Association between high school students’ cigarette smoking, asthma and related beliefs: a population-based study

Background Smoking has a detrimental effect on the symptoms and severity of asthma, a common chronic disease among adolescents. The purpose of this study was to examine the association between asthma and smoking among high school students and assess provider-patient communication with asthmatic adolescents regarding smoking and adolescents’ beliefs about the harms of smoking. Methods In fall 2014, data from high school students, ages 14–18 years, completing the 2009-2010 Virginia Youth Tobacco Survey (N = 1796) were used in descriptive analyses and multivariable logistic regression models adjusting for model-specific confounders as appropriate. Results Overall, an estimated 19 % of high school students in Virginia smoked and 16 % had asthma. Odds of smoking did not differ by asthma status; however, asthmatics had 1.5 times higher odds of being asked if they smoke (95 % CI 1.06–2.13) and being advised not to smoke by a health professional (95 % CI 1.10–2.14) compared to non-asthmatics. Asthmatics who believed second-hand smoke or smoking 1–5 cigarettes/day was not harmful had respectively 4.2 and 2.8 times higher odds of smoking than those who thought each was harmful. Further, asthmatics who thought smoking 1−2 years is safe had 3.4 times higher odds of smoking than those who did not (95 % CI 1.57–10.1). Conclusions While asthmatic adolescents are just as likely to smoke as non-asthmatics, less healthy beliefs about the risks of smoking increase the odds of smoking among asthmatics. Thus, targeted asthma-specific smoking prevention and education to change attitudes and beliefs could be an effective tool for adolescents

Levels and criteria for understanding of the scientific text in the pre-university period

The article covers the issues concerning the levels and criteria of preparatory department students' understanding of the scientific text. Teaching scientific language presupposes work with scientific texts at a language proficiency level of A1. When teaching how to work with the scientific text, one should consider its pragmatic, contents and cognitive discourse functions. Understanding is a multi-level psychological category, which determines foreign students' way of reading the scientific text. Each of the levels forms certain skills of text understanding. The article proves that comprehension of the depths of meaning is one of the criteria of scientific text understanding

THE DEVELOPMENT OF ARTISTS’ CREATIVITY BASED ON THE METHOD OF “INTUITIVE AESTHETICS”: RESULTS OF EN PLEIN AIRS (LITHUANIA, VILNIUS, 2018)

The purpose of this study was to examine the problem of development of creativity of contemporary painters in Lithuania using the Method of “Intuitive Aesthetics”. Development of painter’s personality is one of the most significant problems of contemporary art psychology. Psychologists do a lot of studies, publish articles on the problem of visual communication, impact of the psychological characteristics on art creation, but not enough attention is being paid to the development of methods that would help to develop creativity. Impact of the “Intuitive Aesthetics” method as a way to step out from the stereotypes, that hinder creativity, was researched in the project for Lithuanian painters. 40 well-known Lithuanian painters took part in two En Plein Airs held in Vilnius (Lithuania) in 2018. The “Intuitive Aesthetics” method included four interactions: 1) seminar on art psychology, mindfulness and embodyment; 2) practice for developing skills of reflection; 3) live painting; 4) independent painting. The article presents the results of the research showing how the “Intuitive Aesthetics” method helped to increase the creativity of painters. Method “Intuitive Aesthetics” can be considered as psychological authentication counselling of the painters that help them to step out from the stereotypes that hinder their creativity

THE DEVELOPMENT OF ARTISTS’ CREATIVITY BASED ON THE METHOD OF “INTUITIVE AESTHETICS”: RESULTS OF EN PLEIN AIRS (LITHUANIA, VILNIUS, 2018)

The article is devoted to the problem of development of creativity of modern painters in Lithuania. Development of painter’s personality helping to step of from the stereotypes of creativity is one of the most significant challenges of psychology of modern art. Psychologists conduct large number of studies, make publications on problems of visual communication, psychodynamic theories of personality, psychological characteristics of artists, but not enough attention is being paid to the development of methods that would help to deal with the issue of developing creativity. Impact of the “Intuitive Aesthetics” method as a way to step out from the stereotypes that hinder creativity was researched in the project for Lithuanian painters. 40 well-known Lithuanian painters took part in two En Plein Airs held in Vilnius (Lithuania) in 2018. The “Intuitive Aesthetics” method included four interactions:1) seminar on art psychology, mindfulness and embodyment; 2) practice for developing skills of reflection; 3) live painting; 4) independent painting. The article presents the results of the research showing how the “Intuitive Aesthetics” method helped to change stereotypes of creativity of painters. Method “Intuitive Aesthetics” can be considered as psychological authentication counselling of the painters that help them to step out from the stereotypes that hinder their creativity

