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Previous research has demonstrated a link between the administration of analgesic drugs and the reduction of empathy levels in humans. This apparent blunting effect of pain medication has been explained through shared neural mechanisms for the first-hand and the empathic experience of pain (simulation theory). Considering that analgesics are among the most consumed drugs in the world and the ability to empathize with others is fundamental to human social interactions, the aim of the present study was to investigate whether the typical day-to-day analgesic consumption rate in Austria and Germany is associated with a reduction in empathy and prosocial behavior. We therefore collected self-reports of analgesic consumption behavior as well as empathy for pain and prosocial behavior measures in an online survey (n = 940). Analyses revealed no significant association between the analgesic intake frequency and measures of empathy or prosocial behavior. However, liberal intake of analgesics (i.e. mind-set of "a pill is a quick solution") was linked to lower empathic concern and helping behavior, which may hint towards a negative effect in people who take pain medication for non-pain related issues or episodes of low pain. Nevertheless, further research is needed to investigate the effects of analgesic drugs in high frequency users. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigated early child care teachers' culturally shaped socialization goals and preferred behavioral strategies. The participants were 183 female teachers and trainees, 93 from Osnabrück, Germany, representing an urban Western context, which can be characterized by a primary cultural orientation toward psychological autonomy and a constructivist pedagogical approach; and 90 Cameroonian teachers, representing a rural non-Western context, which can be characterized by a primary cultural emphasis on hierarchical relatedness and a didactic approach of formal apprenticeship. The teachers answered questionnaires about their general socialization goals, professional educational goals, and preferred behavioral strategies. Overall, the different cultural orientations and pedagogical approaches were embodied in teachers' general goals and preferred strategies. The German early child care teachers emphasized the value of psychological autonomy and child-centered methods most, whereas the Cameroonian teachers focused on hierarchical-relational socialization goals and apprenticeship-based teaching methods. However, results also showed discrepancies between general and professional goals of early child care teachers of the same cultural context, as well as differences with respect to teachers' work experience, indicating further impact factors on early child care teachers' goals besides the own cultural belief system.

We investigated the development of the other-race effect "ORE" in a longitudinal sample of 3-, 6-, and 9-month-old Caucasian infants. Previous research using cross-sectional samples has shown an unstable ORE at 3 months, an increase at 6 months and full development at 9 months. In Experiment 1, we tested whether 9-month-olds showed the ORE with Caucasian and African faces. As expected, the 9-month-olds discriminated faces within their own ethnicity (Caucasian) but not within the unfamiliar ethnicity (African). In months. In Experiment 2, we longitudinally tested infants at 3, 6, and 9 months by presenting either the Caucasian or the African faces used in Experiment 1. In contrast to previous cross-sectional studies and Experiment 1, we found that infants discriminated between all stimuli. Hence, we did not find the ORE in this longitudinal study even at 9 months. We assume that the infants in our longitudinal study showed no ORE because of previous repetitive exposure to African faces at 3 and 6 months. We argue that only a few presentations of faces from other ethnic categories sufficiently slow the development of the ORE. (Contains 2 tables and 2 figures.)

This longitudinal study examined the influence of stimulus material on attention and expectation learning in the visual expectation paradigm. Female faces were used as attention-attracting stimuli, and non-meaningful visual stimuli of comparable complexity (Greebles) were used as low attention-attracting stimuli. Expectation learning performance was operationalized using the average reaction time and number of anticipations. For the measurement of attention, the percentage of trials with on-task attention behavior was calculated. To analyze attention and differences in performance, a total of 108 German infants (3-6 months of age) were assessed. Significant differences were found between the two types of stimuli concerning the infants' rate of attention and anticipations. The results indicate learning material to influence attentional processes and expectation learning. (Contains 2 figures and 2 tables.)

