Matérias alternativas: potencialidades e equívocos – basebol e canoagem

Verifica-se cada vez mais a procura de novas modalidades a lecionar na escola, numa tentativa de fugir às modalidades usuais, procurando promover, desta forma, uma maior motivação dos alunos para a prática de atividade física. Os temas delineados foram expostos pelos núcleos de estágio e contaram maioritariamente com preletores convidados com o intuito de enriquecer os seus temas do ponto de vista da experiência pessoal que cada preletor transmitisse na sua comunicação. O basebol e a canoagem apresentam-se como matérias alternativas, no programa de Educação Física escolar, e foram apresentadas com intuito de auxiliar os professores que queiram lecionar matérias alternativas de forma atrativa e aliciante para os alunos. Cada matéria expressa no Programa Nacional de Educação Física (PNEF) representa uma mais-valia no processo de ensino-aprendizagem dos alunos, uma vez que a sua diversificação permite a cada um diversificar as suas competências. Desta forma, as matérias devem ser vistas como um meio para atingir os objetivos propostos e não como um fim.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Avaliação da condição física

A avaliação da condição física (CF) possui caráter complexo e subjetivo, não obstante os propósitos de motivação dos jovens para a atividade física e aptidão física. A CF no PNEF possui um programa comum para cada ciclo de escolaridade, tendo como finalidade a elevação das capacidades condicionais e coordenativas, privilegiando a zona de aptidão “saudável” para os jovens. Embora a avaliação da CF seja associada à promoção da saúde e atividade física, os autores alertam para a fraca fiabilidade dos resultados e os constrangimentos nos alunos. Dados recolhidos de docentes de 6 escolas, de 2º e 3º ciclos e Ensino Secundário do Funchal, permitiram aferir que, para a maioria, a carga letiva de Educação Física não é suficiente para um trabalho harmonioso da CF, devendo esta ser avaliada como matéria de ensino. A avaliação da aptidão física continuará a constituir um veículo promotor da atividade física, saúde e bem-estar. Urge questionar o modelo de avaliação isolado da CF, porém é necessário encontrar modelos operacionalizáveis, no sentido de atuar de forma mais eficaz na promoção da aptidão e atividade física dos jovens, sendo a Educação Física um meio privilegiado para o efeito.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Mulheres Licenciadas e a Promoção do Desenvolvimento em Angola: Que diferença faz o Ensino Superior?

A educação é um direito universal e uma ferramenta fundamental para o desenvolvimento das capacidades dos indivíduos e da sociedade. Em Angola, baixas taxas de qualificação da população estão associadas com as mais altas taxas de pobreza e exclusão social, desemprego, analfabetismo, mortalidade infantil, incidência de HIV, malária e tuberculose, entre outras. Níveis mais elevados de educação promovem maior bem-estar e qualidade de vida, por via dos rendimentos auferidos e, mulheres mais qualificadas terão tendência a melhorar o seu estatuto na sociedade e a modificar o seu estilo de vida. Por outro lado é expectável que motivem, de forma natural, à sua descendência a importância da aprendizagem e da aquisição de conhecimentos. Esta questão é particularmente pertinente em sociedades onde as mulheres desempenham um papel determinante na economia. Do ponto de vista da sustentabilidade dos territórios, podem contribuir ainda para a construção de uma sociedade mais sustentável. O presente trabalho tem como objectivo identificar a importância da obtenção de uma licenciatura na valorização social e económica das mulheres angolanas e, consequentemente na promoção do desenvolvimento da sociedade. Para tal, apresentam-se os resultados preliminares de um estudo exploratório de natureza qualitativa com base numa entrevista aplicada a uma amostra de conveniência de mulheres angolanas licenciadas. Os resultados permitem aferir a importância das mulheres licenciadas na promoção do desenvolvimento em Angola e sugerem tópicos para futuras pesquisas

Project-based learning: video game development as a tool to integrate ecology, genetics, evolution and informatics

