Types of responses in 4-5-year-old children in conservation, classification, and theory of mind tasks

This study analyzes the type of responses that children between 4 and 5 years of age give to different tasks: conservation, classification and tasks of the theory of mind (ToM). Types of responses were observed with the Observation of Cognitive and Meta-cognitive Skills Inventory, which identifies: attention, receptive and expressive language, planning processes, and meta-cognitive processes. Significant differences were found according to the variable age in: (a) the use of attentional strategies in performance of ToM tasks, (b) the use of receptive and expressive language in the performance of all tasks, (c) the use of planning processes in the performance of conservation tasks; and (d) the use of meta-cognitive processes to solve ToM tasks.     

Effects of computer-assisted practice on reading and spelling in children with learning disabilities

The main purpose of this study was to analyze the effects of computer-assisted practice on reading and spelling in children with learning disabilities (LD). We compared three practice conditions, one with reading and two with spelling, in order to test whether computer-based reading and spelling practice has an influence on the development of reading and spelling ability in children with LD. A sample was selected of 85 children with LD, with age range between 8 years and 10 years (age, M=111.02, SD=9.6), whose spelling performance was two years below grade level. The participants were randomly assigned to one of four groups: 1) Copy the target word from the computer screen (n=22), 2) Memorize the target word and write it from memory (n=21), 3) Word reading (n=21), and 4) the untrained control group (n=21). We administered measures of pseudoword reading, phonological awareness, phonological word decoding and orthographical word decoding tasks. We examined the learning effects and transfer effects on words classified as a function of length, consistency, and complexity of syllable structure. Overall, the results showed that reading training did not improve spelling; however, the children who participated in the copy training condition improved their spelling skills.     

Educational inequalities in quantity, duration and type of tobacco consumption among lung cancer patients in Asturias: epidemiological analyses

Socioeconomic inequalities cause different tobacco consumption patterns. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between educational level and smoking behaviour, including type of tobacco consumption, in lung cancer patients. To this end, epidemiological analyses of 801 lung cancer patients recruited for a case-control study in four public hospitals in Asturias, Spain, between October 2000 and April 2006 were carried out. Smoking behaviour and educational level data were obtained through personal interview. Analyses indicated that the probability of heavy smoking among low educational-level patients was approximately twice as high as for high educational-level patients (RRR>31.2 packs/years=2.04; CI 95%=1.15-3.62; RRR>52packs/years=2.14; CI 95%=0.98-4.64). Low-educated patients were more than three times as likely to be long-time smokers (RRR>40 years=3.30; CI 95%=1.43-7.62). The probability of smoking exclusively black tobacco was almost four times greater in low educational-level patients (RRRblack only=3.72; CI 95%=1.23-11.19). The results show that there are broad educational inequalities with regard to the quantity, duration and type of tobacco consumption among lung cancer patients in Northern Spain.     

Assessment of the global intelligence and selective cognitive capacities in preterm 8-year-old children

The aim of this study was to assess various cognitive abilities such as attention, IQ, reasoning, and memory related to academic achievement in 8- and 9-year-old preterm children. A total of 141 children were assessed. The preterm group (=37 weeks) comprised 63 children and was compared to 78 full-term children. Attention was evaluated using the d2 Selective Attention test, and the IQ by the L-M form of the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale, establishing a profile of abilities: perception, memory, comprehension, reasoning, and verbal fluency. Significant differences in IQ were found between the preterm and full-term children. Of the cognitive abilities assessed, the only significant differences were found in verbal fluency, with preterm boys showing lower verbal fluency scores than full-term children. In conclusion, all preterm groups have attention ability similar to that of full-term children. However, preterm children obtain lower scores in intelligence measures. In addition, preterm boys have verbal fluency difficulties. Taking into account the increase in preterm births, suitable intervention programs must be planned to attend the difficulties found.     

The Influence of Acculturation and Enculturation on Mexican American High School Students' Decision to Apply to College

This study examined the influence of acculturation, enculturation, parental education level, financial concerns, and gender on 106 Mexican American high school students' decisions to apply to college. Results indicated that acculturation and female gender were significant predictors. Implications for interventions with Latino high school students are discussed. Este estudio examinó la influencia de la aculturación, la enculturación, el nivel de educación de los padres, las preocupaciones financieras y el sexo del sujeto sobre la decisión de 106 estudiantes de secundaria mejicanos‐americanos de solicitar acceso a estudios universitarios. Los resultados indicaron que la aculturación y el sexo femenino mostraron una capacidad de predición significativa. Se discuten las implicaciones para intervenciones con estudiantes de secundaria latinos.     

