Objetivos: Investigar possíveis diferenças no desenvolvimento motor e cognitivo de crianças nascidas de mães adolescentes e mães adultas ao longo de quatro meses e os principais preditores biológicos e ambientais do desenvolvimento infantil. Metodologia: Estudo descritivo de caráter desenvolvimental, correlacional e associativo com delineamento longitudinal. Amostra geral de 40 bebês, sendo 20 nascidos de mães adolescentes (idade de 15 a 19 anos) e 20 nascidos de mães adultas (idade de 25 a 39 anos), provenientes da periferia e de Escolas de Educação Infantil dos municípios de Porto Alegre e Butiá, no Rio Grande do Sul, Brasil. Procedimentos e Instrumentos: Foram realizadas três avaliações ao longo de quatro meses do desenvolvimento motor e cognitivo, com um intervalo de dois meses entre as avaliações. Para a avaliação do desempenho motor foi utilizada a Alberta Motor Infant Scale (AIMS) e do desempenho cognitivo a Bayley Scale of Infant Development II (BSID-II). Para avaliação dos fatores biológicos e ambientais associados ao desempenho motor e cognitivo dos bebês foi entregue aos pais e/ou responsáveis um questionário para identificação destes fatores, que continha características pré, peri e pós-natais do bebê, como data de nascimento, sexo, tipo de parto, semanas de gestação, índice de apgar, peso ao nascer, comprimento ao nascer, perímetro cefálico ao nascer, período (dias) de internação em unidade de terapia intensiva, período em ventilação mecânica, além da renda familiar mensal, tempo de amamentação, cuidador/mãe trabalhar fora, escolaridade, situação conjugal, idade dos pais. Os pais preencheram o questionário Affordances in the Home Enviroment for Motor Development – Infant Scale (AHEMD-IS) para análise do ambiente e do contexto em que a criança está inserida, sendo acrescentadas questões relativas à idade dos pais, se mãe/cuidador trabalha fora, número de irmãos, ordem de nascimento da criança participante e o tempo de aleitamento materno exclusivo em meses. Ainda, o questionário Daily Activities of Infant Scale (DAIS) para avaliação das práticas desempenhadas pelos pais/responsáveis; e o Inventário do Conhecimento do Desenvolvimento Infantil, originalmente denominado Knowledge of Infant Development Inventory (KIDI) para avaliação do conhecimento dos pais acerca do Desenvolvimento Infantil. Todos estes questionários foram realizados em um único momento. Resultados: Os bebês nascidos de mães adolescentes apresentaram menor renda familiar mensal e grau de escolaridade dos pais em comparação com os bebês filhos de mães adultas, assim como menor tempo de aleitamento materno exclusivo. Com relação ao desenvolvimento motor, os escores de cada postura da AIMS e o escore bruto total AIMS apresentaram diferença significativa ao longo do tempo em geral (pt<0,001) e em cada grupo (pint1<0,001). Quanto ao desenvolvimento cognitivo, o escore bruto Bayley também apresentou diferença significativa ao longo do tempo em geral (pt<0,001) e em cada grupo (pint1<0,001), sendo observada melhora do desenvolvimento ao longo do tempo. Não foram observadas diferenças significativas entre os grupos de bebês de mães adolescentes e adultas nos escores das posturas prono, sentado e em pé da AIMS. Entretanto, na postura supina observou-se diferença significativa entre os grupos no terceiro momento de avaliação (pint2=0,046), onde o grupo de bebês de mães adolescentes apresentou escores mais baixos em relação ao grupo de bebês de mães adultas. Não foram encontradas diferenças significativas entre os grupos, independente do tempo, no escore bruto total Bayley (pg=0,661) e MDI Bayley (pg=0,758); e nem entre os grupos em cada momento avaliativo no escore bruto total Bayley (M1pint2=0,708; M2pint2=0,946; M3pint2=0,553) e no MDI Bayley (M1pint2=0,700; M2pint2=0,950; M3pint2=0,828). Houve associação positiva, forte e significativa nos três momentos entre os escores totais da AIMS e Bayley nos bebês de adolescentes (rs=0,828; p<0,001 na 1ª avaliação/ rs=0,746; p<0,001 na 2ª avaliação/ rs=0,767; p<0,001 na 3ª avaliação) e adultas (rs=0,894; p<0,001 na 1ª avaliação/ rs=0,896; p<0,001 na 2ª avaliação/ rs=0,872; p<0,001 na 3ª avaliação), o que nos demonstra haver relação entre os aspectos motores e cognitivos do desenvolvimento da criança. As análises de regressão revelaram como principais preditores para o desempenho