Demand Response Contextual Remuneration of Prosumers with Distributed Storage.

Prosumers are emerging in the power and energy market to provide load flexibility to smooth the use of distributed generation. The volatile behavior increases the production prediction complexity, and the demand side must take a step forward to participate in demand response events triggered by a community manager. If balance is achieved, the participants should be compensated for the discomfort caused. The authors in this paper propose a methodology to optimally manage a community, with a focus on the remuneration of community members for the provided flexibility. Four approaches were compared and evaluated, considering contextual tariffs. The obtained results show that it was possible to improve the fairness of the remuneration, which is an incentive and compensation for the loss of comfort. The single fair remuneration approach was more beneficial to the community manager, since the total remuneration was lower than the remaining approaches (163.81 m.u. in case study 3). From the prosumers' side, considering a clustering method was more advantageous, since higher remuneration was distributed for the flexibility provided (196.27 m.u. in case study 3).

Isothiazolinone Biocides: Chemistry, Biological, and Toxicity Profiles.

The importance of isothiazole and of compounds containing the isothiazole nucleus has been growing over the last few years. Isothiazolinones are used in cosmetic and as chemical additives for occupational and industrial usage due to their bacteriostatic and fungiostatic activity. Despite their effectiveness as biocides, isothiazolinones are strong sensitizers, producing skin irritations and allergies and may pose ecotoxicological hazards. Therefore, their use is restricted by EU legislation. Considering the relevance and importance of isothiazolinone biocides, the present review describes the state-of-the-art knowledge regarding their synthesis, antibacterial components, toxicity (including structure-activity-toxicity relationships) outlines, and (photo)chemical stability. Due to the increasing prevalence and impact of isothiazolinones in consumer's health, analytical methods for the identification and determination of this type of biocides were also discussed.

APOLO-Teens, a web-based intervention for treatment-seeking adolescents with overweight or obesity: study protocol and baseline characterization of a Portuguese sample.

PURPOSE: APOLO-Teens is an ongoing web-based program combining a manualized intervention delivered by Facebook®, a self-monitoring web application and monthly chat sessions to optimize treatment as usual for adolescents with overweight and obesity. The aims of this paper are twofold: (1) to describe the study protocol of the APOLO-Teens randomized controlled effectiveness trial and (2) to present baseline descriptive information of the Portuguese sample. METHODS: APOLO-Teens includes adolescents aged between 13 and 18 years with BMI percentile ≥ 85 (N = 210; 60.00% girls, BMI z-score 2.40 ± 0.75) undergoing hospital ambulatory treatment for overweight/obesity. Participants completed a set of self-report measures regarding eating behaviors and habits, psychological functioning (depression, anxiety, stress, and impulsivity), physical activity, and quality of life. RESULTS: Depression, anxiety, stress, impulsivity, and percentage body fat were inversely associated with health-related quality of life (rs = - 0.39 to - 0.62), while physical activity out-of-school was positively correlated with health-related quality of life (rs = 0.22). When compared to boys, girls demonstrated statistically significant higher scores on psychological distress, disturbed eating behaviors, impulsivity, were less active at school and had lower scores on the health-related quality of life (p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: The results showed that there were gender differences in key psychological constructs that are likely to determine success with the treatment and that, therefore, need to be considered in future interventions. The results of APOLO-Teens randomized controlled trial will determine the impact of these constructs on the efficacy and adherence to a web-based intervention for weight loss in the Portuguese population. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level V, cross-sectional descriptive study.

Eating Disorder-15 (ED-15): Factor structure, psychometric properties, and clinical validation.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of the current study was to explore the factor structure and psychometric properties of the Portuguese version of the Eating Disorder-15 (ED-15), as well as to establish cutoff scores and normative data for the Portuguese version. METHODS: Participants from a nonclinical sample (N = 860) and an eating disorders clinical sample (N = 260) were invited to complete a set of questionnaires, including the Portuguese version of the ED-15. RESULTS: The first-order two-factor structure originally proposed by the ED-15 authors was endorsed through a confirmatory factor analysis (χ2 /df = 2.610; standardized root-mean-square residual = 0.0325; root-mean-square error of approximation = 0.079; Tucker-Lewis index/goodness-of-fit index/incremental fit index > 0.95). Items revealed adequate construct validity (λ = .54-.90; R2  = .29-.81). The ED-15 revealed excellent internal consistency (α = .91) and temporal stability (intraclass correlation coefficient = .92; 95% CI [.84-.95]). Normative data for the ED-15 were provided. The ED-15 demonstrated acceptable concurrent and convergent validity. Receiver operating characteristic analysis revealed that the ED-15 total score accurately discriminates between participants with and without an eating disorder (area under de curve = .80; SE = .017; p ≤ .001; 95% CI [.766-.834]). A cutoff score for clinical significance and a reliable change index were computed. CONCLUSIONS: The Portuguese version of the ED-15 is a reliable and valid measure of eating psychopathology and symptoms, whenever a brief measure is needed, as in session-by-session assessment of therapy progress and outcome.

