Test of Emotion Comprehension: Exploring the underlying structure through Confirmatory Factor Analysis and Similarity Structure Analysis

Some decades of research on emotional development have underlined the contribution of several domains to emotional understanding in childhood. Based on this research, Pons and colleagues (Pons & Harris, 2002; Pons, Harris & Rosnay, 2004) have proposed the Test of Emotion Comprehension (TEC) which assesses nine domains of emotional understanding, namely the recognition of emotions, based on facial expressions; the comprehension of external emotional causes; impact of desire on emotions; emotions based on beliefs; memory influence on emotions; possibility of emotional regulation; possibility of hiding an emotional state; having mixed emotions; contribution of morality to emotional experiences. This instrument was administered individually to 182 Portuguese children aged between 8 and 11 years, of 3rd and 4th grades, in public schools. Additionally, we used the Socially in Action-Peers (SAp) (Rocha, Candeias & Lopes da Silva, 2012) to assess TEC’s criterion-related validity. Mean differences results in TEC by gender and by socio-economic status (SES) were analyzed. The results of the TEC’s psychometric analysis were performed in terms of items’ sensitivity and reliability (stability, test-retest). Finally, in order to explore the theoretical structure underlying TEC a Confirmatory Factor Analysis and a Similarity Structure Analysis were computed. Implications of these findings for emotional understanding assessment and intervention in childhood are discussed

Social competence and emotional comprehension: How are they related in children?

The developmental progression of emotional competence in childhood provides a robust evidence for its relation to social competence and important adjustment outcomes. This study aimed to analyze how this association is established in middle childhood. For this purpose, we tested 182 Portuguese children aged between 8 and 11 years, of 3rd and 4th grades, in public schools. Firstly, for assessing social competence we used an instrument directed to children using critical social situations within the relationships with peers in the school context - Socially in Action-Peers (SAp) (Rocha, Candeias & Lopes da Silva, 2012); children were assessed by three sources: themselves, their peers and their teacher. Secondly, we assessed children’s emotional understanding, individually, with the Test of Emotion Comprehension (Pons & Harris, 2002; Pons, Harris & Rosnay, 2004). Relations between social competence levels (in a composite score and using self, peers and teachers’ scores) and emotional comprehension components (comprehension of the recognition of emotions, based on facial expressions; external emotional causes; contribute of desire to emotion; emotions based on belief; memory influence under emotional state evaluation; possibility of emotional regulation; possibility of hiding an emotional state; having mixed emotions; contribution of morality to emotion experience) were investigated by means of two SSA (Similarity Structure Analysis) - a Multidimensional Scaling procedure and the external variable as points technique. In the first structural analysis (SSA) we will consider self, peers and teachers’ scores on Social Competence as content variables and TEC as external variable; in the second SSA we will consider TEC components as content variables and Social Competence in their different levels as external variable. The implications of these MDS procedures in order to better understand how social competence and emotional comprehension are related in children is discussed, as well as the repercussions of these findings for social competence and emotional understanding assessment and intervention in childhood is examined

Test of Emotional Comprehension: Exploring the underlying structure through Confirmatory Factor Analysis and Similarity Structure Analysis.

Some decades of research on emotional development have underlined the contribution of several domains to emotional understanding in childhood. Based on this research, Pons and colleagues (Pons & Harris, 2002; Pons, Harris & Rosnay, 2004) have proposed the Test of Emotional Comprehension (TEC) which assesses nine domains of emotional understanding, namely the recognition of emotions, based on facial expressions; the comprehension of external emotional causes; impact of desire on emotions; emotions based on beliefs; memory influence on emotions; possibility of emotional regulation; possibility of hiding an emotional state; having mixed emotions; contribution of morality to emotional experiences. This instrument was administered individually to 182 Portuguese children aged between 8 and 11 years, of 3rd and 4th grades, in public schools. Additionally, we used the Socially in Action-Peers (SAp) (Rocha, Candeias & Lopes da Silva, 2012) to assess TEC’s criterion-related validity. Mean differences results in TEC by gender and by socio-economic status (SES) were analyzed. The results of the TEC’s psychometric analysis were performed in terms of items’ sensitivity and reliability (stability, test-retest). Finally, in order to explore the theoretical structure underlying TEC a Confirmatory Factor Analysis and a Similarity Structure Analysis were computed. Implications of these findings for emotional understanding assessment and intervention in childhood are discussed

Teores de proteína bruta, extrato etéreo e minerais de gramíneas nativas Paspalum repens e Paspalum fasciculatum de ecossistemas de várzea do Baixo Amazonas, Pará, Brasil.