motor: o desempenho cognitivo (b=0,588; β=0,880; p<0,001; r2= 0,88), o espaço externo da casa (b=2,307; β=0,269; p=0,045; r2=0,24), a idade materna (b= - 0,767; β= - 0,491; p=0,004; r2= -0,04); e o tempo em creche (b=9,692; β=0,748; p<0,001; r2=0,46); práticas dos pais DAIS (b=2,918; β=0,898; p<0,001; r2=0,79); conhecimento dos pais sobre o desenvolvimento infantil (b=17,694; β=0,250; p=0,009; r2=0,14); posição de prono para dormir (b= -3,751; β= - 0,202; p=0,041; r2=0,50). Nas análises de regressão observou-se associação significativa (p≤0,05) entre desempenho cognitivo e o desempenho motor (b=1,316; β=0,880; p<0,001; r2=0,88), a idade paterna (b= - 0,919; β= -0,439; p=0,010; r2= - 0,12), o tempo em creche (b=12,030; β=0,637; p<0,001; r2=0,42), posição mais ativa durante o colo (b=7,587; β=0,292; p=0,033; r2=0,61) e a posição durante as brincadeiras tranquilas da criança (b= 11,796; β= 0,571; p<0,001; r2=0,73). Conclusões: Não foram observadas diferenças significativas entre os grupos de bebês de mães adolescentes e adultas com relação ao desempenho motor e cognitivo ao longo do tempo, com exceção da postura supina da escala AIMS na terceira avaliação, onde os bebês de mães adolescentes apresentaram escores motores mais baixos. Encontramos associação positiva, forte e significativa entre o desenvolvimento motor e cognitivo em todos os três momentos de avaliação tanto nos bebês de mães adolescentes quanto no de mães adultas. Quanto melhor o desempenho cognitivo melhor é o desempenho motor da criança, da mesma forma que quanto maior o espaço externo da casa, melhores são os resultados do desempenho motor. Quanto mais tempo a criança frequenta a creche, quanto mais adequadas as práticas dos pais e quanto maior o conhecimento dos pais acerca do desenvolvimento infantil, melhor é o desempenho motor da criança. No entanto, quanto maior a idade materna, pior é o desempenho motor do bebê. A posição de prono durante o sono foi associada ao pior desempenho motor dos bebês de mães adolescentes e adultas. O tempo que a criança frequenta creche, o posicionamento da criança no colo e durante as brincadeiras tranquilas foram associados positivamente com o desempenho cognitivo, enquanto a idade paterna apresentou relação inversa, quanto maior a idade do pai, pior é o desempenho cognitivo do bebê. / Objectives: To investigatethe possible differences in motor and cognitive development of children born to teenage and adult mothers over four months and the main biological and environmental predictors to child development. Methodology: A descriptive study using a developmental, correlational and associative approach with longitudinal design. The total sample included 40 infants, 20 born to teenage mothers (aged 15-19 years) and 20 born to adult mothers (aged 25-39 years) from outskirts and Early Childhood Education Schools in Porto Alegre city and the city of Butiá in Rio Grande do Sul State, Brazil. Instruments and Procedures: Three evaluations of motor and cognitive development were performed over four months with a two-month interval between each assessment. Alberta Motor InfantScale (AIMS) was used to evaluate the motor performance, and the BayleyScaleofInfant Development II (BSID-II) to assess the cognitive performance. For the evaluation of biological and environmental factors associated with motor and cognitive performances it was given a questionnaire to parents and/or responsible for the identification of these factors. The questionnaire comprised pre-, peri- and post-natal characteristics of the infant such as birthday, sex, mode of birth delivery, gestational age, Apgar score, weight and length at birth, head circumference at birth, period (days) of stay in the intensive care unit, period on mechanical ventilation, including information about the monthly family income, period of exclusive breastfeeding, whether the mother/caregiver works or not, schooling, marital status and parents age. Parents filled out the questionnaire Affordances in the Home Environment for Motor Development – InfantScale (AHEMD-IS)to assess the environment and context of child’s life and answered questions related to parents age, whether the mother/caregiver works or not, number of siblings, birth order of the child and breastfeeding period in months. The parents also filled out the questionnaire Daily ActivitiesofInfantScale (DAIS) to evaluate the practices performed by them and the questionnaire Knowledge of Infant Development Inventory (KIDI) to assess their knowledge about child development. All questionnaires were applied at the same time. Results: The infants born to teenage mothers showed lower monthly family income and lower parents schooling when compared to the infants born to adult mothers, as well as showed lower period of exclusive breastfeeding. Relative to the motor development, the scores of each position of AIMS and the AIMS total score showed significant difference during overall time (pt<0,001) and in each group (pint1<0,001). Regarding the cognitive development, the Bayley raw score also showed significant difference during the overall time (pt<0,001) and in each group (pint1<0,001), in which a development improvement was observed over time. No significant differences were observed between the groups of infants born to teenage and adult mothers in the scores of prone, sitting and standing position of AIMS. However, in the supine position there was significant difference between the groups in the third stage of evaluation (pint2=0,046), in which the group of infants born to teenage mothers revealed lower scores than those born to adult mothers. No significant differences were found between the groups, independent of time in Bayley raw score (pg=0,661) and Bayley MDI (pg=0,758); neither between the groups in each stage of evaluation in Bayley raw score (M1pint2=0,708; M2pint2=0,946; M3pint2=0,553) and in Bayley MDI (M1pint2=0,700; M2pint2=0,950; M3pint2=0,828). There was a positive, strong, and significant association in three stages between the total scores of AIMS and Bayley in the infants born to teenage mothers (rs=0,828; p<0,001 in the 1st evaluation/rs=0,746; p<0,001 in the 2nd evaluation/rs=0,767; p<0,001 in the 3th evaluation), and born to adult mothers (rs=0,894; p<0,001 in the 1st evaluation/ rs=0,896; p<0,001 in the 2nd evaluation/rs=0,872; p<0,001 in the 3th evaluation), showing an association between the motor and cognitive aspects of the child development. The regression analyzes revealed as main predictors for the motor performance: cognitive performance (b=0,588; β=0,880; p<0,001; r2= 0,88), outdoor space of the house (b=2,307; β=0,269; p=0,045; r2=0,24), mother’s age (b= - 0,767; β= - 0,491; p=0,004; r2= -0,04); time in daycare (b=9,692; β=0,748; p<0,001; r2=0,46); parenting practices DAIS (b=2,918; β=0,898; p<0,001; r2=0,79); parents’ knowledge about child development (b=17,694; β=0,250; p=0,009; r2=0,14); prone sleeping position (b= -3,751; β= - 0,202; p=0,041; r2=0,50). A significant association in the regression analyzes was observed between cognitive and motor performances (b=1,316; β=0,880; p<0,001; r2=0,88), father’s age (b= - 0,919; β= -0,439; p=0,010; r2= - 0,12), time in daycare (b=12,030; β=0,637; p<0,001; r2=0,42), most active position during lap (b=7,587; β=0,292; p=0,033; r2=0,61) and during child’s quiet games (b= 11,796; β= 0,571; p<0,001; r2=0,73). Conclusions: No significant differences were observed between the groups of infants born to teenage and adult mothers in relation to the motor and cognitive performance over time, except for the supine position of the AIMS in the third evaluation, in which infants of teenage mothers showed lower motor scores. We found a positive, strong and significant association between the motor and cognitive development in all three stage of evaluation in both groups of infants. The better the cognitive performance is, the better the motor performance of the child. Likewise, the greater the outdoor space of the house is, the better the results of motor performance. The motor performance of the child is directly associated with longer time in daycare, more appropriate parenting practices, and better parent’s knowledge about child development. However, children of more mature mothers showed a worse motor performance. The prone position during sleep was associated with the worse motor performance of infants born to teenage and adult mothers. The time child attends daycare, the child position on the lap and during its quiet games were positively associated with cognitive performance, whereas the father’s age showed an inverse association, i.e., the more mature father is, the worse cognitive performance of the child.

