Examination of the bidirectional influences of leisure activity and memory in old people: A dissociative effect on episodic memory

The present study examined the relationships between different types of social and cognitive activities and different types of episodic and semantic memory. A total of 794 adult men and women from five age cohorts (aged 65–85 at baseline), participating in the longitudinal Betula project on ageing, memory, and health, were included in the study. The participants were studied over 10 years (1995–2005) in three waves. Recognition and recall were used as episodic memory tasks, and knowledge and verbal fluency as semantic memory tasks. The results, after controlling for age, gender, education, and some diseases, including heart disease and hypertension, as covariates, showed unidirectional effects of social activity on episodic memory on all test occasions (β = .10). Also, episodic memory predicted change in cognitive activity for all test waves (β = .21–.22). Findings suggest that social activity can be seen as protective factor against memory decline. It also seems that episodic memory performance is a predictor of cognitive activity in old people. However, the opposite direction does not hold true.     

Social and Personal Controls and Performance Enhancing Drug Use: Toward an Explanation of Doping Activity among Professional Athletes in Rasht,Iran

The use of performance-enhancing drugs (PED), also known as “doping,” is a common practice among professional athletes in Iran and this global phenomenon is a serious social problem. The main purpose of this research is to test the efficacy of Gottfredson and Hirschi’s conceptualization of low self-control in conjunction with their ideas of effective parenting and rational choice, in explaining why athletes engage in doping activity. Using self-report data from a random sample of 606 professional athletes from Rasht, Iran, the current study indicates that there are significant associations between ineffective parenting, self-control, perceived costs, and doping activity.     

Relations of college students' attitudes toward prevention of HIV and AIDS

This study investigated current attitudes towards HIV prevention in a sample of 1061 college students enrolled at a midwestern university. The survey was a self-administered set of 8 demographic questions and 15 questions about attitudes. The findings indicated sex difference in overall attitudes, with females having more positive attitudes than male peers with regard to HIV prevention. Also, analysis of variance indicated ethnicity was related to overall attitudes toward HIV prevention. It appears that education which might reduce the prevalence of HIV infection should consider programs specific to sex and ethnicity.     

Post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms of children following the occurrence of Tehran City Park disaster

The authors investigated the post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms of young adolescents who had been directly involved in a disaster in Tehran. The participants were 19 chlidren who had survived a boat sinking in Tehran's city park in 2002. By using the Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Symptom Scale (PSS; E. B. Foa, D. S. Riggs, C. V. Dancu, & B. O. Rothbaum, 1993) as well as a clinical interview based on the definition cited in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV; American Psychiatric Association, 1994, p. 424), 16 participants (84.2%) were diagnosed with PTSD using the PSS and 17 (89.5%) were diagnosed with PTSD using the psychiatric interview.     

Magnetostatic Field Effect: Stress Syndrome Pattern and Functional Relation With Intensity

The stressing action of a medium-intensity, magnetostatic field was studied for several levels of intensity. Our purpose was (a) to verify a stressing action by display of the general adaptation syndrome Pattern on the growth rate of mice and (b) to establish the relation between effect and field intensity on the same variable. Eight groups of mice showed a linear relation. Moreover, stressing action was noticed at lower intensities than previously suggested.     

ESAP Students’ Comprehension of Multiple Technical Reading Texts: Insights from Personal Epistemological Beliefs

Given the importance associated with multiple-document literacy in the present-day knowledge societies and the dearth of research in English Language Teaching in general and English for Specific/Academic Purposes (ESAP) contexts in particular on multiple-document comprehension and the significance of reader beliefs in this type of comprehension, the present study was carried out with the aim of investigating the relationship between ESAP students’ personal epistemological beliefs and their inferential intratextual and intertextual understanding of multiple texts. To this aim, 64 first-semester midwifery students were selected as the participants of the study. They were required to read four passages on multi-fetal pregnancy which discussed different aspects of this phenomenon. Having filled out the Epistemological Beliefs Inventory, they were tested on the inferential intratextual and intertextual comprehension of the texts. Results of the analyses of the data revealed significant associations between epistemological beliefs and the inferential comprehension of multiple texts. The results also indicated the poorer performance of the participants in intertextual inferential understanding of the texts compared with the intratextual understanding of them. The study concludes with tentative implication of the findings for ESAP reading courses.     

Social Capital, Employment and Occupational Status of the New Immigrants in Canada

Using the Longitudinal Survey of Immigrants in Canada (LSIC), this study examines the role of social capital in the labour market integration of new immigrants in Canada, utilizing various measures of social capital and treating employment and occupational Socio-Economic Scale (SES) as the indicators of labour market integration. The findings show that visible minority immigrants have significantly lower levels of employment and SES compared to white immigrants. Furthermore, social capital contributes significantly to an increased likelihood of employment and also to higher SES positions. However, the effect of social capital varies by the types of social capital, ethno-racial origins, as well as forms of economic integration.     

The depiction of men and women within Iranian high school EFL textbooks,tested against Islamic custom

The construction of social identity is an interdisciplinary term, which is a favourite topic for many scholars worldwide. Religion and identity are intertwined regarding the concept of identity construction. In Iran, this relation can best be seen through English as a Foreign Language (EFL) textbooks. To achieve this, this study investigates the depiction of men and women within Iranian high school EFL textbooks, tested against Islamic custom, utilizing linear and nonlinear approaches. Or, to put it another way, the content and pictures of these textbooks were tested with regards to Islamic customs. Finally, the concept of nationhood and identity were elaborated upon, regarding religious content in the EFL high school textbooks of Iran.