Cognitive stimulation for portuguese older adults with cognitive impairment: a randomized controlled trial of efficacy, comparative duration, feasibility and experiential relevance

Although some studies point to cognitive stimulation as a beneficial therapy for older adults with cognitive impairments, this area of research and practice is still lacking dissemination and is underrepresented in many countries. Moreover, the comparative effects of different intervention durations remain to be established and, besides cognitive effects, pragmatic parameters, such as cost-effectiveness and experiential relevance to participants, are seldom explored. In this work, we present a randomized con- trolled wait-list trial evaluating 2 different intervention durations (standard 1���4 17 vs brief 1���4 11 sessions) of a cognitive stimulation program developed for older adults with cognitive impairments with or without dementia. 20 participants were randomly assigned to the standard duration intervention program (17 sessions, 1.5 months) or to a wait-list group. At postintervention of the standard intervention group, the wait-list group crossed over to receive the brief intervention program (11 sessions, 1 month). Changes in neuropsychological, functionality, quality of life, and caregiver outcomes were evaluated. Experience during intervention and costs and feasibility were also evaluated. The current cognitive stimulation programs (ie, standard and brief) showed high values of experiential relevance for both intervention durations. High adherence, completion rates, and reasonable costs were found for both formats. Further studies are needed to definitively establish the potential efficacy, optimal duration, cost-effectiveness, and experiential relevance for participants of cognitive intervention approaches.

The music of language: an ERP investigation of the effects of musical training on emotional prosody processing

Recent studies have demonstrated the positive effects of musical training on the perception of vocally expressed emotion. This study investigated the effects of musical training on event-related potential (ERP) correlates of emotional prosody processing. Fourteen musicians and fourteen control subjects listened to 228 sentences with neutral semantic content, differing in prosody (one third with neutral, one third with happy and one third with angry intonation), with intelligible semantic content (semantic content condition--SCC) and unintelligible semantic content (pure prosody condition--PPC). Reduced P50 amplitude was found in musicians. A difference between SCC and PPC conditions was found in P50 and N100 amplitude in non-musicians only, and in P200 amplitude in musicians only. Furthermore, musicians were more accurate in recognizing angry prosody in PPC sentences. These findings suggest that auditory expertise characterizing extensive musical training may impact different stages of vocal emotional processing.

The impact of urban noise on primary schools: perceptive evaluation and objective assessment

This paper aims to assess the impact of environmental noise in the vicinity of primary schools and to analyze its influence in the workplace and in student performance through perceptions and objective evaluation. The subjective evaluation consisted of the application of questionnaires to students and teachers, and the objective assessment consisted of measuring in situ noise levels. The survey covered nine classes located in three primary schools. Statistical Package for Social Sciences was used for data processing and to draw conclusions. Additionally, the relationship of the difference between environmental and background noise levels of each classroom and students with difficulties in hearing the teacher�� s voice was examined. Noise levels in front of the school, the schoolyard, and the most noise-exposed classrooms (occupied and unoccupied) were measured. Indoor noise levels were much higher than World Health Organization (WHO) recommended values: LAeq,30min averaged 70.5����dB(A) in occupied classrooms, and 38.6����dB(A) in unoccupied ones. Measurements of indoor and outdoor noise suggest that noise from the outside (road, schoolyard) affects the background noise level in classrooms but in varying degrees. It was concluded that the fa����ades most exposed to road traffic noise are subjected to values higher than 55.0����dB(A), and noise levels inside the classrooms are mainly due to the schoolyard, students, and the road traffic. The difference between background (LA95,30min) and the equivalent noise levels (LAeq,30min) in occupied classrooms was 19.2����dB(A), which shows that students�� activities are a significant source of classroom noise.

