Maya Women, Gender Dynamics, and Modes of Production

This paper provides a perspective on theconnection between the roles performed by Yucatec Mayawomen and global economic trends, particularly thosefocused on the increase of migration and incorporation of women into wage-labor employment. Theanalysis is founded on the gender dynamics in the MayaYucatec society. The fieldwork sites for this study werethe Maya village of Chan Kom and the developing resort area of Cancun. The discussion centerssocioeconomic and ideological implications of theresponses of Maya women to the increasingly complexexpansion of global capitalism and its acceleratingvolatility. Maya women, associated with the domestic andprivate realm, are also believed to serve as guardiansof tradition. Maya women who migrate, leaving theirvillages, face a social and economic challenge. The discussion frame of this studyleads to arevision of the anthropological agendas traditionallypresented in Chan Kom's ethnographic record. Assumptionsabout power and authority have misrepresented women as part of the labor force in the Mayaproductive system. The tension between peasant andmigrant Maya roles and world-wide economic trends isforging a negotiated space for Yucatec Mayawomen.     

The effects of a community-based literacy program on young children's language and conceptual development

Effects of a community-based literacy program on 1−, 2−, and 3-year-old children's language and conceptual development were assessed. University students were trained to teach Head Start parents effective methods for reading to their children. Families were randomly assigned to receive 18, 3, or 0 instructional visits. Results indicated that parents in the 18-instructional-visit program increased their participation in appropriate literacy behaviors such as reading to their children, teaching concepts to their children, and using the library, more than parents in the 0-instructional-visit groups. Children in the 18-instructional-visit program showed greater gains in language and conceptual development than children in the 0-instructional-visit group. Few differences were found between children in the 3-visti and 0-instructional-visit groups. Thus, only a high-intensity community-based intervention designed to train parents was effective in increasing emergent literacy in low-income ethnic children. Supported by Commission on National and Community Service grant 92HELOCA0039, the Dr. Seuss Foundation, Head Start, and the College of Sciences at San Diego State University. The authors gratefully acknowledge William A. Hillix, Leah K. Gensheimer, and Larry Fenson for their helpful reviews of drafts of this article, Florence Goldman for her training of tutors in techniques for developing emergent literacy, and the many students who assisted in the implementation and evaluation of this project.     

Automatic detection of bunches of grapes in natural environment from color images

Despite the benefits of precision agriculture and precision viticulture production systems, its rate of adoption in the Portuguese Douro Demarcated Region remains low. We believe that one way to raise it is to address challenging real-world problems whose solution offers a clear benefit to the viticulturist. For example, one of the most demanding tasks in wine making is harvesting. Even for humans, the environment makes grape detection difficult, especially when the grapes and leaves have a similar color, which is generally the case for white grapes. In this paper, we propose a system for the detection and location, in the natural environment, of bunches of grapes in color images. This system is able to distinguish between white and red grapes, and at the same time, it calculates the location of the bunch stem. The system achieved 97% and 91% correct classifications for red and white grapes, respectively.     

Transthyretin influences spatial reference memory

Transthyretin (TTR) is a plasma and cerebrospinal fluid carrier for thyroxine and retinol, described also to sequester the amyloid beta peptide. TTR levels have been described as decreased in the cerebrospinal fluid of patients with Alzheimer's disease. In order to investigate the role of TTR in learning and memory, we studied young adult and old TTR-null 129/Sv mice for cognitive performance. In the absence of TTR, 5-month-old mice display spatial reference memory impairment when compared to age-matched wild-type mice. Interestingly, while aging in wild-type mice is associated with a worsening reference memory performance, TTR-null mice show no further impairment with increasing age. As a result, no significant differences were found in this spatial reference task in old mice. Our data show that the absence of TTR seems to accelerate the poorer cognitive performance normally associated with aging.     

Everyday conceptions of object fall: explicit and tacit understanding during middle childhood

Adults make erroneous predictions about object fall despite recognizing when observed displays are correct or incorrect. Prediction requires explicit engagement with conceptual knowledge, whereas recognition can be achieved through tacit processing. Therefore, it has been suggested that the greater challenge imposed by explicit engagement leads to elements of conceptual understanding being omitted from prediction that are included in recognition. Acknowledging that research with children provides a significant context for exploring this "omission hypothesis" further, this article reports two studies with 6- to 10-year-olds, each of which used prediction and recognition tasks. Study 1 (N=137) focused on understanding of direction of fall, and Study 2 (N=133) addressed speed. Although performance on the recognition tasks was generally superior to performance on the prediction tasks, qualitative differences also emerged. These differences argue against interpreting explicit level understanding purely in terms of omission of tacit constructs, and the article outlines alternative models that may account for the data.     