Are there any solutions for improving the cleft area hygiene in patients with cleft lip and palate? A systematic review.

OBJECTIVE: Children with cleft lip and palate (CLP) present high incidence of oral health problems, namely those associated with the accumulation of dental plaque. The objective of this systematic review was to verify if there is any solution to improve the hygiene of the cleft area. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A structured systematic review was performed based on articles published in several electronic databases: PubMed, Web of Science, Cochrane Library and Scopus in the last 20 years. The MeSH terms used were cleft lip, palate, harelip, oral hygiene and toothbrush. RESULTS: From 270 potentially relevant articles, 39 articles were selected, corresponding to a total of 3226 CLP patients and 914 matched controls. The selected studies exhibited great heterogeneity regarding the type of the study, study population (average range 0 -49 years old; sampling sizes 15-400 CLP patients), evaluation periods, reported variables and oral hygiene routines. Consensual outcomes were the presence of high plaque indexes, high prevalence of dental caries and worse oral hygiene patterns in CLP patients. Additionally, poor education in oral health and low motivation to integrate regular hygiene routines in the daily family life were also evident. CONCLUSION: There is a clear need to improve the oral hygiene care of CLP children, but few studies were focused on specific preventive approaches. Development of devices especially designed to the hygiene of the cleft area and implementation of standardized prevention and control programmes targeting education, motivation and compliance would contribute to improve oral health in CLP children.

Phenotypic Intratumoral Heterogeneity of Endometrial Carcinomas.

Intratumoral heterogeneity has been shown to play an important role in diagnostic accuracy, development of treatment resistance, and prognosis of cancer patients. Recent studies have proposed quantitative measurement of phenotypic intratumoral heterogeneity, but no study is yet available in endometrial carcinomas. In our study we evaluated the phenotypic intratumoral heterogeneity of a consecutive series of 10 endometrial carcinomas using measures of dispersion and diversity. Morphometric architectural (%tumor cells, %solid tumor, %differentiated tumor, and %lumens) and nuclear [volume-weighted mean nuclear volume ((Equation is included in full-text article.))] parameters, as well as estrogen receptor, progesterone receptor, p53, vimentin, and beta-catenin immunoexpression (H-score) were digitally analyzed in 20 microscopic fields per carcinoma. Quantitative measures of intratumoral heterogeneity included coefficient of variation (CV) and relative quadratic entropy (rQE). In each endometrial carcinoma there was slight variation of architecture from field to field, resulting in globally low levels of heterogeneity measures (mean CV %tumor cells: 0.10, %solid tumor: 0.73, %differentiated tumor: 0.19, %lumens: 0.61 and mean rQE %tumor cells: 18.5, %solid tumor: 20.3, %differentiated tumor: 25.6, %lumens: 21.8). Nuclear intratumoral heterogeneity was also globally low (mean (Equation is included in full-text article.)CV: 0.23 and rQE: 27.3), but significantly higher than the heterogeneity of architectural parameters within most carcinomas. In general, there was low to moderate variability of immunoexpression markers within each carcinoma, but estrogen receptor (mean CV: 0.56 and rQE: 46.2) and progesterone receptor (mean CV: 0.60 and rQE: 39.3) displayed the highest values of heterogeneity measures. Intratumoral heterogeneity of immunoexpression was significantly higher than that observed for morphometric parameters. In conclusion, our study indicates that endometrial carcinomas present a variable but predominantly low degree of phenotypic intratumoral heterogeneity.

Sand smelt ability to cope and recover from ocean's elevated CO2 levels.

