A cross-sectional study of PRNP gene in two native Sicilian goat populations in Italy; a relation between prion gene polymorphysms and scrapie incidence?

Transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs) are a group of neurodegenerative diseases affecting humans and animals and scrapie in small ruminants is considered the archetype of TSEs. Derivata di Siria is a native dairy goat of Sicily (South-Italy), which is related to Syrian goat breeds. Scrapie is considered endemic in Sicily since 1997 following the administration of an infected vaccine. Derivata di Siria goats were involved in six out of 66 scrapie infected flocks in Sicily. Prion protein gene (PRNP) analysis revealed that none of the scrapie cases carried the p.Gln222Lys variant. Sequencing of PRNP in this goat population showed a high frequency (15%) of the p.Gln222Lys variant confirming its association with scrapie resistance. PRNP polymorphisms were also analysed in the population of Pantelleria, a small Sicilian Island where scrapie has never been reported. The native goat breed “Pantesca” was maintained up to almost 80 years ago and the size of the sheep population on this island has historically been very low. Currently a cross-breed goat population of 253 heads is present on the island. PRNP genotyping of Pantelleria goats showed genetic variation, with low presence of wild type goats and the lack of protective alleles. These data reinforce the association between PRNP polymorphisms in small ruminants and scrapie incidence

Happiness around the world: A combined etic-emic approach across 63 countries

What does it mean to be happy? The vast majority of cross-cultural studies on happiness have employed a Western-origin, or "WEIRD" measure of happiness that conceptualizes it as a self-centered (or "independent"), high-arousal emotion. However, research from Eastern cultures, particularly Japan, conceptualizes happiness as including an interpersonal aspect emphasizing harmony and connectedness to others. Following a combined emicetic approach (Cheung, van de Vijver & Leong, 2011), we assessed the cross-cultural applicability of a measure of independent happiness developed in the US (Subjective Happiness Scale; Lyubomirsky & Lepper, 1999) and a measure of interdependent happiness developed in Japan (Interdependent Happiness Scale; Hitokoto & Uchida, 2015), with data from 63 countries representing 7 sociocultural regions. Results indicate that the schema of independent happiness was more coherent in more WEIRD countries. In contrast, the coherence of interdependent happiness was unrelated to a country's "WEIRD-ness." Reliabilities of both happiness measures were lowest in African and Middle Eastern countries, suggesting these two conceptualizations of happiness may not be globally comprehensive. Overall, while the two measures had many similar correlates and properties, the self-focused concept of independent happiness is "WEIRD-er" than interdependent happiness, suggesting cross-cultural researchers should attend to both conceptualizations

Happiness around the world: A combined etic-emic approach across 63 countries.

What does it mean to be happy? The vast majority of cross-cultural studies on happiness have employed a Western-origin, or "WEIRD" measure of happiness that conceptualizes it as a self-centered (or "independent"), high-arousal emotion. However, research from Eastern cultures, particularly Japan, conceptualizes happiness as including an interpersonal aspect emphasizing harmony and connectedness to others. Following a combined emic-etic approach (Cheung, van de Vijver & Leong, 2011), we assessed the cross-cultural applicability of a measure of independent happiness developed in the US (Subjective Happiness Scale; Lyubomirsky & Lepper, 1999) and a measure of interdependent happiness developed in Japan (Interdependent Happiness Scale; Hitokoto & Uchida, 2015), with data from 63 countries representing 7 sociocultural regions. Results indicate that the schema of independent happiness was more coherent in more WEIRD countries. In contrast, the coherence of interdependent happiness was unrelated to a country's "WEIRD-ness." Reliabilities of both happiness measures were lowest in African and Middle Eastern countries, suggesting these two conceptualizations of happiness may not be globally comprehensive. Overall, while the two measures had many similar correlates and properties, the self-focused concept of independent happiness is "WEIRD-er" than interdependent happiness, suggesting cross-cultural researchers should attend to both conceptualizations

The economic well-being of nations is associated with positive daily situational experiences

