Language and intercultural communication

This study intends to highlight the role that Foreign Language Education (FLE), particularly in the Higher Education context, can play so as to contribute to the rapprochement of two distant and still mutually unknown countries such as Portugal and Turkey. In this sense, it ultimately aims at supporting the training of intercultural speakers, capable of promoting an effective Intercultural Dialogue between the two countries. A diagnosis is presented of the reciprocal images of Portuguese and Turkish students learning each other’s language and culture. Conclusions are drawn on how their self- and hetero-images may pertain on the construction of their identities, on their awareness about and attitudes towards each other, on their motivation to learn each other’s language, and on intercultural communication itself. Allying the study of Images of Languages and Cultures and the concept of Intercultural Competence in the study of students’ representations within the FLE research tradition, a content analysis was carried out of the responses given to an inquiry by questionnaire. Conative implications of the students’ images as revealed in the results were pointed out. Some important distinctions are highlighted in the reciprocal images of both groups. On this basis, recommendations for FLE are made focusing on the positive reconstruction of students’ reciprocal images.Este estudo pretende destacar o papel do Ensino de Línguas Estrangeiras (ELE), no contexto do Ensino Superior, na aproximação de dois países distantes e ainda mutuamente desconhecidos como são Portugal e a Turquia. Visa-se, em última instância, fomentar a formação de falantes interculturais capazes de promover um efetivo Diálogo Intercultural entre os dois países. É feito um diagnóstico das imagens recíprocas de dois grupos de estudantes portugueses e turcos a estudarem a língua e a cultura um do outro. São tiradas conclusões sobre as implicações das respetivas auto- e hetero-imagens na sua construção identitária, conscientização e atitudes relativamente ao Outro, na sua motivação para o estudo da língua da sua contraparte e na própria comunicação intercultural. Com base na conjugação do conceito de Imagens de Línguas e Culturas com o conceito de Competência Intercultural no estudo das representações dos alunos na tradição investigativa em ELE, realizou-se uma análise de conteúdo das respostas a um inquérito por questionário, sendo apontadas as implicações conativas das imagens recíprocas dos participantes tal como as revelam os resultados. Com base nas diferenças observadas nas imagens recíprocas de ambos os grupos, são feitas recomendações relativamente à ELE com enfoque na reconstrução positiva destas imagens

Photography-based taxonomy is inadequate, unnecessary, and potentially harmful for biological sciences

The question whether taxonomic descriptions naming new animal species without type specimen(s) deposited in collections should be accepted for publication by scientific journals and allowed by the Code has already been discussed in Zootaxa (Dubois & Nemésio 2007; Donegan 2008, 2009; Nemésio 2009a–b; Dubois 2009; Gentile & Snell 2009; Minelli 2009; Cianferoni & Bartolozzi 2016; Amorim et al. 2016). This question was again raised in a letter supported by 35 signatories published in the journal Nature (Pape et al. 2016) on 15 September 2016. On 25 September 2016, the following rebuttal (strictly limited to 300 words as per the editorial rules of Nature) was submitted to Nature, which on 18 October 2016 refused to publish it. As we think this problem is a very important one for zoological taxonomy, this text is published here exactly as submitted to Nature, followed by the list of the 493 taxonomists and collection-based researchers who signed it in the short time span from 20 September to 6 October 2016

Reducing the environmental impact of surgery on a global scale: systematic review and co-prioritization with healthcare workers in 132 countries

