Families with autistic children: international literature

Esse artigo revisou os 39 artigos publicados nos últimos cinco anos em três periódicos (Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, Focus on Autism and Other Developmental Disorders e Autism) a respeito de famílias com crianças autistas. Ele aponta para cinco grandes temas abordados: estresse e dificuldades emocionais, grupos de suporte e qualidade de vida, características das famílias, perspectivas das famílias a respeito da criança autista, e resultados de intervenção.This article reviewed the 39 papers published in the last five years in three journals (Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, Focus on Autism and Other Developmental Disorders and Autism) about families with autistic children. It points out to five main issues that were studied: stress and emotional disorders, support groups and quality of life, characteristics of the families, family's perspectives about the autistic child, and intervention results

People with disabilities: between needs and health care

This study traces the profile of people with disabilities, as well as their health needs, in a neighborhoodof Salvador, State of Bahia. In this, the life and health conditions of people with disabilities in the context theylive were studied. The research was carried out in two coverage areas of the Community Health Workers Program(“Programa de Agentes Comunitários de Saúde”), where open-ended questionnaires were conducted with peoplewith physical and sensory disabilities. Socio-demographic variables on disability and access to services and projectsfor future life were selected. Results showed that the population is comprised predominantly of adults and elderly,African descent, female, with average income between half and three minimum wages, poorly educated, presentingdifficulties in relation to access to health services in the neighborhood and the city. People with disabilities refer tothe need of specialized health care in the neighborhood, improvements in life conditions, and expressed the desireto resume the activities they used to perform before the disability. These data reveal a population characterizedby a multifaceted complex of collective exclusion and deprivation and point to the need for understanding socialprocesses when improving the assistance offered to the population. To this end, it is necessary to rehabilitate thePrimary Health Care as a strategy of relevance to changes in health care for people with disabilities

Social-communicative adaptation and Autism Behavior Checklist: associations in the evolution of institutionalized adolescents with autism

OBJETIVO: Verificar a existência de correlação entre os resultados encontrados no Perfil Funcional da Comunicação, o desempenho sócio-cognitivo, o Autistic Behavior Checklist e a adaptação sócio-comunicativa ao longo de seis meses. MÉTODOS: Foram sujeitos dessa pesquisa oito adolescentes autistas institucionalizados que foram avaliados quanto ao perfil funcional da comunicação e desempenho sócio-cognitivo. Os pais, terapeutas e cuidadores da instituição responderam aos questionários de Adaptação Sócio-Comunicativa e da Autistic Behavior Checklist no início da pesquisa e seis meses depois. Os dados obtidos foram submetidos à análise estatística não paramétrica. RESULTADOS: A maior pontuação no Autistic Behavior Checklist está relacionada a menores escores no desempenho sócio-cognitivo e menor número de atos comunicativos. CONCLUSÃO: Houve correlações entre os resultados da Autistic Behavior Checklist e o perfil funcional da comunicação e o desempenho sócio-cognitivo, mas os resultados da adaptação sócio-comunicativa não se correlacionaram com nenhuma das variáveis.PURPOSE: To verify the existence of correlation between the results found in the Functional Communicative Profile, the social-cognitive performance, the Autism Behavior Checklist, and the social-communicative adaptation along a period of six months. METHODS: Participants were eight institutionalized adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorders, assessed regarding their functional communicative profile and social-cognitive performance. Parents, caretakers and therapists answered the Social-Communicative Adaptation and the Autistic Behavior Checklist questionnaires in the beginning of the study and six months later. Data were statistically analyzed using non-parametric techniques. RESULTS: Higher scores on the Autistic Behavior Checklist are associated to lower scores on social-cognitive performance and to lower number of communicative acts. CONCLUSION: There is association between the results in the Autistic Behavior Checklist and the functional communicative profile and the social-communicative performance, but the results in the social-communicative adaptation are not correlated with any of the other variables

Impacts of warming on aquatic decomposers along a gradient of cadmium stress

We evaluated the effects of cadmium and temperature on plant-litter decomposition by examining diversity and activity of aquatic fungi and leaf consumption by Limnephilus sp., a typical invertebrate shredder of Iberian streams. Freshly fallen leaves were immersed in a stream to allow microbial colonization, and were exposed in microcosms to a gradient of cadmium (≤11 levels, ≤35 mg L-1 ). Microcosms were kept at 15 ºC, a temperature typically found in Iberian streams in autumn, and at 21 ºC to simulate a warming scenario. The increase in temperature stimulated leaf decomposition by microbes, fungal reproduction and leaf consumption by the shredder. Conversely, increased cadmium concentrations inhibited fungal reproduction and diversity, and leaf consumption by the invertebrate. Cadmium concentration inhibiting 50% of fungal reproduction, microbial decomposition and leaf consumption by the shredder was higher at 15 ºC than at 21 ºC, suggesting that higher temperatures can lead to increased metal toxicity to aquatic decomposers.This study was supported by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology through the projects PTDC/CLI/67180/2006 (FCOMP-01-0124-FEDER-007112) and PEst-C/BIA/UI4050/2011

Are aquatic fungi able to evaluate microplastic impacts on leaf litter decomposition process?

