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Industry 4.0 technologies are being applied in the teaching and learning process, called Education 4.0. However, there is no specification of what is being considered when developing technologies for education in the 4.0 context. Therefore, we performed a Systematic Mapping Study to investigate the information and communication technologies (ICTs) proposed to Education 4.0. From a search in four search engines, 81 articles had data extracted. The results elucidated aspects considered as Education 4.0, such as contextualized learning and student-centered learning. Besides, some applied ICTs are not in agreement with the ICTs considered as 4.0 in the literature, the focus on ICTs to engineering education and to be applied to higher education. As implications of the results obtained, it is necessary to understand why some ICTs are not aligned with 4.0 literature and apply these ICTs in knowledge areas beyond STEM.

Social-emotional learning (SEL) has become one of the fastest growing movements in education. However, while many teachers acknowledge the value of SEL, research shows that comparatively few educators feel prepared to incorporate it into their classrooms, and that current school culture emphasizes academics over SEL. This qualitative study examined the perceptions and lived experiences of K-16 visual art, theater, and music teachers in the arts classroom. We describe three art constructs aligned with SEL that emerged from our interview data with educators: identity, interactions, and independence. Our findings provide illustrative examples of teaching practices that support these connections and illuminate a need to expand the role of SEL in educational policy through the use of the arts.

This paper is a written dialogue among four activists from the Emancipa Popular Education Movement in Brazil, following the principles of Freirean pedagogy as a "circle of culture." It delves into how "popular knowledge can be experienced as popular power," narrating the history, struggles, and strategies employed by the Emancipa movement in their pursuit of democratizing Brazilian universities. The discussion is set within the context of Latin American structural inequalities and the issue of educational exclusion in Brazil. It emphasizes the vital role of contesting culture and knowledge as part of the movement's fight against social injustices perpetuated by peripheral capitalism, including racist violence and gender oppression. The paper adopts emancipatory pedagogy as the method to empower and mobilize grassroots efforts in this transformative endeavour.

This article presents and analyzes general and specific data from a survey carried out in four news media on the subject of human rights (HD). The investigation was guided by qualitative principles and content analysis in the documents found in the journalistic platforms: Brasil de Fato, O Dia, Folha de S. Paulo and Veja. In total, 112 news items were tabulated over seven weeks and organized into 12 topics and grouped into two axes: equality and difference. As a result, the study showed that the human rights agenda is not explicitly addressed on news platforms; the Brasil de Fato platform was the only one with a specific tab for the theme; there is a need to understand media education as one of the fundamental "arms" of human rights education.

Individuals with Sex Chromosome Trisomies (SCT; XXX, XXY, XYY) have an increased vulnerability for developing challenges in social adaptive functioning. The present study investigates social interaction behavior in the context of varying social load, and Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) symptomatology in young children aged 1-7.5 years old, with SCT (N = 105) and control children (N = 101). Children with SCT show less interaction behaviors and more social withdrawal, as compared to their control peers, which were most evident in the high social load condition. Second, social impairments related to ASD are more prevalent, as compared to controls (27.1% at clinical level). These findings stress the importance of early monitoring and (preventive) support of early social development in young children with SCT.

