403 research outputs found
Effects of orthographic similarity, individual differences, and training manipulation on learning translation-ambiguous and unambiguous words
No full textLearning a second language (L2) as an adult is a challenging endeavor, requiring the integration of the L2 into an established first language (L1) system. Throughout their linguistic journey, L2 learners will also encounter L2 vocabulary that has two or more translations across languages (so-called translation-ambiguous words). These words are particularly difficult to learn (Degani & Tokowicz, 2010) and to process (Laxén & Lavaur, 2010). Moreover, even highly proficient bilinguals have difficulty processing translation-ambiguous cognate words (Boada et al., 2013). In three experiments, we investigated adult L2 learning of translation-ambiguous words with varying orthographic similarity between translations (i.e., ranging from noncognates to cognates with partial overlap to cognates with complete overlap). For instance, the Dutch-English word pair "jongen-boy" represents lower orthographic similarity, whereas the Dutch-English word pair "auteur-author" represents higher orthographic similarity, and the Dutch-English word pair "fruit-fruit" represents the highest level of orthographic similarity. In Experiment 1, we investigated whether the translation-ambiguity disadvantage on bilinguals’ cognate processing (Boada et al.) is also present in adult L2 learning of words with varying orthographic similarity. Results revealed that during the beginning stages of vocabulary learning, the translation-ambiguity disadvantage was present for words with higher levels of orthographic similarity but surprisingly not for words with lower orthographic similarity. In Experiment 2, we explored the association between individual differences and L2 learning of translation-ambiguous and unambiguous words with varying orthographic similarity. Results showed that lower working memory (WM) individuals showed no translation-ambiguity disadvantage, while higher WM individuals experienced it for words with moderate to high orthographic similarity. Building on these findings, Experiment 3 explored whether a training manipulation could enhance the learning of translation-ambiguous words with varying orthographic similarity. Results uncovered a complex interaction between the training manipulation, the test, and either phonological short-term memory (PSTM) or WM. Intriguingly, the impact of the training manipulation varies across orthographic similarity levels, significantly affecting lower levels. These findings provide nuanced perspectives on L2 vocabulary learning, offering valuable insights into how L2 learners process and represent translation-ambiguous words. Implications for models of translation ambiguity are discussed, emphasizing the multifaceted nature of L2 vocabulary learning
Influence of the rehabilitation of injured loggerhead turtles (Caretta caretta) on their blood levels of environmental organic pollutants and elements
No full textWemonitoredthelevelsof57organicpollutantsand11elementsinthebloodof61livestrandedloggerheadsea
turtles atthebeginningand endof therehabilitationperiod with thegoalofevaluating whether recuperationof
normalphysiologicalconditionshasaninfluenceonthecirculatinglevelsofthesepollutantsfromtheblood.According
to our results, several pollutants (OCPs, PCBs and toxic elements) are mobilized from storage tissues to
thebloodinsickturtles,andthisismoreevidentinthesubgroupofcachecticanimals.Weobservedasignificant
decrease intheconcentrations ofsomecontaminantsat theend of therehabilitation period, probably dueto redistribution
processes. In contrast, an increase in the levels of the essential elements selenium and zinc was observed
after a period of correct feeding and supplementation during hospitalization
Occurrence of Contamination by Controlled Substances in Euro Banknotes from the Spanish Archipelago of the Canary Islands
No full textThe social problems of drug abuse are a matter of increasing global problem. Nowadays, international agencies need fresh methods to monitor trends of the use of illicit drugs. In this sense, small amounts of drugs are transferred to banknotes and they could be detected and quantified. An analytical procedure based upon extraction with organic solvent, liquid chromatography separation, and mass spectrometric detection allowed the identification of 21 drugs and metabolites in 120 used Euro banknotes collected in the Canary Islands (Spain). Most of the banknotes analyzed showed detectable drug residues (92.5%). Cocaine was the most frequently detected drug, present in approximately 90% of the samples. In addition, 75%, 35%, and 15% of the banknotes showed residues of amphetamine derivatives, opiates, and benzodiazepines, respectively. An average of three drug residues per banknote was detected. In summary, the presence of drug residues in banknotes could be useful as tracer for drugs prevalence.1593158861,3031,229Q2Q3SCI
