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Iron Age Connectivity Revealed by an Assemblage of Egyptian Faience in Central Iberia
- Linda Chapon, Juan Jesús Padilla-Fernández, Alberto Dorado-Alejos, Antonio Blanco-González
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- European Journal of Archaeology , First View
- Published online by Cambridge University Press:
- 20 March 2024, pp. 1-23
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Research concerning transactions in the early first millennium bc in the westernmost Mediterranean has tended to focus on colonial coastlands occupied by scattered Levantine outposts, whereas cross-cultural interactions in hinterland regions have remained ill-defined. This article presents an assemblage of Egyptian vitreous artefacts, namely beads, a Hathor amulet, and further items from the seventh-century bc rural village of Cerro de San Vicente (Salamanca) in the interior of Spain. Macroscopic and chemical analyses demonstrate their likely manufacture in Egypt during the Middle and New Kingdom (second millennium bc), attesting to a far-reaching Phoenician maritime network that connected both ends of the Mediterranean. The authors interpret the items as liturgical objects, rather than mere high-status trinkets, that formed part of a widely shared Mediterranean world view and associated ritual mores. They consider the impact of cultural syncretism, which reached even remote and allegedly isolated peripheral settings in Iberia.
Comparative study of intracytoplasmic sperm injection using the traditional holding and the oocyte-holding pipette without aspiration
- Francisco Vergara, Javier Fernández, Concepción Pedrosa, María Muñoz, Elvira Jerez, Mireia Varón, Carmen Moyano, Alberto Yoldi, Jordi Ponce
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Despite the high level of standardization of the intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) technique, there are some aspects that deserve special attention and should still be improved. The major drawback of the technique is its invasiveness, as during cytoplasmic aspiration different structures of the oocyte may be lost or damaged. This is partly because the microtools used in ICSI were not specially designed for assisted reproduction but for other medical–biological disciplines. In view of the above caveats, the aim of the study was to compare the results of ICSI with the traditional oocyte-holding pipette and the oocyte-holding pipette without aspiration (PiWA). In total, 155 patients and 1037 oocytes were included in the study. In each ICSI cycle, half of the oocytes were microinjected using a traditional holding pipette and the other half using a PiWA. In result, the PiWA technique produced a significant increase in the fertilization rate: 88.12% (95%CI: 84.62–90.92%); holding pipette: 73.33% (95%CI: 68.72–77.49%). Also, it produced a significant decrease in the embryo degeneration rate compared with the traditional holding pipette [PiWA: 2.07% (95%CI: 1.11–3.8%); holding pipette: 4.51% (95%CI: 3.06–6.59%)]. Pregnancy rate depended on the holding technique used, both in single embryo transfers (n = 59; χ2 = 4.608; P-value = 0.032) and double embryo transfers (n = 156; χ2 = 4.344; P-value = 0.037); with PiWA presenting a significantly higher pregnancy rate than the traditional holding technique. Based on current evidence and the present results, improvements should focus on decreasing the invasiveness of the microinjection itself by minimizing or avoiding aspiration and cytoplasmic disorganization, as is successfully achieved with PiWA.
56 Dunning-Kruger Effect and Anxiety in a Mexican population
- Natalia L. Acosta, Krissy E. Smith, Tara L. Victor, David H. Hardy, Alberto L. Fernandez, Raymundo Cervantes, Ana Paula P. Quiñones, Carolina G. Castañeda, Jill Razani, Isabel D.C. Muñoz, Daniel W. Lopez-Hernandez
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- Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society / Volume 29 / Issue s1 / November 2023
- Published online by Cambridge University Press:
- 21 December 2023, pp. 841-842
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The Dunning-Krueger effect is a cognitive bias where individuals tend to overestimate their abilities in areas where they are less competent. The Cordoba Naming Test (CNT) is a 30-item confrontation naming task. Hardy and Wright (2018) conditionally validated a measure of perceived mental workload called the NASA Task Load Index (NASA-TLX). Researchers reported that workload ratings on the NASA-TLX increased with increased task demands on a cognitive task. Anxiety is known as an emotion that can make an individual more susceptible to develop a mental health condition. We examine if the Dunning-Krueger effect occurs in a Mexican population with and without current symptoms of anxiety and possible factors driving individuals to overestimate their abilities on the CNT. We predicted the abnormal symptoms of anxiety (ASA) group would report better CNT performance, report higher perceived workloads on the CNT, and underperform on the CNT compared to the normal symptoms of anxiety (NSA) group. We also predicted the low-performance group would report better CNT performance, report higher perceived workloads on the CNT, and underperform on the CNT compared to the high-performance group.
Participants and Methods:The sample consisted of 192 Mexican participants with NSA (79 low-performance & 113 high-performance) and 74 Mexican participants with ASA (44 low-performance & 30 high-performance). Participants completed the CNT, NASA-TLX, and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) in Spanish. The NASA-TLX was used to evaluate perceived workloads after the completion of the CNT. Meanwhile, the HADS was used to create our anxiety groups. Finally, CNT raw scores were converted into T-scores, which then were averaged to create the following two groups: low-performance (CNT T-Score <50) and high-performance (CNT T-Score 50+). A series of 2x2 ANCOVAs, controlling for gender were used to evaluate CNT performance and perceived workloads.
Results:We found a significant interaction where the low-performance ASA and the high-performance NSA groups demonstrated better CNT performance and reported higher perceived workloads (i.e., performance, temporal demand) on the CNT compared to their respective counterparts (i.e., low-performance NSA & high-performance ASA groups), p's<.05, ηp's2=.02. We found a main effect where the high-performance group outperformed the low-performance group on the CNT and reported lower perceived workloads on the CNT, p's<.05, ηp's2 =.04-.46.
