Access to Open Educational Resources during the Pandemic: the case of the OER Community in the Portuguese Open University Repository

The COVID-19 pandemic that affected the world in 2020 and 2021, imposed important changes in teaching and learning processes in many institutions, notably in Higher Education. During this period teachers and students had to access online quality resources which increased the importance of Open Educational Resources (OER). Universidade Aberta (Portuguese Open University) is the only university, in the Portuguese higher education context, that includes in its institutional repository an autonomous OER community. It was considered of particular interest to analyse access to resources made available in the OER community during the pandemic, verifying whether this scenario had an influence on access and download numbers. Results show that the number of OER archived in the repositories has been growing, but the most relevant difference is between years 2018 and 2019. During the analyzed two years of the pandemic (2020 and 2021) the number of new deposits had remain stable, but the number of these resources’ downloads is very significant showing an increase during the pandemic period. We conclude that this increase in use should be considered a valid argument to justify more internal actions to support the strengthening of the OER collection at the UAb, especially in the scientific areas with fewer deposits.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Atribuições de causalidade para o sucesso e fracasso na modalidade esportiva voleibol feminino

O presente estudo visa identificar primeiramente as atribuições de causalidade na modalidade esportiva voleibol em relação à percepção de sucesso e fracasso. Os sujeitos que participaram do estudo foram 25 atletas do sexo feminino com idade entre 13 e 17 anos, jogadoras de voleibol da Equipe Infanto/Juvenil Força Olímpica. A atribuição de causalidade estudada por Weiner apresenta três dimensões: controle pessoal, controle externo e estabilidade. O instrumento psicométrico utilizado para a realização do estudo foi a Escala de Dimensão Causal II (CDS II), de Russell, traduzida e adaptada por Benck em 2002. Estudando a motivação e atribuição no esporte é possível interpretar, avaliar e elaborar estratégias eficazes de treinamento. Como cada esporte tem suas especificidades, busca-se comparar as modalidades Voleibol e Basquetebol, objetivando identificar semelhanças e diferenças entre estes. De maneira geral, os atletas tendem a atribuir seu desempenho e rendimento a fatores internos, ou seja, o sucesso é atribuído ao controle pessoal

A methodology for definition of rural spaces: an implementation in Brazil

Rural spaces definitions are differentiated in several countries. The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has standardized a rural definition by regional typology. The OECD regional typology set areas as Predominantly Urban, Intermediate, or Predominantly Rural. This paper analyses the application of OECD regional typology in Brazilian territory. The research used the OECD methodology, with support of GIS software, to define the rural areas in Brazil. The mostly segmented data from Brazilian Census of 2010 are used in contrast to others studies. The paper concludes that Brazil is more urban than official estimates and OECD reports. According to paper results, 87.48% of Brazilian population is urban and only one Territorial Level 3 region was classified as predominantly rural.As definições de espaços rurais são diferenciadas em vários países. A Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) tem padronizado uma definição de rural através da sua tipologia regional. A tipologia regional da OECD define áreas como Predominantemente Urbanas, Intermediárias ou Predominantemente Rurais. O presente artigo analisa a aplicação da tipologia da OECD no território brasileiro. A pesquisa usou a metodologia proposta pela OECD, com o suporte de software GIS, para definir as áreas rurais presentes no Brasil. Utilizando os dados mais desagregados disponíveis dos Censos Brasileiros de 2010, este artigo se diferencia de outros estudos desse âmbito. As conclusões apontam para um Brasil mais urbano do que as estimativas oficiais e os relatórios da OECD. De acordo com os resultados, 87,48% da população brasileira seria urbana e apenas uma mesorregião seria classificada como Predominantemente Rural

Eurostat methodology applied to the characterization of rural and urban Brazilian spaces

The Brazilian official statistics show that the country is mainly urban, while authors including Veiga (2002) and Miranda and Silva (2013) present a more rural Brazil. The absence of a uniform way to define the rural areas in Brazil has led to diffused data about rural Brazil’s size. Therefore, are Brazilian regions predominantly urban, rural or intermediate? This paper applies the rural definition methodologies from Eurostat/European Union to the municipalities of Brazil. The results show the predominance of the intermediary category in Brazilian territory, while the population mostly lives in urban areas. However, due to methodological characteristics, this paper reinforces the necessity of developing other methodologies which would be able to identify rurality and urbanity, considering socioeconomic dimensions.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Material didático visual no ensino de inglês como língua adicional para estudantes surdos