Purpose: There is a great interest in developing eco-friendly operations as alternative uses of resources in the university campus, making the employment of technologies more sustainable. Practices such as energy management and efficiency initiatives have been encouraged to meet these sustainability goals. The purpose of this paper is to describe and discuss the main features of the GENIIOT project, a system of energy management using Internet of Things applied in a Brazilian university campus to support energy education practices and to promote lasting energy efficiency measures. The focus of the study is directed at the energy consumption of the air-conditioning system, which is responsible for 40% of the total electricity consumption. In addition, this project also scrutinizes processes such as the building occupants' comfort demands, lighting levels and energy waste control. Design/methodology/approach: A case study at the Unicamp campus was conducted to illustrate the design procedures through qualitative description. This study comprises an overview of the physical plant, hardware and software development, energy data monitoring, management process and energy education. Findings: The GENIIOT project enables energy efficiency actions by concerning the use of air-conditioning equipment based on monitored data, different types of monitored rooms, user's behaviors and their feedback. This initiative requires the engagement, awareness and actions from users combined with investment in energy efficiency to achieve an efficient use of this type of equipment. The proposed approach can be applied in the future to similar situations, inside the Unicamp campus and at other university campuses. In addition, this project can contribute to building efficiency analysis by using the hardware structure developed to monitor facilities and carry out evaluations, providing valuable information for strategic initiatives in energy efficiency projects and research and development programs based on practical experience and promoting a discussion about sustainability aspects in the context of the university campus for energy efficiency. Originality/value: The GENIIOT project is aligned with some of the sustainable development goals, among which sustainability and responsible consumption are identified. Considering the sustainability issues, the economic dimension can be evaluated through a cost--benefit analysis of energy efficiency projects with prudent investment, while the social attractiveness of the project is ensured by education and awareness practices for the community that interacts with the system and learns about a more efficient way of using resources in the campus. Furthermore, there is a more conscious use of natural resources by minimizing waste from the use of electricity and reducing carbon dioxide emissions. GENIIOT is part of Sustainable Campus Project, a living laboratory which aims at developing energy-efficiency-related research activities in the university campus to reduce costs in higher and federal institutions of education in Brazil.

Using self-determination and schema therapy theories, we examine the cognitive-motivational processes underlying the regulation of career decisions and the experience of well/ill-being during the key school-to-work transition among Portuguese high school students. We obtained two pathways of transition: A "Bright" pathway, where need satisfaction associates with positive and flexible schematic processing to predict autonomous regulation of career decisions and experienced well-being, and a "Dark" pathway, where need frustration relates to schematic processing of social information to predict unique variance on controlled career decisions, low well-being and ill-being. Schematic processing of social information explained unique variance in ill-being over and above need satisfaction and need frustration. Overall, the findings support the cognitive-motivational determination of career decision making.

The necessity to teach experimental physics in the pandemic period motivated the development of practices in which students may take measurements with instruments constructed by themselves. In this article, we present an experimental practice to approach Newton's law of cooling with a thermoscope (the earliest device for detecting changes in temperature, forerunner of the thermometer) constructed with household materials. Although the use of a non-calibrated thermoscope, the instrument presented several advantages, visual appeal, ease of handling, ease of data acquisition and good reproducibility. The students can take data, plot graphs, and verify if the Newton's law of cooling holds on the tested circumstances.

Background: Automated Writing Evaluation (AWE) systems to aid writing learning and instruction in primary and secondary education are growing increasingly popular. However, their effectiveness is hardly known. We conducted a systematic review focusing on the effects of these systems providing writing feedback to students in school settings. Objectives: Our goal was to identify and characterize AWE systems tested in the last 20 years for Grades 1-12 and examine their impact on text quality and other writing-related outcomes. Methods: The review followed PRISMA guidelines. We identified eight studies reporting the effects on writing of six AWE systems on 1659 students 11-17 years of age. Results and conclusions: Our review supported the usefulness of AWE systems for writing learning and instruction. Except for one, all studies showed a positive effect of automated feedback in at least one writing-related measure. The integration of AWE systems into more extensive instructional programs, the amount of writing practice provided to students, the type of the control groups, and the role of teachers are factors influencing their impact on students' writing outcomes. Relevance: Our review generally supported the value of AWE systems in the teaching/learning process of writing. A closer look into the conditions in which AWE systems are put to practice suggested that they are particularly effective when embedded into comprehensive instructional programs providing ample writing opportunities. Findings from this review expand knowledge on AWE systems as valuable tools to enhance writing in school settings.

The refractive index (RI) is probably the single most important parameter in optical systems. Chromatic dispersion, on the other hand, indicates how the RI depends on the wavelength and is central in, e.g., optical communication systems. Chromatic dispersion also plays an important role when teaching optics due to the captivating natural phenomenon of the rainbow and the white light decomposition with a prism. In this work, we propose and explore a method to characterize the refractive index of transparent liquids in the visible range without any dedicated equipment or device (such as prisms, goniometer, laser, detector, etc.).

