Media and legacies of war: responses to global film violence in conflict zones

This article examines the phenomenon of informal video houses showing action films with scenes of violence to young people in Gorongosa, a district in the center of Mozambique. Recent socioeconomic interventions and development in the region have occurred in tandem with the growing popularity of violent action films among young people, which has been cause for concern among their parents and guardians. The ambivalent responses of Gorongosa residents toward this trend indicate the need to analyze the implications of film violence in the context of evolving local rituals of revelation and multiple legacies of the civil war (1976–1992) as well as emerging postwar challenges. The results significantly contrast with psychological studies of media violence that link consumption of film violence to serious negative effects on young viewers. In Gorongosa, film violence is implicated in expanding relations of domination and submission and violence and its containment, which enhance ongoing processes of self-assertion among young people in unpredictable ways, without, however, inciting violence in the communities. This study has significant implications for understanding the reception of mass media violence among young people in conflict zones

Oracle for guidance with deep neural networks in reusable launch vehicle landing

Oracles are of paramount importance for Deep Neural Networks training. In this paper, an oracle developed for landing reusable launch vehicles is created from a linearizing feedback control law that can perform a prescribed landing trajectory tracking. The oracle is then used to train a Deep Neural Network that can be used as a guidance system for landing maneuvers. Verification is performed by Monte-Carlo.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Perceptive social support among parents of children with autism spectrum disorder

Introduction Social support, especially as provided by close family and friends, has been consistently identified as one of the most powerful predictors of psychological adjustment among parents raising children with ASD. Material and methods A cross-sectional study including 51 parents of children with ASD was carried out in our pediatric development department. The objective of the study was to verify the degree of satisfaction of the participants regarding their family, friends, intimacy, and social activities. Results There was a negative correlation between the childrens age and the degree of parental satisfaction. There was a statistically significant association between the parents' educational level and the degree of satisfaction reported by them in all domains, except for the family domain. Conclusion Based on study findings regarding the importance of help from parents informal social network, special attention in this regard should be focused on developing services that assist parents in making more effective use of existing sources of support from family members, friends, and other parents of children with ASD.</jats:p

Goldenhar syndrome: a rare diagnosis with possible prenatal findings

Goldenhar syndrome is a rare congenital disease associated with hemifacial hypoplasia as well as ear and ocular defects. Sometimes it is also associated with vertebral and other bone defects, cardiac malformations and central nervous system anomalies. Its aetiology is not yet clarified in the literature. We present a case of multiple malformations detected in the morphology ultrasound (at 22 weeks of gestation), namely absent nasal bones, micrognathia and absent left radius, among other defects. Genetic counselling, fetal brain MRI and cardiac sonography, which showed ventricular septal defect, were performed. 11 syndromes with poor fetal or neonatal prognosis were identified as possible diagnosis, using a genetic database and the couple asked for a medical termination of pregnancy. Postmortem examination has shown features consistent with Goldenhar syndrome

Dinâmica comparada da substituição das pastagens cultivadas e de sua densidade econômica no arco norte da pecuarização do Brasil.

Avalia comparativamente indicadores de substituição das pastagens cultivadas na Região Amazônica mais sujeitas à reconversão de áreas para pastos (Estados do Acre, Rondônia, Pará e Mato Grosso) com a evolução dos indicadores de sua respectiva densidade econômica, por tamanho de estabelecimento rural. A metodologia utilizada implica a utilização combinada de duas fronteiras, analisadas graficamente: a) uma fronteira da substituição de áreas (de pastagens cultivadas por outros usos do solo) e; b) uma segunda fronteira, que é a variação de relativos da densidade-valor da pecuária, em relação à Área Total Recenseada (ATR). Os resultados não se mostraram uniformes, havendo um ponto em comum para os Estados de Rondônia e Mato Grosso (curva da densidade-valor acima da curva de substituição para os estabelecimentos pequenos a médios), bem como para os Estados do Acre e do Pará, que revelaram uma tendência de a fronteira da densidade-valor se localizar sistematicamente abaixo da fronteira de substituição de áreas. Em termos gerais, pode-se afirmar que, para o espectro relevante da estrutura da produção da pecuária (grandes estabelecimentos), a fronteira da densidade-valor mostrou-se abaixo da fronteira da substituição de áreas. Levando-se em conta os resultados de levantamentos econômicos recentes levados a efeito por alguns autores, que mostram uma rentabilidade bastante favorável das atividades pecuárias na Região Amazônica, os resultados do presente trabalho parecem indicar que os movimentos alocativos mais que proporcionais da área das pastagens cultivadas em relação à densidade-valor, verificados até meados da década de 90 apresentam objetivos múltiplos, que vão além da produção pecuária em si mesma (abertura de áreas para consolidação da própria atividade pecuária, conversão para lavouras, consolidação de ativos patrimoniais, envolvendo a expulsão de populações nativas, etc

