Adults'' Responses to Infants Varying in Appearance of Age and Attractiveness

The relations among age appearance, facial attractiveness, and adult expectations of the developmental maturity of infants were examined in 3 studies. In Study 1, a relation was demonstrated between ratings of the attractiveness (77 judges) and age appearance (53 judges) of 6-month-olds: less attractive infants were judged to be older than their attractive age-mates. In Study 2, 75 parents judged the specific developmental abilities of 6-month-old infants and estimated the age of the babies. Parents overestimated both the age and the developmental abilities of the unattractive infants. Furthermore, ability estimates for the unattractive infants were significantly higher than judgments of the typical abilities of 6-month-olds made by another group of 35 parents. Finally, the results of Study 2 were replicated in Study 3 conducted with 348 mothers. It was also demonstrated in Study 3 that, although mothers expected unattractive infants to be capable of more specific developmental skills, they nevertheless rated the general competence of the unattractive infants to be lower than that of attractive infants. Specious contradictions in the attractiveness and age appearance literatures are resolved by these results: age appearance seems to function as an informational cue with respect to specific age-appropriate abilities, whereas attractiveness elicits evaluative attributions of general competence. Both types of information conveyed in faces may have important implications for adult evaluations of infants and older children.     

Lifelong learning policies supporting young adults in two Portuguese regions

ABSTRACT

Precarious jobs and unemployment have become common issues for many young adults due to the unfavourable labour market situation in Portugal. Against this background, lifelong learning (LLL) policies have been called in to play a role in creating economic growth and supporting the social inclusion of young adults in vulnerable educational and economic circumstances. These policies are defined at the national level; however, their implementation depends on the action of local actors who face specific challenges. This paper explores disparities in the definition and implementation of LLL policies targeting young adults in two Portuguese regions. Specifically, we analyse professional courses in Vale do Ave (North) and adult education and training courses in Alentejo Litoral (South). These regions were selected due to their dissimilar economic structure. This study adopted a qualitative approach through interviews with LLL experts and policy roundtables with local stakeholders and decision-makers in both regions. Data were transcribed and analysed using NVivo 10. The study shows that the two regions have different cooperation networks between local stakeholders, and that these impact the opportunities to influence the regional skills formation system differently. Also, the study shows that LLL policies are not designed to address destandardised life courses.     

Twitter and Television in a Hybrid Media System

By analyzing all of the keywords and hashtags that became Trending Topics (TTs) in the Italian Twittersphere during both an electoral period and a non-electoral period, we evaluated what Italian Twitter users discussed. We found that topics about actors and issues in the entertainment field (e.g., singers, Hollywood stars and television stars) drive Italian discussions and that the political sphere is a secondary topic that elicits minor arguments within users’ conversations. However, we believe that even this low level of discussion about politics was able to influence the public agenda, thanks to the advent of a hybrid media system in Italy. In fact, Italian print media and television constantly covered the individual tweets or hashtags of a niche of citizens who were discussing politics on Twitter. Television, a part of the Italian media system that is highly consumed by the public, is also a primary factor in determining the appearance of a specific actor or issue on the TT list. Furthermore, we empirically confirmed the logic of breaking news events on Twitter, a microblogging site that primarily focuses on exceptional occurrences.     

MTHFR (Ala 222 Val) polymorphism and AMI in patients with type II diabetes mellitus

The prevalent Ala222Val single nucleotide polymorphism of the MTHFR gene has been shown to be associated with type II diabetes. The objective of the present study was to find out whether there is genetic predisposition for development of acute myocardial infarction in type II diabetes mellitus among South Indian Tamil population. PCR-based restriction enzyme analysis was performed in DNA isolated from 120 acute myocardial infarction patients with diabetes mellitus and 100 non diabetic healthy individuals with no documented cardiovascular diseases. The results indicate that the MTHFR 677TT genotype is absent in both case and controls. The MTHFR 677CT genotype was observed among 32 (26.7 %) cases and 20 (20%) controls and the MTHFR 677CC genotype among 88 (73.3%) cases and 80 (80%) controls. The allelic frequencies were in accordance to Hardy Weinberg equilibrium. There was no statistical difference in genotype distribution between cases and controls. In conclusion, we suggest that the analysis of MTHFR genotyping for C677T polymorphism alone need not be considered to find out whether there is genetic predisposition for development of acute myocardial infarction in type II diabetes mellitus among South Indian Tamil population.     

The developmental and professional activities of female international soccer players from five high-performing nations

ABSTRACT

We study the developmental and professional activities engaged in by 86 female adult soccer players from the senior national teams of Australia, Canada, England, Sweden, and the United States of America. Players completed the Participation History Questionnaire (PHQ) to elicit the amount and type of activities engaged in across their developmental and professional years, including milestones, soccer-specific activity and engagement in other sport activity. Greater specialisation than diversification characterised their childhood developmental activities, including all players starting in soccer in childhood and accumulating more hours in soccer activity than other sports during this period. However, interindividual variation further characterised these childhood activities, with a proportion of players diversifying into other sports and/or soccer play to a greater or lesser degree during childhood when compared to the other players. The amount of coach-led soccer practice increased for all players across their development culminating in an average of 15–16 h/wk across a 40-week season in early adulthood. In contrast, the amount of engagement in other sports and soccer peer-led play varied between players but generally decreased across adolescence to negligible amounts in late adolescence. Findings are commensurate with the deliberate practice framework and early engagement.