Abstract Background Healthcare cannot achieve net-zero carbon without addressing operating theatres. The aim of this study was to prioritize feasible interventions to reduce the environmental impact of operating theatres. Methods This study adopted a four-phase Delphi consensus co-prioritization methodology. In phase 1, a systematic review of published interventions and global consultation of perioperative healthcare professionals were used to longlist interventions. In phase 2, iterative thematic analysis consolidated comparable interventions into a shortlist. In phase 3, the shortlist was co-prioritized based on patient and clinician views on acceptability, feasibility, and safety. In phase 4, ranked lists of interventions were presented by their relevance to high-income countries and low–middle-income countries. Results In phase 1, 43 interventions were identified, which had low uptake in practice according to 3042 professionals globally. In phase 2, a shortlist of 15 intervention domains was generated. In phase 3, interventions were deemed acceptable for more than 90 per cent of patients except for reducing general anaesthesia (84 per cent) and re-sterilization of ‘single-use’ consumables (86 per cent). In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for high-income countries were: introducing recycling; reducing use of anaesthetic gases; and appropriate clinical waste processing. In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for low–middle-income countries were: introducing reusable surgical devices; reducing use of consumables; and reducing the use of general anaesthesia. Conclusion This is a step toward environmentally sustainable operating environments with actionable interventions applicable to both high– and low–middle–income countries

Bilateral pallidotomy for generalized dystonia Palidotomia bilateral para distonias generalizadas

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of bilateral pallidotomies in five patients with generalized dystonia. BACKGROUND: Generalized dystonias are frequently a therapeutic challenge, with poor responses to pharmacological treatment. GPi (globus pallidus internus) pallidotomies for Parkinson's disease ameliorate all kinds of dyskinesias/dystonia, and recent studies reported a marked improvement of refractory dystonias with this procedure. METHODS: Five patients with generalized dystonias refractory to medical treatment were selected; one posttraumatic and four idiopathic. The decision to perform bilateral procedures was based on the predominant axial involvement in these patients. Dystonia severity was assessed with the Burke-Fahn-Marsden Dystonia Scale (BFM). Simultaneous procedures were performed in all but one patient, who had a staged procedure. They were reevaluated with the same scale (BFM) by an unblinded rater at 1, 2, 3, 30, 60, 90, 120 and 180 days post-operatively. RESULTS: The four patients with idiopathic dystonia showed a progressive improvement up to three months; the patient with posttraumatic dystonia relapsed at three months. One patient had a marked improvement, being able to discontinue all the medications. A mean decrease in the BFM scores of 52,58% was noted. One patient had a trans-operative motor seizure followed by a transient hemiparesis secondary to rack hemorrhage; other was lethargic up to three days after the procedure. CONCLUSIONS: Our results show that bilateral GPi pallidotomies may be a safe and effective approach to medically refractory generalized dystonias; it can also be speculated that the posttraumatic subgroup may not benefit with this procedure.<br>As distonias generalizadas são freqüentemente um desafio terapêutico, com pobres respostas aos tratamentos farmacológicos. As cirurgias estereotáxicas, como a palidotomia, têm sido utilizadas com êxito no tratamento da doença de Parkinson e estudos recentes relatam importante melhora das distonias generalizadas, refratárias ao tratamento farmacológico, com a palidotomia bilateral. O objetivo dos autores foi avaliar a eficácia e segurança da palidotomia bilateral em cinco pacientes com distonia generalizada. Foram selecionados cinco pacientes com distonia generalizada, predominante axial, refratários ao tratamento farmacológico (quatro idiopáticas e uma pós-traumática). A severidade da distonia foi avaliada através da escala de Burke-Fahn-Marsden (BFM), no 1º, 2º, e 3º dia após a cirurgia e nos dias 30, 60, 90, 120 e 180 do pós-operatório. Quatro pacientes com distonia idiopática tiveram uma progressiva melhora dentro de 3 meses após a cirurgia e o paciente com distonia pós-traumática teve uma piora da distonia após 3 meses da cirurgia. Um dos pacientes teve uma melhora acentuada do quadro de distonia, ficando livre das medicações. Em média ocorreu redução de 52,58 % dos escores da escala de BFM. Um dos pacientes teve crise convulsiva no trans-operatório, seguida por hemiparesia transitória secundária a hemorragia cerebral e um outro paciente ficou letárgico nos três dias após o procedimento cirúrgico, com melhora posterior do nível de consciência . Os nossos resultados mostraram que a palidotomia bilateral pode ser uma abordagem segura e efetiva para o tratamento das distonias generalizadas refratárias ao tratamento clínico. Pode-se especular que o sub-grupo de distonias generalizadas pós-traumáticas podem não se beneficiar da palidotomia bilateral