Mastery criteria can be applied to individual targets or stimuli organized into sets. Wong et al. (2021) and Wong and Fienup (2022) found that participants who received special education services learned sight words more rapidly when an individual target mastery criterion was applied. The current study replicated and extended these findings across novel skills. Five participants with ASD received tact or intraverbal training in Experiment 1, and 2 participants with ASD received auditory-visual conditional discrimination training (AVCD) in Experiment 2. In both experiments, mastery criteria were applied to targets and stimulus sets to compare sessions to mastery. Results showed the target mastery criterion required fewer sessions of tact training for 3 of 5 participants and AVCD training for both participants. However, overselection of stimuli occurred for 20% of AVCD mastered targets, suggesting a false positive for acquisition of those targets. Maintenance was similar across conditions and experiments.

In recent years, different places in the world have witnessed demands for the decolonization of education. Nevertheless, it is not completely clear how this ought to be carried out. There are various factors that influence what such decolonization may entail, including the geographical place for decolonization and the discipline being decolonized. This requires a specific analysis of each context. In this article, I wish to make a proposal for how to carry out the decolonization of philosophy teaching at the university level in the African context, with a special focus on South Africa. I propose that more African philosophy be included in the curricula, as well as the integration of teaching and assessing methods that reflect African culture. Further, I argue that those seeking for decolonization ought to try to pursue it incrementally, given that it is the best strategy to achieve decolonization.

Auditory-visual conditional discrimination training (e.g., receptive identification training, listener responses; AVCD) is ubiquitous in early intervention and special education programs. Nevertheless, some learners with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) do not appear to benefit from this training despite use of empirically validated treatments. To prevent exposure to extended training that does not lead to learning, a skills assessment that measures skills related to AVCD training will be useful for educators and practitioners. The current study replicated the skills assessment developed and evaluated by Kodak et al. (2015) with 8 participants with ASD who received behavior analytic intervention that included at least 1 goal related to AVCD training. Two of the 8 participants mastered all skills included in the assessment except scanning. In addition, 5 participants' responding failed to reach mastery during subsequent exposure to AVCD training, which further demonstrated the predictive utility of the skills assessment.

Writing is a complex task that requires the activation and coordination of several processes. In addition to the research on the domain-specific factors that contribute to school achievement, there is an increasing interest on general variables, such as mindfulness. Here, we aimed to test the contribution of middle-grade students' trait mindfulness to writing achievement, after controlling for well-known writing predictors. One hundred and eighty-seven 6th-graders (M = 11.66 years) were assessed on transcription, text quality, executive functions, and self-reported trait mindfulness. Preliminary analyses showed that our trait mindfulness measure had two factors: mindful awareness and acceptance. However, because only the latter was found to be reliable, main analyses were exclusively focused on the acceptance facet of mindfulness. A multiple hierarchical regression analysis was conducted. After controlling for demographic characteristics (Step 1), transcription skills (Step 2), and executive functions (Step 3), we examined the predictive role of mindful acceptance (Step 4) to writing achievement. Findings indicated that mindful acceptance had a significant contribution to writing achievement in Grade 6 (b = 0.18). These are pioneering findings about the contribution of mindful acceptance to writing. The putative mechanism underlying this contribution is discussed, and indications for future research are proposed.

The efficacy and efficiency of instruction may be reduced as a result of persistent response patterns to targets. The current project exposed participants to tact training with one set of targets. Thereafter, the efficacy and efficiency of teaching different responses to the previously trained set of targets was compared to tact training with a novel set of targets. Results showed that targets with pre-established responses took longer to acquire than targets without pre-existing responses for both participants.

The international community has pledged to provide a quality education for all by 2030. School leaders play a key role in improving student learning outcomes yet oftentimes educational leaders do not have opportunities to attend professional development events. The purpose of this study was to examine a Training of Trainers Model (TOT) used to build the capacity of school leaders in five countries in Africa. This qualitative research study used a longitudinal design. Findings revealed that there were both strengths and weaknesses to the TOT model. The authors discuss the significance of these findings for policymakers and practitioners worldwide.