En un Inceptisol húmedos del campo experimental de la Amazonia baja (2°23? de latitud sur y 54°20? de longitud oeste, municipio de Monte Alegre, Pará, Brasil) de la Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuária (Embrapa-Amazonia Oriental), en julio de 2003 (final del período lluvioso), septiembre de 2003 (período seco) y enero de 2004 (comienzo del período lluvioso) se determinaron los contenido de proteína cruda (PC), estracto etereo (EE) y minerales en el forraje de Paspalum repens (Perimembeca) e Paspalum fasciculatum (Mori) procedentes de la zona de varzea. Se utilizó un factorial de dos (especies nativas de forraje) y tres épocas de crecimiento (final y comienzo del periodo lluviosa y época seca). Se encontraron diferencias (P < 0.05) para el contenido de PC de las especies, siendo más alto en Perimembeca (12.06%) que en Mori (6.65). El contenido de P en ambas gramíneas fue bajo. El contenido de Cu en la gramínea Mori fue adecuado en tanto épocas secas como húmedas. Los contenidos de Ca, K y Fe fueron bajos e influenciados por la época

Degradabilidade "in situ" da gramínea nativa Paspalum repens (Perimembeca) de vázea do Baixo Amazonas, Pará.

Zootec 2005

A pecuária na Amazônia: a busca por um modelo sustentável.

A pecuária na Amazônia é responsabilizada pelo desmatamento, pela emissão de gases do efeito estufa, perda da biodiversidade e alterações no ciclo hidrológico. No entanto, atualmente, existem fortes evidências indicando que o processo da atividade pecuária na Amazônia Brasileira está em transformação. As recentes quedas nas taxas de desmatamento e aumento do rebanho mostram várias modificações que decorrem da efetiva aplicação da legislação ambiental, com a maior presença governamental e participação social, consolidada através do novo código florestal brasileiro, marco legal que estabeleceu as diretrizes atuais para as atividades produtivas. Além disso, a aplicação ambiental contribuiu para tirar os produtores da insegurança jurídica estabelecendo prazos para adequação ambiental. Outro fator importante é o aumento da regularização fundiária, através do programa governamental Terra Legal. O maior controle ambiental e fundiário aliado às inovações tecnológicas, como a integração lavoura/pecuária e ao uso das biotecnologias reprodutivas como inseminação artificial (IA) e inseminação artificial em tempo fixo (IATF) tem contribuído para modernização da pecuária na Amazônia com menor impacto ambiental

International Expert Opinions and Recommendations on the Use of Melatonin in the Treatment of Insomnia and Circadian Sleep Disturbances in Adult Neuropsychiatric Disorders

Introduction: Insomnia and circadian rhythm disorders, such as the delayed sleep phase syndrome, are frequent in psychiatric disorders and their evaluation and management in early stages should be a priority. The aim of this paper was to express recommendations on the use of exogenous melatonin, which exhibits both chronobiotic and sleep-promoting actions, for the treatment of these sleep disturbances in psychiatric disorders. Methods: To this aim, we conducted a systematic review according to PRISMA on the use of melatonin for the treatment of insomnia and circadian sleep disorders in neuropsychiatry. We expressed recommendations for the use of melatonin in psychiatric clinical practice for each disorder using the RAND/UCLA appropriateness method. Results: We selected 41 studies, which included mood disorders, schizophrenia, substance use disorders, attention deficit hyperactivity disorders, autism spectrum disorders, neurocognitive disorders, and delirium; no studies were found for both anxiety and eating disorders. Conclusion: The administration of prolonged release melatonin at 2–10 mg, 1–2 h before bedtime, might be used in the treatment of insomnia symptoms or comorbid insomnia in mood disorders, schizophrenia, in adults with autism spectrum disorders, neurocognitive disorders and during sedative-hypnotics discontinuation. Immediate release melatonin at &lt;1 mg might be useful in the treatment of circadian sleep disturbances of neuropsychiatric disorders

Comparison of Rumen Fluid pH by Continuous Telemetry System and Bench pH Meter in Sheep with Different Ranges of Ruminal pH

We aimed to compare the measurements of sheep ruminal pH using a continuous telemetry system or a bench pH meter using sheep with different degrees of ruminal pH. Ruminal lactic acidosis was induced in nine adult crossbred Santa Ines sheep by the administration of 15 g of sucrose per kg/BW. Samples of rumen fluid were collected at the baseline, before the induction of acidosis (T0) and at six, 12, 18, 24, 48, and 72 hours after the induction for pH measurement using a bench pH meter. During this 72-hour period, all animals had electrodes for the continuous measurement of pH. The results were compared using the Bland-Altman analysis of agreement, Pearson coefficients of correlation and determination, and paired analysis of variance with Student’s t-test. The measurement methods presented a strong correlation (r=0.94, P<0.05) but the rumen pH that was measured continuously using a telemetry system resulted in lower values than the bench pH meter (overall mean of 5.38 and 5.48, resp., P=0.0001). The telemetry system was able to detect smaller changes in rumen fluid pH and was more accurate in diagnosing both subacute ruminal lactic acidosis and acute ruminal lactic acidosis in sheep