Dementia and Primary-Care Health Measures:Hearing, Gait, and Markers of Inflammation

Dementia is a syndrome associated with declining cognitive function that has a variety of types and causes, and is encountered frequently in general medical practice. Researchers are actively exploring possible risk factors for dementia. The St. Louis University Mental Status (SLUMS) exam is a dementia-screening exam used in primary care visits to detect cognitive impairment that may be a sign of dementia. This study compared scores on the SLUMS exam to other measures recorded in a typical primary care visit in 86 patients of age 65 and older to look for correlations between indicators of health, such as physical examination measures and complete blood count panels, and cognitive impairment, as measured by score on the SLUMS exam. Abnormal gait was associated with a lower score on the SLUMS exam compared to normal (p=.006), failure of the hearing test in both ears was associated with a lower score on the SLUMS exam compared to patients passing the hearing test in one or both ears (p=.046), red blood cell count was positively correlated with SLUMS exam score (p=.020), white blood cell count was negatively correlated with SLUMS exam score (p=.003), and serum albumin levels were negatively correlated with SLUMS exam score (p=.002). These data support the view that both physical impairments and markers of an inflammatory response are related to dementia

[Review of] Susan Lobo and Steve Talbot, eds. Native American Voices: A Reader

This valuable collection of readings edited by leading scholars in the field enriches the social science and educational literature for several reasons. First, the book provides a wealth of information for both undergraduate and graduate students. The readings are multidisciplinary, and contain scholarly articles, journalistic selections, documents, oral history and testimony, songs and poetry, maps and charts. The readings encompass a global approach with their foci on Indian peoples of the United States, as well as a few selections of indigenous groups in Canada and Latin America. The book is arranged into nine interrelated parts with discussion questions, key terms, and suggested readings at the end of each part. In short, the articles succeed in bringing to students important materials representing the rich diversity of Native Peoples

STUDENTS’ SPEAKING ANXIETY IN LEARNING SPEAKING SKILLS AT ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT OF UMM

This research aimed to find out: (1) types of speaking anxiety the students experience in learning speaking at the English Language Education Department of UMM; and (2) to find out the factors that influence the students' speaking anxiety in learning speaking at the English Language Education Department of UMM. The research applied a mix method by involving 40 students in fifth semester students at the English Language Education Department of UMM. The research instrument was collected by Google Form questionnaire and interview. The questionnaire consisted of 33 statements and were based on FLCAS which was adapted from Horwitz and Cope (1986). Based on findings, it was found that the types of speaking anxiety experienced by the students were communication apprehension, fear of negative evaluation, and test anxiety. Meanwhile, there were eight factors that students faced during speaking anxiety, such as lack of appropriate vocabulary, lack of grammar mastery, lack of correct pronunciation, lack of input of English outside the class, lack of familiarity with task, fear of making mistake, and low motivation

A geologic atlas of TIMS data

In the three years since the first data were taken, it was well demonstrated that the Thermal Infrared Multispectral Scanner (TIMS), properly used, can be a most valuable tool for the geologist. Compilation of the TIMS data into a geological atlas was felt to be useful. Several data sets were extensively studied to establish TIMS as a geologic tool and to explore the optimum enhancement techniques. It was found that a decorrelation stretch of bands 1, 3, and 5 enhance the data to a form that is very useful and this enhancement will be used in the geologic atlas along with an accompanying geologic map and description. Many data sets are well published and familiar to TIMS users, but there are some sets that, for lack of time and funds, were not thoroughly studied or published. A short description of these least studied sets of data is presented. The images presented along with the many previously studied and published TIMS images constitute an enormously useful set of information for the geologist in the 8 to 10 micron range

International Competitiveness: is the reduction of wages a solution? An evolution for the Portuguese case

The purpose of this paper is to analyse, for the case of Portugal, the effectiveness of a wage reduction - a current proposal since 2011 to help the country to reverse the high public and external debts - in promoting the efficiency and the international competitiveness of the economy. A static multi-sector and single-country general equilibrium model is used and data is collected from GTAP7 Data Base. The model allows the measurement of changes by sector. The simulations performed show that extending the reduction of wages already deployed by the government in the public sector to the private one leads to a positive impact on employment (both skilled and unskilled labour), production and volume of exports in all sectors except those that are R&D intensive, characterized by a low weight in the Portuguese economy. However it is possible that the positive results in terms of external competitiveness are not sustainable as the impact on productivity is negative, albeit small, for most sectors. There is also reasons for concern regarding the observed deterioration of the trade balance of most sectors, the exception being the traditional labour intensive sectors that show good prospects in this respect