Promoting learning through social cues in learning materials: Design approaches, theoretical explanations, empirical basis, and neglected aspects

Soziale Hinweisreize sind wesentliche Komponenten aller Arten von Lernmaterialien. Sie umfassen verbale, nonverbale sowie paraverbale Reize als auch wechselseitig aufeinander bezogene Reizfolgen. Obwohl soziale Hinweisreize in Lernmaterialien schon seit längerem untersucht werden, ist ihre systematische Erforschung noch jung. Sie umfasst primär kognitive, motivationale, affektive und soziale Prozesse, welche durch die Verwendung sozialer Hinweisreize in Lernmaterial ausgelöst oder beeinflusst werden. Ein Schwerpunkt der empirischen Forschung liegt dabei schon länger auf sozialen Prozessen. Von sozialen Reizen wird dabei angenommen, dass sie den Lernprozess positiv beeinflussen, u.a. indem sie bei den Lernenden den Eindruck sozialer Präsenz einer (Lehr-)Person stimulieren, was in der Folge zu mehr Lernmotivation, mehr Lernen auf Verständnis und letztendlich besseren Leistungen in Lerntests führt. In diesem Beitrag bieten wir eine Klassifikation der Vielfalt an sozialen Hinweisreizen in Lernmaterialien allgemein an, skizzieren ihre Wirkung über soziale Prozesse auf das Lernen, fassen einschlägige empirische Belege zusammen und diskutieren vernachlässigte Aspekte sozialer Hinweisreize.Social cues are an essential component of all types of learning material. They comprise verbal, non-verbal and para-verbal stimuli as well as mutually related sequences of stimuli. Although the investigation of social cues in learning materials has had a long history, systematic research on this topic is limited. The research has primarily included cognitive, motivational, affective and social processes that are triggered or influenced by the use of social cues in learning material. One prominent focus of the empirical research on social cues has been on social processes. Social cues are assumed to have a positive influence on the learning process, for example, by stimulating the impression of a person’s (teacher) social presence, which leads to increased motivation to learn, more learning to understand, and finally to better performance in learning tests. In this paper, we outline the variety of social cues in learning materials, outline their impact on learning via social processes, summarize the relevant empirical evidence, and discuss neglected aspects of social cues

Association of BMI, lipid-lowering medication, and age with prevalence of type 2 diabetes in adults with heterozygous familial hypercholesterolaemia: a worldwide cross-sectional study

Background: Statins are the cornerstone treatment for patients with heterozygous familial hypercholesterolaemia but research suggests it could increase the risk of type 2 diabetes in the general population. A low prevalence of type 2 diabetes was reported in some familial hypercholesterolaemia cohorts, raising the question of whether these patients are protected against type 2 diabetes. Obesity is a well known risk factor for the development of type 2 diabetes. We aimed to investigate the associations of known key determinants of type 2 diabetes with its prevalence in people with heterozygous familial hypercholesterolaemia. Methods: This worldwide cross-sectional study used individual-level data from the EAS FHSC registry and included adults older than 18 years with a clinical or genetic diagnosis of heterozygous familial hypercholesterolaemia who had data available on age, BMI, and diabetes status. Those with known or suspected homozygous familial hypercholesterolaemia and type 1 diabetes were excluded. The main outcome was prevalence of type 2 diabetes overall and by WHO region, and in relation to obesity (BMI ≥30·0 kg/m2) and lipid-lowering medication as predictors. The study population was divided into 12 risk categories based on age (tertiles), obesity, and receiving statins, and the risk of type 2 diabetes was investigated using logistic regression. Findings: Among 46 683 adults with individual-level data in the FHSC registry, 24 784 with heterozygous familial hypercholesterolaemia were included in the analysis from 44 countries. 19 818 (80%) had a genetically confirmed diagnosis of heterozygous familial hypercholesterolaemia. Type 2 diabetes prevalence in the total population was 5·7% (1415 of 24 784), with 4·1% (817 of 19 818) in the genetically diagnosed cohort. Higher prevalence of type 2 diabetes was observed in the Eastern Mediterranean (58 [29·9%] of 194), South-East Asia and Western Pacific (214 [12·0%] of 1785), and the Americas (166 [8·5%] of 1955) than in Europe (excluding the Netherlands; 527 [8·0%] of 6579). Advancing age, a higher BMI category (obesity and overweight), and use of lipid-lowering medication were associated with a higher risk of type 2 diabetes, independent of sex and LDL cholesterol. Among the 12 risk categories, the probability of developing type 2 diabetes was higher in people in the highest risk category (aged 55–98 years, with obesity, and receiving statins; OR 74·42 [95% CI 47·04–117·73]) than in those in the lowest risk category (aged 18–38 years, without obesity, and not receiving statins). Those who did not have obesity, even if they were in the upper age tertile and receiving statins, had lower risk of type 2 diabetes (OR 24·42 [15·57–38·31]). The corresponding results in the genetically diagnosed cohort were OR 65·04 (40·67–104·02) for those with obesity in the highest risk category and OR 20·07 (12·73–31·65) for those without obesity. Interpretation: Adults with heterozygous familial hypercholesterolaemia in most WHO regions have a higher type 2 diabetes prevalence than in Europe. Obesity markedly increases the risk of diabetes associated with age and use of statins in these patients. Our results suggest that heterozygous familial hypercholesterolaemia does not protect against type 2 diabetes, hence managing obesity is essential to reduce type 2 diabetes in this patient population. Funding: Pfizer, Amgen, MSD, Sanofi-Aventis, Daiichi-Sankyo, and Regeneron