Microplastics (MPs) have been recognized as a threat, and an ecotoxicological risk for aquatic ecosystems. MPs toxicity is determined by their physical and chemical properties, including particle size, shape, surface area or polymer type. Aquatic hyphomycetes are a group of fungi that have the greatest ecological effects on freshwater ecosystems, as they are involved in a key process on these ecosystems, the decomposition of plant litter in streams. These fungi have the ability to degrade and consequently transform leaf material into a more suitable food source for stream detritivores, being important mediators in the energy and nutrient transfer to higher trophic levels. The knowledge on the impacts of MPs on aquatic fungi and the processes they driven is very scarce, so the main goal of this study was to assess the impacts of different sizes of MPs (fragments, FR; and pellets, PE) on the leaf litter decomposition, measuring functional aspects such as leaf mass loss, fungal reproduction and activity of plant litter degrading enzymes. A microcosm experiment was used with monocultures and combinations up to three aquatic hyphomycetes species (Articulospora tetracladia, Tricladium splendens, and Heliscus lugdunensis), where concentrations of FR (0.5 and 2 g L-1) and PE (2 g L-1) were added. We expected that: i) the presence of FR could negatively affect all functional aspects; ii) the impacts of the PE could not be so strong as FR impacts, as PE has a bigger size than FR; iii) the traits of the fungal species would matter to face MP exposure because the traits of certain fungal species may be of greater importance than species number to maintain ecological processes. FR or PE led to a stimulation of leaf mass loss especially in combinations of two aquatic hyphomycetes. Consequently, the activity of degrading enzymes increased in the presence of 0.5 g L-1 FR and PE. Fungal sporulation rate increased in the presence of FR, especially for monocultures and combinations of three aquatic hyphomycetes, while the presence of PE decreased fungal sporulation in combinations of the three aquatic hyphomycetes. Our results showed the MPs influence in the activity and diversity of microbial decomposers, putting at risk the processes they drive in freshwaters. This suggest the aquatic hyphomycetes as potential microorganisms to be used to evaluate the MPs impacts on leaf decomposition process

Garotas da Capa: Pin-upisação e identidade cultural nas revistas GQ Brasil e GQ Portugal

As we had identified the social phenomenon of pin-upization in Brazil, in this paper, we aim to reflect about the ideals of femininity that are taken as the representation of the cultural identity and national culture, expressed in one body that are aestheticized as pin-up: the Brazilian actress Grazi Massafera, “The Brazilian pin-up” in the November 2011 issue of GQ Brazil. Assembling the frame analysis of Goffman and the methodological procedure of comparison of visual texts based on Loizos, we present a comparative study between this media insertion, the pin-up girls of Gil Elvgren and the photo shoot “The pin-up of Praça da Ribeira” that is played by the Portuguese actress Dânia Neto, in the December 2010 issue of GQ Portugal, with the aim to analyze this frame of Brazilian women and, from there, to understand the social expectations about the appropriated performance of the feminine gender that are involved in this movement.Diante da identificação do fenômeno social da pin-upisação no Brasil, o presente trabalho visa refletir sobre os ideais de feminilidade tomados como representação da identidade e cultura nacional, como se expressa no corpo pin-upisado da atriz brasileira Grazi Massafera, a “A pin-up brasileira” na GQ Brasil de novembro de 2011. Acionando a análise de enquadramento de Goffman e o procedimento metodológico de comparação de textos visuais baseado em Loizos, apresentamos aqui um estudo comparativo entre a referida inserção midiática, as pin-ups de Gil Elvgren e o ensaio fotográfico “A pin-up da Praça da Ribeira”, protagonizado pela atriz portuguesa Dânia Neto, na GQ Portugal de dezembro de 2010, com o objetivo de analisar tal enquadramento da mulher brasileira e, a partir disso, perceber as expectativas sociais quanto a performance adequada do gênero feminino que são implicadas nesse movimento

DESVIOS NA FLECHA DO TEMPO: AUTORIA NEGRA E O ESQUECIMENTO MODERNISTA

O artigo discute a questão do silenciamento das autorias negras dentro do registro modernista, observando as implicações geradas dentro da constituição da historiografia literária e para a própria concepção de tempo brasileiro em suas instâncias pretéritas e prolépticas. A partir da elaboração teórica de Denise Ferreira da Silva para o “evento racial” e das reflexões de Kodwo Eshun acerca da circularidade do tempo afrofuturista, traçamos algumas linhas sobre Lima Barreto como figura entrópica da literatura brasileira, embora marginalizado do cânone modernista.The paper discusses the issue of silencing black authors within the modernist register, observing the implications generated within the constitution of literary historiography and for the very conception of Brazilian time in its past and proleptic instances. Based on Denise Ferreira da Silva's theoretical elaboration on the "racial event" and on Kodwo Eshun's reflections on the circularity of Afrofuturist time, we draw some lines on Lima Barreto as an entropic figure in Brazilian literature, although marginalized from the modernist canon