322 research outputs found
Aspectos de qualidade em jogos sérios digitais
Os jogos vêm ganhando cada vez mais espaço como uma ferramentapedagógica em diversas áreas de conhecimento. Nesse contexto, é importante ressaltar que é necessário um processo robusto de desenvolvimento centrado no jogador, cujas características e experiências almejadas pelo usuário tenham o maior foco. Para isso, este artigo objetiva analisar os aspectos de qualidade em jogos sérios digitais para apoiar o processo de ensino e aprendizagem de estudantes da área de Ciência da Computação. Os aspectos são os requisitos de qualidade do jogo e a experiência do usuário (jogador). Foi realizado um survey a fim de entender a relevância destes aspectos. Houveram 166 participantes e a partir das respostas deles, foi elaborado um ranking dos requisitos de qualidade e experiência do jogador mais importantes para a amostra. No aspecto de requisitos de qualidade os dois principais foram e jogo ter um design atraente e oferecer feedback enquanto para a experiência do jogador foram o jogo gerar o sentimento de satisfação em jogar e aprender e produzir o sentimento de confiança que o próprio jogador vai aprender o conteúdo proposto pelo jogo
Predictors of response to TNF blockers in patients with polyarticular psoriatic arthritis
Psoriatic arthritis (PsA) is a chronic inflammatory
rheumatic disease with a broad clinical spectrum. PsA
can affect the axialskeleton, peripheral joints, entheses,
synovial sheaths of tendons, skin, nails and extra-articular
organs. Tumour necrosis factor alpha blockers
(TNF blockers) were a breakthrough development in
the treatment of PsA. Identifying predictors of response
to biological therapiesin patients with PsA is of utmost
importance, especially in view of the costs and potential
side effects of these agents. The aims of the present
study were to determine baseline predictive factors of
response to biological therapies, at 3 and 6 months, in
PsA patients with polyarticular involvement (with or
without axial involvement). Data were collected from
the RheumaticDiseases Portuguese Register(Reuma.pt).
Eligible patients had to be anti-TNF-naive at baseline
and to have at least 3 months of follow-up after the beginning
of TNF blocker therapy. Only patients with information
on at least one of the response measures (at
3 or 6 months of follow-up) were included in the analysis.
Univariable logistic regression analysis of potential
baseline predictors of European League Against Rheu-matism (EULAR) good clinical response, EULAR good/
/moderate response, 28-joint Disease Activity Score
with three variables including the erythrocyte sedimentation
rate (DAS28-3V-ESR) remission and Health
Assessment Questionnaire (HAQ) response were performed.
Multivariable logistic regression using a forward
selection procedure was used until the best-fit
model was obtained, taking confounding effects into
account. A total of 180 patients were eligible for the
study (mean age 52 years, 54% women). In multivariable
analysis at 3 months, females were less likely to attain
a good EULAR response [OR=0.082 (95%
CI=0.024, 0.278)], a DAS28-3V-ESR remission
[OR=0.083 (95% CI=0.017, 0.416)], a moderate or
good EULAR response [OR=0.091 (95% CI=0.011,
0.091)] and a HAQ response [OR=0.074 (95%
CI=0.009, 0.608)]. At 6 months, female gender was
also less likely to achieve a good EULAR response
[OR=0.060 (95% CI=0.011, 0.325)], DAS28-3V-ESR
remission [OR=0.060 (95% CI=0.012, 0.297)], and a
HAQ response [OR=0.138 (95% CI= 0.029, 0.654)]. In
this study we found that gender was the most consistent
predictor of response to TNF blocker therapy in
patients with polyarticular PsA, with females having a
lower probability ofresponse compared to males. These
findings suggest that gender-related biochemical, hormonal
and psychological factors could play an importantrole
in the response to TNF blockertherapy in PsA
Seasonality Role on the Phenolics from Cultivated Baccharis dracunculifolia
