The exponential ordering is exploited in the context of nonautonomous delay systems, inducing monotone skew-product semiflows under less restrictive conditions than usual. Some dynamical concepts linked to the order, such as semiequilibria, are considered for the exponential ordering, with implications for the determination of the presence of uniform persistence or the existence of global attractors. Also, some important conclusions on the long-term dynamics and attraction are obtained for monotone and sublinear delay systems for this ordering. The results are then applied to almost periodic Nicholson systems and new conditions are given for the existence of a unique almost periodic positive solution which asymptotically attracts every other positive solution.

This study among 80 dual-earner couples examines the ripple effects of emotional labour – on a daily basis. Specifically, we propose that employees who engage in surface acting at work drain their energetic resources, and undermine their own relationship satisfaction. Drawing upon conservation of resources (COR) theory, we predicted that work-related exhaustion would mediate the relationship between surface acting at work and at home. In addition, we hypothesized that employees’ emotional energy in the evening would mediate the relationship between surface acting at home and (actor and partner) satisfaction with the relationship. Participants filled in a survey and a diary booklet during five consecutive working days (N = 80 couples, N = 160 participants x 5 days, N = 800 occasions). The hypotheses were tested with multilevel analyses, using the actor–partner interdependence model. Results showed that daily work-related exhaustion partially mediated the relationship between daily surface acting at work and at home. As hypothesized, daily surface acting at home influenced own and partner’s daily relationship satisfaction through reduced daily emotional energy. These findings offer support for COR theory, and have important implications for organizations that encourage emotion regulation.

The main goal of the study is to analyze the metric goodness of the Spanish version of the Adult Prosocialness Scale (Caprara, Steca, Zelli, & Capanna, 2005). Analysis of construct and concurrent validity in two similar samples of young adults, a Spanish sample (target of the adaptation) and an Italian sample (source language), revealed the adequacy of the Spanish version of instrument, with adequate fit of the model in the Spanish group, χ2(96) = 405.28, p = .001, RMSEA = .071, CFI = .94, GFI = .93, and the Italian group χ2(97) = 224.5, p = .001, RMSEA = .075, CFI = .91, GFI = .90. The results also replicated the adequacy of the instrument found in the Italian sample, as the configural and metric invariance was verified in both groups. Analyses of benevolent and power values related to prosociality and differences between genders supported the validity of the scale. In short, the present study confirms the adequacy and sensitivity of the instrument to study prosociality in young adults in a Spanish sample.

Psychosocial functioning impairment is recognized as a core feature of schizophrenia. Numerous studies have assessed the process that may underlie this impairment. In the last years, one of these processes that has been studied more is social cognition, which has been proposed as a mediator variable between neurocognition and functional outcome. Social cognition includes the subdomains of emotion recognition and social perception, and in recent years several authors have developed diverse training programs in these areas.

The purpose of the present article is to assess the efficacy of the Social Cognition Training Program, a program that includes emotion recognition training and social perception training. The sample was made up of 14 outpatients with a diagnosis of schizophrenia according to CIE-10 criteria, randomly divided into two groups: experimental and control. All patients were assessed before and after the training program. Cognitive and psychopathological variables, social functioning, emotion recognition and social perception performance were assessed. Results suggest improvement in social perception and interpretation in the experimental group, in comparison with the control group, but not in emotion recognition. No significant correlations were obtained between social cognition training and other variables tested.

Based on the Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) model, the current study examined the moderating role of recovery experiences (i.e., psychological detachment from work, relaxation, mastery experiences, and control over leisure time) on the relationship between one job demand (i.e., role conflict) and work-and health-related outcomes. Results from our sample of 990 employees from Spain showed that psychological detachment from work and relaxation buffered the negative impact of role conflict on some of the proposed outcomes. Contrary to our expectations, we did not find significant results for mastery and control regarding moderating effects. Overall, findings suggest a differential pattern of the recovery experiences in the health impairment process proposed by the JD-R model.

In spite of their high oxidisability, long-chain n-3 PUFA protect against CVD. Dietary fatty acids modulate the fatty acid composition of lipoproteins involved in atherosclerosis. We thought that if long-chain n-3 PUFA were able to increase NO production by the aorta, then by its antioxidant activity the NO will prevent lipid peroxidation. However, the beneficial effect of NO in vivo on VLDL+LDL oxidation would only be possible if NO could diffuse to their lipidic core. Rats were fed maize oil- or fish oil as menhaden oil- (MO) rich diets for 8 weeks, to study the effects of MO on aortic NO production, NO diffusion into VLDL+LDL, the extent of oxidation in native VLDL+LDL and their oxidisability ex vivo. Aortic NO production and its α-tocopherol content were increased and n-3 PUFA were incorporated into the VLDL+LDL. In spite of the higher peroxidisability and the low α-tocopherol in native VLDL+LDL from rats fed MO, native VLDL+LDL from the two groups shared similar electrophoretic patterns, conjugated dienes, thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances, total antioxidant capacity, and NO diffusibility on VLDL+LDL, indicative of an in vivo protection against oxidation. However, these results do not correlate with the ex vivo oxidisability of VLDL+LDL, as NO is lacking. Thus, the in vivo beneficial effects can be explained by increased α-tocopherol in aorta and by a compensatory effect of NO on VLDL+LDL against the low α-tocopherol levels, which may contribute to the anti-atherogenic properties of fish oil.

The acquisition of foreign languages for specific purposes through e-learning strategies is one of the areas less researched and developed in the field of CALL. However, as a member of a recently completed Leonardo da Vinci Project, devoted to vocational training, the author will report on the findings of the Airline Talk project. The goals of the project were to supply materials which would promote continuing learning amongst airline staff in three target languages: English, German and Spanish. This paper focuses on the development, structure and language content of the Spanish courseware, ¡Bienvenido a bordo!, designed at the Universidad Politécnica de Valencia. The author discusses the process carried out by the project partners in order to satisfy learner demands in terms of learner orientation, process orientation and learner autonomy to achieve language competence through the development of communicative skills and interactivity. Issues that are described include: needs analysis, courseware specifications, exercise template design, graphical user interface and learner motivation. The results arising from the evaluation carried out at two different partner institutions will conclude the discussion.

The Centro Virtual Cervantes (http://cvc.cervantes.es) is the Internet-based branch of the Instituto Cervantes, the official Spanish institution commissioned to disseminate the use and study of Spanish language and culture around the world.

Since its creation in December 1997, the CVC has rapidly become one of the most important reference sites devoted to Spanish language and culture on the WWW, having reached an average of over 100,000 visitors a month. This increasing number of visitors is primarily due to the great variety of resources available at the CVC website, which attract both professionals and the public in general. These include announcements of cultural events under Actos Culturales, the four discussion forums, each of which focuses on a specific topic, and the language classroom, Aula de Lengua, designed for both teachers and learners of Spanish.

The CVC front page enables direct access to the entire contents which are well structured, and organised in a very user-friendly manner. The central part is dedicated to current cultural events and is therefore constantly up-dated. The sections included are listed on the left and right hand side of the main menu page.