Burnout, expectativas de control y afrontamiento en un grupo de funcionarios de prisiones

This ex post facto study analyzes the relationship of burnout with generalized expectations of control and coping strategies. The Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI), the Battery of Generalized Expectations of Control Scales and the Ways of Coping Questionnaire were applied to a group of 133 wardens of one Spanish prison. Based upon their MBI scores the workers were divided into two groups: High and Low Burnout, each with 43 subjects and a final total sample of 86 participants. There were significant differences between the groups: compared to Low-burnout, the High-burnout group showed a profile of: a) greater emotional exhaustion and depersonalization-cynicism, but lower personal accomplish-ment; b) greater expectations of defencelessness and luck, but less expectation of success, self-efficiency and resourcefulness and c) greater use of strategies aimed at alleviating negative emotions, but less use of strategies aimed at managing the source of the problem. Also, the participants with lower educational levels were found in the high-burnout group.Este estudio ex post facto analiza la relación del bumout con las expectativas generalizadas de control y las estrategias de afrontamiento. Se aplicaron el Maslach Bumout Inventory (MBI), la Batería de Escalas de Expectativas Generalizadas de Control y el Ways of Coping Questionnaire a un grupo de 133 vigilantes de un centro penitenciario español. A partir de las puntuaciones en el MBI de estos trabajadores se formaron dos grupos: Alto y Bajo bumout, cada uno con 43 sujetos, quedando la muestra reducida a 86 participantes. Se encontraron diferencias significativas entre ambos gmpos: el grupo Alto respecto al grupo Bajo muestra un perfil determinado por: a) mayor cansancio emocional y despersonalización-cinismo, y menor realización personal; b) mayor expectativa de indefensión y suerte, en cambio, menor expectativa de éxito, autoeficacia y contingencia; y c) mayor empleo de estrategias dirigidas a paliar las emociones negativas, pero menor empleo de estrategias dirigidas a manejar la fuente del problema. Además, en el grupo Alto se hallaron los sujetos con menor nivel de estudios

Influence of cognitive reserve in schizophrenia: A systematic review

Objective: To perform a systematic review of the influence of sociobehavioural indicators of cognitive reserve (CR) in the risk of schizophrenia, the clinical manifestations of the disease, and cognitive intervention programs (CRT) carried out with these patients. Method: A cross search was made by two independent reviewers in Pubmed and PsycINFO databases using keywords “schizophrenia” and “cognitive reserve.” Twenty-one studies which analyzed different CR proxies were selected and the level of evidence was classified according to the Oxford Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine. Result: People with higher CR may have a lower risk of developing schizophrenia and a later onset of disease. In addition, they present better neuropsychological and functional performance in the illness course. However, the suspected influence of CR on the effectiveness of CRT in patients with schizophrenia is currently unresolved. Conclusion: Our findings suggest that higher CR delays the clinical diagnosis threshold and severity of the symptoms in patients with schizophrenia. However, effect of singular sociobehavioral measures on clinical expression and benefits of intervention program need further investigation

El efecto del formato de intervención individual o grupal en la estimulación cognitivade pacientes con enfermedad de Alzheimer

The study aimed to verify whether the format of an individual or group intervention, applied in a multimodal cognitive stimulation program (MCSP), had an impact on progression and beha vioral disturbances associated with Alzheimer’s disease patients (AD). Forty-fi ve participants diagnosed with probable AD were randomly divided into 3 groups. The performance of both experimental groups, receiving the MCSP either in individual or in group format, were compared with a control group with the use of a pre-post design on standard neuropsychological, functional and behavioral measures. Both MCSP groups achieved to signifi cantly slow the progression of cognitive impairment and reduce behavioral symptoms associated with AD patients. However, the individual intervention format increases the benefi ts of the MCSP for AD patients in comparison with the group format.El estudio trata de comprobar si el formato de la intervención individual o grupal, aplicado en un programa multimodal de estimulación cognitiva (PMEC), repercute en la evolución y las alteraciones de la conducta asociadas a pacientes con enfermedad de Alzheimer (EA). 45 participantes diagnosticados de EA probable fueron distribuidos aleatoriamente en 3 grupos. El rendimiento de los grupos experimentales, que recibieron el PMEC, en formato individual o grupal, fue comparado con un grupo de control, siguiendo un diseño pre-post, en una serie de medidas neuropsicológicas, funcionales y conductuales estandarizadas. Los grupos sometidos al PMEC lograron enlentecer, signifi cativamente, el avance del deterioro cognitivo y reducir los síntomas conductuales de la EA. No obstante, la condición formato individual obtuvo mayores benefi cios que la condición formato grupal. El formato de intervención individual, en comparación con el formato grupal, incrementa los benefi cios que se derivan de la aplicación de un PMEC para pacientes con EA.

