José Alberto Simões

Role of viruses and atypical bacteria in asthma exacerbations among children in Oporto (Portugal).

BACKGROUND Upper respiratory tract infections are known to be a significant precipitant of acute asthma exacerbations. The aim of this study was to evaluate seasonal trends and the role of these pathogens in asthma exacerbations in school-aged children from Oporto (Portugal). METHODS Nasal aspirates were collected from children aged 6 to 12 years old with asthma exacerbations attended in the Pediatric Emergency Department one day per week from January 1 to December 31, 2003. Demographic data, severity of asthma and asthma exacerbations, and current treatment were recorded. Samples were obtained through nasal wash with 1 ml saline and were processed by immunofluorescence assays (respiratory syncytial virus, adenovirus, parainfluenza and influenza virus), retrotranscription polymerase chain reaction (rhinovirus) and polymerase chain reaction (enterovirus, Chlamydia pneumoniae and Mycoplasma pneumoniae). RESULTS In 54 eligible children, 37 nasal samples were obtained. Infectious agents were detected in 78 % of the patients. Rhinovirus was detected in 70.3 %, Mycoplasma pneumoniae in 16.2 %, enterovirus in 10.8 %, and Chlamydia pneumoniae in 2.7 %. Coinfection was identified in 21.6 % of the samples. There was no significant correlation between current treatment status, severity of asthma or exacerbations and the isolated agents. Two distinct peaks of asthma exacerbation were found, 40.5 % in spring and 32.4 % in autumn [corrected] The highest number of cases was recorded in March and the lowest in August and January. Rhinoviruses was detected in 27 % of the cases in autumn and in 24.3 % in spring [corrected] CONCLUSIONS These results confirm the previously reported high frequency of rhinovirus detection in asthma exacerbations in children and provide evidence that asthma exacerbations and rhinovirus infections follow a seasonal pattern, occurring mostly in spring and autumn. The findings also underscore the frequency of Mycoplasma pneumoniae detection, and emphasize the importance of this agent as a possible trigger of asthma exacerbations.

Digital Participation at the Margins Online Circuits of Rap Music by Portuguese Afro-Descendant Youth

In this article we examine how the internet and other digital technologies are used by Portuguese Afro-descendant youth living in contexts of socio-economic deprivation. More specifically, based on a set of interviews held with rappers, we pursue a discussion on the significance of the concepts of digital inclusion and participation, arguing that young people’s online practices reflect not only distinct ways of digital participation but also cultural engagement. By studying black amateur rap, our main goal is to examine how disadvantaged young people use the internet and other digital technologies and how these apparatuses may be employed for cultural expression and identity construction. Our research shows, on the one hand, how crucial a strategic use of these devices can be for amateur cultural production, on the other hand, how these platforms contribute to build an enlarged circuit of ethicized cultural expression. Therefore, we argue that digital participation contributes to reverse the cultural devaluation experienced by these black communities, working as a mechanism of individual and cultural empowerment.

Entre percursos e discursos identitários: etnicidade, classe e género na cultura hip-hop

With the present article we intend to explore the way the so called hip-hop culture, although globally available, tends to be adopted and adapted at a local level, hence creating both cultural convergence and divergence. The focus of this analysis will be the trajectory and identity construction of several hip-hop protagonists, considering three entwined dimensions: ethnicity, class and gender. Besides an initial theoretical discussion regarding the relevance of these dimensions, we also intend to present findings from an ethnographic research conducted in Portugal, more specifically in the metropolitan area of Lisbon. These results, although specific and contextual, show resemblance with other similar phenomena, thus being helpful in understanding these practices and corresponding interpretations throughout different national contexts.

Educar a jóvenes investigadores para el estudio del uso de los medios en las familias

En este articulo se presenta una experiencia de investigacion y formacion en el contexto del proyecto internacional de investigacion «Digital Inclusion and Participation» [Inclusion Digital y Participacion] (2009-11), en el que participaron investigadores y expertos de Portugal y EEUU (Texas). El objetivo principal del proyecto es analizar las condiciones y tendencias en el acceso y la distribucion de los medios digitales en manos de usuarios y no usuarios, con especial atencion hacia las familias y grupos mas vulnerables a la exclusion digital (mayores, inmigrantes, minorias etnicas y linguisticas). Ademas de este objetivo, se da un paso mas en la educacion en el ambito de los medios digitales, y en se repara en la formacion de estudiantes de posgrado a traves de un estudio supervisado de estos grupos sociales. Estos dos objetivos confluyeron en un Seminario Interdisciplinar de Metodos de Investigacion en Medios de Comunicacion y Periodismo (2009-10 y 2010-11), auspiciado por los autores de este articulo, procedentes de los Departamentos de Estudios Mediaticos y Sociologia, respectivamente. Este articulo incluye el proceso de investigacion y formacion que se puso en practica en el seminario. Se centra en la preparacion y supervision de los estudiantes, que realizaron entrevistas a miembros de familias de distintas generaciones y participaron en la adaptacion de las preguntas usadas originalmente en la Universidad de Texas en Austin, creando un guion narrativo centrado en la trayectoria vital y relaciones con los medios (vease el anexo). Tambien se contemplan los procesos de muestreo de las familias entrevistadas y se analizan en detalle las implicaciones que tiene en los estudiantes esta metodologia cualitativa de aprendizaje basado en la investigacion, asi como otras ventajas y deficiencias del proceso.

