Languaging the worker:globalized governmentalities in/of language in peripheral spaces

In the introduction to the special issue “Languaging the worker: globalized governmentalities in/of language in peripheral spaces”, we take up the notion of governmentality as a means to interrogate the complex relationship between language, labor, power and subjectivity in peripheral multilingual spaces. Our aim here is to argue for the study of governmentality as a viable and growing approach in critical sociolinguistic research. As such, in this introduction, we first discuss key concepts germane to our interrogations, including the notions of governmentality, languaging, peripherality and language worker. We proceed to map out five ethnographically and discourse-analytically informed case studies. These examine diverse actors in different settings pertaining to the domain of work. Finally we chart how the case studies construe the issue of languaging the worker through a governmentality frame.

Exclusión socioterritorial

Este artículo analiza el concepto de Exclusión Socioterritorial, por ser esta una de las realidades socio-espaciales más visibles de nuestro continente, puesto que la mayor cantidad del territorio y población ha resultado perdedora, marginada y excluida de su participación en las redes globales y sus beneficios.

Exclusión socioterritorial

Este artículo analiza el concepto de Exclusión Socioterritorial, por ser esta una de las realidades socio-espaciales más visibles de nuestro continente, puesto que la mayor cantidad del territorio y población ha resultado perdedora, marginada y excluida de su participación en las redes globales y sus beneficios.

Exclusión socioterritorial

Este artículo analiza el concepto de Exclusión Socioterritorial, por ser esta una de las realidades socio-espaciales más visibles de nuestro continente, puesto que la mayor cantidad del territorio y población ha resultado perdedora, marginada y excluida de su participación en las redes globales y sus beneficios.

Peripheral, central and coercive routes for promoting Enterprise Social Networks

Organisations employ Enterprise Social Networks (ESNs) (such as Yammer) expecting better intra-organisational communication and collaboration. However, ESNs are struggling to gain momentum and wide adoption among users. Promoting user participation is a challenge, particularly in relation to lurkers – the silent ESN members who do not contribute any content. Building on behaviour change research, we propose a three-route model consisting of the central, peripheral and coercive routes of influence that depict users’ cognitive strategies, and we examine how management interventions (e.g. sending promotional emails) impact users’ beliefs and (consequent) posting and lurking behaviours in ESNs. Furthermore, we identify users’ salient motivations to lurk or post. We employ a multi-method research design to conceptualise, operationalise and validate the research model. This study has implications for academics and practitioners regarding the nature, patterns and outcomes of management interventions in prompting ESN.

Serotonergic neurons in the nucleus raphe obscurus contribute to interaction between central and peripheral ventilatory responses to hypercapnia

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Peripheral compound odontoma erupting in the gingiva

Background: Peripheral odontoma arising in the extraosseous soft tissues is rare and if not removed early, may enlarge over time and eventually erupt in the oral cavity. Case presentation: A 15-year-old girl presented with “denticles on the gingiva”. During the intraoral examination, seven small tooth-like structures were found. These were exposed in the anterior left gingiva between the permanent maxillary lateral incisor and canine teeth, and the left first premolar was absent. Radiographic examination revealed irregular tooth-like structures without evidence of bone involvement. Conclusion: The lesion was surgically removed, and the specimens were analyzed histopathologically. The diagnosis of compound odontoma was established. Clinical significance: This is the twelfth reported case of peripheral odontoma in the gingiva and the first one that erupted in the oral cavity.

Luz, câmera, ação: Cidade de Deus entre histórias e memórias

A tese intitulada Luz, Câmera, Ação: Cidade de Deus, entre histórias e memórias tem por objetivo analisar os processos de segregação e de construção identitária no contexto específico do bairro Cidade de Deus, localizado na Baixada de Jacarepaguá, Zona Oeste do Município do Rio de Janeiro. A pesquisa refere-se à compreensão das dinâmicas sócio-espaciais que envolveram ou estão a envolver a construção de modalidades de segregação e de produção identitária em Cidade de Deus. A tese focaliza também as trajetórias de determinados moradores que, através de estratégias associadas ao uso da linguagem audiovisual e a apropriação das imagens produzidas sobre o bairro, elaboram biografias bem sucedidas. A coleta de material para tese consistiu na realização de trabalho de campo, que incluiu a observação participante, entrevistas, pesquisas em acervos públicos e privados, no período que compreende trinta meses, entre os anos de 2006 a 2009. As noções de projeto, campo de possibilidades e memória são utilizadas como categorias analíticas na compreensão de ações individuais em interação com o contexto social em que se encontram. Ao final, foi possível compreender interações, percursos, alternativas e processos de mobilidade social em espaços periféricos no contexto da sociedade brasileira contemporaneamente.