Conclusions:The Dunning-Krueger effect did not occur in our sample. Participants that demonstrated better CNT performance also reported higher perceived workloads regardless of their current symptoms of anxiety. A possible explanation can be our sample's cultural norms of what would be considered as abnormal symptoms of anxiety, is a normal part of life, decreasing the possibilities to experience self-efficacy distoritions. Future studies should investigate whether the Dunning-Kruger effect may be influencing other aspects of cognitive functioning subjectively in Mexicans residing in Mexico and the United States with and without current symptoms of anxiety.
27 Aging Affects Cordoba Naming Test Performance
- Jasman Sidhu, Krithika Sivaramakrishnan, Raymundo Cervantes, Sarah Saravia, Luz Estrada, Dulce Garcia, Alexia Barrio, Isabel D. Munoz, Enrique Lopez, Tara L. Victor, Alberto L. Fernandez, Daniel W. Lopez-Hernandez
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- Journal:
- Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society / Volume 29 / Issue s1 / November 2023
- Published online by Cambridge University Press:
- 21 December 2023, pp. 339-340
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The Cordoba Naming Test (CNT) is a 30-item confrontation naming test developed in Argentina. A common confrontation naming task used in the United States is the Boston Naming Test (BNT). Research shows that age affects BNT performance in the 60-item long form. In fact, studies show that scores on confrontation naming tasks increase in childhood and continue to improve until approximately 40 years of age. However, after this period, scores start to subsequently decline, and especially so after 70 years of age. On the other hand, some studies have reported that older adults maintain high BNT performance despite advancing age. To our knowledge, no study has investigated the aging effects of the CNT across various age groups. We expected CNT scores to increase significantly from young adulthood to mid-adulthood and then significantly decline with advancing age.
Participants and Methods:The present study sample consisted of 272 neurologically and psychologically healthy participants with a mean age of 27.06 (SD = 12.21) with 14.29 years of education completed (SD = 2.46). Participants were divided into six different age groups: 18-19-year-old group, 20-29-year-old group, 30-39-year-old group, 40-49-year-old group, 50-59-year-old group, and 60-69-year-old group. All participants consented to voluntary participation and completed the CNT and a comprehensive background questionnaire in English. The CNT consisted of 30 black and white line drawings, ranging from easy to hard difficulty. An ANCOVA, controlling for gender, was used to evaluate CNT performance between the six age groups. We used a threshold of p < .05 for statistical significance.
Results:Results revealed significant group differences between the six age groups on the CNT, p = .000, ηp2 = .14. A post-hoc test revealed that the 30-39-year-old group outperformed the 18-19-year-old, 20-29-yearold, and 60-69-year-old groups on the CNT. Finally, the 40-49-year-old group outperformed the 18-19-year-old and 60-69-year-old groups on the CNT.
Conclusions:As we predicted, participants demonstrated steady improvement in the CNT until the age of 40. However, we found that until the age of 60, CNT performance started to decline significantly. Our data suggests that CNT performance declines significantly at the age of 60 compared to previous research using the BNT. Research shows other demographic variables (e.g., gender, linguistic factors) influence BNT performance. Future investigations on the CNT using a healthy sample should use a multivariate statistical analysis method to help explain influencing factors across aging. This research can have the potential to improve public health to better support and understand individuals from diverse backgrounds.
5 Normative Data Collection for the Multicultural Neuropsychological Scale (MUNS)
- Autumn Wild, Saleena Wilson, Kara Eversole, Gabriel Jäuregui, Bernice Marcopulos, Alberto Fernandez, David Hardy
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- Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society / Volume 29 / Issue s1 / November 2023
- Published online by Cambridge University Press:
- 21 December 2023, pp. 420-421
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Despite the array of neuropsychological tests available, these assessments are largely made and developed for use in WEIRD (western, educated, industrialized, rich, democratic) societies (Fernandez, 2019; Ponsford, 2017). The Multicultural Neuropsychological Scale (MUNS) was developed with underrepresented groups in mind as a universally valid neuropsychological assessment which can be used across cultures and adapted to different languages. To assist with the validation of the MUNS as a cross-cultural instrument, investigators administered the MUNS to a cognitively 'healthy’ college-aged population in the United States as a means of collecting normative data. Results were compared to samples taken from an Argentine university, Universidad Catelica de Cerdoba, and combined with another American university, Marymount Loyola University. The goal of this comparison was to provide evidence supporting the validity of the MUNS as a universal, cross-cultural neuropsychological assessment battery.
Participants and Methods:Students from James Madison University (JMU) in Harrisonburg, Virginia (N = 24, Age = 20.083 1.93, Female = 87.5%) were recruited via a campus-wide email. Students who met inclusionary criteria were selected for MUNS administration. Students completed a background questionnaire and effort measure (REY-15; Rey, 1964) before completing the MUNS battery, consisting of eight subtests with four delayed trials. Descriptive statistics of the group were assessed, and one-way ANOVAs were conducted on the various subtests to determine whether differences exist between the American and Argentine samples.
Results:No significant difference between groups was found for seven subtests. A difference existed on the Attention subtest between the American (f (1, 106) = 45.409, p < .001).
Conclusions:The results show support for the cross-cultural validity of the MUNS. The only significant difference was found in the Arrows (Old) subtest. This is in alignment with previous administrations of the MUNS (Fernandez et al., 2018). Further studies are needed to assess potential bias within this subtest, as well as to pursue comparison studies for the New Arrows subtest administered within this USA sample. The present findings provide further evidence that the MUNS can be applied as a neuropsychological assessment across a variety of populations.
