Aromatic Plants in Eurasian Blue Tit Nests: The ‘Nest

The ‘Nest Protection Hypothesis’ suggests that some birds add aromatic plants to their nests to repel or kill ectoparasites. This behavior has been described for several species, including the Eurasian Blue Tit (Cyanistes caeruleus). We studied the reproductive performance, based on 26 nests (in nest boxes), of this species in mixed forested areas of Quercus spp. and Pinus pinea in the Parque Florestal de Monsanto, the largest park of Lisbon, Portugal. The frequency of aromatic plants in nests was compared with frequency of these plants in the study area. The three most frequent aromatic plants (Dittrichia viscosa, Lavandula dentata, Calamintha baetica) in nests were used more than expected from their availability in the study area. We could not reject the null hypothesis that nest survival rate is independent of the presence of aromatic plants in the nest

The Popular Front and its identity shaping in the cultural scene

Indexación: Revista UNAB.En este artículo se analizan algunos aspectos del desarrollo cultural en la época del Frente Popular chileno (1938-1941), desde una perspectiva identitaria. Como parte del proyecto político del Frente Popular, se elaboró un discurso que se fundamentaba en su legitimidad como representante de los sectores populares, y levantaba la necesidad de diversas reformas sociopolíticas. Esto suponía un correlato en materia cultural, como escenario de una elaboración simbólica que daba sentido a aquellos cambios en el terreno político. Sin embargo, esa articulación no estaría exenta de contradicciones, las que se manifiestan al observar el rol que jugó el espacio tradicional del valle central y de la hacienda en dichas representaciones nacionales e identitarias.This paper analyzes some aspects of the Chilean Popular Front’s cultural development (1938-1941) from an identity perspective. As a part of the Popular Front’s political project, the coalition elaborated a discourse, which based its legitimacy as a representative of popular classes, and raised the need for several sociopolitical reforms. This assumed a parallel in cultural matters, as a stage of symbolic elaboration that gave sense to those political changes. Nevertheless, that articulation was not exempt of contradictions, as we observe the role that the traditional space of the central valley and the hacienda played in those national and identity representations.http://revistahumanidades.unab.cl//wp-content/uploads/2017/06/El-Frente-Popular-y-su-configuracion-identitaria-en-la-escena-cultural.pd

Validation study of the Portuguese version of the Alarm Distress Baby Scale (ADBB)

Contexto. O comportamento de retraimento social prolongado da criança é um importante sinal de alarme, quer tenha origem orgânica, psicológica e/ou social. A. Guédeney construiu a Alarm Distress Baby Scale (ADBB), para identificar este comportamento no contexto da consulta pediátrica ou da observação psicológica. Objectivos. Validação da versão portuguesa da ADBB destinada a avaliar o comportamento de retraimento social de crianças com idades compreendidas entre 2 e 24 meses. Metodologia A ADBB e as Bayley Scales of Infant Development (BSID) foram administradas a uma amostra de 130 lactentes com 3 meses de idade, cujas mães preencheram a versão portuguesa da Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS); 51 bebés foram novamente avaliados aos 12 meses de idade. Resultados. Os itens da ADBB organizam-se satisfatoriamente em duas sub-escalas. A consistência interna do instrumento é razoável (alpha de Cronbach = .587). A validade externa é elevada: a correlação entre os resultados na ADBB e nas BSID é muito significativa - os bebés que aos 3 meses apresentam um resultado igual ou superior a 5 na ADBB evidenciam menor desenvolvimento nas BSID. Os resultados testemunham ainda que bebés de mães deprimidas (EPDS ≥ 12) mostram mais sinais de retraimento social do que os bebés das mães não deprimidas. Conclusão. A escala permite detectar crianças a necessitar de ajuda no sentido de contrariar o retraimento social que encetaram em relação ao meio. Desenhada para sinalizar tão precocemente quanto possível o retraimento social do lactente, e na medida em que este é um comprovado sinal da perturbação do desenvolvimento, a ADBB pode estimular os clínicos na procura das suas causas e na intervenção junto das mesmas. Estudos em amostras de crianças com mais idade são necessários. No entanto, os resultados obtidos apontam que a Versão portuguesa da ADBB é robusta e válida.Context Prolonged social withdrawal in children is an important alarm sign, independently of its organic, psychological and/or social origin. A. Guédeney developed the Alarm Dis tress Baby Scale (ADBB), for identifying this behaviour in the paediatrician consultation or psychological observation. Objectives This article presents a validation study of the ADBB Portuguese version, developed to evaluate prolonged social withdrawal in infants from 2 to 24 months old. Methodology The ADBB and the Bayley Scales of Infant Development (BSID) were administered to a sample of 130 three-month old infants, their mothers filled out the Portu guese version of the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS); 51 infants were also evaluated at 12 months of age. Results Factorial analyses shows that the items are organized in two sub-scales just like other authors have been proposing. The psychometric study shows a reasonable internal consistency (the Cronbach α = .587). The external validity, using the BSID as a criterion, is high: the correlation between ADBB and BSID results is very significant, and infants with a score of 5 or more in the ADBB at 3 months show worse results on the BSID. Although we did not find significant differences in the results of the ADBB according to socio-demographic varia bles of the mothers and infants, the results show that infants of depressed mothers (EPDS ≥ 12) show more social withdrawal than infants of non-depressed mothers. Conclusion The ADBB allows the identification of infants in need of help to diminish their social withdrawal. Developed to identify as soon as possible the infant’s social withdrawal, a sign of development handicap, the ADBB might motivate physicians to look at causes and subsequently intervention on them. More studies with older infants are needed; nonetheless, the results point out that the ADBB Portuguese version is robust and valid.Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (refª POCTI/SAU-ESP/56397/2004