High exposure level to dioxin-like carcinogens through intake of commercial milk from the Canary Islands market (Spain)
No full text1951941,408Q2SCI
Processos cognoscitius que intervenen en la millora de la comunicació motriu
No full text[spa] a) Introducció En aquest estudi s'ha examinat l'esport des d'una perspectiva psicològica. S'ha posat de relleu com esdevenen i com es poden millorar, a través d'una intervenció cognoscitiva, alguns processos comunicatius que tenen lloc a l'esport col·lectiu o sociomotor. L'estudi s'ha centrat en l'exàmen de la comunicació motriu (Parlebas, 2001) que està determinada pels processos cognoscitius superiors (Vigotski, 1996). S'ha plantejat un entrenament de la comunicació prenent com a model els entrenaments de la comunicació efectuats en el camp de la comunicació referencial (Dickson, 1981, Boada i Forns, 1997) i el model de control cognoscitiu de Flavell (1981). A partir d'aquesta base, s'han plantejat les orientacions per efectuar un entrenament de la comunicació motriu a l'esport col.lectiu. b) Plantejament del problema L'objectiu ha estat establir com a través de la intervenció sobre els processos de simbòlics o superiors del subjecte, en el que la comunicació interna dels subjectes té un paper clau, es pot actuar sobre la comunicació motriu,aconseguint un joc més adaptat. Les hipòtesis formulades fan referència a si l'entrenament aconsegueix modificar: · la complexitat de la interacció comunicativa. · la distribució de papers entre els jugadors. · la regulació de la comunicació. c) Procediment S'ha seguit un disseny quasi-experimental amb pre-test i post-test. Els subjectes tenen entre 11 i 12 anys d'edat i realitzen iniciació esportiva. L'activitat analitzada és una adaptació del bàsquet (una situació de joc de 2x2, en la que es dóna col·laboració i oposició de forma simultània). S'ha efectuat un entrenament cognoscitiu amb tècniques d'anàlisi de la tasca, role-taking i confrontació als subjectes que col·laboren en atac. Per captar el nivell i grau d'adaptació de la comunicació que s'estableix en el joc s'ha utilitzat la metodologia observacional (Anguera, 1990) i les dades obtingudes han estat sotmeses a una anàlisi seqüencial (Magnusson, 1993) per tal de detectar patrons de joc. d) Resultats i conclusions Els resultats obtinguts mostren una variació de la complexitat de la interacció: a la fase post-test es manifesta una comunicació motriu més evolucionada i més adaptada a la col·laboració. Apareix, també, una diferenciació entre la comunicació motriu amb els col·laboradors i amb els oposants. Es dóna, també, una asimetria entre les actuacions dels jugadors que col·laboren, una especialització de funcions entre els jugadors, que es pot interpretar en clau d'adaptació al joc que facilita la creació d'expectatives d'actuació i l'adopció de perspectives. Per últim, l'evolució de l'adaptació estratègica de les accions de joc dels jugadors en atac revela una tendència general a l'increment de les seqüències adaptades estratègicament i la disminució de les seqüències poc adaptades. En síntesi, podem afirmar que l'entrenament d'alguns mecanismes cognoscitius ha permès modificar el llenguatge intern dels subjectes, que actua com a eina de regulació i planificació de la comunicació, afectant d'aquesta manera a les actuacions comunicatives externes dels subjectes en el joc sociomotor. Com a conclusió podem dir que cal continuar desenvolupant el coneixement sobre el llenguatge intern. Com més en sapiguem dels seus aspectes reguladors, més podrem saber sobre la comunicació a l'esport. Per una altra banda, la pràctica esportiva és constitueix com un marc idoni per l'estudi dels processos de comunicació i per l'estudi del llenguatge intern.