University of Jyväskylä

About: University of Jyväskylä is a education organization based out in Jyvaskyla, Finland. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Neutron. The organization has 8066 authors who have published 25168 publications receiving 725033 citations. The organization is also known as: Jyväskylän yliopisto & Kasvatusopillinen korkeakoulu.

Three methods for studying developmental change: A case of reading skills and self‐concept

Abstract: Aims: First, to introduce and compare three statistical methods for investigating development as a cumulative process: a simplex model, latent growth curve analysis, and clustering by cases. Second, to investigate the developmental dynamics of reading skills, and self-concept of reading ability, across the first year of primary school. Sample: One hundred and five (61 boys, 44 girls) 6-to 7-year-old children from four first-grade classes in two primary schools participated in the study. Method: Children were studied three times during their first school year using an identical set of measurements: a Reading Skills Test and the Self-Concept of Ability scale. Results: A uni-construct ‘Matthew’ effect was found for the development of self-concept, but not for the reading skills. However, the results showed that there was a multi-construct cumulative cycle between children's reading skills and their self-concept. Conclusions: Simultaneous use of variable- and person-oriented methods in developmental research seems to be a valuable approach, which not only provides a proper way to investigate the cumulative developmental cycles but also an option to examine how large a proportion of the sample follows the positive and negative pattern found in variable-oriented analyses.

Clustering Induces a Lateral Redistribution of α2β1 Integrin from Membrane Rafts to Caveolae and Subsequent Protein Kinase C-dependent Internalization

Abstract: Integrin α2β1 mediates the binding of several epithelial and mesenchymal cell types to collagen. The composition of the surrounding plasma membrane, especially caveolin-1- and cholesterol-containin...

Value of the Axial-Vector Coupling Strength in β and ββ Decays: A Review

Abstract: In this review the quenching of the weak axial-vector coupling constant, $g_{\rm A}$, is discussed in nuclear $\beta$ and double-$\beta$ decays. On one hand, the nuclear-medium and nuclear many-body effects are separated, and on the other hand the quenching is discussed from the points of view of different many-body methods and different $\beta$-decay and double-$\beta$-decay processes. Both the historical background and the present status are reviewed and contrasted against each other. The theoretical considerations are tied to performed and planned measurements, and possible new measurements are urged, whenever relevant and doable. Relation of the quenching problem to the measurements of charge-exchange reactions and muon-capture rates is pointed out.

Entropy of balance--some recent results.

Abstract: Entropy when applied to biological signals is expected to reflect the state of the biological system. However the physiological interpretation of the entropy is not always straightforward. When should high entropy be interpreted as a healthy sign, and when as marker of deteriorating health? We address this question for the particular case of human standing balance and the Center of Pressure data. We have measured and analyzed balance data of 136 participants (young, n = 45; elderly, n = 91) comprising in all 1085 trials, and calculated the Sample Entropy (SampEn) for medio-lateral (M/L) and anterior-posterior (A/P) Center of Pressure (COP) together with the Hurst self-similariy (ss) exponent α using Detrended Fluctuation Analysis (DFA). The COP was measured with a force plate in eight 30 seconds trials with eyes closed, eyes open, foam, self-perturbation and nudge conditions. 1) There is a significant difference in SampEn for the A/P-direction between the elderly and the younger groups Old > young. 2) For the elderly we have in general A/P > M/L. 3) For the younger group there was no significant A/P-M/L difference with the exception for the nudge trials where we had the reverse situation, A/P Eyes Open. 5) In case of the Hurst ss-exponent we have for the elderly, M/L > A/P. These results seem to be require some modifications of the more or less established attention-constraint interpretation of entropy. This holds that higher entropy correlates with a more automatic and a less constrained mode of balance control, and that a higher entropy reflects, in this sense, a more efficient balancing.

Between-group competition and human cooperation

Abstract: A distinctive feature of human behaviour is the widespread occurrence of cooperation among unrelated individuals. Explaining the maintenance of costly within-group cooperation is a challenge because the incentive to free ride on the efforts of other group members is expected to lead to decay of cooperation. However, the costs of cooperation can be diminished or overcome when there is competition at a higher level of organizational hierarchy. Here we show that competition between groups resolves the paradigmatic ‘public goods’ social dilemma and increases within-group cooperation and overall productivity. Further, group competition intensifies the moral emotions of anger and guilt associated with violations of the cooperative norm. The results suggest an important role for group conflict in the evolution of human cooperation and moral emotions.