Analysis of the Incidence of Dental Pathologies in Ornamental and Agricultural Rabbits

Studies of the incidence of dental diseases and pathologies in decorative and agricultural breeds of rabbits have been carried out, the most effective treatment and preventive measures have been substantiated. The article presents the results of an analysis with the statistics of the incidence of such dental pathologies as overgrowth of incisors, overgrowth of cheek teeth and uneven wear due to tooth loss, among all recorded diseases in rabbits of different age groups. The authors identified dental pathologies that occupy a significant share among all registered rabbit diseases in the Saratov region. Dental diseases appear in older animals, with the exception of the overgrowth of incisors, this pathology is often found in young individuals of decorative rabbits. Treatment of overgrowth of cheek teeth is presented in the elimination of sharp ends of teeth - hooks and thorns. Individual teeth are removed if their roots are infected and cause abscesses. Correction of cheek teeth is carried out most often for decorative rabbits for apartment maintenance. Less often, it is performed for high-yield agricultural rabbits, producers, if their pathology was not caused by a genetic predisposition, but was the result of injury or improper feeding. Simple filing of the incisors is carried out without sedation, using a secure fixation of the rabbit. If the incisors grow too quickly in the rabbit, they are extracted. The main method of preventive measures and recommendations for prevention of dental disease in a rabbit is to maintain an appropriate diet. For early detection and treatment of dental problems in rabbits, regular check-ups and dental evaluations are essential

Levels and criteria for understanding of the scientific text in the pre-university period

The article covers the issues concerning the levels and criteria of preparatory department students' understanding of the scientific text. Teaching scientific language presupposes work with scientific texts at a language proficiency level of A1. When teaching how to work with the scientific text, one should consider its pragmatic, contents and cognitive discourse functions. Understanding is a multi-level psychological category, which determines foreign students' way of reading the scientific text. Each of the levels forms certain skills of text understanding. The article proves that comprehension of the depths of meaning is one of the criteria of scientific text understanding.En el artículo se tratan asuntos relacionados con el estudio de criterios y niveles de comprensión del texto científico por los estudiantes extranjeros de facultades preparatorias. El aprendizaje del lenguaje científico supone trabajar con un texto científico especial en el nivel A1. Cuando se aprende a trabajar con un texto científico, es necesario considerar su orientación funcionalpragmática, funcional-significativa y cognitiva-discursiva. La comprensión representa una categoría psicológica de múltiples niveles que determina la naturaleza de la lectura de un texto científico por parte de los estudiantes extranjeros. En todos los niveles designados se desarrollan determinadas aptitudes y habilidades para comprender el texto. Está comprobado que el criterio para comprender un texto científico es la comprensión de su significado profundo por parte de los estudiantes extranjeros

Association between high school students’ cigarette smoking, asthma and related beliefs: a population-based study

Abstract Background Smoking has a detrimental effect on the symptoms and severity of asthma, a common chronic disease among adolescents. The purpose of this study was to examine the association between asthma and smoking among high school students and assess provider-patient communication with asthmatic adolescents regarding smoking and adolescents’ beliefs about the harms of smoking. Methods In fall 2014, data from high school students, ages 14–18 years, completing the 2009-2010 Virginia Youth Tobacco Survey (N = 1796) were used in descriptive analyses and multivariable logistic regression models adjusting for model-specific confounders as appropriate. Results Overall, an estimated 19 % of high school students in Virginia smoked and 16 % had asthma. Odds of smoking did not differ by asthma status; however, asthmatics had 1.5 times higher odds of being asked if they smoke (95 % CI 1.06–2.13) and being advised not to smoke by a health professional (95 % CI 1.10–2.14) compared to non-asthmatics. Asthmatics who believed second-hand smoke or smoking 1–5 cigarettes/day was not harmful had respectively 4.2 and 2.8 times higher odds of smoking than those who thought each was harmful. Further, asthmatics who thought smoking 1−2 years is safe had 3.4 times higher odds of smoking than those who did not (95 % CI 1.57–10.1). Conclusions While asthmatic adolescents are just as likely to smoke as non-asthmatics, less healthy beliefs about the risks of smoking increase the odds of smoking among asthmatics. Thus, targeted asthma-specific smoking prevention and education to change attitudes and beliefs could be an effective tool for adolescents