Introdução: A puberdade é considerada precoce quando ocorre antes dos 8 anos nas meninas. É classificada como puberdade precoce central (PPC) quando decorre da ativação prematura do eixo gonadotrófico e é considerada idiopática quando não há alteração no sistema nervoso central. O bloqueio puberal com análogos de GnRH é o tratamento de escolha da PPC e visa a regressão ou estabilização dos caracteres sexuais secundários, desaceleração da velocidade de crescimento e da maturação óssea com melhora do prognóstico de estatura adulta e promoção do ajuste psicossocial da criança e dos familiares. Poucos estudos avaliaram o impacto psicológico da PPC e o benefício resultante do bloqueio puberal. Objetivos: (1) Comparar o escore de estresse entre pacientes com PPC idiopática antes e durante o bloqueio puberal com análogos de GnRH e um grupo controle. (2) Avaliar a dinâmica da personalidade por meio do teste projetivo HTP-F (house-tree-person-family) em meninas com PPC idiopática, antes e durante o bloqueio puberal com análogos de GnRH e um grupo controle. (3) Comparar a prevalência dos indicadores de personalidade obtidos no HTP-F entre pacientes com PPC idiopática antes e durante o bloqueio puberal com análogos de GnRH e um grupo controle. Pacientes e Métodos: As pacientes foram agrupadas em pré-tratamento (n=12) e em tratamento (n=22), sendo 11 do grupo pré-tratamento reavaliadas 1 ano após início do tratamento (corte longitudinal) e 11 avaliadas em uma ocasião durante o tratamento (corte transversal). O grupo controle foi constituído de 8 meninas com desenvolvimento puberal em idade adequada, pareadas por estadiamento puberal. A avaliação psicológica incluiu entrevista semiestruturada, questionário psicossocial, aplicação da Escala de Stress Infantil (ESI) e do teste projetivo House-Tree-Person-Family (HTP-F). Os resultados estão expressos em média e desvio padrão e comparados entre os grupos por métodos estatísticos apropriados. Resultados: No grupo pré-tratamento, 6/12 (50%) pacientes encontravam-se estressadas, 4/12 (33%) na fase de alerta e 2/12 (17%) na fase de resistência. No grupo em tratamento (braço longitudinal), 3/11 (27%) pacientes encontravam-se estressadas e na fase de alerta. No grupo em tratamento (corte transversal) foram verificadas que 4/11 (36%) pacientes encontravam-se estressadas e na fase de alerta. No grupo controle somente 2/8 (25%) encontraram-se estressadas e situadas na fase alerta. Houve diferença significativa da média de escore total de estresse entre o grupo pré-tratamento, comparados ao grupo longitudinal e ao grupo controle (p <0,05). No teste HTP-F, os indicadores psicológicos significativos no grupo pré-tratamento foram sentimento de introversão comparado ao grupo em tratamento (longitudinal), sexualidade aflorada comparado ao grupo em tratamento (transversal) e sentimento de inferioridade comparado ao grupo controle (p < 0,05). Os indicadores psicológicos prevalentes, embora sem significância estatística no grupo pré-tratamento foram: ansiedade, sexualidade aflorada, esquema corporal inadequado, interação social inadequada e sentimento de inferioridade comparado aos demais grupos. No grupo em tratamento (longitudinal) foram significativos traços depressivos (luto) e sentimento de extroversão comparado ao grupo pré-tratamento (p < 0,05). No grupo em tratamento (transversal) os indicadores psicológicos prevalentes foram aceitação da mudança corporal e traços agressivos comparados aos demais grupos, embora sem significância estatística. Conclusão: O bloqueio puberal apresentou impacto significativo na redução do escore de estresse em pacientes com PPC. A aplicação do HTP-F em meninas com PPC apontou indicadores valiosos na dinâmica da personalidade, e poderá ser de grande utilidade na avaliação inicial, bem como na intervenção de meninas com precocidade sexual / Introduction: Puberty is considered premature when it occurs before 8 years of age in girls. It is classified as central precocious puberty (CPP) when it is caused by premature activation of the gonadotropic axis and idiopathic when there is no change in the central nervous system. Pubertal block with GnRH analogues is the treatment of choice for CPP and aims to achieve regression or stabilization of secondary sexual characteristics, slowing growth velocity and bone maturation with improved adult height prognosis and promoting the child\'s and family\'s psychosocial adjustment. Few studies have assessed the psychological impact of CPP and the resulting benefits of pubertal block. Objectives: (1) Compare the stress score among patients with