Reading comprehension is an important skill throughout all stages of education. However, Portuguese pupils still demonstrate difficulties in understanding what they read. In addition to cognitive and psychological factors, it is important to understand how this skill is addressed in textbooks. Here, we examined how reading comprehension is targeted in Portuguese and Science textbooks in Grades 4 and 6. Regarding Portuguese textbooks, we found a higher focus on orality than on reading comprehension in Grade 4 and a more distributed focus regarding literacy-related skills in Grade 6. In both grades, most of the questions related to reading comprehension involved retrieval of factual information using open questions. This pattern was also observed for Science textbooks. These findings seem crucial to shed light on the articulation between the educational system, subjects' curriculum and educational actors, which is critical to effectively develop pupils' reading comprehension skills.

This study originates from ongoing action research that aims to develop institutional opportunities to reflect on and take decisions about inclusion in the School of Accounts and Administration of Rio de Janeiro's State Accounts Office. The research was organized in three phases. The first phase was an inservice course to sensitize professionals about inclusion. The second stage comprised the reformulation of the curriculum of the courses delivered by those professionals to other public servants; the third phase involved the creation and supervision of a discussion group that sought to develop cultures, policies and practices of inclusion. This study presents and analyses the first phase of the research from an omnilectical perspective. The question that guided this first phase was: what meanings of inclusion can be collectively derived from a course that aimed to sensitize a group to inclusion? The data was organized using Bardin content analysis technique, and discussed on the basis of the omnilectical perspective, developed by Santos. The results show the ways in which the participants "built" the concept of inclusion and their need to set up institutional practices based on participative citizenship, and to implement continuous evaluation of the teaching-learning processes.

Engineering and technology have a central role in shaping our reality that frequently goes unnoticed or not critically analyzed by engineers and engineering faculty and curricula. In so doing, the engineering that is taught, investigated (and improved), and practiced can unwittingly foster an ethical-political reality with which many engineers and engineering teachers may disagree. In this paper, drawing on literature from philosophy and sociology of technology and Latin-American liberating and decolonial traditions, the theoretical bases for a different engineering practice are set; an engineering committed to empowering people and constructing with them other possible socio-technical orders (and ethical-political realities). It can be called decolonial engineering. Then, grassroots (or popular) engineering, as it is practiced, taught, and improved (investigated) by some Brazilian university extension centres and groups, is presented and analyzed according to its decolonial foundations and outcomes. Finally, from grassroots engineering experience, some general traits of decolonial engineering education and research are derived.

There is a growing body of research showing that writers are influenced by motivation-related aspects. This study documents the translation process of the Portuguese version of the Writing Motivation Questionnaire and the construction of two scales to measure self-efficacy for handwriting and story writing. The psychometric properties of these instruments were then explored. Firstly, we examined the factorial structure of these instruments and tested measurement invariance across two independent samples of 202 and 193 third graders. Secondly, we evaluated the reliability of the scales and their convergent/discriminant validity by testing the relationship among them and with external correlates (viz., handwriting fluency and story length and quality). Thirdly, we tested instruments' predictive validity by regressing story length and quality on motives to write, and on self-efficacy for handwriting and story writing. Findings confirmed the multidimensional nature of motivations to write and supported the validity and reliability of the scales developed. Regression analyses showed that competition- and grades-related had, respectively, a negative and positive contribution on story quality. Moreover, self-efficacy for story writing and handwriting contributed, respectively, to story length and quality, above and beyond handwriting fluency. This study provided evidence on the validity and reliability of the instruments under analysis, showing their usefulness to assess motivational dimensions in students as young as 8 years old. Findings join to current research emphasizing the importance of having valid and reliable tools to explore the role of motivation in young children's writing.

An important element of the California State University Channel Islands (CI) mission is to promote cross-disciplinary thinking in its graduates. This is accomplished in part by requiring each student to complete three upper division interdisciplinary general education (UDIGE) courses. The CI faculty worked across disciplines to create and offer many UDIGE courses, including a pair of courses focusing on two social institutions, art museums and zoos (Costache and Muraoka, 2004; Muraoka, 2009). These courses were developed and are offered in partnership with the institutions. Many class sessions are held off campus and students undertake culminating projects involving the institutions. This paper provides an update of these courses and information about new courses developed using this model that now include courses focusing on libraries, national parks, colleges and universities, and music museums. Finally, the paper presents lessons learned from offering these courses and challenges in sustaining these courses.