The debate about the education of the deaf has increasingly received attention in academia and media. As a result, important advances have been reached in terms of legislation on the rights of deaf people. For example, in the language field, the Brazilian Sign Language was recognized as the first language for the purposes of communication and teacher education for the teaching of deaf students (BRASIL, 2002, 2005). The teaching of additional languages in this context, especially the English language, is not covered by any specific legislation and, thus, it is regulated by the National Law of Directives and Bases for Education, which establishes that English shall be taught as a subject from the sixth grade of elementary school on (BRASIL, 1996). Besides the lack of directives for the teaching of English for the deaf, we also identified scarcity of studies about the production of learning materials for this target audience. From these considerations, we developed visual learning material, based on Systemic Functional theory (HALLIDAY; MATTHIESSEN, 2014) in order to help students with the formation of vocabulary in English as an additional language to the Brazilian Sign Language. The activities were developed in a special education public school in Rio Grande do Sul State from April to December 2017. The results show that the students used the material as a resource for doing other activities in the English classes and were very welcoming to our proposal. Additionally, along the period, they obtained better grades in evaluative tasks.O debate sobre a educação de surdos vem gradativamente recebendo mais atenção na academia e na mídia. Como resultado, importantes avanços têm sido alcançados em termos de legislação sobre os direitos das pessoas surdas. Por exemplo, no campo das linguagens, a Língua Brasileira de Sinais (LIBRAS) foi reconhecida como primeira língua para propósitos de comunicação e formação de professores para o ensino de estudantes surdos (BRASIL, 2002, 2005). O ensino de Línguas Adicionais nesse contexto, especialmente a Língua Inglesa, não possui legislação específica e, assim, segue a Lei de Diretrizes e Bases da Educação que estabelece a oferta da disciplina a partir do sexto ano do ensino fundamental (BRASIL, 1996). Além da falta de diretrizes para o ensino de Língua Inglesa para estudantes surdos, identificamos também escassez de estudos sobre a produção de materiais didáticos para esse público. A partir dessas considerações, propomos material didático visual que visa, a partir de uma perspectiva sistêmico-funcional (HALLIDAY; MATTHIESSEN, 2014) desenvolver a formação de vocabulário em Inglês como Língua Adicional à LIBRAS. As atividades foram desenvolvidas em uma escola bilíngue da rede estadual do Rio Grande do Sul, de abril a dezembro de 2017. Entre os resultados observados, os estudantes passaram a utilizar o material proposto como uma fonte de referência extra para as demais atividades realizadas nas aulas de Língua Inglesa e apresentaram boa receptividade à proposta. Adicionalmente, ao longo do período, observamos que a utilização do material influenciou positivamente o desempenho dos estudantes nas tarefas avaliativas

Hepatic metabolic derangements triggered by hyperthermia: an in vitro metabolomic study

Liver toxicity is a well-documented and potentially fatal adverse complication of hyperthermia. However, the impact of hyperthermia on the hepatic metabolome has hitherto not been investigated. Methods: In this study, gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS)-based metabolomics was applied to assess the in vitro metabolic response of primary mouse hepatocytes (PMH, n = 10) to a heat stress stimulus, i.e., after 24 h exposure to 40.5 °C. Metabolomic profiling of both intracellular metabolites and volatile metabolites in the extracellular medium of PMH was performed. Results: Multivariate analysis showed alterations in levels of 22 intra- and 59 extracellular metabolites, unveiling the capability of the metabolic pattern to discriminate cells exposed to heat stress from cells incubated at normothermic conditions (37 °C). Hyperthermia caused a considerable loss of cell viability that was accompanied by significant alterations in the tricarboxylic acid cycle, amino acids metabolism, urea cycle, glutamate metabolism, pentose phosphate pathway, and in the volatile signature associated with the lipid peroxidation process. Conclusion: These results provide novel insights into the mechanisms underlying hyperthermia-induced hepatocellular damage.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

GC-MS-based endometabolome analysis differentiates prostate cancer from normal prostate cells

