Suspected fibrocartilaginous embolism in a cat

A 12-year-old cat was presented to the University of Queensland's Small Animal Teaching Hospital with a 1-day history of left herniparesis of acute onset, with no evidence of trauma or toxin exposure. Neurological examination findings were consistent with a lesion in the caudal left cervical spinal cord (C6 to C8), which was non-painful and had not progressed since the onset of clinical signs. No other abnormalities were found, although myelography showed a mild swelling involving the caudal cervical and cranial thoracic spinal segments. A diagnosis of suspected fibrocartilaginous embolism was made on the basis of the history, clinical presentation and diagnostic tests results, making this case the first report of a suspected fibrocartilaginous embolism in a cat that returned to normal function.

Sleep disruption and domestic violence: exploring the interconnections between mothers and children

This paper argues that sleep disruption is both a strategy and an effect of violence and abuse which profoundly affects the lives of women and children. This paper traces the interconnections between the patterns of sleeping (not sleeping) for women and children living with and recovering from the effects of violence and abuse. It highlights the threat to the emotional and physical well-being of children and women and provides a non-pathologizing route into an exploration of one of the symptoms of trauma. It is based on a pilot study which interviewed 17 women, 14 of whom were mothers to 28 children. Mothers reported that many of their children experienced nightmares, bed-wetting, night panics and disrupted sleep patterns. Recovery of the ability to sleep was often slow and uneven with interactive effects between women and children slowing progress.

What the newspapers say about medication adherence:a content analysis

Background - This study investigates the coverage of adherence to medicine by the UK and US newsprint media. Adherence to medicine is recognised as an important issue facing healthcare professionals and the newsprint media is a key source of health information, however, little is known about newspaper coverage of medication adherence. Methods - A search of the newspaper database Nexis®UK from 2004–2011 was performed. Content analysis of newspaper articles which referenced medication adherence from the twelve highest circulating UK and US daily newspapers and their Sunday equivalents was carried out. A second researcher coded a 15% sample of newspaper articles to establish the inter-rater reliability of coding. Results - Searches of newspaper coverage of medication adherence in the UK and US yielded 181 relevant articles for each country. There was a large increase in the number of scientific articles on medication adherence in PubMed® over the study period, however, this was not reflected in the frequency of newspaper articles published on medication adherence. UK newspaper articles were significantly more likely to report the benefits of adherence (p = 0.005), whereas US newspaper articles were significantly more likely to report adherence issues in the elderly population (p = 0.004) and adherence associated with diseases of the central nervous system (p = 0.046). The most commonly reported barriers to adherence were patient factors e.g. poor memory, beliefs and age, whereas, the most commonly reported facilitators to adherence were medication factors including simplified regimens, shorter treatment duration and combination tablets. HIV/AIDS was the single most frequently cited disease (reported in 20% of newspaper articles). Poor quality reporting of medication adherence was identified in 62% of newspaper articles. Conclusion - Adherence is not well covered in the newspaper media despite a significant presence in the medical literature. The mass media have the potential to help educate and shape the public’s knowledge regarding the importance of medication adherence; this potential is not being realised at present.

Maternal core beliefs and children's feeding problems

Background: Although maternal mental health problems have been implicated in the exacerbation of childhood feeding difficulties, little research has assessed the contribution of broader maternal cognitions to these problems. The current study examined gender differences in the relationships between mothers' core beliefs and children's feeding problems. Methods: One hundred and three mothers of girls and 93 mothers of boys (age range, 7-64 months) completed the Young Schema Questionnaire and the Child Feeding Assessment Questionnaire. Results: While controlling for child age, a clear link between maternal core beliefs and perceived feeding difficulties emerged for mothers of girls. In particular, abandonment, failure to achieve, dependence and incompetence, enmeshment and defectiveness, and shame beliefs were associated with increased reports of feeding problems in girls. In contrast, emotional deprivation and subjugation beliefs were associated with maternal reports of food fussiness and food refusal in boys. Conclusions: There appears to be a clear role for maternal core beliefs in the reporting of feeding difficulties in children, and the specificity of these links differs depending on the gender of the child. Further research is required to establish the direction of causality and the specificity of these relationships. © 2005 by Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Pub crawling at scale:tapping untappd to explore social drinking