Large meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies identifies five loci for lean body mass (vol 8, 80, 2017)

A correction to this article has been published and is linked from the HTML version of this article

Förderung des Lernens durch soziale Hinweisreize in Lernmaterialien

Soziale Hinweisreize sind wesentliche Komponenten aller Arten von Lernmaterialien. Sie umfassen verbale, nonverbale sowie paraverbale Reize als auch wechselseitig aufeinander bezogene Reizfolgen. Obwohl soziale Hinweisreize in Lernmaterialien schon seit längerem untersucht werden, ist ihre systematische Erforschung noch jung. Sie umfasst primär kognitive, motivationale, affektive und soziale Prozesse, welche durch die Verwendung sozialer Hinweisreize in Lernmaterial ausgelöst oder beeinflusst werden. Ein Schwerpunkt der empirischen Forschung liegt dabei schon länger auf sozialen Prozessen. Von sozialen Reizen wird dabei angenommen, dass sie den Lernprozess positiv beeinflussen, u.a. indem sie bei den Lernenden den Eindruck sozialer Präsenz einer (Lehr-)Person stimulieren, was in der Folge zu mehr Lernmotivation, mehr Lernen auf Verständnis und letztendlich besseren Leistungen in Lerntests führt. In diesem Beitrag bieten wir eine Klassifikation der Vielfalt an sozialen Hinweisreizen in Lernmaterialien allgemein an, skizzieren ihre Wirkung über soziale Prozesse auf das Lernen, fassen einschlägige empirische Belege zusammen und diskutieren vernachlässigte Aspekte sozialer Hinweisreize.</jats:p

Heme oxygenase 1 protects human colonocytes against ROS formation, oxidative DNA damage and cytotoxicity induced by heme iron, but not inorganic iron

The consumption of red meat is probably carcinogenic to humans and is associated with an increased risk to develop colorectal cancer (CRC). Red meat contains high amounts of heme iron, which is thought to play a causal role in tumor formation. In this study, we investigated the genotoxic and cytotoxic effects of heme iron (i.e., hemin) versus inorganic iron in human colonic epithelial cells (HCEC), human CRC cell lines and murine intestinal organoids. Hemin catalyzed the formation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and induced oxidative DNA damage as well as DNA strand breaks in both HCEC and CRC cells. In contrast, inorganic iron hardly affected ROS levels and only slightly increased DNA damage. Hemin, but not inorganic iron, caused cell death and reduced cell viability. This occurred preferentially in non-malignant HCEC, which was corroborated in intestinal organoids. Both hemin and inorganic iron were taken up into HCEC and CRC cells, however with differential kinetics and efficiency. Hemin caused stabilization and nuclear translocation of Nrf2, which induced heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) and ferritin heavy chain (FtH). This was not observed after inorganic iron treatment. Chemical inhibition or genetic knockdown of HO-1 potentiated hemin-triggered ROS generation and oxidative DNA damage preferentially in HCEC. Furthermore, HO-1 abrogation strongly augmented the cytotoxic effects of hemin in HCEC, revealing its pivotal function in colonocytes and highlighting the toxicity of free intracellular heme iron. Taken together, this study demonstrated that hemin, but not inorganic iron, induces ROS and DNA damage, resulting in a preferential cytotoxicity in non-malignant intestinal epithelial cells. Importantly, HO-1 conferred protection against the detrimental effects of hemin