Theory of mind in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder

Introduction. Theory of mind (TM) is involved in social cognition, as it evaluates our ability to impute our mental states to the others in order to predict and explain behaviour. In the literature, it has been noticed that children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) show some impairments of TM when compared with children not neurodevelopmental impaired. Our goal in this study was to compare the TM in two groups: schooler children with normal development and schooler children with ADHD. Subjects and methods. A total of 35 children, aged between 6 and 12 years, were recruited: 17 with ADHD and 18 not neurodevelopmental impaired. TM was evaluated using an assessment method validated for the Portuguese population: Turtle on the Island-Battery of Assessment of Executive Functions in Children. Results. We obtained two comparable groups concerning sociodemographic data. There were no significant differences between the two groups regarding TM. Conclusion. The TM assessment in Portuguese children did not reveal significant impairment regarding this cognitive skill in children with ADHD

Agronomic Evaluation of Forage Grasses under Mature Rubber Plantation

The agronomic performance of seven forage grasses, under a mature rubber plantation, was assessed in a cutting trial carried out at Porto Velho, Rondônia. During the rainy season, the higher dry matter yields were obtained with B. brizantha, P. atratum BRA-9610 and B. humidicola. During the dry season, the grasses more productive were B. brizantha and P. atratum BRA-9610. In both seasons, magnesium and potassium contents did not vary among grasses. During the rainy season, the higher nitrogen and phosphorus contents were obtained with P. regnelli BRA-0159 and, P. guenoarum BRA-3824 and B. humidicola, respectively, while P. atratum BRA-9610 and B. humidicola provided higher contents of calcium. During the dry season, P. regnelli BRA-0159 showed the highest nitrogen content, while B. humidicola and B. brizantha gave the highest phosphorus and calcium contents. In order to obtain greater forage yields with better quality, the grasses more promising for pasture establishment in a silvipastoral systems were B. brizantha, B. humidicola and P. atratum BRA-9610

Effects of two commercial diets and two supplements on urinary pH in dogs

BACKGROUND: Urinary pH manipulation by therapeutic foods or supplements is part of the treatment for urolithiasis. The effectiveness of these diets and supplements should be studied to determine which of these strategies is most effective. HYPOTHESIS/OBJECTIVES: To assess the effect of the oral supplementation of potassium citrate, an ammonium chloride solution (Urical) and two dry therapeutic foods-Hill's® Prescription Diet® u/d® Canine (u/d diet) and Royal Canin® Urinary S/O dog (S/O diet)-on a dog's urinary pH at different time points over 8 h. ANIMALS: Seven healthy adult male research beagle dogs. METHODS: A prospective interventional study lasting 31 days. The dogs either received a supplement (potassium citrate or rical) with a dry adult maintenance diet (control diet) or the therapeutic diet (u/d diet or S/O diet). Each treatment had a duration of 2-5 days, with 2- to 4-day washout periods in between. Urinary pH measurements were performed every 2 h between 07h00 and 15h00, with the food being given at 07h00 and 15h00, right after urine collection. The pH measurements obtained in each of the four treatments were compared to control (same dogs fed the control diet exclusively). RESULTS: When compared to the control diet at the same time points, biologically relevant changes in urinary pH (defined as ≥0.5) were: increase with potassium citrate at 7h00 and 13h00; increase with u/d diet at 9h00, 13h00, and 15h00; decrease with S/O diet at 9h00 and 11h00; Urical did not have a detectable effect on urinary pH. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL IMPORTANCE: The present study confirms that therapeutic foods S/O and u/d, and potassium citrate supplement affected acid-base balance in healthy adult male beagle dogs, with the tested diets being more effective than the administered doses of the tested supplements at influencing urinary pH