A preliminary description of haptices in Italian social-haptic communication: a phonological perspective

Deafblind individuals experience a combination of partial/complete loss of hearing and sight. They use a variety of communication modes, amongst which social-haptic communication (SHC), which consists of brief tactile messages performed on the body of the deafblind person (haptices). A phonological-like structure can be observed in SHC if we consider the smallest units of touch individuated by Lahtinen (2008), called haptemes. Haptemes can create minimal contrasts in haptices. This contribution discusses whether the recently created Italian haptices also have a phonological structure. According to a preliminary analysis, Italian haptices seem to have their own form of phonology, which responds to physical constraints of signal transmission (such as tactile perceptibility) and to pragmatic contextual factors

E-COURSES USING SIGN LANGUAGE TO PROVIDE DEAF PEOPLE WITH A BASIC KNOWLEDGE OF LINGUISTICS

During the last two decades, Europe has witnessed a huge application of ICT and e-content in the vocational and educational training sectors. Due to the restrictions on personal contact caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the use of e-learning tools has increased even more and there is an urgent need for digital education opportunities. Although lifelong e-learning is more important than ever, suitable opportunities for deaf and hard of hearing people are still scarce. Hearing people often believe that texts or close captions are enough to make online materials accessible. However, due to a lack of bilingual education in most countries, the majority of deaf people still has not fully mastered their national written language. Deaf people are therefore mostly excluded from using existing e-learning courses, as the contents are not fully comprehensible to them. In contrast, sign language is not only completely accessible, but also the first or preferred language for many deaf people. Therefore it is vital to offer them e-learning in their own visual language. During earlier projects, we noticed that many deaf adults lacked a basic knowledge about languages and how they work. Being aware of the general properties of languages, as well as their forms and functions, aids people in learning any language and/or improving their language skills. This is especially important for deaf people for whom even the spoken language of their home country is often a second language and who frequently struggle to learn foreign languages. We decided to approach this problem with the Erasmus+ project “Deaf Language Awareness”, which addresses the need for accessible e-learning material suitable for deaf adults, while enhancing language awareness amongst deaf people. It provides deaf people with bilingual e-courses where all content is presented both in the national sign language and the national written language. The e-courses cover 18 topics related to language awareness, massively exploiting visual resources such as pictures, animations and sign language videos. The e-courses have been developed with Articulate Storyline 3: a software which allows the designer to create customized interactive multimedia materials, ranging from animations to exercises, without needing any programming skills. The finished HTML5 courses may be viewed on different devices (PC, tablet, smartphone) - the program will automatically adapt the contents according to each device - or integrated into a Learning Management System (LMS). We developed the contents first, then designed the e-courses (each of the four partner countries was responsible for 4-5 courses). These were then translated into the other three languages, using an in-built translation feature offered by Articulate Storyline. Adhering to the guiding principle "Nothing about us without us", each national team involves deaf consultants who are co-responsible for the translation into sign language as well as checking the understandability of the contents and the finished courses. Although the work on the courses is still going on, it has been affected by COVID-19, making face-to-face meetings and the filming of the sign language videos in a professional studio temporarily impossible. Our goal is that not only will deaf people profit from the "Deaf Language Awareness" courses, but that this design will also offer a model for similar courses in other languages as well as on other topics

"Deaf Learning": Using a Visual Method to Teach Written Language to the Deaf

The majority of deaf people prefer to use the visual channel for communication, choosing a national sign language instead of a spoken language. In many countries, Deaf education is still not bilingual, therefore deaf people frequently have problems with learning and using the written language of their country. The Erasmus+ project "Deaf Learning" addresses the need for a visually-oriented written language course for the levels from A1 to B2. The main target group is that of young deaf adults aged 16 to 25 years. A secondary target group are older deaf people who are interested in improving their written language competence

Análise de viabilidade econômica de redes ferroviárias em Santa Catarina

TCC (graduação) - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina. Campus Joinville. Engenharia Ferroviária.A escolha do governo brasileiro por priorizar o transporte rodoviário na década de 1950 resultou em uma dependência que dura até hoje, tal que a malha rodoviária não acompanha mais o crescimento do país, gerando esgotamento da oferta viária. Em Santa Catarina, a malha ferroviária possui 1.361 quilômetros de extensão usados predominantemente para transporte de cargas e 108.046,7 quilômetros de rodovias, sendo as únicas linhas de passageiros existentes no estado utilizadas apenas para passeios turísticos. Logo, é necessário um planejamento dos sistemas de transporte para permitir a implantação de novos serviços para os usuários. O objetivo deste trabalho é avaliar a viabilidade de construção de ferrovias de passageiros em Santa Catarina, considerando as características territoriais e socioeconômicas do estado, e atuais padrões de deslocamento observados. Para isso, as etapas de geração e distribuição de viagens, divisão modal e alocação de fluxos de tráfego do Modelo 4 Etapas é utilizada como ferramenta de planejamento do novo sistema de transportes. Além disso, é feita uma estimativa de custos e benefícios econômicos gerados por cada rede estudada, bem como a relação entre esses indicados. Os resultados obtidos indicaram diferença positiva entre benefícios e custos todas redes propostas e, portanto, a razão entre eles atingiu valores suficientes para considerar os investimentos viáveis nas condições estudadas.The Brazilian government's choice to prioritize road transport in the 1950s resulted in a dependency that lasts until today. The expansion of road network does not follow the country growth, causing a depletion of the road supply. In Santa Catarina, there are 1,361 kilometers of railways, used mostly for freight transportation, against 108,046.7 kilometers of highways. The only passenger lines in the state are for tourist purposes. Therefore, planning transport systems is required to allow the implantation of new services for the users. This study aims to assess the feasibility of construction of passenger railways in Santa Catarina, considering theterritorial and socioeconomic features of the state, and the observed current trip patterns. The trips generation and distribution, mode choice and route assignment steps of the traditional Four-stage Model is considered as a planning tool to study the new transportation system. Furthermore, an estimation of economic costs and benefits generated by each studied network is made, as well as the relation between these factors. The results show a positive difference between benefits and costs in all of the scenarios considered and, therefore, the ratio between them reaches high enough values to consider feasible the investments under the studied conditions

