Search

Anita Nilsen,1 Siren Eriksen,2 Bjørn Lichtwarck,3 Adelheid Hummelvoll Hillestad,2 Signe Gunn Julnes,1 Signe Tretteteig,4 Anne Marie Mork Rokstad1,4 1Faculty of Health Sciences and Social Care, Molde University College, Molde, Norway; 2Lovisenberg Diaconal University College, Oslo, Norway; 3The Research Centre for Age-Related Functional Decline and Disease, Innlandet Hospital Trust, Ottestad, Norway; 4Norwegian National Centre for Ageing and Health, Vestfold Hospital Trust, Tønsberg, NorwayCorrespondence: Anita Nilsen, Faculty of Health Sciences and Social Care, Molde University College, Molde, Norway, Email anita.nilsen@himolde.noPurpose: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) placed a significant strain on nursing homes, leading to numerous outbreaks and high mortality rates. This situation created considerable stress and challenges for residents, their physicians and nurses, as well as family caregivers. By understanding these challenges, we can gain new insights and learn valuable lessons. Thus, the purpose of this study is to examine the treatment and care provided to nursing home residents with COVID-19, as experienced by physicians, nurses, and family caregivers.Participants and Methods: This study is a secondary analysis of 35 interviews with physicians, nurses, and family caregivers, each with personal experience caring for nursing home residents diagnosed with COVID-19. The interviews took place from December 2020 to April 2021. We analyzed the transcriptions based on Braun and Clarke’s reflexive thematic analysis model and followed a qualitative descriptive design as outlined by Sandelowski.Findings: The analysis produced three themes: 1) Balancing medical treatment, 2) The need for increased systematic monitoring of vital functions, and 3) Determining the treatment level for nursing home residents. These themes were explored through the unique perspectives of the three participant groups: physicians, nurses, and family caregivers. The findings revealed several challenges related to treatment and care for nursing home residents diagnosed with COVID-19. This applied both to relief of symptoms, monitoring of vital functions, assessment of treatment level and use of advance care planning.Conclusion: Drawing from the experiences of physicians, nurses, and family caregivers, there should be a unified plan at the municipal or national level for competency development in nursing homes to prepare for future crises like pandemics or epidemics. Additionally, the safe engagement of family caregivers and relatives should be given priority.Keywords: alleviation, nursing homes, palliative care, pandemic, safekeeping, systematic mapping

Pragmatics refers to the ability to effectively use and interpret language in different contexts. Pragmatic abilities develop and refine through childhood, and they are essential for socialization, academic achievement and wellbeing. The scarcity of assessment tools in this field makes it challenging to provide a comprehensive assessment of pragmatic abilities. The Pragma test, originally developed for Finnish and also adapted into Italian, consists of a battery of tasks assessing children's pragmatic abilities. In this study, a first evaluation of the psychometric qualities of a Norwegian adaptation of this test is presented. In addition, we investigated pragmatic development between ages 5 and 7, and explored possible gender-based differences. Altogether 119 Norwegian-speaking children participated in the study. The children were tested with the Pragma test and parents completed the Children's Communication Checklist-2. The children were allocated into three groups: 5-year-olds, 6-year-olds and 7-year-olds. The psychometric qualities of this Norwegian adaptation supported its use as a tool for assessing pragmatics in children aged 5-7. Strong and significant growth in pragmatic competence was observed from age 5-6, subsequently flattening out between age 6 and 7, and gender differences in favour of girls were identified. These findings indicate that pragmatic ability, as measured by the Pragma test, shows similar age effects in a Norwegian setting as in Finnish and Italian contexts, paving the way for further cross-cultural and cross-linguistic studies.

No contexto educacional, a garantia do direito à Educação Infantil, primeira etapa da Educação Básica, conforme prevê o artigo 29 da Lei de Diretrizes e Bases da Educação Nacional (LDB) nº 9.394/96, representa uma conquista recente. Com isso, surge o interesse pelo tema da Educação Infantil em estudos e pesquisas com a necessidade de reflexões que proporcionem conhecimentos que minimizem as lacunas existentes sobre o assunto. Para elaboração deste estudo sobre o estado da arte de natureza exploratória e descritiva, utilizou-se de categorias para análise representadas pelos seguintes descritores: educação infantil, qualidade na educação infantil e representações sociais em educação infantil. A abordagem se apresenta como bibliográfica. Neste sentido, analisou-se a literatura acerca dos estudos em Educação Infantil. A tendência da produção científica evidencia que focar questões atinentes à Educação Infantil vem se constituindo como um grande contributo na busca pelo rompimento com uma perspectiva assistencialista que marcou sua existência e trajetória.

Susann Wolf-Grosse,1 Anne Mari Rokstad,1–3 Syed Ali,4 John D Lambris,5 Tom E Mollnes,2,6–9 Asbjørn M Nilsen,1,* Jørgen Stenvik1,2,* 1Department of Cancer Research and Molecular Medicine, 2Centre of Molecular Inflammation Research (CEMIR), Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, 3Central Norway Regional Health Authority, Stjørdal, Norway; 4Division of Neurotoxicology, US FDA/National Center for Toxicological Research, Jefferson, AR, 5Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA; 6Department of Immunology, Oslo University Hospital, Rikshospitalet, Oslo, 7Research Laboratory, Nordland Hospital, Bodø, 8K.G. Jebsen Inflammatory Research Center, University of Oslo, Oslo, 9Faculty of Health Sciences, K.G. Jebsen Thrombosis Research and Expertise Center, University of Tromsø, Tromsø, Norway *These authors contributed equally to this work Abstract: Iron oxide nanoparticles (IONPs) are promising nanomaterials for biomedical applications. However, their inflammatory potential has not been fully established. Here, we used a lepirudin anti-coagulated human whole blood model to evaluate the potential of 10 nm IONPs to activate the complement system and induce cytokine production. Reactive oxygen species and cell death were also assessed. The IONPs activated complement, as measured by C3a, C5a and sC5b-9, and induced the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines in a particle-dose dependent manner, with the strongest response at 10 µg/mL IONPs. Complement inhibitors at C3 (compstatin analog Cp40) and C5 (eculizumab) levels completely inhibited complement activation and secretion of inflammatory mediators induced by the IONPs. Additionally, blockade of complement receptors C3aR and C5aR1 significantly reduced the levels of various cytokines, indicating that the particle-induced secretion of inflammatory mediators is mainly C5a and C3a mediated. The IONPs did not induce cell death or reactive oxygen species, which further suggests that complement activation alone was responsible for most of the particle-induced cytokines. These data suggest that the lepirudin anti-coagulated human whole blood model is a valuable ex vivo system to study the inflammatory potential of IONPs. We conclude that IONPs induce complement-mediated cytokine secretion in human whole blood. Keywords: iron oxide nanoparticles, human whole blood, complement activation, cytokines, reactive oxygen species, complement inhibitors

Susann Grosse,1 Jørgen Stenvik,1,2 Asbjørn M Nilsen1 1Department of Cancer Research and Molecular Medicine, 2Centre of Molecular Inflammation Research, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway Abstract: Co-stimulation of the immune system to more than one agent concomitantly is very common in real life, and considering the increasing use of engineered nanoparticles and nanomaterials, it is highly relevant to assess the ability of these materials to modulate key innate immune responses, which has not yet been studied in detail. We investigated the immunomodulatory effects of 10 nm and 30 nm iron oxide nanoparticles (IONPs) on primary human monocytes in the presence and absence of Toll-like receptor 4 agonist lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Prior to the cell studies, we characterized the physicochemical properties of the nanoparticles in cell culture medium and ensured that the nanoparticles were free from biological contamination. Cellular uptake of the IONPs in monocytes was assessed using transmission electron microscopy. Using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, we found that the IONPs per se did not induce the production of proinflammatory cytokines tumor necrosis factor-α, interleukin-6, and interleukin-1β. However, the IONPs had the ability to suppress LPS-induced nuclear factor kappa B activation and production of proinflammatory cytokines in primary human monocytes in an LPS and a particle dose-dependent manner. Using confocal microscopy and fluorescently labeled LPS, we showed that the effects correlated with impaired LPS internalization by monocytes in the presence of IONPs, which could be partly explained by LPS adsorption onto the nanoparticle surface. Additionally, the results from particle pretreatment experiments indicate that other cellular mechanisms might also play a role in the observed effects, which warrants further studies to elucidate the additional mechanisms underlying the capacity of IONPs to alter the reactivity of monocytes to LPS and to mount an appropriate cellular response. Keywords: iron oxide nanoparticles, primary human monocytes, PBMCs, cytokines, LPS adsorption, Toll-like receptors