Considering J.Lo and Ugly Betty: a qualitative examination of risk factors and prevention targets for body dissatisfaction, eating disorders, and obesity in young Latina women

Latina women are vulnerable to poor body image, eating disorders, and obesity, particularly during the college years. This study sought to identify common cultural antecedents of these concerns in order to inform the development of prevention programs for this population. Six groups of university students who identified as Latina (N=27) discussed cultural aspects of body image, eating disorders, and obesity. Thematic analysis identified four main themes: (a) cultural disparities in body-ideal, including the influence of the media and acculturation issues; (b) messages about body shape and weight received by family, peers, and society; (c) difficulties making healthy eating and physical activity choices as a function of college life; and (d) the influence of peers and potential male partners on body satisfaction and body-ideals. These results have implications for the development of programs targeting body dissatisfaction and risk for eating disorders and obesity in Latina college women.     

Narrative innovation in life design counseling: The case of Ryan

The main aim of this research is to study the patterns of narrative change in a case of life design counseling (LDC). The innovative moments coding system (IMCS) was used to conduct an intensive analysis of the career counseling sessions. This coding system is grounded in a narrative conception of the self, and suggests that narrative change results from the elaboration and development of narrative exceptions to a client's core problematic self-narrative. The results supports the adequacy of the IMCS to the study of change in career counseling and reveal that the intervention promotes a pattern of change characterized by three types of innovative moments: action, reflection, and protest. The results are discussed taking into account their implications for career counseling theory, research and practice.     

Comparing the meanings of “if” and “all”

In this study, we compared the everyday meanings of conditionals (“if p then q”) and universally quantified statements (“all p are q”) when applied to sets of elements. The interpretation of conditionals was predicted to be directly related to the conditional probability, such that P(“if p then q”) = P(q|p). Quantified statements were assumed to have two interpretations. According to an instance-focused interpretation, quantified statements are equivalent to conditionals, such that P(“all p are q”) = P(q|p). According to a set-focused interpretation, “all p are q” is true if and only if every instance in set p is an instance of q, so that the statement would be accepted when P(q|p) = 1 and rejected when this probability was below 1. We predicted an instance-focused interpretation of “all” when the relation between p and q expressed a general law for an infinite set of elements. A set-focused interpretation of “all” was predicted when the relation between p and q expressed a coincidence among the elements of a finite set. Participants were given short context stories providing information about the frequency of co-occurrence of cases of p, q, not-p, and not-q in a population. They were then asked to estimate the probability that a statement (conditional or quantified) would be true for a random sample taken from that population. The probability estimates for conditionals were in accordance with an instance-focused interpretation, whereas the estimates for quantified statements showed features of a set-focused interpretation. The type of the relation between p and q had no effect on this outcome.     

Congestive Heart Failure and Quality of Life

Our study aimed to assess the quality of life (QoL) of patients with congestive heart failure (CHF) and to correlate the different aspects of QoL with relevant socio-demographic variables, CHF severity, somatic comorbidities, other clinical variables and depressive symptomatology. In a cross-sectional study design, a community sample of 103 adult patients with CHF (mean age 68 years, 73 % male) was recruited from an outpatient cardiology practice. CHF severity was assessed with physician ratings of the New York Heart Association (NYHA) functional class and measurement of brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) levels. The psychometric evaluation of quality of life was made using the Medical Outcomes Study Short Form-36 (SF-36) and the Kansas City Cardiomyopathy Questionnaire (KCCQ). The Beck Depression Inventory Second Edition (BDI-II) assessed depressive symptoms. Using multiple linear regression, predictors of poorer QoL included being a female, being older, living alone, NYHA functional class ≥ II, higher levels of BNP comorbidity (such as renal insufficiency and cerebrovascular disease), fluid retention, depressive symptomatology (assessed by BDI-II) and treatment with anti-dyslipidemics, diuretics and β-blockers. Among these correlates, psychological distress was the most strongly related to QoL. Also, functional status measured by NYHA demonstrated a high impact on QoL. Our findings suggest the need to address such factors in developing effective care to improve psychological and functional status in order to enhance QoL in these patients.