idiopathic CPP before and during pubertal block with GnRH analogues and a control group. (2) To assess personality dynamics through the projective HTP-F (house-tree-person-family) test in girls with idiopathic PPC, before and during pubertal block with GnRH analogues and in a control group. (3) To compare the prevalence of personality indicators obtained in the HTP-F test in patients with idiopathic CPP before and during pubertal block with GnRH analogues and a control group. Patients and Methods: Patients were grouped at pre-treatment (n = 12) and treatment (n = 22) groups, with 11 from the pretreatment group being reassessed 1 year after the start of treatment (longitudinal section) and 11 being assessed on one occasion during treatment (cross-section). The control group consisted of 8 girls with appropriate pubertal development for age, matched by pubertal stage. Psychological assessment included semi-structured interviews, psychosocial questionnaire, application of the Child Stress Scale (CSS) and the projective House-Tree-Person-Family (HTP-F) test. The results are expressed as mean and standard deviation and compared between groups through appropriate statistical methods. Results: In the pre-treatment group, 6/12 (50%) patients were stressed, 4/12 (33%) in the alert phase and 2/12 (17%) in the resistance phase. In the treatment group (longitudinal arm), 3/11 (27%) patients were stressed and in the alert phase. In the treatment group (cross-section), 4/11 (36%) patients were stressed and in the alert phase. In the control group only 2/8 (25%) were stressed and in the alert phase. Significant differences were observed in the mean total stress score of the pre-treatment group when compared to the longitudinal and the control groups (p < 0.05). In the HTP-F test, significant psychological indicators in the pre-treatment group were: feelings of introversion compared to the treatment group (longitudinal), emergence of sexuality, when compared to the treatment group (cross-sectional) and feelings of inferiority when compared to the control group (p < 0.05). The prevalent psychological indicators, although not statistically significant in the pre-treatment group were: anxiety, emergence of sexuality, inadequate body schema, inadequate social interaction and feelings of inferiority when compared to the other groups. In the treatment group (longitudinal) the following indicators were significant: depressive traits (bereavement) and feeling of extroversion, when compared to pre-treatment group (p < 0.05). In the treatment group (cross-sectional) the prevalent psychological indicators were acceptance of body changes and aggressive traits when compared to other groups, although not statistically significant. Conclusions: The pubertal block had significant impact on stress score reduction in patients with CPP. The use of the HTP-F test in girls with CPP disclosed valuable indicators in personality dynamics and can be very useful in the initial assessment and intervention of girls with sexual precocity

O diagnóstico de neoplasia em crianças e adolescentes, bem como os cuidados oncológicos necessários, impõem aos pacientes e a suas famílias o convívio cotidiano com múltiplos eventos adversos ao desenvolvimento, que podem ser de natureza biológica, psíquica, social e econômica. Essa complexa realidade exigirá recursos e estratégias pessoais e familiares para positivo desfecho, superando situações de vulnerabilidade. Até o momento, apesar do crescente número de casos de câncer, encontra-se reduzida produção científica sistematizada no campo da Psico-oncologia Pediátrica sobre quais variáveis seriam as mais relevantes em termos de efeitos no desenvolvimento infantojuvenil, embora se reconheça importância dos recursos pessoais (incluindo características de personalidade), sócio-familiares e dos serviços de saúde. Nesse contexto, este trabalho objetivou avaliar longitudinalmente possíveis efeitos da vivência de adoecimento e cuidado oncológico sobre recursos pessoais, familiares e características de personalidade de crianças e adolescentes com câncer. Trata-se de estudo longitudinal, de natureza quantitativa, descritivo-comparativo e interpretativo, a partir de instrumentos de avaliação psicológica. Foram compostos dois de crianças e adolescentes, de sete a 17 anos, de ambos os sexos, bem como seus respectivos pais/responsáveis, compondo amostra de conveniência. O Grupo Clínico (G1, n=30, crianças/adolescentes com diagnóstico de neoplasia há pelo menos um mês) foi retirado de pacientes do Setor de Oncologia e Hematologia Pediátrica de um