Combined brain language connectivity and intraoperative neurophysiologic techniques in awake craniotomy for eloquent-area brain tumor resection

Speech processing can be disturbed by primary brain tumors (PBT). Improvement of presurgical planning techniques decrease neurological morbidity associated to tumor resection during awake craniotomy. The aims of this work were: 1. To perform Diffusion Kurtosis Imaging based tractography (DKI-tract) in the detection of brain tracts involved in language; 2. To investigate which factors contribute to functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) maps in predicting eloquent language regional reorganization; 3. To determine the technical aspects of accelerometric (ACC) recording of speech during surgery. DKI-tracts were streamlined using a 1.5T magnetic resonance scanner. Number of tracts and fiber pathways were compared between DKI and standard Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI) in healthy subjects (HS) and PBT patients. fMRI data were acquired using task-specific and resting-state paradigms during language and motor tasks. After testing intraoperative fMRI’s influence on direct cortical stimulation (DCS) number of stimuli, graph-theory measures were extracted and analyzed. Regarding speech recording, ACC signals were recorded after evaluating neck positions and filter bandwidths. To test this method, language disturbances were recorded in patients with dysphonia and after applying DCS in the inferior frontal gyrus. In contrast, HS reaction time was recorded during speech execution. DKI-tract showed increased number of arcuate fascicle tracts in PBT patients. Lower spurious tracts were identified with DKI-tract. Intraoperative fMRI and DCS showed similar stimuli in comparison with DCS alone. Increased local centrality accompanied language ipsilateral and contralateral reorganization. ACC recordings showed minor artifact contamination when placed at the suprasternal notch using a 20-200 Hz filter bandwidth. Patients with dysphonia showed decreased amplitude and frequency in comparison with HS. ACC detected an additional 11% disturbances after DCS, and a shortening of latency within the presence of a loud stimuli during speech execution. This work improved current knowledge on presurgical planning techniques based on brain structural and functional neuroimaging connectivity, and speech recordingA função linguística do ser humano pode ser afetada pela presença de tumores cerebrais (TC) A melhoria de técnicas de planeamento pré-cirurgico diminui a morbilidade neurológica iatrogénica associada ao seu tratamento cirúrgico. O objetivo deste trabalho é: 1. Testar a fiabilidade da tractografia estimada por difusor de kurtose (tract-DKI), dos feixes cerebrais envolvidos na linguagem 2. Identificar os fatores que contribuem para o mapeamento linguagem por ressonância magnética funcional (RMf) na predição da neuroplasticidade. 3. Identificar aspetos técnicos do registo da linguagem por accelerometria (ACC). A DKI-tract foi estimada após realização de RM cerebral com 1.5T. O número e percurso das fibras foi avaliado. A RMf foi adquirida durante realização de tarefas linguísticas, motoras, e em repouso. Foi testada influência dos mapas de ativação calculados por RMf, no número de estímulos realizados durante a estimulação direta cortical (EDC) intraoperatória. Medidas de conectividade foram extraídas de regiões cerebrais. A posição e filtragem de sinal ACC foram estudadas após vocalização de palavras. O sinal ACC obtido em voluntários foi comparado com doentes disfónicos, após estimulação do giro inferior frontal, e após a adição de um estímulo sonoro perturbador durante vocalização. A tract-DKI estimou um elevado número de fascículos do feixe arcuato com menos falsos negativos. Os mapas linguísticos de RMf intraoperatória, não influenciou a EDC. Medidas de centralidade aumentaram após neuroplasticidade ipsilateral e contralateral. A posição supraesternal e a filtragem de sinal ACC entre 20-200Hz demonstrou menor ruido de contaminação. Este método identificou diminuição de frequência e amplitude em doentes com disfonia, 11% de erros linguísticos adicionais após estimulação e diminuição do tempo de latência quando presente o sinal sonoro perturbador. Este trabalho promoveu a utilização de novas técnicas no planeamento pré-cirúrgico do doente com tumor cerebral e alterações da linguagem através do estudo de conectividade estrutural, funcional e registo da linguagem

National report on Juvenile Justice Trends – Portugal

UID/SOC/04647/2013 PEST-OE/SADG/UI4067/2014The aim of this report is to examine current national policies on juvenile justice and alternatives to detention for young offenders in Portugal. It is carried out within the framework of the involvement of the IJJO as a partner in the project ‘Alternatives to Custody for Young Offenders - Developing Intensive and Remand Fostering Programmes’, coordinated by the British Association for Adoption and Fostering (BAAF) and financed by the European Commission, DG Justice, through its Daphne Programme (Grant Agreement JUST/2011/DAP/AG/3054).publishersversionpublishe

