Role of cognitive assessment for high school graduates prior to choosing their college major.

[Purpose] Academic performance of college students can be impacted by the efficacy of students' ability and teaching methods. It is important to assess the progression of college students' cognitive abilities among different college majors and as they move from junior to senior levels. However, dearth of studies have been examined the role of cognitive ability tests as a tool to determine the aptitude of the perspective students. Therefore, this study assessed cognitive abilities of computer science and ART students. [Subjects and Methods] Participants were 130 college students (70 computer and 60 art students) in their first and final years of study at King Saud University. Cognitive ability was assessed using the Test of Nonverbal Intelligence, Third Edition. [Results] The cognitive ability of computer science students were statistically better than that of art students and were shown improvement from junior to senior levels, while the cognitive ability of art students did not. [Conclusion] The cognitive ability of computer science college students was superior compared to those in art, indicating the importance of cognitive ability assessment for high school graduates prior to choosing a college major. Cognitive scales should be included as an aptitude assessment tool for decision-makers and prospective students to determine an appropriate career, which might reduce the rate of university drop out.

Congenital cortical hyperostosis: a rare cause of inconsolable crying in a baby. Clinical case report. / Hiperostosis cortical congénita: una causa infrecuente de llanto inconsolable del lactante. Presentación de caso clínico.

Here we describe the case of a 2-month-old infant who consulted several times due to excessive crying, initially interpreted as having a gastrointestinal cause. Since the symptom persisted, a fracture was suspected due to its association with mobilization of the limbs and palpation of a mass on the anterior aspect of the right tibia. X-rays showed diaphyseal polyostotic involvement and lesions compatible with cortical involvement of long bones. Caffey-De Toni-Silverman syndrome was diagnosed and treatment with nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs was initiated, resulting in symptom remission. Subsequently, the diagnosis was confirmed by the identification of the pathogenic heterozygous variant COL1A1. This is a rare condition with an estimated incidence of 48/100 000 individuals, and less than 150 cases have been described to date.

Se presenta el caso de un lactante de 2 meses que fue llevado a consulta varias veces por llanto problemático, inicialmente interpretado como de causa gastrointestinal. Dado que el síntoma persistía, se sospechó de una fractura debido a su asociación con la movilización de los miembros y la palpación de una tumoración en la cara anterior de la tibia derecha. Las radiografías mostraron compromiso poliostótico diafisario y lesiones compatibles con compromiso cortical de huesos largos. Se realizó el diagnóstico operativo de síndrome de Caffey-De Toni-Silverman y se inició el tratamiento con antiinflamatorios no esteroideos, lo que resultó en una remisión sintomática. Posteriormente, se confirmó el diagnóstico mediante la identificación de la variante patogénica COL1A1 en estado heterocigota. Se trata de una patología rara de la cual se estima una incidencia de 48/100 000 y hay menos de 150 casos descritos al momento.

The Long and Winding Road to Real-Life Experiments: Remote Assessment of Executive Functions with Computerized Games-Results from 8 Years of Naturalistic Interventions.

Mate Marote is an open-access cognitive training software aimed at children between 4 and 8 years old. It consists of a set of computerized games specifically tailored to train and evaluate Executive Functions (EF), a class of processes critical for purposeful, goal-directed behavior, including working memory, planning, flexibility, and inhibitory control. Since 2008, several studies were performed with this software at children's own schools in interventions supervised in-person by cognitive scientists. After 2015, we incorporated naturalistic, yet controlled, interventions with children's own teachers' help. The platform includes a battery of standardized tests, disguised as games, to assess children's EF. The main question that emerges is whether the results, obtained with these traditional tasks but conducted without the presence of researchers, are comparable to those widely reported in the literature, that were obtained in more supervised settings. In this study, we were able to replicate the expected difficulty and age effects in at least one of the analyzed dependent variables of each employed test. We also report important discrepancies between the expected and the observed response time patterns, specifically for time-constrained tasks. We hereby discuss the benefits and setbacks of a new possible strategy for this type of assessment in naturalistic settings. We conclude that this battery of established EF tasks adapted for its remote usage is appropriate to measure the expected mental processes in naturalistic settings, enriching opportunities to upscale cognitive training interventions at schools. These types of tools can constitute a concerted strategy to bring together educational neuroscience research and real-life practice.

Inherited Fanconi syndrome.

