bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Does the mesodermal derangement in Chiari Type I malformation extend to the cervical spine? Evidence from an analytical morphometric study on cervical paraspinal muscles
Authors: Thakar Sumit , Kurudi Siddappa Avinash , Aryan Saritha , Mohan Dilip , Sai Kiran Narayanam Anantha , Hegde Alangar S. 
Published: May 2017

OBJECTIVEThe mesodermal derangement in Chiari Type I malformation (CMI) has been postulated to encompass the cervical spine. The objectives of this study were to assess the cross-sectional areas (CSAs) of cervical paraspinal muscles (PSMs) in patients with CMI without syringomyelia, compare them with those in non-CMI subjects, and evaluate their correlations with various factors.METHODSIn this retrospective study, the CSAs of cervical PSMs in 25 patients were calculated on T2-weighted axial MR images and computed as ratios with respect to the corresponding vertebral body areas. These values and the cervical taper ratios were then compared with those of age- and sex-matched non-CMI subjects and analyzed with respect to demographic data and clinicoradiological factors.RESULTSCompared with the non-CMI group, the mean CSA values for the rectus capitis minor and all of the subaxial PSMs were lower in the study group, and those of the deep extensors were significantly lower (p = 0.004). The cervical taper ratio was found to be significantly higher in the study cohort (p = 0.0003). A longer duration of symptoms and a steeper cervical taper ratio were independently associated with lower CSA values for the deep extensors (p = 0.04 and p = 0.03, respectively). The presence of neck pain was associated with a lower CSA value for the deep flexors (p = 0.03).CONCLUSIONSPatients with CMI demonstrate alterations in their cervical paraspinal musculature even in the absence of coexistent syringomyelia. Their deep extensor muscles undergo significant atrophic changes that worsen with the duration of their symptoms. This could be related to a significantly steeper cervical taper ratio that their cervical cords are exposed to. Neck pain in these patients is related to atrophy of their deep flexor muscles. A steeper cervical taper ratio and alterations in the PSMs could be additional indicators for surgery in patients with CMI without syringomyelia.
Connective Intelligence for childhood mathematics education
Authors: Novo María-Luisa , Alsina Ángel , Marbán José-María , Berciano Ainhoa 
Published: May 2017

The construction of a connective brain begins at the earliest ages of human development. However, knowledge about individual and collective brains provided so far by research has been rarely incorporated into Maths in Early Childhood classrooms. In spite of that, it is obvious that it is at these ages when the learning of mathematics acts as a nuclear element for decision- making, problem -solving, data- processing and the understanding of the world. From that perspective, this research aims to analyse the mathematics teaching-learning process at early ages based on connectionism, with the specific objectives being, on the one hand, to determine the features of mathematics practices which promote connections and, on the other hand, to identify different types of mathematics connections to enhance connective intelligence. The research was carried out over two consecutive academic years under an interpretative paradigm with a methodological approach combining Action Research and Grounded Theory. The results obtained allow the characterization of a prototype of a didactic sequence that promotes three types of mathematics connections for the development of connective intelligence in young children: conceptual, giving rise to links between mathematics concepts; teaching, linking mathematics concepts through an active methodology, and practical ones connecting maths with the environment.La construcción de un cerebro conectivo comienza en las edades más tempranas del desarrollo humano. Sin embargo, el conocimiento que ya se tiene sobre los cerebros individual y colectivo apenas se ha incorporado en el desarrollo del pensamiento matemático en Educación Infantil, donde comienzan a gestarse elementos clave para tomar decisiones, resolver problemas de la vida cotidiana, tratar con datos y comprender el entorno. Desde esta perspectiva la presente investigación marca como objetivo general analizar el proceso de enseñanza-aprendizaje de las matemáticas en Educación Infantil a partir del conexionismo, considerando como objetivos específicos, por un lado, determinar las características de una práctica matemática que promueva las conexiones y, por otro lado, identificar los distintos tipos de conexiones matemáticas para fomentar la inteligencia conectiva. La investigación se lleva a cabo a lo largo de dos años consecutivos bajo un paradigma interpretativo con un enfoque metodológico basado en el uso combinado de Investigación-Acción y Teoría Fundamentada. Los resultados han permitido concretar un prototipo de actividad o conjunto de actividades que, en forma de secuencia didáctica, promueve tres tipos de conexiones matemáticas para desarrollar la inteligencia conectiva en Educación Infantil: conceptuales, que producen nexos entre contenidos matemáticos diversos; docentes, que vinculan diversos conceptos matemáticos a través de una metodología activa y de vivenciar las experiencias matemáticas con otras materias; y prácticas, que relacionan las matemáticas con el entorno.
The cognitive processing of an educational app with EEG and ’Eye Tracking’
Authors: Cuesta-Cambra Ubaldo , Niño-González José-Ignacio , Rodríguez-Terceño José 
Published: May 2017