Anxiety and foreign language learning : dealing with negative emotions in the classroom

Este estudo investigou como proficiência e idade estão relacionadas à Ansiedade em Língua Estrangeira. Para isso, 88 participantes, adultos e adolescentes com diferentes níveis de proficiência, responderam ao Language History Questionnaire e à Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale. A análise dos dados revelou que (1) existe uma correlação significativa negativa entre a média de proficiência autoavaliada e o nível de ansiedade dos participantes; e (2) existe uma correlação significativa positiva entre a idade dos participantes e o seu nível de ansiedade. Em outras palavras, quanto menor o nível de proficiência, maior o nível de ansiedade, e, quanto maior a idade, maior o nível de ansiedade. Os resultados deste estudo mostram que a ansiedade em língua estrangeira está relacionada à proficiência e idade.This study aimed to investigate how proficiency and age are related to Foreign Language Anxiety. 88 participants, adults and teenagers with different levels of proficiency, answered the Language History Questionnaire and the Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale. The data analyses revealed that (1) there is a significant negative correlation between the participants’ mean self-assessed proficiency and level of anxiety, and (2) there is a significant positive correlation between participants’ age and their level of anxiety. In other words, the lower the proficiency level, the higher the anxiety level. Likewise, the older the participant is, the higher the anxiety level. The results of the study demonstrate that Foreign Language Anxiety is related to level of proficiency and age

Non-linear Poisson-Boltzmann Theory for Swollen Clays

The non-linear Poisson-Boltzmann equation for a circular, uniformly charged platelet, confined together with co- and counter-ions to a cylindrical cell, is solved semi-analytically by transforming it into an integral equation and solving the latter iteratively. This method proves efficient, robust, and can be readily generalized to other problems based on cell models, treated within non-linear Poisson-like theory. The solution to the PB equation is computed over a wide range of physical conditions, and the resulting osmotic equation of state is shown to be in fair agreement with recent experimental data for Laponite clay suspensions, in the concentrated gel phase.Comment: 13 pages, 4 postscript figure

Children’s Exposure to Neighbourhood Violence

SADG/UI4067/2014Do children represent the neighbourhoods where they live? This was the starting point of a research focused on the analysis of children’s lives in six public housing neighbourhoods in the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, Portugal. Rooted in social ecology theoretical approaches and childhood studies, which recognize children as social actors, the main goal was to achieve a better understanding of children’s socialization processes considering multi-problematic spaces, but focussed mainly on their involvement in violence and delinquency. Between 2005 and 2009, a case study based on ethnographic and child-centred research methods to explore children’s personal accounts of their lives was conducted in the selected neighbourhoods. Findings highlighted that most children complained about living there, referencing how social and spatial segregation, associated to high exposure to violence, affect them. Violence and crime were labelled as the most prominent problems, and children’s exposure to neighbourhood violence seldom occurs only once or just in one form. The data demonstrated how ‘normalization’ of violence perceived by children influenced their use of the neighbourhood’s places, reducing their sense of the seriousness and effects of violent acts. Violence, briefly discussed from the children’s points of view, served to build their skills, structure their present relations with peers and adults, and simultaneously helped and (re) constructed a permanent social dissatisfaction reinforcing neighbourhood’s stigmatization.publishersversionpublishe

Sleep quality, learner-internal variables and foreign language enjoyment in brazilian preadolescents and adolescents

