A bottlenose dolphin discriminates visual stimuli differing in numerosity

A bottlenose dolphin was trained to discriminate two simultaneously presented stimuli differing in numerosity (defined by the number of constituent elements). After responding correctly to stimuli consisting of three-dimensional objects, the dolphin transferred to two-dimensional stimuli. Initially, a variety of stimulus parameters covaried with the numerosity feature. By systematically controlling for these stimulus parameters, it was demonstrated that some of these attributes, such as element configuration and overall brightness, affected the animal’s discrimination performance. However, after all the confounding parameters were under control, the dolphin was able to discriminate the stimuli exclusively on the basis of the numerosity feature. The animal then achieved a successful transfer to novel numerosities, both intervening numerosities and numerosities outside the former range. These findings provide substantial evidence that the dolphin could base his behavior on the numerosity of a set independently of its other attributes and that he represented ordinal relations among numerosities.     

Integrated and Predictive Systems for Preventive Conservation

ABSTRACT

Forecasting the dynamics of alteration in materials, in particular the timescale of degradation, is relevant to preventive conservation, and great deal of effort has gone into developing new models for the kinetics of physical and chemical phenomena affecting materials. Creating monitoring systems able to assess the evolution of degradation processes that inform intervention programs is necessary to ensure the protection of historical and artistic heritage. The Research Unit for Integrated and Predictive Systems (SIP) is presented: it develops new tools and algorithms to study the alteration of materials using non-invasive techniques and passive monitoring, as well as new mathematical models to predict how the surfaces of materials degrade with time. The paper focuses on the Arch of Augustus and presents initial results from two virtual sensors used to ‘monitor’ environmental conditions outdoors. These systems do not need a permanent, invasive network of sensors in situ. They rely instead on local infrastructure for measuring air quality, and adopt smart information fusion algorithms to predict the environment around the cultural heritage site. Virtual sensors can provide an effective control system that highlights specific conditions linked to specific forms of alteration.     

A view of rural schooling through the eyes of former students

Teachers who attended unitary rural schools in northwestern Spain were asked to relate their early school experiences in the form of a personal reflective and analytical narrative. Our analysis of these narratives revealed some strikingly difficult conditions; nevertheless, students tended to relate these hardships with a strong sense of nostalgia, focussing on the sense of community that they experienced. These results shed some light on the relevance of personal relations and the broader social and physical environment to the school ethos, and provides practice and design implications for urban as well as rural schooling contexts.     

Cambio sociocognitivo y organización de las acciones: una aproximación sociocultural a la educación de adultos

Resumen

Se estudia la educación formal y «Literacy» con objeto de analizar diferentes aspectos del desarrollo cultural, así como la influencia de factores socioculturales en el desarrollo cognitivo de los adultos. Son escasos los trabajos realizados en este campo. Se seleccionó un grupo de mujeres pertenecientes al programa de Educación de Adultos de la Junta de Andalucía cuyas edades oscilaban entre 35 y 55 años. Los sujetos estudiados pertenecían a tres niveles educativos: alfabetización, pregraduados y graduados. La acción dirigida a meta es la unidad de análisis escogida y la metodología desarrollada tiene su base en la perspectiva sociocultural iniciada por Vygostsky y desarrollada por algunos psicólogos occidentales. La situación experimental se diseñó con objeto de analizar los componentes de las acciones de memoria que los sujetos podían utilizar para recordar un grupo de estímulos. Estos se podían incluir en diferentes categorías (animales, plantas y objetos). Componentes básicos de este tipo de acciones son: estrategias cognitivas, procedimientos de mediación semiótica y actitud social de los sujetos. A lo largo de las diferentes fases de la investigación fue posible observar transiciones microgenéticas de estos componentes así como cambios en las interacciones entre los mismos, (especialmente entre procesos cognitivos y procedimientos semióticos).     

Intelligence assessment: Gardner multiple intelligence theory as an alternative

In the multiple intelligence framework, newer and more contextualized cognitive tasks are suggested as alternative to more traditional psychometric tests. The purpose of this article is to examine whether or not these two types of instruments converge into a general factor of cognitive performance. Thus, the Battery of General and Differential Aptitudes (BADyG: reasoning, memory, verbal aptitude, numerical aptitude and spatial aptitude) and a set of Gardner's multiple intelligence assessment tasks (linguistic, logical, visual/spatial, bodily-kinesthetic, naturalistic and musical intelligences) were administered to 294 children aged 5 to 7. The confirmatory factor analysis points out the absence of a common general factor considering both batteries, indicating instead the existence of two general factors, which gather the tests that encompass them. Also, these two general factors correspond to traditional and multiple intelligence assessments and show a statistically moderate correlation between them. These results challenge Gardner's original position on refusing a general factor of intelligence, especially when considering the cognitive dimensions measured which do not coincide with the more traditional tests of intelligence.     

Home Away from Home: Acclimatization of Filipino Elderly from being Home to a Sense of being “At Home” in an Elderly Institution

This grounded study examined the process of acclimatization or the process of changing perspectives of a person so as to get used to or feel “at home” among a select group of Filipino elderly in a nursing care facility. As institutionalization of the elderly is not typical in the Philippine context, varied responses were analyzed to understand the factors and the course that an elderly person undergoes over a set period of time to achieve acclimatization. Twenty elderly (n = 20) residents were purposively recruited and subjected to an in-depth interview that chronicled their experiences on their previous and present lives and on the process by which they were able to adjust to a relatively new setting. Preliminarily, a robotfoto was devised to obtain demographic data including visitation frequencies and familial relationships, and this was followed by an in-depth interview. Through the constant comparison method, an interesting model called the Hourglass of Acclimatization emerged. This model yielded two distinct phases contributing to successful acclimatization. One is the Conversion phase, or imbibing the main notion of transforming one's perspectives of him or herself and his or her environment; there is also the Immersion phase, which describes how an elderly involves him or herself completely into the life he or she is supposed to live. This emerged model can contribute to the development of nursing interventions focusing on elderly experiences in the entire course of relocation to a new environment other than what they call “home.”     

Contrast agent-free sonoporation: The use of an ultrasonic standing wave microfluidic system for the delivery of pharmaceutical agents

Sonoporation is a useful biophysical mechanism for facilitating the transmembrane delivery of therapeutic agents from the extracellular to the intracellular milieu. Conventionally, sonoporation is carried out in the presence of ultrasound contrast agents, which are known to greatly enhance transient poration of biological cell membranes. However, in vivo contrast agents have been observed to induce capillary rupture and haemorrhage due to endothelial cell damage and to greatly increase the potential for cell lysis in vitro. Here, we demonstrate sonoporation of cardiac myoblasts in the absence of contrast agent (CA-free sonoporation) using a low-cost ultrasound-microfluidic device. Within this device an ultrasonic standing wave was generated, allowing control over the position of the cells and the strength of the acoustic radiation forces. Real-time single-cell analysis and retrospective post-sonication analysis of insonated cardiac myoblasts showed that CA-free sonoporation induced transmembrane transfer of fluorescent probes (CMFDA and FITC-dextran) and that different mechanisms potentially contribute to membrane poration in the presence of an ultrasonic wave. Additionally, to the best of our knowledge, we have shown for the first time that sonoporation induces increased cell cytotoxicity as a consequence of CA-free ultrasound-facilitated uptake of pharmaceutical agents (doxorubicin, luteolin, and apigenin). The US-microfluidic device designed here provides an in vitro alternative to expensive and controversial in vivo models used for early stage drug discovery, and drug delivery programs and toxicity measurements.