Uma aventura em que o leitor é o herói: o livro-jogo como potencial para o incentivo à leitura literária de jovens

Much is discussed about the role of the librarian as a mediator reading, especially in the school environment. However, little is talked about teenagers's interests of reading, usually emphasizing only the children's reading. Facing the few studies on this public so unique and demanding with regard to reading, is then proposed to exploit the category of children's literature called Gamebook, which enables the marriage of playful and reading, offering potential for discussion interactivity of the act of reading literature. Initially, we discuss about it most common types and it characteristics in relation to other books. It also carried out a brief history of the Gamebook around the world and in Brazil, focusing it origin and similarities with the practice of RolePlaying Game (RPG). Later we discusse the potential of Gamebook for understanding literary reading. Based on these considerations, it is held to reflect on the theory of reading about the characteristics of literary reading in order to base the proposal to use the Gamebook as one of the types that best highlights reading features, due to its internal dynamics. At the end, we suggest that Gamebooks can be worked by reading mediators not only as an indication of reading for young people, but also through actions in the library to discuss its potential for conscientizing the process of literary reading

Animal Models in Exosomes Research: What the Future Holds

Exosomes have been implicated in a wide range of pathological and nonpathological processes. Research on tumor-derived exosomes uncovered their role on major processes associated with disease progression. Uncontrolled cellular proliferation resulting in tumor growth, metastatic dissemination and modulation of the immune response, are only a few of the central pathological processes in which tumor-derived exosomes have been implicated. These in vivo studies rely on the administration of purified labeled exosomes from cell culture supernatants into circulation of animals or injections of genetically engineered cells that produce labeled exosomes. However, it is not clear that current available techniques actually translate the in vivo implications of exosomes in several biological processes. The variations seen when using different exosomes cell sources, the total amount of exosomes injected in mice and their route of administration as well as the fact that most studies are performed in immunodeficient animals, shows the difficulty to achieve conclusions which are biologically significant. Genetically engineered mouse models (GEMM) could be a promising approach to address the current technical limitations allowing tracing tumor-derived exosomes in a living organism. These models could enhance greatly our knowledge about exosomes in different fields of research, namely cancer

Lexical and grammatical access errors in the speech of intermediate/advanced level students of spanish

This paper is the first known analysis to investigate the lexical and grammatical access errors made by intermediate/advanced level students of Spanish as a foreign language in an American university setting. The data show that most of the errors committed at this level are paradigmatic in nature, i.e., neologisms, confusion of derivationally related forms, ser/estar, prepositions and conjunctions, and incorrect choice of gender, mood, tense and person. The most common syntagmatic errors are those involving omission or addition of function words and anaphoric agreement of gender, number and person. In general, these findings concur with other studies of the acquisition of Spanish as a second language by Anglo adults