There has been a recent surge of research looking at the reporting of food consumption on social media. The topic of alcohol consumption, however, remains poorly investigated. Social media has the potential to shed light on a topic that, traditionally, is difficult to collect fine-grained information on. One social app stands out in this regard: Untappd is an app that allows users to ‘check-in’ their consumption of beers. It operates in a similar fashion to other location-based applications, but is specifically tailored to the collection of information on beer consumption. In this paper, we explore beer consumption through the lens of social media. We crawled Untappd in real time over a period of 112 days, across 40 cities in the United States and Europe. Using this data, we shed light on the drinking habits of over 369k users. We focus on per-user and per-city characterisation, highlighting key behavioural trends.

Risk factors that predict maladaptive outcomes among sexually abused girls presenting for services at a community agency

The purpose of this study was to determine which factors predicted maladaptive outcomes in sexually abused children. Key factors were aggregated into four categories: abuse characteristics risk factors, individual-level risk factors, family disruption risk factors, and social disruption risk factors. It was hypothesized that (a) individual-level risk factors (e.g., school performance, child alcohol/substance abuse) and (b) abuse characteristics risk factors (e.g., longer duration/frequency of abuse, use of force/threats of force, intrafamilial abuse) would predict higher levels of trauma symptoms. Furthermore, it was hypothesized that (a) family disruption risk factors (e.g., family alcohol/substance use, family psychopathology) and (b) social disruption risk factors (e.g., parental divorce, homelessness, witnessing homicide or violence) would moderate the impact of prior sexual abuse and predict higher levels of trauma symptoms. ^ The participants were 110 female children (5 to 18 years old) presenting for treatment for sexual abuse at a community agency (The Journey Institute) in Miami, Florida. This study conducted a retrospective analysis of an archival data set collected over a three-year period (1998–2001). The measures completed upon intake included The Journey Psychosocial Assessment and The Trauma Symptom Checklist for Children (TSCC; Briere, 1996). Using Pearson correlations and hierarchical multiple regression analysis, this study found that abuse characteristics risk factors and individual-level risk factors were predictive of maladaptive outcomes in this sample of sexually abused girls. However, no moderating effects were found for family disruption risk factors or social disruption risk factors. Therefore, the results of these analyses provided support for the contention that abuse characteristics and individual-level risk factors were appropriate targets for treatment for sexually abused girls. Moreover, limitations of this study, implications for treatment, and directions for future research were discussed. ^

Physeal Growth Plate Fractures: Implications for the Pediatric Athlete

Pediatric musculoskeletal trauma accounts for most childhood injuries. The anatomy and physiology of the pediatric skeleton is unique as is its response to trauma. The pediatric skeleton has periods of rapid growth; therefore the effect of trauma to the musculoskeletal system may have significant long-term complications.

Social capital, HIV risk behavior and substance use among recent Latino immigrants in South Florida