Introduction: Active, student-centered learning encourages the development of 21st century skills and competences. Many of them encourage, in addition to autonomy, interdisciplinarity. Therefore, the participation of students in the creation and not only the stimulation of the use of technologies is extremely relevant. Considering the importance of multidisciplinarity that must envolve the learning process, new approaches such as Project Based-Learning have been developed, seeking greater involvement of the students in learning-related decisions. Objective: Aiming the interdisciplinarity that the integrated educational system requires, the purpose of this study was to analyze the development of games as an integration tool, between biology and computing area. The games have been developed along with the subjects of Entrepreneurship and Practical Projects III. Methods: Classes have been held so that high school students could grasp the contents of Evolution, Genetics and Ecology, which would be the central themes of the games. Results: Groups who have chosen Evolution to work with had greater difficulty in understanding the contente whereas those who have worked with Ecology and Genetics outdid the formers. The Game Maker program stood out being the most used tool for the game’s making process. Conclusion: The acceptance of the project by the students leads to the conclusion that innovative methodologies such as project-based learning is a great tool in education, so that the groups could be more involved in class and the subjects could be linked together

Deep sequencing of New World screw-worm transcripts to discover genes involved in insecticide resistance

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The New World screw-worm (NWS), <it>Cochliomyia hominivorax</it>, is one of the most important myiasis-causing flies, causing severe losses to the livestock industry. In its current geographical distribution, this species has been controlled by the application of insecticides, mainly organophosphate (OP) compounds, but a number of lineages have been identified that are resistant to such chemicals. Despite its economic importance, only limited genetic information is available for the NWS. Here, as a part of an effort to characterize the <it>C. hominivorax </it>genome and identify putative genes involved in insecticide resistance, we sampled its transcriptome by deep sequencing of polyadenylated transcripts using the 454 sequencing technology.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Deep sequencing on the 454 platform of three normalized libraries (larval, adult male and adult female) generated a total of 548,940 reads. Eighteen candidate genes coding for three metabolic detoxification enzyme families, cytochrome P450 monooxygenases, glutathione S-transferases and carboxyl/cholinesterases were selected and gene expression levels were measured using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). Of the investigated candidates, only one gene was expressed differently between control and resistant larvae with, at least, a 10-fold down-regulation in the resistant larvae. The presence of mutations in the acetylcholinesterase (target site) and carboxylesterase E3 genes was investigated and all of the resistant flies presented E3 mutations previously associated with insecticide resistance.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Here, we provided the largest database of NWS expressed sequence tags that is an important resource, not only for further studies on the molecular basis of the OP resistance in NWS fly, but also for functional and comparative studies among Calliphoridae flies. Among our candidates, only one gene was found differentially expressed in resistant individuals, and its role on insecticide resistance should be further investigated. Furthermore, the absence of mutations in the OP target site and the high frequency of mutant carboxylesterase E3 indicate that metabolic resistance mechanisms have evolved predominantly in this species.</p

Degradation of fluoroanilines by the wild strain Labrys portucalensis

Aromatic amine compounds, many of them with halogenated substituents, constitute a major class of environmental pollutants that have been released into soil and water due to extensive use in industries and agriculture. Biodegradation has been found to be a major route for the removal of this kind of toxic and recalcitrant pollutants from the environment. Whereas the degradation of mono- and dichlorinated anilines has been studied, very little is known about fluorinated anilines. Therefore, the objective of this study was to investigate, under aerobic conditions, the degradation of 2-, 3- and 4-fluoroaniline by a previously isolated pure bacterium, designated as strain F11. This microorganism, identified as Labrys portucalensis, was isolated from a contaminated site in northern Portugal and has the unique capacity to utilize fluorobenzene as a sole carbon and energy source,. The results of the biodegradation of 2-, 3- and 4-fluoroaniline by strain F11 showed that this microorganism is able to completely degrade 2- fluoroaniline and partially degrade 4-fluoroaniline, when these compounds are present as a sole carbon and energy source. Biodegradation of these two compounds also occurred, although at a lower rate, in the absence of an external nitrogen source in the culture medium. To our knowledge, this is the first study reporting the biodegradation of 2- and 4-fluoroaniline as a sole carbon and energy source by a pure microbial culture. C.L. Amorim and M.F. Carvalho wish to acknowledge a research grant from Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT), Portugal (Ref. SFRH/BD/47109/2008 and SFRH/BPD/44670/2008, respectively) and Fundo Social Europeu (III Quadro Comunitário de Apoio). This work was supported by the FCT Project - PTDC/BIO/67306/200