Este estudo teve como objetivo verificar como ocorre e se desenvolve a construção dos conceitos acerca da estrutura da matéria e quais as dificuldades envolvidas nesse processo de aprendizagem. Para esta finalidade foi realizado um estudo longitudinal com um grupo de alunos ao longo do ensino médio. O estudo apresenta a análise do desenvolvimento conceitual desses estudantes, ao manifestarem explicações sobre fenômenos do seu cotidiano, utilizando ideias sobre a estrutura da matéria. Foram empregadas três dimensões de análise: natureza corpuscular da matéria (1ª dimensão), natureza elétrica da matéria (2ª dimensão) e interações intra e interpartículas (3ª dimensão). O estudo foi dividido em duas etapas. Na primeira etapa, participaram 91 alunos de 1ª a 3ª séries de uma escola de Ensino Médio de São Paulo, cujo ensino esteve a cargo de uma mesma professora. A compreensão dos conceitos acerca da estrutura da matéria foi extraída de suas respostas a um questionário contendo questões abertas e fechadas. O conhecimento dos alunos foi avaliado considerando suas respostas em níveis de adequação e compreensão elaborados a partir de uma comparação com respostas de professores especialistas na área de química e de ensino ao mesmo questionário. Verificou-se que as respostas dos alunos se apresentaram entre os níveis de inadequação e parcial adequação com vaga à alguma compreensão na 1ª dimensão de análise para todas as séries. Na 2ª dimensão de análise as respostas foram inadequadas com insuficiente compreensão, entre os alunos da 1ª série, inadequadas com vaga compreensão entre os alunos da 2ª e 3ª séries. Na 3ª dimensão, as respostas foram inadequadas, com insuficiente compreensão entre os alunos das 1ª e 3ª séries, o que implica em avanços e retrocessos do conhecimento dos conceitos e, para a 2ª série, as respostas foram inadequadas com vaga compreensão. Na segunda etapa do estudo, foram acompanhados quatro alunos (A, B, C e D) durante os três anos do Ensino Médio. O conhecimento individual de cada aluno foi extraído de suas respostas a questionários, entrevistas e representações pictóricas. O desenvolvimento conceitual de cada aluno foi avaliado por meio da elaboração de mapas cognitivos a partir de suas manifestações verbais e escritas. Os resultados indicaram que dois dos estudantes desenvolveram uma compreensão gradual dos conceitos acerca da estrutura da matéria, um deles finalizou o ensino com vaga compreensão (A), outro com alguma compreensão (D) e dois deles alcançaram bom nível de compreensão (B e C), estes últimos parecem ter integrado de maneira mais coesa seus conhecimentos, o que indicou que reestruturaram e reorganizaram suas estruturas de conhecimento. O estudo sugere que é necessária uma retomada constante dos conceitos sobre estrutura da matéria, possibilitando ao aluno estabelecer inter-relações conceituais na explicação de fenômenos, de maneira a facilitar uma reestruturação das concepções dos estudantes, tornando a aprendizagem mais significativa. / This study aims to investigate how High School students understand and develop concepts related to structure of matter and how they apply these concepts to explain everyday phenomena related to Chemistry. For this purpose, we conducted a longitudinal study with 91 High School students from 2012 to 2014. The conceptual development of these students was investigated by analyzing their answers to a questionnaire applied in the beginning of the 1st and 2nd grades and in the end of the 3rd grade of High School. In addition, four students were chosen to answer to five interviews conducted over the three years of High School. The students had the same Chemistry teacher in these three years. Students\' answers were categorized in three dimensions of analysis elaborated by the researcher: particle model of matter (1st dimension), electrical nature of matter (2nd dimension) and intra- and inter-particle interactions (3rd dimension). The analyses were conducted in two steps. In the first step, the concepts expressed by the 91 students were analyzed according to the three dimensions. Adequacy and comprehension levels were created to categorize students\' responses. These levels were elaborated by comparing students\' answers to Chemistry experts\' answers. The second step consisted of analysis of each of four students (A, B, C, D) during learning process on 1st, 2nd and 3rd grades of High School. The concept development of each student was evaluated through cognitive maps elaborated by the researcher from student\'s verbal and written manifestations. On the first step, concerning to the 1st dimension of analysis, the students on the three grades showed answers classified in inadequacy and partial adequacy levels, and low comprehension level. For the 2nd dimension, 1st graders\' ideas were classified as inadequate with insufficient understanding, the students of 2nd and 3rd grades showed a low level of understanding. On the 3rd dimension, the answers given by students of the 1st and 3rd grades were classified as inadequate, with insufficient understanding. The responses of 2nd grade students were also inadequate but with a little better level of understanding. On the second step, results indicated that students A and D developed a gradual understanding of the concepts concerning the structure of matter. Although, student A has achieved a low level of comprehension, student D has achieved the level of some comprehension. Students B and C achieved good level of understanding and their concepts seem to be closely integrated, which indicates that they have restructured and reorganized their knowledge structures. In conclusion, this study suggests that concepts related to structure of matter should be frequently reviewed in order to enable the student to establish conceptual interrelationships to explain phenomena at sub-microscope level, promote students\' conceptions restructuration, and provide meaningful learning during the teaching-learning process.