Three-month-old Cameroonian Nso farmer and German middle-class infants were compared regarding learning and retention in a computerized mobile task. Infants achieving a preset learning criterion during reinforcement were tested for immediate and long-term retention measured in terms of an increased response rate after reinforcement and after a 24-h delay compared with baseline. It was hypothesized that infants from both cultural communities would acquire the contingency between own motion and mobile movement, as they similarly experience contingent responses in social interactions. Nso infants were assumed to show a higher learning rate related to their advanced gross motor development, whereas German infants were expected to show a higher baseline because of culture-typical motor handling promoting a high level of activity (i.e. lying supine). Results showed immediate and long-term retention in infants from both cultural contexts, as well as a higher baseline for German infants. Although the learning rate was higher for Cameroonian infants, logistic regression revealed that learning was not related to gross motor development but depended on the level of baseline response. Thus, contingency learning was shown in different cultural environments, and the level of baseline activity coined by culture-specific motor handling turned out to influence learning within the mobile task.

This paper is aimed at analyzing verbal and nonverbal strategies in terms of body contact, face-to-face contact, and discourse style during the first three months of life in two cultural communities that have been characterized as embodying different cultural models of parenting: German middle-class, and Nso farmer families. It can be demonstrated that the Nso mothers have significantly higher rates of body contact during the assessments of free-play interactions during the first 12 weeks than the German women. The German women on the other hand demonstrate the expected increase of face-to-face contact, whereas the Nso women demonstrate a significantly lower and stable pattern of face-to-face contact over the assessments. The German mothers use an agentic discourse style, whereas the Nso mothers use a relational discourse style. Moreover, body contact and a relational discourse style form one parenting strategy, whereas face-to-face contact and the agentic discourse style form another parenting strategy. The results demonstrate culture-specific parenting strategies that not only differ with respect to the amount of behaviors expressed, but also the developmental course of particular behaviors. It is also evident that socialization strategies are expressed in different behavioral channels. The role of sociodemographic variables is particularly discussed with respect to their impact for defining sociocultural environments. (Contains 2 tables and 4 figures.)

In this longitudinal study, the authors addressed intracultural variation on fathers' interactions with their 3-month-old infants, their ideas about parental care, and the timing of their children's self-recognition at the age of 18-20 months. Participants were 24 middle-class German fathers and their firstborn children. Two behavioral clusters emerged: a more proximal parenting style with extensive body contact and a more distal parenting style with extensive object stimulation. Fathers in the distal cluster had significantly more education than did fathers in the proximal cluster. Children who had experienced more distal parenting were more likely to recognize themselves in a mirror than were children with more proximal parenting. The authors discuss the results with respect to fathers' influence on child development and patterns of intracultural variation. (Contains 1 figure and 3 tables.)

In this study, the authors investigated the relation between early social contingency experiences and infants' competencies to detect nonsocial contingencies. In this study of 87 three-month-old infants, the authors operationalized early social contingencies as prompt, contingent maternal responses and coded microanalytically on the basis of video-recorded mother-infant interactions. The authors assessed competence to detect nonsocial contingencies by 2 methods: (a) the mobile conjugate reinforcement paradigm, which focuses on detecting contingencies between the infants' actions (kicking) and nonsocial consequences (mobile moving) and (b) the visual expectation paradigm, which focuses on detecting contingencies between 1 event (a smiley face projected on a screen) that was followed by a 2nd event (a complex picture projected on the other side of the screen). The results showed that early social contingencies are related to the competency to detect nonsocial action-consequence contingencies in the mobile conjugate reinforcement paradigm. (Contains 3 figures.)

Biohybrid tissue‐engineered implants offer promising possibilities to treat cardiovascular diseases. The ability of tissue‐engineered implants to grow and remodel can be utilized to produce implants that can adapt to changes in the physiological conditions within the patient body. To improve the mechanical properties of the implant, a fibre‐reinforced textile scaffold is used. The embedment of a load‐oriented textile scaffold in the implant acts as biomimetic reinforcement and guides the direction of the extracellular matrix (ECM) growth. Our main objective is to design biohybrid heart valves that can withstand tough physiological loading conditions for decades. That makes it necessary to develop accurate and efficient models to support the design process. In this paper, the focus is on the macro‐mechanical modeling of the maturation process for textile reinforced heart valves. A biohybrid heart valve is modeled as a composite structure. The constitutive model is constructed by defining the total Helmholtz free energy as the sum of energies of the valve constituents. The two main constituents are (i) the extracellular matrix (ECM) and (ii) the fiber‐reinforced textile scaffold. The density of protein fibers such as collagen and elastin fibers are treated as internal variables. We introduce a new approach for modeling the densification of protein fibers during the cultivation process which is capable of considering both static and dynamic cultivation processes. The model considers the density change caused by the immunological response as well as the density change due to mechanical stimulation. The textile scaffold anisotropic behavior is introduced using structural tensors. The constitutive models are then embedded into a special finite element technology with reduced integration that enables efficient computations. The finite element simulation results are then validated using the experimental data provided by BioTex (Institute of Applied Medical Engineering, RWTH Aachen University, Germany). In the end, a finite element simulation for an exemplary valve is presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Administered loneliness questionnaire and additional questions to 154 students of education at large West German city university. Found significant correlations between loneliness rating and self-rated shyness, social contact difficulty, and lack of physical attractiveness. Average loneliness level was similar to level of United States sample, with no gender differences. (Author/NB)

We investigated German first graders' gender representations in human figure drawings done in 1977 and 2015. We hypothesized that increasing gender-status equality in society as well as growing gender differentiation in childcare and marketing are reflected in depictions of the human figure. Drawings were collected from a total of 376 children between 5 years 10 months and 8 years of age. Overall, the results are in accordance with the hypotheses: In contrast to 1977, the proportion of male and female figures was more balanced in 2015. In 2015, more girls drew a figure of their own gender and the femininity of female figures was higher than in 1977. Unexpectedly, the masculinity of male figures did not increase over this time. These results provide some insight into dynamic changes of children's view of gender roles reflecting societal conditions. Drawings as a nonverbal approach to children's gender representations proved sensitive in research but may also serve as a starting point in social and pedagogical work addressing gender issues. Considering gender status equality and gender specification as independent aspects of gender representations contributes to a better understanding by researchers as well as by practice professionals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of self-regulation has been studied primarily in Western middle-class contexts and has, therefore, neglected what is known about culturally varying self-concepts and socialization strategies. The research reported here compared the self-regulatory competencies of German middle-class (N = 125) and rural Cameroonian Nso preschoolers (N = 76) using the Marshmallow test (Mischel, 2014). Study 1 revealed that 4-year-old Nso children showed better delay-of-gratification performance than their German peers. Study 2 revealed that culture-specific maternal socialization goals and interaction behaviors were related to delay-of-gratification performance. Nso mothers' focus on hierarchical relational socialization goals and responsive control seems to support children's delay-of-gratification performance more than German middle-class mothers' emphasis on psychological autonomous socialization goals and sensitive, child-centered parenting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) surgery initiates a systemic inflammatory response, which is associated with postoperative morbidity and mortality. Hemoadsorption (HA) of cytokines may suppress inflammatory responses and improve outcomes. We tested a new sorbent used for HA (CytoSorb™; CytoSorbents Europe GmbH, Berlin, Germany) installed in the CPB circuit on changes of pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines levels, inflammation markers, and differences in patients' perioperative course.Methods: In this first pilot trial, 37 blinded patients were undergoing elective CPB surgery at the Medical University of Vienna and were randomly assigned to HA (n = 19) or control group (n = 18). The primary outcome was differences of cytokine levels (IL-1β, IL-6, IL-18, TNF-α, and IL-10) within the first five postoperative days. We also analyzed whether we can observe any differences in ex vivo lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced TNF-α production, a reduction of high-mobility box group 1 (HMGB1), or other inflammatory markers. Additionally, measurements for fluid components, blood products, catecholamine treatment, bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA), and 30-day mortality were analyzed.Results: We did not find differences in our primary outcome immediately following the HA treatment, although we observed differences for IL-10 24 hours after CPB (HA: median 0.3, interquartile range (IQR) 0-4.5; control: not traceable, P = 0.0347) and 48 hours after CPB (median 0, IQR 0-1.2 versus not traceable, P = 0.0185). We did not find any differences for IL-6 between both groups, and other cytokines were rarely expressed. We found differences in pretreatment levels of HMGB1 (HA: median 0, IQR 0-28.1; control: median 48.6, IQR 12.7-597.3, P = 0.02083) but no significant changes to post-treatment levels. No differences in inflammatory markers, fluid administration, blood substitution, catecholamines, BIA, or 30-day mortality were found.Conclusions: We did not find any reduction of the pro-inflammatory response in our patients and therefore no changes in their perioperative course. However, IL-10 showed a longer-lasting anti-inflammatory effect. The clinical impact of prolonged IL-10 needs further evaluation. We also observed strong inter-individual differences in cytokine levels; therefore, patients with an exaggerated inflammatory response to CPB need to be identified. The implementation of HA during CPB was feasible.Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT01879176, registration date: June 7, 2013. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this study was to examine the role of the stimulus material for the prediction of later IQ by early learning measures in the Visual Expectation Paradigm (VExP). The VExP was assessed at 9 months using two types of stimuli, Greebles and human faces. Greebles were assumed to be associated with a higher load on working memory in comparison to human faces. IQ was assessed at 3 years and 4 months of age. Sixty-four children participated at both assessments in this longitudinal study. The results show a moderation of the stimulus material on the prediction of IQ. With Greebles as stimulus material, a significant relationship between infants' learning and IQ was found. There was no relation when infants' learned in the VExP using human faces. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to analyze culture-specific development of maternal interactional behavior longitudinally. Rural Cameroonian Nso mothers (n = 72) and German middle-class mothers (n = 106) were observed in free-play interactions with their 3- and 6-month-old infants. Results reveal the expected shift from a social to a nonsocial focus only in the German middle-class mothers' play interactions but not the rural Nso mothers' play. Nso mothers continue their proximal interactional style with a focus on body contact and body stimulation, whereas German middle-class mothers prefer a distal style of interaction with increasing object-centeredness. These cultural differences are in line with broader cultural models and become more accentuated as the infants grow older. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: [•] Deferred imitation was assessed within two highly different cultural contexts. [•] German infants imitated more target actions than Nso infants. [•] Nso infants benefited from the introduction of an immediate imitation phase. [•] Implication, cultural background influenced the imitative learning of 18-month-old infants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the Bayley Scales of Infant Development III, this study provides the results of a longitudinal study on the development of Cameroonian Nso farmer and German middle-class infants. Complete longitudinal data were available for 253 infants (69 from Cameroon and 184 from Germany) with Bayley assessments at 3, 6 and 9 months. The results show large differences between Cameroonian Nso and German infants with regard to gross motor and language development. The developmental sequence within each Bayley scale is more in line with the original Bayley sequence for German than for Cameroonian Nso infants as is indicated by Goodman scalogram analyses. Path analyses show some basic similarities between the developmental paths across ages for Cameroonian Nso and German infants, but more interconnections between the scales in the German sample. The results underline the need to adjust developmental scales to the cultural background of the infants to be tested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective and Background: Cultures differ in their emphases on specific developmental milestones which may be associated with early developmental differences. This study compares the developmental states of three- and six-month-old Cameroonian Nso farmer and German middle-class infants assessed with the Bayley Scales of Infant Development. Methods: The Bayley Scales were used with 345 three-month-old infants in Cameroon (n = 73) and Germany (n = 272). Most of the infants were reassessed at six months of age (n = 72 of the Cameroonian and n = 222 of the German infants). Results: The study showed significant differences in gross motor development in favour of the Cameroonian children and in receptive as well as expressive communication in favour of the German infants. These findings are consistent throughout both age samples. The cognitive and fine motor development is significantly advanced in the three-month-old German infants, but not at six months of age. Conclusion: The results are interpreted to reflect different socialisation strategies as a result of different cultural orientations of Cameroonian Nso and German middle-class mothers and it is important to assess developmental pathways in multiple cultural environments, in order to gain an understanding of the encompassing conceptions of development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study about fatherhood in Germany addresses the issue of changing paternal behaviour in the German middle class between 1977 and 2001. Against the background of the ongoing phase of individualization in Germany, videotaped interactions between fathers and their 3-months-old infants are analysed. The results reveal a shift towards more autonomy and independence in the fathers' behaviour. This can be seen in increases and decreases of particular paternal behaviour patterns, which are related to either independence and autonomy or interdependence and relatedness. In sum, between the two points in time the fathers show an increase in the frequencies of object stimulation and contingent responses to infant signals in the face-to-face-context on the one hand and a decrease in the frequencies of body contact and interactional warmth on the other. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, the early social experiences of infants from two agricultural societies, Indian Rajput and Cameroonian Nso are compared to each other and to German urban middleclass families. Using spot observations, infants' social experiences were assessed when they were between 2.5 and 3 months. The parenting styles in the three communities are distinctly different from each other. However, the Nso and the Rajputs share a parenting pattern that can be regarded as supporting, the development of communion. Differences between the two agrarian communities are related to different emotional expressivity and different health and nutritional status. The German caregiving pattern can be regarded as oriented towards the development of agency. In the discussion the question of the cultural interpretation of parenting behaviors is raised, emphasizing that the analysis of both shared practices as well as shared ideas is important in order to understand the dynamics of parenting in cultural context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study addresses sociohistorical changes in parenting in a prototypical independent society: Germany. In Germany, a distinct societal increase in individualisation has been described as beginning with the mid-1980s. It is assumed that these changes not only affect children and adolescents, but also the first formative developmental period: infancy. Mothers' interactions with 3-month-old babies belonging to two cohorts (cohort 1: 1977/1978; cohort 2: 2000) show significant changes with respect to parenting behaviours that have been related to independence as a socialisation goal: increase of face-to-face contingency and object play and decrease of bodily and facial/vocal warmth. The results are interpreted as supporting the view that sociohistorical times form distinct cultural environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Following the experimental design used by Barrett-Howard and Tyler (1986), this study examines the importance given by West German university students to procedural and distributive justice allocation decision making. After reading one of eight scenarios in which there was a limited resource to be allocated, the subjects answered questions concerning the importance and meaning of justice. For the most part, the results correspond to previous U.S. findings of the importance of procedural justice and its definition across various allocation settings. However, the West German students placed greater importance on having mechanisms for correcting inadequate decisions than did their American counterparts. Beyond the design of the initial U.S. study, however, the West German students were asked in an open-ended format to discuss their concerns in making the allocation decision. Nearly half of the unprompted responses centered around justice issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ninety-nine students (mostly women) at a German university were asked to write down how they could tell that they like someone, love someone, and arc in love with someone (or, in other words, what characterized each sentiment if experienced by them). A taxonomy of 47 characteristics (or indicators) was developed to code the responses for each of the three sentiments. Most frequently mentioned were positive mood in the other's presence (61 % for liking and 53% for love) and arousal (62% for being in love). The most distinctive (or unique) characteristic of liking was desire for interaction with the other; of love, trust in the other; and of bcing in love, arousal. Categorizing the characteristics into a cognitive, an affective, and a behavioral level, a complex pattern of main effects and interaction effects was found through analyses of variance. Gender differences were found but are not discussed because of the small male sample ( n= 13). Our findings are discussed with respect to the scales developed by Rubin, Hatfield, and Sternberg, and they are placed in the context of recent research on subjective definitions of attraction sentiments (especially love). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Focuses on the secondary prevention of myocardial infarction survivors in Germany. Recommendation of dynamic exercise as a rehabilitative measure following myocardial infarction; Benefits of smoking cessation programs; Importance of diet in patients after myocardial infarction.

247 students at a large West German city university were presented with the UCLA Loneliness Scale (a twenty-item questionnaire), with the Freiburg Personality Inventory (FPI) (a personality assessment instrument widely used in German-speaking countries), and with various other questions. Loneliness was found to be correlated with several of the personality subscales of the FPI (psychosomatic complaints, depression, and neuroticism; negative correlations with social skills, self-esteem, extraversion, and masculinity). As in our prior research, a negative correlation was found with self-rated physical attractiveness. Participants giving internal and stable attributions of any loneliness they experienced had higher loneliness scores than participants giving different attributions. Also, some relationships with social- environmental variables were found (e.g., residential mobility was associated with loneliness). A subsample of students being clients at the University Psychological Advisory Service (n = 27) were also investigated. Our results by and large corroborate the findings from prior loneliness research with US samples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses a randomized, placebo-controlled trial which evaluates immunologic effects of stress doses of hydrocortisone after cardiac surgery (CS) with cardiopulmonary bypass in Germany. The study focused on high-risk patients undergoing CS in an intensive care unit (ICU) of a university hospital. It revealed that the immunologic effects of hydrocortisone may be both, inhibitory interleukin (IL)-6 and permissive IL-10, concerning immune response.