The contribution of functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) to the presurgical assessment of language function in children

Before performing neurosurgery, an exhaustive presurgical assessment is required, usually including an investigation of language cerebral lateralization. Among the available procedures, the intracarotid amobarbital test (IAT) was formerly the most widely used. However, this procedure has many limitations: it is invasive and potentially traumatic, especially for children. To overcome these limitations, neuroimaging techniques such as functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) have been used. Again, these methods are difficult to use with children, who must remain motionless during data acquisition. Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) is a noninvasive functional imaging technique that is easily applied to pediatric and cognitively limited patients. It has been used recently in epileptic children for presurgical assessment of expressive and receptive language brain lateralization. The aim of this review is to present the contribution of fNIRS to the presurgical assessment of language function in children with neurological diseases.     

Student Learning Outcomes for Biblical Studies in the Liberal Arts

What is the role of biblical studies in a liberal arts curriculum? At the 2009 North American Society of Biblical Literature conference, a panel of seven Bible scholars provided brief analyses and arguments about the appropriate goals of teaching biblical studies in undergraduate contexts in this historical moment. They consider and critique the notion of specific Student Learning Outcomes or Objectives (SLOs) for courses about the Bible. In the process they address questions such as: what is the relative importance of “coverage” (biblical literacy, disciplinary knowledge and methods, and the historical creation of the biblical texts) versus modern and historical reception and uses of these texts? In their contributions, the authors analyze ways that a biblical studies course can develop the critical reading and writing skills that are the hallmark of undergraduate education. Some authors find these skills furthered by not bracketing from study the normative truth claims in the texts and instead strategically and critically encouraging the identity work and religious seeking associated with religious uses of these texts. Others call attention to the institutional and classroom power dynamics which inform and are constituted by the current student learning outcomes movement.     

Incommensurability in Aristotle's Theory of Reciprocal Justice

In just proportional exchange, under Aristotle's theory of reciprocal justice, superior sharers in a community materially assist the weaker, and receive honour as a reward. Aristotle's economic thought is represented with a system of 18 formulae. Explained are: (1) What Aristotle means when he says that it is impossible for two sharers or their erga to be commensurable; (2) The extent to which the variables in Aristotle's proportions can be quantified. (3) What diagonal pairing ( κατ διμ?τρoν σζ?υξι?) is; (4) How need makes sharers and their erga ‘sufficiently' commensurable; and (5) Aristotle's theory of what is just in exchange.     

Centrality Preferences in Choices Among Similar Options

Three explanations were explored for the finding that people prefer the middle option rather than the extremes when choosing from an array of similar options. In Study 1, 68% chose the middle item from a set of three highlighters and three surveys, whereas 32% chose an item from either end, p < .0001. In Study 2, 71% selected the middle chair from a row of three chairs that were either all empty, or had a backpack occupying either one of the two end chairs, p < .0001. These results support a minimal mental effort principle rather than a preference for symmetry rule. In Study 3, 54.2% recalled more graphic items from the center poster of a 3-poster collage, whereas 31.3% and 14.5% recalled more items from the left and right posters, respectively, p < .004. These findings lend additional support to a focus of attention explanation.     

Unemployment as a chronic stressor: A systematic review of cortisol studies

Objective: Unemployment is a type of chronic stressor that impacts human health. The reasons for how the stress of unemployment affect health is still a matter of discussion. One of the pathways from chronic stress to ill health is mediated by cortisol, and so we set out to compile extant data on how its secretion is affected by unemployment.

Design: A systematic literature search was conducted to establish the cortisol dysregulatory effects of this stressor.

Main outcome measures: Only studies that specifically examined the effects of unemployment on cortisol excretion, and were written in English were included.

Results: Ten reports were obtained and synthesised to determine the severity and complexity of the effect of unemployment on cortisol secretion. The resulting combined evidence is mixed in terms of degree or dynamic of relationship.

Conclusions: The differences between the cumulate findings of the studies can be understood in the context of the lack of both standardised methodology and an absence of consensus on unemployment definition. We propose existing methodologies may be strengthened by acknowledging and accounting for the individual characteristics that may be relevant to the stress experience of unemployment.     

When 'fit' leads to fit, and when 'fit' leads to fat: how message framing and intrinsic vs. extrinsic exercise outcomes interact in promoting physical activity

A unique aspect of exercise is that people may choose to engage in it to achieve a variety of outcomes, ranging from extrinsic (appearance, health) to intrinsic (satisfaction, enjoyment). We examined how the impact of gain- vs. loss-framed messages depends on the type of outcome emphasised. Drawing from regulatory focus theory (Higgins, E.T. (1997). Beyond pleasure and pain. American Psychologist, 52, 1280-1300; Higgins, E.T. (2000). Making a good decision: Value from fit. American Psychologist, 55, 1217-1230), we predicted that gain-framed messages would 'fit' with intrinsic outcomes and loss-framed messages would 'fit' with extrinsic outcomes, but the effect of such fit on physical activity would depend on the participants' need for cognition (NC). We tested these hypotheses with a sample of 176 sedentary young adults who read an exercise message with randomly assigned frame (gain/loss) and outcome (intrinsic/extrinsic). Participants provided daily reports of exercise over the following week. The predicted interaction between frame, outcome and NC was found (p=0.001) such that a 'fit' message promoted somewhat, but not significantly, greater exercise for those with high NC, but a 'non-fit' message promoted significantly greater exercise for those with low NC. Furthermore, differences in physical activity were partially mediated by attitudes towards exercise. Findings shed light on how the outcomes and motivations associated with physical activity shape people's behavioural responses to framed health communications.     

Feasibility and impact of a school-based intervention for families of urban adolescents with asthma: results from a randomized pilot trial

The purpose of this study was to test the feasibility and short-term outcomes of Asthma: It's a Family Affair!, a school-based intervention for adolescents with asthma and their caregivers. Twenty-four ethnic minority families with a middle school student with asthma were randomized to immediate intervention or no-treatment control. Intervention students received six group sessions on prevention and management of asthma. Caregivers received five group sessions teaching child-rearing skills to support the youth's autonomy and asthma self-management. All students attended all sessions; caregivers attended an average of three. Two months post-intervention, relative to controls, intervention caregivers reported better problem-solving with children. Intervention students were more responsible for carrying medication, took more prevention steps, and woke fewer nights from asthma. The intervention resulted in positive short-term changes in family relations, asthma management by students, and health status.     

The Hierarchical Structure of Well-Being

ABSTRACT Theories of hedonic, eudaimonic, and social well-being provide 3 extensively studied models for explaining flourishing mental health. Few studies have examined whether these models can be integrated into a comprehensive structure of well-being. The present study builds upon previous theoretical and empirical work to determine the complex relationships among these 3 models of well-being. Confirmatory factor analysis techniques were used to test a series of models in order to (a) confirm the proposed latent structures of hedonic, eudaimonic, and social well-being and (b) examine whether these models could be successfully integrated into a hierarchical structure of well-being. In 2 large samples, results supported the proposed latent structures of hedonic, eudaimonic, and social well-being and indicated that the various components of well-being could be represented most parsimoniously with 3 oblique second-order constructs of hedonic, eudaimonic, and social well-being.