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AbstractThe role of executive functions in long-term memory has been studied. We describe a single-case study, consisting of a 45-year-old male patient, hospitalized for right frontal stroke. After the stroke, the patient had memory alterations in everyday activities. However, performance in short-term memory tests was not significantly altered. Long-term memory assessments included pre- and post-stroke episodic, semantic, and procedural memories. Specific skills involved in the acquisition of new learning (auditory-verbal and visual reproduction) were also evaluated, as well as executive functions. The results evidence that short-term memory was not affected. Regarding long-term memory, significant differences were observed between pre- and post-stroke knowledge, the former being better preserved, which reveals anterograde amnesia. Pre-stroke long-term memory was also affected, but only with respect to episodic knowledge, with semantic and procedural memories preserved (episodic retrograde amnesia). Executive functions were altered as well, which could have been a factor affecting the acquisition and consolidation of new learning, despite the fact that short-term memory was not significantly altered. Therefore, executive functions might be a determinant factor in the acquisition of new learning, regardless of short-term memory processes, at least partially. According to the results of the present study, alterations in these functions might lead to anterograde amnesia. This entails the need to evaluate executive functions as an intrinsic part of memory evaluation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent research indicates that there are critical physical, psychological, verbal and economic issues that shape the types of violence to which women are subject. This study analyses how Roma migrant women fall victim to domestic abuse, both in their home country (Romania) and abroad (Spain). Drawing on literature regarding violence against women, a survey (N=132) was conducted with Romanian Roma migrant women in Spain to understand the ways in which they reconstructed their gender identities in the face of violence. Further semi-structured interviews were undertaken with five Roma migrant women to determine the ways in which these women perceived the forms of violence to which they fell victim, what caused their partners to become perpetrators, and what roles their own families played in this scenario. The findings of our study reveal the inherent insecurities that violence has inflicted on our participants, unmask the destructive effects on the family unit, and explain how some of the interviewees were able to transcend their experience and initiate a process of resetting their gender identities. If the predominance of the traditional patriarchal structure of Roma society can be observed during the life experiences of the Roma women in Romania, the gender characteristics are changing among those Roma women who have migrated to Spain: there is a greater emphasis on a fairer distribution of domestic tasks, decision-making in the family, and their ability to adapt to new possibilities for professional development. The study concludes that although violence against Roma women is still a real issue in Spain, women are re-defining their gender identities to resist traditional patriarchal structures.

Soils constitute one of the most valuable resources on earth, especially because soil is renewable on human time scales. During the 20th century, a period marked by a widespread rural exodus and land abandonment, fire suppression policies were adopted facilitating the accumulation of fuel in forested areas, exacerbating the effects of wildfires, leading to severe degradation of soils. Prescribed fires emerged as an option for protecting forests and their soils from wildfires through the reduction of fuels levels. However such fires can serve other objectives, including stimulating the regeneration of a particular plant species, maintaining biological diversity or as a tool for recovering grasslands in encroached lands. This paper reviews studies examining the short- and long- term impacts of prescribed fires on the physical, chemical and biological soil properties; in so doing, it provides a summary of the benefits and drawbacks of this technique, to help determine if prescribed fires can be useful for managing the landscape. From the study conducted, we can affirm that prescribed fires affects soil properties but differ greatly depending on soil initial characteristics, vegetation or type of fire. Also, it is possible to see that soil's physical and biological properties are more strongly affected by prescribed fires than are its chemical properties. Finally, we conclude that prescribed fires clearly constitute a disturbance on the environment (positive, neutral or negative depending on the soil property studied), but most of the studies reviewed report a good recovery and their effects could be less pronounced than those of wildfires because of the limited soil heating and lower fire intensity and severity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the effects of a prescribed fire on soil chemical properties in the Montgrí Massif (Girona, Spain). The prescribed forest fire was conducted in 2006 to reduce understory vegetation and so prevent potential severe wildfires. Soil was sampled at a depth of 0–5 cm at 42 sampling points on four separate occasions: prior to the event, immediately after, one year after and nine years after. The parameters studied were pH, electrical conductivity (EC), total carbon (C), total nitrogen (N), available phosphorus (P), potassium (K + ), calcium (Ca 2 + ) and magnesium (Mg 2 + ). All parameters (except pH) increased significantly immediately after the fire. One year after burning, some chemical parameters – namely, EC, available P and K + – had returned to their initial, or even lower, values; while others – pH and total C – continued to rise. Total N, Ca 2 + and Mg 2 + levels had fallen one year after the fire, but levels were still higher than those prior to the event. Nine years after the fire, pH, total C, total N and available P are significantly lower than pre-fire values and nutrients concentrations are now higher than at the outset but without statistical significance. The soil system, therefore, is still far from being recovered nine years later. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose. This work presents the protocol carried out in the development and validation of an augmented reality system which was installed in an operating theatre to help surgeons with trocar placement during laparoscopic surgery. The purpose of this validation is to demonstrate the improvements that this system can provide to the field of medicine, particularly surgery. Method. Two experiments that were noninvasive for both the patient and the surgeon were designed. In one of these experiments the augmented reality system was used, the other one was the control experiment, and the system was not used. The type of operation selected for all cases was a cholecystectomy due to the low degree of complexity and complications before, during, and after the surgery. The technique used in the placement of trocars was the French technique, but the results can be extrapolated to any other technique and operation. Results and Conclusion. Four clinicians and ninety-six measurements obtained of twenty-four patients (randomly assigned in each experiment) were involved in these experiments. The final results show an improvement in accuracy and variability of 33% and 63%, respectively, in comparison to traditional methods, demonstrating that the use of an augmented reality system offers advantages for trocar placement in laparoscopic surgery [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

EMMA project has been focused on how the sense of presence in virtual environments mediates or generates emotional responses, and how to use presence and emotional responses in virtual environments effectively in clinical and non clinical settings. EMMA project has developed two different virtual environments. The first one acts as a 'mood device' and is aimed to induce and enhance several moods on clinical and non clinical subjects. The second one is a virtual environment that acts as an adaptive display to treat emotional disorders (Post-traumatic Stress Disorder, Adjustment Disorder and Pathological Grief). This virtual world varies the contents that are presented depending on the emotions of the patient at each moment. The goal of this paper is to outline the main goals achieved by this project. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study offers data about the efficacy of 'Talk to Me,' an Internet-based telepsychology program for the treatment of fear of public speaking that includes the most active components in cognitive-behavior therapy (CBT) for social phobia (exposure and cognitive therapies). One hundred twenty-seven participants with social phobia were randomly assigned to three experimental conditions: (a) an Internet-based self-administered program; (b) the same program applied by a therapist; (c) a waiting-list control group. Results showed that both treatment conditions were equally efficacious. In addition, Talk to Me and the same treatment applied by a therapist were more efficacious than the waiting-list condition. Treatment gains were maintained at 1-year follow-up. The results from this study support the utility of Internet-delivered CBT programs in order to reach a higher number of people who could benefit from CBT. Internet-delivered CBT programs could also play a valuable role in the dissemination of CBT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

eBaViR is a virtual rehabilitation system, which has been developed for balance rehabilitation for patients suffering from acquired brain injury. It is a game-based system that uses a low-cost interface, the Nintendo Wii Balance Board. The games have been specifically designed with the help of experts in the rehabilitation of balance disorders and can be adapted to patients according to their needs. We present an experimental study that has been carried out using the system. The aim of the study is to determine whether this setup could be applied as a Virtual Rehabilitation System for balance rehabilitation in Acquired Brain Injury. We randomly divided patients into two groups: a trial group and a control group. The trial group used eBaViR system during the rehabilitation sessions, and the control group followed traditional rehabilitation sessions. We obtained encouraging results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the main drawbacks of computer-assisted psychology tools developed up to now is related to the real time customisation and adaptation of the content to each patient depending on his/her activity. In this paper we propose a new approach for mental e-health treatments named Intelligent e-Therapy (eIT) with capabilities for ambient intelligence and ubiquitous computing. From a technical point of view, an eIT system is based on four fundamental axes: ambient intelligence for capturing physiological, psychological and contextual information of the patient; persuasive computing for changing/reinforcing behaviours; ubiquitous computing for using the system at any place, and at any time; and multiple technological platforms support. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Several randomised controlled studies have shown the efficacy of Internet-based self-help treatments. These studies have centred their attention on axis I (efficacy) of the Guidelines for Empirically Validated Treatments, although there are a few studies that also take into account axis II (effectiveness). The aim of the present work was to test the acceptability of an Internet-based self-help program for fear of public speaking and to compare its acceptability with the same treatment administered by a therapist. Fifty-two participants suffering from social phobia were randomly selected to take part in one of these treatments. All participants reported being satisfied with the treatment received, and results did not show significant differences between both treatments. These outcomes were maintained at 12-month follow-ups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most of the virtual environments currently available in the field of psychological treatments were designed to solve a specific problem. Our research group has developed a versatile virtual reality system (an adaptive display) called 'EMMA's world', which can address a wide range of problems. It was designed to assist in clinical situations where a person has suffered a stressful experience, for example post-traumatic stress disorder, adjustment disorder, and pathological grief. To accomplish therapeutic goals, a series of emotional virtual elements are used and personalised so that they are meaningful to the user and contain the fundamental emotional elements that the person must confront. Effectiveness data relating to the system for stress-related disorders are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main goal of this study was to offer data about the efficacy of virtual reality exposure (VRE) in the treatment of panic disorder with or without agoraphobia (PDA). The study was a between-subject design with three experimental conditions (VRE group, in vivo exposure [IVE] group and waiting-list [WL] group) and repeated measures (pre-treatment, post treatment and 12 month follow-up). The treatment programmes lasted 9 weekly sessions. Thirty-seven patients meeting DSM-IV criteria for PDA participated in this study. The improvement achieved using virtual exposure was superior to a WL condition and similar to that achieved using IVE. Our results support the efficacy of VRE in the treatment of PDA at short and long term. The advantages of VRE for the treatment of PDA regarding cost-benefit issues are described. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyzes the inefficiencies present in four wire electrical systems where linear unbalanced loads are connected. The new reference currents are proposed for the selective compensation of the inefficiencies using a three-legs shunt active power converter. The positive-, negative- and zero-sequence components of voltages and currents in load terminals determine the compensating currents that cancel the inefficient power flows. A new method for the control of the voltage unbalances in the split DC bus is proposed. Simulation and experimental results demonstrate how the proposed compensating currents improve efficiency in systems with voltage asymmetries and current unbalances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study is designed to test the role of immersion and media content in the sense ofpresence. Specifically, we are interested in the affective valence of the virtual environments.This paper describes an experiment that compares three immersive systems (a PC monitor, arear projected video wall, and a head-mounted display) and two virtual environments, one involvingemotional content and the other not. The purpose of the experiment was to test the interactiverole of these two media characteristics (form and content). Scores on two self-reportpresence measurements were compared among six groups of 10 people each. The results suggestthat both immersion and affective content have an impact on presence. However, immersionwas more relevant for non-emotional environments than for emotional ones. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The watershed transform has interesting properties that make it useful for many different image segmentation applications: it is simple and intuitive, can be parallelized, and always produces a complete division of the image. However, when applied to medical image analysis, it has important drawbacks (overseg-mentation, sensitivity to noise, poor detection of thin or low signal to noise ratio structures). We present an improvement to the watershed transform that enables the introduction of prior information in its calculation. We propose to introduce this information via the use of a previous probability calculation. Furthermore, we introduce a method to combine the watershed transform and atlas registration, through the use of markers. We have applied our new algorithm to two challenging applications: knee cartilage and gray matter/white matter segmentation in MR images. Numerical validation of the results is provided, demonstrating the strength of the algorithm for medical image segmentation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many of us grew up with the naive assumption that couches are the best used therapeutic tools in psychotherapy. But tools for psychotherapy are evolving in a much more complex environment than a designer's chaise lounge. In particular, virtual reality (VR) devices have the potential for appearing soon in many consulting rooms. The use of VR in medicine is not a novelty. Applications of virtual environments for health care have been developed in the following areas: surgical procedures (remote surgery or telepresence, augmented or enhanced surgery, and planning and simulation of procedures before surgery); preventive medicine and patient education; medical education and training; visualization of massive medical databases; and architectural design for health care facilities. However, there is a growing recognition that VR can play an important role in clinical psychology, too. To exploit and understand this potential is the main goal of the Telemedicine and Portable Virtual Environment in Clinical Psychology - VEPSY Updated - a European Community-funded research project (IST-2000-25323, http://www.vepsy.com). The project will provide innovative tools - telemedicine and portable - for the treatment of patients, clinical trials to verify their viability, and action plans for dissemination of its results to an extended audience - potential users and influential groups. The project will also develop different personal computer (PC)-based virtual reality modules to be used in clinical assessment and treatment. In particular, the developed modules will address the following pathologies: anxiety disorders; male impotence and premature ejaculation; and obesity, bulimia, and binge-eating disorders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]