O contributo da expressão musical na socialização de crianças com DID, no 1.º ciclo do Ensino Básico

Pretendeu-se com este trabalho, salientar a importância e o impacto que a música tem na socialização de crianças com necessidades educativas especiais, nomeadamente com diagnóstico de défice intelectual e desenvolvimental. Para tal foram aplicados questionários a docentes de um agrupamento de escolas do distrito do Porto. Os principais resultados do estudo demonstraram que os docentes atribuem importância ao trabalho na área da expressão musical, mas que continuam a confrontar-se com problemas e dificuldades devido a lacunas na sua formação e insuficientes recursos humanos e materiais.This work intended to emphasize the importance and impact that music has on the socialization of children with special educational needs, namely with a diagnosis of intellectual and developmental deficit. Therefore, questionnaires were applied to teachers from a school group in the district of Porto. The main results of the study proved that teachers attach importance to work developed in the musical expression area, but they still continue to face problems and difficulties due to the gaps in their academic qualifications and insufficient human and material resources. Keywords: musical expression; special education; intellectual and developmental deficit; socializatio

Explorar o ensino das expressões nas práticas educativas em educação básica : uma abordagem em contexto do estágio pedagógico

Mestrado em Educação Pré-Escolar e Ensino do 1º Ciclo do Ensino Básico (Relatório de Estágio).O presente relatório de estágio reporta-se às práticas desenvolvidas no estágio no âmbito da Prática Educativa Supervisionada I e II do Mestrado em Educação Pré-Escolar e Ensino do 1.º Ciclo do Ensino Básico. Este documento representa, pois, o culminar do trabalho realizado ao longo dos dois momentos de estágio (em contexto do Pré-Escolar e em contexto do 1.º Ciclo) e procura descrever e refletir o processo de ensino-aprendizagem subjacente às intervenções desenvolvidas. Ao longo deste trabalho, expressam-se questões relacionadas com a teoria e a prática curricular, nas quais se analisa e se reflete sobre as práticas pedagógicas e as opções tomadas, principalmente, no que diz respeito às áreas das Expressões, mobilizando dados das práticas de ensino e das situações educativas com a literatura da especialidade. A escolha desta temática deveu-se ao facto de as áreas das Expressões serem verdadeiramente potenciadoras de oportunidades de a criança se expressar e comunicar através de várias formas/meios. Acrescenta-se, ainda, que se decidiu enveredar pelo aprofundamento dessa temática, uma vez que esta se revela uma área plenamente integradora em termos curriculares, dado que é possível interligar as Expressões, articulando-as com vários conteúdos e domínios e, deste modo, potenciando experiências de ensino-aprendizagem completas com vista ao desenvolvimento integral da criança. Neste sentido, contámos com testemunhos de educadores e professores sobre o ensino das Expressões, na escola atual. Infelizmente, estas áreas continuam a ser deixadas para “segundo plano”, pelos profissionais de educação, principalmente, os professores do 1.º Ciclo. Deste modo, averiguámos a importância que os docentes ministram a estas áreas, através de entrevistas. Além disso, foi, também, nosso intento perceber a importância das Expressões, enquanto meio para a criança se expressar e comunicar com o outro, e compreender as influências do espaço no processo de ensino aprendizagem e no desenvolvimento das situações educativas. De uma maneira geral, o presente trabalho procura descrever, analisar e refletir as opções tomadas no processo de ensino-aprendizagem, com principal incidência no desenvolvimento das áreas das Expressões, refletindo as experiências enriquecedoras, tanto a nível pessoal como académico, vivenciadas pela estagiária.ABSTRACT: This Teaching Practice report refers to the practices developed under the Educational Supervised Practice I and II, integrated in Pre-school Education and Elementary School Education Master Degree. This document represents the culmination of the work done during the two moments of Supervised Practice in pre-school and elementary school levels, and describes and reflects upon the teaching-learning process underlying the activities carried out. Throughout this work, issues concerning the theory of and curricular practice itself are expressed. We analyze and reflect upon the pedagogical practices and the choices made, especially, in relation to the areas of Expressions by mobilizing data from teaching practices and educational situations with readings from publications in this field of expertise. The choice for this theme was made on the knowledge that the Expressions truly represent ample opportunities for children to express and communicate through various ways/means. Furthermore, we decided to deepen this theme because it is an area fully integrated in curricular terms. You can connect the Expressions amongst themselves by linking them with various contents and domains and, thus, enhance the teaching-learning process with complete experiences which promote the integral development of the child. In this sense, we relied on the testimony given by educators and teachers on how the Expressions are currently being taught in school. Unfortunately, these areas continue to be pushed into second place, by educators, especially elementary teachers. We verified the importance teachers give to these areas through the interviews carried out. It was also our intention to verify the importance of the Expressions as a mean for children to express themselves and communicate with each other, and to understand in what way the surroundings/where the activities take place may influence the teaching-learning process and the development of educational situations. In general, this work seeks to describe, analyze and reflect upon the choices made in the teaching-learning process, focusing mainly on the development of the Expressions, and bringing forth the enriching experiences experienced by the trainee, both on a personal and academic level

Neuroinflammation and Parkinson’s disease - from neurodegeneration to therapeutic opportunities

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is the second most prevalent neurodegenerative disorder worldwide. Clinically, it is characterized by a progressive degeneration of dopaminergic neurons (DAn), resulting in severe motor complications. Preclinical and clinical studies have indicated that neuroinflammation can play a role in PD pathophysiology, being associated with its onset and progression. Nevertheless, several key points concerning the neuroinflammatory process in PD remain to be answered. Bearing this in mind, in the present review, we cover the impact of neuroinflammation on PD by exploring the role of inflammatory cells (i.e., microglia and astrocytes) and the interconnections between the brain and the peripheral system. Furthermore, we discuss both the innate and adaptive immune responses regarding PD pathology and explore the gut–brain axis communication and its influence on the progression of the disease.The present work was supported by Prémios Santa Casa Neurociências— Prize Mantero Belard for Neurodegenerative Diseases Research (MB-28-2019), the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) to S.M. (CEECIND/01902/2017) and F.G.T. (2021.00643.CEECIND), the European Regional Development Fund (FEDER), the Competitiveness Internationalization Operational Programme (POCI), national funds through the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT), under the scope of projects UIDB/50026/2020, UIDP/50026/2020, POCI-01-0145-FEDER-029751, and EXPL/MED-PAT/0931/2021, project NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000023, supported by the Northern Portugal Regional Operational Programme (NORTE 2020), and under the Portugal 2020 Partnership Agreement, through the European Regional Development Fund (FEDER)

Negative symptoms mediate the relationship between social cognition and functioning in schizophrenia: a pilot study

In spite of significant advances in pharmacological and psychological treatments, schizophrenia still ranks among the leading causes of disability worldwide. People suffering from schizophrenia have significant impairment in major areas of everyday life, such as interpersonal relationships, work or school and even self-care. Enhancing the understanding of factors that hinder real-life functioning is therefore crucial for translating delivered care into more positive outcomes. Social cognition, defined as the mental operations that underlie social interactions, including perceiving, interpreting, and generating responses to the intentions, dispositions, and behaviors of others, has been implicated in impaired functioning. It is typically broken down into four domains: emotion processing, social perception, attributional bias and theory of mind. Negative symptoms have also been associated with patients' functional outcome; although generally conceptualized as a unitary construct, the most recent literature suggests that these symptoms are heterogeneous and include at least two factors: amotivation and diminished emotional expression. The aim of this study was to analyze the relationships between negative symptoms, social cognition and real-life functioning in people with schizophrenia. Methods: 12 patients with diagnosis of schizophrenia according to ICD-10 criteria were assessed cross-sectionally regarding relevant dimensions to our study: general psychopathology (Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale), social cognition (Face and Emotion Identification Test, Schema Component Sequencing Test - Revised, Social Perception Scale, Ambiguous Intentions and Hostility Questionnaire, Reading the Mind in The Eyes Test), negative symptoms (Clinical Assessment Interview for Negative Symptoms – CAINS) and general functioning (Personal and Social Performance scale – PSP). Spearman correlations were examined and regression and mediation models (Preacher and Hayes bootstrapping methodology) were performed. Results: In our preliminary results, emotion processing was the only social cognition dimension significantly correlated with functioning (rS = .87) and negative symptoms measured by the CAINS: rS = -.78 with amotivation; -.70 with diminished emotional expression and -.78 with total CAINS score (all Po.01). Both amotivation and diminished emotional expression, as well as negative symptoms as a whole, correlated with functioning (rS4.80, Po.01). Emotion processing was a significant predictor of amotivation, diminished emotional expression and total CAINS score (all Beta4-.65, p o.05). Both emotion processing (Beta = .71, P = 0.3) and amotivation (Beta = -.84, P = 0.001) were significant predictors of functioning. Finally, amotivation was found to be a partial mediator of the relationship between emotion processing and functioning (BCA 95% CI = .196 - 7.559). Discussion: Our results are in partial agreement with previous studies suggesting that emotional processing is the most relevant dimension of social cognition to everyday functioning, despite a possible contribution of theory of mind for such impairment in patients with schizophrenia. Regarding negative symptoms, amotivation seems to be the dimension of most relevance to functioning. Altogether, negative symptoms seem to be driven by social cognition deficits and, at least partially, negative symptoms may play a role in the deleterious impact of impaired social cognition on functional outcome. The complexity of the crosstalk between negative symptoms, social cognition and functioning will be better addressed in ongoing studies, as a greater understanding of underlying mechanisms is critical to development of effective treatments