Head-teachers play a crucial role in school improvement, teacher morale and retention, as well as student learning. In this study, the authors examine the perspectives and the roles of eight head-teachers in Low-Fee Private Schools (LFPSs) in Ghana, within the context of Goal number 4, target 4c of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This qualitative study uses a longitudinal case study approach. Findings reveal that head-teachers were either the proprietors of the schools or family members and faced three fundamental challenges in the areas of finance, human resources, and parent engagement. Lastly, principals tended to exercise leadership authoritatively

Writing is an important activity that involves many demanding processes. Given the complexity and goal-directed nature of writing, this activity is heavily dependent on executive functions (EFs). This study aimed to examine the longitudinal contribution of EFs (i.e., inhibitory control, working memory, cognitive flexibility, and planning) to text quality in Grade 2. One hundred and sixteen Portuguese native speakers in Grade 2 (M[subscript age] = 7.26 years; SD = 0.29) participated in two measurement occasions with a 6-month interval (viz., Fall and Spring). In the Fall measurement, students completed EFs and writing tasks, while in the Spring measurement, students completed writing tasks only. We conducted a set of hierarchical regression analyses to examine the contribution of EFs measured in the Fall to story quality measured both in the Fall and in the Spring. Results showed that working memory and planning at the beginning of the school year had a significant and unique contribution to text quality 6 months later, above and beyond the effects of gender, reasoning, and transcription skills. These findings provide evidence of the key role of working memory and planning in children's writing. From an applied side, this study also indicates that teachers should aim to promote EFs in order to support writing in young learners.

The objective this article is to verify the effects of an intervention program with exergames on the motor performance of children aged 8 to 10 years. The study included 64 children divided into experimental group and physical education group. The motor intervention used in this study was an exergame program with 18 sessions lasting 45 minutes each, twice a week. To evaluate motor performance before and after the intervention, the authors used the Test of Gross Motor Development -- Second Edition (TGMD-2). This study showed a positive effect on the motor performance of children ages 8 to 10 years. However, no significant differences were found in relation to the effect of exergames intervention in the experimental group when compared to the physical education group that participated in PE classes. The results of this study indicate that exergames are effective tools for the significant improvement of motor skills.

Twelve college students learned to tact the names of notes and rhythms and play them when presented with compound stimuli (visuals of notes and rhythms on a musical staff). In Experiment 1, we assessed generalization by presenting novel notes, rhythms, and compound stimuli not previously paired together. In the second experiment, we added a metronome that played at 60 beats per minute in all conditions for 3 out of 6 participants to ensure consistent tempo. Across both experiments, participants passed almost all posttests with the exception of tacting and playing in the presence of sound clips. Our data suggest that matrix training is an effective procedure to teach music skills to college students.

The horse has left the barn. Distance education is here to stay and the number of degree programs offered online is growing rapidly. California State University Channel Islands (CI) admitted its first students in 2002, and the undergraduate and graduate degrees in business were among its first program offerings. From its inception, the "foundation courses" for the CI MBA program have been offered online and the campus recently committed to offering the undergraduate business degree via distance education. This paper describes the steps taken to adapt a successful, on-campus, face-to-face program to an online program. It also presents "lessons learned" in several categories: securing institutional support for offering online degree programs, adapting existing curriculum, modifying existing processes (academic advising, evaluating teaching effectiveness and assessing educational effectiveness), and using the accreditation process as a blueprint and checklist for the new online degree program.

California State University Channel Islands (CI) was founded in 2001 (in Camarillo, CA) and admitted its first students in 2002. Over the ensuing decade, the campus has transitioned from a start-up institution to a regionally accredited comprehensive university offering 23 baccalaureate and 6 graduate degree programs. This transition has occurred during a period of frequent and substantial changes in the university's external and internal environments. This paper first describes the founding and early history of the university. Next, it presents "lessons learned" in several categories: establishing and following a Mission, creating an organizational culture, hiring and developing employees (faculty, staff administrators), and university building through the accreditation process. Finally, since the founding president and many of the founding faculty and founding administrators are still at the campus, the paper discusses the challenge of sustaining early successes as campus founders separate from the university.

The article is based on the idea of human formation in its broadest sense, which includes the formation of the senses, corporeality, habits and practices, emotional life, the cultivation of relationships and of reflection on the existential meaning of the singular human life. It is assumed that the postulate is accepted that education is a specific and intentional process of human formation, with the same wide-ranging formative objectives of such formation. The article situates this understanding of education in the Brazilian educational field and presents a curriculum component designed to promote the human formation of young people and adults in technological training establishments in Brazil, over 18 weekly meetings of three hours each. This curriculum component was implemented and evaluated with 206 students from different technological courses by means of pre-and post-testing with a questionnaire, using a Likert technique, drawn up especially for this research study. It is designed to gauge (a) the understanding of relationships and emotions, (b) the understanding and cultivation of the virtues, and (c) the predisposition to take responsible decisions and actions. The results showed a statistically significant difference in the three subscales between pre and post-testing, with the higher scores being achieved in the latter.

The UK National Student Survey (NSS) is a sound and widely used instrument for assessing students' academic experiences. We aimed to translate the NSS for Portuguese students and to validate the instrument in a sample of medical undergraduates. The research team translated and adapted the NSS for Portuguese students (NSS-P). The survey was administered on an online platform to 1,256 final-year students at eight Portuguese medical schools. A total of 329 medical students (69.9% female) replied to the NSS-P, a response rate of 26.2%. Confirmatory factor analysis showed that the original six-factor structure had an adequate fit to the data. Adequate internal consistency was observed for all the subscales. Medium to large correlations were found among all the subscale scores and between the subscale scores and the students' overall satisfaction. Multiple regression showed that the scores on the Teaching, Organization and Management and Personal Development subscales significantly predicted the students' overall satisfaction. Approximately 64% of the students reported being satisfied with the quality of their courses. Significant differences among the medical schools in their NSS-P scores were found. The NSS-P is a valid and reliable measure for assessing medical students' perceptions of academic quality.

This study aimed to evaluate sociodemographic, behavioral, and individual factors associated with body image perception in a sample of adolescents from schools in low Human Development Index areas in Brazil. This cross-sectional study included 609 boys and 573 girls (aged 11-17 years). Body image perception (nine-silhouettes scale) and sociodemographic, behavioral, and individual variables were included. Multinomial logistic regression analysis was used. Most boys (76.9%) and girls (77.5%) were dissatisfied with their body image. Body mass index status and healthy body image evaluation were significantly associated with body image dissatisfaction in both boys and girls (p < 0.001), and daily fruit consumption was associated with body image dissatisfaction only in boys (p = 0.035). Education and health care focused on body image can pay special attention to young people from vulnerable areas with unhealthy nutritional status and focus on strategies that enable improving the perception of a healthy body and a healthy diet.

A growing body of scholarship in the field of writing research from a cognitive perspective suggests that girls tend to outperform boys in particular writing tasks. Still, our understanding about gender differences continues to evolve. The present study specifically focused on gender differences in writing between students from Grade 4 to Grade 9. We examined differences in handwriting and self-efficacy, as well as in three measures of written composition across two genres (viz., spelling, text length, and text quality in stories and opinion essays). Moreover, we tested whether there were differences in written composition above and beyond handwriting and self-efficacy. Findings suggest that girls consistently outperformed boys in handwriting, self-efficacy, spelling, text length, and text quality. These effects were moderated by neither students' grade nor text genre. In addition, after accounting for handwriting and self-efficacy, females still performed better than males in the three measures of written composition. Overall, findings confirmed the gender difference typically found in writing and indicated that potential explanatory variables for it may be handwriting and self-efficacy.

We present the results of a qualitative research study designed to explore differences in the types of reasoning triggered by information presented to chemistry students in two different formats. One group of students was asked to analyze a sequence of images designed to represent critical elements in the explanation of a target phenomenon. Another group of students was asked to analyze an illustrated text that introduced core concepts and ideas needed to understand the same phenomenon. Our study revealed major differences but also important similarities in student reasoning under the two conditions. Analyses of images led to more descriptive and limited accounts of the phenomenon than the analyses of text. However, these latter analyses often were plagued by conceptual confusions. Mechanistic explanations built under the two conditions frequently invoked a single causal factor as responsible for the phenomenon. Probabilistic effects were consistently neglected in these explanations.