Considered a major environmental concern, ocean acidification has induced a recent research boost into effects on marine biodiversity and possible ecological, physiological, and behavioural impacts. Although the majority of literature indicate negative effects of future acidification scenarios, most studies are conducted for just a few days or weeks, which may be insufficient to detect the capacity of an organism to adjust to environmental changes through phenotypic plasticity. Here, the effects and the capacity of sand smelt larvae Atherina presbyter to cope and recover (through a treatment combination strategy) from short (15 days) and long-term exposure (45 days) to increasing pCO2 levels (control: ~515 µatm, pH = 8.07; medium: ~940 µatm, pH = 7.84; high: ~1500 µatm, pH = 7.66) were measured, addressing larval development traits, behavioural lateralization, and biochemical biomarkers related with oxidative stress and damage, and energy metabolism and reserves. Although behavioural lateralization was not affected by high pCO2 exposure, morphometric changes, energetic costs, and oxidative stress damage were impacted differently through different exposures periods. Generally, short-time exposures led to different responses to either medium or high pCO2 levels (e.g. development, cellular metabolism, or damage), while on the long-term the response patterns tend to become similar between them, with both acidification scenarios inducing DNA damage and tending to lower growth rates. Additionally, when organisms were transferred to lower acidified condition, they were not able to recover from the mentioned DNA damage impacts. Overall, results suggest that exposure to future ocean acidification scenarios can induce sublethal effects on early life-stages of fish, but effects are dependent on duration of exposure, and are likely not reversible. Furthermore, to improve our understanding on species sensitivity and adaptation strategies, results reinforce the need to use multiple biological endpoints when assessing the effects of ocean acidification on marine organisms.

Oral hygiene of children with cleft lip and palate: Efficacy of the cleft toothbrush - A designed add-on to regular toothbrushes.

BACKGROUND: The anatomical and morphological alterations associated with cleft lip and palate (CLP) favour the buildup of dental plaque. AIM: To assess the efficacy of a new add-on to regular toothbrush-the Cleft Toothbrush, in removing the dental plaque of CLP patients, compared to a regular toothbrush. DESIGN: Forty-five children with CLP were randomly organized into two groups: A (n = 26, 2-6 years old) and B (n = 19, 7-12 years old). They were evaluated at days 0, 15, 30, and 60. After brushing their teeth with a regular toothbrush or with the Cleft Toothbrush, the dental plaque was recorded using an adapted Plaque Index (aPI). Data analyses were performed in IBM SPSS(c) , and all statistic inference comparisons were made using non-parametric tests. RESULTS: In the first 15 days, children used a new regular toothbrush and aPI-C (teeth adjacent to the cleft) was recorded. The Cleft Toothbrush, used by all children from day 15 to day 30, showed high efficacy in removing dental plaque in the cleft area, evidenced by significantly lower aPI-C values, compared to those observed with the regular toothbrush (P < 0.001). When given free option of brushing technique, from day 30 to day 60, most of the children (38 out of 45) chose the Cleft Toothbrush. CONCLUSIONS: The Cleft Toothbrush showed high efficacy in removing dental plaque in the cleft area, and presented high level of acceptance by parents and children, compared to a regular toothbrush. This is expected to improve the health status of the local adjacent tissues, a requirement for their rehabilitation.

The Moderating Role of Purging Behaviour in the Relationship Between Sexual/Physical Abuse and Nonsuicidal Self-Injury in Eating Disorder Patients.

This study sought to examine predictors of nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) in eating disorder patients and to evaluate the moderating role of purging behaviours in the relationship between a theorised predictor (i.e. sexual/physical abuse) and NSSI. Participants in this study were 177 female patients with eating disorders (age range = 14-38 years) who completed semistructured interviews assessing eating disorder symptoms and eating disorder-related risk factors (e.g. history of sexual and physical abuse, history of NSSI and feelings of fatness). Results revealed that 65 participants (36.7%) reported lifetime engagement in NSSI, and 48 participants (27.1%) reported a history of sexual/physical abuse. Early onset of eating problems, lower BMI, feeling fat, a history of sexual/physical abuse and the presence of purging behaviours were all positively associated with the lifetime occurrence of NSSI. The relationship between sexual/physical abuse before eating disorder onset and lifetime NSSI was moderated by the presence of purging behaviours, such that the relationship was stronger in the absence of purging. These findings are consistent with the notion that purging and NSSI may serve similar functions in eating disorder patients (e.g. emotion regulation), such that the presence of purging may attenuate the strength of the association between sexual/physical abuse history (which is also associated with elevated NSSI risk) and engagement in NSSI behaviours.

Transcription factor NRF2 protects mice against dietary iron-induced liver injury by preventing hepatocytic cell death.

