Incidence of Obesity Among Mentally Retarded Children

An international survey of professionals in the field of mental retardation was conducted to determine significant research priorities in the education of students with mild retardation. A total of 67 individuals responded to survey which represented 83.7% of those contacted. Among the issues rated most highly were two clusters: vocational, career education and post-school adjustment and long term effects and generalization of effects of programs. Implications of the survey data are discussed and recommendations are provided

La Imagen y la Narrativa como Herramientas para el Abordaje Psicosocial en Escenarios de Violencia. Municipios de Acacias, Granada y San José del Guaviare

Este Diplomado de “Acompañamiento Psicosocial en Escenarios de Violencia” nos ofrece a los estudiantes de psicología unas herramientas teóricas y metodológicas para el acompañamiento psicosocial en contextos de crisis y violencia en nuestro país. Colombia es uno de los países más golpeados por causa del conflicto armando, en este caso contamos con muchas narraciones de personas que han tenido que vivir este flagelo, siendo afectados tanto física como emocionalmente, personas con un dolor profundo, marcados por la guerra, donde se ven seriamente afectadas las personas del campo, principales víctimas de este conflicto armado. Estas narraciones, nos ayudan como futuros psicólogos para que nos apropiemos ante estas problemáticas presentadas, con el deber de acompañar a las víctimas mediante acciones que permitan mejorar su bienestar físico y emocional, mediante el planteamiento de preguntas reflexivas circulares y estratégicas que permitan a la persona reflexionar sobre su pasado presente y futuro ya que como bien sabemos es importante tener en cuenta la frustración y dolor de cada una de estas personas, lo que se busca con este acompañamiento psicosocial es mitigar los daños que genera la violencia armada en la salud mental de los ciudadanos. Con el fin de lograr un acercamiento más profundo con este tipo de flagelos se ha implementado la técnica de la foto voz, con la cual los estudiantes pretenden visualizar la perspectiva desde las víctimas y expresar los sucesos vividos de violencia de una manera artística y subjetiva.This Diploma on “Psychosocial Accompaniment in Scenarios of Violence” offers to psychology students theoretical and methodological tools for psychosocial accompaniment in contexts of crisis and violence in our country. Colombia is one of the countries hardest hit by the armed conflict. In this case, we have many narratives of people who have had to live this scourge. They have been affected both physically and emotionally. They are people with a deep pain who have been marked by war. Rural people have been seriously affected and they are the main victims of this armed conflict. These narratives help us as future psychologists to take ownership of these problems with the duty of accompanying the victims through actions that improve their physical and emotional well-being by asking circular and strategic reflective questions that allow the person to reflect on his past, present and future. As we well know, it is important to take in mind each frustration and pain of each of these people. The purpose of this psychosocial accompaniment is to mitigate the damage that generates armed violence on the mental health of citizens. In order to achieve a deeper approach with this type of scourge, photo-voice technique has been implemented. With this, students intend to visualize the perspective from the victims and express the violence events lived in an artistic and subjective way

Evolution of the elaborate male intromittent organ of Xiphophorus fishes

Internally fertilizing animals show a remarkable diversity in male genital morphology that is associated with sexual selection, and these traits are thought to be evolving particularly rapidly. Male fish in some internally fertilizing species have “gonopodia,” highly modified anal fins that are putatively important for sexual selection. However, our understanding of the evolution of genital diversity remains incomplete. Contrary to the prediction that male genital traits evolve more rapidly than other traits, here we show that gonopodial traits and other nongonopodial traits exhibit similar evolutionary rates of trait change and also follow similar evolutionary models in an iconic genus of poeciliid fish (Xiphophorus spp.). Furthermore, we find that both mating and nonmating natural selection mechanisms are unlikely to be driving the diverse Xiphophorus gonopodial morphology. Putative holdfast features of the male genital organ do not appear to be influenced by water flow, a candidate selective force in aquatic habitats. Additionally, interspecific divergence in gonopodial morphology is not significantly higher between sympatric species, than between allopatric species, suggesting that male genitals have not undergone reproductive character displacement. Slower rates of evolution in gonopodial traits compared with a subset of putatively sexually selected nongenital traits suggest that different selection mechanisms may be acting on the different trait types. Further investigations of this elaborate trait are imperative to determine whether it is ultimately an important driver of speciation

First histological observations on the incorporation of a novel nanocrystalline hydroxyapatite paste OSTIM(® )in human cancellous bone

BACKGROUND: A commercially available nanocrystalline hydroxyapatite paste Ostim(® )has been reported in few recent studies to surpass other synthetic bone substitutes with respect to the observed clinical results. However, the integration of this implantable material has been histologically evaluated only in animal experimental models up to now. This study aimed to evaluate the tissue incorporation of Ostim(® )in human cancellous bone after reconstructive bone surgery for trauma. METHODS: Biopsy specimens from 6 adult patients with a total of 7 tibial, calcaneal or distal radial fractures were obtained at the time of osteosynthesis removal. The median interval from initial operation to tissue sampling was 13 (range 3–15) months. Samples were stained with Masson-Goldner, von Kossa, and toluidine blue. Osteoid volume, trabecular width and bone volume, and cortical porosity were analyzed. Samples were immunolabeled with antibodies against CD68, CD56 and human prolyl 4-hydroxylase to detect macrophages, osteoblasts, and fibroblasts, respectively. TRAP stainings were used to identify osteoclasts. RESULTS: Histomorphometric data indicated good regeneration with normal bone turnover: mean osteoid volume was 1.93% of the trabecular bone mass, trabecular bone volume – 28.4%, trabecular width – 225.12 μm, and porosity index – 2.6%. Cortical and spongious bone tissue were well structured. Neither inflammatory reaction, nor osteofibrosis or osteonecrosis were observed. The implanted material was widely absorbed. CONCLUSION: The studied nanocrystalline hydroxyapatite paste showed good tissue incorporation. It is highly biocompatible and appears to be a suitable bone substitute for juxtaarticular comminuted fractures in combination with a stable screw-plate osteosynthesis

