Exploring the measurement of vocabulary size to differentiate Brazilian Portuguese-English bilinguals' access to grammatical knowledge in the l2

This study explored the validity of a measure of vocabulary size -- the Vocabulary Levels Test (VLT) -- as a predictor of Brazilian Portuguese-English college level bilinguals capacity to access grammatical representations when using their L2 under temporal pressures. We compared performances in the VLT and in a global test of ability in English L2: the Oxford Placement Test (OPT). Afterwards, participants performed a speeded acceptability judgment task in English, in which a ceiling of 8 seconds was set for each judgment call. Results show that only those participants who classified as high proficiency in both the VLT and the OPT were capable of detecting grammatical violations. We interpret the results as indicating that a measure of vocabulary size is a predictor of both fluency in lexical access and fluency in grammatical knowledge access of L2 speakers. DOI: 10.17074/2238-975X.2015v11n1p187 

O Sistema Capitalista e o Espectro Autista: uma Análise sobre o Capacitismo e Eugenia sob um Olhar Marxista

Este trabalho objetiva demonstrar a relação entre o capitalismo e a promoção de um pensamento eugenista voltado à normalização de corpos para tornar o trabalhador “útil” para continuar produzindo valor. Para isso, se busca explicar sobre a deficiência e o espectro autista, além das diferenças entre os modelos médico e social. Sobre o pensamento eugenista de normalização de corpos autísticos, o foco maior será no Estado nazista alemão. E uma discussão acerca da Análise do Comportamento Aplicada (ABA), com informações sobre sua origem e uso atual para pessoas do espectro autista, com críticas à prática como essa intervenção tem sido normalizadora de corpos autísticos. A conclusão é que em ambos os casos são sintomáticos de como o capitalismo, por meio de medidas mais explícitas como o nazismo, ou medidas mais sutis, como a ABA, acabam por gerar ações excludentes e normalizadoras, sendo em casos mais extremos, onde não seja possível essa normalização, a morte

Selective transfer in the acquisition of english double object constrctions by brazilian learners

The present study investigates the acquisition of the English double object constructions (GOLDBERG, 1995) by Brazilian learners. We hypothesize that, due to first language (L1) influences, the prepositional ditransitive construction (John gave a book to Mary) will be acquired earlier, while the ditransitive construction (John gave Mary a book) will be part of the learner’s interlanguages (SELINKER, 1972) only at the advanced level of proficiency. We also hypothesize that learners may transfer (ODLIN, 1989) the placement of the object pronoun in pre-verbal position from their L1 to their interlanguage in early stages of acquisition (João me deu um livro / *John me gave a book). We test our hypotheses by comparing the performance of three groups of learners (beginning, intermediate, and advanced) and native speakers of English on an acceptability judgment task used as a measure of learnability and generalization. Results confirm the order of acquisition of the English double object constructions predicted for native speakers of Brazilian Portuguese. Moreover, results suggest that, although mother tongue influences may have taken place, they do not do so pervasively, but rather selectively, corroborating the proposal by Kellerman (1983)

INTERNAL CONTROL ENVIRONMENT EVALUATION BY MEANS OF MATURITY MODEL IN GOVERNMENT ORGANIZATIONS

This work aimed to evaluate how mature the internal control environment is in governmental organizations. A maturity model was developed based on the principles of COSO (2013a), being structured into four levels of maturity: incipient, initial, developing and established. The model was assessed by judges (COY; DIXON, 2004) and tested in three governmental organizations by means of multiple-case studies. Just as indicated by results, one of the entities reached the initial maturity level, while the others reached the developing maturity level. Overall, the three organizations revealed incipience as to the maturity of the control environment, especially in spreading ethical standards and in due diligence and competency requirements for the governing body. Finally, the study points out, in a comparative way, aspects necessary to improve the internal control environment structures of each organization and can be useful to the respective managers and control bodies

Early palliative care for improving quality of life and survival in patients with advanced cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Objective: The main goal was to evaluate the effectiveness of early palliative care in patients with advanced cancer. Methods: The search in the MEDLINE/PubMed, CRD, Cochrane Library, CINAHL, EMBASE, Google Scholar, ICTRP and ClinicalTrials.gov databases was conducted in June 2017. Two reviewers independently screened titles and abstracts with consensus agreement. We undertook quality assessment according to GRADE criteria. Randomized Controlled Trials (RCT) that assessed the effectiveness of EPC in adult patients with a diagnosis- advanced cancer were included. The quantitative evidence was summarized in a meta-analysis using random effect models. Results: The selection phase retrieved 14,026 records, 7 papers were included in the meta-analysis. The standardized mean difference the outcomes assessed were: improvement quality of life (0.17 higher; 95% CI; 0.05, 0.29) after 3 months, (0.42 higher; 95% CI; 0.21, 0.63) after 6 months, and (0.16 higher; 95% CI; -0.20, 0.53) after 12 months; improvement of symptom intensity (-0.13 lower; 95% CI; -0.26, 0.00) after 3 months, (-0.27 lower; 95% CI; -0.53, -0.01) after 6 months, and (-0.39 lower; 95% CI; -0.76, -0.03) after 12 months; improve depressive mood (-0.19 lower; 95% CI; - 0.36, -0.01) after 3 months, (-0.21 lower; 95% CI; -0.45, 0.04) after 6 months, and (-0.09 lower; 95% CI; -0.81, 0.63) after 12 months; and survival (OR = 0.71 higher; 95% CI; 0.51, 0.99). Conclusion: Our findings suggest that EPC effectively improves quality of life and consequently increases the likelihood of survival of patients with advanced or metastatic cancer. However, due to worsening of the disease stage over time, a limited effect was observed after 12 months of follow-up