hospital-escola público, considerado serviço de referência na área. O Grupo de Comparação (G2, n=20, crianças/adolescentes com desenvolvimento típico), foi constituído de modo a ser balanceado em relação a idade, sexo e origem escolar (particular ou pública) a G1. Todos os voluntários (crianças/adolescentes e seus pais/responsáveis) responderam, individualmente e em ambiente adequado para avaliação psicológica, a uma bateria de instrumentos avaliativos, aplicados em dois momentos, nomeados nesse estudo como Fase 1 (recorte transversal) e Fase 2 (recorte longitudinal, após intervalo mínimo de seis meses da primeira avaliação). Os pais/responsáveis responderam a: Critério de Classificação Econômica Brasil, Questionário de Capacidades e Dificuldades (SDQ), Inventário de Recursos do Ambiente Familiar (RAF), Escala de Eventos Adversos (EEA), Escala de Adversidades Crônicas (EAC) e Inventário de Percepção do Suporte Familiar (IPSF). Na criança/adolescente foram administrados: Matrizes Progressivas de Raven (Coloridas ou Escala Geral), Método de Rorschach (Escola Francesa) e Teste das Pirâmides Coloridas de Pfister. A aplicação e a avaliação dos instrumentos seguiram seus respectivos padrões técnico-científicos, realizando-se análises descritivas e comparativas de G1 e G2 (Teste t de Student ou Teste de Wilcoxon, p0,05%), nas duas fases do estudo. Os resultados apontaram, como síntese das duas fases avaliativas, sinais de preservação dos recursos familiares e cognitivo/afetivos das crianças/adolescentes com câncer, com manutenção do funcionamento adaptativo, embora com impacto negativo na percepção de si e de sua identificação com o humano, tendendo a maior mobilização emocional, com tensão e ansiedade em seus esforços adaptativos, identificados pelos pais/responsáveis como indicadores de dificuldades em termos de saúde mental, comparativamente ao Grupo de Comparação. O Grupo Clínico tendeu a recorrer mais a estratégias defensivas baseadas em mecanismos repressivos e de racionalização, inibindo expressões afetivas no ambiente, favorecendo-lhes adaptação ao contexto de vida. Estes achados empíricos evidenciaram, numa perspectiva longitudinal, os recursos e os esforços adaptativos de crianças/adolescentes que convivem com o diagnóstico oncológico, bem como suas famílias. Foi possível apontar a relevância da sistemática avaliação e reavaliação da complexa rede de variáveis envolvidas nesses processos, atestando a contribuição dos métodos projetivos no campo da Psico-Oncologia Pediátrica. / The neoplasia diagnosis in children and adolescentes, as well as the oncological care needed, impose to patients and their families the daily living with multiple adverse events to the development, that may be of biological, psychic, social and economic nature. This complex reality will demand personal and family resources and strategies for a positive outcome, overcoming situations of vulnerability. To date, despite the growing number of cancer cases, there is a reduced systematized scientific production in the field of Pediatric Psycho-Oncology about what variables would be the most relevant in terms of effects on child and adolescent development, although the importance of personal resources (including personality characteristics), socio-family and health services is recognized. In this contexto, this study aimed to longitudinally assess possible effects of the experience of illness and cancer care on personal, family and personality characteristics of children and adolescents with cancer. This is a longitudinal study, of a quantitative, descriptive-comparative and interpretative nature, based on psychological assessment instruments. The were composed two groups of children and adolescents, from seven to 17 years of age, of both sexes, as well as their respective parents/guardians, composing a convenience sample. The Clinical Group (G1, n=30, children/adolescents with diagnosis of neoplasia for at least one month) was composed from patients of the Oncology and Pediatric Hematology Sector of a public school hospital, considered a reference service in the area. The Comparison Group (G2, n=20, children/adolescents with typical development) was constituted in order to be balanced against age, gender and school origin (private or public) to G1. All volunteers (children/adolescents and their parents/guardians) responded, individually and in a suitable environment for psychological assessment, to a battery of assessment instruments, applied in two moments, named in this study as Phase 1 (transversal cut) and Phase 2 (longitudinal cut, after a minimum interval