BACKGROUND: Fanconi-Debré-de Toni syndrome (also known as Fanconi renotubular syndrome, or FRST) profoundly increased the understanding of the functions of the proximal convoluted tubule (PCT) and provided important insights into the pathophysiology of several kidney diseases and drug toxicities. DATA SOURCES: We searched Pubmed and Scopus databases to find relevant articles about FRST. This review article focuses on the physiology of the PCT, as well as on the physiopathology of FRST in children, its diagnosis, and treatment. RESULTS: FRST encompasses a wide variety of inherited and acquired PCT alterations that lead to impairment of PCT reabsorption. In children, FRST often presents as a secondary feature of systemic disorders that impair energy supply, such as Lowe's syndrome, Dent's disease, cystinosis, hereditary fructose intolerance, galactosemia, tyrosinemia, Alport syndrome, and Wilson's disease. Although rare, congenital causes of FRST greatly impact the morbidity and mortality of patients and impose diagnostic challenges. Furthermore, its treatment is diverse and considers the ability of the clinician to identify the correct etiology of the disease. CONCLUSION: The early diagnosis and treatment of pediatric patients with FRST improve the prognosis and the quality of life.

Tap Water Consumption Is Associated with Schoolchildren's Cognitive Deficits in Afghanistan.

Environmental influence on intelligence quotient (IQ) is poorly understood in developing countries. We conducted the first cross-sectional investigation to assess the role of socio-economic and environmental factors on schoolchildren's IQ in Jalalabad, Afghanistan. A representative sample of 245 schoolchildren aged 7-15 was randomly selected in five schools. Children's records included: non-verbal IQ TONI-1 scale, body mass index, socio-economic status, and further environmental indicators (water supply, proximity to a heavy-traffic road, use of surma traditional cosmetics). The mean age of the children was 11.7 years old (±2.0 years), and 70.2% and 29.8% were male and female, respectively. The children's mean IQ was 83.8 (±12.6). In total, 37 (14.9%) of the children were overweight, 78 (31.5%) were living below the USD 1.25 poverty line, 133 (53.6%) used tap water supply, 76 (30.6%) used surma, and 166 (66.9%) were exposed to heavy road traffic. The children's IQ was significantly and independently lowered by tap water use (-3.9; 95% CI [-7.1; -0.6]) and by aging (-1.4; 95% CI [-2.2; -0.6]), as revealed in multivariate analysis, independently of gender, socio-economic status, exposure to heavy road traffic, overweight status, and surma use. Lower IQ among older children is possibly attributed to chronic stress experienced by adolescents due to living conditions in Afghanistan. While using tap water prevents fecal peril, it may expose children to toxic elements such as lead which is known to lower their intellectual development.

Sesquiterpenes with diverse skeletons from histone deacetylase inhibitor modified cultures of the basidiomycete Cyathus stercoreus (Schwein.) De Toni HFG134.

Epigenetic modifiers are proved to be effective specialized products-mining tools by rationally regulating the gene expression of fungal biosynthetic pathways. Chemical investigation on the histone deacetylase inhibitor (HDI) vorinostat (also known as SAHA)-modified cultures of the basidiomycete Cyathus stercoreus (Schwein.) De Toni (Nidulariaceae) led to the isolation of nine previously undescribed sesquiterpenes, and four previously described ones. The structures of the nine undescribed compounds were determined by extensive NMR spectroscopic analysis, HRESIMS analysis, as well as ECD and NMR calculations. Notably, the isolated sesquiterpenes are exclusive or overproduced from the epigenetic modified cultures compared to the negative control cultures. Additionally, the skeleton types of the isolated sesquiterpenes include protoilludalane, illudalane, 1,11-seco-protoilludalane, 10,11-seco-illudalane, and 14(11→10)abeo-illudalane. It is noteworthy that the 14(11→10)abeo-illudalane skeleton is reported for the first time. Cystercorodiol A, 4-O-acetylcybrodol, cystercorotone, and cybrodol showed weak inhibitory activity against the bacterium Escherichia coli ATCC25922 with the inhibitory rates 34.7%, 33.0%, 32.3%, and 29.6% at the concentration 200 µM, respectively. This study suggested that epigenetic modifiers are also an effective tool for specialized metabolite-mining in basidiomycetes.

The complete mitochondrial genome of Barbatula nuda and B. toni (Teleostei: Nemacheilidae).