Blockade of nucleus basalis magnocellularis or activation of insular cortex histamine receptors disrupts formation but not retrieval of aversive taste memory

Recent research, using several experimental models, demonstrated that the histaminergic system is clearly involved in memory formation. This evidence suggested that during different associative learning tasks, histamine receptor subtypes have opposite functions, related to the regulation of cortical cholinergic activity. Given that cortical cholinergic activity and nucleus basalis magnocellularis (NBM) integrity are needed during taste memory formation, the aim of this study was to determine the role of histamine receptors during conditioned taste aversion (CTA). We evaluated the effects of bilateral infusions of 0.5 μl of pyrilamine (100 mM), an H₁ receptor antagonist, into the NBM, or of R-α-methylhistamine (RAMH) (10 mM), an H₃ receptor agonist, into the insular cortex of male Sprague-Dawley rats 20 min before acquisition and/or retrieval of conditioned taste aversion. The results showed that blockade of H₁ receptors in NBM or activation of H₃ receptors in the insular cortex impairs formation but not retrieval of aversive taste memory. These results demonstrated differential roles for histamine receptors in two important areas for taste memory formation and suggest that these effects could be related with the cortical cholinergic activity modulation during CTA acquisition.     

Group and individual change in the treatment of drug addictions: a follow-up study in therapeutic communities

The pre-post treatment change of 112 patients in two therapeutics Spanish communities is described. The Addiction Severity Index (ASI) was used at intake and at the end of the treatment program. Results of the treatment program were evaluated by applying composite scores (CS) of the ASI, and the evolution of each patient was evaluated using the Reliable Change Index (RCI). 69.7% of the sample completed treatment, and 30.3% dropped out prematurely. At intake, the percentage of people who could improve in the different areas of the ASI ranged between 35.1% for alcohol consumption and 95.3% for family relationships. At the follow-up, the percentage of subjects who showed significant statistical improvements in the different areas varied between 7.9% in family relations and 66.7% in alcohol consumption. The percentage of patients who deteriorated was less than 10% for all variables. Implications for further research and clinical practice are commented upon.     

Translation and validation of the Spanish version of the "Echelle de Satisfaction des Besoins Psychologiques" in the sports context

The aim of the present research was to translate and to analyze the psychometric properties of the Spanish version of the Satisfaction of Psychological Needs Scale, using a sample of 284 athletes (204 male and 78 female). Results of the confirmatory factor analysis confirmed the correlated three-factor structure of the scale. Furthermore, the results showed evidence of convergence validity with the Basic Psychological Needs in Exercise Scale. The predictive validity was tested using a structural equation model in which task orientation climate predicted the three basic psychological needs and these, in turn, intrinsic motivation. Likewise, we documented evidence of reliability, analyzed as internal consistency and temporal stability. Results partially support the use of the Spanish version of the scale in sports.     

The Potential Dual Use of Online Pharmacies

The technological advances of the 20th century resulted in the creation of the Internet and its introduction into everyday life on a global scale. The Internet provides access to information and the sale and purchase of goods. Medications are also subject to trade. Their sale is conducted by online pharmacies and their global turnover amounts to hundreds of billions of dollars. Medications ordered over the Internet are sent by mail all over the world. Considering the events of recent years, we cannot exclude the risk of a terrorist attack through online pharmacies. Terrorists can establish such companies, legally or illegally, or acquire ones already existing. Parcels, which are highly trusted by the customers of online pharmacies, can, for example, be contaminated with dangerous materials. The sale of online medications in the international system is potentially dangerous and requires international regulation.     

Current Trends in Substructural Logics

This paper briefly overviews some of the results and research directions. In the area of substructural logics from the last couple of decades. Substructural logics are understood here to include relevance logics, linear logic, variants of Lambek calculi and some other logics that are motivated by the idea of omitting some structural rules or making other structural changes in LK, the original sequent calculus for classical logic.