Evaluation of a Rail-Orientated Researcher Links Workshop

This paper presents the results from a rail-orientated researcher links workshop, which was organised in Joinville, Brazil. The aim of the workshop was to discuss congestion in Brazil. Thirty-four participants from the UK and Brazil attended the workshop. Feedback forms have been distributed. The information collected has been analysed statistically. The results from the statistical analysis show very positive views of the workshop

Muito mais do que um exercício metodológico interdisciplinar, tratou-se de um exercício existencial inigualável: An Interview with Laura Maria Goulart Duarte

Entrevista com a professora Laura Maria Goulart Duarte sobre a construção de um Atlas que ilustra como as mudanças climáticas e econômicas estão transformando paisagens, identidades e modos de vida entre beduínos do Egito

Evaluation of a Rail-Orientated Researcher Links Workshop

This paper presents the results from a rail-orientated researcher links workshop, which was organised in Joinville, Brazil. The aim of the workshop was to discuss congestion in Brazil. Thirty-four participants from the UK and Brazil attended the workshop. Feedback forms have been distributed. The information collected has been analysed statistically. The results from the statistical analysis show very positive views of the workshop

Predictive Value of Pre-Operative 2D and 3D Transthoracic Echocardiography in Patients Undergoing Mitral Valve Repair: Long Term Follow Up of Mitral Valve Regurgitation Recurrence and Heart Chamber Remodeling

: The "ideal" management of asymptomatic severe mitral regurgitation (MR) in valve prolapse (MVP) is still debated. The aims of this study were to identify pre-operatory parameters predictive of residual MR and of early and long-term favorable remodeling after MVP repair. We included 295 patients who underwent MV repair for MVP with pre-operatory two- and three-dimensional transthoracic echocardiography (2DTTE and 3DTTE) and 6-months (6M) and 3-years (3Y) follow-up 2DTTE. MVP was classified by 3DTTE as simple or complex and surgical procedures as simple or complex. Pre-operative echo parameters were compared to post-operative values at 6M and 3Y. Patients were divided into Group 1 (6M-MR < 2) and Group 2 (6M-MR ≥ 2), and predictors of MR 2 were investigated. MVP was simple in 178/295 pts, and 94% underwent simple procedures, while in only 42/117 (36%) of complex MVP a simple procedure was performed. A significant relation among prolapse anatomy, surgical procedures and residual MR was found. Post-operative MR ≥ 2 was present in 9.8%: complex MVP undergoing complex procedures had twice the percentage of MR ≥ 2 vs. simple MVP and simple procedures. MVP complexity resulted independent predictor of 6M-MR ≥ 2. Favorable cardiac remodeling, initially found in all cases, was maintained only in MR < 2 at 3Y. Pre-operative 3DTTE MVP morphology identifies pts undergoing simple or complex procedures predicting MR recurrence and favorable cardiac remodeling

Generation and characterization of three human induced pluripotent stem cell lines (EURACi007-A, EURACi008-A, EURACi009-A) from three different individuals of the same family with arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy (ACM) carrying the plakophillin2 p.N346Lfs*12 mutation.

Abstract Arrhythmogenic Cardiomyopathy (ACM) is a genetically based cardiomyopathy associated with ventricular arrhythmias and fibro-fatty substitution of cardiac tissue. It is characterized by incomplete penetrance. We generated human iPSCs by episomal reprogramming of blood cells from three members of the same family: the proband, affected by ACM and carrying the heterozygous plakophillin2 p.N346Lfs*12 mutation, one asymptomatic carrier of the same mutation and one apparently healthy control. hiPSCs were characterized according to standard protocols including karyotyping, pluripotency marker expression and differentiation towards the three germ layers. These hiPSC lines can be used to study the mechanisms of ACM incomplete penetrance in vitro

The impact of sex and physical performance on long-term mortality in older patients with myocardial infarction

Background: Sex influences outcome of patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS). If there is a relationship between sex and physical performance is unknown. Methods: The analysis is based on older (≥70 years) ACS patients included in the FRASER, HULK, and LONGEVO SCA prospective studies. Physical performance was assessed by Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB). The primary outcome was all-cause mortality. Results: The study included 1388 patients, and 441 (32%) were women. At presentation, women were older and more compromised than men. After a median follow-up of 998 [730-1168] days, all-cause death occurred in 334 (24.1%) patients. At univariate analysis, female sex was related to increased risk of death. After adjustments for confounding factors, female sex was no longer associated with mortality. Women showed poor physical performance compared with men (p < 0.001). SPPB values emerged as an independent predictor of death. Including clinical features and SPPB in the multivariable model, we observed a paradigm shift in the prognostic role of female sex that becomes a protective factor (HR 0.73, 95% CI 0.56-0.96). Sex and physical performance showed a significant interaction (p = 0.03). For lower SPPB values (poor physical performance), sex-related changes in mortality were not recorded, while in patients with higher SPPB values (preserved physical performance), female sex was associated with better survival. Conclusions: Two key findings emerged from the present real-life cohort of older ACS patients: (i) physical performance strongly influences long-term mortality; (ii) women with preserved physical performance have a better outcome compared to me