Determination of Transport Properties From Flowing Fluid Temperature LoggingIn Unsaturated Fractured Rocks: Theory And Semi-Analytical Solution

Flowing fluid temperature logging (FFTL) has been recently proposed as a method to locate flowing fractures. We argue that FFTL, backed up by data from high-precision distributed temperature sensors, can be a useful tool in locating flowing fractures and in estimating the transport properties of unsaturated fractured rocks. We have developed the theoretical background needed to analyze data from FFTL. In this paper, we present a simplified conceptualization of FFTL in unsaturated fractured rock, and develop a semianalytical solution for spatial and temporal variations of pressure and temperature inside a borehole in response to an applied perturbation (pumping of air from the borehole). We compare the semi-analytical solution with predictions from the TOUGH2 numerical simulator. Based on the semi-analytical solution, we propose a method to estimate the permeability of the fracture continuum surrounding the borehole. Using this proposed method, we estimated the effective fracture continuum permeability of the unsaturated rock hosting the Drift Scale Test (DST) at Yucca Mountain, Nevada. Our estimate compares well with previous independent estimates for fracture permeability of the DST host rock. The conceptual model of FFTL presented in this paper is based on the assumptions of single-phase flow, convection-only heat transfer, and negligible change in system state of the rock formation. In a sequel paper [Mukhopadhyay et al., 2008], we extend the conceptual model to evaluate some of these assumptions. We also perform inverse modeling of FFTL data to estimate, in addition to permeability, other transport parameters (such as porosity and thermal conductivity) of unsaturated fractured rocks

ATHLETIC PERFORMANCE AS A FUNCTION OF NEED ACHIEVEMENT AND SELF-CONCEPT

The fact that successful athletic competition (as represented by performance levels in the research situation) is dependent upon physical ability as well as psychological factors presents a problem for those involved in training athletes because the nature of the psychological factors is relatively unknown. Women athletes do not perform to the same performance level as do men, nor do they, in general, participate in athletics as widely as do men. It is hypothesized that this might be due to two psychological variables: need-achievement and self-concept. Accurate identification of the precise nature of these psychological factors might be an aid in developing performance enhancement strategies and in sports participant selection. The problem for this study was to assess two psychological attributes, need-achievement and self-concept, which may serve as barriers to or enhancers of athletic performance in terms of ability. This could be done by comparing high performing athletes to low performing athletes and female athletes to male athletes. The purpose of this study was to investigate need-achievement and self-concept in athletic performance. The study investigated how high performance athletes differ from low performance athletes and how female athletes differ from male athletes in need-achievement and self-concept. Discriminant analysis was used to determine whether need-achievement and self-concept when combined were predictors of performance level and gender in athletic competition. Three performance levels were determined: actual performance (performance during the previous season), potential performance (coaches\u27 rating on how well athletes performed to their ability), fitness-performance (height-weight ratio of physical fitness). Discriminant analysis was also used to determine whether need-achievement and self-concept when combined were predictors of gender. Significant differences were found for actual- and fitness-performance for the total sample and for the female and male sub-samples but not for potential performance. Significant differences were found for gender on the total sample. It was concluded that these traits identified the high performer: high self-criticism, high social self-concept, high physical self-concept, high self-satisfaction, high need-achievement, high personal self-concept and identity. Three traits: high self-criticism, physical self-concept and behavior identified the male athlete

Athletic Performance As a Function of Need Achievement and Self-Concept

The fact that successful athletic competition (as represented by performance levels in the research situation) is dependent upon physical ability as well as psychological factors presents a problem for those involved in training athletes because the nature of the psychological factors is relatively unknown. Women athletes do not perform to the same performance level as do men, nor do they, in general, participate in athletics as widely as do men. It is hypothesized that this might be due to two psychological variables: need-achievement and self-concept. Accurate identification of the precise nature of these psychological factors might be an aid in developing performance enhancement strategies and in sports participant selection. The problem for this study was to assess two psychological attributes, need-achievement and self-concept, which may serve as barriers to or enhancers of athletic performance in terms of ability. This could be done by comparing high performing athletes to low performing athletes and female athletes to male athletes. The purpose of this study was to investigate need-achievement and self-concept in athletic performance. The study investigated how high performance athletes differ from low performance athletes and how female athletes differ from male athletes in need-achievement and self-concept. Discriminant analysis was used to determine whether need-achievement and self-concept when combined were predictors of performance level and gender in athletic competition. Three performance levels were determined: actual performance (performance during the previous season), potential performance (coaches\u27 rating on how well athletes performed to their ability), fitness-performance (height-weight ratio of physical fitness). Discriminant analysis was also used to determine whether need-achievement and self-concept when combined were predictors of gender. Significant differences were found for actual- and fitness-performance for the total sample and for the female and male sub-samples but not for potential performance. Significant differences were found for gender on the total sample. It was concluded that these traits identified the high performer: high self-criticism, high social self-concept, high physical self-concept, high self-satisfaction, high need-achievement, high personal self-concept and identity. Three traits: high self-criticism, physical self-concept and behavior identified the male athlete