The willingness of medical students to use Facebook as a training channel for professional habits: the case of influenza vaccination

The low acceptance of influenza vaccination by both medical students and healthcare workers (HCWs) signals the need for innovative strategies. We administered an anonymous questionnaire to 410 University of Barcelona medical students who were asked about using the Internet to find information on influenza vaccination of HCWs and about their willingness to use technical and informal Facebook pages as an information channel on this topic. Of the 410 participants, 74.1 percent were female and 58.3 percent were in the first preclinical 3-year university cycle. A total of 7.6 percent participants reported using the Internet for queries on influenza vaccination, 89.8 percent reported that they were Facebook users, and 275 (67.1 percent) would accept an invitation from the technical or informal Facebook pages. The technical Web site would be actively followed by 77, or by 30.0 percent of those who would accept the invitation and the informal site by 116 (43.6 percent of those who would accept). The marked willingness to use Facebook to obtain information on the influenza vaccination of HCWs potentially opens a new window in health education: social networks could be used to help create professional habits. Students would be more likely to engage with this type of Facebook page if the contents were informal rather than highly technical.     

VEP latency and some properties of simple motor reaction-time distribution

Summary The median of simple motor reaction (RT) to a flash parallels the latencies of visually evoked potential (VEP) deflections if flash intensity is varied. However, mean and median reaction times are not equal because of the skewness of RT distribution. It therefore seemed plausible that the mean reaction time — intensity relationship would be steeper than that for VEP latency. Such divergence would account for the intensity-dependent motor component of RT revealed by other psychophysical studies. The latencies of VEP deflections were measured as a function of intensity and the results were compared with mean and median RTs. The difference between mean and median RT is constant and independent of flash intensity. Moreover, both values are parallel to VEP latency. The general pattern of results remains the same after a change in the distribution from which the foreperiod is sampled.     

Spatial attention and conscious perception: the role of endogenous and exogenous orienting

Attention has often been considered to be a gateway to consciousness (Posner, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 91(16), 7398–7403, 1994). However, its relationship with conscious perception (CP) remains highly controversial. While theoretical models and experimental data support the role of attention in CP (Chica, Lasaponara, Lupiáñez, Doricchi, &; Bartolomeo, NeuroImage, 51, 1205–1212, 2010; Dehaene, Changeux, Naccache, Sackur, &; Sergent, Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 10, 204–211, 2006; Mack &; Rock, Inattentional blindness, 1998), recent studies have claimed that at least some forms of attention—endogenous or top-down spatial attention—are neither sufficient nor necessary for CP (Koch &; Tsuchiya, Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 11, 16–22, 2007). In the present experiments, we demonstrate the importance of exogenously triggered attention for the modulation of CP. Weak or null effects were instead observed when attention was triggered endogenously. Our data are discussed in the framework of recent neuropsychological models (Dehaene et al., Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 10, 204–211, 2006), postulating that activity within reverberating frontoparietal networks, as colocalized with spatial--orienting systems, is the brain correlate of consciously processed information.     

Axiomatic Extensions of IMT3 Logic

In this paper we characterize, classify and axiomatize all axiomatic extensions of the IMT3 logic. This logic is the axiomatic extension of the involutive monoidal t-norm logic given by ¬φ³ ∨ φ. For our purpose we study the lattice of all subvarieties of the class IMT3, which is the variety of IMTL-algebras given by the equation ¬(x³) ∨ x ≈ ?, and it is the algebraic counterpart of IMT3 logic. Since every subvariety of IMT3 is generated by their totally ordered members, we study the structure of all IMT3-chains in order to determine the lattice of all subvarieties of IMT3. Given a family of IMT3-chains the number of elements of the largest odd finite subalgebra in the family and the number of elements of the largest even finite subalgebra in the family turns out to be a complete classifier of the variety generated. We obtain a canonical set of generators and a finite equational axiomatization for each subvariety and, for each corresponding logic, a finite set of characteristic matrices and a finite set of axioms.     

