Does d-cycloserine facilitate the effects of homework compliance on social anxiety symptom reduction?

BACKGROUND: Prior studies examining the effect of d-cycloserine (DCS) on homework compliance and outcome in cognitive-behavior therapy (CBT) have yielded mixed results. The aim of this study was to investigate whether DCS facilitates the effects of homework compliance on symptom reduction in a large-scale study for social anxiety disorder (SAD). METHODS: 169 participants with generalized SAD received DCS or pill placebo during 12-session exposure-based group CBT. Improvements in social anxiety were assessed by independent raters at each session using the Liebowitz social anxiety scale (LSAS). RESULTS: Controlling for LSAS at the previous session, and irrespective of treatment condition, greater homework compliance in the week prior related to lower LSAS at the next session. However, DCS did not moderate the effect of homework compliance and LSAS, LSAS on homework compliance, or the overall augmenting effect of DCS on homework compliance. Furthermore, LSAS levels were not predictive of homework compliance in the following week. CONCLUSION: The findings support the general benefits of homework compliance on outcome, but not a DCS-augmenting effect. The comparably small number of DCS-enhanced sessions in this study could be one reason for the failure to find a facilitating effect of DCS

Design and deployment of Low-Cost Drifting Buoys for coastal monitoring applications

Several Low-Coast Drifting Buoys (LCDB) have been designed and constructed at ICMAN-CSIC to determine flow characteristics of The Guadalquivir Estuary. Position and velocity of the driftes can be sent to a local server every ten minutes. The battery module has been dimensioned to provide experiment duration longer than two weeks. Flow patterns registered by the LCDB successfully match Acoustic Doppler Current (ADC) data from some others moored ADC profilers.Peer Reviewe

Petrological characterization of flint from Montmaneu's Limestones Formation (Eastern sector of the Ebro Basin)

Flint from Montmaneu's Limestones Formation of Rupelian age (Oligocene) is being here characterized. The analysis of the compositional texture, mineralogy and geochemical features has revealed this flint is highly pure and of microcrystalline texture, with a significant content of moganite. This flint is product of an early diagenetic replacement of limestone from littoral lacustrine facies. This flint was exploited by human populations in a regional range, especially in the early stages of the NeolithicSe caracteriza el sílex de la Formación calizas de Montmaneu, de edad Rupeliense (Oligoceno). El análisis textural, mineralógico y de sus rasgos geoquímicos indica que se trata de un sílex microcristalino, bastante puro, con una proporción significativa de moganita. Es producto del reemplazamiento diagenético temprano de calizas de facies lacustres litorales. Este sílex fue objeto de una explotación regional, especialmente en los primeros momentos del Neolític

INDICADORES DEMOGRÁFICOS, DE MERCADO LABORAL E INFRAESTRUCTURAS. LÍNEAS DE DESARROLLO.

São apresentados indicadores desenvolvidos no âmbito do projeto OTALEX C, relativos à Sustentabilidade Territorial, mais concretamente com a acessibilidade espacial, designadamente indicadores de acesso em tempos mínimos a serviços básicos sanitários (centros de saúde, hospitais, residências de idosos e centros de dia) e educativos (escolas, estabelecimentos de ensino secundário e superior), bem como a núcleos de população de hierarquia superior (cidades com mais de 20000, 50000 e 200000 habitantes). Estes indicadores serão incorporados à bateria de indicadores de sustentabilidade do projeto OTALEX C

Negative symptoms mediate the relationship between social cognition and functioning in schizophrenia: a pilot study