Resilience and social support as protective factors against abuse of persons with dementia: a study on family caregivers

[EN]Objective Scientific literature has identified different vulnerability factors associated to abuse in people with dementia (PWD), but little is known about the psychosocial protective variables against abuse. The main objective of this study is to investigate a set of caregiver and patient factors linked to abuse-related behavior of PWD. Methods A total of 326 primary and family caregivers, residents of the Castilla and León community (Spain), were evaluated. All participants filled out a standardized protocol, which assessed the sociodemographic characteristics, patient and care-related variables, as well as the perceived burden, resilience, and social support. Abuse-related behavior was evaluated using the Caregiver Abuse Screen. Results Results show that the severity of cognitive impairment and behavior disorders of PWD, a greater number of caregiving hours, a worse previous relationship with the caregiver, and perceived burden are positively related with abuse. However, resilience and social support showed a negative relationship with Caregiver Abuse Screen scores, suggesting a protective effect on abuse, even after controlling the effect of a number of covariates. Indeed, resilience was the only variable that remained significant after including the effect of burden. Conclusions This paper states the role of burden in abuse of PWD, while resilience and social support are abuse protective factors. These variables should be considered in future guidelines for the prevention of abuse against PWD

Avaliação Neuropsicológica na Demência Associada à Meningiomas Benignos do Sistema Nervoso Central / Neuropsychological Assessment in Dementia Associated with Benign Meningiomas of the Central Nervous System

Meningioma é um tumor intracraniano comum envolvendo as meninges. Distúrbios neuropsicológicos são comuns nesses casos e estão intimamente relacionados às áreas lesionadas. O presente estudo teve como objetivo investigar os aspectos neuropsicológicos em paciente com demência associada à meningiomas benignos  nas regiões ântero-medial esquerda do lobo temporal e parasagital esquerda do lobo occipital. Para isso, foi realizada uma avaliação neuropsicológica incluindo testes de rastreio, bateria cognitiva semiestruturada, escalas comportamentais e funcionais. Relata-se o caso de uma mulher de 83 anos, com quadro de esquecimentos persistentes há 8 anos, com evolução sintomatológica progressiva e acentuada nos últimos anos. Os resultados da avaliação evidenciaram declínio cognitivo global, em especial nas áreas relacionadas à memória episódica e autobiográfica, velocidade de processamento, atenção e funções executivas, com repercussão funcional nas atividades instrumentais e complexas da vida diária. Observou-se que os danos nas estruturas do lobo temporal medial refletiram na apresentação de síndrome amnésica retroanterógrada, considerando a relevância dessa área para o processamento da memória. Dessa forma, ressalta-se a importância da avaliação neuropsicológica em pacientes com neoplasias benignas do sistema nervoso central, como um método complementar para o diagnóstico e o planejamento de manejo do tratamento.

Neurostimulation Combined With Cognitive Intervention in Alzheimer’s Disease (NeuroAD): Study Protocol of Double-Blind, Randomized, Factorial Clinical Trial