Introdução: Mudanças na composição corporal de indivíduos podem fornecer indícios importantes sobre a saúde individual e coletiva. Objetivo: Identificar mudanças na estatura e gordura corporal em crianças de 7 a 10 anos. Métodos: Foram utilizados dados de três coortes de nascimento de escolares da Escola de Aplicação da USP, mensurados duas vezes ao ano, no período de 2005 a 2008. Foram avaliados a estatura, o peso e pregas cutâneas (tricipital, bicipital, suprailíaca e subescapular). Resultados: O estudo teve início com 161 escolares com 7, 8 e 9 anos e terminou com 37 escolares com 10 anos. Neste estudo, não foi verificada existência de efeito de coorte. Agregando-se os participantes nas idades de 7, 8, 9 e 10 anos, tem-se que foram acompanhados no período de 4 anos, 457 escolares. Observou-se aumento da estatura com a idade, seguindo um padrão linear, com taxas diferentes de crescimento médio para meninos e meninas (em média 5,4 cm e 6,4 cm ao ano, respectivamente); Observou-se ganho médio de peso igual a 4,4 kg ao ano e diferenças entre os sexos, com meninos apresentado 2,4 kg a mais que meninas para cada idade; Observou-se aumento do tecido adiposo tanto pela soma das pregas cutâneas como pela prega cutânea tricipital com aumento médio de 7,0 mm e 2,3 mm ao ano, respectivamente. Conclusão: Conclui-se que, crianças de coortes mais recentes alcançam estatura, peso e soma de pregas cutâneas de crianças de coortes anteriores, não indicando efeito de coorte. Crianças de 7 a 10 anos apresentam crescimento linear na faixa etária, com valores médios maiores para meninas. O ganho de peso vem acompanhado do acúmulo de tecido adiposo, indicando ganho de gordura corporal / Introduction: Changes in body composition of individuals may provide important clues about individual and collective health. Objective: To identify changes in height and body fat in 7-10 year-old children. Methods: Data from three cohorts of students from Escola de Aplicação, University of São Paulo. Height, weight and skinfolds (triceps, biceps, suprailiac and subscapular) were measured twice a year and assessed. Results: At baseline 161 students aged 7, 8 and 9 years were enrolled. At the end, there were 37 10-year-old students. In this study, there was no cohort effect. Altogether, 457 students were followed for 4 years (7, 8, 9 and 10-year-old participants), who contributed with more than one measurement of each variable. Height increased with age following a linear pattern, with different growth rates when boys and girls are compared (on average 5.4 cm and 6.4 cm per year, respectively). Mean weight gain was 4.4 kg per year, with significant differences between genders (boys were 2.4 kg heavier than girls at each age). Adipose tissue increased when assessed through sum of skinfolds and tricipital skinfold, with mean increases of 7.0mm and 2.3mm per year. Conclusion: Given the results, it seems that 7 to 10 yearold schoolchildren of both sexes exhibit linear physical growth as regards to height, weight and body fat accumulation

Abstract Many adults with schizophrenia have cognitive deficits, and many children who go on to develop schizophrenia as adults have subtle sub-clinical signs of early developmental deviance. However, the relationship between early markers of neurodevelopment and later neurocognition remains unclear. The present thesis principally investigates infant neurodevelopment, adolescent scholastic function and adult cognition in the Northern Finland 1966 Birth Cohort (n = 12,058). Proxy markers of neurocognition – developmental milestones and school performance – were collected prospectively. Individuals who went on to develop schizophrenia were identified. School performance in pre-schizophrenic individuals was assessed by teacher ratings (n = 100). Cognition in subjects with schizophrenia was assessed at age 33–35 (n = 61). A representative sample of the general population at risk was studied as a comparison group (school assessments n = 9351; neurocognitive assessment n = 104). The schizophrenia group achieved neuromotor milestones later (p &lt; 0.0001) and performed worse than the control group on all cognitive measures (p &lt; 0.0025). In pooled analyses there were associations between infant motor development and adult cognition in executive function (p = 