of six months of the first assessment). Parents/guardians responded to: Brazil\'s Economic Classification Criteria, Capacities and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ), Family Environment Resource Inventory (RAF), Adverse Event Scale (EEA), Chronic Adversity Scale (EAC), and Inventory of Perception of Family Support (IPSF). In the child/adolescent were administered: Progressive Matrices of Raven (Colored or General Scale), Method of Rorschach (French School) and Test of Colored Pyramids of Pfister. The application and assessment of the instruments followed their respective technical-scientific standards. Descriptive and comparative analyzes of G1 and G2 (Student\'s t test or Wilcoxon test, p0.05%) were carried out in both phases of the study. The results showed, as a synthesis of the two evaluative phases, signs of preservation of the family and cognitive/affective resources of the children/adolescents with cancer, with maintenance of the adaptative functioning, although with a negative impact on the perception of self and its identification with the human, tending to greater emotional mobilization, with tension and anxiety in their adaptive efforts, identified by parents/guardians as indicators of difficulties in terms of mental health, compared to the Comparison Group. The Clinical Group tended to resort more to defensive strategies based on repressive mechanisms and rationalization, inhibiting affective expressions in the environment, favoring adaptation to the context of life. These empirical findings have evidenced, from a longitudinal perspective, the resources and the adaptive efforts of children/adolescents living with cancer diagnosis, as well as their families. It was possible to point out the relevance of systematic assessment and re-assessment of the complex network of variables involved in these processes, attesting the contribution of projective methods in the field of Pediatric Psycho-Oncology.

Duarte, Suzani Marques Palma (2014). Validade Concorrente entre Rorschach e Pfister em Adolescentes. Dissertação de Mestrado no Programa de Pós-Graduação em Psicologia do Departamento de Psicologia da Faculdade de Filosofia, Ciências e Letras de Ribeirão Preto, Universidade de São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto. (Orientadora: Profa. Dra. Sonia Regina Pasian). Os métodos projetivos de avaliação psicológica são classicamente reconhecidos, pela literatura científica nacional e internacional, como úteis, válidos e adequados instrumentos para se compreender o funcionamento afetivo e cognitivo dos indivíduos. Ainda assim exigem contínuo aperfeiçoamento técnico-científico no tocante a suas evidências psicométricas. Nesse contexto, o presente estudo examinou indicadores de validade e de precisão relativos ao Psicodiagnóstico do Rorschach e ao Teste das Pirâmides Coloridas do Pfister, centrando-se na etapa da adolescência, pouco investigada até o momento por esses métodos avaliativos no Brasil. Procurou-se identificar convergências de indicadores técnicos (relativos ao funcionamento afetivo e cognitivo) do Método de Rorschach (Escola Francesa) com aqueles do Teste das Pirâmides Coloridas de Pfister. Foram examinados dados de 97 adolescentes na faixa etária de 12 a 14 anos de idade, de ambos os sexos e estudantes de escolas públicas e particulares do interior do Estado de São Paulo, voluntários devidamente autorizados a participar do estudo, com indicadores de desenvolvimento típico para sua faixa etária e com adequado nível cognitivo (avaliado especificamente pelo Teste Não Verbal de Inteligência - INV, forma C). Os testes psicológicos foram individualmente aplicados e avaliados conforme seus respectivos manuais técnicos, sistematizando-se suas principais variáveis específicas. Realizaram-se análises descritivas e inferenciais dos dados, examinando-se possível efeito da procedência escolar sobre os resultados dos testes psicológicos. As evidências encontradas apontaram que a origem escolar pareceu não influenciar significativamente o padrão de respostas dos adolescentes, caracterizando-se um único grupo geral de marcadores de personalidade para a faixa etária avaliada. As análises correlacionais, de variância e de regressão logística entre indicadores quantitativos do INV, Rorschach e Pfister apontaram poucas associações significativas entre os sinais dos testes utilizados, embora existindo convergências informativas entre variáveis do mesmo instrumento de avaliação psicológica, sugerindo consistência interna nos testes. Houve associações significativas entre indicadores que avaliam: a) potencialidade cognitiva; b) maturidade afetiva e cognitiva; c) controle afetivo; d) controle da angústia; e) estilo predominante de interação afetiva com o ambiente; f) grau de investimento psíquico no ambiente. Foi possível confirmar, embora de forma modesta, associações entre indicadores desses métodos projetivos de avaliação psicológica, voltados ao exame da personalidade, aplicados em adolescentes, fortalecendo seus achados de evidências de validade clínica (CAPES). / Projective methods of psychological assessment are classically recognized by national and international scientific literature as useful, valid and appropriate tools to understand the affective and cognitive functioning of individuals. Still require continuous technical and scientific improvements regarding its psychometric evidence. In this context, the present study examined indicators of validity and accuracy relative to the Rorschach psychodiagnostic and the Color Pyramid Test of Pfister, focusing on the stage of adolescence, yet little investigated by these evaluation methods in Brazil. We sought to identify convergences of technical indicators (related to affective and cognitive functioning) Rorschach Method (French Approach) with those of the Color Pyramid Test Pfister. Data from a total of 97 adolescents were examined in age group 12-14 years of age, of both sexes and students from public and private schools in the state of São Paulo, with indicators of typical development for their age and appropriate cognitive level (specifically assessed by Verbal Intelligence Test - INV, form C). Psychological tests were applied individually and assessed according to their respective technical manuals, systematizing their most important specific variables. The descriptive and inferential statistical analysis examined the possible effect of school provenance on the results of psychological tests. The evidence indicated that the school did not seem to rise significantly influence the pattern of responses of adolescents, characterizing one general group of personality markers for the age range studied. The correlational analyzes of variance and logistic regression between quantitative indicators of INV, Rorschach and Pfister showed few significant differences between the signs of the tests used, although there were informative convergences between variables of the same instrument for psychological evaluation, suggesting internal consistency tests. There were significant associations between indicators that assess: a) cognitive capability; b) affective and cognitive maturity; c) emotional control; d) control of anxiety; e) predominant style of affective interaction with the environment; f) degree of psychological investment in the environment. It was confirmed, albeit modestly, associations between these projective methods indicators of psychological assessment, aimed at the examination of personality applied to adolescents, fortifying their finding evidence of clinical validity (CAPES).

Por meio do Psicodiagnóstico pretendemos estudar os aspectos psíquicos em pacientes com dor lombar devido à hérnia de disco. Os sujeitos são três pacientes, encaminhadas à seção de Psicologia do Hospital do Servidor Público Estadual (HSPE), pelo grupo de coluna da clínica de Neurocirurgia. Todas as pacientes foram submetidas ao exame clínico, a ressonância magnética e ao Psicodiagnóstico. O Psicodiagnóstico é composto por entrevistas e o teste projetivo H.T.P. (House, Tree, Person). Utilizaremos o referencial teórico psicanalítico para avaliar e analisar o material clínico obtido no Psicodiagnóstico. Os resultados visam possibilitar a compreensão da subjetividade da dor, evidenciando o sentido que o sintoma doloroso representa para esses sujeitos, e contribuir para o direcionamento da conduta terapêutica. / Through Psychodiagnosis we intend to study the psychics aspects regarding with lumbar pain due to a disk hernia. The subjects are three patients, sent to the Psychology Ward of the Hospital do Servidor Público Estadual (HSPE) by the group of doctors of the Neurosurgery Clinic. All patients go through a clinical test, magnetic resonance and Psychodiagnosis. Psychodiagnosis consists of interviews and the H.T.P. (House, Tree, Person) projective test. We will make use of the theoretical psychoanalitical references to evaluate and analyze the clinical material from the Psychodiagnosis. The results aim at making it possible to understand the subjectivity of pain showing what the painful symptom means to those subjects, and at contributing to the guidance of the therapeutical conduct.