Despite advances in the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease (AD), there is currently no prospect of a cure, and evidence shows that multifactorial interventions can benefit patients. A promising therapeutic alternative is the use of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) simultaneously with cognitive intervention. The combination of these non-pharmacological techniques is apparently a safe and accessible approach. This study protocol aims to compare the efficacy of tDCS and cognitive intervention in a double-blind, randomized and factorial clinical trial. One hundred participants diagnosed with mild-stage AD will be randomized to receive both tDCS and cognitive intervention, tDCS, cognitive intervention, or placebo. The treatment will last 8 weeks, with a 12-month follow-up. The primary outcome will be the improvement of global cognitive functions, evaluated by the AD Assessment Scale, cognitive subscale (ADAS-Cog). The secondary outcomes will include measures of functional, affective, and behavioral components, as well as a neurophysiological marker (Brain-derived neurotrophic factor, BDNF). This study will enable us to assess, both in the short and long term, whether tDCS is more effective than the placebo and to examine the effects of combined therapy (tDCS and cognitive intervention) and isolated treatments (tDCS vs. cognitive intervention) on patients with AD.Clinical Trial Registration: www.ClinicalTrials.gov, identifier NCT02772185—May 5, 2016

CMS physics technical design report : Addendum on high density QCD with heavy ions

Peer reviewe

Commissioning and performance of the CMS silicon strip tracker with cosmic ray muons

This is the Pre-print version of the Article. The official published version of the Paper can be accessed from the link below - Copyright @ 2010 IOPDuring autumn 2008, the Silicon Strip Tracker was operated with the full CMS experiment in a comprehensive test, in the presence of the 3.8 T magnetic field produced by the CMS superconducting solenoid. Cosmic ray muons were detected in the muon chambers and used to trigger the readout of all CMS sub-detectors. About 15 million events with a muon in the tracker were collected. The efficiency of hit and track reconstruction were measured to be higher than 99% and consistent with expectations from Monte Carlo simulation. This article details the commissioning and performance of the Silicon Strip Tracker with cosmic ray muons.This work is supported by FMSR (Austria); FNRS and FWO (Belgium); CNPq, CAPES, FAPERJ, and FAPESP (Brazil); MES (Bulgaria); CERN; CAS, MoST, and NSFC (China); COLCIENCIAS (Colombia); MSES (Croatia); RPF (Cyprus); Academy of Sciences and NICPB (Estonia); Academy of Finland, ME, and HIP (Finland); CEA and CNRS/IN2P3 (France); BMBF, DFG, and HGF (Germany); GSRT (Greece); OTKA and NKTH (Hungary); DAE and DST (India); IPM (Iran); SFI (Ireland); INFN (Italy); NRF (Korea); LAS (Lithuania); CINVESTAV, CONACYT, SEP, and UASLP-FAI (Mexico); PAEC (Pakistan); SCSR (Poland); FCT (Portugal); JINR (Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan); MST and MAE (Russia); MSTDS (Serbia); MICINN and CPAN (Spain); Swiss Funding Agencies (Switzerland); NSC (Taipei); TUBITAK and TAEK (Turkey); STFC (United Kingdom); DOE and NSF (USA)

Construcción y adaptación de instrumentos neuropsicológicos

La evaluación neuropsicológica es uno de los elementos claves de la práctica de la neuropsicología. Dentro de la misma, la utilización de tests psicométricos es una pieza fundamental. Los tests nos permiten aumentar la precisión y objetividad de nuestras mediciones de la conducta a la vez que reducir significativamente el tiempo necesario para las mismas. En Latinoamérica el desarrollo de tests apropiados para la evaluación neuropsicológica ha sido más lento que en otras regiones del mundo. La escasez de recursos, entre otros factores, ha provocado que la disponibilidad de pruebas para la práctica clínica/investigación sea todavía insuficiente. No obstante, su crecimiento ha sido notable en las últimas dos décadas en las cuales se desarrollaron y adaptaron numerosas pruebas neuropsicológicas. Este número especial intenta ser un reflejo de los desarrollos más actuales de este tipo de pruebas, exhibiendo un grupo de investigaciones que dan cuenta del desarrollo de tests neuropsicológicos con sus respectivos estudios técnicos que las habilitan para su práctica clínica. Hemos realizado un importante esfuerzo tratando de seleccionar trabajos que demuestren alta calidad técnica a través de un riguroso proceso editorial.Fil: Fernández, Alberto Luis. Universidad Católica de Córdoba. Facultad de Filosofía y Humanidades; Argentina.Fil: Fernández Calvo, Bernardino. Universidad de Córdoba. Departamento de Psicología; España