[eng] This study investigated the motor communication that takes place in team sports situations. This communication is determined by higher psychological processes. The study sample comprised children on a general sports initiation program, playing 2-a-side basketball. Our aim was to establish how by intervening in the subjects' higher psychological processes, in which inner speech plays a key role, it is possible to improve motor communication, and performance in the game. Subjects were cognitively trained with a range of techniques: task analysis, role-taking and confrontation. Later, we studied the impact of this intervention on the interactional complexity of the communication, the distribution of roles and the subject's ability to regulate communication. The results show that in the post-test phase, the motor communication is more developed and adapted to the need for cooperation. We also observed an asymmetry between the actions of the team-mates, indicating a tendency towards specialization of functions that can be interpreted as an adaptive improvement. Finally, we found an evolution in the attacking players' ability for strategic adaptation. Taken together, the results indicate an improvement in the subjects' ability to regulate motor communication. Training in certain cognitive mechanisms enables subjects to modify their inner speech, which acts as an instrument of representation, metacognitive support and planning, and affects their subjects' external communications in collective play. It is important to continue developing our knowledge of inner speech. The more we know about its regulatory aspects, the more we will know about communication in sport. The sport setting is shown to be an ideal framework for the study of communicational processes and inner speec
Contaminación por pesticidas en la población canaria: efectos sobre la salud
No full textEl modelo de producción de alimentos desarrollado en la segunda mitad del siglo XX en Canarias (y el resto del mundo) y mantenido en la actualidad ha ido encaminado a incrementar la producción y reducir las pérdidas de producción mediante el uso de plaguicidas. Sin embargo, este tipo de producción intensiva no ha tenido en cuenta el impacto de estas prácticas agrícolas sobre el medio ambiente y la población. El uso y abuso de los plaguicidasha tenido como consecuencia frecuente la contaminación de suelos y acuíferos, y más tarde, la introducción de estos contaminantes en la cadena alimentaria, incorporándose a todos los seres vivos (incluida la especie humana) a través de los alimentos. Estudios de nuestro Grupo de Investigación han confirmado la presencia de residuos de plaguicidas en suelos, aguas, alimentos de nuestras Islas y, lo que es más grave, en sangre y tejidos de la población canaria. Así, se ha demostrado que el 99% de la población delarchipiélago canario presenta residuos de plaguicidas en sangre y, lo que es más llamativo, que las mujeres embarazadas de estas islas presenta residuos de plaguicidas en el líquido amniótico. Por tanto, nuestra exposición a estos contaminantes tóxicos comienza antesdel nacimiento y es continuada a lo largo de toda nuestra vida. Esta situación es extensiva al resto de la población del mundo occidental (incluyendo la española). A día de hoy sabemos que esta exposición continua e ininterrumpida a plaguicidas da lugar a efectos tóxicos a largo plazo (crónicos) pudiendo afectar la salud de la población y sus descendientes. Los mecanismos por lo que pueden afectar a la salud son múltiples, bien sea porque alteran, a) el sistema hormonal (se relacionan con alteraciones reproductivas en el hombre y la mujer, con el incremento de incidencia de diabetes, tumores hormonodependientes como mama o testículo, y con alteraciones en la función tiroidea); b) el sistema cardiovascular (alterando la tensión arterial y el funcionalismo cardiaco); c) el metabolismo (algunos favorecen el desarrollo obesidad, esto es, son obesogénicos), o d) el sistema Nervioso Central (relacionándose la exposición crónica a plaguicidas con alteraciones neurocognitivas o retraso en el desarrollo en niños, o con enfermedades neurodegenerativas como Parkinson y Alzheimer en el adulto). En resumen, la contaminación de nuestro medio ambiente, y, por tanto de nuestra población, por plaguicidas no nos sale gratis y nos pasa o pasará factura en salud
Plasma levels of pollutants are much higher in loggerhead turtle populations from the Adriatic Sea than in those from open waters (Eastern Atlantic Ocean)
No full textIn this paper we determined the levels of 63 environmental contaminants, including organic (PCBs, organochlorine
pesticides, and PAHs) and inorganic (As, Cd, Cu, Pb, Hg and Zn) compounds in the blood of loggerhead turtles
(Caretta caretta) from two comparable populations that inhabit distinct geographic areas: the Adriatic Sea (Mediterranean
basin) and the Canary Islands (Eastern Atlantic Ocean). All animals were sampled at the end of a period
of rehabilitation in centers of wildlife recovery, before being released back into the wild, so they can be
considered to be in good health condition. The dual purpose of this paper is to provide reliable data on the current
levels of contamination of this species in these geographic areas, and secondly to compare the results of both
populations, as it has been reported that marine biota inhabiting the Mediterranean basin is exposed to much
higher pollution levels than that which inhabit in other areas of the planet. According to our results it is found
that current levels of contamination by organic compounds are considerably higher in Adriatic turtles than in
the Atlantic ones (ΣPCBs, 28.45 vs. 1.12 ng/ml;ΣOCPs, 1.63 vs. 0.19 ng/ml;ΣPAHs, 13.39 vs. 4.91 ng/ml;
p b 0.001 in all cases). This is the first time that levels of PAHs are reported in the Adriatic loggerheads. With respect
to inorganic contaminants, although the differences were not as great, the Adriatic turtles appear to have
higher levels of some of the most toxic elements such as mercury (5.74 vs. 7.59 μg/ml, p b 0.01). The results of
this study confirm that the concentrations are larger in turtles from the Mediterranean, probably related to the
high degree of anthropogenic pressure in this basin, and thus they are more likely to suffer adverse effects related
to contaminants
Blood pressure in relation to contamination by polychlorobiphenyls and organochlorine pesticides: Results from a population-based study in the Canary Islands (Spain)
No full text© 2014 Elsevier Inc.Background: Epidemiological studies have reported significant associations between exposure to persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and increased blood pressure (BP). Environmental exposure to POPs, mainly organochlorine pesticides, is of concern to the population of the Canary Islands, who display a high prevalence of diseases associated with hypertension such as metabolic syndrome, obesity and cardiovascular disease. Objective: We performed this population-based study in a representative population sample from this archipelago to evaluate whether serum levels of selected POPs could be considered as hypertension risk factors. Methods: BP and several other well-known factors related to hypertension (gender, age, smoking, BMI, and total lipids) were recorded in 428 adult participants from the Canary Islands Nutritional Survey. In total, 28 POPs (including 18 polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) congeners and 10 organochlorine pesticides and metabolites) were measured in the serum of the population enrolled in this survey. Results: In total, 167 subjects (39%) demonstrated hypertension or used antihypertensive medication. We observed a positive association between systolic and diastolic BP and p,p'-DDE (r=0.222; p<0.001, and r=0.123; p=0.015, respectively). Conversely, an inverse association between systolic BP and aldrin was observed (r=-0.120; p=0.017). After adjusting for known confounders, only aldrin was inversely related to hypertension risk [OR: 0.28 (95% CI: 0.09-0.92); p=0.037]. After excluding subjects undergoing anti-hypertensive treatment, we also observed that aldrin was inversely associated with systolic BP in multivariate analyses, especially in men [OR: 0.126 (95% CI: 0.021-0.763); p=0.024]. Conclusion: Although it has been postulated that background POPs exposure may play a relevant role on elevated BP, we did not observed increased hypertension risk in relation to serum POPs in this cross-sectional study. Conversely, the cyclodiene pesticide aldrin was negatively associated with hypertension, suggesting that cyclodienes could exert an effect opposite of the DDT metabolites. These findings agree with other previous works indicating that POPs may induce divergent actions on BP and suggest that the direction of the association between BP and POPs could be dependent on the chemical structure as well as concentration of the evaluated POP. Prospective studies are needed to clarify the effect exerted by POPs on BP.54481,7874,373Q1Q1SCI
Estrogen antagonism on T-3 and growth hormone control of the liver microsomal low-affinity glucocorticoid binding site (LAGS)