0.006), verbal learning (p = 0.007) and visuospatial working memory (p = 0.02), (earlier development was linked to better adult cognition) but not in visual object learning. The pattern of associations between development and adult cognition was broadly similar in schizophrenia and the general population, whereas associations between development and adolescent scholastic function were stronger in schizophrenia than in controls (p &lt; 0.05). A complementary neuropsychological case study of spontaneous clinical and cognitive improvement in chronic schizophrenia is also presented, showing that cognitive deficits in schizophrenia do not always represent a static encephalopathy, but can be subject to marked improvement. The possibility of using knowledge about premorbid features to help predict and prevent schizophrenia is also critically reviewed, using the school setting as a practical example. It is concluded that many obstacles remain before knowledge about premorbid features can be translated to preventative interventions. Overall, the results of these investigations are consistent with the hypothesis that in schizophrenia, mild infant motor developmental delay, adolescent scholastic performance and cognitive deficits may be age dependent manifestations of the same underlying neural process. Thus, they may be better considered as part of a single longitudinal syndrome. / Tiivistelmä Skitsofreniaa sairastavilla aikuisilla on kognitiivisten toimintojen puutoksia. Kognitiivisia (tiedon prosessoinnin) toimintoja ovat esimerkiksi tarkkaavaisuus, huomiokyky, oppiminen, muisti, asioiden suunnittelu ja ongelmanratkaisu. Monilla lapsilla, jotka sairastuvat aikuisiällä skitsofreniaan, on vähäisiä, kliinisesti merkityksettömiä varhaisen kehityksen poikkeamia tai hitautta. Varhaisen kehityksen ja myöhemmän kognition yhteys on toistaiseksi epäselvä. Tämä tutkimus selvittää varhaisen hermostonkehityksen, nuoruusiän koulunkäynnin ja aikuisiän kognition yhteyttä Pohjois-Suomen 1966 syntymäkohortissa (N = 12 058). Tiedot hermoston tietotoimintoja kuvaavista muuttujista (varhainen kehitys ja koulumenestys) kerättiin prospektiivisesti, samoin tieto skitsofreniaan sairastumisesta. Opettajat arvioivat tutkittavien (n = 100) koulumenestystä ennen sairastumista. Skitsofreniaa sairastavien kognitiivinen suorituskyky arvioitiin 33–35 vuoden iässä (n = 61). Vertailuryhmänä käytettiin edustavaa otosta yleisväestöstä (koulumenestys n = 9351; kognitiivinen suorituskyky n = 104). Skitsofreniaryhmä saavutti motoriset kehityskynnykset (kuten seisomaan ja kävelemään oppiminen) keskimäärin merkittävästi myöhemmin ja suoriutui huonommin kuin kontrolliryhmä kaikissa kognitiivisen suorituskyvyn mittauksissa. Lisäksi varhaisen motorisen kehityksen ja aikuisiän kognitiivisen suorituskyvyn välillä havaittiin yhteys. Erityisesti varhainen motorinen kehitys ennusti hyvää toiminnanohjausta, verbaalista oppimista ja visuospatiaalista työmuistia. Vastaavaa yhteyttä ei havaittu visuaalisen oppimisen alueella. Varhaisen kehityksen ja aikuisiän kognitiivisten toimintojen yhteys oli samantyyppinen sekä skitsofreniassa että yleisväestössä, kun taas varhaisen kehityksen ja nuoruusiän koulumenetyksen yhteys oli vahvempi skitsofreniaan sairastuneilla kuin verrokkihenkilöillä. Yhtenä osatyönä esitetään tapausselostus, jossa kaksi kroonista skitsofreniaa sairastavaa henkilöä toipui spontaanisti sekä kliinisesti ja kognitiivisesti. Tapausselostus osoittaa, että skitsofreniaan liittyvä kognitiivisen tason lasku ei välttämättä heijasta pysyvää aivojen toiminnantason laskua, vaan tila voi huomattavasti korjaantua. Tutkimuksen osana on myös katsaus siitä, missä määrin on mahdollista ennustaa skitsofreniaa sairautta edeltävien piirteiden ja koulussa tehtyjen havaintojen perusteella. Katsauksen valossa on ilmeistä, että on edelleen hyvin vaikea hyödyntää sairautta edeltäviä piirteitä tulevan sairauden ennustamisessa ja etenkin ehkäisyssä. Yhteenvetona voidaan todeta tämän tutkimuksen keskeisten tulosten tukevan hypoteesia, jonka mukaan skitsofreniaan myöhemmin sairastuneilla havaittu lievä varhaisen motorisen kehityksen viive, heikko nuoruusiän koulumenestys ja kognitiivisen tason lasku heijastanevat ikäsidonnaista keskushermoston kehitysprosessia ja voivat olla osa samasta pitkittäisestä oirekokonaisuudesta.

