The value of singing for the Verbal Language Development (VLD) of Greek Children who are diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and aged between 5-to-11 years (5-11 yrs)

This research project aims to test the hypothesis that: singing is valuable to the Verbal Language Development (VLD) of Greek children who are diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and aged between 5 and 11 years. The research is quantitative since it measures and compares progress and draws from the literature, experiential knowledge, positivism and primary research and seeks deep insights that are indicative. The scope of this project is to evaluate whether singing appears to be valuable for VLD amongst these participants, in this context, and according to the methodological limitations of this study, having its intellectual foundation and its implications in education and with a potential to affect curricula strongly. The method for my research project involves pre-test and post-test, comparative analysis with a Speaking Group, plus probing analysis within the overall research findings. The study is of an insufficient size for generalisation and takes place within the field instead of a clinical environment. However, participant observation and detailed scrutiny used the primary data gathering tool, which is “Test of Receptive and Expressive Language Abilities” (TRELA). The TRELA was specifically designed to measure VLD in Greek children with ASD. The components of the study, namely singing, VLD, and Greek children with ASD aged 5 to 11 years old, frame the research project's contribution to original knowledge and have the potential to influence curriculafor children with ASD. This is an interdisciplinary research project that transformatively draws from the fieldsof m usic-singing, speech therapy, and ASD (teaching and learning of children with ASD). This research in the field of special education calls, if possible, for the involvement of speech therapists trained on this particular test of measurement, musicians or educators with basic music knowledge and singing experience, and special educators in ASD. In health-related research, interdisciplinary approaches are becoming more and more necessary and should be taught as a standard research methodology instead of being the exception that leads to random, unsystematic events. Despite not using inferential statistics, this educational study is regarded as quantitative in nature because it counts, measures, and compares progress. Furthermore, it is regarded as positivist since it clearly seeks to determine whether this advancement is objectively true, hopes to generalise this to intervention for more children, and incorporates psychological processes like motivation and engagement. The gathered qualitative data improve our comprehension of the objective measurements and offer context for the quantitative data. Overall, this study demonstrates much better progress in the SiG participants who used singing to develop their verbal language and that is important in order to continue further research into this approach. The progress with VLD of the children in the SiG agrees with the finding of previous research in the field. The researcher concluded that there is value in the empirical study's experimentation but a larger sample size is required to be able to respond to this with certainty and further research needs to take place because the positive findings make a contribution to the field and could affect curricula

Educação, ciência e verdade em tempos de “miséria do saber”

The present study seeks to understand the breadth of the phenomena of scientific negationism, revisionism, relativism, as well as the so-called fake news from the context of the structural crisis of capital, which is indeed hyper-dimensioned by the pandemic of COVID-19. We seek to analyze the contribution of post-modern theories that, together with economic and political issues, have propitiated a crisis in the criteria of truth, reality and, above all, in the relevance of the knowledge elaborated in the face of common sense, a context that we call “misery of knowledge”. For such analyzes, we pay attention to the relevance of the method of historical and dialectical materialism in the configuration of the truth category, distancing itself, on the one hand, from a positivist matrix with its proposition of absolute truth and, on the other, from its opposite, that is, from the assumption that there is no idea of ​​truth at all.Este estudio busca comprender la amplitud de los fenómenos del negacionismo científico, revisionismo, relativismo, así como las llamadas fake news en la producción de conocimiento desde el contexto de la crisis estructural del capital, que de hecho está hiperdimensionado por el pandemia de COVID-19. Buscamos analizar el aporte de las teorías posmodernas que, junto con cuestiones económicas y políticas, han propiciado una crisis en los criterios de verdad, realidad y, sobre todo, en la relevancia del conocimiento desarrollado frente al sentido común, un contexto que llamamos “miseria del conocimiento”. Para tales análisis, prestamos atención a la actualidad del método del materialismo histórico y dialéctico en la configuración de la categoría de verdad, distanciándose, por un lado, de una matriz positivista con su proposición de verdad absoluta y, por el otro, de su opuesto, es decir, del supuesto de que no hay idea alguna de verdad.O presente estudo procura compreender a amplitude dos fenômenos do negacionismo científico, do revisionismo, do relativismo, bem como, das chamadas fake news na produção do conhecimento a partir do contexto de crise estrutural do capital, deveras hiper dimensionada pela pandemia da COVID-19. Buscamos analisar a contribuição das teorias da pós-modernidade que, junto às questões econômicas e políticas, propiciaram uma crise nos critérios de verdade, realidade e, sobretudo, na relevância do saber elaborado frente ao senso comum, contexto que denominamos de “miséria do saber”. Para tais análises, atentamos para a atualidade do método do materialismo histórico e dialético na configuração da categoria verdade distanciando-se, por um lado de uma matriz positivista com sua proposição de verdade absoluta e, por outro, de seu contrário, isto é, da suposição de inexistência por completo de uma ideia de verdade

Wh(y) Facebook? En kvalitativ studie om hur Generation Y samspelar med sina gemenskaper på den virtuella mötesplatsen Facebook.

