Pragmatic language disorder in Parkinson's disease and the potential effect of cognitive reserve

It is known that patients with Parkinson\u2019s Disease (PD) may show deficits in several areas of cognition, including speech and language abilities. One domain of particular interest is pragmatics, which refers to the capacity of using language in context for a successful communication. Several studies showed that some specific aspects of pragmatics \u2013 both in production and in comprehension \u2013 might be impaired in patients with PD. However, a clear picture of pragmatic abilities in PD is still missing, as most of the existing studies focused on specific aspects of the pragmatic competence rather than on sketching a complete pragmatic profile. Moreover, little is known on the potential role of protective factors in compensating the decline of communicative skills as the disease progresses. The present study has two aims: (1) to provide a complete picture of pragmatic abilities in patients with PD, by using a comprehensive battery (Assessment of Pragmatic Abilities and Cognitive Substrates, APACS) and by investigating the relationship with other aspects of cognitive functioning (e.g., working memory and Theory of Mind) and (2) to investigate whether Cognitive Reserve, i.e., the resilience to cognitive impairment provided by life experiences and activities, may compensate for the progressive pragmatic deficits in PD. We found that patients with PD, compared to healthy matched controls, had worse performance in discourse production and in the description of scenes, and that these impairments were tightly correlated with the severity of motor impairment, suggesting reduced intentionality of engaging in a communicative exchange. Patients with PD showed also an impairment in comprehending texts and humor, suggesting a problem in inferring from stories, which was related to general cognitive impairment. Notably, we did not find any significant difference between patients and controls in figurative language comprehension, a domain that is commonly impaired in other neurodegenerative diseases. This might be indicative of a specific profile of pragmatic impairment in patients with PD, worth of further investigation. Finally, Cognitive Reserve measures showed a high degree of association with pragmatic comprehension abilities, suggesting that the modification of life-styles could be a good candidate for compensating the possible problems in understanding the pragmatic aspects of language experienced by patients with PD

Mercado de AgroTIC e transferência de tecnologia.

Este capítulo busca analisar o mercado de TIC aplicadas ao setor agropecuário no Brasil e os modelos e formas de disponibilização de tecnologias geradas pela Embrapa Informática Agropecuária com foco em diferentes públicos de interesse. Unidade temática de pesquisa da Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuária (Embrapa), a Embrapa Informática Agropecuária vem desde 1985 desenvolvendo soluções de tecnologia de informação para o setor agropecuário

Transient dynamics of linear quantum amplifiers

The transient dynamics of a quantum linear amplifier during the transition from damping to amplification regime is studied. The master equation for the quantized mode of the field is solved, and the solution is used to describe the statistics of the output field. The conditions under which a nonclassical input field may retain nonclassical features at the output of the amplifier are analyzed and compared to the results of earlier theories. As an application we give a dynamical description of the departure of the system from thermal equilibrium.Comment: 10 pages, 6 figures. V2: extended discussion on application

Analytical solution of the optimal laser control problem in two-level systems

The optimal control of two-level systems by time-dependent laser fields is studied using a variational theory. We obtain, for the first time, general analytical expressions for the optimal pulse shapes leading to global maximization or minimization of different physical quantities. We present solutions which reproduce and improve previous numerical results.Comment: 12 pages, 2 figure

Mercado de aplicativos móveis (Apps) para uso na agricultura.

Resumo: Este artigo apresenta as características gerais do mercado de aplicativos móveis e seu uso na agropecuária. O trabalho envolveu revisões de literatura e pesquisa mercadológica nos websites que acompanham e analisam constantemente este mercado. Tendo em vista a grande popularização dos Apps na vida quotidiana por meio do desenvolvimento do mercado de smartphones, busca-se, com este trabalho, oferecer informações atualizadas e relevantes visando popularizar o uso de aplicativos pelos atores envolvidos na produção agrícola como gestores, consultores, extensionistas e produtores de diversos portes. O foco da pesquisa foi a busca de aplicativos móveis na área de Agrometeorologia para embasar as atividades da equipe do projeto ?Aperfeiçoamento e evolução do sistema Agritempo: foco em ferramentas móveis, Web 2.0, WebGIS e estratégias de disseminação da tecnologia ? Agritempo2?.SIAGRO 2014

Interpreting physical and mental metaphors: Is Theory of Mind associated with pragmatics in middle childhood?

