Resolução de problemas utilizando materiais de uso comum

Neste artigo apresenta-se uma experi^encia de consolidação de aprendizagens, realizada no âmbito da Unidade Curricular da Pr atica de Ensino Supervisionada, atrav es da resolução de problemas utilizando materiais de uso comum. Este estudo realizou-se numa turma do 2.º ano de escolaridade e teve como objetivo a resolução de problemas para rever alguns conceitos ligados ao dinheiro.CIEC - Centro de Investigação em Estudos da Criança, IE, UMinho (UI 317 da FCT), Portugal, Fundos Nacionais através da FCT (Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia) e cofinanciado pelo Fundo Europeu de Desenvolvimento Regional (FEDER) através do COMPETE 2020 – Programa Operacional Competitividade e Internacionalização (POCI) com a referência POCI-01-0145-FEDER-007562info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

The Extremophile Endolithella mcmurdoensis gen. et sp. nov. (Trebouxiophyceae, Chlorellaceae), a new Chlorella-like Endolithic alga from Antarctica

The McMurdo Dry Valleys constitute the largest ice-free region of Antarctica and one of the most extreme deserts on Earth. Despite the low temperatures, dry and poor soils and katabatic winds, some microbes are able to take advantage of endolithic microenvironments, inhabiting the pore spaces of soil and constituting photosynthesis-based communities. We isolated a green microalga, Endolithella mcmurdoensis gen. et sp. nov, from an endolithic sandstone sample collected in the McMurdo Dry Valleys (Victoria Land, East Antarctica) during the K020 expedition, in January 2013. The single non-axenic isolate (E. mcmurdoensis LEGE Z-009) exhibits cup-shaped chloroplasts, electron-dense bodies, and polyphosphate granules but our analysis did not reveal any diagnostic morphological characters. On the basis of phylogenetic analysis of the 18S rRNA (SSU) gene, the isolate was found to represent a new genus within the family Chlorellaceae.We are sincerely grateful to Antarctica New Zealand for providing logistics support during K020 event. This campaign was conducted as part of the New Zealand Terrestrial Antarctic Biocomplexity Survey (nzTABS) through awards (UOWX0710 and UOWX1401) from the New Zealand Foundation for Research and Technology (FRST), Antarctica New Zealand, and the New Zealand Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment to SCC. The work was also supported by the Portuguese Science and Technology Foundation (FCT) through grants UID/Multi/04423/2019 to CIIMAR, IF/01358/2014 and PTDC/MAR-BIO/2818/2012 to PNL, PTDC/CTA-AMB/30997/2017 to CM, and PhD scholarships to AR (SFRH/BD/140567/2018).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Actinobacteria and Cyanobacteria Diversity in Terrestrial Antarctic Microenvironments Evaluated by Culture-Dependent and Independent Methods

Bacterial diversity from McMurdo Dry Valleys in Antarctica, the coldest desert on earth, has become more easily assessed with the development of High Throughput Sequencing (HTS) techniques. However, some of the diversity remains inaccessible by the power of sequencing. In this study, we combine cultivation and HTS techniques to survey actinobacteria and cyanobacteria diversity along different soil and endolithic micro-environments of Victoria Valley in McMurdo Dry Valleys. Our results demonstrate that the Dry Valleys actinobacteria and cyanobacteria distribution is driven by environmental forces, in particular the effect of water availability and endolithic environments clearly conditioned the distribution of those communities. Data derived from HTS show that the percentage of cyanobacteria decreases from about 20% in the sample closest to the water source to negligible values on the last three samples of the transect with less water availability. Inversely, actinobacteria relative abundance increases from about 20% in wet soils to over 50% in the driest samples. Over 30% of the total HTS data set was composed of actinobacterial strains, mainly distributed by 5 families: Sporichthyaceae, Euzebyaceae, Patulibacteraceae, Nocardioidaceae, and Rubrobacteraceae. However, the 11 actinobacterial strains isolated in this study, belonged to Micrococcaceae and Dermacoccaceae families that were underrepresented in the HTS data set. A total of 10 cyanobacterial strains from the order Synechococcales were also isolated, distributed by 4 different genera (Nodosilinea, Leptolyngbya, Pectolyngbya, and Acaryochloris-like). In agreement with the cultivation results, Leptolyngbya was identified as dominant genus in the HTS data set. Acaryochloris-like cyanobacteria were found exclusively in the endolithic sample and represented 44% of the total 16S rRNA sequences, although despite our efforts we were not able to properly isolate any strain from this Acaryochloris-related group. The importance of combining cultivation and sequencing techniques is highlighted, as we have shown that culture-dependent methods employed in this study were able to retrieve actinobacteria and cyanobacteria taxa that were not detected in HTS data set, suggesting that the combination of both strategies can be usefull to recover both abundant and rare members of the communities

Effect of natalizumab on disease progression in secondary progressive multiple sclerosis (ASCEND). a phase 3, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial with an open-label extension

Background: Although several disease-modifying treatments are available for relapsing multiple sclerosis, treatment effects have been more modest in progressive multiple sclerosis and have been observed particularly in actively relapsing subgroups or those with lesion activity on imaging. We sought to assess whether natalizumab slows disease progression in secondary progressive multiple sclerosis, independent of relapses. Methods: ASCEND was a phase 3, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial (part 1) with an optional 2 year open-label extension (part 2). Enrolled patients aged 18–58 years were natalizumab-naive and had secondary progressive multiple sclerosis for 2 years or more, disability progression unrelated to relapses in the previous year, and Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) scores of 3·0–6·5. In part 1, patients from 163 sites in 17 countries were randomly assigned (1:1) to receive 300 mg intravenous natalizumab or placebo every 4 weeks for 2 years. Patients were stratified by site and by EDSS score (3·0–5·5 vs 6·0–6·5). Patients completing part 1 could enrol in part 2, in which all patients received natalizumab every 4 weeks until the end of the study. Throughout both parts, patients and staff were masked to the treatment received in part 1. The primary outcome in part 1 was the proportion of patients with sustained disability progression, assessed by one or more of three measures: the EDSS, Timed 25-Foot Walk (T25FW), and 9-Hole Peg Test (9HPT). The primary outcome in part 2 was the incidence of adverse events and serious adverse events. Efficacy and safety analyses were done in the intention-to-treat population. This trial is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT01416181. Findings: Between Sept 13, 2011, and July 16, 2015, 889 patients were randomly assigned (n=440 to the natalizumab group, n=449 to the placebo group). In part 1, 195 (44%) of 439 natalizumab-treated patients and 214 (48%) of 448 placebo-treated patients had confirmed disability progression (odds ratio [OR] 0·86; 95% CI 0·66–1·13; p=0·287). No treatment effect was observed on the EDSS (OR 1·06, 95% CI 0·74–1·53; nominal p=0·753) or the T25FW (0·98, 0·74–1·30; nominal p=0·914) components of the primary outcome. However, natalizumab treatment reduced 9HPT progression (OR 0·56, 95% CI 0·40–0·80; nominal p=0·001). In part 1, 100 (22%) placebo-treated and 90 (20%) natalizumab-treated patients had serious adverse events. In part 2, 291 natalizumab-continuing patients and 274 natalizumab-naive patients received natalizumab (median follow-up 160 weeks [range 108–221]). Serious adverse events occurred in 39 (13%) patients continuing natalizumab and in 24 (9%) patients initiating natalizumab. Two deaths occurred in part 1, neither of which was considered related to study treatment. No progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy occurred. Interpretation: Natalizumab treatment for secondary progressive multiple sclerosis did not reduce progression on the primary multicomponent disability endpoint in part 1, but it did reduce progression on its upper-limb component. Longer-term trials are needed to assess whether treatment of secondary progressive multiple sclerosis might produce benefits on additional disability components. Funding: Biogen

The Changing Landscape for Stroke\ua0Prevention in AF: Findings From the GLORIA-AF Registry Phase 2

Background GLORIA-AF (Global Registry on Long-Term Oral Antithrombotic Treatment in Patients with Atrial Fibrillation) is a prospective, global registry program describing antithrombotic treatment patterns in patients with newly diagnosed nonvalvular atrial fibrillation at risk of stroke. Phase 2 began when dabigatran, the first non\u2013vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulant (NOAC), became available. Objectives This study sought to describe phase 2 baseline data and compare these with the pre-NOAC era collected during phase 1. Methods During phase 2, 15,641 consenting patients were enrolled (November 2011 to December 2014); 15,092 were eligible. This pre-specified cross-sectional analysis describes eligible patients\u2019 baseline characteristics. Atrial fibrillation disease characteristics, medical outcomes, and concomitant diseases and medications were collected. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Results Of the total patients, 45.5% were female; median age was 71 (interquartile range: 64, 78) years. Patients were from Europe (47.1%), North America (22.5%), Asia (20.3%), Latin America (6.0%), and the Middle East/Africa (4.0%). Most had high stroke risk (CHA2DS2-VASc [Congestive heart failure, Hypertension, Age  6575 years, Diabetes mellitus, previous Stroke, Vascular disease, Age 65 to 74 years, Sex category] score  652; 86.1%); 13.9% had moderate risk (CHA2DS2-VASc = 1). Overall, 79.9% received oral anticoagulants, of whom 47.6% received NOAC and 32.3% vitamin K antagonists (VKA); 12.1% received antiplatelet agents; 7.8% received no antithrombotic treatment. For comparison, the proportion of phase 1 patients (of N = 1,063 all eligible) prescribed VKA was 32.8%, acetylsalicylic acid 41.7%, and no therapy 20.2%. In Europe in phase 2, treatment with NOAC was more common than VKA (52.3% and 37.8%, respectively); 6.0% of patients received antiplatelet treatment; and 3.8% received no antithrombotic treatment. In North America, 52.1%, 26.2%, and 14.0% of patients received NOAC, VKA, and antiplatelet drugs, respectively; 7.5% received no antithrombotic treatment. NOAC use was less common in Asia (27.7%), where 27.5% of patients received VKA, 25.0% antiplatelet drugs, and 19.8% no antithrombotic treatment. Conclusions The baseline data from GLORIA-AF phase 2 demonstrate that in newly diagnosed nonvalvular atrial fibrillation patients, NOAC have been highly adopted into practice, becoming more frequently prescribed than VKA in Europe and North America. Worldwide, however, a large proportion of patients remain undertreated, particularly in Asia and North America. (Global Registry on Long-Term Oral Antithrombotic Treatment in Patients With Atrial Fibrillation [GLORIA-AF]; NCT01468701

Use of real information contexts to create problem-solving environments

Relatório de estágio de mestrado em Ensino do 1.º Ciclo do Ensino Básico e Matemática e Ciências Naturais do 2.º Ciclo do Ensino BásicoO presente Relatório teve como base a criação, implementação e avaliação de um Projeto de Intervenção Pedagógica, aplicável às duas turmas onde se realizou a prática de ensino supervisionada, uma turma do 2.º ano de escolaridade do 1.º Ciclo do Ensino Básico e uma turma do 6.º ano de escolaridade do 2.º Ciclo do Ensino Básico. O projeto tinha como tema a utilização de contextos de informação real para criar ambientes de resolução de problemas e procurava compreender o impacto que a criação destes contextos teria na motivação e nas dificuldades dos alunos. Para tal, criaram-se duas questões de investigação que se pretendia responder. Sendo estas: Em que medida o uso de contextos de informação real para criar ambientes de resolução de problemas permite aumentar a motivação para as aulas de matemática?; e Que dificuldades se podem detetar no uso de contextos de informação real para criar ambientes de resolução de problemas? Os resultados mostram que os alunos apesar de demonstrarem algumas dificuldades em alguns dos problemas introduzidos, estas não se encontram associadas aos contextos criados, mas sim à falta de alguns conhecimentos que deveriam ter sido adquiridos anteriormente. Conclui-se ainda que a criação destes contextos em que se utilizou informação real desenvolveu uma motivação por parte dos alunos para as aprendizagens e para a disciplina de Matemática.This Report was based on the creation, implementation and evaluation of a Pedagogical Intervention Project, applicable to the two classes where the supervised teaching practice was carried out, a group of the 2nd grade of the 1st Cycle of Basic Education and a group of the 6th grade of the 2nd Cycle of Basic Education. The project had as its theme the use of real information contexts to create problem solving environments and sought to understand the impact that the creation of these contexts would have on students' motivation and difficulties. To this end, two research questions were created that were intended to respond. These are: To what extent does the use of real information contexts to create problem solving environments increase motivation for math classes?; and What difficulties can be detected in the use of real information contexts to create problem solving environments? The results show that the students, although they show some difficulties in some of the problems introduced, are not associated to the contexts created, but to the lack of some knowledge that should have been acquired previously. It is also concluded that the creation of these contexts in which real information was used developed a motivation on the part of the students for the learning and for the Mathematics discipline

Actinobacteria and cyanobacteria diversity in terrestrial Antarctic microenvironments using culture-dependent and independent methods

Bacterial diversity from McMurdo Dry Valleys in Antarctica, the largest desert on earth, has become more easily assessed with the development of High Throughput Sequencing (HTS) techniques. However, some of the diversity remains unachievable by the power of sequencing. In this study, we combine cultivation and HTS techniques to survey Actinobacteria and Cyanobacteria diversity along different soil and endolithic micro-environments of Victoria Valley in McMurdo Dry Valleys. Our results have demonstrated that the Dry Valleys Actinobacteria and Cyanobacteria distribution is driven by environmental forces, in particular the effect of water availability and endolithic environments clearly conditioned the distribution of those communities. Data derived from HTS show that the percentage of Cyanobacteria decreases from about 20% in the sample closest to the water source to neglectable values on the last three samples of the transect with less water availability. Inversely, Actinobacteria abundance increases from the wet to the driest samples. Over 30% of the total HTS data set was composed of Actinobacterial strains, mainly distributed by 5 families: Sporichthyaceae, Euzebyaceae, Patulibacteraceae, Nocardioidaceae and Rubrobacteraceae. However, the 11 actinobacterial strains isolated in this study, belonged to Micrococcaceae and Dermacoccaceae families that were underrepresented in the HTS data set. A total of 10 cyanobacterial strains from the order Synechococcales were also isolated, distributed by 4 different genera (Nodosilinea, Leptolyngbya, Pectolyngbya, Acaryochloris). In agreement with the cultivation results, Lepyolyngbya was identified as dominant genera in the HTS data set. Acaryochloris genus were found exclusively in the endolithic sample and represented 44% of the total 16S rDNA sequences, although despite our efforts we were not able to properly isolate any strain from Acaryochloris genus. The importance of combining cultivation and sequencing techniques is highlighted, as we have shown that culture-dependent methods employed in this study were able to retrieve Actinobacteria and Cyanobacteria taxa that were not detected in HTS data set, suggesting that the combination of both strategies can be usefull to recover both abundant and rare members of the communities