Quality Control Optimization for Minimizing Security Risks Associated with Mesenchymal Stromal Cell-Based Product Development.

Mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) have been considered a therapeutic strategy in regenerative medicine because of their regenerative and immunomodulatory properties. The translation of MSC-based products has some challenges, such as regulatory and scientific issues. Quality control should be standardized and optimized to guarantee the reproducibility, safety, and efficacy of MSC-based products to be administered to patients. The aim of this study was to develop MSC-based products for use in clinical practice. Quality control assays include cell characterization, cell viability, immunogenicity, and cell differentiation; safety tests such as procoagulant tissue factor (TF), microbiological, mycoplasma, endotoxin, genomic stability, and tumorigenicity tests; and potency tests. The results confirm that the cells express MSC markers; an average cell viability of 96.9%; a low expression of HLA-DR and costimulatory molecules; differentiation potential; a high expression of TF/CD142; an absence of pathogenic microorganisms; negative endotoxins; an absence of chromosomal abnormalities; an absence of genotoxicity and tumorigenicity; and T-lymphocyte proliferation inhibition potential. This study shows the relevance of standardizing the manufacturing process and quality controls to reduce variability due to the heterogeneity between donors. The results might also be useful for the implementation and optimization of new analytical techniques and automated methods to improve safety, which are the major concerns related to MSC-based therapy.

Parents' Perceptions of Student Academic Motivation During the COVID-19 Lockdown: A Cross-Country Comparison.

The COVID-19 outbreak has ravaged all societal domains, including education. Home confinement, school closures, and distance learning impacted students, teachers, and parents' lives worldwide. In this study, we aimed to examine the impact of COVID-19-related restrictions on Italian and Portuguese students' academic motivation as well as investigate the possible buffering role of extracurricular activities. Following a retrospective pretest-posttest design, 567 parents (n Italy = 173, n Portugal = 394) reported on their children's academic motivation and participation in extracurricular activities (grades 1 to 9). We used a multi-group latent change score model to compare Italian and Portuguese students': (1) pre-COVID mean motivation scores; (2) rate of change in motivation; (3) individual variation in the rate of change in motivation; and (4) dependence of the rate of change on initial motivation scores. Estimates of latent change score models showed a decrease in students' motivation both in Italy and in Portugal, although more pronounced in Italian students. Results also indicated that the decrease in students' participation in extracurricular activities was associated with changes in academic motivation (i.e., students with a lower decrease in participation in extracurricular activities had also a lower decrease in motivation). Furthermore, students' age was significantly associated with changes in motivation (i.e., older students had lower decrease). No significant associations were found for students' gender nor for parents' education. This study provides an important contribution to the study of students' academic motivation during home confinement, school closures, and distance learning as restrictive measures adopted to contain a worldwide health emergency. We contend that teachers need to adopt motivation-enhancing practices as means to prevent the decline in academic motivation during exceptional situations.

School achievement and well-being of immigrant children: The role of acculturation orientations and perceived discrimination.

This survey study examined the role of perceived discrimination and acculturation orientations on immigrant children's achievement and well-being in the school context. Immigrant (n = 229), immigrant descendant (n = 196), and native Portuguese children (n = 168) from 4th to 6th grade participated in the study. Results showed the expected gap: immigrant and immigrant descendant children revealed lower school achievement than their native peers; but only immigrant, and not immigrant descendant children, reported lower levels of well-being and peer acceptance. Perceived discrimination was negatively related to school achievement, via an increased desire for culture maintenance, only among immigrant children. The indirect effects of perceived discrimination on well-being and peer acceptance were not significant. However, perceived discrimination was strongly related to lower well-being and acceptance, independently of the target group, suggesting that its negative association with well-being in the school context might encompass a more general process affecting both immigrant and immigrant descendant children.

Gender differences in aggression: The role of displaying facial emotional cues in a competitive situation.

Prior studies have shown that facial emotion displays communicate emotional states and interpersonal intentions. This study addressed gender differences in aggression based on the facial emotional cues expressed from a fictional opponent. A modified version of the competitive reaction time task (CRTT) was used to measure aggression. Participants (N = 251), between 18 and 35 years of age, were randomly assigned to one of the four conditions of the fictional opponents' facial emotional cue displayed during the CRTT: anger, sadness, neutral, or the absence of facial expression. After each trial, participants were asked to report their own feelings and to choose a level of noise to administer to their opponent. Finally, motives for aggression were assessed. Results showed that women were less aggressive than men when receiving emotional cues of sadness and anger from the sender. In contrast, no gender differences occurred when a neutral expression was displayed or in the absence of any expression. In addition, men displayed similar levels of aggression across the four conditions, whereas women were more aggressive in both neutral and no feedback conditions than in the sad and anger conditions. Instrumental motives contributed to explaining the overall gender differences in aggression. These results suggest important moderator and mediator factors of gender differences in aggressive behavior.

A Qualidade Observada em Salas de Berçário / The Quality of Center-Based Child Care and Education for Infants

RESUMO Este estudo teve como objetivo investigar a qualidade de estruturas formais de educação para crianças com menos de 12 meses de idade. Participaram 30 salas de berçário de Setúbal e Palmela, no sul de Portugal. A qualidade global das salas foi avaliada com base na Infant/Toddler Environment Rating Scale - Revised Edition e as práticas de socialização, com base na Caregiver Interaction Scale. Os resultados revelam qualidade global média moderada das salas e elevada qualidade nas práticas de socialização. As associações entre essas medidas de processo e algumas características estruturais das salas sugerem, entre outras implicações, a necessidade de assegurar a formação superior em educação de infância dos profissionais que trabalham nesses contextos de socialização.

ABSTRACT This study aimed to investigate the quality of center-based child care and education for infants. Thirty classrooms for infants from Setúbal and Palmela, in the south of Portugal, participated in this study. The overall quality of these classrooms was assessed with the Infant/Toddler Environment Rating Scale - Revised Edition and caregivers' socialization practices were measured with the Caregiver Interaction Scale. Findings suggest that these classrooms present moderate overall quality and high-quality caregiving interaction behaviors. The associations between these process quality measures and selected classroom structural features suggest, among other implications, the need to ensure the presence of professionals with university degrees in early childhood education in these settings.

Escala de Avaliação dos Estilos de Ensino: qualidades psicométricas dos dados / Teaching Styles Rating Scale: Data pscychometric properties

Este trabalho apresenta uma escala de avaliação da qualidade dos comportamentos interactivos maternos. Embora este instrumento tenha sido utilizado no contexto de um projecto mais amplo que visa estudar os determinantes maternos da qualidade do envolvimento da criança, este artigo centra-se especificamente nas decisões metodológicas relativas à observação dos comportamentos interactivos maternos. A Escala de Avaliação dos Estilos de Ensino (EAEE) foi utilizada para observar os comportamentos interactivos de 120 mães de crianças em idade de creche, numa situação de jogo livre, seguida de arrumação dos brinquedos. Cada díade foi observada em três momentos diferentes. A análise das dimensões subjacentes, dos coeficientes de consistência interna e de acordo inter-observadores, bem como da consistência temporal dos dados, permite concluir que a EAEE é uma medida útil e adequada dos comportamentos interactivos de mães portuguesas em situações diádicas de jogo.

This paper presents a rating scale designed to capture the quality of maternal interaction behaviors. Although this instrument was used in the context of a broader research project, which intended to study maternal determinants of child’s engagement quality, this article will specifically focus methodological decisions concerning the observation of mothers’ interaction behaviours. The Teaching Styles Rating Scale (TSRS) was used to observe interaction behaviours of 120 mothers of toddlers in a free play situation followed by a cleanup instruction. Each dyad was observed in three different times. The examination of underlying dimensions, internal consistency, inter-rater agreement coefficients and temporal consistency data allow us to conclude that TSRS is a useful and adequate measure of Portuguese mothers interaction behaviors in dyadic play situations.

Escala de avaliação dos estilos de ensino: qualidades psicométricas dos dados / Teaching styles rating scale: data psychometric properties

Este trabalho apresenta uma escala de avaliação da qualidade dos comportamentos interactivos maternos. Embora este instrumento tenha sido utilizado no contexto de um projecto mais amplo que visa estudar os determinantes maternos da qualidade do envolvimento da criança, este artigo centra-se especificamente nas decisões metodológicas relativas à observação dos comportamentos interactivos maternos. A escala de avaliação dos estilos de ensino (EAEE) foi utilizada para observar os comportamentos interactivos de 120 mães de crianças em idade de creche, numa situação de jogo livre, seguida de arrumação dos brinquedos. Cada díade foi observada em três momentos diferentes. A análise das dimensões subjacentes, dos coeficientes de consistência interna e de acordo inter-observadores, bem como da consistência temporal dos dados, permite concluir que a EAEE é uma medida útil e adequada dos comportamentos interactivos de mães portuguesas em situações diádicas de jogo (AU)