This study examined the profile of student loan holders in the United States. Data were extracted from the pooled dataset of the 2010 and 2013 Survey of Consumer Finances. The sample included 2,161 households with outstanding student loans. The analyses focused on: (1) amount of the outstanding balance of the student loan; (2) loan payment‐to‐income ratio, and (3) loan delinquency. Factors that were positively related to the amount of student loan debt included: education, income, and homeownership. Factors that were positively related to the loan payment‐to‐income ratio included: age, education, presence of children between aged 18 and 25, net worth, and self‐employment. In regard to loan delinquency, households with credit constraints were more likely to be delinquent on their student loans. Interestingly, education, net worth, and homeownership were negatively related to being delinquent on student loans.

This article examines the worldview formation of North Koreans. While there is debate on what factors influence worldview formation in general, this article discusses two important factors that influence the worldview formation of North Koreans in particular, namely, Juche ideology and the traumatic suffering experienced by the populace. The article offers application points for ministry to and among North Koreans and concludes with suggestions for further research.

Research Objectives: To explore the effects of computerized working memory training on working memory and brain functional activation for patients with acquired brain injury (ABI). Design: Intervention Study, Prospective nonrandomized controlled trail design. The inclusion criteria for both training group (ABI volunteer) and control group subjects (healthy volunteer) must be right handed, and 18 to 60 years old. Patients with aphasia, agnosia, apraxia, spatial neglect and visual and hearing disorders were excluded. All the participants signed the informed consents before entering the study. Setting: The study was conducted at China Rehabilitation Research Center (CRRC) which is a rehabilitation hospital with more than 1000-beds. Participants: Thirty healthy volunteers joined in the study as the control (mean age 45.6AE11.3 years; 16 male). The training group was composed by fifteen ABI patients including five stroke patients and ten TBI patients (ageZ43AE10.7 years;11 male;), who participated based on voluntary. Age and education level were matched between the two groups. Ethical approval for experiments with human subjects from Ethical Review Board of CRRC had been obtained. Interventions: The patients received computerized working memory training 30 minutes per session, five sessions a week for four weeks. N-back task including two single-tasks (A and B) and one dual-task (C) and three conditions (1-back, 2-back and 3-back) were designed. Main Outcome Measure(s): Both the experimental group subjects underwent cognitive psychological tests (the n-back task, Stroop task and Raven's Advanced Progressive Matrices task) and neuroimaging test (taskstate fMRI) were administered at baseline and 4 weeks later. As for healthy participants, they only received baseline neuropsychological tests and taskstate fMRI scanning. Results: Three ABI patients who failed to accomplish the 4-week training session were abandoned. The results were based on the remaining twelve patients who finished the training session. Compared to the healthy controls, significant decreased activations were observed in the left MFG and IFG, the right SFG, the left PCG and IPL, the left STG, the right CAL and the left CPL, accompanied by increased activations in the right post-central gyrus, the left precuneus and the right parahippocampa gyrus; Significant improvements in neuropsychological n-back test and RSPM test at 4 weeks after intervention, and significant increased activations were observed in the left MOG and MFG, accompanied by decreased activations in the right cerebellum anterior lobe and the sub-gyral of the right frontal lobe. Conclusions: WMT resulted in an activation redistribution pattern of brain, this functional plasticity seems to reflect a quantitative shift in brain activation after training; the conclusion needs further confirmation by increasing the homogeneity of the patient group.

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