Hydraulic and water quality modelling of urban drainage systems

As inundações urbanas estão se tornando cada vez mais frequentes, de tal forma que a União Europeia publicou a Diretiva 2007/60/CE no sentido de mitigar as consequências relacionadas com este fenômeno e de impor limites à concentração de poluentes nas águas pluviais. O objetivo deste artigo foi apresentar uma modelação dos sistemas de drenagem em situação de inundações, baseada no software da United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Storm Water Management Model (SWMM), em que o estudo de caso é analisar um sistema de drenagem urbana unitário, inserido na Zona Central de Coimbra, em Portugal. Recorrendo à metodologia Automatic Overland Flow Delineation (AOFD) para a geração de uma rede de drenagem superficial e implementando-a no SWMM, obteve-se um modelo de drenagem dual, que permite a análise do escoamento em situação de inundações, incluindo o controle de escoamento entre a superfície e a rede de coletores e a modelação da qualidade da água à superfície. Este modelo permite quantificar a carga poluente à superfície, relativamente ao parâmetro de sólidos suspensos totais, para um evento de precipitação extrema.Urban floods are becoming more frequent. Thus, the European Union published the Directive 2007/60/CE to mitigate costs related with this phenomenon and to impose limits on the concentration of pollutants in pluvial water. The purpose of this study was to present the modelling of drainage systems in flood situations, based on the software of the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Storm Water Management Model (SWMM), in which the study case is to analyze a unitary urban drainage system of Zona Central catchment in Coimbra, Portugal. By using the Automatic Overland Flow Delineation (AOFD) methodology for the generation of a superficial drainage network and implementing it in the SWMM, it was obtained a dual drainage model that allows the flow analysis in flood conditions, including flow control between the surface and collectors network and also modeling of water quality at the surface. This model allows quantifying the pollution load at the surface, relatively to the parameter of total suspended solids, for any extreme rainfall event

Characterisation of microbial attack on archaeological bone

As part of an EU funded project to investigate the factors influencing bone preservation in the archaeological record, more than 250 bones from 41 archaeological sites in five countries spanning four climatic regions were studied for diagenetic alteration. Sites were selected to cover a range of environmental conditions and archaeological contexts. Microscopic and physical (mercury intrusion porosimetry) analyses of these bones revealed that the majority (68%) had suffered microbial attack. Furthermore, significant differences were found between animal and human bone in both the state of preservation and the type of microbial attack present. These differences in preservation might result from differences in early taphonomy of the bones. © 2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved

The impact of surgical delay on resectability of colorectal cancer: An international prospective cohort study

AimThe SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has provided a unique opportunity to explore the impact of surgical delays on cancer resectability. This study aimed to compare resectability for colorectal cancer patients undergoing delayed versus non-delayed surgery.MethodsThis was an international prospective cohort study of consecutive colorectal cancer patients with a decision for curative surgery (January-April 2020). Surgical delay was defined as an operation taking place more than 4 weeks after treatment decision, in a patient who did not receive neoadjuvant therapy. A subgroup analysis explored the effects of delay in elective patients only. The impact of longer delays was explored in a sensitivity analysis. The primary outcome was complete resection, defined as curative resection with an R0 margin.ResultsOverall, 5453 patients from 304 hospitals in 47 countries were included, of whom 6.6% (358/5453) did not receive their planned operation. Of the 4304 operated patients without neoadjuvant therapy, 40.5% (1744/4304) were delayed beyond 4 weeks. Delayed patients were more likely to be older, men, more comorbid, have higher body mass index and have rectal cancer and early stage disease. Delayed patients had higher unadjusted rates of complete resection (93.7% vs. 91.9%, P = 0.032) and lower rates of emergency surgery (4.5% vs. 22.5%, P ConclusionOne in 15 colorectal cancer patients did not receive their planned operation during the first wave of COVID-19. Surgical delay did not appear to compromise resectability, raising the hypothesis that any reduction in long-term survival attributable to delays is likely to be due to micro-metastatic disease