Do questions matter on children’s answers about internet risk and safety?

This article aims at understanding the construction of online risk and safety among children addressing the lack of research on children’s discourses on their internet experiences. The analysis compares the perceptions of Portuguese children (9-16) based on an open-ended question about online risk from the EU Kids Online survey and two open-ended questions about online safety from a survey of disadvantaged children. Theoretically, the article combines constructionist perspectives on risk with the framework and matrix used in EU Kids Online project. Methodological tools from cognitive sciences and from critical discourse analysis were used to explore children’s answers. These theories and methods contributed to capture children’s own discourses on online risk and safety, which are complex, often ambivalent and affected by hegemonic public discourses expressing media panics and fears. The analysis made visible how different wordings of questions may lead to different answers and to distinctive children’s positions, from apparently excluded of the risk situations to keen advisors of their peers on online safety.

Digital media, subcultural activity and youth participation: the cases of protest rap and graffiti in Portugal

ABSTRACT Over the last decade, we have witnessed the emergence of an academic debate surrounding the relationship between youth and the ‘new media’, with a particular emphasis on the social uses of different digital technologies within the sphere of youth activity. A specific area of research has been dedicated to studying the use of digital media in the context of the so-called youth subcultures. With this article we expect to contribute to this ongoing debate, by examining the problem through an analysis of two interconnected case studies: protest rap and illegal graffiti. Both cases may be defined as subcultures, insofar as they are characterized as alternative, subterranean, and to a certain extent, subversive movements. The empirical ground for this discussion is based on several investigations, with a qualitative basis, carried out by the authors in the course of over a decade in Portugal. This extended time frame allowed ample access to a diversified and matured analytical material and enabled a better perspective of the developments and the mutations involving the appropriation of the digital media. Our researches have shown that digital media and technologies have been gradually integrated in these urban youth subcultures, accomplishing several strategic roles.

Ativismo digital em Portugal

Os ultimos anos tem sido ferteis em formas novas de mobilizacao coletiva e ativismo, em que os equipamentos e os media digitais assumem papel de relevo. Este artigo baseia-se num projeto exploratorio, realizado entre 2014 e 2015, que procurou articular o uso dos media digitais com as formas de ativismo e participacao publica dos jovens em Portugal. Metodologicamente este projeto adotou uma abordagem de natureza qualitativa, que procurou articular uma pesquisa online e off-line. As conclusoes que apresentamos decorrem de uma analise das entrevistas aprofundadas realizadas a ativistas com perfis distintos pertencentes a diferentes atores coletivos.

Online experiences of sociallydisadvantaged children and young peoplein Portugal

Abstract This article examines the conditions of internet access and uses by children and young people from socially disadvantaged environments in Portugal. Adapting the EU Kids Online questionnaire, a sample of 279 participants (9 to 16 years old) in an intervention program on digital inclusion was interviewed in order to analyze their online experiences, bearing in mind the EU Kids Online results and the wider debate on digital inclusion. This issue was examined at two levels: access, and practices and uses. Although economic deprivation, parents’ low educational attainment (affecting also family support) and children’s age and gender seem to matter in terms of access, reported uses were analogous to the average Portuguese and EU Kids Online data. However, with these children apparently being more oriented towards entertainment and having less informational skills, it is questionable if policies that merely assure access are entirely sufficient. Nevertheless, one cannot say straightforwardly that ‘social exclusion’ equates ‘digital exclusion’.

Digital media, youth practices and representations of recent activism in Portugal

Abstract In recent years we have witnessed in several countries the rise of new and unexpected forms of collective mobilization and activism. The main goal of this article is to discuss the role played by digital devices and online platforms in how activism is currently being represented and practiced by young people. Our reflection is empirically grounded on a recent exploratory research project carried out in Portugal. This project, using an array of qualitative methods (ethnographic observation, in-depth interviews, etc.), had as its main purpose to explore young people’s digital activism. In this article we will discuss this project’s findings, analyzing not only the uses of digital media within a set of activist practices, but also the social representations built around this issue by different social actors participating in several activist groups.

Articulações entre a rua e o digital nas práticas culturais juvenis: os casos do rap de protesto e graffiti ilegal em Portugal

Neste artigo, pretendemos examinar o papel dos media digitais na participacao e subculturas juvenis, atraves de dois estudos de caso interligados: o rap de protesto e o graffiti ilegal. A internet e outras tecnologias digitais nao so vieram dar voz a estes grupos, apoiando formatos e canais alternativos de expressao e comunicacao, como tambem tem contribuido para agregar esforcos individuais em torno dos mesmos interesses e atividades. As conclusoes apresentadas baseiam-se em diferentes pesquisas realizadas num periodo de cerca de 10 anos, em Portugal, utilizando metodologias qualitativas (observacao participante, entrevistas aprofundadas e metodologias de recolha visual), tanto em contextos urbanos como na internet, integrando-as numa estrategia de pesquisa etnografica offline e online . Desejamos, em primeiro lugar, aprofundar o debate teorico em torno do tema das subculturas juvenis, participacao e media digitais; em segundo lugar, apresentar sinteticamente resultados das pesquisas desenvolvidas.