Baccharis dracunculifolia is the source of Brazilian green propolis (BGP). Considering the broad spectrum of biological activities attributed to green proplis, B. dracunculifolia has a great potential for the development of new cosmetic and pharmaceutical products. In this work, the cultivation of 10 different populations of native B. dracunculifolia had been undertaken aiming to determine the role of seasonality on its phenolic compounds. For this purpose, fruits of this plant were collected from populations of 10 different regions, and 100 individuals of each population were cultivated in an experimental area of 1800 m2. With respect to cultivation, the yields of dry plant, essential oil and crude extract were measured monthly resulting in mean values of 399 ± 80 g, 0.6 ± 0.1% and 20 ± 4%, respectively. The HPLC analysis allowed detecting seven phenolic compounds: caffeic acid, ferulic acid, aromadendrin-4′-methyl ether (AME), isosakuranetin, artepillin C, baccharin and 2-dimethyl-6-carboxyethenyl-2H-1-benzopyran acid, which were the major ones throughout the 1-year monthly analysis. Caffeic acid was detected in all cultivated populations with mean of 4.0%. AME displayed the wide variation in relation to other compounds showing means values of 0.65 ± 0.13% at last quarter. Isosakuranetin and artepillin C showed increasing concentrations with values between 0% and 1.4% and 0% and 1.09%, respectively. The obtained results allow suggesting that the best time for harvesting this plant, in order to obtain good qualitative and quantitative results for these phenolic compounds, is between December and April
AP2γ controls adult hippocampal neurogenesis and modulates cognitive, but not anxiety or depressive-like behavior
Hippocampal neurogenesis has been proposed to participate in a myriad of behavioral responses, both in basal states and in the context of neuropsychiatric disorders. Here, we identify activating protein 2γ 3 (AP2γ 3, also known as Tcfap2c), originally described to regulate the generation of neurons in the developing cortex, as a modulator of adult hippocampal glutamatergic neurogenesis in mice. Specifically, AP2γ 3 is present in a sub-population of hippocampal transient amplifying progenitors. There, it is found to act as a positive regulator of the cell fate determinants Tbr2 and NeuroD, promoting proliferation and differentiation of new glutamatergic granular neurons. Conditional ablation of AP2γ 3 in the adult brain significantly reduced hippocampal neurogenesis and disrupted neural coherence between the ventral hippocampus and the medial prefrontal cortex. Furthermore, it resulted in the precipitation of multimodal cognitive deficits. This indicates that the sub-population of AP2γ 3-positive hippocampal progenitors may constitute an important cellular substrate for hippocampal-dependent cognitive functions. Concurrently, AP2γ 3 deletion produced significant impairments in contextual memory and reversal learning. More so, in a water maze reference memory task a delay in the transition to cognitive strategies relying on hippocampal function integrity was observed. Interestingly, anxiety- and d epressive-like behaviors were not significantly affected. Altogether, findings open new perspectives in understanding the role of specific sub-populations of newborn neurons in the (patho)physiology of neuropsychiatric disorders affecting hippocampal neuroplasticity and cognitive function in the adult brain.We acknowledge the excellent technical expertise of Luís Martins and Andrea
Steiner-Mezzadri. We would also like to acknowledge Magdalena Götz for the
insightful comments on the paper. AMP, PP, ARS, JS, VMS, NDA and JFO received
fellowships from the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT). LP
received fellowship from FCT and her work is funded by FCT (IF/01079/2014) and Bial
Foundation (427/14) projects. This work was cofunded by the Life and Health
Sciences Research Institute (ICVS), and Northern Portugal Regional Operational
Programme (NORTE 2020), under the Portugal 2020 Partnership Agreement, through
the European Regional Development Fund (FEDER) (projects NORTE-01-0145-
FEDER-000013 and NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000023). This work has been also funded
by FEDER funds, through the Competitiveness Factors Operational Programme
(COMPETE), and by National funds, through the FCT, under the scope of the project
POCI-01-0145-FEDER-007038info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
description of the methodological approach
publishersversionpublishe
Tau-dependent suppression of adult neurogenesis in the stressed hippocampus
uncorrected proofStress, a well-known sculptor of brain plasticity, is shown to suppress hippocampal neurogenesis in the adult brain; yet, the underlying cellular mechanisms are poorly investigated. Previous studies have shown that chronic stress triggers hyperphosphorylation and accumulation of the cytoskeletal protein Tau, a process that may impair the cytoskeleton-regulating role (s) of this protein with impact on neuronal function. Here, we analyzed the role of Tau on stress-driven suppression of neurogenesis in the adult dentate gyrus (DG) using animals lacking Tau (Tau-knockout; Tau-KO) and wild-type (WT) littermates. Unlike WTs, Tau-KO animals exposed to chronic stress did not exhibit reduction in DG proliferating cells, neuroblasts and newborn neurons; however, newborn astrocytes were similarly decreased in both Tau-KO and WT mice. In addition, chronic stress reduced phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K)/mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR)/glycogen synthase kinase-3 beta (GSK3 beta)/beta-catenin signaling, known to regulate cell survival and proliferation, in the DG of WT, but not Tau-KO, animals. These data establish Tau as a critical regulator of the cellular cascades underlying stress deficits on hippocampal neurogenesis in the adult brain.Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) Investigator grants (IF/01799/2013, IF/00883/2013, IF/01079/2014, respectively). This work was funded by FCT research grants 'PTDC/SAU-NMC/113934/2009' (IS), the Portuguese North Regional Operational Program (ON.2) under the National Strategic Reference Framework (QREN), through the European Regional Development Fund (FEDER), the Project Estratégico co-funded by FCT (PEst-C/SAU/LA0026/2013) and the European Regional Development Fund COMPETE (FCOMP-01-0124-FEDER-037298) as well as the project NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000013, supported by the Northern Portugal Regional Operational Programme (NORTE 2020), under the Portugal 2020 Partnership Agreement, through the European Regional Development Fund (FEDER)info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
Coping with poachers in European stalked barnacle fisheries: Insights from a stakeholder workshop.
In January 2020, a stakeholder workshop was organized as a knowledge sharing strategy among European stalked barnacle fisheries. Management of this fishery differs greatly among regions and ranges from less organized and governed at large scales (>100 km, coasts of SW Portugal and Brittany in France) to highly participatory systems which are co-managed at small spatial scales (10′s km and less, Galicia and Asturias). Discussions revealed that poaching is ubiquitous, hard to eradicate, and adapts to all types of management. The stakeholders identified some key management initiatives in the fight against poaching: granting professional harvesters with exclusive access to the resource, increasing social capital among harvesters through tenure systems (e.g. Territorial Use Rights in Fisheries) that empower them as stewards of their resource and intensi- fication of surveillance with the active participation of the harvesters. Furthermore, increased cooperation be- tween fishers associations and regional fisheries authorities, improved legal frameworks, adoption of new technologies and the implementation of market-based solutions can also help coping with this systemic problem
Pervasive gaps in Amazonian ecological research
Biodiversity loss is one of the main challenges of our time,1,2 and attempts to address it require a clear un derstanding of how ecological communities respond to environmental change across time and space.3,4
While the increasing availability of global databases on ecological communities has advanced our knowledge
of biodiversity sensitivity to environmental changes,5–7 vast areas of the tropics remain understudied.8–11 In
the American tropics, Amazonia stands out as the world’s most diverse rainforest and the primary source of
Neotropical biodiversity,12 but it remains among the least known forests in America and is often underrepre sented in biodiversity databases.13–15 To worsen this situation, human-induced modifications16,17 may elim inate pieces of the Amazon’s biodiversity puzzle before we can use them to understand how ecological com munities are responding. To increase generalization and applicability of biodiversity knowledge,18,19 it is thus
crucial to reduce biases in ecological research, particularly in regions projected to face the most pronounced
environmental changes. We integrate ecological community metadata of 7,694 sampling sites for multiple or ganism groups in a machine learning model framework to map the research probability across the Brazilian
Amazonia, while identifying the region’s vulnerability to environmental change. 15%–18% of the most ne glected areas in ecological research are expected to experience severe climate or land use changes by
2050. This means that unless we take immediate action, we will not be able to establish their current status,
much less monitor how it is changing and what is being lostinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
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