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The COVID-19 pandemic has placed the world in a public health emergency since the beginning of the year 2020, posing a challenge to education, especially to Special Education. This study aimed to analyze the situation of special education in Brazil and Canada during the COVID-19 pandemic. The research was part of a postdoctoral project in education. Methodologically, it is an international comparative study in education. It was carried out from April 2020 to November 2021, based on a literature review and official documents. The search was carried out in the Scientific Electronic Library Online (SciELO) and in the Institute of Educational Sciences (ERIC), and 233 articles were found. After analysis and following the inclusion criteria, 217 articles were excluded. In the end, 16 studies were selected. The results show that the more structured the educational system and Special Education, the greater the chances of success. In addition to returning to face-to-face classes earlier, Canada also provided more support for families and students, but it was still insufficient. In both countries, children with disabilities are in a fragile situation owing to social isolation. Aspects such as choice of tools, internet connection quality, user skills, virtual spaces for collective support, school and family communication, strengthening of special education policies and programs, adequate support, among others, led to the success of remote education. This research is intended to contribute to an increase in the number of studies in Brazil and abroad, serving as a basis for the scientific production of other international comparative studies.

Assessing health outcomes associated with exposure to polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) is important given their persistent and ubiquitous nature. PCBs are classified as a Group 1 carcinogen, but the full range of potential noncancer health effects from exposure to PCBs has not been systematically summarized and evaluated. We used systematic review methods to identify and screen the literature using combined manual review and machine learning approaches. A protocol was developed that describes the literature search strategy and Populations, Exposures, Comparators, and Outcomes (PECO) criteria used to facilitate subsequent screening and categorization of literature into a systematic evidence map of PCB exposure and noncancer health endpoints across 15 organs/systems. A comprehensive literature search yielded 62,599 records. After electronic prioritization steps, 17,037 studies were manually screened at the title and abstract level. An additional 900 studies identified by experts or supplemental searches were also included. After full-text screening of 3889 references, 1586 studies met the PECO criteria. Relevant study details such as the endpoints assessed, exposure duration, and species were extracted into literature summary tables. This review compiles and organizes the human and mammalian studies from these tables into an evidence map for noncancer health endpoints and PCB mixture exposure to identify areas of robust research as well as areas of uncertainty that would benefit from future investigation. Summary data are available online as interactive visuals with downloadable metadata. Sufficient research is available to inform PCB hazard assessments for most organs/systems, but the amount of data to inform associations with specific endpoints differs. Furthermore, despite many years of research, sparse data exist for inhalation and dermal exposures, which are highly relevant human exposure routes. This evidence map provides a foundation for future systematic reviews and noncancer hazard assessments of PCB mixtures and for strategic planning of research to inform areas of greater uncertainty.

Este artigo tem o objetivo de relatar uma experiência profissional na área de Musicoterapia no contexto da Reforma Psiquiátrica. A experiência teve seu início numa instituição manicomial na cidade e Volta Redonda, no Rio de Janeiro e, em seguida, passou a ser realizada num Centro de Atenção Psicossocial (CAPS). O trabalho musicoterápico teve como um de seus desdobramentos a criação de um grupo musical com os usuários dos serviços do CAPS. Utilizamos algumas noções da filosofia da diferença de Deleuze-Guattari para refletir sobre esta experimentação. Consideramos a Musicoterapia com um saber mestiço, híbrido e concluímos indicando que a experiência com o grupo musical nos permitiu refletir sobre algumas das formas de atuação e intervenção da Musicoterapia

Education is a fundamental right of all, guaranteed in the Brazilian constitution and in the legislation of several countries in the world. In Brazil, Special Education targets people with disabilities and global developmental disorders. A disabled person needs certain supports, the demands for which are varied. One such demand relates to people with disabilities who have complex communication needs. The CA[superscript 2]JU software, an augmentative and alternative communication tool that helps children with complex communication needs, was developed to tackle this problem. Its sophisticated computerised devices can form phrases and sentences for its users and are made available in two access modes: Illustrated and Pro-Expanded. This work aimed to investigate the effectiveness of the CA[superscript 2]JU system in terms of implementing alternative communication among children with disabilities. The research analysed the software test with 39 participants between 5 and 12 years of age. The software test showed an average efficiency of 38% in grammatical expansion and ease of access. In both access modes, greater efficiency and grammatical expansion were used in the software than in the communication boards. The lack of ways to communicate will negatively impact students' educational experiences. Thus, the CA[superscript 2]JU software is a daily communication alternative for people with disabilities that can not only realise but also accommodate the most varied demands and social contexts, thereby contributing to the development of inclusive schools.

Technological advances in both genome sequencing and prenatal imaging are increasing our ability to accurately recognize and diagnose Mendelian conditions prenatally. Phenotype-driven early genetic diagnosis of fetal genetic disease can help to strategize treatment options and clinical preventive measures during the perinatal period, to plan in utero therapies, and to inform parental decision-making. Fetal phenotypes of genetic diseases are often unique and at present are not well understood; more comprehensive knowledge about prenatal phenotypes and computational resources have an enormous potential to improve diagnostics and translational research. The Human Phenotype Ontology (HPO) has been widely used to support diagnostics and translational research in human genetics. To better support prenatal usage, the HPO consortium conducted a series of workshops with a group of domain experts in a variety of medical specialties, diagnostic techniques, as well as diseases and phenotypes related to prenatal medicine, including perinatal pathology, musculoskeletal anomalies, neurology, medical genetics, hydrops fetalis, craniofacial malformations, cardiology, neonatal-perinatal medicine, fetal medicine, placental pathology, prenatal imaging, and bioinformatics. We expanded the representation of prenatal phenotypes in HPO by adding 95 new phenotype terms under the Abnormality of prenatal development or birth (HP:0001197) grouping term, and revised definitions, synonyms, and disease annotations for most of the 152 terms that existed before the beginning of this effort. The expansion of prenatal phenotypes in HPO will support phenotype-driven prenatal exome and genome sequencing for precision genetic diagnostics of rare diseases to support prenatal care.