Social capital, or social cohesion or group connectedness, can influence both HIV risk behavior and substance use. Because recent immigrants undergo a change in environment, one of the consequences can be a change in social capital. There may be an association among changes in social capital, and HIV risk behavior and substance use post immigration. The dissertation focused on the interface of these three variables among recent Latino immigrants (RLIs) in South Florida. The first manuscript is a systematic review of social capital and HIV risk behavior, and served as a partial background for the second and third manuscripts. Twelve papers with a measure of social capital as an independent variable and HIV risk as the dependent variable were included in the analysis. Eleven studies measured social capital at the individual level, and one study measured social capital at the group level. HIV risk was influenced by social capital, but the type of influence was dependent on the type of social capital and on the study population. Cognitive social capital, or levels of collective action, was protective against HIV in both men and women. The role of structural social capital, or levels of civic engagement/group participation, on HIV risk was dependent on the type of structural social capital and varied by gender. Microfinance programs and functional group participation were protective for women, while dysfunctional group participation and peer-level support may have increased HIV risk among men. The second manuscript was an original study assessing changes in social capital and HIV risk behavior pre to post immigration among RLIs in South Florida (n=527). HIV risk behavior was assessed through the frequency of vaginal-penile condom use, and the number of sexual partners. It was a longitudinal study using secondary data analysis to assess changes in social capital and HIV risk behavior pre immigration to two years post immigration, and to determine if there was a relationship between the two variables. There was an 8% decrease in total social capital (p < .05). Reporting of 'Never use' of condoms in the past 90 days increased in all subcategories (p < .05). Single men had a decrease in number of sexual partners (p < .05). Lower social capital measured on the dimension of 'friend and other' was marginally associated with fewer sexual partners. The third manuscript was another original study looking at the association between social capital and substance use among RLIs in South Florida (n=527). Substance use with measured by frequency of hazardous alcoholic drinking, and illicit drug use. It was a longitudinal study of social capital and substance-use from pre to two years post immigration. Post-immigration, social capital, hazardous drinking and illicit drug use decreased (p<.001). After adjusting for time, compared to males, females were less likely to engage in hazardous drinking (OR=.31, p<.001), and less likely to engage in illicit drug use (OR=.67, p=.01). Documentation status was a moderator between social capital and illicit drug use. 'Business' and 'Agency' social capital were associated with changes in illicit drug use for documented immigrants. After adjusting for gender and marital status, on average, documented immigrants with a one-unit increase in 'business' social capital were 1.2 times more likely to engage in illicit drug use (p<.01), and documented immigrants with one-unit increase in 'agency' social capital were 38% less likely to engage in illicit drug use (p<.01). 'Friend and other' social capital was associated with a decrease in illicit drug use among undocumented immigrants. After adjusting for gender and marital status, on average, undocumented immigrants with a one-unit increase in 'friend and other' social capital were 45% less likely to engage in hazardous drinking and 44% less likely to use illicit drugs (p<.01, p<.05). Studying these three domains is relevant because HIV continues to be a public health issue, particularly in Miami-Dade County, which is ranked among other U.S. regions with high rates of HIV/AIDS prevalence. Substance use is associated with HIV risk behavior; in most studies, increased substance use is associated with increased chances of HIV risk behavior. Immigration, which is the hypothesized catalyst for the change in social capital, has an impact on the dynamic of a society. Greater immigration can be burdensome on the host country's societal resources; however immigrants are also potentially a source of additional skilled labor for the workforce. Therefore, successful adaption of immigrants can have a positive influence on receiving communities. With Florida being a major receiver of immigrants to the U.S, this dissertation attempts to address an important public health issue for South Florida and the U.S. at large.

Estudo do domínio segurança/proteção da NANDA internacional em pacientes de unidade de terapia intensiva

