Development of Category‐Based Induction and Semantic Knowledge

Category‐based induction is a hallmark of mature cognition; however, little is known about its origins. This study evaluated the hypothesis that category‐based induction is related to semantic development. Computational studies suggest that early on there is little differentiation among concepts, but learning and development lead to increased differentiation based on taxonomic relatedness. This study reports findings from a new task aimed to (a) examine this putative increase in semantic differentiation and (b) test whether individual differences in semantic differentiation are related to category‐based induction in 4‐ to 7‐year‐old children (N = 85). The results provide the first empirical evidence of an age‐related increase in differentiation of representations of animal concepts and suggest that category‐based induction is related to increased semantic differentiation.     

The disease burden of childhood adversities in adults: a population-based study

Objectives

There is much evidence showing that childhood adversities have considerable effects on the mental and physical health of adults. It could be assumed therefore, that the disease burden of childhood adversities is high. It has not yet been examined, however, whether this is true.

Method

We used data of a large representative sample (N = 7,076) of the general population in the Netherlands. We calculated the disability weight (DW) for each respondent. The DW is a weight factor that reflects the severity of a disease or condition on a scale from 0 (perfect health) to 1 (equivalent to death). We used an algorithm based on the SF-6D to estimate DW. Because the DW indicates the proportion of a healthy life year that is reduced by the specific health state of the individual, it also possible to calculate the total number of years lost due to disability (YLD) in the population. We calculated the years lived with disability (YLD) for 9 different childhood adversities (in the areas of parental psychopathology; abuse and neglect; major life events), as well as for major categories of mental disorders and general medical disorders.

Results

All 9 adversities resulted in a significantly increased DW, except death of a parent before the age of 16. Adversities in the category of abuse and neglect are associated with the highest DWs (0.057), followed by parental psychopathology (0.031) and life events during childhood (0.012). All adversities (46.4% of the population reports one or more adversity) are associated with 20.7 YLD/1,000, which is more than all mental disorders together (12.9 YLD/1,000). The category of abuse/neglect has the highest YLD/1,000 (15.8), which is also higher than all mental disorders together. Adjustment for the presence of mental and general medical disorders resulted in comparable outcomes.

Conclusions

Childhood adversities are more important from a public health point of view than all common mental disorders together, and should be a priority for public health interventions.     

LONG-TERM INHIBITION OF Na~ /H~ EXCHANGE ATTENUATES CARDIAC REMODELING AFTER MYOCARDIAL INFARCTION IN RATS

ＩＮＴＲＯＤＵＣＴＩＯＮＴｈｅＮａ /Ｈ ｅｘｃｈａｎｇｅｒ (ＮＨＥ)ｉｓａｐＨ ｒｅｇｕｌａｔｏｒｙｐｒｏｔｅｉｎｐｒｅｓｅｎｔｉｎｔｈｅｐｌａｓｍａｍｅｍ ｂｒａｎｃｅｏｆｃａｒｄｉｏｍｙｏｃｙｔｅｓａｎｄｏｔｈｅｒｃｅｌｌｔｙｐｅｓ.ＡｌｔｈｏｕｇｈｓｅｖｅｒａｌｉｓｏｆｏｒｍｓｏｆＮＨＥｈａｖｅｂｅｅｎｄｅ ｃｒｉｂｅｄ,ｔｈｅｐｒｅｄｏｍｉｎａｎｔｉｓｏｆｏｒｍｉｎｔｈｅｈｅａｒｔｉｓｔｈｅｕｂｉｑｕｉｔｏｕｓＮＨＥ 1 ,ｗｈｉｃｈｕｎｄｅｒｃｅｎｔａｉｎｐｈｙｓｉｏｌｏｇｉｃａｌｃｏｎｄｉｔｉ…     