HIV-1 infection and its impact on the HPA axis, cytokines, and cognition

Immediately after infection, Human immunodeficiency virus, type 1 (HIV-1) enters the central nervous system (CNS) and is localized in highest concentration in the hippocampus and basal ganglia. Since these areas are associated with HPA axis and autonomic activities as well as cognition, it has been hypothesized that these functions will be impacted adversely in HIV-1 infection. In the treatment of HIV infection, although the highly potent antiretroviral (HAART) drugs have been effective in reducing peripheral viral load and prolonging life expectancy, these drugs do not cross the blood-brain barrier in therapeutic concentrations. Therefore, it has been proposed that the beneficial effects of HAART on the CNS will be limited. Our investigations on seropositive individuals, showing hypo-reactivity of the autonomic system and HPA axis activity suggest that HIV-1 infection is a model of chronic stress. Furthermore, an elevated baseline TNF-alpha level as well as its increased reactivity to an alpha-adrenergic challenge among HIV-1+ individuals, may lead to additional neurodegeneration. It is proposed that the effects of HIV-1 infection on the brain will have implications for neurocognitive and mental health functioning in seropositive individuals even in patients undergoing HAART therapy. These outcomes may result in the need to develop facilities for long term "care-giving".     

Dispositional pessimism predicts illness-related disruption of social and recreational activities among breast cancer patients

The authors tested whether dispositional pessimism would predict withdrawal from social activities among women treated for breast cancer. In a cross-sectional sample 3-12 months postsurgery, disruption of social and recreational activities (measured by the Sickness Impact Profile) correlated with concurrently assessed pessimism. This association appeared mediated by emotional distress and fatigue. A longitudinal sample was studied shortly postsurgery and over the next year. Initial pessimism predicted disruption of social activities concurrently and prospectively (3, 6, and 12 months later) but predicted change in disruption from one time to the next only at final follow-up. These associations appeared partially mediated by distress. The authors conclude that pessimism places patients at risk for adverse outcomes in several respects rather than solely with regard to emotional distress.     

Stress management and psychoneuroimmunology in HIV infection

Does stress management affect psychological and immune functioning in persons with human immunodeficiency virus infections? Stress-management techniques, such as relaxation training and imagery, cognitive restructuring, coping-skills training, and interpersonal-skills training, may reduce anxiety, depression, and social isolation in HIV-infected persons by lowering physical tension and increasing a sense of control and self-efficacy. A psychoneuroimmunologic model is proposed wherein these psychological changes are hypothesized to be accompanied by an improved ability to regulate neuroendocrine functioning, which in turn may be associated with a partial normalization of immune system functions such as lymphocyte proliferation and cytotoxicity, providing more efficient surveillance of latent viruses that may contribute directly to increased HIV replication and generate opportunistic infections or cancer if left unchecked. Such a normalization of stress-associated immune system decrements are hypothesized to forestall or minimize increases in viral load and expression of clinical symptoms. This model is useful for testing the factors contributing to the health effects of stress-management interventions in HIV-infected persons. In this context, one general research strategy for testing the effects of stress-management interventions is to target them toward the more prevalent psychosocial challenges that HIV-infected people face at various points in the disease process; enroll an HIV-infected population (eg, HIV-positive homosexual and bisexual men) into a randomized trial; and monitor changes in cognitive, affective, behavioral, and social factors in parallel with hormonal, immunologic, viral, and clinical changes over the course of time. This article will review the major psychoneuroimmunologic findings that have emerged using this paradigm and suggest future research directions and clinical applications.     

Quasivarieties Generated by Simple MV-algebras

In this paper we show that the quasivariety generated by an infinite simple MV-algebra only depends on the rationals which it contains. We extend this property to arbitrary families of simple MV-algebras.     

Distress and Internalized Homophobia Among Lesbian Women Treated for Early Stage Breast Cancer

A convenience sample of 57 lesbian women who had been recruited for a study of adjustment to breast cancer completed measures of internalized homophobia, degree of disclosure of sexual orientation, social support, self-esteem, and distress. Consistent with our prediction, internalized homophobia related to greater distress. Contrary to our prediction, disclosure did not relate to lower distress. Path models were consistent with the position that internalized homophobia promotes distress through lower self-esteem and perceived unavailability of social support. However, the data were also consistent with a model in which low self-esteem leads to internalized homophobia by way of elevated distress. Internalized homophobia also related inversely to utilization of health care resources. Our discussion centers on the need for more information regarding this understudied population.