We investigated the association between individual differences in metaphor understanding and Theory of Mind (ToM) in typically developing children. We distinguished between two types of metaphors and created a Physical and Mental Metaphors task, echoing a similar distinction for ToM. Nine-year-olds scored lower than older age-groups in ToM as well as in the interpretation of mental, but not physical, metaphors. Moreover, nine-year-olds (but not older children) who are better in ToM are also better in interpreting mental, but not physical, metaphors. This suggests that the link between metaphor and ToM is stronger when metaphorical interpretation involves mental aspects, and it is more evident in early rather than later childhood

Emerging biotechnologies: bioinformatics services applied to agriculture.

Abstract - Bioinformatics is an emergent biotechnological field of study marked by interdisciplinarity and complexity. It involves the application and development of computational tools to biological data in order to process, generate, and disseminate biological knowledge. Bioinformatics is characterized by an intense generation of data and information (configured as a context of big data and e-science), associated with the need for computational resources with high processing and storage capacities and highly qualified and interdisciplinary staff, often found only in academia. The objective of this paper is to describe the organizational model and collaborative innovation activities of the Bioinformatics Multi-user Laboratory (LMB, in the acronym in Portuguese). The LMB is a facility located at the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa), the main Brazilian agricultural research public institute, formed by 46 Research and Service Centers distributed throughout Brazil and by several laboratories and business offices abroad, in America, Africa, Asia and Europe. Its mission involves to contribute to the advance of the frontier of knowledge in bioinformatics by: incorporating new technologies and enabling efficient solutions to the demands related to this field; providing access to high performance computing infrastructure and developing human skills. Considering the importance of biotechnology in the context of agricultural research, Embrapa implemented the LMB in 2011, with the purpose of increasing the efficiency of the use of computational, human and technological resources of Embrapa by providing access to bioinformatics computational resources, offering research collaboration possibilities and consultation on project design and biological data analysis. A case-study was conducted based on documentary research and interviews. The main findings of this research are: the description of the organizational model of LMB, the management team and roles; theservices it provides; its access policies and procedures of customer service.Altec 2015

Adoção de TIC e oferta de software na agropecuária: breve relato dos resultados do estudo SWAgro.

Resumo: O artigo tem por objetivo apresentar a oferta de soluções em tecnologia da informação aplicadas à agropecuária e um panorama sobre a adoção de Tecnologias de Informação e Comunicação (TIC) no setor agropecuário. Os resultados apresentados têm base naqueles obtidos no projeto Estudo do Mercado Brasileiro de Software para o Agronegócio? (SWAgro), desenvolvido pela Embrapa Informática Agropecuária e instituições parceiras entre 2008 a 2010. A metodologia utilizada no referido projeto contou com duas etapas: (i) revisão de literatura e (ii) mapeamento da oferta de software agropecuário por meio de uma pesquisa do tipo survey. Os resultados apresentados neste trabalho envolvem a caracterização das empresas desenvolvedoras de software agropecuário por porte e localização geográfica bem como o mapeamento dos produtos por elas ofertados por grupos de aplicação, a saber: administração/gerenciamento, manejo animal, cultivo vegetal, e controle de processo e/ou de atividades rurais.SIAGRO 2014

Analytic calculation of nonadiabatic transition probabilities from monodromy of differential equations

The nonadiabatic transition probabilities in the two-level systems are calculated analytically by using the monodromy matrix determining the global feature of the underlying differential equation. We study the time-dependent 2x2 Hamiltonian with the tanh-type plus sech-type energy difference and with constant off-diagonal elements as an example to show the efficiency of the monodromy approach. The application of this method to multi-level systems is also discussed.Comment: 13 pages, 2 figure

Sistema Agritempo: rede de inovação em agrometeorologia.

Resumo: O Sistema de Monitoramento Agrometeorológico (Agritempo) consiste em uma importante inovação de produto e de processo no campo da agrometeorologia. Este sistema concentra uma rede em três dimensões: uma rede física de sensores; uma rede de Tecnologia de Informação e Comunicação que permite captar os dados dos sensores e armazená-los em uma base de dados, acessível via Internet; e uma rede formada por instituições e indivíduos que compartilham dados e conhecimentos visando fortalecer a base de dados do Agritempo. Em 2014 foi lançado o sistema Agritempo 2.0, utilizando-se de uma plataforma computacional mais moderna e interativa adaptada aos conceitos da web 2.0. Este trabalho descreve como esta rede tridimensional se estrutura, envolvendo a coleta e o processamento de dados, a forma como os mesmos são disponibilizados na web e descreve os produtos do Agritempo que podem ser acessados via Internet por vários públicos tais como: técnicos do Governo, agentes da extensão rural, cooperativas e associações, e produtores.SIAGRO 2014