Methodik und Ergebnisse einer Experimentreihe über Entwurfsmuster

Zusammenfassung.   Software-Entwurfsmuster sind eine intuitiv einleuchtende Idee, die viele Befürworter hat. Als Forscher dürfen wir die behaupteten Wirkungen von Entwurfsmustern jedoch nicht einfach glauben, sondern müssen sie gründlich prüfen. Dieser Artikel beschreibt die wichtigsten Behauptungen und entwickelt daraus zugeh?rige Forschungsfragen. Wir diskutieren die Methodik für ein Forschungsprogramm, das die Fragen beantworten soll, und skizzieren praktische Beschr?nkungen, unter denen diese Forschung ablaufen mu?. Es folgt eine kurze Beschreibung von drei kontrollierten Experimenten und den Hauptfolgerungen aus ihren Ergebnissen. So sollte man zum Beispiel die Benutzung von Entwurfsmustern in einem Entwurf genau dokumentieren und Entwurfsmuster nicht einsetzen, ohne alternative Entwürfe zu prüfen. Abschlie?end diskutieren wir ein im Rahmen des Forschungsprogramms geplantes viertes Experiment. Der Beitrag dieses Artikels liegt vorrangig in einer Beschreibung und Diskussion wichtiger methodischer Aspekte kontrollierter Experimente in der Softwaretechnik. Eingegangen am 27. Oktober 1998 / Angenommen am 13. M?rz 1999     

Dynamic Transition Patterns in Acculturation Among Hispanic Adolescents

Acculturation consists of multiple domains (i.e., cultural practices, identifications, and values). However, less is known about how acculturation processes influence each other across multiple domains of acculturation. This study was designed to investigate transition patterns of acculturative processes within and across domains in a sample of 302 recent-immigrant Hispanic adolescents, M_age (SD) = 14.51 years (0.88) at baseline; male = 53%). Adolescents were assessed six times over a 3-year period. Latent profile analyses identified two profiles (high [or increasing] vs. low) for each domain at each timepoint. We found largely stable transition patterns in each domain over six timepoints. Importantly, sequential associations among profiles in acculturation domains were also detected. Implication for acculturation theory and research are discussed.     

‘An experiment is when you try it and see if it works’: a study of grade 7 students’ understanding of the construction of scientific knowledge

The research reported here focuses on grade 7 (12‐year‐old) students’ epistomological views prior to and after exposure to a teaching unit especially developed to introduce the constructivist view of science. A clinical interview was used to assess students’ understanding about the nature of scientific knowledge and inquiry. Students’ initial epistemological stance is that scientific knowledge is a passively acquired, faithful copy of the world, and that scientific inquiry is limited solely to observing rather than constructing explanations about nature. We found that it is possible to move students beyond this initial view.     

Long-term inhibition of Na+/H+ exchange attenuates cardiac remodeling after myocardial infarction in rats

Objective: In addition to pH regulation, Na⁺/H⁺ exchange (NHE) has been shown to facilitate cell growth and proliferation. However, the effects of long-term inhibition of Na⁺/H⁺ exchange on cardiac structural and functional remodeling post myocardial infarction (MI) are still controversial. The present study was therefore carried out to further investigate the effects of long-term treatment with cariporide, a specific inhibitor of NHE-1, on cardiac remodeling after MI in rats; Methods: Male Wistar rats that underwent coronary ligation were randomly selected for cariporide treatment starting 6 h after induction of MI or no treatment. Treatment was continued up to 6 weeks post MI, after which, the arterial, venous and left ventricular catheters were chronically implanted. Twenty-four h later, after hemodynamic signals were recorded in conscious rats, they were sacrificed and hearts were taken out for morphological examinations; Results: Cariporide treatment decreased the heart weight and heart weight to body weight ratio (bothP<0.05), decreased left ventricular end-diastolic pressure (P<0.001), improved myocardial contractility (dP/dt _max) (P<0.05) and tended to increase the survival of treated rats compared to that of untreated infarct rats; Conclusion: The results of the present study indicate that the long-term inhibition of NHE with cariporide can attenuate cardiac structural remodeling and improve left ventricular dysfunction in infarcted rats, and suggest that Na⁺/H⁺ exchange inhibition could be an effective therapeutic strategy for myocardial infarction-induced heart failure.