Mental imagery rotation and graph comprehension of IS-LM macroeconomic models.

The aim of this study was to determine if the ability to rotate mental imagery influenced the comprehension of graphs in economics. A sample of 140 Business Administration undergraduates familiar with economic analysis using graphs were administered the Measure of the Ability to Rotate Mental Images (MARMI). Moreover, participants completed an ad hoc graph comprehension test consisting of six exercises of increasing difficulty with graphs developing the IS-LM model described in conventional macroeconomic textbooks.

The effect of methotrexate versus other disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs on serum drug levels and clinical response in patients with rheumatoid arthritis treated with tumor necrosis factor inhibitors.

To investigate the effect of concomitant conventional synthetic disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (csDMARDs) with adalimumab or infliximab on maintaining serum drug and clinical outcomes after the first year of treatment in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Second, to assess the influence of methotrexate (MTX) dose on these outcomes. Ninety-two patients with RA starting infliximab (n = 67) or adalimumab (n = 25) tumor necrosis factor inhibitor (TNFi) with available drug levels and clinical improvement assessment (European League Against Rheumatism [EULAR] response) after 12 months were included.

Validity of discharge diagnoses in the surveillance of stroke.

Background: Hospital administrative data have been suggested as a valuable cost-effective tool for providing information about the stroke burden. Nevertheless, the choice of the diagnosis codes has been a critical issue in the development of case ascertainment algorithms.

Methods: In this study, the Minimum Basic Data Set administrative database was used to analyze the accuracy of different ICD-9-CM algorithms based on the neurologist's clinical judgement as the 'gold standard'.

Hospital discharges and mortality registries: 2 complementary databases for the epidemiological surveillance of stroke.

Background: Stroke is a public health concern and the availability of a stroke registry would provide valuable information. Administrative hospital data and mortality registries have been previously suggested as suitable sources of information. The aim of this study was to evaluate the utility of merging data from a hospital discharge database and the mortality registry (MR) to estimate the incidence of stroke in La Rioja, Spain.

Cystic fibrosis mortality trends in Spain among infants and young children: 1981-2004.

Unlabelled: This paper sought to analyse mortality trends among infants and young children who died with a diagnosis of cystic fibrosis (CF) in Spain, during the period 1981-2004.

Study Design: Descriptive observational study, using joinpoint regression models.

Participants: Data on cystic fibrosis deaths were drawn from the National Statistics Institute (Instituto Nacional de Estadística), which collects data from all death certificates in Spain.

Genetic analysis of CAV1 gene in hypertension and metabolic syndrome.

Recently, we reported that the polymorphism 1132T>C (GenBank: AF519768.1) of the NOS3 gene was associated with susceptibility to metabolic syndrome (MS) in hypertensive patients. This suggests that other genes such as CAV1, whose product (CAV1) regulates eNOS activity, could also be related to this phenotype.

Imagery factors in the Spanish version of the Verbalizer-Visualizer Questionnaire.

The factor structure and internal consistency reliability of the Spanish version of the Verbalizer-Visualizer Questionnaire was analyzed. 969 male and female high school students completed the questionnaire and the Gordon Test of Visual Imagery Control. Factor analysis indicated that the questionnaire comprises five factors: "interest in words," "dream vividness and frequency," "verbal fluency," "task performance difficulty," and "ways of thinking and acting.

Association of NOS3 gene with metabolic syndrome in hypertensive patients.

Recent data from animal models indicate that the eNOS null mice present a phenotype that resemble the human metabolic syndrome (hypertension, insulin resistance and hypertriglyceridemia). In this work, we have studied whether NOS3 gene, previously related to endothelial dysfunction, might have a role in metabolic syndrome susceptibility in hypertensive patients. To carry out the study, we genotyped 105 hypertensive patients < or = 60 years old with two polymorphisms of NOS3 gene: 1132 T>C and 7164 G>T (GeneBank:AF519768.

The importance of the keyword-generation method in keyword mnemonics.

Keyword mnemonics is under certain conditions an effective approach for learning foreign-language vocabulary. It appears to be effective for words with high image vividness but not for words with low image vividness. In this study, two experiments were performed to assess the efficacy of a new keyword-generation procedure (peer generation).

Limitations of the mnemonic-keyword method.

The effectiveness of the mnemonic-keyword method was investigated in 4 experiments in which participants were required to learn the 1st-language (L1, Spanish) equivalents of a list of 30 2nd-language words (L2, Latin). Experiments 1 (adolescents) and 2 (adults) were designed to assess whether the keyword method was more effective than the rote method; the researcher supplied the keyword, and the participants were allowed to pace themselves through the list. Experiments 3 (adolescents) and 4 (adults) were similar to Experiments 1 and 2 except that the participants were also supplied with a drawing that illustrated the relationship between the keyword and the L1 target word.

[Cremation. A public health chapter in Mexico].

Cremation was a part of the funeral ceremony in prehispanic Mexico. When the Spanish conquerors came, this practice was prohibited. In 1877, the Uppu Health Council authorized animal incineration to avoid consumption by indigents or transformation in putrid emanation.

Interest value, meaningfulness, and familiarity of words: relations with other word properties.

Evaluation of different properties of words and the relations among them is of value for understanding languages and as a basis for research. In the present study we investigated relations among interest value, familiarity, and meaningfulness of words. We also investigated the relations of these properties with imagery, concreteness, emotionality, frequency, date of entry into the language, word length, and amplitude of skin conductance response.

Presentation of keywords by means of interactive drawings.

One of the main outstanding problems in keyword mnemotechnics is whether this technique is more effective when the subjects generate their own keywords, or when the keywords are supplied by the experimenter. Both methods have advantages and disadvantages. An alternative method has recently been suggested, in which the keywords are generated by the subjects' peers.

The Spanish version of the Vividness of Visual Imagery Questionnaire: factor structure and internal consistency reliability.

We examined the factor structure and internal consistency reliability of the Spanish version of the Vividness of Visual Imagery Questionnaire which was applied to a sample of 850 secondary school students. Factor structure investigated by principal components analysis, followed by varimax orthogonal rotation, indicated that a single factor explained 37% of the variance. The internal consistency of the questionnaire was good (Cronbach alpha=.

Sesquiterpenes from Jasonia glutinosa: in vitro anti-inflammatory activity.

Four sesquiterpenes isolated from Jasonia glutinosa D.C. (Asteraceae), namely lucinone, glutinone, 5-epi-kutdtriol and kutdtriol, have been evaluated for their in vitro anti-inflammatory activity in cellular systems generating cyclooxygenase (COX) and 5-lipoxygenase (5-LOX) metabolites.