Engineering students and the application of mathematical knowledge : how to explain the difficulties experienced?

The article presents the results of two focus groups and a questionnaire implemented with engineering students from the University of Minho, in order to assess opinions and perspectives concerning the main learning difficulties in mathematics-based disciplines. The results obtained show that students generally see the relevance of mathematics to engineering courses. Mathematics is considered as an essential discipline in course selection and a vital part of their career as engineers. The importance of the instructor is recognized when learning mathematical concepts. Students would like their courses to address mathematical concepts that are more in line with their future professions. The 73 undergraduate students who completed the questionnaire manifested a high self-efficacy and a high perception that the learning of mathematical concepts and the development of mathematical skills are essential for progression in their future career.Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT

Desenvolvimento de um modelo explicativo do sucesso da aprendizagem matemática em estudantes de engenharia

Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT

Self-efficacy, mathematics’ anxiety and perceived importance: an empirical study with Portuguese engineering students

The accomplishment in mathematics has gained attention from educators and arises as an emerging field of study, including in engineering education. However, in Portugal, there is still incipient research in the area; so it is high time to explore factors that might enlighten the gap in the study of the relationship between Portuguese engineering students and the learning of mathematics. The main purpose of this study is to explore three factors identified in the literature as influencing the learning of mathematical concepts – self-efficacy, anxiety towards mathematics and perceived importance of mathematics – and search for differences by gender and by type of engineering course, a dimension not much reported in the literature but which was revealed as important in the team’s previous research. Based on a sample of 140 undergraduate students of different engineering courses from University of Minho, results only identify differences in the type of course and not in gender. These results constitute a contribution and open new paths for future research in the engineering education.FCT (Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia, Portugal) in the scope of the project PEst-OE/EEI/UI0319/201

Les facteurs qui influencent l'apprentissage des concepts mathématiques dans les cours d'Ingénierie: une étude exploratoire avec des étudiants de l'Université de Minho

O sucesso na aprendizagem da Matemática no ensino superior constitui um campo emergente de pesquisa, em particular nos cursos de Engenharia. No entanto, em Portugal ainda é incipiente a pesquisa na área, pelo que é pertinente explorar fatores que podem esclarecer a relação entre os estudantes de Engenharia e a Matemática. Com base em três focus group realizados com estudantes de dois cursos de Engenharia da Universidade do Minho, este estudo exploratório pretende investigar as atitudes dos estudantes na aprendizagem de conceitos matemáticos e averiguar os fatores que influenciam a sua experiência no processo de aprendizagem. Para além da perceção da importância da Matemática no seu curso e na sua futura profissão, os resultados sugerem que há fatores que influenciam o seu desempenho, nomeadamente o papel do professor e a sua metodologia de ensino, bem como a aplicabilidade dos conceitos matemáticos no contexto da Engenharia, o papel ativo do estudante na aprendizagem e a influência dos pais e da sociedade.Success in the learning of Mathematics in higher education constitutes an emerging field of research, particularly in the Engineering courses. In Portugal, however, the research in this area remains incipient. It is therefore relevant to explore which factors may clarify the relation between the Engineering students and Mathematics. Based on three focus groups carried out with students from two Engineering courses at the University of Minho, this exploratory study aims to investigate the attitudes of students in the learning of mathematical concepts and find out the factors that influence their experience in the learning process. Beyond the perception of the importance of Mathematics in their course and their future profession, the results suggest that there are factors that influence their performance, such as the teacher's role and his/her teaching methodology, as well as the applicability of mathematical concepts in the context of Engineering, the student’s active role in learning and the influence of parents and society.Le succès de l'apprentissage de la Mathématique à l'enseignement supérieur est un domaine émergent de la recherche, particulièrement aux cours d'Ingénierie. Toutefois, au Portugal, la recherche est encore naissante, donc il est pertinent d'explorer les facteurs qui peuvent expliquer la relation entre les étudiants en Ingénierie et les Mathématiques. Basé sur trois groupes de discussion menés avec des étudiants de deux cours d'Ingénierie de l'Université de Minho, cette étude exploratoire vise à étudier les attitudes des élèves dans l'apprentissage des concepts mathématiques et de déterminer les facteurs qui influent sur leur expérience dans le processus d'apprentissage. En plus de la perception de l'importance des Mathématiques dans leur cours et leur future profession, les résultats suggèrent qu'il existe des facteurs qui influencent leur performance, à savoir : le rôle de l'enseignant dans la méthodologie de l'enseignement et l'applicabilité des concepts mathématiciens dans le contexte de l'Ingénierie, le rôle active de l'étudiant dans l'apprentissage et l'influence des parents et de la société.FCT (Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia, Portugal) no âmbito do projeto PEst-OE/EEI/UI0319/201