8 The Dunning-Kruger Effect on a Latinx Population
- Carolina Garza Castaneda, Matthew J. Wright, Raymundo Cervantes, Tara L. Victor, Krissy E. Smith, Chelsea McElwee, Adriana Cuello, Alberto L. Fernandez, Isabel D. C. Munoz, David J. Hardy, Daniel W. Lopez-Hernandez
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- Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society / Volume 29 / Issue s1 / November 2023
- Published online by Cambridge University Press:
- 21 December 2023, pp. 423-424
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Individuals tend to overestimate their abilities in areas where they are less competent. This cognitive bias is known as the Dunning-Krueger effect. Research shows that Dunning-Krueger effect occurs in persons with traumatic brain injury and healthy comparison participants. It was suggested by Walker and colleagues (2017) that the deficits in cognitive awareness may be due to brain injury. Confrontational naming tasks (e.g., Boston Naming Test) are used to evaluate language abilities. The Cordoba Naming Test (CNT) is a 30-item confrontational naming task developed to be administered in multiple languages. Hardy and Wright (2018) conditionally validated a measure of perceived mental workload called the NASA Task Load Index (NASA-TLX). They found that workload ratings on the NASA-TLX increased with increased task demands on a cognitive task. The purpose of the present study was to determine whether the Dunning-Kruger effect occurs in a Latinx population and possible factors driving individuals to overestimate their abilities on the CNT. We predicted the low-performance group would report better CNT performance, but underperform on the CNT compared to the high-performance group.
Participants and Methods:The sample consisted of 129 Latinx participants with a mean age of 21.07 (SD = 4.57). Participants were neurologically and psychologically healthy. Our sample was divided into two groups: the low-performance group and the high-performance group. Participants completed the CNT and the NASA-TLX in English. The NASA-TLX examines perceived workload (e.g., performance) and it was used in the present study to evaluate possible factors driving individuals to overestimate their abilities on the CNT. Participants completed the NASA-TLX after completing the CNT. Moreover, the CNT raw scores were averaged to create the following two groups: low-performance (CNT raw score <17) and high-performance (CNT raw score 18+). A series of ANCOVA's, controlling for gender and years of education completed were used to evaluate CNT performance and CNT perceived workloads.
Results:We found the low-performance group reported better performance on the CNT compared to the high-performance, p = .021, np2 = .04. However, the high-performance group outperformed the low-performance group on the CNT, p = .000, np2 = .53. Additionally, results revealed the low-performance group reported higher temporal demand and effort levels on the CNT compared to the high-performance group, p's < .05, nps2 = .05.
Conclusions:As we predicted, the low-performance group overestimated their CNT performance compared to the high-performance group. The current data suggest that the Dunning-Kruger effect occurs in healthy Latinx participants. We also found that temporal demand and effort may be influencing awareness in the low-performance group CNT performance compared to the high-performance group. The present study suggests subjective features on what may be influencing confrontational naming task performance in low-performance individuals more than highperformance individuals on the CNT. Current literature shows that bilingual speakers underperformed on confrontational naming tasks compared to monolingual speakers. Future studies should investigate if the Dunning-Kruger effects Latinx English monolingual speakers compared to Spanish-English bilingual speakers on the CNT.
16 The Multicultural Neuropsychological Scale (MUNS): The New Attention Subtest, Preliminary Cross-Cultural Data
- Gabriel Jäuregui, Saleena Wilson, Autumn Wild, Kara Eversole, Bernice Marcopulos, Alberto Fernändez
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- Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society / Volume 29 / Issue s1 / November 2023
- Published online by Cambridge University Press:
- 21 December 2023, p. 431
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The MUNS is a screening scale developed in Cordoba, Argentina (2018). It is devised with multicultural stimuli that are easily translated into different languages. The scale consists of seven subtests evaluating five cognitive domains: attention, memory, executive functioning, constructional praxis, and language. Previous cross-cultural studies with this scale found significant differences in performance on the attention subtest. The authors have developed a new attention subtest called “Arrows Cancellation”, a short cancellation test designed to overcome its predecessor’s shortcomings. The minimum score of this subtest is 0, and the maximum score is 160. It takes between 3 to 5 minutes to administer. A pilot study of this subtest was performed in Argentina in 2021 (n=62, M=105.61 ± 15.06). The aim of this study is to present the first cross-cultural comparison for the Arrows Cancellation subtest of the MUNS.
Participants and Methods:Argentinian (n=25, 84% female) and U.S.A. (n=39, 87% female) samples were administered the Arrows Cancellation subtest. In both cases, individuals gave their consent to participate voluntarily in this study. Participants’ health backgrounds, explored through a set of questions, determined their inclusion in the study. Participants with any of the following diagnoses were excluded from this sample: stroke, loss of consciousness (at least 20 minutes), traumatic head injury, central nervous system disease, chronic renal insufficiency, hepatic encephalopathy, non-treated thyroid disease, epilepsy, non-treated high blood pressure, severe cardiac failure, severe sleep disorders, coma, diagnosed psychiatric disease, or illegal drug consumption. Argentinians were given the instructions in Spanish whilst Americans were instructed in English. The mean age for the Argentinian sample was 21.24 ± 2.44, and for the American sample it was 20.18 ± 1.89. The mean years of education was 13.44 ± 0.96 for the Argentinian group and 13.6 ± 1.55 for the American group. A t-test showed that there were no significant differences in age (p=.06), years of schooling (p=.67) between both samples.
Results:The mean score of the Arrows Cancellation subtest for the Argentinian sample was 107.30 ± 14.51 and 108.95 ± 14.12 for the American sample. A t-test did not show significant differences in the Arrows Cancellation subtest score between samples (p=.65). In addition, there were no significant differences between males and females (p=.43).
Conclusions:The results of this study show that the new attention subtest of the MUNS did not show significant differences between two different cultural samples. Further studies are needed to confirm its utility in other cultural settings. Among the limitations of this study are the sample sizes and the restricted ranges of age and years of schooling.