In a recent article in this journal, Vorster and Quinn offered a set of recommendations on how academic staff developers can advise university lecturers on decolonising their curricula and methods. Their main advice was to integrate more African cultural elements into their teaching. However, Vorster and Quinn's advice is rather general. In this paper, I wish to complement their advice by giving some specific recommendations on how the decolonisation of education can happen in the field of philosophy. [This article offers a commentary on Jo-Anne Vorster and Lynn Quinn's "The 'Decolonial Turn': What Does It Mean for Academic Staff Development?" (EJ1149746).]

Social avoidance and anxiety are prevalent in fragile X syndrome (FXS) and are potentially mediated by the amygdala, a brain region critical for social behavior. Unfortunately, functional brain resonance imaging investigation of the amygdala in FXS is limited by the difficulties experienced by intellectually impaired and anxious participants. We investigated the relationship between social avoidance and emotion-potentiated startle, a probe of amygdala activation, in children and adolescents with FXS, developmental disability without FXS (DD), and typical development. Individuals with FXS or DD demonstrated significantly reduced potentiation to fearful faces than a typically developing control group (p < 0.05). However, among individuals with FXS, social avoidance correlated positively with fearful-face potentiation (p < 0.05). This suggests that general intellectual disability blunts amygdalar response, but differential amygdala responsiveness to social stimuli contributes to phenotypic variability among individuals with FXS.

We compare social skills in three groups of males with sex chromosome aneuploidies (SCAs) using the Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS). Participants included males with XXY (N = 102, M = 10.08 years), XYY (N = 40, M = 9.93 years), and XXYY (N = 32, M = 11.57 years). XXY had lower (better) SRS scores compared to XYY and XXYY. Scores were not significantly different between XYY and XXYY. In all groups, there were significantly more with SRS scores in the severe range compared to the SRS normative sample. All groups scored lowest (better) on Social Motivation. Relationships between SRS scores and demographic and clinical variables were examined. Results describe the social skills in males with SCA, and suggest that an additional Y chromosome may contribute to increased risk of autistic behaviors. (Contains 2 figures and 2 tables.)

Objective: The validity of a diagnosis of ADHD in children with a high intelligence quotient (IQ) remains controversial. Using a multidisciplinary approach, rigorous diagnostic criteria, and worldwide-validated psychometric instruments, we identified a group of children attending public schools in southern Brazil for co-occurrence of high IQ and ADHD. Method: Students attending public schools, in the first to fifth grades, were referred to our Research Center for behavioral and/or learning difficulties. These children completed clinical, psychiatric, psychological, and pedagogical evaluations for assessment of IQ, ADHD, learning, and other emotional or behavioral disorders. Results: Fifteen of the participants were identified to have a full-scale IQ [greater than or equal to] 120. Data show that 10 of these high-IQ children met the "DSM-IV" criteria diagnosis for ADHD combined type, 5 met criteria for current oppositional-defiant disorder, 2 had current major depression, and 2 had a learning disorder. Here we present the results as a case series. Conclusion: Our data support the hypothesis that ADHD is a valid diagnosis in children with high IQs. (Contains 1 figure and 1 table.)

Objective: To investigate a possible association between a 3'UTR VNTR polymorphism of the dopamine transporter gene (SLC6A3) and ADHD in a Brazilian sample of adult patients. Method: Study Case-control with 102 ADHD adult outpatients ("DSM-IV" criteria) and 479 healthy controls. The primers' sequence used were: 3'UTR-Forward: 5' TGT GGT GAT GGG AAC GGC CTG AG 3' and 3'UTR-Reverse: 5' CTT CCT GGA GGT CAC GGC TCA AGG 3'. Alleles of the 3'UTR were coded according to their number of repeats: 6- repeat 320 bp (allele 6), 8- repeat 400 bp (allele 8), 9- repeat 440 bp (allele 9), 10- repeat 480 bp (allele 10), and 11- repeat 520 bp (allele 11). Results: There were no allelic (chi[superscript 2] = 2.67, 5df, p = 0.75) and genotypic (chi[superscript 2] = 7.20, 1df, p = 0.61) association between adult ADHD and VNTR 3'UTR polymorphism of SLC6A3. Conclusion: Our findings do not support SLC6A3 as marker genetic susceptibility factor in adult ADHD. More comprehensive polymorphism coverage within the SLC6A3 region should be conducted in larger samples, including comparisons in clinical subgroups, and in samples with different ethnic backgrounds. (Contains 1 table.)

Prepulse inhibition (PPI) may useful for exploring the proposed shared neurobiology between idiopathic autism and autism caused by FXS. We compared PPI in four groups: typically developing controls (n = 18), FXS and autism (FXS+A; n = 15), FXS without autism spectrum disorder (FXS-A; n = 17), and idiopathic autism (IA; n = 15). Relative to controls, the FXS+A (p less than 0.002) and FXS-A (p less than 0.003) groups had impaired PPI. The FXS+A (p less than 0.01) and FXS-A (p less than 0.03) groups had lower PPI than the IA group. Prolonged startle latency was seen in the IA group. The differing PPI profiles seen in the FXS+A and IA indicates these groups may not share a common neurobiological abnormality of sensorimotor gating. (Contains 3 tables and 4 figures.)

Language difference is an intrinsic aspect of any kind of mobility and especially of tourism, the world's allegedly largest industry which develops around a myriad of multilingual and multicultural places. However, multilingualism and the intense intermingling of languages characterizing tourist sites are considered a potentially chaos-creating factor by the travel and tourism industry, which has developed around monolingual and linguistically encapsulating paths and settings. Interestingly enough, this development has simultaneously been accompanied by the celebration of polyglossia. The illusion of frictionless linguistic cohesion in a multilingual world is not only constructed by the universal use of English as lingua franca; it is also largely constructed by the transformation of languages into easily and fast acquirable articles to be used by travellers. A huge ever-increasing language-learning industry flourishes around tourist fluxes: additionally to language sections included in guidebooks there is a profusion of pocket language guides, "essential guides", "mini dictionaries", "phrase books", "conversation guides" in all possible languages. The present paper aims at reflecting on the way languages are portrayed in such texts deliberately conceived for people on the move. It focuses, in particular, on Portuguese and the way it is framed in contemporary tourist guides. (Contains 7 notes and 1 table.)

Although fragile X syndrome (FXS) is a single gene disorder with a well-described phenotype, it is not known why some individuals develop more significant maladaptive behaviors such as aggression or autistic symptoms. Here, we studied two candidate genes known to affect mood and aggression, the serotonin transporter (5-HTTLPR) and monoamine oxidase A (MAOA-VNTR) polymorphisms, in 50 males with FXS ages 8-24 years. Mothers and fathers of participants reported the frequency and severity of aggressive/destructive, self-injurious, and stereotypic behaviors. Polymorphism genotypes were unrelated to age and IQ. Results showed a significant effect of 5-HTTLPR genotype on aggressive/destructive and stereotypic behavior; males with FXS who were homozygous for the high-transcribing long (L/L) genotype had the most aggressive and destructive behavior, and individuals homozygous for the short (S/S) genotype had the least aggression. Those with the L/L genotype also had the highest levels of stereotypic behavior. There was no effect of MAOA-VNTR on behavior; however those with the high-activity, 4-repeat genotype were more likely to be taking SSRI or SNRI medication. This preliminary study prompts consideration of secondary genes that may modify behavioral phenotype expression in neurodevelopmental disorders, even those with a single gene etiology such as FXS.

The current study questions whether organizational perceptions of family supportiveness predict work-family conflict (WFC) and job satisfaction for an atypical sample of male hourly workers in a manufacturing organization, and whether those relationships depend on work (number of work hours) and family (number of family roles) demands. A unidimensional factor structure for the family supportiveness scale was not found; however a subscale for the extent that the organization supported work-family balance was strongly related to WFC and job satisfaction. An interaction was found such that those working long hours in the family-supportive work environment had lower WFC than those working long hours in an unsupportive environment, while the number of family roles (e.g., spouse, parent, eldercare) had no moderating effects. Supporting employees' non-work life is determined to be important for these employees.