BACKGROUND & AIMS: The liver, being the major site of iron storage, is particularly exposed to the toxic effects of iron. Transcription factor NRF2 is critical for protecting the liver against disease by activating the transcription of genes encoding detoxification/antioxidant enzymes. We aimed to determine if the NRF2 pathway plays a significant role in the protection against hepatic iron overload. METHODS: Wild-type and Nrf2(-/-) mouse primary hepatocytes were incubated with ferric ammonium citrate. Wild-type and Nrf2(-/-) mice were fed standard rodent chow or iron-rich diet for 2weeks, with or without daily injection of the antioxidant mito-TEMPOL. RESULTS: In mouse hepatocytes, iron induced the nuclear translocation of NRF2 and the expression of cytoprotective genes in an NRF2-dependent manner. Moreover, Nrf2(-/-) hepatocytes were highly susceptible to iron-induced cell death. Wild-type and Nrf2(-/-) mice fed iron-rich diet accumulated similar amounts of iron in the liver and were equally able to increase the expression of hepatic hepcidin and ferritin. Nevertheless, in Nrf2-null mice the iron loading resulted in progressive liver injury, ranging from mild confluent necrosis to severe necroinflammatory lesions. Hepatocytic cell death was associated with gross ultrastructural damage to the mitochondria. Notably, liver injury was prevented in iron-fed animals that received mito-TEMPOL. CONCLUSIONS: NRF2 protects the mouse liver against the toxicity of dietary iron overload by preventing hepatocytic cell death. We identify NRF2 as a potential modifier of liver disease in iron overload pathology and show the beneficial effect of the antioxidant mito-TEMPOL in a mouse model of dietary iron-induced liver injury.

The impact of distinct culture media in Leishmania infantum biology and infectivity.

An ideal culture medium for Leishmania promastigotes should retain the basic characteristics of promastigotes found in sandflies (morphology and infectivity). Furthermore, the media should not create a bias in experimental settings, thus enabling the proper extrapolation of results. To assess this we studied several established media for promastigote growth. We analysed morphology, viability, cell cycle progression, metacyclic profile, capacity to differentiate into axenic amastigotes and infectivity. Furthermore, using a rational approach from the evaluated media we developed a simple serum-free medium (cRPMI). We report that parasites growing in different media present different biological characteristics and distinct in vitro and in vivo infectivities. The developed medium, cRPMI, proved to be a less expensive substitute for traditional serum-supplemented media for the in vitro maintenance of promastigotes. In fact, cRPMI is ideal for the maintenance of parasites in the laboratory, diminishing the expected loss of virulence over time typical of the parasite cultivation. Ultimately this report is a clear warning that the normalization of culture media should be a real concern in the field as media-specific phenomena are sufficient to induce biological bias with consequences in infectivity and general parasite biology.

Colouterine Fistula as a Rare Cause of Postmenopausal Abnormal Uterine Bleeding: A Case Report.

Postmenopausal abnormal uterine bleeding is a common clinical problem addressed in gynaecological practice and should prompt clinical investigation due to the significant prevalence of malignant and premalignant lesions of the endometrium in this age group. Nevertheless, other causes should be considered, since its diagnostic and therapeutic management may differ considerably. Here, we present a case of a colouterine fistula due to chronic diverticulitis presenting with postmenopausal abnormal uterine bleeding. This is an infrequent occurrence and is caused by the rupture of a diverticular abscess into the uterine wall, resulting in an inflammatory adhesion of the colon and uterus, with necrosis and subsequent fistula formation. The clinical presentation is variable and may include abdominal pain, gastrointestinal tract symptoms, vaginal discharge, and abnormal uterine bleeding. The laboratory and imaging techniques may be not completely conclusive and definitive diagnosis can be made intraoperatively. There are different treatment options, with en bloc resection and primary anastomosis being used most often, allowing complete treatment. The prognosis for a colouterine fistula secondary to diverticulitis is excellent after surgery. This case highlights the importance of clinical suspicion of an unusual cause of uterine bleeding and an effective and multidisciplinary approach that allowed complete surgical treatment and patient recovery.

A novel post-processing technique for correcting symmetric implant ambiguity in measuring total knee arthroplasty kinematics from single-plane fluoroscopy.