42 Lexical Retrieval and Acculturation in Generation Z Mexicans
- Yvette D Jesus, Krissy E Smith, Krithika Sivaramakrishnan, Reymundo Cervantes, Tara L Victor, Brittany Heuchert, Dorthy Schmidt, Diana Palacios, Chelsea McElwee, David J Hardy, Enrique Lopez, Alberto L Fernandez, Daniel W Lopez Hernandez
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- Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society / Volume 29 / Issue s1 / November 2023
- Published online by Cambridge University Press:
- 21 December 2023, p. 453
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The Cordoba Naming Test (CNT) is a 30-item lexical retrieval task that was developed to be administered in multiple languages. Research shows that self-identifying Mexicans residing in Mexico outperform self-identifying Mexicans that reside in the United States on the CNT. Studies indicate that the process of acculturation can influence cognitive performance. Previous studies demonstrated that Generation Z individuals (i.e., people born between 1997 and 2012) have underperformed on the CNT compared to Generation Y individuals (i.e., people born between 1981 and 1996). To our knowledge, no study has examined the influence of acculturation on Generation Z Mexicans’ CNT performance. We expected Mexicans residing in Mexico (MRM) to outperform Mexicans residing in the United States on the CNT and to report higher acculturation traits. We also predicted that acculturation would correlate with CNT performance.
Participants and Methods:The present study sample consisted of 285 Generation Z psychologically and neurologically healthy Mexicans with a mean age of 20.32 (SD = 1.60). Participants were divided into three groups: MRM, Mexicans residing in the United States, and Mexican-Americans residing in the United States (MARUS). All participants completed the CNT and acculturation measure in Spanish. Acculturation traits were measured by the Abbreviated Multidimensional Acculturation Scale (AMAS). ANCOVAs were used to evaluate differences in the CNT and AMAS (i.e., Spanish language, Latino competency, Latino identity). Pearson’s correlation coefficient was used to evaluate the relationship between acculturation on CNT performance.
Results:MRM outperformed the Mexicans residing in the United States and MARUS on the CNT, p = .000, np2 = .49. The MRM group reported better Spanish language abilities compared to Mexicans residing in the United States and the MARUS groups, p = .000, np2 = .10. Additionally, MRM reported better Latino competency than the MARUS group, p = .000, np2 = .08. Pearson’s correlation coefficient revealed that the MARUS’s Spanish language abilities impacted CNT performance, p = .000, r = .48. In addition, we found that Latino competency correlated with CNT performance, p’s < .05, r’s = .20-.47, in both the MRM and Mexicans residing in the United States groups. Latino identity did not significantly correlate with CNT performance in any group.
Conclusions:Results confirmed that MRM individuals perform better on the CNT than Mexicans residing in the United States and MARUS. Additionally, we found that several acculturation traits correlated with Mexican groups’ CNT performance. Our research indicates that while all Generation Z individuals of Mexican heritage feel strongly connected to their Latino identity regardless of where they live, MARUS feel less competent in Spanish and Latinx culture than MRM and Mexicans residing in the United States. Future work should further explore these differences for better insight into how acculturative factors influence lexical retrieval performance. Future work with bigger sample sizes can additionally examine CNT performance and acculturation in Generation Z first-generation and non-first-generation Mexicans (e.g., second-generation, third-generation) residing in the United States.
86 Dementia Caregiver Burden associated with COVID-19 quarantine: A South American Cohort Study
- Micaela María Arruabarrena, Rodrigo Fernandez, Carlos Alberto Martinez Canyazo, Nicolas Corvalan, Greta Keller, Agostina Carello, Gustavo Emilio Sevlever, Ricardo Francisco Allegri, Lucía Crivelli
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- Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society / Volume 29 / Issue s1 / November 2023
- Published online by Cambridge University Press:
- 21 December 2023, pp. 388-389
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The objective of this study is to explore the impact on the mental health of caregivers of people with dementia during the period of mandatory preventive social isolation (ASPO) and to study which of these factors were predictors of caregiver overload.
Participants and Methods:During the first 3 months of the ASPO (June 2020 to september 2020). A sample of 112 caregivers (75.89% female; age 58.65 ± 14. 30) of patients with dementia from a Memory Center answered, remotely (online or telephone) a survey with the following questionnaires: the Zarit Caregiver Overload Scale (ZBI), Weekly hourly load dedicated to the care of patients with dementia), the use of time in unpaid activities through an activity diary, provided by Argentine National Institute of Statistics and Census (INDEC), the Caregiver Activities Survey (CAS) and the Anxiety, Depression and Stress Scale (DASS-21). These questionnaires evaluate the conditions and characteristics of caregiving tasks and their impact on the caregiver in the context of ASPO. Additionally, it was recorded whether the person with dementia, the caregiver, or persons living with them had had COVID-19.
Results:Descriptively, a disparity in frequency was observed in the gender of caregivers of persons with dementia, i.e., caregiving is inequitably distributed between men (24.11%) and women (75.89%). This difference hinders direct comparison between men and women. A regularized L2 regression was performed for the identification of predictors of caregiver overload identifying the number of caregiving hours (β=0.090), DAS depression (β=0.085), DASS anxiety (β=0.099) DASS stress (β=0.164), fear of Covid (0.141) and lower patient cognitive performance according to MMSE (β=-0.41) and to lesser extent sex as the greatest contributors to patient overload. Additionally, a mediation analysis was performed in which the factors number of caregiving hours (CAS; r= 0.254,r= 0.292,r= 0.252,r= 0.252,r= -0.37), being a primary caregiver and fear of Covid-19 (r= 0.335,r= 0.432,r= 0.402,r= -0.496) were found to be mediators of the effect between anxiety, depression, stress (DASS) and overload (ZBI).
Conclusions:Caregivers of patients with dementia have suffered sequelae such as anxiety, stress, depression, and overload (caregivers’ burden) in the context of the COVID-19 virus spread and during mandatory preventive social isolation. Being a primary caregiver, dedicating more hours to caregiving, and fear of Covid-19 are factors that contribute significantly to caregiver burden and mediate between this burden and mood variables. Public policies to support caregivers and information about the disease could modify these variables and reduce caregiver burden.