The use of apps in education is becoming more frequent. However, the mechanisms of attention and processing of their contents and their consequences in learning have not been sufficiently studied. The objective of this work is to analyze how information is processed and learned and how visual attention takes place. It also investigates the existence of gender differences. The responses to 15 images are analyzed using 'Eye Tracking' and EEG in a sample of 22 young students. The recall and liking of the stimuli is also analyzed. The characteristics of the images are evaluated by experts. The results indicate that there is a different pattern of visual activity between men and women which does not affect subsequent recall. The recall is determined by the emotional value of the image and its simplicity: more complex images demand more time of visual fixation but are less remembered. EEG responses confirm the importance of the playful component of the memory and low involvement processing. The conclusion is that the behavior against an app of this type resembles the low commitment behavior of advertising itself. Finally, some considerations for the app content design are proposed.
El empleo de apps en educación es cada vez más frecuente. Sin embargo, no se han estudiado suficientemente los mecanismos de atención y procesamiento de sus contenidos y sus consecuencias en el aprendizaje. El objetivo de este trabajo es analizar cómo se procesa y aprende la información y qué tipo de atención visual se le presta. También se investiga la posible existencia de diferencias de género. Sobre un total de 22 jóvenes se analizan las respuestas de «Eye Tracking» y electroencefalograma (EEG) frente a 15 estímulos de una app de educación en salud. También se analiza el recuerdo y agrado de los estímulos por parte de los sujetos. Las características de las imágenes son evaluadas por expertos. Los resultados indican que existe un patrón de actividad visual diferente entre hombres y mujeres el cual no incide sobre el recuerdo posterior. El recuerdo viene determinado por el valor emocional de la imagen y su simplicidad: las imágenes más complejas absorben más tiempo de fijación visual pero son recordadas menos. Las respuestas del EEG confirman la importancia del aspecto lúdico sobre el recuerdo. La conclusión es que la conducta frente a una app de este tipo se asemeja a la conducta de bajo compromiso propio de la publicidad.
Communication efficiency in education: Increasing emotions and storytelling
Authors: Ferrés Joan , Masanet Maria-Jose 
Published: May 2017