O presente estudo investigou a relação entre qualidade de sono, variáveis internas do aprendiz (idade, sexo, proficiência, frequência de uso do inglês e autopercepção de proficiência em comparação aos colegas) e Foreign Language Enjoyment (FLE), de 122 alunos, pré-adolescentes e adolescentes, que estudam Inglês como língua adicional em uma escola privada no sul do Brasil. Os participantes responderam um formulário online contendo a Adolescent Sleep-Wake Scale (LEBOURGEOIS et al., 2005), um questionário de contexto de linguagem, e a Foreign Language Enjoyment Scale (DEWAELE; MACINTYRE, 2014). A análise de dados não revelou associação entre qualidade de sono e FLE, mas mostrou que pré-adolescentes e adolescentes demonstraram níveis similares de qualidade de sono. Participantes pré-adolescentes do sexo feminino pontuaram mais na escala FLE, resultado similar a estudos anteriores (DEWAELE; MACINTYRE, 2014; DEWAELE et al., 2016), no entanto, a diferença diminuiu quando se analisou o grupo de adolescentes. Proficiência, frequência de uso do inglês e autopercepção em comparação aos colegas também foram associadas a níveis mais altos de FLE. O presente estudo é uma tentativa de enfatizar a importância de investigar como outras variáveis, como qualidade de sono, idade, sexo, proficiência, frequência de uso do inglês e autopercepção de proficiência interagem com FLE.The present study investigated the relationship between sleep quality, learner-internal variables (age, sex, proficiency, frequency of English use, and relative standing), and Foreign Language Enjoyment (FLE) in 122 students, preadolescents and adolescents, who study English as an Additional Language (EAL) at a private school in the south of Brazil. Participants answered an online form containing the Adolescent Sleep-Wake Scale (LEBOURGEOIS et al., 2005), a language background questionnaire, and the Foreign Language Enjoyment Scale (DEWAELE; MACINTYRE, 2014). The analysis did not reveal an association between sleep quality and FLE, but it showed that preadolescents and adolescents scored similar levels of Sleep Quality. In addition, female pre-adolescent participants scored higher on FLE, similarly to previous studies (DEWAELE; MACINTYRE, 2014; DEWAELE et al., 2016). However, the difference decreases when the analysis focused on adolescents. Proficiency, frequency of English use and relative standing among peers were also associated with FLE scores. The present research is an attempt to highlight the importance of investigating how other variables, such as sleep quality, age, sex, proficiency, frequency of English use and relative standing interact with FLE

do “menor” à “justiça amiga das crianças”

UID/SOC/04647/2013 SFRH/BPD/116119/2016 ?Neste texto promove-se a discussão sobre as origens da justiça juvenil nas sociedades ocidentais destacando-se as transformações ocorridas no sistema português. A análise sobre as relações entre justiça, direitos e instituições que enformam os diplomas legais e as práticas da justiça juvenil em Portugal têm de atender à forma como se evoluiu da representação do ‘menor’ culpado e da criança vítima para a de uma justiça ‘amiga’ das crianças que enquadra, no presente, a intervenção judicial. Nenhum princípio de justiça ancorado no Direito das Crianças e dos Jovens é, por si mesmo, absoluto quando transposto para a prática judiciária pelo que é indispensável compreender a sua evolução conceptual e identificar as mudanças ao longo dos tempos.publishersversionpublishe

two sides of a path to personal and social well-being

PEst-OE/SADG/UI4067/2013 UID/SOC/04647/2013Young offenders’ rehabilitation and education present a set of challenges to contemporary societies that are particularly felt in the juvenile justice system. In this paper we discuss some of these challenges, taking into consideration insights on the daily lives of young offenders who have been placed in Portuguese custodial institutions in recent years. The Portuguese juvenile justice system differs from most of those in other EU countries, giving less importance to the offense than to the need for the offender to be educated in the fundamental community values that have been violated by the illicit act. It can be regarded as a third perspective falling in between a welfare model and a punitive or penal one. The set of educational measures applied to youth by courts aims to socialise and educate offenders on values protected by penal law, in a process called education in the law. One of the main goals of custody is rehabilitation, which, from an educational point of view, could mean empowering youth with the necessary skills and knowledge to develop their potential to engage in society in a responsible way. But responsibility and autonomy are not static concepts; these notions are (re)constructed by youth in the social contexts in which they live. Working towards a more effective system requires the promotion of youth’s social participation through which personal and social well-being can be achieved. Institutional work requires community engagement in supporting youth and should be focused on a positive and holistic approach towards offenders, recognising their needs and strengths.publishersversionpublishe

Field Information Web Platform for Agricultural Applications

Crops are subject to numerous diseases and pests that may cause significant economic damage. It is essential to forecast the potential occurrence of the major problems in these crops. The goal of this dissertation is the development of a web platform for registration and issuance of warnings of disease’s risk. The generation of these warnings is performed using mathematical models to predict possible occurrence of plant diseases and/or the collection of information in the field by farmers and/or technical experts by means of mobile devices. This information should be geo-referenced and can be obtained with mobile devices which could be documented with photos, videos, text, data from satellite, weather data, web information or even with information from sensors on the ground. This thesis describes and shows a fully working platform that is able to collect data and compute alerts from the several sources of information available, in a scalable way