22 Cordoba Naming Test Performance and Acculturation in a Geriatric Population
- Isabel C.D. Muñoz, Krissy E. Smith, Santiago I. Espinoza, Diana M. R. Maqueda, Adriana C. Cuello, Ana Paula Pena, Carolina Garza, Raymundo Cervantes, Jill Razani, Tara L. Victor, David J. Hardy, Alberto L. Fernandez, Natalia Lozano Acosta, Daniel W. Lopez-Hernandez
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- Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society / Volume 29 / Issue s1 / November 2023
- Published online by Cambridge University Press:
- 21 December 2023, pp. 335-336
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Objective:
A commonly used confrontation naming task used in the United States is The Boston Naming Test (BNT). Performance differences has been found in Caucasian and ethnic minorities on the BNT. The Cordoba Naming Test (CNT) is a 30-item confrontation naming task developed in Argentina. Past research has shown acculturation levels can influence cognitive performance. Furthermore, one study evaluated geriatric gender differences on CNT performance in Spanish. Researchers reported that older male participants outperformed female participants on the CNT. To our knowledge, researchers have not evaluated ethnic differences on the CNT using a geriatric sample. The purpose of the present study was to examined CNT performance and acculturation in a Latinx and Caucasian geriatric sample. It was predicted the Caucasian group would outperform the Latinx group on the CNT. Moreover, the Caucasian group would report higher acculturation levels on the Abbreviated Multidimensional Acculturation Scale (AMAS) compared to the Latinx group.
Participants and Methods:The sample consisted of 9 Latinx and 11 Caucasian participants with a mean age of 66.80 (SD =6.10), with an average of 14.30 (SD = 2.00) years of education. All participants were neurologically and psychologically healthy and completed the CNT and the AMAS in English. Acculturation was measured via the AMAS English subscales (i.e., English Language, United States. Identity, United States, Competency). A series of ANCOVAs, controlling for years of education completed and gender, was used to evaluate CNT performance and acculturation.
Results:The ethnic groups were not well demographically matched (i.e., years of education and gender).We found that the Caucasian group outperformed the Latinx group on CNT performance p = .012, ηp 2 = .34. Furthermore, the Caucasian group reported higher acculturation levels (i.e., English Language, United States, Identity, United States, Competency) compared to the Latinx group p’s < .05, ηps2 = .42-.64.
Conclusions:To our knowledge, this is the first study to evaluate CNT performance between ethnic groups with a geriatric sample. As expected the Caucasian group outperformed the Latinx group on the CNT. Also, as expected the Caucasian group reported higher English acculturation levels compared to the Latinx group. Our findings are consistent with past studies showing ethnic differences on confrontational naming performance (i.e., The Boston Naming Test), favoring Caucasians. A possible explanation for group differences could have been linguistic factors (e.g., speaking multiple languages) in our Latinx group. Therefore, since our Latinx group reported lower levels of English Language, United States identity, and United States competency the Latinx group assimilation towards United States culture might of influence their CNT performance. Future studies with different ethnic groups (e.g., African-Americans) and a larger sample size should examine if ethnic differences continue to cross-validate in a geriatric sample.
30 Analyzing Spanish Speakers Cordoba Naming Test Performance
- Raymundo Cervantes, Isabel D.C. Munoz, Estefania J. Aguirre, Natalia Lozano Acosta, Mariam Gomez, Adriana C. Cuello, Krissy E. Smith, Diana I. Palacios Mata, Krithika Sivaramakrishnan, Yvette De Jesus, Santiago I. Espinoza, Diana M. R. Maqueda, David J. Hardy, Tara L. Victor, Alberto L. Fernandez, Daniel W. Lopez-Hernandez
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- Journal:
- Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society / Volume 29 / Issue s1 / November 2023
- Published online by Cambridge University Press:
- 21 December 2023, pp. 443-444
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A 30-item confrontation naming test was developed in Argentina for Spanish speakers, The Cordoba Naming Test (CNT). The Boston Naming Test is an established confrontation naming task in the United States. Researchers have used the Boston Naming Test to identify individuals with different clinical pathologies (e.g., Alzheimer’s disease). The current literature on how Spanish speakers across various countries perform on confrontational naming tasks is limited. To our knowledge, one study investigated CNT performance across three Spanish-speaking countries (i.e., Argentina, Mexico, and Guatemala). Investigators found that the Guatemalan group underperformed on the CNT compared to the Argentine and Mexican groups. The purpose of this study was to extend the current literature and investigate CNT performance across five Spanish-speaking countries (i.e., Argentina, Mexico, Guatemala, Colombia, United States). We predicted that the Argentine group would outperform the other Spanish-speaking countries.
Participants and Methods:The present study sample consisted of 502 neurologically and psychologically healthy participants with a mean age of 29.06 (SD = 13.41) with 14.75 years of education completed (SD = 3.01). Participants were divided into five different groups based on their country of birth and current country residency (i.e., United States, Mexico, Guatemala, Argentina, & Colombia). All participants consented to voluntary participation and completed the CNT and a comprehensive background questionnaire in Spanish. The CNT consisted of 30 black and white line drawings, ranging from easy to hard in difficulty. An ANCOVA, controlling for gender, education, and age, was used to evaluate CNT performance between the five Spanish-speaking country groups. Meanwhile, a Bonferroni post-hoc test was utilized to evaluate the significant differences between Spanish-speaking groups. We used a threshold of p < .05 for statistical significance.
Results:Results revealed significant group differences between the five Spanish speaking groups on the CNT, p = .000, np2 = .48. Bonferroni post-hoc test revealed that the United States group significantly underperformed on the CNT compared to all the Spanish-speaking groups. Next, we found the Guatemalan group underperformed on the CNT compared to the Argentinian, Mexican, and Colombian groups. Additionally, we found the Argentinian group outperformed the Mexican, Guatemalan, and United States groups on the CNT. No significant differences were found between the Argentinian group and Colombian group or the Mexican group and Colombian group on the CNT.
