La multimodalidad del lenguaje: un estudio observacional sobre la integración comunicativa en el trastorno del espectro autista

Treballs Finals de Grau de Lingüística. Facultat de Filologia. Universitat de Barcelona, Curs: 2017-2018, Tutora: Lourdes Romera. Directora: Joana Rosselló[eng] The lack of integration of speech, gestures and gaze into autistic communication is based on functional alterations that affect linguistic development. This observational study consists of a qualitative and quantitative analysis of the communication triad in neurotypical subjects and subjects with high and low functioning autism through three ADOS-2 tasks. The results show a high use of combinatorial variables formed mainly by speech-gaze and speech-gesture in children with low functioning autism. This datum, together with the high production of deictic gestures, suggests that children in the spectrum combine speech with other modalities to compensate for the lack of triad integration that is frequently found in Control samples. Hence, it would be convenient to adopt a multimodal vision of language also for its diagnosis.[spa] La falta de integración de habla, gestualidad y mirada en la comunicación autista se halla a la base de alteraciones funcionales que afectan al desarrollo lingüístico. Este estudio observacional consiste en un análisis cualitativo y cuantitativo de la tríada comunicacional en sujetos neurotípicos y sujetos con autismo de alto y bajo funcionamiento a través de tres tareas del ADOS-2. Los resultados muestran una elevada utilización de variables combinatorias formadas sobre todo por habla-mirada y habla-gesto en los niños con autismo de bajo funcionamiento. Este dato, unido a la alta producción de gestos deícticos, sugiere que los niños en el espectro combinan el habla con otras modalidades para compensar la falta de integración tríadica que sí se halla con frecuencia en las muestras de Control. De aquí que sería conveniente adoptar una visión multimodal del lenguaje también para su diagnóstico

The Contribution of the ITACA Protocol in the Control of the Environmental Quality in Residential Buildings and the Subsequent Contribution to the Adaptation to Climatic Change

Abstract During the last years the aim to reduce environmental impacts in the building sector has led to the development of assessment methods called protocols, to certify the sustainable quality of the building, such as the ITACA Protocol. In the present work the national version 2011 of the ITACA Protocol has been applied to several residential buildings study cases, and the resulting performances have been compared with a reference building with the same geometric shape and performances within the limit of the law. These results have been compared with the average energy performance of an Italian residential estate, to evaluate the contribution to climate change adaption. Furthermore, the comparison has also been carried out from the costs point of view, to verify the necessity of long-term subsidizing policies. The criteria used to analyze the effective impact reduction are: primary energy for heating and hot water and related CO2 emissions. The average value of savings in energy consumption obtained in the evaluated building (designed and certified with the ITACA Protocol, compared to reaching the law limit value) is 51.25 kWh/m 2 ·y, with corresponding 8.52 kg CO2/m2·y emissions saved. Intervening on 22% of the current Italian housing estates with the performances of the study cases, results in a reduction of the energy load of 20.10%. Whilst from the technical point of view the application could be easily adopted, the high costs of these interventions still have a long payback period, and it could be necessary to provide a durable public incentive

Pediatric blood cancer survivors and tobacco use across adolescence and emerging adulthood: A narrative review

Scholars underline the pivotal role of tobacco cigarette smoking in carcinogenesis process for blood tumors. A controversial debate is represented by the diffusion of tobacco use in young cancer survivors that had a previous diagnosis of blood tumor during the childhood. Compared with their peers, scientific evidence highlights that pediatric survivors have more difficult to give-up cigarette smoking. Furthermore, tobacco-smoking is frequently linked with others risk behaviors as drinking or substance abuse. In reviewing the main knowledge on this topic, authors affirm the need for increasing research on blood cancer survivors in order to depict psychological characteristics of pediatric blood cancer survivors. Improving health decision-making skills in young survivors could reduce the risk to adopt un-healthy behaviors and increase psychological wellbeing. Furthermore, authors propose tailored antismoking interventions based on the knowledge of the psychological and cognitive factors that support smoking during the transition toward emerging-adulthood