In the initial phase of the pandemic caused by the coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2), schools were closed, forcing most students to stay home on school days. In this chaotic and stressful situation, facing a potential life-threatening disease, parents needed to handle their family life, their own work, in addition to being teachers of their children. This situation may have been especially stressful for parents of children in need of special education. In this study, we examined possible determinants of parental satisfaction with the school during the lockdown using a sample of parents (N = 476) with children in need of special education. By applying a multivariate regression model, we found that the strongest predictor of parental satisfaction with the school during the lockdown was good communication between the parents and the school (r = 0.38), followed by how often the teachers were in contact with the children (r = 0.18) and how well the teachers guided the parents regarding home-schooling (r = 0.17). Notably, the degree of the children's difficulties, family climate or socioeconomic status was not related to parental satisfaction with the school during the lockdown.

Within the higher education sector, the principle of student-active and research-based education are established in strategy documents and action plans, but at the same time there is an ongoing debate about what is meant by research-based learning and how it can be applied in practical teaching contexts. The aim of this empirical study is to explore inclusion of research elements in higher education. The study introduces the concept of using systematic literature review (SLR) and digital collaboration as a learning method, and addresses how to succeed with digital collaborative systematic literature review as a research-like learning activity in higher education. An exploratory multiple case design is used, with participatory observation technique and thematic analysis. A practical contribution of this study is an example of how SLR is well-suited to do collective research-like learning activities. The main contribution is that the higher education teacher needs integrated knowledge, including research competence in addition to the traditional link between professional, didactic and technological competence. A model for research-like learning is proposed, which illustrates the need for research knowledge in relation to the technological pedagogical content knowledge.

Meta-analyses and international large-scale assessments (ILSA) are key sources for informing educational policy, research, and practice. While many critical research questions could be addressed by drawing evidence from both of these sources, meta-analysts seldom integrate ILSAs, and current integration practices lack methodological guidance. The aim of this methodological review is therefore to synthesize and illustrate the principles and practices of including ILSA data in meta-analyses. Specifically, we (a) review four ILSA data inclusion approaches (analytic steps, potential, challenges); (b) examine whether and how existing meta-analyses included ILSA data; and (c) provide a hands-on illustrative example of how to implement the four approaches. Seeing the need for meta-analyses on educational inequalities, we situated the review and illustration in the context of gender differences and socioeconomic gaps in student achievement. Ultimately, we outline the steps meta-analysts could take to utilize the potential and address the challenges of ILSA data for meta-analyses in education.

Refletir acerca da educação permanente como possibilitadora de aprimoramento intelectual, na perspectiva da competência profissional e da consolidação da identidade profissional crítica do assistente social, emerge como necessidade no atual contexto histórico, no qual o dinamismo societário caminha apressadamente. Por meio de uma pesquisa qualitativa, utilizando-se da história oral, através de entrevista semiestruturada, alcançou-se conhecimento sobre as formas utilizadas pelos profissionais de Serviço Social na busca autônoma por educação permanente. Os resultados do estudo apontam que a totalidade dos entrevistados é unânime em afirmar que a qualificação continuada é de suma importância para a consolidação da identidade profissional crítica, potencialização das competências e das atribuições privativas dos assistentes sociais, contribuindo, assim, para a efetivação do Projeto Ético-Político da profissão, além de portar a tendência de se repercutir positivamente no alcance da qualidade dos serviços prestados.