Conclusions:As predicted, the Argentinian group outperformed all the Spanish-speaking groups on the CNT except the Colombian group. Additionally, we found that the United States group underperformed on the CNT compared to all the Spanish-speaking groups. A possible explanation is that Spanish is not the official language in the United States compared to the rest of the Spanish-speaking groups. Meanwhile, a possible reason why the Argentinian and Colombian groups demonstrated better CNT performances might have been that it was less culturally sensitive than the United States, Mexican, and Guatemalan groups. Further analysis is needed with bigger sample sizes across other Spanish-speaking countries (e.g., Costa Rica, Chile) to evaluate what variables, if any, are influencing CNT performance.
39 Perceived Workload and Language Order Effects on the Cordoba Naming Test in Spanish-English Bilinguals
- Krissy E. Smith, Isabel D. C. Munoz, Raymundo Cervantes, Andrea R. Preciado, Tara L. Victor, Natalia Garcia, Paula V. Bracho, Enrique Lopez, Alberto L. Fernandez, Yvette De Jesus, Daniel W. Lopez-Hernandez
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- Journal:
- Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society / Volume 29 / Issue s1 / November 2023
- Published online by Cambridge University Press:
- 21 December 2023, pp. 451-452
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Objective:
The Cordoba Naming Test (CNT) is a 30-item confrontation naming task. The administration of the CNT can be administered in multiple languages. Hardy and Wright (2018) conditionally validated a measure of perceived mental workload called the National Aeronautic Space Administration Task Load Index (NASA-TLX). They found that workload ratings on the NASA-TLX increased with increased demands on a cognitive task. Researchers found interactions in a study examining language proficiency and language (i.e., in which the test was administered) on several tasks of the Golden Stroop Test. Their results revealed that unbalanced bilinguals’ best-spoken language showed significantly better results compared to balanced bilinguals’ where language use did not matter. To our knowledge, no study has examined the order effects of Spanish-English bilingual speakers’ CNT performance and perceived workloads when completed in Spanish first compared to English second and vice-versa. We predicted that persons that completed the CNT in English first would demonstrate better performances and report lower perceived workloads on the CNT compared to completing the CNT in Spanish second. In addition, we predicted that persons that completed the CNT in Spanish first would demonstrate worse performance and higher perceived workloads on the CNT compared to completing the CNT in English second.
Participants and Methods:The sample consisted of 62 Spanish-English healthy and neurologically bilingual speakers with a mean age of 19.94 (SD= 3.36). Thirty-seven participants completed the CNT in English first and then in Spanish (English-to-Spanish) and 25 participants completed the CNT in Spanish first and then in English (Spanish-to-English). The NASA-TLX was used to evaluate CNT perceived workloads. All the participants completed the NASA-TLX in English and Spanish after completing the CNT in the language given, respectfully. A series of paired-samples T-Tests were completed to evaluate groups CNT performance and perceived workload.
Results:We found that the English-to-Spanish group performed better on the CNT in English first than completing it in Spanish second, p = .000. We also found that the English-to-Spanish group reported better performance and less mentally demanding on the CNT when it was completed in English first compared to completing it in Spanish second, p’s < .05. Regarding the Spanish-to-English group, we found participants performed worse when they completed the CNT in Spanish first compared to completing the CNT in English second, p = .000. Finally, the Spanish-to-English group reported worse performance completing the CNT in Spanish first, more temporal demanding, and more frustrating compared to completing the CNT in English second, p’s < .05.
Conclusions:As expected, when participants completed the CNT in English, regardless of the order, they performed better and reported lower perceived workloads compared to completing the CNT in Spanish. Our data suggests that language order effect influenced participants CNT performance possibly due to not knowing specific items in Spanish compared to in English. Future studies using larger sample sizes should evaluate language order effects on the CNT in Spanish-English balanced bilingual speakers compared to unbalanced bilingual speakers.
Contribution of the Roman rat lines/strains to personality neuroscience: neurobehavioral modeling of internalizing/externalizing psychopathologies
- Alberto Fernández-Teruel, Toni Cañete, Daniel Sampedro-Viana, Ignasi Oliveras, Rafael Torrubia, Adolf Tobeña
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- Journal:
- Personality Neuroscience / Volume 6 / 2023
- Published online by Cambridge University Press:
- 04 October 2023, e8
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The Roman high-avoidance (RHA) and low-avoidance (RLA) rat lines/strains were established in Rome through bidirectional selection of Wistar rats for rapid (RHA) or extremely poor (RLA) acquisition of a two-way active avoidance task. Relative to RHAs, RLA rats exhibit enhanced threat sensitivity, anxiety, fear and vulnerability to stress, a passive coping style and increased sensitivity to frustration. Thus, RLA rats’ phenotypic profile falls well within the “internalizing” behavior spectrum. Compared with RLAs and other rat strains/stocks, RHAs present increased impulsivity and reward sensitivity, deficits in social behavior and attentional/cognitive processes, novelty-induced hyper-locomotion and vulnerability to psychostimulant sensitization and drug addiction. Thus, RHA rats’ phenotypes are consistent with a “disinhibiting externalizing” profile. Many neurobiological/molecular traits differentiate both rat lines/strains. For example, relative to RLA rats, RHAs exhibit decreased function of the prefrontal cortex (PFC), hippocampus and amygdala, increased functional tone of the mesolimbic dopamine system, a deficit of central metabotropic glutamate-2 (mGlu2) receptors, increased density of serotonin 5-HT2A receptors in the PFC, impairment of GABAergic transmission in the PFC, alterations of several synaptic markers and increased density of pyramidal immature dendrític spines in the PFC. These characteristics suggest an immature brain of RHA rats and are reminiscent of schizophrenia features like hypofrontality and disruption of the excitation/inhibition cortical balance. We review evidence supporting RLA rats as a valid model of anxiety/fear, stress and frustration vulnerability, whereas RHA rats represent a promising translational model of neurodevelopmental alterations related to impulsivity, schizophrenia-relevant features and comorbidity with drug addiction vulnerability.