Recent advancements in computer vision and machine learning enable autonomous measurement of total knee arthroplasty kinematics through single-plane fluoroscopy. However, symmetric components present challenges in optimization routines, causing "symmetry traps" and ambiguous poses. Achieving clinically robust kinematics measurement requires addressing this issue. We devised an algorithm that converts a "true" pose to its corresponding "symmetry trap" orientation. From a dataset of nearly 13,000 human supervised kinematics, this algorithm constructs an augmented dataset of "true" and "symmetry trap" kinematics, used to train eight classification machine learning algorithms. The outputs from the highest-performing algorithm classify kinematics sequences as 'obviously true' or 'potentially ambiguous.' We construct a spline through 'obviously true' poses, and 'ambiguous' poses are compared to the spline to determine correct orientation. The machine learning algorithms achieved 88-94% accuracy on our internal test set and 91-93% on our external test set. Applying our spline algorithm to kinematics sequences yielded 91.1% accuracy, 94% specificity, but 67% sensitivity. The accuracy of standard ML algorithms for implants within 5 degrees of a pure-lateral view was 71%, rising to 88% beyond 5 degrees. This pioneering study systematizes addressing model-image registration issues with symmetric tibial implants. High accuracy suggests potential use of ML algorithms to mitigate shape-ambiguity errors in pose measurements from single-plane fluoroscopy. Our results also suggest an imaging protocol for measuring kinematics that favors more oblique viewing angles, which could further disambiguate "true" and "symmetry trap" poses.

Third-Degree Atrioventricular Block And Asystole After Lung Resection: A Rare Complication.

Surgical resection remains the optimal therapeutic option for early-stage operable NSCLC. Despite significant advances in recent years related to anesthetic and surgical techniques, cardiopulmonary complications remain major causes for postoperative morbimortality. In this paper we present a case of a patient who developed complete AV block followed by asystole after lung resection surgery. The patient underwent surgery via right VATS and the procedure was uneventful.  On the first post-operative day patient developed a third-degree atrioventricular block followed by 6 seconds asystole. Pharmacological treatment was instituted and implementation of a permanent pacemaker occurred on the third post-operative day, without complications. The remaining postoperative course was uneventful and the patient was discharged home on the sixth post-operative day. It is the objective of the authors to report and highlight this rare and potencial fatal complication of lung resection.

Changes in Physical Fitness Parameters in a Portuguese Sample of Adolescents during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A One-Year Longitudinal Study.

Due to a worldwide response to the COVID-19 pandemic, many changes were imposed on individuals' daily lives, including those related to the physical activity of children and adolescents. The present study aims to comprehend the impact of early COVID-19 pandemic restrictions on Portuguese adolescents' physical fitness parameters during two school years. A total of 640 students from the 5th to the 12th grades participated in the longitudinal study. Data on body composition, aerobic fitness, speed, agility, lower and upper body strength, and flexibility were collected at three moments: 1. before the COVID-19 pandemic (December 2019); 2. after the COVID-19 lockdown when the schools reopened delivering in-person classes (October 2020), and 3. two months after the in-person classes started (December 2020). To analyze the overall changes between the three moments and between two age groups, we conducted repeated measure ANOVAs. The main findings indicate that participants' body composition (i.e., waist circumference) and aerobic fitness (i.e., maximal oxygen uptake) deteriorated after the first lockdown but improved two months after the in-person classes started. However, the same did not happen to neuromuscular fitness (i.e., horizontal Jumps and Sit and Reach). These findings suggest that the COVID-19 lockdown may have negatively impacted adolescents' physical fitness, particularly older adolescents. Altogether, data reinforce the importance of in-person classes and school context in promoting adolescents' physical health.

Spreading Through Air Spaces And Thinking About Lung Metastases.