The research supporting this paper addresses the problem of educational communication efficacy using a dual methodology strategy. Over 1.200 questionnaires were given out to professionals in four institutions dedicated to persuasive communication; two traditional ?the church and schools? and two more recently created ? journalism and advertising. Probably they are the four groups with more socialising force in the last centuries; For this paper the educators’ responses were specifically analysed to determine their conception of the communication process and the requirements for effective communication, and these were compared with those from the other groups, especially from advertising professionals. Lastly, all the responses were compared to contributions from neuroscience that have been made in recent decades about how the human mind functions, particularly with regards to decision-making, to determine which communication proposals provide a greater guarantee of efficacy. The results indicate the need for educators to break away from a strictly cognitive polarized communication that focuses on transmission. They are more related with guaranteeing the supply than creating a demand, and open up to the communicative potential of emotions, interaction and storytelling.
En la investigación que da pie a estas páginas se aborda la problemática de la eficacia de la comunicación educativa mediante una doble estrategia metodológica. Se administraron más de 1.200 cuestionarios a profesionales de cuatro instituciones dedicadas a la comunicación persuasiva, dos tradicionales, la iglesia y la escuela, y dos de creación más reciente, el periodismo y la publicidad. Probablemente son los cuatro colectivos con más fuerza socializadora en los últimos siglos. Para este artículo se analizaron de manera especial las respuestas de los educadores en torno a la concepción de los procesos comunicativos y a los requisitos necesarios para la eficacia comunicativa, y se compararon con las de los demás colectivos, sobre todo con las de los profesionales de la publicidad. Finalmente se confrontaron todas estas respuestas con algunas aportaciones que se han hecho desde la neurociencia durante las últimas décadas en torno al funcionamiento de la mente humana, especialmente en relación con la toma de decisiones, para ver qué propuestas comunicativas ofrecen una mayor garantía de eficacia. Del conjunto de los resultados se desprende para los educadores la necesidad de superar una comunicación polarizada estrictamente en lo cognitivo, centrada en la transmisión, más preocupada por garantizar la oferta que por crear una demanda, y la de abrirse a las potencialidades comunicativas de la emoción, de la interacción y del storytelling.
Music and its significance in children favourite audiovisuals
Authors: Porta-Navarro Amparo , Herrera Lucía 
Published: May 2017

Audiovisual media are part of children´s daily life. They build and/or replace a part of the reality that is sometimes preceded. This paper is interested in one of the elements of the audiovisual binomial, the soundtrack, in order to analyse its meaning and sense from the children’s point of view. The objectives are: to determine if the audiovisual media clips to which children are exposed (sound, image and all) are perceived differently; to establish the possible differences in the assessment they make when comparing the sound and image presentation modalities. Fourteen audiovisual media (movies, series, cartoons and documentaries) were identified by 115 children (10-12 years old) as preferred. Audiovisuals were edited in three modalities (sound, image, and all) and grouped into different series of three clips, which were watched in group sessions by 547 Spanish and Argentinian children (mean age: 11 years old). An Assessment Questionnaire of audiovisual clips was designed and implemented. Results showed differences in the meaning of the soundtrack in three of the five categories of the questionnaire. The significant predominance of the sound in series, documentaries and, especially, movies is highlighted. Contextual space-time elements, affective implications, feelings, and empathy as well as assessment of the experience are all perceived by means of the sound (the music).
Los audiovisuales forman parte de la vida cotidiana de la infancia, construyendo con ellos una parte de la realidad que muchas veces se anticipa y otras sustituye. Este artículo se interesa por una de las partes del binomio audiovisual, la banda sonora, con la finalidad de conocer su significado y sentido desde la propia interpretación infantil. Sus objetivos son determinar si los niños perciben de modo diferente los clips audiovisuales a los que son expuestos (sonido, imagen y todo); establecer las posibles diferencias en la valoración que realizan comparando las modalidades de presentación sonido e imagen. Se identificaron 14 audiovisuales preferidos (películas, series, dibujos animados y reportajes) por parte de 115 niños de 10 a 12 años. Fueron editados en tres modalidades (solo sonido, solo imagen y todo) y agrupados en series de tres clips, que fueron visionados en sesiones grupales por 547 niños, españoles y argentinos, con una edad media de 11 años. Se diseñó y utilizó un cuestionario de valoración de clips audiovisuales. Los resultados mostraron diferencias sobre el significado de la banda sonora en tres de las cinco categorías del cuestionario, destacando el predominio significativo del sonido en series, reportajes y, de manera destacada, en películas. Se perciben por el sonido (la música) elementos contextuales espacio-tiempo, la implicación afectiva, sentimientos y empatía así como la valoración de la experiencia.
Promoting adolescents’ moral advertising literacy in Secondary Education
Authors: Adams Britt , Schellens Tammy , Valcke Martin 
Published: May 2017

