Insomnia, sleep fragmentation and excessive daytime sleepiness are common in Parkinson's disease (PD) and may contribute to the reduction of cognition and alertness in those patients. Melatonin has been shown to improve sleep in several conditions. In experimental models of PD, melatonin can ameliorate motor symptoms. To evaluate the effect of melatonin on sleep and motor dysfuntion in PD, we studied 18 patients (Hoehn & Yahr I to III) from a PD clinic. Prior to treatment, motor dysfunction was assessed by UPDRS II, III and IV. Subjective sleep quality was assessed by the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) and daytime somnolence by the Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS). Full polysomnography (PSG) was performed in all subjects. Patients were then randomized to receive melatonin (3mg) or placebo one hour before bedtime for four weeks. All measures were repeated at the end of treatment. On initial assessment, 14 patients (70%) showed poor quality sleep (PSQI > 6) and eight (40%) excessive daytime sleepiness (ESS > 10). Increased sleep latency (50%), REM sleep without atonia (66%), and reduced sleep efficiency (72%) were found on PSG. Eight patients had an apnea/ hipopnea index greater than 15 but no severe oxygen desaturation was observed. Sleep fragmentation tended to be more severe in patients on lower doses of levodopa (p = 0.07). Although melatonin significantly improved subjective quality of sleep (p = 0.03) as evaluated by the PSQI index, PSG abnormalities were not changed. Motor dysfunction was not improved by the use of melatonin. Undetected differences in motor scores and PSG findings may have been due to a small sample size and a type II error.

The aim of this paper is to discuss to what extent reflective sessions can become a tool for teacher empowerment when included as a component of a reflective teacher education in-service course, and understood as a classroom activity which provides the possibility for a new type of discursive organisation to emerge. The discussion will be of a twofold nature: on the one hand it will focus on the need to provide Brazilian state school teachers of English involved in a continuing education programme with a context conducive to reflective practice and, on the other hand, it will focus on the effectiveness of organizing that context as discussion dyads, so as to create a collaborative set up for participants to examine their classes critically. The aim set for the participants is learning how to evaluate each other's classroom practice by looking at it as a locus of investigation and of theory (de)construction. The paper discusses the educational process evolving from the discussions by analysing the dyads' discourses (Bronckart, 1999), i.e., the linguistic discursive choices that reveal their motives when acting with a pair in order to evaluate their classroom practices critically. This will also shed some light on the level of effectiveness of the tool itself

This text aims at discussing the concept of collaboration based on Applied Linguistics (

Com base em Vygotsky (1930, 1934) e em pesquisadores atuais que discutem a organização colaborativo-crítica dos contextos de formação contínua na escola, este artigo discute a relação entre colaboração, contradição e os contextos de formação contínua como lócus de inserção de transformações na escola. Entende a formação de formadores como um coletivo que, por meio de relações mútuas e dialéticas entre todos os participantes do contexto escolar (professores, gestores, alunos) e fora dele (pesquisadores), juntos discutem a realidade específica da escola em relação às mudanças socioculturais e políticas do mundo e colaborativamente agem para a transformação da escola e da sociedade.

RESUMO: Objetiva-se, neste artigo, discutir a linguagem da colaboração crítica no desenvolvimento da agência (EDWARDS, 2005, 2007; YAMAZUMI, 2007; ENGESTRÖM, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011; ENGESTRÖM; SANNINO, 2011; VIRKKUNEN, 2006a, 2006b) de professores de Ensino Médio em serviço, tomando-se como contexto de pesquisa o projeto de formação de professores, LEDA – Leitura e Escrita nas Diferentes Áreas, realizado em escola pública de município da Grande São Paulo. Metodologicamente, está ancorado na Pesquisa Crítica de Colaboração (PCCol) (MAGALHÃES, 2009, 2011, 2012), caracterizada como pesquisa de intervenção com foco na desencapsulação e transformação da aprendizagem escolar, e organizado em encontros quinzenais com 6 professores de diferentes áreas do conhecimento, 1 coordenadora pedagógica da área de Linguagem e 4 pesquisadores da área da Linguística Aplicada. Os encontros de formação focalizam as relações entre os participantes a partir da discussão sobre práticas didático-pedagógicas. Com base na análise dos dados coletados por meio de videogravação, resultados preliminares ressaltam mudanças na significação atribuída pelos participantes a respeito das práticas didático-pedagógicas realizadas em sala de aula e indicam posicionamentos assumidos pelos professores participantes de modo consciente e teoricamente fundamentado, caracterizando o desenvolvimento de agência relacional e transformativa, bem como a emergência de uma prática profissional responsiva.