Prostate cancer (PCa) is an important health problem worldwide. Diagnosis and management of PCa is very complex because the detection of serum prostate specific antigen (PSA) has several drawbacks. Metabolomics brings promise for cancer biomarker discovery and for better understanding PCa biochemistry. In this study, a gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) based metabolomic profiling of PCa cell lines was performed. The cell lines include 22RV1 and LNCaP from PCa with androgen receptor (AR) expression, DU145 and PC3 (which lack AR expression), and one normal prostate cell line (PNT2). Regarding the metastatic potential, PC3 is from an adenocarcinoma grade IV with high metastatic potential, DU145 has a moderate metastatic potential, and LNCaP has a low metastatic potential. Using multivariate analysis, alterations in levels of several intracellular metabolites were detected, disclosing the capability of the endometabolome to discriminate all PCa cell lines from the normal prostate cell line. Discriminant metabolites included amino acids, fatty acids, steroids, and sugars. Six stood out for the separation of all the studied PCa cell lines from the normal prostate cell line: ethanolamine, lactic acid, β-Alanine, L-valine, L-leucine, and L-tyrosine.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Determination of amatoxins and phallotoxins in Amanita phalloides mushrooms from northeastern Portugal by HPLC-DAD-MS

Amanita phalloides is a toxic mushroom responsible for the majority of deaths occurring after mushrooms ingestion, mainly due to amatoxins. In the present study the contents and distribution of the major amatoxins and phallotoxins in different tissues of A. phalloides from two different sites of Portugal were analyzed by liquid chromatography (LC) coupled to diode array (DAD) and mass spectrometry (MS) detection. The main toxins were separated by LC and its chemical structures confirmed by MS. a-Amanitin contents in caps, stipe and volva tissues were quantified by RP-HPLC. The results show that caps have the highest content of amatoxins, whereas the volva was richest in phallotoxins. Moreover variability in the toxins composition from different geographic sites was also observed. This study provides for the first time the content of toxins in A. phalloides from Portugal.Authors are grateful to Dr Zélia dos Santos Azevedo, Faculty of Sciences, University of Porto, who loaned LC/DAD-ESI/MS and for all technical assistance. The authors also are grateful for the help of the Foundation for the Science and Technology (FCT, Portugal) for financial support and also thank FCT for doctoral grant SFRH/BD/74979/2010.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

As mulheres e a SIDA

Podem existir diferenças entre os sexos no que se refere aos factores biológicos, psicológicos e sociais associados & infecção pelo VIH (Vírus da Imunodeficiência Humana). Os autores fazem uma revisão da epidemiologia da SIDA nas Mulheres, evolução da infecção pelo VIH, factores mais especificamente associados ao VIH/SIDA nas Mulheres, gravidez e SIDA e, finalmente, aconselhamento de Mulheres.ABSTRACT------Male-female differences may exist in the biological, psychological and psychosocial determinants and consequences of HIV-infection and AIDS. The authors review epidemiology of women with AIDS, and aspects related to clinical course for women with AIDS, biological and psychological factors associated to women with HIV-infection, HIV and AIDS in pregnancy, and women counsellin

Discrimination between the human prostate normal and cancer cell exometabolome by GC-MS

Serum prostate-specific antigen (PSA) is currently the most used biomarker in clinical practice for prostate cancer (PCa) detection. However, this biomarker has several drawbacks. In this work, an untargeted gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS)-based metabolomic profiling of PCa cells was performed to prove the concept that metabolic alterations might differentiate PCa cell lines from normal prostate cell line. For that, we assessed the differences in volatile organic compounds (VOCs) profile in the extracellular medium (exometabolome) of four PCa cell lines and one normal prostate cell line at two pH values (pH 2 and 7) by GC-MS. Multivariate analysis revealed a panel of volatile metabolites that discriminated cancerous from normal prostate cells. The most altered metabolites included ketones, aldehydes and organic acids. Among these, we highlight pentadecane-2-one and decanoic acid, which were significantly increased in PCa compared to normal cells, and cyclohexanone, 4-methylheptan-2-one, 2-methylpentane-1,3-diol, 4-methylbenzaldehyde, 1-(3,5-dimethylfuran-2-yl)ethanone, methyl benzoate and nonanoic acid, which were significantly decreased in PCa cells. The PCa volatilome was markedly influenced by the VOCs extraction pH, though the discriminant capability was similar. Overall, our data suggest that VOCs monitoring has the potential to be used as a PCa screening methodology.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio