Lubricin Immunohistochemical Expression in Human Temporomandibular Joint Disc with Internal Derangement

Lubricin is a chondroprotective, mucinous glycoprotein which contribute to joint lubrication, especially to boundary lubrication and maintains joint integrity. The present investigation aimed to study the immunolocalization of lubricin in TMJ discs from patients affected by anterior disc displacement with reduction (ADDwR) ADDwoR. Eighteen TMJ displaced disc affected by ADDwoR were processed immunohistochemically, with a polyclonal anti‐lubricin antibody, used at 1:50 working dilution. The percentage of lubricin immunopositive cells (extent score = ES) and the extent of lubricin staining of the disc extracellular matrix (ECM), were evaluated. Each sample was scored for histopathological changes. Percentage of immunostained surface disc cells was the same (ES = 4) in both control and ADDwOR cells, being this data not statistically significant (P \u3c 0.05). In pathological specimens the percentages of lubricin‐stained cells was very high with an ES of 4 respect to control specimen, and this difference was statistically significant different (P \u3e 0.05). The extracellular matrix (ECM) of discs at the disc surfaces of both pathological and normal specimens was very heavily stained (++++). Both the ES and ECM staining were not statistically correlated to the TMJ degeneration score according to the Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient. According to our findings, a longstanding TMJ disc injury, affects lubricin expression in the TMJ disc tissue and not its surfaces, moreover, lubricin immunostaining is not correlated to TMJ disc histopathological changes

Under construction : An inquiry on the social housing policies of Stavanger, Norway

Master in Community Development and Social Innovation, VID Specialized University, Stavanger, May 2022Norway has some disadvantaged populations in the housing market. Many people live without a secure safety net of owning homes. In the Nordic welfare state context, housing policies are drawn as strategies to guarantee access to affordable and decent housing for every citizen. This study aims to evaluate such strategies aligning public policies and community development, taking as a study case the city of Stavanger. This study relies on a literature review of research publications and public documents about housing. Querying keywords were “boligsosialt, social housing, public housing, social housing in Norway and Scandinavian context, low income housing.” The guidelines recorded in public documents will be compared with their evaluation by the own literature. Data from national and local contexts and public policies will be analyzed by a SWOT analysis, whose validity and reliability rely on the public character of the implemented housing strategies. From the discussion and the SWOT analysis, I conclude that Stavanger has a demonstrated history of coping with general and local challenges. Local policies are aligned with national guidelines. The analyzed policies, documents, and literature demonstrate that the municipality has well-functioning structures and assets to direct the region’s community development. Moreover, the integration of long-term and immediate policies guarantees the continuity of the housing policies and the obligations of the next political actors to solve the eventual problems. The SWOT analysis indicates some challenges. However, Stavanger had demonstrated competence in dealing with demographic and economic shifts. This study was conducted from the point of view of public policies. Consequently, leading actors, especially government and banking, were privileged voices. Therefore, further research should be done on disadvantaged groups from the community’s perspective. Different results may show gaps, but policy analysis is a first step to addressing the needs of the disadvantaged population.published version updated front pag

Apoptosis in Displaced Temporomandibular Joint Disc with and without Reduction: An Immunohistochemical Study

Internal derangement (ID) of the temporomandibular joint (TMJ) is due to an abnormal relationship of the articular disc to the mandibular condyle, glenoid fossa and articular eminence. The two most common types of internal derangement are anterior disc displacement with (ADDwR) and without reduction (ADDwoR). Disc displacement is associated with degenerative tissue changes. The histological features of discs from patients with TMJ ID reflect a general remodelling caused by abnormal loading. A correlation has been demonstrated between TMJ ID and apoptosis. Few investigations have addressed the role of apoptosis or caspase activity in TMJ ID. The apoptosis activation process was studied in different areas of discs from 18 patients with ID (both ADDwR and ADDwoR) and four cadavers (controls), with emphasis on the expression of caspase 3, whose activation makes the death process irreversible. The results showed a greater proportion of caspase 3‐positive cells in ADDwR and ADDwoR than in control discs. Immunopositivity also varied between disc areas; in particular, in ADDwoR sections labelled cells were significantly more numerous (P \u3c 0.01) in the posterior disc attachment than in the anterior and intermediate bands. In addition, a significantly greater proportion of labelled cells was seen in the anterior (+) and intermediate (++) band of ADDwR compared with ADDwoR discs both bands (P \u3c 0.05). These data suggest the importance of programmed cell death in the progression of TMJ ID

Occurrence and Regional Distribution of TRAIL and DR5 on Temporomandibular Joint Discs: Comparison of Disc Derangement with and without Reduction

Background Tumor necrosis factor (TNF)–related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL) is an apoptosis-inducing member of the TNF gene family which triggers apoptotic signals by interaction with its receptors. It has been suggested to be a major contributing factor to tissue degeneration. Objective The present study investigated, through immunohistochemistry, the regional expression of TRAIL and in temporomandibular joint (TMJ) disc of anterior disc displacement with reduction (ADDwR) and without reduction (ADDwoR) patients, to help determine the relationship between TMJ disc displacement and apoptosis. Study design We studied 18 TMJ diseased discs affected by disc displacement without or with reduction and 4 normal TMJ discs. Specimens were processed for immunohistochemistry to evaluate TRAIL and its receptor DR5 expression. Results Disc tissues from internal derangements (both ADDwR and ADDwoR) exhibited a much higher percentage of TRAIL- and DR5-positive cells as well as stain intensity compared with normal tissue though with regional variation according to the portion of the disc. There was a significantly higher percentage of stained cells in the posterior disc attachment compared with the anterior or intermediate bands of both ADDwR and ADDwoR discs for TRAIL and DR5. Conclusions TRAIL and DR5 are overexpressed in displaced human TMJ disc, especially in the posterior disc attachment. These results suggest a possible pivotal role of the TRAIL/DR5 system in TMJ disc degeneration