INTRODUCTION: Spread through air spaces (STAS) is a novel pattern of invasion in primary lung cancers, which was introduced in the 2015 World Health Organization classification. Several studies have validated STAS to be a predictor of clinical outcome in lung adenocarcinoma. However, little is known about STAS as a mode of intraparenchymal diffusion of pulmonary metastases (PMs). OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to investigate the incidence of STAS among PMs and the association between STAS and clinicopathological characteristics of PMs. METHODS: From August 1, 2017 to July 31, 2022, 50 patients underwent pulmonary metastectomy in our center. Clinicopathological characteristics of patients were retrospectively evaluated. Continuous variables were compared by using unpaired Students t-test or MannWhitney test, as appropriate. Categorical variables were compared by using Qui-squared test or Fishers exact test as appropriate. RESULTS: A total of 50 patients with PMs who underwent surgical resection were analyzed, 68% being male. The median age of the study population was 60 years (range 24-80). Most patients had primary cancer originating from epithelial tissue (n=45) and the remaing from mesenchymal tissue (n=5). Colorectal cancer was the most frequent primary site of PMs (n= 32), followed by kidney (n=4) and osteosarcoma (n=3). 60% of patients (n=30) underwent sublobar resection (wedge resection or anatomic segmentectomy). STAS was observed in 10 patients (20%): 7 patients with PMs from CRC, 1 with PM from palatine tonsil, 1 from kidney and 1 from uterus. STAS was more frequent in elder patients (62 years, SD=7.099 vs 60 years, SD= 13.889; p = 0.034). Notably, STAS was significantly more frequent in PMs with larger dimension (2.8 cm, SD=2.049 vs 2.03 SD=1.104; p = 0.010), patients with lymph node metastases (p = 0.004) and in patients who underwent lobectomy rather than sublobar resection (70% vs 32.5%; p = 0.03). Although without statistically significant difference, locorregional recurrence and mortality was higher in patients with STAS+ (40% vs 22.5% and 40% vs 20%, respectively). CONCLUSION: VSTAS is nowadays considered to be a lung-specific tumour invasion pattern and is commonly observed in PMs of different origins.

Self-Efficacy to Regulate Eating Behaviors Scale for Children: A Validation Study.

Self-efficacy has a strong influence on children's eating behavior. Feeling capable of regulating one's eating behavior is especially relevant in situations of activation while facing temptations or experiencing negative emotions. Despite the relevance, there is no validated measure to assess children's self-efficacy to regulate eating behaviors in these domains. The present study examines the psychometric properties of the Self-Efficacy to Regulate Eating Behaviors Scale for Children based on a sample of 724 elementary school children in Portugal. The sample was split randomly into two groups, and a principal component analysis with Group 1 and a confirmatory factor analysis with Group 2 were carried out. The scale comprises two distinct but related factors-self-efficacy to regulate eating behaviors in activation and temptation situations and self-efficacy to regulate eating behaviors in negative emotional situations. Moreover, self-efficacy to regulate eating behaviors was positively and statistically related to self-regulation processes toward healthy eating, declarative knowledge about healthy eating, and attitudes and perceptions toward healthy eating. The present study provides preliminary evidence that the Self-Efficacy to Regulate Eating Behaviors Scale for Children is valid and reliable for evaluating children's self-efficacy in regulating their eating behaviors.

Drug discovery and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: Emerging challenges and therapeutic opportunities.

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is characterized by the degeneration of upper and lower motor neurons (MNs) leading to paralysis and, ultimately, death by respiratory failure 3-5 years after diagnosis. Edaravone and Riluzole, the only drugs currently approved for ALS treatment, only provide mild symptomatic relief to patients. Extraordinary progress in understanding the biology of ALS provided new grounds for drug discovery. Over the last two decades, mitochondria and oxidative stress (OS), iron metabolism and ferroptosis, and the major regulators of hypoxia and inflammation - HIF and NF-κB - emerged as promising targets for ALS therapeutic intervention. In this review, we focused our attention on these targets to outline and discuss current advances in ALS drug development. Based on the challenges and the roadblocks, we believe that the rational design of multi-target ligands able to modulate the complex network of events behind the disease can provide effective therapies in a foreseeable future.

Building partnerships in education through a story-tool based intervention: Parental involvement experiences among families with Roma backgrounds.

Introduction: School educators are likely to explain the poor educational trajectories of students with Roma backgrounds related to the lack of parental support and interest in children's education. Aiming to understand further the patterns of Roma group's parental involvement in children's school life and their engagement experiences in school-related activities, the current research set an intervention supported by a culturally sensitive story-tool. Method: Grounded in the intervention-based research framework, 12 participants (i.e., mothers) from different Portuguese Roma groups participated in this study. Data was collected through interviews conducted pre-and postintervention. Eight weekly sessions were delivered in the school context, using a story-tool and hands- on activities to generate culturally significant meanings regarding attitudes, beliefs, and values toward children's educational trajectories. Results: Through the lens of acculturation theory, data analysis provided important findings under two overarching topics: patterns of parental involvement in children's school life and participants' engagement in the intervention program. Discussion: Data show the distinct ways Roma parents participate in children's education and the relevance of mainstream contexts providing an atmosphere likely to build collaborative relationships with parents to overcome barriers to parental involvement.