Syfte: Syftet med vår uppsats är att ta reda på hur och på vilka sätt Generation Y (80-talisten) agerar med sina gemenskaper på den virtuella mötesplatsen Facebook. Metod: Uppsatsen är av kvalitativ karaktär och bygger på en metod som kallas fokusgrupp. Målet med fokusgrupper är att deltagarnas åsikter ska komma till tals och diskussionerna utgår från deltagarnas erfarenheter av ett specifikt ämne. Vi har även använt oss av en expertintervju för att få ett övergripande perspektiv på vårt forskningsområde. Teori: Utifrån Anthony Giddens ser vi hur följden av den senmoderna eran har påverkat individers sätt att förhålla sig till sociala relationer och kommunikation med andra. Vi beskriver hur Generation Y interagerar och använder sig av kommunikationsverktyget Facebook för att vidmakthålla sina relationer och ha ”koll” på sina vänner. Att bli övervakad och att övervaka andra återkom många gånger i diskussionen i fokusgruppen och som vi analyserar med hjälp av E. J Westlake och Erwing Goffman. Utifrån Sherry Turkle behandlar vi hur dagens individer förhåller sig till den mediala verkligheten. Slutsats/resultat: Generation Y agerar på Facebook på ett synnerligen medvetet sätt. Självpresentationen och tillåtelse till att bli övervakad är två utmärkande drag som karaktäriserar 80-talisternas agerande med sina gemenskaper på Facebook

Milk and conjugated linoleic acid a review of the effects on human health

Dairy products and milk play an important role in a healthy diet as they contribute to the intake of essential nutrients, high-quality proteins, and fats. Despite the large number of existing studies on the possible association between dairy products and chronic degenerative diseases, studies examining the effects of dairy products and milk on the risk of common causes of mortality such as cardiovascular and neoplastic diseases are scarce and conflicting. Some studies have reported an increased risk of cardiovascular diseases for individuals who consume large amounts of cheese, whereas others have shown no relationship between these products and atherosclerotic biomarkers

Adipose-Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells in the Regeneration of Vocal Folds: A Study on a Chronic Vocal Fold Scar

Background. The aim of the study was to assess the histological effects of autologous infusion of adipose-derived stem cells (ADSC) on a chronic vocal fold scar in a rabbit model as compared to an untreated scar as well as in injection of hyaluronic acid. Study Design. Animal experiment. Method. We used 74 New Zealand rabbits. Sixteen of them were used as control/normal group. We created a bilateral vocal fold wound in the remaining 58 rabbits. After 18 months we separated our population into three groups. The first group served as control/scarred group. The second one was injected with hyaluronic acid in the vocal folds, and the third received an autologous adipose-derived stem cell infusion in the scarred vocal folds (ADSC group). We measured the variation of thickness of the lamina propria of the vocal folds and analyzed histopathologic changes in each group after three months. Results. The thickness of the lamina propria was significantly reduced in the group that received the ADSC injection, as compared to the normal/scarred group. The collagen deposition, the hyaluronic acid, the elastin levels, and the organization of elastic fibers tend to return to normal after the injection of ADSC. Conclusions. Autologous injection of adipose-derived stem cells on a vocal fold chronic scar enhanced the healing of the vocal folds and the reduction of the scar tissue, even when compared to other treatments

Heterozygous GHR gene mutation in a child with idiopathic short stature

Several monogenic defects have been reported to be associated with idiopathic short stature. Focusing on growth hormone receptor (GHR)-gene alterations, the heterozygosity of the same gene defect may be associated with a range of growth deficits. We found a heterozygous mutation (V144I) within exon 6 of the GHR gene in a patient with a low level of insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I), normal level of GH, and severe short stature. Despite the lack of statistical difference, an overall tendency for reduced wt-GH-induction of GHR activation and Jak/Stat signalling in cells transiently expressing GHR-V144I alone or co-expressing wt-GHR compared to cells expressing only wt-GHR was found when GH doses were increased. Our results suggest that, although GHR sequence variants are responsible for some functional alterations commonly observed in children with idiopathic short stature, these changes may not explain all the height deficits observed in these subject

Inhibin secretion in women with the polycystic ovary syndrome before and after treatment with progesterone

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Objectives</p> <p>It has been suggested that inhibin secretion is altered in women with the polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). However, the contribution of a preceding luteal phase has not been taken into account. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether progesterone in the context of a simulated luteal phase affects basal and FSH-induced inhibin secretion in women with PCOS and elevated LH.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Ten women with PCOS and 8 normally cycling women participated in an experimental procedure (Exp) involving the administration of a single injection of recombinant FSH (450 IU sc). In the women with PCOS, the procedure was performed before (Exp 1) and after a 20-day treatment with progesterone (Exp 2), while in the normal women on day 2 of the cycle (Exp 3). Inhibin A and B levels were measured in blood samples taken before and 24 hours after the FSH injection.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Basal LH levels were significantly higher and inhibin A levels were significantly lower in the PCOS group compared to the control group, while inhibin B levels were comparable in the two groups. In the PCOS group, after treatment with progesterone inhibin A and LH but not inhibin B levels decreased significantly (p < 0.05). After the FSH injection, inhibin A and B levels increased significantly in the women with PCOS (Exp 1 and Exp 2) but not in the control women (Exp 3).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>In women with PCOS, as compared to control women, the dissimilar pattern of inhibin A and inhibin B secretion in response to FSH appears to be independent of a preceding simulated luteal phase. It is possible that compared to normal ovaries, the PCOS ovaries are less sensitive to endogenous LH regarding inhibin A secretion and more sensitive to exogenous FSH stimulation in terms of inhibin A and inhibin B secretion.</p

Understanding languages and building literacies for citizens education

In the school context, the theme of digital citizenship is equally crucial and cumbersome. Since citizen’s education is the A-aim of the educational system, nowadays school must deal with the new and complex dimension that the concept of citizenship took on in the last decades. Nevertheless, school must face topics such as technology or globalization in observance of the national and international policies but also staying loyal to its cultural and educational role. In our contribution, we assume that analytic philosophy is the cultural ground for an “unblackboxing” approach to languages; we also analyse an exploratory research aimed at ensuring the growth of basic literacy for citizenship and digital citizenship developed in this framework