In spite of significant advances in pharmacological and psychological treatments, schizophrenia still ranks among the leading causes of disability worldwide. People suffering from schizophrenia have significant impairment in major areas of everyday life, such as interpersonal relationships, work or school and even self-care. Enhancing the understanding of factors that hinder real-life functioning is therefore crucial for translating delivered care into more positive outcomes. Social cognition, defined as the mental operations that underlie social interactions, including perceiving, interpreting, and generating responses to the intentions, dispositions, and behaviors of others, has been implicated in impaired functioning. It is typically broken down into four domains: emotion processing, social perception, attributional bias and theory of mind. Negative symptoms have also been associated with patients' functional outcome; although generally conceptualized as a unitary construct, the most recent literature suggests that these symptoms are heterogeneous and include at least two factors: amotivation and diminished emotional expression. The aim of this study was to analyze the relationships between negative symptoms, social cognition and real-life functioning in people with schizophrenia. Methods: 12 patients with diagnosis of schizophrenia according to ICD-10 criteria were assessed cross-sectionally regarding relevant dimensions to our study: general psychopathology (Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale), social cognition (Face and Emotion Identification Test, Schema Component Sequencing Test - Revised, Social Perception Scale, Ambiguous Intentions and Hostility Questionnaire, Reading the Mind in The Eyes Test), negative symptoms (Clinical Assessment Interview for Negative Symptoms – CAINS) and general functioning (Personal and Social Performance scale – PSP). Spearman correlations were examined and regression and mediation models (Preacher and Hayes bootstrapping methodology) were performed. Results: In our preliminary results, emotion processing was the only social cognition dimension significantly correlated with functioning (rS = .87) and negative symptoms measured by the CAINS: rS = -.78 with amotivation; -.70 with diminished emotional expression and -.78 with total CAINS score (all Po.01). Both amotivation and diminished emotional expression, as well as negative symptoms as a whole, correlated with functioning (rS4.80, Po.01). Emotion processing was a significant predictor of amotivation, diminished emotional expression and total CAINS score (all Beta4-.65, p o.05). Both emotion processing (Beta = .71, P = 0.3) and amotivation (Beta = -.84, P = 0.001) were significant predictors of functioning. Finally, amotivation was found to be a partial mediator of the relationship between emotion processing and functioning (BCA 95% CI = .196 - 7.559). Discussion: Our results are in partial agreement with previous studies suggesting that emotional processing is the most relevant dimension of social cognition to everyday functioning, despite a possible contribution of theory of mind for such impairment in patients with schizophrenia. Regarding negative symptoms, amotivation seems to be the dimension of most relevance to functioning. Altogether, negative symptoms seem to be driven by social cognition deficits and, at least partially, negative symptoms may play a role in the deleterious impact of impaired social cognition on functional outcome. The complexity of the crosstalk between negative symptoms, social cognition and functioning will be better addressed in ongoing studies, as a greater understanding of underlying mechanisms is critical to development of effective treatments

The effects of different club affiliation on BTV subscription

Sports marketing has unique characteristics that may lead their audience in behave in completely different ways compared with all the others consumer’s profiles. BTV challenged the sports viewing industry not only by spoiling their own TV rights but also by including on their target people who support others teams beyond Benfica. In spite of this strategy has been considered at an initial stage as risky, BTV only in the first year accounted 30 Million Euros of revenues. The current study aims to study the impact that all the different sports contents powered by BTV have on BTV subscription, the influence of different club affiliation on BTV subscription and, the influence of price on BTV subscription. On the first part of the study a literature review was performed in order to understand different insights that were revealed as important to justify the results achieved. This was followed by an analyze of the current situation of televised sports industry in Portugal and BTV in particular. Regarding the contents, English Premier League and Benfica games played at home are by far, the contents that arouse more interest. The results reveal that there is a huge influence of different club affiliation on BTV subscription, particularly by Sporting and Porto supporters. The price perception of BTV is also influenced by different club affiliation, where Benfica supporters have different opinion regarding BTV price, when compared in particular with Sporting and Porto supporters. Other conclusions are highlighted on the last part of the dissertation.O marketing desportivo tem características únicas que podem influenciar o público-alvo a comportar-se de forma diferente quando comparado com outros perfis de consumidores. A BTV desafiou a indústria televisiva, não só por deter os direitos do próprio clube, mas também por incluir no seu target pessoas que apoiam outros clubes. Considerada inicialmente uma estratégia de risco, a BTV atingiu, no seu primeiro ano, 30 milhões de euros em receitas. O presente estudo tem como objetivo analisar o impacto dos conteúdos televisivos na subscrição da BTV, a influência do clubismo na subscrição da BTV, e a influência do preço na subscrição da BTV. Na primeira parte do estudo foi feita uma revisão literária com o intuito de compreender as diferentes perceções de forma a poder fundamentar e legitimar os resultados obtidos. Posteriormente foi feita uma análise à indústria das transmissões desportivas em Portugal e à BTV especificamente. Relativamente aos conteúdos desportivos, a Liga Inglesa e os jogos do Benfica em casa representam, com grande destaque, os conteúdos de maior interesse. Os resultados revelaram a existência de uma grande influência do clubismo na subscrição da BTV, particularmente no caso dos apoiantes do Sporting e Porto. A perceção de preço da BTV é também influenciada pelo fator anterior, onde se observa que os apoiantes do Benfica apresentam uma opinião muito diferente daquilo que são os resultados da análise aos apoiantes de Sporting e Porto. Outras conclusões estão presentes no final da dissertação