No full textMale rat liver microsomes contain a low-affinity glucocorticoid binding site (LAGS) capable of binding all natural glucocorticoids and progesterone with a K-d from 20 to 100 nM. The LAGS level is under endocrine control by T-3, glucocorticoids and GH. These hormones act synergistically at physiological concentrations to increase the LAGS level. Since female rats show a LAGS level that is much lower than the males (0.15 vs 23 pmol/mg protein, respectively), here we investigated whether estradiol could decrease the LAGS in the male rat. Orchiectomized (OX) male rats showed a higher LAGS level than intact rats. This effect was reversed by implanting a Sylastic capsule containing testosterone. When the OX rats were implanted for 20 days with estrogen capsules that provided an estradiol level in serum of 40 pg/ml, their LAGS level decreased from 23 to 0.2 pmol/mg protein. This effect was not observed in intact male rats and can be partially reversed by testosterone implants into OX rats. Both hypophysectomized male rats and hypothyroid-orchiectomized male rats showed very low levels of LAGS. Administration of physiological doses of GH and/or T-3 to these rats greatly increased their LAGS level (from 0.3 to 15 and 16 pmol/mg protein, respectively). Implantation of estrogen capsules to these rats two weeks prior to starting treatment completely inhibited the increase in the LAGS level in response to T-3, and significantly decreased the response to hGH, and to a combination of hGH and T-3. These results suggest that physiological estradiol levels call antagonize the LAGS induction by T-3 and hGH in the male rat, and could be responsible for the low level of LAGS in the female rat. Moreover, estrogen capsules also inhibited the increase in the body and hepatic weights observed after hGH treatment, which suggests a powerful inhibitory effect of low estradiol levels on the male rat liver functions under regulation by T-3 and/or GH. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.228219101,709Q2SCI
Stanozolol and danazol, unlike natural androgens, interact with the low affinity glucocorticoid-binding sites from male rat liver microsomes
No full textSome 17 alpha-alkylated androgens used as anabolic agents, such as stanozolol (ST) and danazol (DA), have specific effects on the liver that are not exerted by testosterone. This gives rise to the possibility that a steroid-binding protein, other than the androgen receptor, could modulate the intracellular actions of these agents. Male rat liver microsomes contain a homogeneous population of [H-3]dexamethasone ([H-3]DEX)-binding sites which we have denominated low affinity glucocorticoid-binding sites (LAGS). Because glucocorticoids, progestagens, and the synthetic estrogen ethynyl estradiol compete with [H-3] DEX for binding to the LAGS, we aimed to study the possible interactions between androgens and the LAGS. To investigate whether several androgens had the capability of interacting with the LAGS, we performed competition experiments. The LAGS had no affinity for testosterone or methyltrienolone (R1881). However, some 17 alpha-alkylated androgens (DA (IC50, 116 nM) > ST much greater than fluoxymesterone > mestaline > methandriol much greater than methandrostenolone > methyltestosterone) were able to compete with [H-3]DEX binding to liver microsomes. ST and DA were potent inhibitors of [H-3]DEX binding to liver microsomes. They decreased both the affinity and the number of [H-3]DEX-binding sites, increased the dissociation rate of [H-3]DEX from the LAGS, and provoked a time- and dose-dependent inactivation of the [H-3]DEX-binding site. These results strongly suggest that ST and DA exert a negative allosteric modulation on [H-3]DEX binding to the LAGS. The in vivo administration of ST (but not other androgens) to male rats provoked a time- and dose-dependent decrease in the LAGS level. Full recovery of the LAGS concentration required at least 8 h and was blocked by protein synthesis inhibitors. Such results suggest that ST irreversibly inactivates the [H-3]DEX-binding site in vivo as it does in vitro.Taken together, these observations are indicative of an irreversible interaction between some 17 alpha-alkylated androgens and the LAGS both in vitro and in vivo and suggest that ST may be an important pharmacological tool that can be used in the elucidation of the molecular structure of the LAGS. These results also mean that the LAGS are a steroid-binding entity able to distinguish between natural androgens and 17 alpha-alkylated testosterone derivatives used as anabolic agents.140814018SCI
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