The presence of learning in organizations is important for success and survival. Recent research into open source software developers has primarily suggested a social constructivist view where knowledge is constructed in the social relationships within the team culture. I report results from a case study that investigated the presence of situated learning among open source developers at an earlier time of a project. Thirty-eight developers were systematically selected and examined on their performance, experience and roles during ten months of maintenance work. I followed a model of learning curve effects that associated the improvement in the average resolving time with the accumulated experience. I found a strong relationship between the two variables and confirmed the presence of learning. In addition, I found a less convincing evidence to affirm knowledge depreciated among open source software developers. The depreciation factor was estimated to be 94 percent, compared to other studies which ranged between 65 to 85 percent. An additional investigation was conducted around the organization structure to understand whether core and peripheral members have different average resolving time. The finding was inconclusive to claim both groups have different means towards issue resolution. The consistency in the result of this thesis and several other related research efforts suggests that learning is likely to be an intrinsic characteristic of open source software development rather than just a speculation in the literatures.

Perceived job insecurity (JI) among employees is a common problem in our globalized economy that is characterized by competition and demands flexibility from both employees and employers. The existing literature presents a lot of evidence for the impact of JI on general physical health and psychological well-being outcomes, but asks for more longitudinal research on the impact of JI on specific outcomes, controlled for their baseline levels. The current study addresses this gap in existing research and investigates the associations between JI and diagnosed major depression, diagnosed acute stress, sleep quality, and the health-related behaviors of smoking and snussing in two Swedish samples from Stockholm and Norrland, over long time spans (up to 17 years for the Stockholm sub-sample). Data was obtained from the WOLF study. Results are mixed. For the Stockholm sub-sample, job insecurity correlates with most outcome measures except diagnosed stress, and predicts small shares of variance of sleep quality, the number of cigarettes participants smoke, and if participants use snus. The Norrland sub-sample replicates the impact of JI on general health and hints at a relationship between JI and sleep quality, but no other correlations with health-related behaviors or diagnoses were significant. Reasons for the differences among the sub-samples and limitations of the study are discussed.

En France les chercheurs se sont encore peu intéressés à l’évolution des auteurs d’infractions sexuelles en psychothérapie de groupe alors que les thérapeutes proposent fréquemment cette modalité thérapeutique à ces patients. Notre objectif est d’approfondir les connaissances sur cette population hétérogène et sur son évolution clinique suite à deux ans de thérapie groupale. Nous avons également cherché à mieux comprendre les changements observés. Vingt-huit auteurs d’infractions sexuelles ont participé à la première phase de notre étude et deux ans plus tard dix-sept ont effectué le retest. Nous avons fait le choix de recueillir des données issues des patients, des thérapeutes et du chercheur et de nous baser sur une approche quantitative et qualitative. Nos résultats révèlent des profils et des évolutions cliniques diverses. Des changements cliniques ont été repérés : une amélioration de la centration sur soi, de la perception de la réalité et des relations interpersonnelles ; une évolution des profils d’attachement narratifs vers davantage de cohérence, de réflexivité et d’authenticité ; un développement des capacités de mentalisation. Par contre, d’autres dimensions n’évoluent pas significativement notamment le fonctionnement défensif global ainsi que les troubles de la personnalité et certains patients restent stables entre T1 et T2. Notre recherche montre donc que les auteurs d’infractions sexuelles présentent des changements cliniques mais souligne la complexité de cette évolution. Cette étude permet de mieux comprendre les processus de changement et permet ainsi d’améliorer les prises en charge proposées. / In France, researchers have barely investigated the evolution of sexual offenders receiving group therapy whereas therapists regularly recommend this therapeutic modality to these patients. Our aim is to get better knowledge of this mixed population and their clinical evolution after two years of group therapy. We also focused on understanding better the observed changes. 28 sexual offenders took the first phase of our study and 17 of them took a re-test two years later. We decided to collect data from patients, therapists and the researcher, on a quantity and quality based approach. Our results show different profiles and clinical evolutions. Clinical changes appearing are: improvement in self-esteem, in perception of reality and in interpersonal relationships ; evolution of narrative attachment methods towards more coherence, reflexivity and authenticity ; development of mentalisation abilities. However, other dimensions don’t show substantial improvement, particularly global defense functioning and personality disorders and some of the patients remain stable between T1 and T2. Therefore, our study shows that sexual offenders go through clinical changes but emphasizes the complexity of this evolution. This study helps provide a better understanding of the process of change and therefore helps improve exisiting therapeutic modalities.