Surface electromyography low-frequency content: Assessment in isometric conditions after electrocardiogram cancellation by the Segmented-Beat Modulation Method

Background: Surface electromyography (SEMG) is widely used in clinics for assessing muscle functionality. All procedures proposed for noise reduction alter SEMG spectrum, especially in the low-frequency band (below 30 Hz). Indeed, low-frequency band is generally addressed to motion artifacts and electrocardiogram (ECG) interference without any further investigation on the possibility of SEMG having significant spectral content. The aim of the present study was evaluating SEMG frequency content to understand if low-frequency spectral content is negligible or, on the contrary, represents a significant SEMG portion potentially providing relevant clinical information. Method: Isometric recordings of five muscles (sternocleidomastoideus, erectores spinae at L4, rectus abdominis, rectus femoris and tibialis anterior) were acquired in 10 young healthy voluntary subjects. These recordings were not affected by motion artifacts by construction and were pre-processed by the Segmented-Beat Modulation Method for ECG deletion before performing spectral analysis. Results: Results indicated that SEMG frequency content is muscle and subject dependent. Overall, the 50th[25th;75th] percentiles spectrum median frequency and spectral power below 30 Hz were 74[54; 87] Hz and 18[10; 31] % of total (0–450 Hz) spectral power. Conclusions: Low-frequency spectral content represents a significant SEMG portion and should not be neglected. Keywords: Surface electromyographic signal, Electromyographic spectrum, Segmented-Beat Modulation Method, Non-linear filtering, Spectral analysi

Le competenze professionali delle educatrici e degli educatori: Problemi, ricerche e prospettive

Training professional skills in education are highly debated in the literature and, in recent years, in the political discussion in Italy. Educational professionalism is disciplined by Law No. 205 in 2017. This paper presents a research in progress started in the 2018-2019 academic year in two Italian universities, Sapienza University of Rome and University of Urbino Carlo Bo. During the 2019-2020 academic year, students in the third year of the Education and Training Degree course were asked to complete an online questionnaire. The questionnaire was divided into three thematic areas: a) educator’s skills; b) evaluation of the university course and the connection between theory and practice; c) writing competencies. Data presented in this paper concern one of the research objectives: exploring the perception of the importance of professional skills by educators in training.Il tema della formazione delle competenze professionali in campo educativo è un argomento molto dibattuto nella letteratura e, negli anni più recenti, anche nella discussione politica. La professionalità educativa ha trovato, infatti, un riconoscimento normativo dopo un lungo iter terminato con la legge n. 205 del 2017. Il contributo presenta una ricerca avviata nell’a.a. 2018/2019 in due atenei italiani, Sapienza Università di Roma e l’Università di Urbino Carlo Bo, e tuttora in corso. Nell’a.a. 2019/2020 è stato somministrato agli studenti al terzo anno dei Corsi di studio in Scienze dell’educazione e della formazione dei due atenei un questionario online. Il questionario è articolato in tre aree tematiche: a) competenze degli educatori; b) valutazione del percorso universitario e raccordo tra teoria e pratica; c) competenza di scrittura. I dati qui presentati riguardano uno degli obiettivi della ricerca: esplorare la percezione dell’importanza delle competenze professionali da parte degli educatori in formazione

Fecal Protein Profile in Eight Dogs Suffering from Acute Uncomplicated Diarrhea before and after Treatment

Acute diarrhea is a very frequent condition affecting dogs; nevertheless, little is known about what happens in the GI tract during such conditions. Proteomics allows the study of proteins present in a specific biologic substrate, and fecal proteomic investigations have been recently implemented to study GI diseases in dogs. In the present study, the fecal protein profiles of eight dogs suffering from acute uncomplicated diarrhea at the time of inclusion was investigated for the first time, and then the same patients were followed, replicating two further evaluations at two subsequent time points (after 2 and 14 days from the first presentation), with the aim of gaining possible new insights regarding the pathologic changes in the gastrointestinal environment during such conditions. Two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2-DE) was performed, followed by mass spectrometry. Nine spots, corresponding to four (groups of) proteins (i.e., albumin, alkaline phosphatase, chymotrypsin-C-like, and some immunoglobulins), showed significant differences at two or more of the three time points investigated, almost all behaving similarly and decreasing at T1 (2 days after the onset of the condition) and significantly increasing at T2 (14 days after the onset), mainly evidencing a reaction of the organism. Further studies including a greater number of patients and possibly different techniques are needed to confirm the present finding