The aim of this study is to describe adoption barriers emerging on the cosmetics for men market through market research and consumer behaviour exploration. The relationship men have with the cosmetics is not easy to understand, so the purpose of this study is to explore on what is based their relationship to cosmetics market - why some are ready to use cosmetics while other reject. Regarding market of cosmetics for men, there are the barriers that prevent in adoption of cosmetics. The thesis would reveal what influence the social decision making, and would go deeper into what influence men; and what the relationships with products, brands, services, and environment they have. The conclusion will be the interpretation of the adoption barriers on cosmetics for men market.

Title: Compact objects in categories of modules Author: Peter Kálnai Department: Department of Algebra Supervisor: Mgr. Jan Žemlička, Ph.D., Department of Algebra Abstract: In the thesis we state baic properties of compact objects in various appropriate categories like categories of modules, stable factor category over a perfect ring and Grothendieck categories. We find a ring R such that the class of dually slender R-modules is closed under direct products under some set-theoretic assumption. Finally, we characterize the conditions, when countably generat- ed projective modules are finitely generated, expressed by their Grothendieck monoid. Keywords: compact, dually slender module, stable module category, projective module, self-small

A synthetic approach to the construction of projective geometry, its methods and selected results are given in the proposed thesis. The main historical drawbacks of the original proof of Chasles's theorem for non-developable ruled surfaces and von Staudt's formalization of projective geometry are commented. The corre- sponding theoretical background is elaborated on visual demonstrations with the accent to interrelations of classical synthetic, axiomatic and analytic points of view. Synthetic methods of projective geometry and their mixture with analytic methods are described on examples including numerous alternative proofs and generalizations of some theorems. A method of four-dimensional visualization is introduced in details. Elementary constructions of images of points, lines, planes and 3-spaces are followed by models of polychora, their sections and shadows. Chasles's theorem is proven for non-developable ruled quadrics on synthetic vi- sualizations, then generalized and proven within the pure projective framework for algebraic surfaces. The synthetic classification of regular quadrics is derived from descriptive geometry constructions of sections of four-dimensional cones and analytically verified in the projective extension of the real space. An integral part of the thesis is a...

Ce travail montre l'unité de l'œuvre de Pascal dans ce qui concerne la « comparabilité des incomparables » : la comparaison, langagière ou mathématique, qui se fait entre des choses qui ne pourraient pas en principe être rapprochées. Il s'agit de faire une approche historique et linguistique pour poser des questions philosophiques par rapport à la comparaison, notamment sur le rôle de principe que l'infini y joue selon Pascal. Nous identifions la comparaison des incomparables sous trois formes.La première partie de ce travail est consacrée à formuler une forme rhétorique d'analogie que nous nommons l'« analogie de disproportion » (nous inspirant de Secretan 1998). Si l'analogie est généralement dite faire une comparaison entre deux rapports, chacun desquels existe entre des choses homogènes, l'analogie de disproportion permet en revanche de montrer une ressemblance entre des rapports d'hétérogénéité, entre des disproportions ou entre des distances infinies: deux choses sont aussi différentes entre elles que deux autres. Pascal étant un auteur qui souligne surtout les disproportions, nous montrons qu'il compare ces disproportions, notamment pour délimiter à l'homme ce qu'il ne peut pas connaître parfaitement.La deuxième partie analyse la pratique mathématique de Pascal « en poids, nombre et mesure » : il s'agit de montrer que dans la méthode des indivisibles des Lettres de A. Dettonville, dans le Traité du triangle arithmétique et dans la comparaison du courbe et du droit, toujours l'infini (ou plutôt l'indéfini) intervient comme un facteur qui permet la comparabilité de ce qui semblait être incomparable. La troisième partie fait une discussion proprement philosophique sur l'infiniment petit et l'infiniment grand, prenant en compte la pratique mathématique de Pascal analysée dans la deuxième partie. Il est question de discuter sur la nature des « indivisibles », des « différences » et des « distances infinies ». Nous proposons que l'« infini » dans la pratique mathématique de Pascal relève plutôt de l'« indéfini », reliant cela à une distinction entre le sens absolu et le sens relatif des mots. Une exception dans la pratique mathématique de Pascal est la géométrie projective, où il faut accepter des éléments à distance infinie. La « rencontre » des deux infinis, finalement, permet de montrer la réciprocité de l'infini de grandeur et de l'infini de petitesse. Une discussion est faite