Right hemisphere and metaphor comprehension: A connectionist perspective.

Metaphor comprehension is a cognitively complex task, with evidence pointing to the engagement of multiple cerebral areas. In addition, the involvement of the right hemisphere appears to vary with cognitive effort. Therefore, the interconnecting pathways of such distributed cortical centers should be taken into account when studying this topic. Despite this, the potential contribution of white matter fasciculi has received very little attention in the literature to date and is not mentioned in most metaphor comprehension studies. To highlight the probable implications of the right inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus, right superior longitudinal system, and callosal radiations, we bring together findings from different research fields. The aim is to describe important insights enabled by the cross-fertilization of functional neuroimaging, clinical findings, and structural connectivity.

Morbimortalidade por pneumonia no estado da Bahia no período pré e durante a pandemia de COVID-19 ­ base de dados do DATASUS / Pneumonia morbidity and mortality in the state of Bahia in the period before and during the COVID-19 pandemic ­ DATASUS database

Introdução: a pneumonia é uma infecção nos pulmões, provocada pela penetração de microrganismos. Outras infeções respiratórias, incluindo a SARS-COV-2, podem agravar a clínica do paciente. Por sua vez, esta é uma doença sistêmica, com foco pulmonar que pode gerar complicações respiratórias, dentre elas a pneumonia. Neste seguimento, estudos evidenciam que 15% dos pacientes com COVID-19 podem apresentar pneumonia leve e 5% evoluir para pneumonia grave. Objetivo: comparar a ocorrência de morbimortalidade por pneumonia no Estado da Bahia, no período pré e durante a pandemia de COVID-19. Metodologia: trata-se de um estudo ecológico, quantitativo, com dados públicos, disponíveis no Sistema Informações em Saúde da plataforma DataSUS/ TABNet, referentes ao Estado da Bahia, no período de jan./2018 a dez./2021. Foram selecionados os dados: internamentos, média de internamento, óbitos e taxa de mortalidade. Os dados foram analisados através da estatística descritiva, frequência relativa, e estatística analítica com o teste de frequências relativas U de Mann-Whitney. Resultados: o Estado da Bahia, registrou um total de 48 mil internações por pneumonia, com média de taxa de permanência de internamento de 6,4 dias e um total de 8 mil óbitos, com média de taxa de mortalidade de 16,91% ao ano. Observa-se que ocorreu redução nas internações e óbitos, e aumento na taxa de mortalidade por pneumonia, no período estudado (P<0,001). Conclusão: contudo, verificou-se que no Estado da Bahia durante o período da pandemia de COVID-19, ocorreram redução no número de internados e óbitos, e aumento na taxa de mortalidade por pneumonia, comparando-se ao mesmo período pré pandemia.

Introduction: pneumonia is an infection in the lungs, caused by exposure to microorganisms. Other respiratory infections, including SARS-COV-2, may aggravate the patient's health condition. In turn, this is a systemic disease, with a pulmonary focus that can lead to respiratory complications, including pneumonia. In this area, studies show that 15% of patients with COVID-19 may have mild pneumonia and 5% progress to severe pneumonia. Objective: to compare the occurrence of morbidity and mortality from pneumonia in the State of Bahia, in the period before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methodology: this is an ecological, quantitative study, with public data, available in the Health Information System of the DataSUS/TABNet platform, referring to the State of Bahia, from Jan./2018 to Dec./2021. Selected data: hospitalizations, average hospitalization, deaths and mortality rate. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics, relative frequency, and analytical statistics with the Mann-Whitney U relative frequency test. Results: the State of Bahia recorded a total of 48,000 hospitalizations for pneumonia, with an average hospitalization stay rate of 6.4 days and a total of 8,000 deaths, with an average mortality rate of 16.91% per year. It is observed that there was a reduction in hospitalizations and deaths, and an increase in the mortality rate due to pneumonia, in the studied period (P<0.001). Conclusion: however, it was found that in the State of Bahia during the period of the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a reduction in the number of hospitalizations and deaths, and an increase in the mortality rate due to pneumonia, compared to the same pre-pandemic period.

Hemisphere stroke: impact on the semantic lexical aspects of language.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate if right hemisphere stroke is associated with decreased lexical-semantic ability. METHODS: We compared subjects with right hemisphere brain damage after stroke with healthy controls using the validated version of the Montreal Evaluation of Communication to assess lexical-semantic domains of language. RESULTS: Sixteen patients and thirty-two controls were included. The post-stroke group with right hemispheric brain lesions showed considerable limitations in metaphor interpretation, fluency, and semantic judgment. CONCLUSION: Individuals with right hemisphere damage after stroke may present with language changes in the lexical-semantic aspects.

Gastos públicos em serviços ambulatoriais de Fonoaudiologia no Brasil entre 2009 e 2018: bases de dados do DATASUS / Public spending on outpatient speech therapy services in Brazil between 2009 and 2018: DATASUS databases

RESUMO Objetivo Analisar os gastos públicos em saúde destinados aos serviços ambulatoriais em Fonoaudiologia nas cinco Regiões Federativas do Brasil. Métodos Trata-se de um estudo ecológico realizado por meio da busca de dados secundários disponíveis em uma plataforma virtual de domínio público, DATASUS (Departamento de Informática do Sistema Único de Saúde). Os dados coletados referiram-se aos valores aprovados para os procedimentos da Fonoaudiologia no período de 2009 a 2018 nas cinco Regiões Federativas. Adotou-se análise descritiva dos dados e exposição dos resultados em valores absolutos, relativos e taxas de crescimento. Resultados Verificou-se que o investimento médio em reais (R$), por ano, nos serviços de Fonoaudiologia no Brasil foi de, aproximadamente, R$ 223.952.639.232,00; sendo 47,2% dos recursos destinados à Região Sudeste. Dentre as grandes áreas de especialização, a Audiologia foi responsável por 95,4% do investimento, seguida pelas áreas da Linguagem (4,0%), Motricidade Orofacial (0,5%) e Voz (0,1%). Conclusão Os serviços fonoaudiológicos demandam considerável parcela dos recursos públicos, sendo a área da Audiologia responsável por quase metade desses gastos, seguida pelas grandes áreas da Linguagem, Motricidade Orofacial e Voz.

ABSTRACT Purpose To analyze public spending on health services to outpatient services in Speech Therapy in the five federative regions of Brazil. Methods This is an ecological study carried out through the search for secondary data available on a public domain virtual platform, DATASUS. The collected data refer to the values ​​approved for the Speech Therapy procedures in the period from 2009 to 2018 in the five federative regions. Descriptive analysis of data and exposure of results in absolute and relative values ​​and growth rates were adopted. Results It was found that the average investment in reais, per year, in speech therapy services in Brazil was approximately R$ 223,952,639,232.00, with 47.2% of the resources destined for the Southeast region. Among the major areas of specialization, Audiology accounted for 95.4% of the investment, followed by Language (4.0%), Orofacial Motricity (0.5%) and Voice (0.1%). Conclusion The findings indicate that speech therapy services demand a considerable portion of public resources, with the area of ​​Audiology being responsible for almost half of these expenses, followed by the large area of ​​Language, Orofacial Motricity and Voice.