The study aimed to analyze the field of nursing diagnoses safety / protection of NANDA International present in patients in the Intensive Care Unit. This is a crosssectional study in intensive care complex of a university hospital in northeastern Brazil. The research took place in two stages. The first step was to collect data through an interview form and physical examination, with 86 patients admitted to the unit, during the months of December 2013 to May 2014. Spreadsheets were built in Microsoft Office Excel 2010 Software in which were marked by the researcher of this study, the presence or absence of defining characteristics, related factors and risk factors of the 31 studied diagnoses. In the second stage, held between July and August 2014, the sheets were sent to three diagnosticians, previously trained to perform the diagnostic inference. Data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics for the diagnoses that showed higher frequencies than 50%, using IBM SPSS version 20.0 for Statistic Windows.O project was approved by the 440/414 and Presentation Certificate for Ethics Assessment number 22955113 .2.0000.5292. The results indicated the presence of 29 field of nursing diagnoses safety / protection in hospital clientele in the Intensive Care Unit, of which five were present in 100% of patients, namely: Risk of contamination, injury risk, falls risk,risk of allergic response and risk of trauma. Diagnoses that presented more frequently than 50% were: Risk of infection, dry eye risk, poisoning risk, vascular trauma risk, impaired skin integrity, impaired dentition, bleeding risk, risk imbalance in body temperature, Risk perioperative positioning injury, impaired tissue integrity, peripheral neurovascular dysfunction Risk, Risk adverse response to contrast media with iodine, shock Hazard and Risk of aspiration. For these analyzes, we identified 35 risk factors, 11 defining characteristics and three related factors showed statistically significant association with the studied diagnoses. For diagnostics: Risk of contamination, injury risk, falls risk, allergic response risk, trauma Risk, Risk of infection, dry eye risk and risk poisoning there was no association with any of their risk factors. We conclude that most of the area of nursing diagnoses safety / protection feature is prevalent in critically ill patients, with special attention to the risk diagnoses. There was a significant association between these diagnoses and its components. It is noteworthy, therefore, that the lifting of this profile contributes relevant clues to the inference of the priority nursing diagnoses domain safety / protection in the study population, supporting the practice of nursing and stimulating knowledge on the subject.

Magnitude da morbidade relacionada ao trabalho no Rio Grande do Norte

Diseases and disorders related to work sets up an important public health problem in Brazil and worldwide. However, the reality of these diseases still constitutes a gap with regard to its characterization and epidemiological situation, especially in Brazil. In this context, this study aims to analyze the magnitude of morbidity related to work from the injuries and illnesses reported by Health the Diseases Notifiable of Health of the State Public River Health Department worker Reference Center Information System services Grande do Norte from 2007 to 2014. It is ecological study, quantitative cross-sectional study in which the analysis unit of the municipalities of Rio Grande do Norte. Data were collected from the state base of Diseases Notifiable Information System Centre of the Secretariat of State Workers' Health Reference Public Health of Rio Grande do Norte, between March and June 2015, after the approval of the Committee of Ethics in Research of the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, Opinion 014/2014. The population was represented by the universe of cases of diseases and disorders related to work that were reported and shut down the system from 2007 to 2014. Data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics, presented in tables, graphs, charts and figures. For this, we used the Microsoft Excel 2007 and SPSS version 20.0. To check the significance level we opted for the application of the chi-square or Fisher tests. We adopted the significance level of p <0.05. Of the 10,161 cases of diseases related to the reported work, the biological work accidents had the highest percentage (52.84%) followed by serious occupational accidents (37.49%). For diseases, the highlights were musculoskeletal (4.82%), mental disorders (2.19%) and exogenous intoxication (1.97%). Among men, there was a predominance of major accidents (91.80%), mental disorders (70.00%) and exogenous poisoning (52.84%). Women were most affected by biological accidents (77.50%) and musculoskeletal diseases (64.10%). Among workers who have suffered injuries predominated mulatto (%), mean age of 35.86 years, low education (%) and workers in the formal sector (%). Among the accidents, biological (n = 5,369) accounted for 52.84% of cases occurred predominantly among nursing professionals (48.31%). The percutaneous exposure was the most frequent (73.05%) and the occurrence of circumstances was improper disposal of sharps (45.28%), the needle the most common agent (66.62%) and the organic material was blood (72.99%). Most injured workers were vaccinated against hepatitis B (68.13%), but no information as to the assessment of the vaccine response. In the course of the disease predominated ignored the situation with loss of monitoring of clinical follow-up (55.62%). There was also an increase in the notification of serious industrial accidents predominantly male (91.80%) workers aged 25-44 years (54.3%) and typical accidents (76.3%). The temporary disability was the most common outcome (55.53%) and hand the most affected part (33.00%); the mining and construction industry had the highest number of cases (25.1%) in registered employee (34.2%). The findings of this study show a positive result in relation to increased mandatory reporting of injuries and illnesses related to work together to health services that meet victimized workers, towards the occurrence of knowledge of these accidents for decision making in public plans and policies of health. However, the information system still needs improvement in both the coverage and the quality of the data to demonstrate with greater reliability the magnitude of events to support the planning of workers' health into shares in the state.

Spic'ing into Existence: Epitaph, Epithet, and the Ethnopoetic Imagination

Quién Es, Quién Somos? Spic’ing into Existence claims a four-fold close-reading: first, analysis of texts: from theoretical meditations to (prison) memoir and film. Second, a half dozen central figures appear, largely Latinx and black American. They cut across a score of registers, socio-economics, ideological reservations, but all are, as Carl Carlton sang, poetry in motion. Writers, poets, theologians, pathologists, artists, comedians, actors, students whose vocation is invocation, the inner surge of their calling. Third, the manuscript draws from a series of historical moments—from radical liberation of the late 60s, to contemporary student activism. Finally, this body of work is movement, in all its social, gestural, and kinesthetic viscera. From this last heading, we peel away layers of what I call the ethnopoet, the fascia undoing that reveals its bio-political anatomy, dressing its bare life with kinship speech. First, the social revolutions of the Civil Rights, Black Power, abolitionism, the Black Panthers and Young Lords, boycotts and jarring artistic performances. These events are superficial not in vain sense, but key epicenters of underground murmurings, the workings of a cunning assailant. She robs not lavish estates, but another day to breathe. Gesturally, as perhaps the interlocutor, lies this author, interspersing his own diatribes to conjure her presence. The final branch is admittedly the most intangible. Kinesthetically, we map the nimbleness, footwork lígera of what I call the ethnopoet. Ethnopoet is no mere aggregate of ethnicity and poetry, but like chemical reaction, the descriptor for its behavior under certain pressures, temperatures, and elements. Elusive and resisting confinement, and therefore definition, the ethnopoet is a shapeshifting figure of how racialized bodies [people of color] respond to hegemonic powers. She is, at bottom, however, a native translator, the plural-lensed subject whose loyalty is only to the imagination of a different world, one whose survival is not contingent upon her exploitation. The native translator’s constant re-calibrations of oppressive power apparatuses seem taxing at best, and near-impossible, at worst. To effectively navigate through these polarized loci, she must identify ideologies that in turn seek “affective liberatory sances” in relation to the dominant social order (43). In a kind of performative contradiction, she must marshall the knowledge necessary to “break with ideology” while speaking within it. Chicana Studies scholar, Chela Sandoval, describes this dual movement as “meta-ideologizing”: the appropriation of hegemonic ideological forms in order to transform them (82). Nuestros padres se subieron encima de La Bestia, y por eso somos pasageros a ese tren. Y ya, dentro su pansa, tenemos que ser vigilantes cuando plantamos las bombas. In Methodology of the Oppressed, Sandoval schematizes this oppositional consciousness around five principle categories: “equal rights,” “revolutionary,” “supremacist,” “separatist,” and “differential.” Taken by themselves, the first four modes appear mutually exclusive, incapable of occupying the same plane, until a fifth pillar emerges. Cinematographic in nature, differential consciousness, as Sandoval defines it, is “a kinetic motion that maneuvers, poetically transfigures, and orchestrates while demanding alienation, perversion, and reformation in both spectators and practitioners” (44). For Sandoval, then, differential consciousness is a methodology that privileges an incredible sense mobility, one reaching artistic sensibilities. Our fourth and final analytic of movement serves an apt example of this dual meaning. Lexically speaking, ‘movement’ may be regarded as a political mobilization of aggrieved populations (through sustained efforts), or the process of moving objects (people or otherwise) from one location to another. Praxis-wise, it is both action and ideal, content and form. Thus, an ethnic poetics must be regarded less as a series of stanzas, shortened lyric, or even arrangement of language, but as a lens through which peripheralized peoples kaleidecope ideological positions in an “original, eccentric, and queer sight” (43). Taking note of the advantages of postponing identifications, the thesis stands its ground on the term ethnopoet. Its abstraction is not dewey-eyed philosophy, but an anticipation of poetic justice, of what’s to come from callused hands. This thesis is divided into 7.5 chapters. The first maps out the ethnopoet’s cartographies of struggle. By revisiting that alleged Tío Tomas, Richard Rodriguez, we unearth the tensions that negatively, deny citizenship to one silo, but on the flipside, engender manifold ways of seeing, hearing, and moving . The second, through George Jackson’s prison memoirs, pans out from this ethnography of power, groping for an apparatus that feigns an impervious prestige: ‘the aesthetic regime of coercion.’ In half-way cut, the thesis sidesteps to spic into existence, formally announcing, through Aime Cesaire, myself, and Pedro Pietri, the poeticization of trauma. Such uplift denies New Age transcendence of self, but a rehearsal of our entrapment in these mortal envelopes. Thirdly, conscious of the bleeding ethnic body, we cut open the incipient corpse to observe her pathologist. Her native autopsies offer the ethnic body’s posthumous recognition, the ethnopoetics ability to speak for and through the dead. Chapter five examines prolific black artists—Beyonce and Kendrick Lamar—to elide the circumvention of their consumption via invoking radical black hi/her-stories, ones fragmenting the black body. Sixth, the paper compares the Black Power Salute of the 1968 Mexico City Olympics to Duke’s Mi Gente Boycott of their Latino Student Recruitment Weekend. Both wielded “silent gestures,” that shrewdly interfered with white noise of numbed negligence. Finally, ‘taking the mask off’ that are her functionalities, the CODA expounds on ethnopoet’s interiority, particularly after the rapid re-calibration of her politics. Through a rerun of El Chavo del Ocho, one of Mexican television’s most cherished shows, we tune into the heart-breaking indigence of barrio residents, only to marvel at the power of humor to, as Friday’s John Witherspoon put it, “fight another day.” This thesis is the tip of my tongue. Y por una vez, déjala que cante.

Diagnosing primary ciliary dyskinesia: an international patient perspective

Primary ciliary dyskinesia (PCD) is a rare genetic disorder characterised by progressive sinopulmonary disease, with symptoms starting soon after birth. A European Respiratory Society (ERS) Task Force aims to address disparities in diagnostics across Europe by providing evidence-based clinical practice guidelines. We aimed to identify challenges faced by patients when referred for PCD diagnostic testing. A patient survey was developed by patient representatives and healthcare specialists to capture experience. Online versions of the survey were translated into nine languages and completed in 25 countries. Of the respondents (n=365), 74% were PCD-positive, 5% PCD-negative and 21% PCD-uncertain/inconclusive. We then interviewed 20 parents/patients. Transcripts were analysed thematically. 35% of respondents visited their doctor more than 40 times with PCD-related symptoms prior to diagnostic referral. Furthermore, the most prominent theme among interviewees was a lack of PCD awareness among medical practitioners and failure to take past history into account, leading to delayed diagnosis. Patients also highlighted the need for improved reporting of results and a solution to the “inconclusive” diagnostic status. These findings will be used to advise the ERS Task Force guidelines for diagnosing PCD, and should help stakeholders responsible for improving existing services and expanding provision for diagnosis of this rare disease.

Remédiation cognitive portant sur les aspects fluide et cristallisé de l’intelligence auprès d'adolescents présentant un fonctionnement intellectuel limite : approche par le jeu.

