In 2008, the Portuguese government announced the initiative ’e.escolinha’ which included the distribution of computers ‘Magalhães’ to students of the 1st cycle of basic education for three ...consecutive school years. Currently suspended, the programme was a flagship of the XVII Constitutional Government, led by José Sócrates, but it was also subject of controversy from the opposition parties and from the school community, especially due to the apparent emphasis on access to technology rather than a greater concern with the training and pedagogical practices. Under the Technological Plan for Education, the ’e.escolinha’ initiative was part of a broader policy for the development of a competitive and dynamic economy, responding to the goals set by the EU in the Lisbon Strategy 2000. The initiative was presented to the country with ambitious goals regarding the expected changes to teachers’ pedagogical practices, the process of children’s learning and school success in general. However, the most visible face of the policy, although it may comprise other nuances, may have been reduced to the question of access, investing little in other dimensions of digital literacy. Based on interviews with key actors involved in the conception and implementation of the ’e.escolinha’ initiative, and on official programme documents, this paper intends to discuss how policy makers and companies set out and evaluate the objectives of this initiative. It is intended, in particular, to understand if they share the idea that this governmental measure follows a technological drift or if they discern any digital literacy objectives in it. This piece of work is part of a research project titled "Navigating with Magellan: Study on the Impact of Digital Media on Schoolchildren," that is being carried out at the Communication and Society Research Centre at the University of Minho, funded by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology ((PTDC / CCI-COM/101381/2008)) and co-financed by FEDER (COMPETE: FCOMP-01-0124-FEDER-009056).
Purpose The primary objective of this study was to compare placenta growth factor (PlGF) levels in the serum and vitreous of diabetic retinopathy (DR) patients to non-diabetic controls. Additionally, ...the study aimed to establish associations between serum and vitreous PlGF concentrations and to examine the correlation between vitreous PlGF in DR patients and morphological parameters. Methods This study included serum and vitreous samples from 38 patients, including 21 patients with DR and 17 non-diabetic controls. The control group included non-diabetic patients with rhegmatogenous retinal detachment with retinal tears secondary to posterior vitreous detachment or trauma. PlGF levels were quantified in vitreous and serum samples using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Optical coherence tomography (OCT) scans from DR patients were evaluated to measure the central retinal thickness (CRT) and macular volume (MV). Results DR patients had significantly higher mean vitreous PlGF levels compared to non-DR patients (70.0±39.2 vs. 46.47±9.7 pg/mL, p-value=0.004). However, no significant increase in mean serum PlGF levels was observed in DR patients (p-value=0.232). Within the DR group, proliferative DR (PDR) patients presented significantly higher vitreous PlGF levels than non-PDR (NPDR) patients (76.5±41.0 vs. 42.5±5.0 pg/mL, p-value=0.009). There was no association between serum and vitreous PlGF levels. The correlation between vitreous PlGF levels and morphological parameters was r
=0.175, p-value=0.488 for CRT, and r
=0.288, p-value=0.262 for MV. Conclusion This study emphasizes the important role of PlGF in neovascularization, specifically highlighting its overexpression exclusively in vitreous from PDR patients. The observed increase in PlGF levels may be indicative of disease severity. The lack of correlation between vitreous and serum PlGF levels suggests a potential dissociation between intravitreal and systemic PlGF synthesis. Consequently, targeting PlGF in therapeutic approaches may offer an additional strategy for ocular pathologies with a neovascular component.
OBJETIVO: Analisar os riscos relacionados às vacinas e os impactos da não vacinação para a população mundial. MÉTODOS: Revisão narrativa que considerou informações contidas nas bases de dados ...bibliográficos NCBI-PubMed, Medline, Lilacs e Scientific Electronic Library Online (SciELO), no período compreendido entre novembro de 2015 e novembro de 2016. Para a análise de surtos ocasionados pela não vacinação foram considerados os trabalhos publicados entre 2010 e 2016. RESULTADOS: Foram descritos os principais componentes das vacinas oferecidas pelo sistema público de saúde brasileiro e eventos adversos associados a esses elementos. Com exceção de reações inflamatórias locais e efeitos raros como exacerbação de doenças autoimunes e alergias, não foi demonstrada relação causal entre a administração de vacinas e autismo, mal de Alzheimer ou narcolepsia. Por outro lado, a falta de informações e a divulgação de informações não científicas têm contribuído para a reemergência de doenças infecciosas em diversos países no mundo e põe em risco planos globais para a erradicação de doenças infecciosas. CONCLUSÕES: A população deve estar bem informada quanto aos benefícios da vacinação e os profissionais da saúde devem assumir o papel de divulgar informações verídicas e com respaldo científico sobre o tema, como compromisso ético e profissional junto à sociedade.