Prevalência e complicações das lesões dentárias traumáticas

Introdução: Os traumatismos dentários precisam ser corretamente diagnosticados e tratados desde o primeiro atendimento, com a finalidade de minimizar as alterações tardias que poderão complicar o tratamento endodôntico. Objetivo: avaliar a prevalência dos traumatismos dentários na dentição permanente e apresentar as principais alterações subsequentes a estes. Materiais e métodos: Foi realizado um estudo observacional da prevalência de traumatismo dentário na dentição permanente e da ocorrência das possíveis complicações endodônticas pós-traumáticas, por meio do acompanhamento clínico e radiográfico dos pacientes atendidos na disciplina de Endodontia Clínica da Faculdade de Odontologia da Universidade Federal da Bahia, no período de 2012 a 2016.Resultados: Os dados obtidos foram tabulados e a análise dos resultados incluiu distribuição de frequência e teste Qui-quadrado com nível de significância de 5%. A amostra compreendeu 178 dentes de 89 pacientes, sendo a sua maioria do gênero masculino (54%). A faixa etária mais prevalente foi dos 11 aos 20 anos de idade. A maxila foi a região mais afetada, sendo os dentes anteriores os mais acometidos (83%). A queda foi o fator etiológico predominante (61%) e a fratura coronária não complicada foi o tipo de trauma mais prevalente (23,2%), seguido da luxação lateral (19,7%) e da avulsão (17,7%). A necrose da polpa foi a complicação endodôntica mais frequente (42,7%), seguida da reabsorção radicular externa com 18,3%. Conclusão: pôde-se observar uma alta ocorrência das complicações pós- traumáticas, sendo necessário o tratamento e acompanhamento criterioso desses pacientes com o intuito de evitar a perda dentária.

Comparison of different pretreatment processes envisaging the potential use of food waste as microalgae substrate

A significant fraction of the food produced worldwide is currently lost or wasted throughout the supply chain, squandering natural and economic resources. Food waste valorization will be an important necessity in the coming years. This work investigates the ability of food waste to serve as a viable nutritional substrate for the heterotrophic growth of Chlorella vulgaris. The impact of different pretreatments on the elemental composition and microbial contamination of seven retail food waste mixtures was evaluated. Among the pretreatment methods applied to the food waste formulations, autoclaving was able to eliminate all microbial contamination and increase the availability of reducing sugars by 30%. Ohmic heating was also able to eliminate most of the contaminations in the food wastes in shorter time periods than autoclave. However, it has reduced the availability of reducing sugars, making it less preferable for microalgae heterotrophic cultivation. The direct utilization of food waste containing essential nutrients from fruits, vegetables, dairy and bakery products, and meat on the heterotrophic growth of microalgae allowed a biomass concentration of 2.2 × 108 cells·mL?1, being the culture able to consume more than 42% of the reducing sugars present in the substrate, thus demonstrating the economic and environmental potential of these wastes.This study was supported by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) under the scope of the strategic funding of the UIDB/04469/2020 unit, with DOI 10.54499/UIDB/04469/2020, and by LABBELS—Associate Laboratory in Biotechnology, Bioengineering and Micro-electromechanical Systems, LA/P/0029/2020. This work was funded by the European Union throughthe Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under Grant Agreement No 101036388. Pedro Geada acknowledges FCT for the Junior Research contract obtained under the scope of the Scientific Stimulus Employment with the reference 2022.00930.CEECIND (https://doi.org/10.54499/2022.00930.CEECIND/CP1718/CT0023). Ricardo N. Pereira and Joana T. Martins acknowledge FCT for their Assistant Research contract obtained under the scope of Scientific Stimulus Employment with reference CEECIND/02903/2017 (https://doi.org/10.54499/CEECIND/02903/2017/CP1458/CT0006) and 2022.00788.CEECIND/CP1718/CT0024 (https://doi.org/10.54499/2022.00788.CEECIND/CP1718/CT0024), respectively. Luís Machado acknowledges FCT for its fellowship supported by doctoraladvanced training (SFRH/BD/07475/2020).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

‘People lie’: overcoming obstacles to incorporate social science research to biodiversity conservation