The effects of different club affiliation on BTV subscription

JEL M310 - MarketingJEL- M390 - OtherSports marketing has unique characteristics that may lead their audience in behave in completely different ways compared with all the others consumer’s profiles. BTV challenged the sports viewing industry not only by spoiling their own TV rights but also by including on their target people who support others teams beyond Benfica. In spite of this strategy has been considered at an initial stage as risky, BTV only in the first year accounted 30 Million Euros of revenues. The current study aims to study the impact that all the different sports contents powered by BTV have on BTV subscription, the influence of different club affiliation on BTV subscription and, the influence of price on BTV subscription. On the first part of the study a literature review was performed in order to understand different insights that were revealed as important to justify the results achieved. This was followed by an analyze of the current situation of televised sports industry in Portugal and BTV in particular. Regarding the contents, English Premier League and Benfica games played at home are by far, the contents that arouse more interest. The results reveal that there is a huge influence of different club affiliation on BTV subscription, particularly by Sporting and Porto supporters. The price perception of BTV is also influenced by different club affiliation, where Benfica supporters have different opinion regarding BTV price, when compared in particular with Sporting and Porto supporters. Other conclusions are highlighted on the last part of the dissertation.O marketing desportivo tem características únicas que podem influenciar o público-alvo a comportar-se de forma diferente quando comparado com outros perfis de consumidores. A BTV desafiou a indústria televisiva, não só por deter os direitos do próprio clube, mas também por incluir no seu target pessoas que apoiam outros clubes. Considerada inicialmente uma estratégia de risco, a BTV atingiu, no seu primeiro ano, 30 milhões de euros em receitas. O presente estudo tem como objetivo analisar o impacto dos conteúdos televisivos na subscrição da BTV, a influência do clubismo na subscrição da BTV, e a influência do preço na subscrição da BTV. Na primeira parte do estudo foi feita uma revisão literária com o intuito de compreender as diferentes perceções de forma a poder fundamentar e legitimar os resultados obtidos. Posteriormente foi feita uma análise à indústria das transmissões desportivas em Portugal e à BTV especificamente. Relativamente aos conteúdos desportivos, a Liga Inglesa e os jogos do Benfica em casa representam, com grande destaque, os conteúdos de maior interesse. Os resultados revelaram a existência de uma grande influência do clubismo na subscrição da BTV, particularmente no caso dos apoiantes do Sporting e Porto. A perceção de preço da BTV é também influenciada pelo fator anterior, onde se observa que os apoiantes do Benfica apresentam uma opinião muito diferente daquilo que são os resultados da análise aos apoiantes de Sporting e Porto. Outras conclusões estão presentes no final da dissertação