Eye-movements and visual imagery: A working memory approach to the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder

It has been claimed that the symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) can be ameliorated by eye-movement desensitization-reprocessing therapy (EMD-R), a procedure that involves the individual making saccadic eye-movements while imagining the traumatic event. We hypothesized that these eye-movements reduce the vividness of distressing images by disrupting the function of the visuospatial sketchpad (VSSP) of working memory, and that by doing so they reduce the intensity of the emotion associated with the image. This hypothesis was tested by asking non-PTSD participants to form images of neutral and negative pictures under dual task conditions. Their images were less vivid with concurrent eye-movements and with a concurrent spatial tapping task that did not involve eye-movements. In the first three experiments, these secondary tasks did not consistently affect participants' emotional responses to the images. However, Expt 4 used personal recollections as stimuli for the imagery task, and demonstrated a significant reduction in emotional response under the same dual task conditions. These results suggest that, if EMD-R works, it does so by reducing the vividness and emotiveness of traumatic images via the VSSP of working memory. Other visuospatial tasks may also be of therapeutic value.

An fMRI Normative Database for Connectivity Networks Using One-Class Support Vector Machines

The application of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in neuroscience studies has increased enormously in the last decade. Although primarily used to map brain regions activated by specific stimuli, many studies have shown that fMRI can also be useful in identifying interactions between brain regions (functional and effective connectivity). Despite the widespread use of fMRI as a research tool, clinical applications of brain connectivity as studied by fMRI are not well established. One possible explanation is the lack of normal pattern, and intersubject variability-two variables that are still largely uncharacterized in most patient populations of interest. In the current study, we combine the identification of functional connectivity networks extracted by using Spearman partial correlation with the use of a one-class support vector machine in order construct a normative database. An application of this approach is illustrated using an fMRI dataset of 43 healthy Subjects performing a visual working memory task. In addition, the relationships between the results obtained and behavioral data are explored. Hum Brain Mapp 30:1068-1076, 2009. (C) 2008 Wiley-Liss. Inc.

Class I malocclusion treatment: Influence of a missing mandibular incisor on anterior guidance

This case report describes the orthodontic treatment of a patient with a deep-overbite Angle Class I malocclusion, agenesis of a mandibular central incisor, and 2 supernumerary teeth, which caused impaction of the mandibular first premolars. The 15-year-old patient also had a convex profile, maxillary dentoalveolar protrusion, and deficiency of space for the correct alignment of teeth. Therefore, treatment consisted of fixed appliance therapy, cervical headgear, extraction of the supernumeraries and the mandibular and maxillary first premolars, and mesiodistal reduction of the maxillary incisors to solve the arch perimeter discrepancy as much as possible with interproximal stripping. This method of treatment significantly improved the patient`s facial and dental esthetics and provided a good functional occlusion, despite the absence of a mandibular incisor, which generally impairs achieving adequate incisal guidance. (Am J Orthod Dentofacial Orthop 2010;138:109-17)

Effects of the pendulum appliance, cervical headgear, and 2 premolar extractions followed by fixed appliances in patients with Class II malocclusion

Introduction: In this retrospective study, we compared the cephalometric effects, the dental-arch changes, and the efficiency of Class II treatment with the pendulum appliance, cervical headgear, or extraction of 2 maxillary premolars, all associated with fixed appliance therapy. Methods: The sample of 82 patients with Class II malocclusion was divided into 3 groups: group 1 patients (n = 22; treatment time, 3.8 years) were treated with the pendulum appliance and fixed orthodontic appliances. Group 2 patients (n = 30; treatment time, 3.2 years) were treated with cervical headgear followed by fixed appliances; group 3 patients (n = 30; treatment time, 2.1 years) were treated with 2 maxillary premolar extractions and fixed appliances. The average starting ages of the groups ranged from 13.2 to 13.8 years. Data were obtained from serial cephalometric measurements and dental casts. The dental casts were analyzed with the treatment priority index. The treatment efficiency index was also used. Results: The 3 treatment protocols produced similar cephalometric effects, especially skeletally. Comparisons among the 2 distalizing appliances (pendulum and cervical headgear) and extraction of 2 maxillary premolars for Class II treatment showed changes primarily in the maxillary dentoalveolar component and dental relationships. The facial profile was similar after treatment, except for slightly more retrusion of the upper lip in the extraction patients. The treatment priority index demonstrated that occlusal outcomes also were similar among the groups. The treatment efficiency index had higher values for the extraction group. Conclusions: The effects of treatment with the pendulum appliance or cervical headgear and extraction of 2 maxillary premolars associated with fixed appliances were similar from both occlusal and cephalometric standpoints. Class II treatment with extraction of maxillary teeth was more efficient because of the shorter treatment time. Differences in maxillary incisor retraction should be noted, but these differences might have been due to greater maxillary dentoalveolar protrusion in the extraction group before treatment. (Am J Orthod Dentofacial Orthop 2009;136:833-42)