•MpCHIT2 and MpATG8 expression are correlated to autophagy process.•MpCHIT1 expression is correlated to basidioma formation.•Cell wall restructuration is related to fungal nutrient ...reallocation.•Chitin metabolism and nutritional-related autophagy stress are correlated.•Nutritional environment is central for M. perniciosa development.
We identified and characterized two chitinases, named MpCHIT1 and MpCHIT2, from the fungus Moniliophthora perniciosa – the etiologic agent of witches’ broom disease in cacao tree (Theobroma cacao L.) – during its development, mainly in the mycelia phases preceding the basidioma formation. The expression of MpCHIT1 and MpCHIT2, together with MpCHS and MpATG8 (chitin synthase and autophagy genes, respectively), was analyzed during the M. perniciosa growth and development on bran-based solid medium as well as in liquid medium containing H2O2 or rapamycin (oxidative and nutritional related-autophagy stress agents, respectively). In order to link the expression of chitin metabolism-related genes to nutritional composition influencing fungus development, we also quantified total and reduced sugars, as well as macro- and micronutrients in the bran-based solid medium. The expression analysis showed that the MpCHS expression increased through mycelial development and then decreased in the primordium and basidioma phases, while the expression of MpCHIT1 and MpCHIT2 was higher in basidioma and primordium phases, respectively. Moreover, the expression pattern of MpCHIT1 and MpCHIT2 is distinct, the second correlated with the MpATG8 expression pattern and possibly with autophagy process, while the first may be related to the basidioma formation. The quantification of total and reduced sugars, as well as macro- and micronutrients supported the idea that the cell wall restructuration due to MpCHS, MpCHIT1 and MpCHIT2 is related to stress and fungal nutrient reallocation, allowing the formation and development of the basidioma. Experiments involving M. perniciosa growth on liquid medium containing H2O2 or rapamycin showed that MpCHIT1 and MpCHIT2 were over-expressed in response to oxidative but also to nutritional related-autophagy stresses. Interestingly, the expression level of MpCHS, MpCHIT1 and MpCHIT2 in presence of rapamycin is similar to the one observed in the primordium and basidioma from bran-based solid medium. The analysis of the overall data allowed designing a general scheme of chitin metabolism and autophagy during M. perniciosa development, focusing on the mycelium phases as crucial and environmentally influenced steps preceding the primordium and basidioma formation. These data support the idea that the nutritional environment of M. perniciosa influences its development and life cycle.
Sedentary behaviour (SB) has been implicated as a potential risk factor for chronic disease. Since children spend most of their awake time in schools, this study aimed to identify individual- and ...school-level correlates of sedentary time using a multilevel approach, and to determine if these correlates have a similar effect in normal weight (NW) and overweight/obese (O/O) children.
Sample comprised 686 Portuguese children aged 9-10 years from 23 schools that took part in the ISCOLE project. Actigraph GT3X + accelerometers were used 24 hours/day for 7 days to assess sedentary time (daily minutes <100 counts/min); BMI was computed and WHO cut-points were used to classify subjects as NW or O/O. Sex, BMI, number of siblings, family income, computer use on school days, and sleep time on school days were used as individual-level correlates. At the school level, school size (number of students), percentage of students involved in sports or physical activity (PA) clubs, school promotion of active transportation, and students' access to equipment outside school hours were used. All multilevel modelling analysis was done in SPSS, WINPEPI, and HLM.
School-level correlates explain ≈ 6.0% of the total variance in sedentary time. Results (β ± SE) showed that boys (-30.85 ± 5.23), children with more siblings (-8.56 ± 2.71) and those who sleep more (-17.78 ± 3.06) were less sedentary, while children with higher family income were more sedentary (4.32 ± 1.68). At the school level, no variable was significantly correlated with sedentary time. Among weight groups, variables related to sedentary time in NW were sex, sleep time and family income, while in O/O sex, number of siblings and sleep time were significant correlates. No school-level predictors were significantly associated in either of the weight groups.