Mesmo com o reconhecimento da importância da interdisciplinaridade na conservação da biodiversidade, ainda há resistência em incorporar a pesquisa em ciências sociais (PCS) ao pensamento e à prática conservacionista. As razões para tal resistência podem ser resumidas em três afirmações gerais ainda comumente atribuídas à PCS: 'tem pouca utilidade' e 'menos rigor metodológico' quando comparada à pesquisa em ciências naturais e, sobretudo, é pouco confiável porque 'as pessoas mentem'. Neste ensaio, desenvolvido a partir da experiência dos participantes de uma comunidade de prática, formada por profissionais de diversas áreas e setores relacionados à conservação, e das discussões geradas nesse espaço de aprendizado coletivo, abordamos as limitações e os equívocos por trás das afirmações acima. A PCS não é menos útil na conservação e nem tem menos rigor metodológico do que a pesquisa em ciências naturais, e quando as pessoas mentem para o pesquisador o problema não está na pesquisa em si, mas na relação entre sujeito e pesquisador. Argumentamos que à medida que os conservacionistas se familiarizam com a PCS e que os princípios de equidade e justiça são incorporados aos valores e objetivos da conservação, a importância e necessidade da PCS na conservação tornam-se óbvias, e a falta de confiança entre pesquisador e sujeitos deixa de ser uma preocupação significativa. Capacitar, integrar e apoiar são nossas recomendações básicas para pesquisadores, educadores, gestores e tomadores de decisão nas áreas de conservação, ensino, publicação e financiamento, para que a PCS cumpra plenamente seu papel na conservação.Despite the acknowledged importance of interdisciplinarity in biodiversity conservation, there is still resistance to incorporate social science research (SSR) to both conservationist thinking and practice. The reasons for such a resistance can be summarized in three general statements still commonly attributed to SSR, namely: it is of 'little use' and it has 'less methodological rigor' than research in the natural sciences and, above all, it is unreliable because 'people lie'. The current essay was developed based on the experience of participants of a community of practice (formed by professionals from different fields and sectors  associated with conservation), as well as on discussions held in this space of collective learning. It addresses the limitations and misconceptions behind the aforementioned statements. SSR is not less useful in conservation and not less methodologically rigorous than research conducted in the natural sciences. When researchers are lied to, the problem does not lie on the research itself, but on the subject-researcher relationship. We herein argue that as conservationists become more familiar with SSR, and as principles like equity and justice are incorporated to conservation values and goals, both the importance and need of SSR in conservation become obvious, making the lack of trust between researcher and subjects no longer a significant concern. Increasing capacity, integrating and supporting are our basic recommendations for researchers, educators, managers and decision-makers in the conservation, teaching, publishing and funding fields, so that SSR can fully fulfill its role in conservation

Combination of a Gellan Gum-Based Hydrogel With Cell Therapy for the Treatment of Cervical Spinal Cord Injury

Cervical spinal cord trauma represents more than half of the spinal cord injury (SCI) cases worldwide. Respiratory compromise, as well as severe limb motor deficits, are among the main consequences of cervical lesions. In the present work, a Gellan Gum (GG)-based hydrogel modified with GRGDS peptide, together with adipose tissue-derived stem/stromal cells (ASCs) and olfactory ensheathing cells (OECs), was used as a therapeutic strategy after a C2 hemisection SCI in rats. Hydrogel or cells alone, and a group without treatment, were also tested. Four weeks after injury, compound muscle action potentials (CMAPs) were performed to assess functional phrenic motor neuron (PhMN) innervation of the diaphragm; no differences were observed amongst groups, confirming that the PhMN pool located between C3 and C5 was not affected by the C2 injury or by the treatments. In the same line, the vast majority of diaphragmatic neuromuscular junctions remained intact. Five weeks post-injury, inspiratory bursting of the affected ipsilateral hemidiaphragm was evaluated through EMG recordings of dorsal, medial and ventral subregions of the muscle. All treatments significantly increased EMG amplitude at the ventral portion in comparison to untreated animals, but only the combinatorial group presented increased EMG amplitude at the medial portion of the hemidiaphragm. No differences were observed in forelimb motor function, neither in markers for axonal regrowth (neuronal tracers), astrogliosis (GFAP) and inflammatory cells (CD68). Moreover, using Von Frey testing of mechanical allodynia, it was possible to find a significant effect of the group combining hydrogel and cells on hypersensitivity; rats with a SCI displayed an increased response of the contralateral forelimb to a normally innocuous mechanical stimulus, but after treatment with the combinatorial therapy this behavior was reverted almost to the levels of uninjured controls. These results suggest that our therapeutic approach may have beneficial effects on both diaphragmatic recovery and sensory function