In this study, we cloned and sequenced the complete mitochondrial genome of Barbatula nuda and Barbatula toni with 16,620 and 16,619 nucleotides, respectively. The complete mitogenomes of the two species both include 13 protein-coding genes (PCGs), 2 ribosomal RNA genes, 22 transfer RNA genes, and a non-coding control region. All PCGs of the two species are initiated with ATG or GTG (only for COI) and ended with complete (TAA and TAG) or incomplete (TA and T) stop codons. The complete mitochondrial genomes would provide important molecular data for further phylogenetic analyses.

Hiperostosis cortical congénita: una causa infrecuente de llanto inconsolable del lactante. Presentación de caso clínico / Congenital cortical hyperostosis: a rare cause of inconsolable crying in a baby. Clinical case report

Se presenta el caso de un lactante de 2 meses que fue llevado a consulta varias veces por llanto problemático, inicialmente interpretado como de causa gastrointestinal. Dado que el síntoma persistía, se sospechó de una fractura debido a su asociación con la movilización de los miembros y la palpación de una tumoración en la cara anterior de la tibia derecha. Las radiografías mostraron compromiso poliostótico diafisario y lesiones compatibles con compromiso cortical de huesos largos. Se realizó el diagnóstico operativo de síndrome de Caffey-De Toni-Silverman y se inició el tratamiento con antiinflamatorios no esteroideos, lo que resultó en una remisión sintomática. Posteriormente, se confirmó el diagnóstico mediante la identificación de la variante patogénica COL1A1 en estado heterocigota. Se trata de una patología rara de la cual se estima una incidencia de 48/100 000 y hay menos de 150 casos descritos al momento.

Here we describe the case of a 2-month-old infant who consulted several times due to excessive crying, initially interpreted as having a gastrointestinal cause. Since the symptom persisted, a fracture was suspected due to its association with mobilization of the limbs and palpation of a mass on the anterior aspect of the right tibia. X-rays showed diaphyseal polyostotic involvement and lesions compatible with cortical involvement of long bones. Caffey-De Toni-Silverman syndrome was diagnosed and treatment with nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs was initiated, resulting in symptom remission. Subsequently, the diagnosis was confirmed by the identification of the pathogenic heterozygous variant COL1A1. This is a rare condition with an estimated incidence of 48/100 000 individuals, and less than 150 cases have been described to date.

Neurocognitive assessments and long-term outcome in an adult with 2-methyl-3-hydroxybutyryl-CoA dehydrogenase deficiency.

BACKGROUND: 2-Methyl-3-hydroxybutyryl-CoA dehydrogenase deficiency (MHBDD) is a rare X-linked disorder associated with the accumulation of 2-methyl-3-hydroxybutyric acid in body fluids as a consequence of a disruption in isoleucine metabolism. The clinical presentation is heterogeneous, including a neurodegenerative course with retinopathy and cardiomyopathy leading to death in early childhood and a slowly progressive disease associated with learning disability and survival into adulthood. The condition is often diagnosed in childhood. RESULTS: This paper outlines the long-term neurocognitive outcomes in a 38-year old man with MHBDD. Several psychometric tests were used to assess his cognitive ability and adaptive functioning in childhood during an acute illness and in adulthood when the patient showed deterioration in the ability to walk or speak. CONCLUSIONS: There is an increasing demand for an accurate and objective measure of cognitive functioning that can be used to follow the natural progression of MHBDD. Psychological assessment may enable the identification of organic problems. The application and interpretation of psychometric tests used in children may vary from those used in adults.

Sequence and organization of the complete mitogenome of a Siberian stone loach, Barbatula toni (Dybowsky, 1869) (Cypriniformes: Balitoridae).

In this study, we determined the complete mitogenome sequence of Siberian stone loach, Barbatula toni (Dybowsky, 1869). The total length of mitogenome is 16 623 bp, which consists of 13 protein-coding genes, 22 tRNA genes, 2 rRNA genes, and 1 control region (D-loop). The genome organization and gene order were identical to that of the typical vertebrates. The control region harbors conserved sequence blocks (CSB-D, E, F, CSB-1, CBS-2 and CBS-3) and TA-nucleotide microsatellite repeats in its 3' end. The complete mitogenome may provide important molecular data for further phylogenetic analyses for higher taxa of teleost fishes, especially for the fishes in order Cypriniformes.

