Purpose: The purpose of this study was to compare oral and written language abilities in English and Spanish of young bilinguals residing in the USA. Methodology: Sixty-two participants (mean age = 23.7; SD = 3.50), consisting of 42 bilinguals (born of Spanish-speaking parents) and 20 English monolinguals, were administered a battery of 15 language tasks. Analysis: Bilinguals were divided into two groups: (a) US-born (simultaneous bilinguals who had been exposed to English and Spanish since birth and educated primarily in English) and (b) Latin American-born (early sequential bilinguals who were educated in Spanish and English, although exposed to Spanish at birth and to English before the age of 10). Findings: Higher lexical ability was demonstrated in English compared to Spanish in bilinguals. Performance in grammar tests of the two languages was inconsistent. Reading/writing ability in English was similar for participants born in the USA and in Latin America; however, participants who were born in Latin America had significantly higher scores for Spanish reading/writing tasks. When comparing performance in English tests, it was found that scores for bilingual participants were similar to those of English monolinguals. Originality: The current study directly compares oral and written language abilities in two subgroups of young Spanish/English bilinguals. Three language dimensions are studied: lexicon/grammar; oral/written language; and language knowledge/language use. Implications: Our results suggest that bilingualism does not interfere with normal linguistic ability in English. Limitations: The current study was carried out in a specific bilingual context. Generalization of these results should be done with caution.

La obesidad infantil es una enfermedad de prevalencia creciente e incontrolad a nivel mundial; el presente artículo describe los resultados de la investigación cuyo objetivo fue determinar la relación de sobrepeso y obesidad con nivel de actividad física, condición física, perfil psicomotor y rendimiento académico en escolares de 8 a 12 años de la ciudad de Popayán. Estudio cuantitativo, no experimental, correlacional, transversal; 800 escolares participaron para la determinación de la prevalencia. A los menores identificados con un IMC> al percentil 85 se les aplicó la encuesta sociodemográfica, Cuestionario INTA, Test de marcha de 6 minutos, Escala de Borg modificada y Batería Da Fonseca. Contrario a las altas cifras actuales a nivel nacional e internacional la prevalencia simple encontrada fue baja: 7,25% para sobrepeso y 0,88 para obesidad. El 24,88% de las niñas a pesar de no estar obesas presentan riesgo relativo entre moderado (14,13%) y alto (10,75%) a presentar comorbilidades. Los escolares dedican alrededor de 4 horas diarias a actividades sedentarias y muy pocas horas semanales (2) a realizar ejercicio físico. Se encontró correlación significativa a nivel 0,001 (bilateral) positiva entre la distancia caminada (T6min) con el peso del menor (r=,15; p=0,001), el IMC (r=,456; p= 0,000) y con el subfactor praxia global del perfil psicomotor (r=0,296; p= 0,001). No se encontraron correlaciones significativas del IMC con otras variables como Nivel de actividad física (INTA) y rendimiento académico. Se considera como problemática emergente que el 51,5% de los escolares presentaron bajo peso. Se complementará el estudio con un grupo control.

Objective: First, to determine whether a digitized cognitive stress test, the Loewenstein-Acevedo Scales for Sematic Interference and Learning, Brief Computerized Version (LASSI-BC) could differentiate between Cognitively Unimpaired (CU) and amnestic Mild Cognitive Impairment (aMCI) groups. Second, to correlate LASSI-BC performance to volumetric reductions in Alzheimer’s disease (AD)-prone regions. Methods: 111 elders underwent a clinical and neuropsychological evaluation, along with the LASSI-BC. All participants were independent community-dwellers, had knowledgeable informants, and did not meet DSM-V criteria for any active neuropsychiatric disorder, Mood Disorder or Psychotic Disorder. Eighty-seven participants (51 CU; 36 aMCI) underwent MRI imaging. The volumes of 12 AD-prone regions were related to LASSI-BC and other memory indices correcting for False Discovery Rate (FDR). Results: After adjusting for initial learning ability, the failure to recover from proactive semantic interference (frPSI) of LASSI-BC successfully differentiated between groups. Measures of frPSI were associated with volumetric reductions in AD-prone regions (hippocampus, amygdala, inferior temporal-lobes, precuneus and posterior cingulate) in aMCI cohort. A combination of maximum learning capacity and frPSI on the LASSI-BC yielded an area under ROC curve of 0.876 with greater sensitivity and specificity when compared to other traditional tests (e.g., HVLT). Conclusions: Performance on the LASSI-BC successfully discriminated between diagnostic groups and is significantly associated with volumetric loss among aMCI individuals. This is significant as diagnostic cognitive tests of preclinical and prodromal AD should also be required to exhibit sensitivity to biomarkers of AD (e.g., amyloid, tau, and neurodegeneration in AD-prone regions), which may address some of the most critical challenges facing clinical trials.

Instrucciones de citación para el artículo / Citation instructions for the article:Ortega Romero Alejandro. Ventajas diagnósticas de convertir nuestro móvil en una cámara termográfica / Diagnostic advantages of turning our smartphone into a thermal imaging camera. Rev.

Objective: To evaluate the clinical utility of the Spanish versions of memory vs. non-memory instruments in a Spanish-speaking sample; specifically, the comparative performance for the English versions in amnestic MCI (aMCI) and cognitively unimpaired (CU) elders. Method: 255 Non-Hispanic English speakers (NH-ES; 157 CU; 98 aMCI) and 201 Hispanic Spanish speakers (H-SS; 103 CU; 98 aMCI) were classified using the Clinical Dementia Rating Scale and a validated culturally fair test. ANCOVA procedures were used to test for differences between four groups across languages adjusting for age, sex, and education for memory (e.g., Hopkins Verbal Learning Test-HVLT-R; NACC Logical Memory) and non-memory measures (e.g., Trail-Making Test A-B, Category and Phonemic Fluency). Results: For memory measures, CU older adults were statistically differentiated from aMCI counterparts regardless of language. No significant differences between H-SS aMCI and NH-ES aMCI groups’ on HVLT-R and NACC story passages immediate/delayed conditions. No significant differences found between H-SS CU and NH-ES CU on memory indices. Conversely, Bonferroni corrected means (p<.05) revealed that even after adjustment for demographic covariates, ES CU outperformed H-SS CU counterparts on Trails A-B, and Category/Phonemic Fluencies. NH-ES aMCI groups scored better than H-SS aMCI on Trails B. Conclusions: Results indicate that memory measures experience less bias when employed among different linguistic/cultural groups regardless of cognitive status. In contrast, CU H-SS groups scored lower on all non-memory measures. Factors that lead to potential bias, particularly among CU are discussed. Trails-B evidenced bias for both Hispanic CU and MCI, making this a measure that requires the judicious use of appropriate norms.