Comparative efficiency of Class II malocclusion treatment with the pendulum appliance or two maxillary premolar extractions and edgewire appliances

The objective of this study was to compare, on study models and initial cephalograms, the efficiency of Class II malocclusion treatment with the pendulum appliance, and with two maxillary premolar extraction protocol. The sample consisted of 48 treated Class II malocclusion patients: group 1 comprised 22 patients (7 males, 15 females) treated with the pendulum appliance, with an initial mean age of 14.44 years and group 2, 26 patients (14 males, 12 females) treated with two maxillary premolar extractions at an initial mean age of 13.66 years. To compare the efficiency of each treatment protocol, the occlusal outcomes were evaluated on dental casts using the Peer Assessment Rating (PAR) Index and the treatment time (TT) of each group was calculated on clinical charts. The degree of treatment efficiency was calculated as the ratio between the percentage of occlusal improvement, evaluated through the PAR index, and TT. Statistical analysis was undertaken by means of t-tests. The findings demonstrated that the two maxillary premolar extraction protocol provided the occlusal outcomes in a shorter time (group 1: 45.7 months, group 2: 23.01 months) and, therefore, demonstrated greater treatment efficiency than the pendulum appliance.

A aprendizagem cooperativa como ferramenta para a inclusão

Dissertação apresentada à Escola Superior de Educação de Lisboa para obtenção do grau de Mestre em Ciências da Educação - Especialização em Educação Especial, Domínio Cognição e Multideficiência

Cognitive assessment of topological movement Patterns and direction turns: An influence of scale

Dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Science in Geospatial Technologies.

Protesting or justifying? A latent class model for contingent valuation with attitudinal data

This article develops a latent class model for estimating willingness-to-pay for public goods using simultaneously contingent valuation (CV) and attitudinal data capturing protest attitudes related to the lack of trust in public institutions providing those goods. A measure of the social cost associated with protest responses and the consequent loss in potential contributions for providing the public good is proposed. The presence of potential justification biases is further considered, that is, the possibility that for psychological reasons the response to the CV question affects the answers to the attitudinal questions. The results from our empirical application suggest that psychological factors should not be ignored in CV estimation for policy purposes, allowing for a correct identification of protest responses.

Investigação das dificuldades na memória de trabalho em alunos do 2º ano do Ensino Fundamental em Manaus: um estudo com a Working Memory Rating Scale

Dissertação de mestrado em Educação Especial (área de especialização em Dificuldades de Aprendizagem Específicas)

Aspirations of Olympism: a framework for considering the athlete’s experience in the Olympic Movement at the close of the twentieth century

The text corresponds to the lecture given by Prof. Kidd as part the programme of activities during his stay in Barcelona in 1996 as invited professor of the International Chair in Olympism (IOC-UAB).

Internet and the Olympic Movement

Paper analysing the increasing importance of Internet in organisations, the evolution of the use of information technology in the Olympic Games and the challenges that Internet can bring to the Olympic Movement. This paper was presented at the 11th IASI World Conference on Sports Information (Lausanne, 25-27 April 2001)

The Olympic Movement and Information Society: New Internet Challenges and Opportunities

Article describing the current situation of the Internet, the use of Internet by sport institutions, and the relationship between the Internet and the Olympic Games, and the Olympic Movement. This paper was presented at the International Symposium on Television in the Olympic Games held in Lausanne in October 1998.

Academic Institutions and the Olympic Movement

This paper was presented in the V Forum on Sport, Education and Culture Forum by the IOC undertaken in Beijing, in October, 2006. This aim of this paper is to explore the potential of the relations between the Olympic Movement and academic institutions, and in particular the role of universities.