Mobile craftspeople and orientalising transculturation in seventh-century BC Iberia
- Antonio Blanco-González, Juan Jesús Padilla-Fernández, Alberto Dorado-Alejos
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During the early first millennium BC, Phoenician peoples settled the Iberian coasts instigating cultural innovations known as the orientalising; indigenous communities of the interior have long been considered as passively dependent on, or isolated from, these developments. Recent excavations at the Early Iron Age village of Cerro de San Vicente in central Spain, however, have yielded domestic contexts that prompt reconsideration of this relationship. The authors use settlement layout, architecture and locally made tablewares to identify heterarchical organisation around virilocal and bilateral kinship and hybrid practices that attest to adoption of know-how and practices from distant places. Emphasis is placed on the role of embodied craftworking skills and female mobility in transculturation processes.
Scipion3: A workflow engine for cryo-electron microscopy image processing and structural biology
- Pablo Conesa, Yunior C. Fonseca, Jorge Jiménez de la Morena, Grigory Sharov, Jose Miguel de la Rosa-Trevín, Ana Cuervo, Alberto García Mena, Borja Rodríguez de Francisco, Daniel del Hoyo, David Herreros, Daniel Marchan, David Strelak, Estrella Fernández-Giménez, Erney Ramírez-Aportela, Federico Pedro de Isidro-Gómez, Irene Sánchez, James Krieger, José Luis Vilas, Laura del Cano, Marcos Gragera, Mikel Iceta, Marta Martínez, Patricia Losana, Roberto Melero, Roberto Marabini, José María Carazo, Carlos Oscar Sánchez Sorzano
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- Biological Imaging / Volume 3 / 2023
- Published online by Cambridge University Press:
- 29 June 2023, e13
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Image-processing pipelines require the design of complex workflows combining many different steps that bring the raw acquired data to a final result with biological meaning. In the image-processing domain of cryo-electron microscopy single-particle analysis (cryo-EM SPA), hundreds of steps must be performed to obtain the three-dimensional structure of a biological macromolecule by integrating data spread over thousands of micrographs containing millions of copies of allegedly the same macromolecule. The execution of such complicated workflows demands a specific tool to keep track of all these steps performed. Additionally, due to the extremely low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), the estimation of any image parameter is heavily affected by noise resulting in a significant fraction of incorrect estimates. Although low SNR and processing millions of images by hundreds of sequential steps requiring substantial computational resources are specific to cryo-EM, these characteristics may be shared by other biological imaging domains. Here, we present Scipion, a Python generic open-source workflow engine specifically adapted for image processing. Its main characteristics are: (a) interoperability, (b) smart object model, (c) gluing operations, (d) comparison operations, (e) wide set of domain-specific operations, (f) execution in streaming, (g) smooth integration in high-performance computing environments, (h) execution with and without graphical capabilities, (i) flexible visualization, (j) user authentication and private access to private data, (k) scripting capabilities, (l) high performance, (m) traceability, (n) reproducibility, (o) self-reporting, (p) reusability, (q) extensibility, (r) software updates, and (s) non-restrictive software licensing.
Does our cognitive empathy diminish with age? The moderator role of educational level
- María José Gutiérrez-Cobo, Rosario Cabello, Alberto Megías-Robles, Raquel Gómez-Leal, Simon Baron-Cohen, Pablo Fernández-Berrocal
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- International Psychogeriatrics / Volume 35 / Issue 4 / April 2023
- Published online by Cambridge University Press:
- 03 June 2021, pp. 207-214
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Introduction:
The literature has demonstrated how the relationship between cognitive or emotional intelligence and age exhibits an inverted-U-shape and that this decline can be mitigated by an individual’s cognitive reserve (CR). Rather less is known, however, about the pattern of changes in cognitive empathy or the ability to recognize the thoughts or feelings of others.
Objectives:The aim of the present study was firstly to analyze the effect of age, gender, and CR (measured through educational level), on the capacity to show cognitive empathy. Secondly, we aimed to evaluate what type of relationship—linear or quadratic—exists between age and cognitive empathy. We finally aimed to analyze the moderator role of educational level on the relationship between age and cognitive empathy.
Participants:Totally, 902 Spanish adults aged between 18 and 79 years (M = 43.53, SD = 11.86; 57% women).
Measurements:Participants were asked to indicate their educational level (primary, high school, or college education) and their cognitive empathy was assessed using the Eyes test.
Results:Women scored higher than men on cognitive empathy. Participants with a college education had higher scores on cognitive empathy than those with a lower educational level. Additionally, the relationship between age and cognitive empathy fit an inverted-U-shaped curve, consistent with the data found for cognitive and emotional intelligence. Finally, the age-related decrease in cognitive empathy appeared to be mitigated by a higher educational level, but only in those individuals aged 35 years and above. Limitations and clinical implications are discussed.