EXPERIENCIA EDUCATIVA : TALLER DE RECURSOS NATURALES II

El Taller de Recursos Naturales II (TRN II) se desarrolla durante el 2do cuatrimestre del segundo año de Agronomía. La información obtenida por los alumnos es utilizada en el Taller de Producción Vegetal en el 4to Año. De acuerdo a la estructura y lineamientos del Plan de Estudios, el TRN II integra actividades de las asignaturas dictadas en ese cuatrimestre como: Propiedades Edáficas y Fertilidad, Fisiología Vegetal, Genética Básica y Aplicada y Agrometeorología, además de Ecología y Zoología Agrícola, asignaturas de tercero y cuarto año respectivamente. Tiene como objetivo conducir al alumno hacia una compresión global de los factores que afectan el crecimiento de las plantas con el fin de mantener o aumentar la producción, dentro del marco de una agricultura sustentable. Finaliza con una puesta en común donde se interpretan los resultados en términos ecofisiológicos y de interacción genotipo-ambiente, utilizando información obtenida de las demás asignaturas. Así, otorga a los futuros profesionales la capacidad de analizar los conocimientos adquiridos a campo y en el laboratorio, a la luz de los factores investigados durante el desarrollo del Taller

Exposure to Gastric Acid Inhibitors Increases the Risk of Infection in Preterm Very Low Birth Weight Infants but Concomitant Administration of Lactoferrin Counteracts This Effect

Objective: To investigate whether exposure to inhibitors of gastric acidity, such as H2 blockers or proton pump inhibitors, can independently increase the risk of infections in very low birth weight (VLBW) preterm infants in the neonatal intensive care unit. Study design: This is a secondary analysis of prospectively collected data from a multicenter, randomized controlled trial of bovine lactoferrin (BLF) supplementation (with or without the probiotic Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG) vs placebo in prevention of late-onset sepsis (LOS) and necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) in preterm infants. Inhibitors of gastric acidity were used at the recommended dosages/schedules based on the clinical judgment of attending physicians. The distribution of days of inhibitors of gastric acidity exposure between infants with and without LOS/NEC was assessed. The mutually adjusted effects of birth weight, gestational age, duration of inhibitors of gastric acidity treatment, and exposure to BLF were controlled through multivariable logistic regression. Interaction between inhibitors of gastric acidity and BLF was tested; the effects of any day of inhibitors of gastric acidity exposure were then computed for BLF-treated vs -untreated infants. Results: Two hundred thirty-five of 743 infants underwent treatment with inhibitors of gastric acidity, and 86 LOS episodes occurred. After multivariate analysis, exposure to inhibitors of gastric acidity remained significantly and independently associated with LOS (OR, 1.03; 95% CI, 1.008-1.067; P = .01); each day of inhibitors of gastric acidity exposure conferred an additional 3.7% odds of developing LOS. Risk was significant for Gram-negative (P < .001) and fungal (P = .001) pathogens, but not for Gram-positive pathogens (P = .97). On the test for interaction, 1 additional day of exposure to inhibitors of gastric acidity conferred an additional 7.7% risk for LOS (P = .003) in BLF-untreated infants, compared with 1.2% (P = .58) in BLF-treated infants. Conclusion: Exposure to inhibitors of gastric acidity is significantly associated with the occurrence of LOS in preterm VLBW infants. Concomitant administration of BLF counteracts this selective disadvantage. Trial registration: isrctn.org: ISRCTN53107700