools in the world, highlights the role of multinationals in establishing business education in Europe and the problem of legitimacy. The creation of IMD's predecessors CEI and IMEDE by Alcan and Nestlé also illuminates the role of Harvard Business School in their development and the reciprocal influences of American and European management education after World War II.

Entrepreneurial skills and over-education five years later. A comparison between Spain and the Netherlands

[cat] El fenòmen de la sobre-educació és freqüent i persistent a molts països. En aquest article estudiem el paper de les habilitats emprenedores en evitar la sobre-educació a la primera feina, i en sortir d’una situació de sobre-educació cinc anys després. Comparem els resultats d’Espanya i Holanda, dos països que difereixen en el seu sistema educatiu i mercat de treball. Els resultats mostren que les habilitats emprenedores ajuden a evitar i/o sortir de la sobre-educació només a Espanya, on el sistema educatiu és més flexible i menys vinculat amb el mercat de treball. En general, els nostres resultats recolzen les polítiques que promocionen el desenvolupament d’habilitats emprenedores al sistema educatiu espanyol.

Entrepreneurial skills and over-education five years later. A comparison between Spain and the Netherlands

[cat] El fenòmen de la sobre-educació és freqüent i persistent a molts països. En aquest article estudiem el paper de les habilitats emprenedores en evitar la sobre-educació a la primera feina, i en sortir d’una situació de sobre-educació cinc anys després. Comparem els resultats d’Espanya i Holanda, dos països que difereixen en el seu sistema educatiu i mercat de treball. Els resultats mostren que les habilitats emprenedores ajuden a evitar i/o sortir de la sobre-educació només a Espanya, on el sistema educatiu és més flexible i menys vinculat amb el mercat de treball. En general, els nostres resultats recolzen les polítiques que promocionen el desenvolupament d’habilitats emprenedores al sistema educatiu espanyol.