L’objectif principal de cette thèse était de créer, d’implanter et d’évaluer l’efficacité d’un programme de remédiation cognitive, intervenant de façon comparable sur les aspects fluide (Gf) et cristallisé (Gc) de l’intelligence, au sein d’une population d’intérêt clinique, les adolescents présentant un fonctionnement intellectuel limite (FIL). Compte tenu de la forte prévalence de ce trouble, le programme de remédiation GAME (Gains et Apprentissages Multiples pour Enfant) s’est développé autour de jeux disponibles dans le commerce afin de faciliter l’accès et l’implantation de ce programme dans divers milieux. Le premier article de cette thèse, réalisé sous forme de revue systématique de la littérature, avait pour objectif de faire le point sur les études publiées utilisant le jeu comme outil de remédiation cognitive dans la population pédiatrique. L’efficacité, ainsi que la qualité du paradigme utilisé ont été évaluées, et des recommandations sur les aspects méthodologiques à respecter lors de ce type d’étude ont été proposées. Cet article a permis une meilleure compréhension des écueils à éviter et des points forts méthodologiques à intégrer lors de la création du programme de remédiation GAME. Certaines mises en garde méthodologiques relevées dans cet article ont permis d’améliorer la qualité du programme de remédiation cognitive développé dans ce projet de thèse. Compte tenu du peu d’études présentes dans la littérature scientifique concernant la population présentant un FIL (70ofils de cette population à laquelle s’adressait le programme GAME, notamment concernant son fonctionnement cognitif, adaptatif, comportemental et psychiatrique. La deuxième étude de cette thèse a donc permis de préciser le profil de cette population de manière empirique. Dans le domaine cognitif, une force a été mise en évidence au niveau langagier pour le vocabulaire réceptif et la fluence verbale. De plus, certains aspects des capacités attentionnelles et de la mémoire de travail semblaient être bien compensés, possiblement via l’effet de psychostimulants. Étonnamment, le fonctionnement adaptatif n’était pas directement relié au niveau intellectuel global et était hétérogène, suggérant l’importance d’évaluer ce domaine pour rendre compte du niveau de fonctionnement des adolescents présentant un FIL dans la vie quotidienne. D’un point de vue comportemental et psychiatrique, les adolescents avec un FIL avaient plus de manifestations internalisées et externalisées atteignant un seuil cliniquement significatif que leurs pairs. Ces manifestations comportementales expliquent d’ailleurs une part importante du niveau de stress parental dans cette population. Ces résultats sont importants à considérer lors de l’orientation académique, clinique et familiale dans la prise en charge des adolescents présentant un FIL, et soulignent l’importance de proposer une évaluation neuropsychologique approfondie. Enfin, la partie centrale de cette thèse consistait à créer un programme de remédiation cognitive portant sur les aspects fluide et cristallisé de l’intelligence, champs d’intervention qui a été négligé compte tenu de la stabilité longtemps postulée de ces processus. Ce programme de remédiation, intitulé GAME, s’adressait aux adolescents présentant un FIL pur ou partiel (soit les deux indices de raisonnement étaient dans la zone limite, soit un seul des deux), et présentait deux versants, GAME-c (portant sur l’intelligence cristallisée) et GAME-f (portant sur l’intelligence fluide). Cette intervention durait seize heures réparties sur huit semaines. Les résultats indiquent que les adolescents ayant suivi GAME-f ont amélioré leur raisonnement fluide; alors que les adolescents ayant suivi GAME-c ont amélioré à la fois leur raisonnement cristallisé et fluide. Cette étude contribue à remettre en question la stabilité des processus intellectuels. C’est par contre la première fois que des améliorations de l’intelligence sont constatées dans une population d’intérêt clinique par le biais d’un entraînement direct. Enfin, les variables cognitives, adaptatives, comportementales et psychiatriques susceptibles d’influencer la qualité de l’amélioration pour chacun des programmes GAME ont fait l’objet d’analyses supplémentaires dans un dernier chapitre et permettent de conclure à la possibilité d’adapter le programme GAME à d’autres populations (ex: déficience intellectuelle). Cette thèse a donc permis de souligner la pertinence d’utiliser les jeux comme outil de remédiation cognitive de part leur versatilité dans leur utilisation, leur facilité d’accès et leur faible coût. Elle met également en avant la nécessité de développer une meilleure compréhension de la population présentant un fonctionnement intellectuel limite et d’effectuer des évaluations neuropsychologiques exhaustives auprès de cette population (cognitif, adaptatif, comportemental et psychiatrique). Enfin, elle souligne la possibilité d’améliorer par remédiation directe les intelligences fluide et cristallisée auprès d’individus avec une intelligence subnormale et suggère qu’il pourrait en être de même pour des populations présentant des déficits cognitifs, comme la déficience intellectuelle légère. Les avenues futures de recherche et les retombées cliniques de ce travail sont discutées, en lien avec les différents résultats trouvés dans ces études.

Los conocimientos acerca del maltrato infantil de los futuros profesionales de la educación: un estudio exploratorio

Los profesionales de la educación se encuentran, en su ejercicio profesional, en una posición privilegiada para realizar una detección precoz del maltrato infantil y para identificar posibles casos de riesgo. Sin embargo, en ocasiones, maestros y educadores en general aducen falta de conocimiento y formación para realizar dichas tareas. Es por ello que, en este trabajo deseamos insistir en la necesidad de analizar la formación de los futuros profesionales de la educación en torno al maltrato infantil, tanto en el seno de la familia como fuera de ella, y ya sea ejercido por un adulto o por otros menores. No olvidemos que la identificación temprana de comportamientos violentos y, por supuesto, la puesta en marcha de estrategias sólidas para su prevención requieren disponer de una buena capacitación. Por esta razón, hemos realizado un estudio piloto que nos permitiera conocer la formación que los estudiantes del Grado de Pedagogía tienen sobre el maltrato infantil, utilizando un cuestionario que hemos diseñado específicamente para alcanzar tal propósito. En la realización de un estudio piloto contamos con una muestra de 24 alumnos y alumnas del 4º curso del Grado de Pedagogía. Entre las conclusiones alcanzadas destacamos que, tras analizar los datos derivados del pase piloto, podemos concluir que los futuros pedagogos consideran necesario tener formación específica al respecto, una preparación que, mayoritariamente, consideran insuficiente y muy limitada para poder afrontar sus responsabilidades profesionales en el futuro.

Dificultades del profesorado para planificar, coordinar y evaluar competencias claves. Un análisis desde la Inspección de Educación.

Este artículo presenta una investigación en la que se analizan las dificultades del profesorado para planificar, coordinar y evaluar competencias claves en una muestra de 23 centros educativos. El tema tiene hondas repercusiones ya que una mala praxis educativa de las competencias claves puede conculcar uno de los derechos fundamentales del alumnado a ser evaluado de forma objetiva (LODE: Art.6b y RD 732/1995: Art. 13.1) y poder superar las pruebas de evaluación consideradas necesarias para la obtención del título académico mínimo que otorga el estado español. La investigación se ha desarrollado desde una doble perspectiva metodológica; en primer lugar, es una investigación descriptiva en la que presentamos las características fundamentales de las competencias claves y la normativa básica para su desarrollo y evaluación. En segundo lugar,  aplicamos un procedimiento de análisis con una doble vertiente cualitativa mediante el empleo del programa Atlas-Ti y del enfoque reticular-categorial del análisis de redes sociales con la aplicación de UCINET y el visor yED Graph Editor para abordar el análisis de las principales dificultades y obstáculos detectados. Los resultados muestran que existen serias dificultades en las tres dimensiones analizadas: "planificación", "coordinación" y "evaluación" de competencias clave; especialmente en la necesidad de formación del profesorado, en la evaluación de las competencias, en la metodología para su desarrollo y en los procesos de coordinación interna para su consecución en los centros educativos.