Para uma pedagogia das literacias: das conce����es e pr��ticas docentes aos conceitos e compet��ncias discentes. Um estudo da aula de l��ngua portuguesa no 2�� ciclo do ensino b��sico

Tese de Doutoramento em Ci��ncias da Educa����o (Especialidade em Literacias e Ensino do Portugu��s)

Hand gesture recognition system based in computer vision and machine learning: Applications on human-machine interaction

Tese de Doutoramento em Engenharia de Eletr��nica e de Computadores

Modelling and verifying smell-free architectures with the Archery language

Architectural (bad) smells are design decisions found in software architectures that degrade the ability of systems to evolve. This paper presents an approach to verify that a software architecture is smellfree using the Archery architectural description language. The language provides a core for modelling software architectures and an extension for specifying constraints. The approach consists in precisely specifying architectural smells as constraints, and then verifying that software architectures do not satisfy any of them. The constraint language is based on a propositional modal logic with recursion that includes: a converse operator for relations among architectural concepts, graded modalities for describing the cardinality in such relations, and nominals referencing architectural elements. Four architectural smells illustrate the approach.

Real-time monitoring of progression towards renal failure in primary care patients

First published online: December 16, 2014.

An��lise e identifica����o dos termos matem��ticos utilizados no 1�� e 2�� ciclo do ensino b��sico e sua correspond��ncia na l��ngua gestual portuguesa

Disserta����o de mestrado em Educa����o Especial (��rea de especializa����o em Dificuldades de Aprendizagem Espec��ficas)

O papel e a participa����o do terapeuta da fala nas equipas locais de interven����o precoce

Disserta����o de mestrado em Educa����o Especial (��rea de especializa����o em Interven����o Precoce)

O uso do Facebook e as emo����es experienciadas pelas crian��as na ��ptica dos seus professores

Atualmente a rede social mais visitada em todo o mundo �� o Facebook. Al��m de nos permitir ter um perfil pessoal podemos partilhar fotos, v��deos, mensagens e outros ficheiros. No Facebook tamb��m �� permitido criar grupos fechados onde os seus membros podem interagir atrav��s de mensagens escritas, de ��udio, de v��deo e/ou imagens. Tanto esta rede social quanto os grupos dentro da mesma podem ser usados de forma indevida, mas, por outro lado, tamb��m podem ser utilizados para aprender, aprender a fazer, conhecer, desenvolver a linguagem escrita e outras compet��ncias. O nosso estudo teve como objetivo conhecer a perce����o de educadores de inf��ncia e professores de primeiro ciclo do ensino b��sico relativamente ao uso do Facebook por parte das crian��as, bem como ��s emo����es que as crian��as manifestam neste uso. Foi um estudo transversal, para o qual constru��mos e valid��mos um question��rio espec��fico, com quest��es fechadas sobre o uso da respetiva rede social. O instrumento foi disponibilizado e preenchido online atrav��s do Google Forms. A amostra foi de conveni��ncia, tendo sido constitu��da por 75 indiv��duos (69 mulheres, 6 homens) com idades compreendidas entre os 25 e os 56 anos. Os resultados evidenciam que os professores e educadores discordam essencialmente que as crian��as aceitem pedidos de amizade e comuniquem pelo chat do Facebook com pessoas que n��o conhecem, concordando mais que usem para comunicar com familiares e amigos, para aderir a grupos com o objetivo de aprender e que permitem o acesso dos adultos �� sua conta. No respeitante as emo����es e sentimentos registou-se maior discord��ncia quanto ao facto de as crian��as preferirem estar no Facebook do que na presen��a dos seus amigos e de se sentirem dependentes do uso do mesmo. Por��m, observou-se o maior n��vel de concord��ncia para o facto de ficarem aborrecidas se as obrigarem a sair do Facebook.

As pr��ticas de leitura e a sua rela����o com a compreens��o leitora nas aulas de l��nguas

Relat��rio de est��gio de mestrado em Ensino de Portugu��s no 3�� Ciclo do Ensino B��sico e no Ensino Secund��rio e de Espanhol nos Ensinos B��sico e Secund��rio

A avalia����o da flu��ncia oral em crian��as do 3�� ano do ensino b��sico com e sem necessidades educativas especiais: um estudo explorat��rio quantitativo

Disserta����o de mestrado em Educa����o Especial (��rea de especializa����o em Dificuldades de Aprendizagem Espec��ficas)