RS-0406 arrests amyloid-B oligomer-induced behavioural deterioration in vivo

Clinically accessible compounds that arrest or reverse the effects of amyloid-ß (Aß) on progressively developing behavioural symptomatology and neuropathology in Alzheimer's disease (AD) have yet to become available. However, a viable strategy may be to target and neutralise soluble Aß oligomers, which have been shown to mediate synaptic dysfunction and to produce cognitive deficits in the intact organism. Inhibiting the aggregation of Aß is therapeutically attractive, as Aß aggregation is a pathological event and pharmacological interventions targeting this are likely to have a non-toxic profile. A behavioural assay, the alternating-lever cyclic-ratio schedule, was used to assess the effect of Aß oligomers and the non-peptide small molecule RS-0406 in male Sprague-Dawley rats. RS-0406 has been shown to inhibit Aß1-42 fibrillogenesis and protect against Aß1-42–induced cytotoxicity in primary hippocampal neurons. In the current study, RS-0406 ameliorated the adverse effects of secreted oligomers of human Aß on behaviour and dose dependently reduced the behavioural effects of Aß oligomers, with the highest dose, 10 µM, maintaining behaviour approximately at control levels. This effect appeared to be central; peripheral confounds having been extensively investigated. This is the first published report on the effects of RS-0406 in vivo and indicates that RS-0406 has potential as a pharmacotherapeutic intervention for behavioural deficits seen in the early stages of AD, and possibly as an intervention in the development of AD neuropathology. Indeed, an analogue of RS-0406 that could be administered peripherally might be a realistic candidate for the clinical treatment of AD.

Higher education, professionalism and skills in the built environment: the impact of the new urban agenda on teaching and learning

In the mid-to-late 1990s, the New Urban Agenda initiated a rethinking of urban development strategies placing a greater focus on regeneration of central urban spaces. The skills and competencies required by urban planners and built environment professionals to successfully implement regeneration schemes tend to differ from those required for greenfield development. The working paper summarises skills and competencies required by urban regeneration practitioners and how they are delivered through public and/or private sector providers at present. The role of the newly established regional Centres of Excellence and the professional bodies of the Built Environment professions in defining skills and educational requirements and providing training are explored. An analysis of supply and demand of skills training reveals that there is a mismatch rather than a lack of provision. The report draws on a conference where research findings were presented and discussed. It concludes with suggestions for improving the skills provision at the local government as well as community level. Skills audits were found useful tools in defining training needs. A set of sample workshop programmes outline flexible, tailor-made approaches guaranteed to address specific and identified needs.

Mises à distances. Ethnographie des places publiques centrales de Cluj-« Napoca » (Roumanie) dans le postsocialisme

Cette recherche porte sur le changement social dans la période postsocialiste à Cluj-« Napoca », une ville transylvaine de Roumanie. En mobilisant une approche en termes de rapports sociaux à l’espace, l’étude explore les principes de différenciation tant spatialement que socialement. Les concepts d’« espace public » et de « lieu » ont permis une analyse aux multiples facettes menée selon quatre axes : matérialité et la visibilité des espaces, sphère publique-politique, vie sociale publique, investissements et appropriations individuelles. La thèse examine ainsi les activités qui se déroulent dans les places publiques centrales, les investissements spatiaux, les rituels quotidiens et les manifestations contestataires, les multiples attachements ethniques et religieux des habitants. L’ethnographie des places publiques centrales de Cluj-« Napoca » a mis en évidence une « faible classification des espaces » centraux de la ville, traduite par une grande diversité sociale. Les marques ethnicisantes parsemées à Cluj-« Napoca » renvoient aux groupes ethniques, mais aussi à d’autres enjeux qui relèvent du processus de restructuration du champ politique dans le postsocialisme. Dans le même registre, les stratégies de type ethnique sont mobilisées pour désigner de nouveaux critères de différenciation sociale et pour redéfinir d’anciennes catégories sociales. Oublis, silences et exigences d’esthétisation reflètent des demandes implicites des habitants pour redéfinir les cadres de la politique. Finalement, la thèse montre comment l’espace public à Cluj-« Napoca » pendant la période postsocialiste relève d’un processus continuel de diversification sociale et d’invention des Autres par d’incessantes mises à distance. L’espace public n’est pas la recherche de ce que pourrait constituer le vivre ensemble, mais la quête de ce qui nous menace et qu’il faut mettre à distance.

Dimorphic cypsela germination and plant growth in Synedrella nodiflora (L.) Gaertn. (Asteraceae)

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Motor Recovery and Synaptic Preservation after Ventral Root Avulsion and Repair with a Fibrin Sealant Derived from Snake Venom

Background:Ventral root avulsion is an experimental model of proximal axonal injury at the central/peripheral nervous system interface that results in paralysis and poor clinical outcome after restorative surgery. Root reimplantation may decrease neuronal degeneration in such cases. We describe the use of a snake venom-derived fibrin sealant during surgical reconnection of avulsed roots at the spinal cord surface. The present work investigates the effects of this fibrin sealant on functional recovery, neuronal survival, synaptic plasticity, and glial reaction in the spinal motoneuron microenvironment after ventral root reimplantation.Methodology/Principal Findings:Female Lewis rats (7 weeks old) were subjected to VRA and root replantation. The animals were divided into two groups: 1) avulsion only and 2) replanted roots with fibrin sealant derived from snake venom. Post-surgical motor performance was evaluated using the CatWalk system twice a week for 12 weeks. The rats were sacrificed 12 weeks after surgery, and their lumbar intumescences were processed for motoneuron counting and immunohistochemistry (GFAP, Iba-1 and synaptophysin antisera). Array based qRT-PCR was used to evaluate gene regulation of several neurotrophic factors and receptors as well as inflammatory related molecules. The results indicated that the root reimplantation with fibrin sealant enhanced motor recovery, preserved the synaptic covering of the motoneurons and improved neuronal survival. The replanted group did not show significant changes in microglial response compared to VRA-only. However, the astroglial reaction was significantly reduced in this group.Conclusions/Significance:In conclusion, the present data suggest that the repair of avulsed roots with snake venom fibrin glue at the exact point of detachment results in neuroprotection and preservation of the synaptic network at the microenvironment of the lesioned motoneurons. Also such procedure reduced the astroglial reaction and increased mRNA levels to neurotrophins and anti-inflammatory cytokines that may in turn, contribute to improving recovery of motor function. © 2013 Barbizan et al.

A reconstrução histórica da cabanagem em “Lealdade” e da guerra civil moçambicana em “As Duas sombras do rio”

Nesta tese, pretendemos analisar comparativamente a reconstrução histórica da Cabanagem e da Guerra Civil Moçambicana nos romances Lealdade (1997), de Márcio Souza e As duas sombras do rio (2003), de João Paulo Borges Coelho. Para tanto, apresentaremos um breve percurso histórico da colonização brasileira e moçambicana, bem como o período da independência e pós-independência, além do percurso teórico sobre o romance histórico, resistência, memória, bem como a teoria sobre o espaço, nesse caso o rio, que utilizamos como ferramenta de análise. Utilizando o rio como fio condutor de nossa análise. Na obra de Borges Coelho, a análise foi feita a partir das travessias das personagens pelos rios que foram desencadeadas pela chegada da guerra civil. Fixamos nossa leitura em Leónidas Ntsato personagem que metaforiza Moçambique dividido em dois pela guerra civil e destacamos o papel do narrador neste romance. Na narrativa de Márcio Souza acompanhamos as viagens de Fernando, narrador do romance, que tem sua biografia entrelaçada aos acontecimentos que desencadearão a Cabanagem anos mais tarde. Cada um com seu estilo, os dois romancistas revisitam as agruras das duas guerras que tem como palco o Norte do Brasil e de Moçambique que são espaços periféricos desde os tempos coloniais.

Os sentidos da casa própria: condomínios horizontais populares fechados e novas práticas espaciais em Presidente Prudente e São Carlos

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)