| 1. |
- Rönner, Anna-Clara, et al.
(författare)
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Cough, sneeze, pass it on–pupils’ understanding of infectious diseases in the aftermath of COVID-19
- 2023
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Ingår i: Journal of Biological Education. - : Routledge. - 0021-9266 .- 2157-6009.
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The COVID-19 pandemic had an immense impact on communities around the world. We know that new epidemic-prone diseases will emerge in the future. Consequently, it is important to investigate what impact the current pandemic had on school children’s understanding of infectious diseases in order to develop biology education based on that novel understanding. The aim of this study was to explore Swedish middle school (10-12-year-old) pupils’ understanding of infectious diseases and their perceived sources of knowledge. Data was collected through individual semi-structured interviews with fifteen pupils and analysed by thematic coding. Results revealed a great impact of the pandemic on the respondents’ conceptions. Firstly, their notion of infectious diseases based on their idea of COVID-19 was elusive because COVID-19 can manifest very differently. Secondly, the need to care about oneself and others was recognized. Thirdly, the importance of vaccines was recognized, but vaccines were given different roles. Finally, their understanding of infection seems to originate from informal domains such as the news and the Internet, rather than from biology education. One proposal for biology teaching could be to introduce scientific concepts earlier, to pay more attention to differences and similarities between infectious diseases, and to cooperate with other school subjects.
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| 2. |
- Rönner, Anna-Clara, 1971-, et al.
(författare)
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“Bacteria are not viruses; viruses are more malicious” - young pupils’ understanding of bacteria and viruses in the aftermath of COVID-19
- 2023
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Ingår i: Journal of Biological Education. - : Taylor & Francis. - 0021-9266 .- 2157-6009.
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Recently, the COVID-19 pandemic impacted immensely on individuals and societies around the world. This study aimed at delineating Swedish middle school (10?12-year-old) pupils? understanding of bacteria and viruses, thereby illustrating the influence of the pandemic at schools and in society. Data was collected by semi-structured, individual interviews and by asking pupils to draw images. Thematic coding of interview transcripts and content analysis of pupils? annotated drawings were used. The morphology of microorganisms from the drawings was often 'corona-like', with a round shape and with protruding parts. Viruses were commonly considered larger than bacteria, but sometimes also similar in size. Interrelationships between bacteria and viruses were expressed with a superior microorganism. Pupils drew microorganisms as cell-like and never portrayed them as animals or with anthropomorphic features. Viruses were considered to cause a more severe disease than bacteria. Pupils seldomly tethered a specific virus to a specific infectious disease, and often named both (virus and disease) 'corona'. However, when they did make a connection, viruses were considered to cause flu and COVID-19, bacteria to cause cold and plague. In general, these results indicate that viruses received a more pronounced position amongst microorganisms in the minds of pupils in the aftermath of COVID-19.
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| 3. |
- Rönner, Anna-Clara, 1971-, et al.
(författare)
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Middle school pupils’ understanding of bacteria and virus in the aftermath of Covid-19
- 2023
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Ingår i: Tepe 2023. ; , s. 20-20
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- For the past couple of years, the COVID-19 pandemic had an immense impact on lives of individuals and societies around the world. The main purpose of this study was to delineate Swedish middle school (10-12-year-old) pupils’ understanding of bacteria and virus thereby illustrating the impact of the pandemic at schools and in society. Data were collected by semistructured, individual interviews and by asking participants to draw images of bacteria and virus. Thematic coding and content analysis of children’s annotated drawings were used. The morphology of the microorganisms from the drawings was analyzed by the deductively induced themes shape, surface texture and internal feature. Viruses were frequently considered larger than bacteria, but it was also common to view them being similar in size. Interrelationships between bacteria and viruses were expressed like a hierarchy with a “superior” microorganism, and as bacteria could generate viruses. Pupils drew microorganisms as cell-like and never portrayed them as animals or with anthropomorphic features, as reported in earlier research. Metaphoric aspects of drawings of viruses were summarized as being “bacteriophage-like” or “corona-like”. A virus was considered to induce the more grievous disease. Pupils seldomly tethered a specific virus to a specific infectious disease, and often named both "corona". However, when they did so, virus was tethered to flu and COVID-19 and bacteria to cold and plague. One ostensible suggestion for learning improvement would be to pay more attention to differences between microorganisms and their liaison to specific infectious diseases. This liaison is suggested as an important concept for developing contagion literacy. Furthermore, we recommend pathogenic bacteria and viruses to be explicitly taught in biology education at middle school or earlier in balance with knowledge about essential microorganisms. Finally, we propose the measures above to be integrated into the biology education of teacher´s education.
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| 4. |
- Chang, Lei, et al.
(författare)
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Environmental harshness and unpredictability, life history, and social and academic behavior of adolescents in nine countries.
- 2019
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Ingår i: Developmental Psychology. - : American Psychological Association (APA). - 0012-1649 .- 1939-0599. ; 55:4, s. 890-903
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Safety is essential for life. To survive, humans and other animals have developed sets of psychological and physiological adaptations known as life history (LH) tradeoff strategies in response to various safety constraints. Evolutionarily selected LH strategies in turn regulate development and behavior to optimize survival under prevailing safety conditions. The present study tested LH hypotheses concerning safety based on a 6-year longitudinal sample of 1,245 adolescents and their parents from 9 countries. The results revealed that, invariant across countries, environmental harshness, and unpredictability (lack of safety) was negatively associated with slow LH behavioral profile, measured 2 years later, and slow LH behavioral profile was negatively and positively associated with externalizing behavior and academic performance, respectively, as measured an additional 2 years later. These results support the evolutionary conception that human development responds to environmental safety cues through LH regulation of social and learning behaviors. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).
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| 5. |
- Rönner, Anna-Clara, et al.
(författare)
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In what ways has the pandemic influenced teaching and interest for contagions and infectious diseases : Swedish middle school pupils´ reflections in the backdrop of COVID-19
- 2022
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Ingår i: Contributions from Biology Education Research. - : University of Cyprus. ; , s. 77-77
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- For much of the past year the coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has had an enormous impact on the lives of individuals and communities around the world. The aims of the current study was to investigate (I) 10 to 12-year-old Swedish pupils´ views on how the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic influences their interests and understanding regarding contagion literacy (CL), and (II) from what source (biology education or informal settings) they perceive that their knowledge originates from. The study is based on the framework of CL that was defined as the health literacy required in daily life and that recommends what should be taught at compulsory schools. The framework specifies six content themes, of which four are used in the current study to outline middle school pupils´ comprehension. Data is collected by individual, semi-structured interviews with pupils´ at schools located in various socio-economic areas. The interviews were transcribed and analysed thematically. Preliminary results showed that pupils´ perceive the ongoing pandemic to prompt many student-initiated questions and is creating more interactive and interesting learning situations. Most pupils say they have no experience CL from their formal biology teaching and that their knowledge derives mostly from sources outside school, such as news programs for children. To conclude, the interviewed Swedish middle school pupils´ understanding of CL seems mainly to originate from informal domains, rather than from formal biology education. Hence, the results indicate that the COVID-19 pandemic spark interest among pupils for the topic and that there is a potential for exploiting this interest in developing biology education at this school level.
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| 6. |
- Herbertsson, Lina, et al.
(författare)
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Bees increase seed set of wild plants while the proportion of arable land has a variable effect on pollination in European agricultural landscapes
- 2021
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Ingår i: Plant Ecology and Evolution. - : Societe Royale de Botanique de Belgique. - 2032-3913 .- 2032-3921. ; 154:3, s. 341-350
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background and aims: Agricultural intensification and loss of farmland heterogeneity have contributed to population declines of wild bees and other pollinators, which may have caused subsequent declines in insect-pollinated wild plants.Material and methods: Using data from 37 studies on 22 pollinator-dependent wild plant species across Europe, we investigated whether flower visitation and seed set of insect-pollinated plants decline with an increasing proportion of arable land within 1 km.Key results: Seed set increased with increasing flower visitation by bees, most of which were wild bees, but not with increasing flower visitation by other insects. Increasing proportion of arable land had a strongly variable effect on seed set and flower visitation by bees across studies.Conclusion:Factors such as landscape configuration, local habitat quality, and temporally changing resource availability (e.g. due to mass-flowering crops or honey bee hives) could have modified the effect of arable land on pollination. While our results highlight that the persistence of wild bees is crucial to maintain plant diversity, we also show that pollen limitation due to declining bee populations in homogenized agricultural landscapes is not a universal driver causing parallel losses of bees and insect-pollinated plants.
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| 7. |
- Jenkins, Samantha, 1967-, et al.
(författare)
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The role of hydrogen bonding in nanocolloidal amorphous silica particles in electrolyte solutions
- 2009
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Ingår i: Journal of colloid and interface science. - : Elsevier BV. - 1095-7103 .- 0021-9797.
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Explicit solvent (water) molecular dynamics simulations were undertaken containing three pairs of amorphous silica nanoparticles, having diameters of 2.0nm, 2.4nm and 2.8nm, respectively. Mean forces acting between the silica nanoparticles were calculated in a background electrolyte, i.e., NaCl at four different concentrations. Dependence of the inter-particle potential of mean force on the center of mass separation, silicon to sodium ratio (Si:Na(+)), background electrolyte concentration, number of hydrogen bonds directly linking pairs of silica nanoparticles and the density of charged surface sites, are calculated. The pH was indirectly accounted for via the ratio of silicon to sodium used in the simulations. The close relationship between the variation of the number of hydrogen bonds between the pairs of silica nanoparticles and the inter-particle potential of mean force indicates that the degree of inter-particle hydrogen bonding quantifies, for a given size of nanoparticle, the degree of nanoparticle 'stickiness'. Simulations also show that the number of hydrogen bonds between the charged surface (O(-)) sites and the surrounding water molecules increases with increase in charged sites, in agreement with the interaction behavior of silica nanoparticles usually seen in experiments.
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| 8. |
- Plue, Jan, et al.
(författare)
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Buffering effects of soil seed banks on plant community composition in response to land use and climate
- 2020
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Ingår i: Global Ecology and Biogeography. - : Wiley. - 1466-822X .- 1466-8238. ; 30:1, s. 128-139
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- AimClimate and land use are key determinants of biodiversity, with past and ongoing changes posing serious threats to global ecosystems. Unlike most other organism groups, plant species can possess dormant life‐history stages such as soil seed banks, which may help plant communities to resist or at least postpone the detrimental impact of global changes. This study investigates the potential for soil seed banks to achieve this.Location Europe.Time period 1978–2014.Major taxa studied Flowering plantsMethodsUsing a space‐for‐time/warming approach, we study plant species richness and composition in the herb layer and the soil seed bank in 2,796 community plots from 54 datasets in managed grasslands, forests and intermediate, successional habitats across a climate gradient.ResultsSoil seed banks held more species than the herb layer, being compositionally similar across habitats. Species richness was lower in forests and successional habitats compared to grasslands, with annual temperature range more important than mean annual temperature for determining richness. Climate and land‐use effects were generally less pronounced when plant community richness included seed bank species richness, while there was no clear effect of land use and climate on compositional similarity between the seed bank and the herb layer.Main conclusionsHigh seed bank diversity and compositional similarity between the herb layer and seed bank plant communities may provide a potentially important functional buffer against the impact of ongoing environmental changes on plant communities. This capacity could, however, be threatened by climate warming. Dormant life‐history stages can therefore be important sources of diversity in changing environments, potentially underpinning already observed time‐lags in plant community responses to global change. However, as soil seed banks themselves appear, albeit less, vulnerable to the same changes, their potential to buffer change can only be temporary, and major community shifts may still be expected.
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| 9. |
- Mac Giolla, Erik, 1987, et al.
(författare)
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Sex differences in personality are larger in gender equal countries : Replicating and extending a surprising finding.
- 2019
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Ingår i: International Journal of Psychology. - : Wiley. - 0020-7594 .- 1464-066X. ; 54:6, s. 705-711
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Sex differences in personality have been shown to be larger in more gender equal countries. We advance this research by using an extensive personality measure, the IPIP-NEO-120, with large country samples (N > 1000), from 22 countries. Furthermore, to capture the multidimensionality of personality we measure sex differences with a multivariate effect size (Mahalanobis distance D). Results indicate that past research, using univariate measures of effect size, have underestimated the size of between-country sex differences in personality. Confirming past research, there was a strong correlation (r = .69) between a country's sex differences in personality and their Gender Equality Index. Additional analyses showed that women typically score higher than men on all five trait factors (Neuroticism, Extraversion, Openness, Agreeableness and Conscientiousness), and that these relative differences are larger in more gender equal countries. We speculate that as gender equality increases both men and women gravitate towards their traditional gender roles.
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| 10. |
- Kajonius, Petri, 1974-
(författare)
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The Future of Personalized Care : Scientific, Measurement, and Practical Advancements in Personality and Brain Disorders
- 2019
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Ingår i: Personality and Brain Disorders. - Cham : Springer International Publishing. - 9783319900643 - 9783319900650 ; , s. 269-281
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Bokkapitel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Background: Person-centered care sciences are experiencing rapid progress. Personalization in care services is becoming the norm, and implementation from scientific knowledge is increasingly acknowledged and mandated. Advances in personality and brain disorder research are crucial in assisting the future development of personalized care. Aim: We will attempt to present glimpses into the future of personalized care with support from frontline science, measurement, and practice, updating with input from personality genetics and measurement theory. Outline: We present three broad developments: (1) scientific advancements in understanding how personality and genetics are central in predicting mental health and disorders, with the potential to increase predictive diagnosis and treatment validity; (2) measurement advancements with help of trait dimensions and latent structures, with the potential to increase reliability in assessing personalized care needs and functioning; (3) practical advancements in implementing a personalized approach in care services, with the potential to increase effectiveness and satisfaction with patients. We review this glimpse into the future by referencing key findings in personality and assessment meta-analyses, genome-wide association studies (GWAS), and trait measurements in psychiatric disorders. Conclusion: Personalizing care services will benefit practitioners and patients. We suggest and recommend that personalized care diagnosis and treatment is the way forward and that the future will be potentially revolutionized by incorporating the presented advancements in personality research and brain sciences.
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