幼儿教师的压力及其应对方式调查

目的 探讨幼儿教师的压力和应对方式.方法 使用自编的幼儿教师压力事件量表和肖计划编制的应对方式问卷进行测查.结果 有37.9%的幼儿教师体会到中等程度的压力,2.3%的幼儿教师体验到重度的压力,压力源中以幼儿、家长因素对幼儿教师造成的压力为最大.幼儿教师对各种应对方式的使用频繁程度依次为：解决问题、求助、退避、幻想、合理化和自责.幼儿教师的压力和应对方式存在年龄和职称间的差异.结论 幼儿教师的压力较大,但应对压力的方式较为积极.     

Significant roles of microtubules in mature striated muscle deduced from the correlation between tubulin and its molecular chaperone αB-crystallin in rat muscles

To elucidate the significance of cytoskeletal microtubule networks in striated muscles, we analyzed correlation between the content of tubulin (building block of microtubules) and αB-crystallin (a molecular chaperone for tubulin) in a variety of striated muscles expressing different myosin heavy-chain (MHC) isoforms. The content of both tubulin and αB-crystallin was larger in MHC-I dominant soleus muscle and in MHC-α dominant cardiac (atrium and ventricle) muscles; intermediate in MHC-IId dominant masseter, tongue, and diaphragm muscles; and smaller in MHC-IIb dominant plantaris, gastrocnemius, psoas, extensor digitorum longus, and tibialis anterior muscles. Since the muscles of slow-type MHC (MHC-I/α) show the most economical features in their function and metabolism, which suit for continuous activity required to sustain posture and blood pumping, the present results afforded additional support to our hypothesis that microtubule networks transduce mechanical environmental demands to morphological and biochemical responses that eventually evolve adaptive transformation in the function and metabolism of the mature muscles. The comparison of tubulin/αB-crystalline ratios across the muscles of varied MHC isoforms further suggested that mechanical stress fluctuating at the rhythmic frequency of walking and breathing efficiently activates the hypothesized dynamic function of microtubules.     

Venom on ice: First insights into Antarctic octopus venoms

The venom of Antarctic octopus remains completely unstudied. Here, a preliminary investigation was conducted into the properties of posterior salivary gland (PSG) extracts from four Antarctica eledonine (Incirrata; Octopodidae) species (Adelieledone polymorpha, Megaleledone setebos, Pareledone aequipapillae, and Pareledone turqueti) collected from the coast off George V’s Land, Antarctica. Specimens were assayed for alkaline phosphatase (ALP), acetylcholinesterase (AChE), proteolytic, phospholipase A₂ (PLA₂), and haemolytic activities. For comparison, stomach tissue from Cirroctopus sp. (Cirrata; Cirroctopodidae) was also assayed for ALP, AChE, proteolytic and haemolytic activities. Dietary and morphological data were collected from the literature to explore the ecological importance of venom, taking an adaptive evolutionary approach.Of the incirrate species, three showed activities in all assays, while P. turqueti did not exhibit any haemolytic activity. There was evidence for cold-adaptation of ALP in all incirrates, while proteolytic activity in all except P. turqueti. Cirroctopus sp. stomach tissue extract showed ALP, AChE and some proteolytic activity. It was concluded that the AChE activity seen in the PSG extracts was possibly due to a release of household proteins, and not one of the secreted salivary toxins. Although venom undoubtedly plays an important part in prey capture and processing by Antarctica eledonines, no obvious adaptations to differences in diet or morphology were apparent from the enzymatic and haemolytic assays. However, several morphological features including enlarged PSG, small buccal mass, and small beak suggest such adaptations are present. Future studies should be conducted on several levels: Venomic, providing more detailed information on the venom compositions as well as the venom components themselves; ecological, for example application of serological or genetic methods in identifying stomach contents; and behavioural, including observations on capture of different types of prey.     

The spatial characteristics of plaid-form-selective mechanisms

Rather little is known about the mechanisms that combine the outputs of orientation- and spatial frequency-selective channels. These can be studied by measuring the selective adaptation to compound stimuli over and above that expected from adaptation to the components alone (Peirce & Taylor, 2006). Here we investigated the contrast- and spatial phase-dependency of such mechanisms. A plaid was adapted in one visual hemi-field, while its constituent gratings were simultaneously adapted in the other hemi-field. Plaid-selective adaptation was most apparent with high-contrast probes, whereas adaptation to the component grating stimuli dominated at low contrasts. The mechanisms underlying this plaid-selective adaptation also appear to be insensitive to the spatial phase of the probes relative to the adaptor, whereas we find a clear phase-dependency for suprathreshold contrast adaptation to grating stimuli. These findings suggest that the visual system is equipped with mechanisms that conduct a global analysis of the plaid pattern, which are likely derived from the non-linear outputs of V1 complex cells.     

