Integrated didactics: an example of a curriculum model enhancing knowledge crossing

In this paper, we introduce an innovative course in the Portuguese Context, the Master's Course in “Integrated Didactics in Mother Tongue, Maths, Natural and Social Sciences”, taking place at the Lisbon School of Education and discussing in particular the results of the evaluation made by the students who attended the Curricular Unit - Integrated Didactics (CU-ID). This course was designed for in-service teachers of the first six years of schooling and intends to improve connections between different curriculum areas. In this paper, we start to present a few general ideas about curriculum development; to discuss the concept of integration; to present the principles and objectives of the course created as well as its structure; to describe the methodology used in the evaluation process of the above mentioned CU-ID. The results allow us to state that the students recognized, as positive features of the CU-ID, the presence in all sessions of two teachers simultaneously from different scientific areas, as well as invitations issued to specialists on the subject of integration and to other teachers that already promote forms of integration in schools. As negative features, students noted a lack of integrated purpose, applying simultaneously the four scientific areas of the course, and also indicated the need to be familiar with more models of integrated education. Consequently, the suggestions for improvement derived from these negative features. The students also considered that their evaluation process was correct, due to the fact that it was focused on the design of an integrated project for one of the school years already mentioned

Anatomical and radiographic appearance of the capuchin monkey thoracic cavity (Cebus apella) Aparência anatômica e radiográfica da cavidade torácica do macaco-prego (Cebus apella)

The capuchin monkey is widespread both north and south of the Legal Amazon and in the Brazilian cerrado. Ten clinically healthy capuchin monkeys were submitted to an anatomical and radiographic study of their thoracic cavities. The radiographic evaluation allowed the description of biometric values associated with the cardiac silhouette and thoracic structures. Application of the VHS (vertebral heart size) method showed positive correlation (PO macaco-prego é muito comum tanto no norte, quanto no sul da Amazônia Legal e no cerrado brasileiro. Dez macacos-prego clinicamente saudáveis foram submetidos a um estudo anatômico e radiográfico de suas cavidades torácicas. A avaliação radiográfica permitiu a descrição de valores biométricos associados à silhueta cardíaca e estruturas torácicas. A aplicação do método de VHS (vertebral heart size) demonstrou correlação positiva (P <0,05) com a profundidade da cavidade torácica, assim como entre o comprimento do corpo de vértebras T3, T4, T5 e T6 e do comprimento e largura cardíaca. Os campos pulmonares apresentaram padrão intersticial difuso, mais visível nos lobos pulmonares caudais e um padrão brônquial em lobo pulmonar médio e cranial. O exame radiográfico permitiu inferências preliminares a serem realizadas no âmbito da sintopia das estruturas torácicas e de modificação dos padrões pulmonares e anatomia cardíaca para o macaco-prego

Análise quantitativa da ecogenicidade testicular pela técnica do histograma de ovinos da baixada ocidental maranhense

A ultrassonografia &#233; um m&#233;todo de diagn&#243;stico por imagem que permite a avalia&#231;&#227;o de diferentes &#243;rg&#227;os e estruturas corp&#243;reas de maneira n&#227;o invasiva. No entanto, a avalia&#231;&#227;o subjetiva das imagens caracteriza um dos grandes entraves na utiliza&#231;&#227;o desta t&#233;cnica de diagn&#243;stico, havendo necessidade de mecanismos que minimizem a subjetividade do exame e a diverg&#234;ncia na interpreta&#231;&#227;o dos achados ultrassonogr&#225;ficos. Desta forma este trabalho objetivou caracterizar a ecogenicidade do par&#234;nquima e mediastino testicular de ovinos utilizando a t&#233;cnica do histograma escala-cinza. Foram utilizados 30 animais divididos em tr&#234;s grupos de acordo com a faixa et&#225;ria (FE): de tr&#234;s a seis meses (FE1), sete a 12 meses (FE2), 13 a 18 meses (FE3) e realizadas varreduras testiculares nos planos frontal, sagital e transversal, elaborando ao final um histograma a partir das imagens ultrassonogr&#225;ficas. Observou-se que tanto a ecogenicidade do par&#234;nquima quanto a do mediastino testicular aumentaram gradativamente com a progress&#227;o das idades dos animais, com m&#233;dia e desvio-padr&#227;o de 95,00&#177;19,05 e 94,35&#177;18,82 para a ecogenicidade do par&#234;nquima do ant&#237;mero direito e esquerdo, respectivamente, e 127,95&#177;12,97 para o mediastino direito e 126,59&#177;11,78 para o esquerdo. A t&#233;cnica do histograma escala-cinza demonstrou ser um m&#233;todo eficiente na determina&#231;&#227;o da ecogenicidade testicular, possibilitando o estabelecimento de padr&#245;es de normalidade que venham a auxiliar pesquisas futuras no monitoramento do desenvolvimento testicular bem como na detec&#231;&#227;o de patologias. Para a regimes exclusivos de cria&#231;&#227;o extensiva, como na baixada maranhense, representa ferramenta valiosa para sua utiliza&#231;&#227;o em projetos sociais do Estado que atendem a agricultura familiar

Brazilian Flora 2020: Leveraging the power of a collaborative scientific network

International audienceThe shortage of reliable primary taxonomic data limits the description of biological taxa and the understanding of biodiversity patterns and processes, complicating biogeographical, ecological, and evolutionary studies. This deficit creates a significant taxonomic impediment to biodiversity research and conservation planning. The taxonomic impediment and the biodiversity crisis are widely recognized, highlighting the urgent need for reliable taxonomic data. Over the past decade, numerous countries worldwide have devoted considerable effort to Target 1 of the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation (GSPC), which called for the preparation of a working list of all known plant species by 2010 and an online world Flora by 2020. Brazil is a megadiverse country, home to more of the world's known plant species than any other country. Despite that, Flora Brasiliensis, concluded in 1906, was the last comprehensive treatment of the Brazilian flora. The lack of accurate estimates of the number of species of algae, fungi, and plants occurring in Brazil contributes to the prevailing taxonomic impediment and delays progress towards the GSPC targets. Over the past 12 years, a legion of taxonomists motivated to meet Target 1 of the GSPC, worked together to gather and integrate knowledge on the algal, plant, and fungal diversity of Brazil. Overall, a team of about 980 taxonomists joined efforts in a highly collaborative project that used cybertaxonomy to prepare an updated Flora of Brazil, showing the power of scientific collaboration to reach ambitious goals. This paper presents an overview of the Brazilian Flora 2020 and provides taxonomic and spatial updates on the algae, fungi, and plants found in one of the world's most biodiverse countries. We further identify collection gaps and summarize future goals that extend beyond 2020. Our results show that Brazil is home to 46,975 native species of algae, fungi, and plants, of which 19,669 are endemic to the country. The data compiled to date suggests that the Atlantic Rainforest might be the most diverse Brazilian domain for all plant groups except gymnosperms, which are most diverse in the Amazon. However, scientific knowledge of Brazilian diversity is still unequally distributed, with the Atlantic Rainforest and the Cerrado being the most intensively sampled and studied biomes in the country. In times of “scientific reductionism”, with botanical and mycological sciences suffering pervasive depreciation in recent decades, the first online Flora of Brazil 2020 significantly enhanced the quality and quantity of taxonomic data available for algae, fungi, and plants from Brazil. This project also made all the information freely available online, providing a firm foundation for future research and for the management, conservation, and sustainable use of the Brazilian funga and flora