à ce propos, reliant la proportion inverse entre les deux infinis à la grandeur et la petitesse de l'homme et au caractère paradoxal de certaines vérités selon Pascal, lesquelles sont résolues dans la personne du Christ. On conclut que Pascal propose non pas une connaissance directe de l'infini, mais plutôt une approche à la relation que l'homme, être fini, possède avec l'infini / This thesis shows the unity of Pascal's work in what concerns the "comparability of incomparables'': the comparison, either in mathematics our natural language, between things which could not in principle be brought together. The approach is both a historical and a linguistic one, and it aims to recovery some important questions regarding the philosophical nature of comparisons, more specifically, the role of the infinite in Pascal's thought. The comparison of incomparables may be identified in three different formsIn the first part, we formulate a rhetorical form of analogy that we call an "analogy of disproportion'' (inspired by Secretan 1998). If the analogy is generally said to make a comparison between two relations, each of which exists between homogeneous things, the analogy of disproportion, on the other hand, shows a resemblance between relations of heterogeneity, between disproportions or between infinite distances: two things may be as different from each other as any two other things. Even if disproportions are a central theme to Pascal, he did not shy away of comparing such disproportions -- in particular to delimit what man cannot know perfectly.The second part analyzes the mathematical practice of Pascal "in weight, number and measure'': it is necessary to show that in the method of indivisibles of the Lettres de A. Dettonville, in the Traité du Triangle Arithmétique and in the comparison of the curved and the straight lines, always the infinite (or rather the indefinite) intervenes as a factor that allows the comparability of what would seem to be incomparable. The third part makes a philosophical discussion on the infinitely small and the infinitely large, taking into account Pascal's mathematical practice, which was analyzed in the second part. We discuss the nature of "indivisibles'', "differences'' and "infinite distances''. We suggest that the "infinite'' in Pascal's mathematical practice is rather an "indefinite'', linking it to a distinction between the absolute and the relative meaning of words. An exception in Pascal's mathematical practice is his projective geometry, where it is necessary to accept elements at an infinite distance. The "encounter'' of the two infinites makes it possible to show the reciprocity of the infinity of greatness and the infinity of smallness. Finally, we analyze the inverse proportionality between the two infinites with regard to the greatness and the wretchedness of man and to the paradoxical nature of certain truths according to Pascal, which are concealed in the person of the Christ. The conclusion is that Pascal arrives not at a direct knowledge of the infinite, but to an approach to the relation that man, a finite being, has with the infinite

Many factors affect resilience, such as personality traits and environmental support. A projective assessment has many advantages to understand a person as a whole. Up to present, there is no projective assessment for resilience. This dissertation was a pilot study to develop a projective method. Sixty-five college students participated in this study. Participants used words to describe their feelings after hearing an open-ended story with a traumatic event; they also completed the story. In this study, the resilience ratio, defined as the ratio of the number of positive responses divided by the number of total responses, reflected the resilience level as well as cognitive and emotional flexibility. How participants completed the story revealed participants' interactions with the adversity. The resilience ratio has a slightly less than medium correlation with the CD-RISC-10 at a .05% level with r = .08. Participants who completed the story positively demonstrated the ability to use their resilient personality traits and social resources. t Tests revealed that resilience ratios, the CD-RISC-10 scores, and the Rosenberg Self-Esteem scores for participants providing positive endings and for those who providing negative endings were significantly different at a .05% level with Cohen's d values of .69, .65, and .62 respectively. The effect sizes for these three t tests were medium. Both the resilience ratio and how participants completed the story can be used to understand and measure resilience. The projective method presented in this pilot study may be used to develop prevention programs and intervention strategies to help individuals to gain resilience. As individuals become resilient, psychological disorder rate and mental health cost will decrease, and positive social change will result.

This project was funded by the Department for Families and Communities A collaboration between Ibrahim Sefer, newly arrived boys and girls aged between 4 and 14 years from Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Backgrounds and the Migrant Health Service (Adelaide Central Community Health Service).