Pharmacokinetics and sedative effects of intramuscular medetomidine in domestic sheep

Intramuscular (i.m.) administration of medetomidine (MED) may avoid the severe pressor effects caused by peripheral actions of MED associated with intravenous (i.v.) dosing. The purpose of this study was to determine the pharmacokinetics, the time course of sedation and occurence of hypoxaemia after i.m. administration of MED in domestic sheep. The MED was injected i.m. at a dose of 30 micro g/kg in nine domestic sheep. Blood was sampled at 0, 5, 10, 20, 30, 40, 60, 120, 180, 240, 360 and 600 min after MED. Sedation was assessed and arterial blood samples were taken before and 35 min after MED application. Mean (SD) pharmacokinetic parameters of i.m. MED were: absorption half-life: 13.2 (7.5) min; terminal half-life: 32.7 (14.9) min; time to peak concentration: 29.2 (8.9) min; peak concentration: 4.98 (1.89) ng/mL; volume of distribution: 3.9 (2.4) l/kg; total body clearance: 81.0 (21.5) mL/(min kg). Peak sedation occurred between 30 and 40 min after injection of MED. The degree of sedation correlated with individual plasma concentrations (rS: 0.926). One animal became hypoxaemic (PaO2 = 54.1 mmHg)

Association of thyroid function with insulin resistance: data from two population-based studies

Objective Thyroid dysfunction is associated with relevant disturbances in glucose metabolism. Moreover, thyroid function undergoes important changes with ageing. The objective of this study was to investigate the association of thyroid function with insulin resistance with particular consideration of possible age-related effect modifications. Design A sample of 4193 participants from two independent epidemiological studies, the Study of Health in Pomerania-TREND-0 and the Berlin Aging Study II, was included in this cross-sectional analysis. Methods Insulin resistance was estimated by homeostasis model of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) and the insulin sensitivity index (ISI). Associations of thyroid biomarkers (thyroid-stimulating hormone, free thyroxine, and free triiodothyronine (fT3)) with parameters of glucose metabolism were analysed by regression models adjusted for age, sex, smoking status, and study site. Results A higher fT3 was significantly associated with higher fasting glucose and higher fasting and 2-h postload insulin levels, a higher HOMA-IR, and lower ISI. A higher fT3 was also associated with a higher risk for impaired fasting glucose (RR 1.09, 95 CI 1.02; 1.18; P  = 0.017). Many of these associations between thyroid markers and parameters of glucose metabolism were significant in young and middle-aged participants but not in older individuals. Conclusions The main finding of this study was a consistent association of fT3 with almost all markers of insulin resistance. However, this effect seems to be wearing off in higher age highlighting a potential age-related modification of the interaction between thyroid function and glucose metabolism. Further studies are needed to clarify causal relationships. </jats:sec

Heme oxygenase 1 protects human colonocytes against ROS formation, oxidative DNA damage and cytotoxicity induced by heme iron, but not inorganic iron

The consumption of red meat is probably carcinogenic to humans and is associated with an increased risk to develop colorectal cancer (CRC). Red meat contains high amounts of heme iron, which is thought to play a causal role in tumor formation. In this study, we investigated the genotoxic and cytotoxic effects of heme iron (i.e., hemin) versus inorganic iron in human colonic epithelial cells (HCEC), human CRC cell lines and murine intestinal organoids. Hemin catalyzed the formation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and induced oxidative DNA damage as well as DNA strand breaks in both HCEC and CRC cells. In contrast, inorganic iron hardly affected ROS levels and only slightly increased DNA damage. Hemin, but not inorganic iron, caused cell death and reduced cell viability. This occurred preferentially in non-malignant HCEC, which was corroborated in intestinal organoids. Both hemin and inorganic iron were taken up into HCEC and CRC cells, however with differential kinetics and efficiency. Hemin caused stabilization and nuclear translocation of Nrf2, which induced heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) and ferritin heavy chain (FtH). This was not observed after inorganic iron treatment. Chemical inhibition or genetic knockdown of HO-1 potentiated hemin-triggered ROS generation and oxidative DNA damage preferentially in HCEC. Furthermore, HO-1 abrogation strongly augmented the cytotoxic effects of hemin in HCEC, revealing its pivotal function in colonocytes and highlighting the toxicity of free intracellular heme iron. Taken together, this study demonstrated that hemin, but not inorganic iron, induces ROS and DNA damage, resulting in a preferential cytotoxicity in non-malignant intestinal epithelial cells. Importantly, HO-1 conferred protection against the detrimental effects of hemin