Assessing the stigma of tuberculosis

Tuberculosis (TB) stigma is considered a vague concept, because it is not easily assessed. The purpose of this article is to review methodological approaches for assessing TB stigma. We reviewed the published studies and the gray literature. We also present the main features of a qualitative and quantitative assessment of TB stigma, which has been done in one specific project in Nicaragua. As a whole, we illustrate the variety of TB stigma in terms of domains, consequences, determinants and methods used; some features emerge more frequently than others from the studies. However, results of the review show a relative scarcity of the TB stigma assessment experiences, mainly in looking at the consequences for the TB patient and in the use of quantitative methods and scales. Additional assessment studies in diverse contexts are needed so that stigma will be considered a priority in the organization of care for people affected by tuberculosis.     

Influence of personality on ecological consumer behaviour

• We have recently seen the appearance of many studies which attempt to discover the behaviour patterns of ecological consumers. For that reason, it seems necessary to analyse the variables that shape this consumer profile. In this study, we have focused on psychographic variables and, in particular, on personality features. Following a survey with a random sample of 573 individuals, we designed a theoretical model which included the Big‐Five Factor Structure scale and the environmental attitude dimension referred to as “actual commitment” to measure personality and ecological behaviour, respectively. We carried out several principal factor analyses in order to validate these scales and afterwards, we performed a structural equation analysis and a logit analysis. Findings support our hypotheses since they reveal that personality is a multifaceted concept, which is positively related to ecological behaviour. Firms should focus on those people who are characterised by personality features such as extroversion, agreeableness and conscientiousness in order to persuade them to demand their products.

Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The Impact of the Built Environment on Children’s School Conduct Grades: The Role of Diversity of Use in a Hispanic Neighborhood

A population-based study examined the relationship between diversity of use of the built environment and teacher reports of children’s grades. Diversity of use of the built environment (i.e., proportion of a block that is residential, institutional, commercial and vacant) was assessed for all 403 city blocks in East Little Havana, Miami—a Hispanic neighborhood. Cluster analysis identified three block-types, based on diversity of use: Residential, Mixed-Use, and Commercial. Cross-classified hierarchical linear modeling was used to examine the impact of diversity of use, school, gender, and year-in-school on academic and conduct grades for 2857 public school children who lived in these blocks. Contrary to popular belief, mixed-use blocks were associated with optimal outcomes. Specifically, follow-up analyses found that a youth living on a residential block had a 74% greater odds of being in the lowest 10% of conduct grades (conduct GPA <2.17) than a youth living on a mixed-use block. In fact, an analysis of the population attributable fraction suggests that if the risk associated with residential blocks could be reduced to the level of risk associated with mixed-use blocks, a 38% reduction in Conduct GPAs <2.17 could be achieved in the total population. These findings suggest that public policy targeting the built environment may be a mechanism for community-based interventions to enhance children’s classroom conduct, and potentially related sequelae.     

The nature of illness experience: a course on boundaries

With the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education's designation of "professionalism" as one of six core competencies in residency medical education, some educators of residents and medical students believe that the concept of professional role is too restrictive and narrow for grappling with the complex dynamics of professional-patient relationships. The ethical quandaries of abortion and physician assisted suicide illustrate how individual personal values cannot be ignored in the dynamic relationship between health care professional and patient. This article describes a medical school course where students are paired with "patient mentors." Within the dynamic and intimate relationship that unfolds over several months, students explore the "experience of boundaries," and are invited to use this experience to consider their evolving professional identity.     

Minority Language Education in Unbalanced Bilingual Situations: A Case for the Linguistic Interdependence Hypothesis

This paper is placed in the linguistic and sociocultural context of Eastern Aragon, a region of Spain where two contact languages (Spanish and Catalan) coexist in an unbalanced situation favoring Spanish. The research was prompted by the regulation for the teaching of Catalan in that area, by means of the Cooperation Agreement signed by the Spanish Educational Ministry (MEC) and the local autonomous Cultural and Educational Department of the Diputación General de Aragon in November 1986. A comparative analysis is made between Eastern Aragon students' linguistic competence in Catalan and Spanish; a further comparison is established between these students and others living in bilingual Catalonia and in monolingual Aragon. We conclude by pointing out that the Linguistic Interdependence Hypothesis accounts for the results obtained in the study.     

In search of the language switch: An fMRI study of picture naming in Spanish-English bilinguals

For many years, researchers investigating the brain bases of bilingualism have concentrated on two basic questions. The first concerns the nature of language representation. That is, are a bilinguals' two languages represented in distinct or overlapping areas of the brain. The second basic question in the neuropsychology of bilingualism concerns the neural correlates of language switching, that is, the areas that are active when bilinguals switch from one language to the other. Performance between single-language and dual-language picture naming was compared in a group of six Spanish-English bilinguals using behavioral measures and functional magnetic resonance imaging. Participants showed slower reaction times and increased activation in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex in the mixed language condition relative to single language condition. There was no evidence that each language was represented in different areas of the brain. Results are consistent with the view that language switching is a part of a general executive attentional system and that languages are represented in overlapping areas of the brain in early bilinguals.     

Physiological responses of obese subjects to external stimuli

Physiological arousal was measured in 11 obese and 11 normal-weight subjects during presentation of emotive, food, and neutral stimuli. No differential arousal (heart rate, temperature, GSR, and EMG on frontalis muscle) between the groups was obtained for any of the three types of stimuli. Discrepancies between the present findings and earlier results are discussed.