Minors are daily confronted with advertisements, which are occasionally controversial. In order to promote adolescents’ moral advertising literacy, this intervention study explores how to stimulate secondary education students’ knowledge on advertising law and their moral judgement of advertisements. Because a lot of new ?especially online? advertising formats have arisen during the last years, 191 students from 12 classes were randomly assigned to either a no tablet condition or a tablet condition (to raise authenticity of learning material). The results show that students who use tablet devices perform less well on a post-test about advertising law. Regarding adolescents’ moral judgement of advertisements, thematic analyses reveal that especially the use of nudity and feminine beauty are labelled as contentious in both conditions, because of, inter alia, the negative effects for adolescent girls’ self-image and the desire to lose weight. After the intervention, the tablet condition has proven to be more effective in promoting critical thinking about nudity/feminine beauty in advertisements. However, none of the conditions did provide evidence that a critical attitude towards alcohol advertising is encouraged. In this regard, implications for future research in the context of advertising literacy education are discussed.
Los menores de edad se enfrentan diariamente a anuncios que pueden resultar polémicos. Con el fin de promover la alfabetización ética en publicidad en los adolescentes, este estudio explora cómo estimular el conocimiento de los estudiantes de Educación Secundaria acerca de la ley de publicidad y su juicio moral hacia los anuncios. A raíz de los formatos de publicidad ?especialmente online– que han surgido en los últimos años, 191 estudiantes de 12 clases fueron asignados aleatoriamente a una de estas condiciones: uso o no uso de tablets (para aumentar la autenticidad del material de aprendizaje). Los resultados muestran que el desempeño en el post-test sobre la ley de publicidad de los estudiantes que usaron tablet es peor. En cuanto al juicio moral de los adolescentes sobre los anuncios, el análisis temático revela que especialmente el uso de la desnudez y la belleza femenina resultan polémicos en ambas condiciones, debido, entre otros motivos, a los efectos negativos para la autoestima de las adolescentes y al deseo de perder peso. Tras la intervención, el uso de tablets ha demostrado ser más eficaz para promover el pensamiento crítico hacia la desnudez y la belleza femenina en los anuncios. Sin embargo, no se hallaron evidencias de que alguna de las dos condiciones favorezca el desarrollo de una actitud crítica hacia la publicidad del alcohol. En este sentido, se plantean futuras líneas de investigación en el contexto de la alfabetización publicitaria.
Les significations culturelles et politiques de l’instruction publique québécoise au XIX e siècle
Authors: Bédard Mélanie 
Published: May 2017

Jusqu’à la “Révolution tranquille” des années 1960, l’idéologie officielle du système scolaire franco-catholique québécois apparaissait traditionaliste et confessionnelle. Pourtant, les défenseurs de l’instruction publique visaient lors de sa fondation des idéaux pédagogiques modernes. Ils articulaient plutôt qu’ils n’opposaient ses vocations utilitaire et intellectuelle, en cherchant à situer la société québécoise dans la civilisation. L’analyse des lois successives qui ont constitué l’instruction publique au XIX e siècle montre que leur caractère libéral, négocié avec des acteurs porteurs d’autres idéologies, a rendu possible la séparation de la société politique entre groupes majoritaires, anglophones protestants et francophones catholiques. Il en est résulté, du côté franco-catholique, un système scolaire moderne dominé par une idéologie traditionaliste.
Safety and Efficacy of Ziv-Aflibercept in the Treatment of Refractory Diabetic Macular Edema
Authors: Ashraf Mohammed , Kayal Hassan El , Souka Ahmed A. R. 
Published: May 2017

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE:
To evaluate the safety and efficacy of ziv-aflibercept (Zaltrap; Sanofi-Aventis, Bridgewater, NJ/Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Tarrytown, NY) in the treatment of refractory diabetic macular edema (DME).

PATIENTS AND METHODS:
Retrospective case series looking at the safety of ziv-aflibercept in patients with DME refractory to previous anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) therapy. Detailed ophthalmologic examination, best-corrected visual acuity, and optical coherence tomography measurements were performed pre-switch, as well as at each monthly follow-up visit.

RESULTS:

The study included 34 eyes of 26 patients. The mean number of ziv-aflibercept injections post-switch was 2.03 injections. Visual acuity improved from a mean of 0.63 logMAR pre-switch to 0.51 logMAR after the first visit and 0.46 logMAR after the second visit post-switch (
P
< .084). Macular thickness improved from a mean of 513.79 μm to 411.79 μm (
P
= .006) on the first visit and 426.76 μm (
P
= .029) after the second visit post-switch. No adverse ocular or systemic side effects were reported on any of the follow visits.

CONCLUSION:
Ziv-aflibercept appears to be safe and effective in patients with refractory DME previously treated with other anti-VEGF agents in the short term.

[
Ophthalmic Surg Lasers Imaging Retina.
2017;48:399–405.]
Ovicidal, larvicidal, and behavioural effects of some plant essential oils on diamondback moth (Lepidoptera: Plutellidae)
Authors: Sangha Jatinder S. , Astatkie Tess , Cutler G. Christopher 
Published: May 2017

AbstractAlternatives to synthetic insecticides are desirable for management of diamondback moth, Plutella xylostella (Linnaeus) (Lepidoptera: Plutellidae), an insect pest of global importance. Many essential oils derived from aromatic plants have demonstrated toxicity and behaviour altering effects on insect pests, and are considered low-risk alternatives to synthetic insecticides. We conducted laboratory experiments to determine the biological activity of several low-cost, commercially available essential oils against P. xylostella. Experiments testing ovicidal effects, larvicidal effects, larval feeding deterrence, and adult oviposition deterrence were done with essential oils derived from Artemisia abrotanum Linnaeus (Asteraceae), balsam fir (Abies balsamea Linnaeus (Pinaceae)), black pepper (Piper nigrum Linnaeus (Piperaceae)), eucalyptus (Eucalyptus polybractea (Baker) (Myrtaceae)), garlic (Allium sativum Linnaeus (Amaryllidaceae)), rosewood (a blend of different oil constituents), tansy (Tanacetum vulgare Linnaeus (Asteraceae)), and thyme (Thymus zygis Linnaeus (Lamiaceae)), using concentrations of 1, 2.5, and 5% v/v. Although all essential oils had some level of bioactivity against certain P. xylostella life stages, essential oils from garlic, rosewood, and thyme were most effective overall, demonstrating significant ovicidal and larvicidal activity, as well as deterrent effects on larval feeding and settling behaviour, and adult oviposition. Although variable phytotoxicity was observed with essential oils at 2.5% and 5% v/v concentrations, the results suggest that rosewood, garlic, and thyme essential oils have potential in management of P. xylostella.
Non-bank financial institutions and economic growth: Evidence from Africa’s three largest economies
Authors: Rateiwa Ronald , Aziakpono Meshach J. 
Published: May 2017

Background: In order for the post-2015 world development agenda – termed the sustainable development goals (SDGs) – to succeed, there is a pronounced need to ensure that available resources are used more effectively and additional financing is accessed from the private sector. Given that traditional bank lending has slowed down, the development of non-bank financing has become imperative. To this end, this article intends to empirically test the role of non-bank financial institutions (NBFIs) in stimulating economic growth.Aim: The aim of this article is to empirically test the existence of a long-run equilibrium relationship between economic growth and the development of NBFIs, and the causality thereof.Setting: The empirical assessment uses time-series data from Africa’s three largest economies, namely, Egypt, Nigeria and South Africa, over the period 1971–2013.Methods: This article uses the Johansen cointegration and vector error correction model within a country-specific setting.Results: The results showed that the long-run relationship between NBFI development and economic growth is relatively stronger in Egypt and South Africa, than in Nigeria. Evidence in respect of Nigeria shows that such a relationship is weak. The nature of the relationship between NBFI development and economic growth in Egypt is positive and significant, and predominantly bidirectional. This suggests that a virtuous relationship between NBFIs and economic growth exists in Egypt. In South Africa, the relationship is positive and significant and predominantly runs from NBFI development to economic growth, implying a supply-leading phenomenon. In Nigeria, the results are weak and mixed.Conclusion: The study concludes that in countries with more developed financial systems, the role of NBFIs and their importance to the economic growth process are more pronounced. Thus, there is need for developing policies targeted at developing the NBFI sector, given their potential to contribute to economic growth.