Intelligence assessment of deaf students with TONI 3 / Avaliação de inteligência de estudantes surdos com o TONI 3 / Evaluación de la inteligencia de los alumnos sordos con TONI 3

The intelligence assessment of deaf and hard-of-hearing students has been a challenge for Brazilian psychologists, due to the lack of standardized and validated instruments for this population. The objective of this study was to assess the intelligence of deaf and hard-of-hearing students with the Test of Nonverbal Intelligence, Third Edition (TONI-3: Forma A) according to external variables: age, education, gender, type of deafness, use of hearing aid and communication mode. Study participants were 205 deaf students of both genders, with an average age of 14 years, from four public schools, ranging from elementary to middle school. Results showed no significant differences between subjects according to gender, type of deafness and communication mode. There was an increase in test scores with increasing age, grade and differences between students that used hearing aids. Thus, the findings demonstrate the validity of the TONI-3 to assess the intelligence of Brazilian deaf students.

A avaliação de inteligência em estudantes surdos tem sido um desafio para psicólogos brasileiros, devido à falta de instrumentos validados e padronizados para esta população. O objetivo deste estudo foi avaliar a inteligência de estudantes surdos com o Teste de Inteligência Não Verbal, Terceira Edição (TONI-3: Forma A) a partir das variáveis idade, escolaridade, tipo de surdez, uso de aparelho auditivo e modo de comunicação. Participaram 205 estudantes de ambos os sexos, com idade média de 14 anos, de quatro escolas públicas de Ensino Fundamental a Ensino Médio. Os resultados mostraram que não houve diferenças significativas de acordo com gênero, tipo de deficiência auditiva e modo de comunicação. Foram observados aumento nos escores em função do aumento da idade, escolaridade e diferenças entre estudantes que usam aparelho auditivo. Os achados demonstram evidências de validade do TONI-3 para avaliação de inteligência de estudantes surdos no Brasil.

La evaluación de la inteligencia de estudiantes sordos y con sordez profunda ha sido un reto para los psicólogos brasileños, debido a la falta de instrumentos validados y estandarizados para esta población. El objetivo de este estudio fue evaluar la inteligencia de los alumnos sordos y con sordez profunda a través del Test de Inteligencia No Verbal, tercera edición (TONI-3: Forma A) de acuerdo a las variables externas: edad, educación, sexo, tipo de sordera, el uso de audífonos y modo de comunicación. Participaron 205 estudiantes sordos de ambos los sexos, con una edad media de 14 años, de cuatro escuelas públicas desde la primaria a la secundaria. Los resultados no mostraron diferencias significativas en función del sexo, el tipo de pérdida auditiva y modo de comunicación. Se observó un aumento en las puntuaciones en función de la edad, la escolaridad y las diferencias entre los estudiantes que usaban audífonos. Los hallazgos demostraron validez para el TONI-3 para la evaluación de la inteligencia de estudiantes sordos brasileños.

TONI 3: Forma A e teste de cloze: evidências de validade / TONI 3: Form A and cloze test: evidence of validity

O objetivo deste trabalho foi o de identificar evidência de validade de construtos relacionados ao Teste TONI 3-Forma A e ao Teste de Cloze. Analisou-se também diferenças relacionadas às variáveis sexo e escolaridade. Participaram 98 alunos da 2ª a 4ª séries do Ensino Fundamental de escolas públicas, que responderam ao TONI 3-Forma A e ao Cloze. Foi observada diferença significativa em relação às séries nos dois testes, mas não houve diferença significativa no desempenho de meninos e meninas. Os resultados mostraram correlações fracas e moderadas entre os testes em cada série e no geral. Concluiu-se que a evidência de validade foi encontrada, dada a magnitude das correlações que mostrou a comunalidade entre os construtos.

This study aimed to identify evidences of validity of constructs related to the TONI 3-Form ATest and the Cloze Test. Differences related to gender and education were also analyzed. Ninety-eight second- to fourth-grade students from public schools answered to the TONI 3-Form A and the Cloze Test. There were significant differences between school grades in both tests, but not between the performance of boys and girls. Overall, the results showed weak and moderate correlations between the tests in each grade and in general. It was concluded that the evidence of validity was obtained given the magnitude of the correlations, which showed the communality between the constructs.