Mid-IR cosmological spectrophotometric surveys from space: Measuring AGN and star formation at the cosmic noon with a SPICA-like mission
- Part of
- Luigi Spinoglio, Sabrina Mordini, Juan Antonio Fernández-Ontiveros, Almudena Alonso-Herrero, Lee Armus, Laura Bisigello, Francesco Calura, Francisco J. Carrera, Asantha Cooray, Helmut Dannerbauer, Roberto Decarli, Eiichi Egami, David Elbaz, Alberto Franceschini, Eduardo González Alfonso, Luca Graziani, Carlotta Gruppioni, Evanthia Hatziminaoglou, Hidehiro Kaneda, Kotaro Kohno, Álvaro Labiano, Georgios Magdis, Matthew A. Malkan, Hideo Matsuhara, Tohru Nagao, David Naylor, Miguel Pereira-Santaella, Francesca Pozzi, Giulia Rodighiero, Peter Roelfsema, Stephen Serjeant, Cristian Vignali, Lingyu Wang, Toru Yamada
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- Journal:
- Publications of the Astronomical Society of Australia / Volume 38 / 2021
- Published online by Cambridge University Press:
- 23 April 2021, e021
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We use the SPace Infrared telescope for Cosmology and Astrophysics (SPICA) project as a template to demonstrate how deep spectrophotometric surveys covering large cosmological volumes over extended fields (1– $15\, \rm{deg^2}$ ) with a mid-IR imaging spectrometer (17– $36\, \rm{\rm{\upmu m}}$ ) in conjunction with deep $70\, \rm{\rm{\upmu m}}$ photometry with a far-IR camera, at wavelengths which are not affected by dust extinction can answer the most crucial questions in current galaxy evolution studies. A SPICA-like mission will be able for the first time to provide an unobscured three-dimensional (3D, i.e. x, y, and redshift z) view of galaxy evolution back to an age of the universe of less than $\sim$ 2 Gyrs, in the mid-IR rest frame. This survey strategy will produce a full census of the Star Formation Rate (SFR) in the universe, using polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) bands and fine-structure ionic lines, reaching the characteristic knee of the galaxy luminosity function, where the bulk of the population is distributed, at any redshift up to $z \sim 3.5$ . Deep follow-up pointed spectroscopic observations with grating spectrometers onboard the satellite, across the full IR spectral range (17– $210\, \rm{\rm{\upmu m}}$ ), would simultaneously measure Black Hole Accretion Rate (BHAR), from high-ionisation fine-structure lines, and SFR, from PAH and low- to mid-ionisation lines in thousands of galaxies from solar to low metallicities, down to the knee of their luminosity functions. The analysis of the resulting atlas of IR spectra will reveal the physical processes at play in evolving galaxies across cosmic time, especially its heavily dust-embedded phase during the activity peak at the cosmic noon ( $z \sim 1$ –3), through IR emission lines and features that are insensitive to the dust obscuration.
Motivational Climate Measures in Sport: A Systematic Review
- Adriana Lacerda, Alberto Filgueiras, Marianna Campos, Richard Keegan, Jesús Landeira-Fernández
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- The Spanish Journal of Psychology / Volume 24 / 2021
- Published online by Cambridge University Press:
- 22 April 2021, e27
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Motivational climate can be defined as the environmental status of sport that influences motivation levels. The present study aimed to systematically identify the most widely used measures examining motivational climate. The databases for searching were PsycNET, PubMed and ScienceDirect. The search returned a total of 378 studies of which 8 met the inclusion criteria for analysis. The results show that the most used instruments for evaluation of motivational climate have good psychometric characteristics of reliability, validity and factorial structure. On the other hand, there was a lack of studies that analyzed invariance of measures, which may be a critical consideration. Finally, the review points out the need for development of new theoretical perspectives, potential new instruments that extend beyond the socio-cognitive approach and instruments that allow the measurement of other environmental, personal and structural variables other than parents, coaches and athletes.
Job strain is prospectively associated with a lower frequency of fruit consumption in schoolteachers
- Renne Rodrigues, Marcela Maria Birolim, Selma Maffei de Andrade, Alberto Durán González, Cézar Eumann Mesas, Rubén Fernández-Rodríguez, Arthur Eumann Mesas
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- Journal:
- Public Health Nutrition / Volume 24 / Issue 7 / May 2021
- Published online by Cambridge University Press:
- 24 February 2021, pp. 1678-1686
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Objective:
The current study aimed to analyse the prospective association between perceived work demand and changes in eating behaviours in schoolteachers.
Design:This was a prospective cohort study with self-reported information obtained on the Demand Control Support Questionnaire and eating behaviours at baseline and after a 2-year follow-up. The analyses were performed using mixed-effects models adjusted for the main confounders.
Setting:The setting consisted of elementary and secondary schools located in a large city in southern Brazil.
Participants:The participants were 502 schoolteachers (65·9 % females, median age of 42·7 years [interquartile range 34·2, 49·4]).
Results:A total of 39·2 % of the schoolteachers were classified at baseline with job strain, 28·9 % with passive job, 12·2 % with active job and 19·7 % with low-strain job. In the fully adjusted models, compared with teachers who reported low-strain job, those with higher levels of job strain were more likely to reduce (coefficient = 0·064; 95 % CI 0·018, 0·109) and less likely to increase (coefficient = −0·066; 95 % CI −0·115, −0·016) their frequency of fruit consumption regardless of sociodemographic, lifestyle, health conditions and social support at work.
Conclusion:Job strain plays a relevant role in the frequency of fruit consumption over time in schoolteachers. The balance between demand and control at work must be considered in strategies for promoting healthy eating despite perceived social support.
Chapter 2 - Mating Strategies
- from Part I - Systematics, Ecology, and Behavior
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- By Sam M.J.G. Steyaert, Andreas Zedrosser, Ronald R. Swaisgood, Eva Filipczykova, Brian Crudge, Trishna Dutta, Sandeep Sharma, Shyamala Ratnayeke, Shinsuke Koike, Martin Leclerc, Andrew E. Derocher, Melanie Clapham, Thomas Spady, Bruce McLellan, Andrés Ordiz, Alberto Fernández-Gil, Miguel Delibes, Jon E. Swenson
- Edited by Vincenzo Penteriani, Mario Melletti
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- Bears of the World
- Published online:
- 16 November 2020
- Print publication:
- 26 November 2020, pp 21-35
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Summary
The mating system and mating strategies of a species refer to the behavioral strategies used to obtain reproductive partners and ensure reproductive success. Common determining factors of mating systems and strategies are: the manner of mate acquisition, the number of mates obtained by an individual, as well as the absence or presence and duration of parental care. In mammals, the energetic investments in gametes and rearing offspring are typically larger for females than for males. Mate selection is thus a much more important decision for females than for the rather indiscriminate males. This dichotomy results in sexual selection, which in turn is determined by male–male competition for access to females, as well as female mate choice. Because receptive females are generally considered the limiting resource in reproduction, males face intrasexual competition for mates. In a multitude of mammalian species, including bears, this has resulted in pronounced sexual size dimorphism and polygamous mating systems. Despite common characteristics (e.g. sexual size dimorphism, polygamy), variation in mating systems and strategies occur among bear populations and species.