Divided Countries, Divided Mind 1: Psycho-Social Issues in Adaptation Problems of North Korean Defectors

A review of studies on the adaptation problems of North Korean defectors in South Korean society and studies of people''s adaptation to political and cultural changes in other countries suggests that similar adaptation problems may occur in the process of and after unification. Defectors have various adaptation problems and some of them have psychiatric disorders such as depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The reasons for this were revealed to be the difference in the culture and personality between South and North Korea, which have developed for the last 60 years without any communication with each other, in spite of their common racial and cultural heritage. Economic factors including the lack of skills and knowledge for working at industrialized and competitive society like South Korean society, also aggravate the severity of such adaptation problems. Research on defectors'' adaptation problems and on the differences in the culture and mentality between North and South Korea can provide useful information on what kinds of problems may arise during the process of and after unification and what should be done to achieve mutual adaptation and harmonious and peaceful unification.     

Possible links between behavioral and physiological indices of tiredness, fatigue, and exhaustion in advanced cancer

Goals In this theoretical paper, we present the Edmonton Fatigue Framework (EFF), a new framework for the study of tiredness, fatigue, and exhaustion in advanced cancer. Materials and methods The Fatigue Adaptation Model (FAM), the starting point for the EFF, was drawn from a literature review pertaining to fatigue in depression, chronic fatigue syndrome, cancer, shift workers, and athletes published in the Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), Medical Literature Analysis and Retrieval System Online (MEDLINE), PubMed, PsychINFO, SPORTdiscus, and CancerLit between 1995 and 2004, and from seven qualitative studies conducted by our group. The EFF, an elaboration of the FAM, was constructed after an expansion of our literature review to 2006 and team discussion. The EFF provides new insights into possible links between behavioral and physiological indices of tiredness, fatigue, and exhaustion as they occur in both ill and non-ill states. In this paper, however, we consider only possible links in advanced cancer. Conclusions We propose that stressors associated with advanced cancer and its supportive treatment trigger declines in four systems—cognitive function, sleep quality, nutrition, and muscle endurance—and that these declines reduce one’s ability to adapt. While these systems each likely has its own effect on adaptation, we propose that the most important and serious effects arise from interactions among declines in cognitive function, sleep quality, nutrition, and muscle endurance. Conclusions Interventions for fatigue have been limited by a lack of understanding about its etiology. Hypotheses arising from the EFF` suggest a new direction for further study that focuses on interactions among cognitive function, sleep quality, nutrition, and muscle endurance.     

Functional morphology of the respiratory organs of the air-breathing fish with particular emphasis on the African catfishes, Clarias mossambicus and C. gariepinus

The evolution of air-breathing and transition from water to land were pivotal events that greatly determined the ecological diversification, the advances and the successes of animal life. During their relocation onto land, the so-called bimodal breathers were literally caught at the water-air interface. Among such animals are the diverse air-breathing bony fish. Such taxa, however, strictly do not constitute the so-called ‘bridging animals’, i.e., the inaugural animals that crossed from water to land, nor are they their direct progenitors. The pioneer transitional animals were the Devonian rhipidistian amphibians that possessed a primitive lung which acquired O₂ directly from air and discharged CO₂ back into the same. By having particular morphological and physiological adaptations for terrestrialness, the modern amphibious- and aquatic air-breathers are heuristic analogues of how and why animals relocated from water to land. It has generally been espoused that lack or dearth of O₂ in water, especially in the warm tropical one, was an elemental driver for adoption of air-breathing. There is, however, no direct causal relationship between the evolution of air-breathing and the shift onto land: the move onto land was a direct solution to the existing inimical respiratory conditions in water. This is evinced in the facts that: a) even after attaining capacity of air-breathing, an important preadaptation for life on land, some animals continued living in water while periodically accessing air, b) in the fish species that live in the well-oxygenated waters, e.g., torrential rivers, only few air-breathe and c) air-breathing has still evolved in freshwaters and seawaters, where levels of dissolved O₂ are sufficiently high. Here, the structure and function of the respiratory organs of the air-breathing fish are succinctly outlined. Two African catfishes, Clarias mossambicus and C. gariepinus are highlighted.     

THE HURDLES OF MIGRANT NURSES

The vast disequilibrium between healthcare providers and the recipients of care creates a hazard effect to all. This is a global issue as who will look after the growing and ageing population? Some countries have decided to recruit from outside their own country. Prior to registration, the Board of Nursing has imposed a regulation that a foreign nurse has to undergo a three‐ to six‐month adaptation programme. The main objective is to assess and evaluate and at the end of the programme it is hoped that the nurse will be deemed competent and safe to practice. Foreign nurses face tremendous challenges but are able to integrate with the provision of support services and an adaptation programme. This programme needs to be culturally sensitive to nurses who are used to work in a different system of health care.