Neurosurgical Tools to Improve Safety and Survival in Patients with Intracranial Tumors: Neuronavigation, MRI, and 5-ALA

This chapter describes the usefulness of surgical technologies such as intraoperative MRI, 5-ALA fluorescence-guided surgery, and neuronavigation as tools to make brain tumor resections safer and more effective. The focuses are practical aspects and the relevant literature regarding the impact of their use in avoidance of complications, improvement in survival rates, and some tips and tricks acquired in the experience of our department. All three strategies have an important role in neuro-oncological surgery. The future probably will prove that the combination of these tools, selected case by case, is the best way to achieve the best results regarding safety and effectiveness

A incorporação imobiliária no registro de imóveis como forma de desjudicialização / Real estate development in the real estate registry as a form of de-judicialization

O presente trabalho tem como objetivo principal analisar a incorporação imobiliária e sua interseção com o registro de imóveis. Para tanto, analisou-se seu conceito, tópico da maior relevância, especialmente para definir a contrario sensu o que não é incorporação imobiliária. Também se analisou a natureza jurídica do registro de imóveis e da incorporação imobiliária. Igualmente, se vislumbrou as diversas modalidades contratuais cabíveis na formatação dos mais diversos modelos de negócio na incorporação imobiliária e como esses negócios têm ingresso no Registro de Imóveis. Por fim, mas não menos importante, foi analisada a importância do patrimônio de afetação e as espécies e natureza jurídica das vagas de garagem no condomínio edilícios

Effects of changes in use and soil cover on real evapotranspiration from the creation of a remote sensing product in the Xingu basin

Diversos estudos comprovaram que as mudanças na cobertura da terra de bacias hidrográficas afetam o ciclo hidrológico e suas variáveis. Na bacia do Xingu muitas áreas tiveram a substituição da vegetação por cultivos agrícolas e pastagens, enquanto outras foram desmatadas, principalmente na região do Arco do Desmatamento. Com as técnicas de sensoriamento remoto, é possível estimar a variável biofísica ETr para grandes áreas, que configura o caso da bacia de estudo. Os dados de evapotranspiração utilizados neste trabalho foram obtidos por meio da criação do produto que retorna a mediana conjugada dos modelos MOD16A2, PML_V2, Terra Climate, GLEAM_v3.3a, FLUXCOM, SSEBop, FLDAS e ERA5-Land, com posterior aplicação dos dados fornecidos pela Coleção 6 da rede MapBiomas, permitindo a união do uso e cobertura do solo com a estimativa da evapotranspiração real para as faixas de conversão: floresta para pasto; floresta para terra agrícola; cerrado para pasto; cerrado para terra agrícola. O intervalo definido para o estudo corresponde aos anos de 1985 a 2020, conforme a série histórica disponível no MapBiomas. Após a aplicação de linguagens de programação para filtrar os dados provenientes, os resultados foram submetidos a testes estatísticos capazes de relacionar os efeitos causados pelas alterações do solo na evapotranspiração. No período total de dados (1985–2020), foram constatados decréscimos nas áreas de floresta (-16,23%), com conversão em áreas de pastagens na ordem de +12,51% e em áreas agrícolas chegando a +5,5%. No mesmo período, a evapotranspiração nas faixas de conversão sofreu alterações ínfimas, tendo destaque apenas no intervalo 2009–2020, quando foi reportada tendência de decréscimo de 0,095 mm/mês para a substituição “floresta para pasto” e a 0,090 mm/mês em “cerrado para pasto".Several studies have shown that changes in land cover within a given watershed significantly affect the hydrological cycle and its variables. In the Xingu basin, many areas had their vegetation replaced by agricultural crops and pastures, while deforestation has been particularly prevalent in the region known as the Arch of Deforestation. Using remote sensing techniques enable the estimation of biophysical variable ETr for extensive areas, as exemplified in the study basin. Evapotranspiration data used in this work were obtained by creating a product that returns the combined median of the MOD16A2, PML_V2, Terra Climate, GLEAM_v3.3a, FLUXCOM, SSEBop, FLDAS, and ERA5-Land models, with subsequent application of the data provided by Collection 6 of the MapBiomas network, allowing the integration of land use and land cover information with real evapotranspiration estimates for the transition ranges: Forest to Pasture; Forest to Agricultural Land; Cerrado to Pasture; Cerrado to Agricultural Land. The interval defined for the study corresponds to the years 1985 to 2020, according to the historical series available on MapBiomas. After applying programming languages to filter the data, the results underwent statistical analysis to elucidate the effects of soil changes on evapotranspiration. Over the total data period (1985-2020), there was a decrease in forest areas (-16.23%), with conversion to pasture areas, in the order of +12.51%, and agricultural areas, reaching +5.5%. In the same timeframe, evapotranspiration in conversion bands underwent minimal changes, notably from 2009 to 2020, where a decreasing trend was reported of 0.095 mm/month for the “forest to pasture” substitution, and 0.090 mm/month in “Cerrado for pasture"