Neuroimmune and inflammatory signals in complex disorders of the central nervous system

An extensive microglial-astrocyte-monocyte-neuronal cross talk seems to be crucial for normal brain function, development, and recovery. However, under certain conditions neuroinflammatory interactions between brain cells and neuroimmune cells influence disease outcome and brain pathology. Microglial cells express a range of functional states with dynamically pleomorphic profiles from a surveilling status of synaptic transmission to an active player in major events of development such as synaptic elimination, regeneration, and repair. Also, inflammation mediates a series of neurotoxic roles in neuropsychiatric conditions and neurodegenerative diseases. The present review discusses data on the involvement of neuroinflammatory conditions that alter neuroimmune interactions in four different pathologies. In the first section of this review, we discuss the ability of the early developing brain to respond to a focal lesion with a rapid compensatory plasticity of intact axons and the role of microglial activation and proinflammatory cytokines in brain repair. In the second section, we present data of neuroinflammation and neurodegenerative disorders and discuss the role of reactive astrocytes in motor neuron toxicity and the progression of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. In the third section, we discuss major depressive disorders as the consequence of dysfunctional interactions between neural and immune signals that result in increased peripheral immune responses and increase proinflammatory cytokines. In the last section, we discuss autism spectrum disorders and altered brain circuitries that emerge from abnormal long-term responses of innate inflammatory cytokines and microglial phenotypic dysfunctions.Fil: Liberman, Ana Clara. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Instituto de Investigación en Biomedicina de Buenos Aires - Instituto Partner de la Sociedad Max Planck; ArgentinaFil: Trias, Emiliano. Instituto Pasteur de Montevideo; UruguayFil: Da Silva Chagas, Luana. Universidade Federal Fluminense; BrasilFil: Trindade, Pablo. No especifíca;Fil: Dos Santos Pereira, Marissol. Fundación Oswaldo Cruz; Brasil. Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro; BrasilFil: Refojo, Damian. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Instituto de Investigación en Biomedicina de Buenos Aires - Instituto Partner de la Sociedad Max Planck; ArgentinaFil: Hedin Pereira, Cecilia. Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro; Brasil. Fundación Oswaldo Cruz; BrasilFil: Serfaty, Claudio A.. Universidade Federal Fluminense; Brasi

Impact of organizational factors on accident prediction in the retail sector

Although different actions to prevent accidents at work have been implemented in companies, the number of accidents at work continues to be a problem for companies and society. In this way, companies have explored alternative solutions that have improved other business factors, such as predictive analysis, an approach that is relatively new when applied to occupational safety. Nevertheless, most reviewed studies focus on the accident dataset, i.e., the casualty’s characteristics, the accidents’ details, and the resulting consequences. This study aims to predict the occurrence of accidents in the following month through different classification algorithms of Machine Learning, namely, Decision Tree, Random Forest, Gradient Boost Model, K-nearest Neighbor, and Naive Bayes, using only organizational information, such as demographic data, absenteeism rates, action plans, and preventive safety actions. Several forecasting models were developed to achieve the best performance and accuracy of the models, based on algorithms with and without the original datasets, balanced for the minority class and balanced considering the majority class. It was concluded that only with some organizational information about the company can it predict the occurrence of accidents in the month ahead.USDA - U.S. Department of Agriculture(PCIF/GRF/0141/2019)The authors are grateful to the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT, Portugal) for financial support through national funds FCT/MCTES (PIDDAC) to CeDRI (UIDB/05757/2020 and UIDP/05757/2020), ALGORITMI UIDB/00319/2020 and SusTEC (LA/P/0007/2021). This work has been supported by NORTE-01-0247-FEDER-072598 iSafety: Intelligent system for occupational safety and well-being in the retail sector. Inˆes Sena was supported by FCT PhD grant UI/BD/153348/2022