Clinicopathological significance of caspase-3 and Ki-67 expression in canine mammary gland tumours

Fifty canine mammary gland tumours (CMGT) (18 benign and 32 malignant) were studied by immunohistochemical detection of active caspase-3 and Ki-67 antigens in order to determine their association with several clinicopathological parameters. The percentage of caspase-3 positive cells was significantly higher in benign tumours as compared to their malignant counterparts (P ≤ 0.001). In the group of malignant tumours there was no significant association between active caspase-3 and the clinicopathological variables considered. The percentage of Ki- 67 positive cells was significantly higher in malignant tumours compared to the benign ones (P ≤ 0.001). In the group of malignant tumours, Ki-67 expression showed a statistically significant association with tumour size (P = 0.025), histological type (P = 0.010), mitotic grade (P ≤ 0.001), nuclear grade (P = 0.025), differentiation grade (P = 0.004), histological grade of malignancy (P = 0.002), and presence of metastases in regional lymph nodes (P = 0.025). Furthermore, this study revealed a negative correlation between the percentages of active caspase-3 and Ki-67 (r = –0.39; P = 0.04). Thus, our results suggest a loss of balance between cell death and cell division in CMGT. Key words: Apoptosis, caspase-3, K

Bioaugmentation of a rotating biological contactor for degradation of 2-fluorophenol

The performance of a laboratory scale rotating biological contactor (RBC) towards shock loadings of 2-fluorophenol (2-FP) was investigated. During a period of ca. 2 months organic shock loadings of 25 mg L-1 of 2-FP were applied to the RBC. As no biodegradation of 2-FP was observed, bioaugmentation of the RBC with a 2-FP degrading strain was carried out and, along ca. 6 months, organic shock loadings within a range of 25-200 mg L-1 of 2-FP were applied. Complete biodegradation of 50 mg L-1 of 2-FP was observed during operation of the reactor. The RBC showed to be robust towards starvation periods, as after ca. 1 month of non-supply of the target compound, the reactor resumed 2-FP degradation. The inoculated strain was retained within the biofilm in the disks, as the 2-FP degrading strain was recovered from the biofilm by the end of the experiment, thus bioaugmentation was successfully achieved.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

Discovering the colours of industrial heritage characterisation of paint coatings from the powerplant at the Levada de Tomar

The paint coatings of three energy generators from the 20th-century powerplant at Levada de Tomar, Portugal, were investigated using micro-Raman and micro-X-ray fluorescence spectroscopies and scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive spectroscopy. This multi-analytical approach was used to identify the colouring agents, thus providing a chronological chromatic pallet and allowing to infer on the use of the three energy generators. Together with traditional pigments like Prussian blue, red iron oxide, and carbon black, pigments used in industrial areas like copper phthalocyanine and toluidine red were identified as colouring agents. Complex paint systems of the oldest equipment (1924) were revealed as well as maintenance procedures of the equipment that worked during a longer time (1944–1990). Powdery carbon black layers, resulting from incomplete hydrocarbon combustion and present between metallic substrates and coating layers, suggested the inexistence of paint coatings replacement after the powerplant shutdown. The identification of magnetite as a corrosion product of iron alloy substrate revealed that corrosion developed after the engine shutdown and not during the operation period. The results obtained highlight the potentialities of scientific-based approach and Raman spectroscopy to the industrial heritage study, an emergent cultural area.publishersversionpublishe