People in economically advantaged nations tend to evaluate their life as more positive overall and report greater well-being than people in less advantaged nations. But how does positivity manifest in the daily life experiences of individuals around the world? The present study asked 15,244 college students from 62 nations, in 42 languages, to describe a situation they experienced the previous day using the Riverside Situational Q-sort (RSQ). Using expert ratings, the overall positivity of each situation was calculated for both nations and individuals. The positivity of the average situation in each nation was strongly related to the economic development of the nation as measured by the Human Development Index (HDI). For individuals’ daily experiences, the economic status of their nation also predicted the positivity of their experience, even more than their family socioeconomic status. Further analyses revealed the specific characteristics of the average situations for higher HDI nations that make their experiences more positive. Higher HDI was associated with situational experiences involving humor, socializing with others, and the potential to express emotions and fantasies. Lower HDI was associated with an increase in the presence of threats, blame, and hostility, as well as situational experiences consisting of family, religion, and money. Despite the increase in a few negative situational characteristics in lower HDI countries, the overall average experience still ranged from neutral to slightly positive, rather than negative, suggesting that greater HDI may not necessarily increase positive experiences but rather decrease negative experiences. The results illustrate how national economic status influences the lives of individuals even within a single instance of daily life, with large and powerful consequences when accumulated across individuals within each nation

Methodological Challenges of Studying Children in a Living Laboratory: Case example of Conceptual PlayLab

Digital technologies have created possibilities in research unavailable when Vygotsky first introduced his cultural-historical approach for studying children’s development. More needs to be known about the relations between methodology and method when using digital tools in the early developmental period (1-5 years). In this paper we introduce the concept of a living laboratory to capture the research dynamics of this cultural age period in family homes and preschool settings under conditions of an educational experiment. We discuss Vygotsky’s theoretical concepts as foundational for theorising the use of digital tools for researching in a living laboratory. Central for a living laboratory are: (1) capturing development in motion, (2) including the past in the present research context, (3) designing studies in ways that go beyond fossilised complete forms of development, and (4) creating study conditions for condensed and amplified forms of development. To bring these conditions into the research contexts where a condensed form of development emerges opens up a dynamic yet dialectical way of studying early development. We showcase digital tools, such as VR and digital data collection, as part of (1) undertaking an educational experiment of a Conceptual PlayWorld, and (2) a cultural-historical conception of longitudinal research for studying the conceptual development of infants, toddlers and preschoolers within a living laboratory.</jats:p

Collective Imagining: The Early Genesis and Development of a sense of Collectiveness during Infancy

On entering formal education, infants face the demand of participating in collective educational rou¬tines and learning experiences. However, in this age period, the sense of collectiveness is still in an embry¬onic form. This study explored how infants enter into and experience the need for collectiveness and how teachers create the conditions for the development of a sense of collectiveness during infancy. Our educa¬tional experiment drew on a Conceptual PlayWorld, as a collective model of practice for the development of play and imagination. Thirteen infants (0,5—2 years old) participated in the study. Visual methods were used for digital data collection and analysis. It was found that, being in the imaginary situation as play part¬ners, teachers introduced to the infants’ environment the demand to align with the collective, consistently facilitated and sustained infants’ motive orientation to the collective. The use of props, the embodiment of the experience and the shift from physical objects and concrete spaces to a shared intellectual and abstract space appeared to be critical. The findings inform everyday practice and policy opening up a new area of understanding about the concept of collective imagining, as an important concept for the development of a collective orientation for infants.</jats:p

Inscriptions in Science Teaching: From Realism to Abstraction

This article attempts to highlight inscriptions, i.e., photographs, drawings, diagrams, or graphs as autonomous carriers of meaning that can illuminate the different dimensions of a scientific concept. In addition, the article examines the inherent potential of diverse types of inscriptions to be combined with each other creating conceptual sequences and thus, crafting a narrative for the formation of a concept. For the formation of conceptual sequences the proper synthesis of both naturalistic and abstractive inscriptions that hold different types of information and complement each other is suggested. That is, inscriptions such as photographs that hold morphological relevance with their referent describing at the same time the everyday knowledge, as well as inscriptions such as graphs or equations that, from a morphological perspective, have a no linear connection to their referent and are related to the typical visual code of school knowledge. Thus, existing, transformed, or novel inscriptions can create conceptual continuums offering logical connections between visual codes from everyday experience and the codes of diagrams, graphs, and equations. From both the teachers and the students, when inscriptions cooperate with the human body, oral language, and other elements of the space, constitute a critical aspect in multimodal communication within school classrooms. Copyright © 2022 Pantidos, Fragkiadaki, Kaliampos and Ravanis