Active regulatory T-cells contribute to broadened T-cell repertoire diversity in ivIg-treated SLE patients

Octapharma

Design and photo-Fenton performance of Graphene/CuS/Fe3O4 tertiary nanocomposites for Rhodamine B degradation

This study describes nanocomposites of graphene flakes (GF) combined with CuS, Fe3O4 and CuS−Fe3O4 nanoparticles prepared by wet chemical methods. The Fe3O4 and/or CuS nanoparticles were directly anchored onto GF without requiring additional chemical treatment. The composition, structure and morphology of the nanocomposites, as well as of the pristine GF and metal oxide/sulfide nanoparticles were characterised by X − ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Raman spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), powder X − ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) techniques. The results confirmed the successful attachment of CuS nanophases (size range: 23.7–50.1 nm) and/or Fe3O4 nanoparticles (size range: 10.6–15.8 nm). The adsorption and photocatalytic properties of the GF−based nanocomposites were evaluated at room temperature using Rhodamine B (RhB) as a model contaminant. Theoretical models were fitted to the adsorption kinetic results using the pseudo-first-order, pseudo-second-order and Elovich equations, while the adsorption mechanism was determined using the intraparticle diffusion, Bangham and Boyd models. The RhB adsorption efficiency was 6.5% for GF@CuS−Fe3O4 after 180 min contact time, whereas for the other materials was significantly higher: 97.6%, 60.9% and 31.9% for GF, GF@CuS and GF@Fe3O4, respectively. The adsorption capacity of GF and composites fitted the pseudo−second−order kinetic and Elovich models. The influence of the nanostructures composition on the corresponding photocatalytic activity in the degradation of RhB under a 150 W halogen lamp was also evaluated. The GF@CuS−Fe3O4 nanocomposite totally eliminated the dissolved RhB after 60 min irradiation, whereas the GF@CuS, GF@Fe3O4 and pristine Fe3O4 removed 75.6%, 80.9% and 30.8%, respectively, after 180 min irradiation. It was found that the photocatalytic behaviour of the composites was best described by the first−order kinetic model. The rate constant of the photocatalytic RhB removal for GF@CuS−Fe3O4 (k = 7.05 ×10−2 min−1) was 2.1, 5.1 and 15.0 times higher than those obtained for GF@CuS, GF@Fe3O4 and pristine Fe3O4, respectively, after 60 min of visible light irradiation.publishe

Dominance of photo over chromatic acclimation strategies by habitat-forming mesophotic red algae

Funding was provided by a Leverhulme Trust Research Project grant no. (RPG-2018-113) to H.L.B., G.A.T. and I.D.W.S., an Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council grant (EP/L017008/1) to G.A.T. and I.D.W.S., and a São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) individual grant (#2016/14017-0) to G.H.P.-F.Red coralline algae are the deepest living macroalgae, capable of creating spatially complex reefs from the intertidal to 100+ m depth with global ecological and biogeochemical significance. How these algae maintain photosynthetic function under increasingly limiting light intensity and spectral availability is key to explaining their large depth distribution. Here, we investigated the photo- and chromatic acclimation and morphological change of free-living red coralline algae towards mesophotic depths in the Fernando do Noronha archipelago, Brazil. From 13 to 86 m depth, thalli tended to become smaller and less complex. We observed a dominance of the photo-acclimatory response, characterized by an increase in photosynthetic efficiency and a decrease in maximum electron transport rate. Chromatic acclimation was generally stable across the euphotic-mesophotic transition with no clear depth trend. Taxonomic comparisons suggest these photosynthetic strategies are conserved to at least the Order level. Light saturation necessitated the use of photoprotection to 65 m depth, while optimal light levels were met at 86 m. Changes to the light environment (e.g. reduced water clarity) due to human activities therefore places these mesophotic algae at risk of light limitation, necessitating the importance of maintaining good water quality for the conservation and protection of mesophotic habitats.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe