University of Haifa

About: University of Haifa is a education organization based out in Haifa, Israel. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Poison control. The organization has 7558 authors who have published 27141 publications receiving 711629 citations. The organization is also known as: Haifa University & Universiṭat Ḥefah.

The effect of skin-to-skin contact (kangaroo care) shortly after birth on the neurobehavioral responses of the term newborn: a randomized, controlled trial

Abstract: Background. The method of skin-to-skin contact (kangaroo care [KC]) has shown physiologic, cognitive, and emotional gains for preterm infants; however, KC has not been studied adequately in term newborns. Aims. To evaluate the effect of KC, used shortly after delivery, on the neurobehavioral responses of the healthy newborn. Study Design. A randomized, controlled trial using a table of random numbers. After consent, the mothers were assigned to 1 of 2 groups: KC shortly after delivery or a no-treatment standard care (control group). Subjects. Included were 47 healthy mother-infant pairs. KC began at 15 to 20 minutes after delivery and lasted for 1 hour. Control infants and KC infants were brought to the nursery 15 to 20 and 75 to 80 minutes after birth, respectively. Results. During a 1-hour-long observation, starting at 4 hours postnatally, the KC infants slept longer, were mostly in a quiet sleep state, exhibited more flexor movements and postures, and showed less extensor movements. Conclusions. KC seems to influence state organization and motor system modulation of the newborn infant shortly after delivery. The significance of our findings for supportive transition from the womb to the extrauterine environment is discussed. Medical and nursing staff may be well advised to provide this kind of care shortly after birth.

What We Know about Emotional Intelligence: How It Affects Learning, Work, Relationships, and Our Mental Health.

Abstract: Sorting out the scientific facts from the unsupported hype about emotional intelligence.Emotional intelligence (or EI)?the ability to perceive, regulate, and communicate emotions, to understand emotions in ourselves and others?has been the subject of best-selling books, magazine cover stories, and countless media mentions. It has been touted as a solution for problems ranging from relationship issues to the inadequacies of local schools. But the media hype has far outpaced the scientific research on emotional intelligence. In What We Know about Emotional Intelligence, three experts who are actively involved in research into EI offer a state-of-the-art account of EI in theory and practice. They tell us what we know about EI based not on anecdote or wishful thinking but on science.What We Know about Emotional Intelligence looks at current knowledge about EI with the goal of translating it into practical recommendations in work, school, social, and psychological contexts.

A framework for comparing pollinator performance: effectiveness and efficiency

Abstract: Measuring pollinator performance has become increasingly important with emerging needs for risk assessment in conservation and sustainable agriculture that require multi-year and multi-site comparisons across studies. However, comparing pollinator performance across studies is difficult because of the diversity of concepts and disparate methods in use. Our review of the literature shows many unresolved ambiguities. Two different assessment concepts predominate: the first estimates stigmatic pollen deposition and the underlying pollinator behaviour parameters, while the second estimates the pollinator's contribution to plant reproductive success, for example in terms of seed set. Both concepts include a number of parameters combined in diverse ways and named under a diversity of synonyms and homonyms. However, these concepts are overlapping because pollen deposition success is the most frequently used proxy for assessing the pollinator's contribution to plant reproductive success. We analyse the diverse concepts and methods in the context of a new proposed conceptual framework with a modular approach based on pollen deposition, visit frequency, and contribution to seed set relative to the plant's maximum female reproductive potential. A system of equations is proposed to optimize the balance between idealised theoretical concepts and practical operational methods. Our framework permits comparisons over a range of floral phenotypes, and spatial and temporal scales, because scaling up is based on the same fundamental unit of analysis, the single visit.