A longitudinal study of infants and their mothers was conducted to explore the development of imitation and approximations to imitation. During a 10-minute unstructured play session, researchers observed two mother-infant dyads once per week for twelve weeks, while they played at home. The data presented represents infants between the ages 5 and 34 weeks. The methodology employed was based on the methods described by Hart and Rilsey (1999). Observations were coded based on the topography of the mother's and infant's behavior and included vocalizations, facial movements, motor movements, and object manipulation. The data are analyzed and discussed in terms of its relevance to autism intervention.

A l'adolescence, la maturation cérébrale implique des changements anatomiques globaux et régionaux subtils, et estimer la morphologie exacte de certaines structures au cours du développement post-pubertaire est par conséquent difficile. L'effet du dimorphisme sexuel sur la maturation cérébrale n'a été que très peu exploré de façon prospective par l'imagerie par résonance magnétique. Dans ce contexte, ce travail de thèse est consacré à l'étude longitudinale des effets du sexe sur la maturation cérébrale à l'aide de deux méthodes pour contrôler et analyser les variations de positionnement spatial des images acquises à différents intervalles de temps. Dans une première étude utilisant une approche multimodale, notre objectif était d'examiner si le dimorphisme sexuel dans la maturation cérébrale du système limbique pouvait expliquer les différences émotionnelles entre les filles et les garçons pendant l'adolescence. Nous avons adapté pour cela une méthode de traitement longitudinal sur des images anatomiques et de diffusion de 335 adolescents sains entre 14 et 16 ans. Nous avons mis en évidence des différences sexuelles dans la maturation cérébrale du système limbique avec une maturation plus tardive des garçons par rapport aux filles. Ces changements avaient un rôle médiateur sur les différences sexuelles dans la régulation émotionnelle, illustrée par une augmentation des traits de personnalité positifs chez les garçons et une diminution chez les filles. Dans une deuxième étude utilisant une approche originale de recalage, notre objectif était d'estimer et extrapoler des trajectoires de maturation en fonction du dimorphisme sexuel. Nous avons mis en évidence des trajectoires divergentes entre les filles et les garçons entre 14 et 16 ans, illustrant une différenciation des vitesses de maturation croissante à cette période, spécifiquement dans le cortex préfrontal. Ces trajectoires différentielles ont permis d'estimer une avance de maturation de 5 mois chez les filles dans le cortex préfrontal. L'ensemble de ces résultats apporte des informations utiles à une meilleure compréhension des différences de maturation cérébrale entre les filles et les garçons, et de leurs liens avec la dérégulation du système émotionnel et donc la vulnérabilité à la dépression à l'adolescence. / In adolescence, brain maturation involves subtle global and regional anatomical changes, and estimating the exact morphology of some structures during post-pubertal development is therefore difficult. Effect of sexual dimorphism on brain maturation has been under-explored prospectively by magnetic resonance imaging. In this context, this work is focused on the longitudinal study of the effects of sex on brain maturation using two methods to control and analyze the spatial positioning variations of images acquired at different time points. In a first study using a multimodal approach, our goal was to examine sexual dimorphism in brain maturation of the limbic system to explain the emotional differences between girls and boys during adolescence. We adapted a method of longitudinal processing on anatomical and diffusion images of 335 healthy adolescents between 14 and 16 years. We highlighted sexual differences in brain maturation of the limbic system with a later maturation of boys compared to girls. These changes mediated sexual differences in emotional regulation, illustrated by an increase in positive personality traits in boys and a decrease in girls. In a second study using an original registration approach, our objective was to estimate and extrapolate maturation trajectories based on sexual dimorphism. We highlighted divergent trajectories between girls and boys between 14 and 16, illustrating a differentiation in maturation rates that increased during this period, specifically in the prefrontal cortex. These differential trajectories made it possible to estimate a maturational advance of 5 months in girls in the prefrontal cortex. All these results provide useful information for a better understanding of the differences in brain maturation between girls and boys, and their links with the emotional system dysregulation and therefore the vulnerability to depression in adolescence.

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