Notwithstanding the relevance of the school environment in the reduction of children's sedentary time, individual and family characteristics played a more relevant role than the school context in this study.
O presente texto tem como finalidade comunicar resultados parciais de projeto de mestrado em Ciência da Informação, andamento. Têm-se como objetivos, na pesquisa, mapear, na interne, blogs ...direcionados à pessoa com deficiência visual ou de interesse para profissionais que trabalham no seu atendimento, bem como verificar na Base de Dados em Ciência da Informação (Brapci) artigos e comunicações relacionados à pessoa com deficiência visual. Com uso de mecanismo de busca da Brapci, recuperamos 79 itens de informação sobre a temática da pesquisa, usando-se para os blogs uma parametrização da raíz quadrada resultando em 77 itens de informação. Na presente comunicação, apresentamos fontes de informação relacionadas ao público contemplado na pesquisa,, enfatizando os blogs e a produção científica indexada na Brapci. Ao final da pesquisa, esperamos propor, ao Portal LTi, uma página com informações para deficientes visuais e profissionais que trabalham no seu atendimento, em especial os profissionais da informação.
Much has been said and written about media education, its relevance and goals. Beyond directives, resolutions or recommendations, research in this area has deepened the foundations of media education ...but has also emphasized its weak points or faults. One of these critical points noted in the training and research work developed at the University of Minho, Portugal, in the last 20 years is the non-existence of resources and materials that could be used to promote media education in different contexts. But this is not just about the availability of materials, it concerns the importance of putting knowledge into practice and of mediating the knowledge produced with the appropriate audience. This concern was the basis of the 'Media Education in Booklets' project carried out by the Society and Communication Research Centre and funded by the Evens Foundation, Belgium. This paper presents the resources produced by this project in the form of three booklets: the first deals with the mediation of TV at school and at home; the second describes videogames, ways of playing, benefits, dangers, creativity and interculturality; the third is about the Internet and social networks, and the new forms of relationships and communication that these allow. Adapted from the source document.
This paper aims to address the gratuitousness of justice for minors in child support claims, as the scientific research from which it comes indicated the need to adjust the criteria for its granting ...in this type of lawsuit, in order not to confuse the financial situation of the beneficiary (children and adolescents) with that of their representative/legal assistant. Linked to the critical-methodological line, this paper seeks to rethink the legal institutions in an up-to-date way and present solutions to concrete cases, as well as, by assuming the legal-dogmatic aspect, discuss the applicable normative propositions with the attention focused on society and its conflicts, in order to allow the law to reach social effectiveness.
This paper aims to address the gratuitousness of justice for minors in child support claims, as the scientific research from which it comes indicated the need to adjust the criteria for its granting ...in this type of lawsuit, in order not to confuse the financial situation of the beneficiary (children and adolescents) with that of their representative/legal assistant. Linked to the critical-methodological line, this paper seeks to rethink the legal institutions in an up-to-date way and present solutions to concrete cases, as well as, by assuming the legal-dogmatic aspect, discuss the applicable normative propositions with the attention focused on society and its conflicts, in order to allow the law to reach social effectiveness. KEYWORDS: Civil procedure; child support suits; gratuitousness of justice; representation and legal assistance; financial status of minors. Este artigo se propoe a abordar a gratuidade da justica para menor de idade em acao de alimentos, pois a investigacao cientifica do qual provem indicou a necessidade de adequacao dos criterios para sua concessao neste tipo de demanda judicial, a fim de nao se confundir a situacao financeira do beneficiario (criancas e adolescentes) com a de seu/sua representante/assistente legal. Vinculado a linha critico-metodologica, este artigo busca repensar os institutos juridicos de maneira atual e apresentar solucoes para os casos concretos, bem como, ao assumir a vertente juridico-dogmatica, discutir as proposicoes normativas aplicaveis com a atencao voltada para a sociedade e seus conflitos, de modo a permitir que o direito alcance efetividade social. PALAVRAS-CHAVE: Processo civil; acao de alimentos; gratuidade da justica; representacao e assistencia legal; situacao financeira do menor de idade.
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