O uso estratégico do ato de asserção num corpus de ‘histórias de vida’ realizadas em contexto de entrevista

Taking as reference an oral corpus of life histories collected in interviews, this paper proposes an analysis of the act of assertion within the framework of speech acts theory and of P. Attal's propositions. First, we consider the functioning of evaluative assertions with positive axiological value. Second, we focus on assertions with a negative axiological value and we analyse the interactional role of fuzziness markers: diminutives as softeners, adjectives' evaluative suffixes, sequences of justification as “mitigatory comments” and tag questions. Finally, we study the strategic use of assertions with impersonal references and of agreement assertions with Extreme Case Formulations.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

A problemática existencial do ser humano

Vergílio Ferreira (1916-1996) foi um existencialista por natureza. A sua produção literária recebeu influências de Sartre, Marco Aurélio, Santo Agostinho, Pascal, Dostoiévski, Jaspers, Kant e Heidegger, refletindo a sua preocupação com a vida e a cultura do Homem. Em 1993 edita Na Tua Face, uma das suas obras mais exemplares, em que desenvolve uma reflexão aprofundada acerca da Beleza e da sua efemeridade. Trata-se de um romance que retrata a vida do personagem principal, Daniel, que conhece Bárbara, o que lhe provoca um intenso deslumbramento, mas casa com Ângela, mesmo não a amando ou amando de outra forma, e continua a sua vida, convivendo através da memória com o amor impossível que sente por Bárbara, em lembranças que o atormentam

‘Olhe estamos mesmo no fecho da emissão’: sequências prototípicas de actos ilocutórios, variações e estratégias discursivas no (pré-fecho) e fecho de interacções verbais na rádio

Tendo por base um corpus constituído por interacções verbais presentes em cinco programas de rádio, realizados em período nocturno, com uma clara matriz dialogal, procederemos, em primeiro lugar, ao levantamento das sequências de actos de discurso em função do momento de fecho da interacção conversacional e, em segundo lugar, procuraremos verificar se a sequência de actos de discurso se configura em padrões de organização sequencial. A constatação da existência de regularidades discursivas permite-nos analisar as estratégias discursivas (Gumperz, 1982) que os interlocutores accionam em função das trocas interactivas e interlocutivas específicas. Procuraremos demonstrar que o discurso em programas de rádio nocturnos é constituído por práticas discursivas singulares, fortemente ritualizadas e com uma componente interactiva e interlocutiva bem marcada, apresentando, nas sequências de pré-fecho e fecho, dispositivos específicos do trabalho de “acomodação intersubjectiva”.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

O ‘envolvimento conversacional’ no momento de desenvolvimento de interacções verbais na rádio: sequências de actos ilocutórios e ‘estratégias de alinhamento’ em programas de rádio específicos”

Tendo por base um corpus constituído por interacções verbais presentes em cinco programas de rádio portugueses (Almeida, 2005), procederemos ao levantamento dos padrões de organização sequencial no momento estrutural de desenvolvimento da interacção: a nível local, analisaremos a selecção, operada pelos participantes, das estratégias comunicativas específicas do discurso institucional de rádio e, a nível global ou macroestrutural, estudaremos a coerência pragmático-funcional do discurso que diz respeito fundamentalmente às dimensões sequenciais dos actos ilocutórios A descrição da construção do sentido empreendida no desenvolvimento permitir-nos-á o levantamento das estratégias discursivas mais relevantes no discurso radiofónico interactivo: o par pergunta-resposta, as “estratégias de alinhamento” e os dispositivos conversacionais que denotam um forte “envolvimento conversacional” (Gumperz, 1982: 2-3; Tannen, 2001: 157) e que revelam a emoção nas interacções.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Interação discursiva : o ato ilocutório de convite/proposta em contexto de ensino/aprendizagem online

Tendo por base a investigação realizada no âmbito da Pragmática Linguística e o funcionamento discursivo de atos ilocutórios de convite, de oferta e de proposta (Almeida, 1998; 2000a), procederemos à análise do modo como os fundamentos teóricos destes conceitos são operacionalizados na sala de aula virtual, sendo estes atos de discurso objeto e meio de aprendizagem em fóruns de discussão online. Analisaremos a construção do conhecimento em ambientes virtuais de aprendizagem, tendo em consideração uma aprendizagem orientada para a resolução de problemas

Processos de figuração e manutenção da ordem interaccional: estratégias de mitigação no quadro do sistema de delicadeza desenvolvido pelos participantes de programas de rádios específicos

Taking as reference an oral corpus consisting of verbal interactions presented in Portuguese radio phone-in programmes, we proceed to the identification of the sequential dimensions of illocutionary acts and we study the selection, made by the participants, of the discourse strategies of politeness that avoid the threat of a Face Threatening Act (FTA) and reinforce a Face Flattering Act (FFA): opening pre-greetings or “getting closer strategies”; humorous strategies to build a discursive identity; praise and wishes; the anti-orientating role of laughter; justifications (accounts) and polite requests for permission; repairing exchanges (apologies); “softeners”, pre-sequences (preliminaries), “mitigation comments” and “repairing exchanges”.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio