A case study on how language learning strategies are fostered in an EFL chilean classroom context

Tesis (Profesor de Inglés para la Enseñanza Básica y Media y al grado académico de Licenciado en Educación)This mixed-methods case study attempted to explore how Language Learning Strategies (LLS) are fostered within a secondary level Chilean EFL public school context, based on a teacher’s pedagogical actions. Through empirical observation, task analysis, and an interview, this thesis intended to unveil the rationale behind the predominance of certain LLS at expense of others. Previous studies and literature served as a reference to later on determine potential cohesion between background records and first-hand evidence, which proved to be in relative alignment. Accordingly, this paper looked forward to extrapolating thoughts and assumptions the teacher had about that strategy-fostering bias with objective information evidenced through the development of the tasks carried out during the observation period. The results drew a tendency placing Memory strategies among the rest as the most fostered category, whereas Compensation befell to be the least favored LLS category overall.El propósito de este estudio de caso con un enfoque de investigación mixto fue explorar el desarrollo de la promoción de Estrategias del Estudio de la Lengua (Language Learning Strategies) dentro de una clase de Inglés como Lengua Extranjera (EFL) en un curso/nivel de educación secundaria inmerso en el contexto de un establecimiento educacional público chileno basado en las acciones pedagógicas del profesor a cargo. A través de observaciones empíricas, análisis de actividades y una entrevista, la intención de esta tesis fue develar la lógica tras la predominancia de ciertas Estratégias del Estudio de la Lengua en desmedro de otras. Varios artículos, tesis y otros tipos de documentos literarios sirvieron como referencia para posteriormente determinar la cohesión entre estos precedentes y la evidencia empírica recolectada, la cual ha probado estar en relativa concordancia. Por consiguiente, este documento buscó extrapolar la subjetividad de las reflexiones y suposiciones que el profesor-muestra del caso en cuestión fue capaz de dilucidar respecto a la tendencia a parcializar la promoción de ciertas estrategias con información objetiva obtenida a través del análisis de las instrucciones y actividades desarrolladas por el profesor durante el periodo de observación. Los resultados arrojaron tendencias favoreciendo a las estrategias de Memoria por encima del resto como la categoría más fomentada, mientras que las estrategias de Compensación resultaron ser aquellas con menos rodaje

Confinement of neutral fermions by a pseudoscalar double-step potential in (1+1) dimensions

The problem of confinement of neutral fermions in two-dimensional space-time is approached with a pseudoscalar double-step potential in the Dirac equation. Bound-state solutions are obtained when the coupling is of sufficient intensity. The confinement is made plausible by arguments based on effective mass and anomalous magnetic interaction.Comment: 8 pages, 1 figur

Vacancy induced zero energy modes in graphene stacks: The case of ABC trilayer

The zero energy modes induced by vacancies in ABC stacked trilayer graphene are investigated. Depending on the position of the vacancy, a new zero energy solution is realised, different from those obtained in multilayer compounds with Bernal stacking. The electronic modification induced in the sample by the new vacancy states is characterised by computing the local density of states and their localisation properties are studied by the inverse participation ratio. We also analyse the situation in the presence of a gap in the spectrum due to a perpendicular electric field.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures Published in special issue: Exploring Graphene, Recent Research Advance

Two generations sharing Adult Training (EFA) Courses - the impact of EFA certification on Lusophone immigrants and their descendants

This paper is part of my on ongoing PhD research entitled “Lives recounted – the impact of the EFA experience on the life trajectories of Lusophone labour migrants and their descendants”. My proposal in this paper is to explain the path that led me to introduce the issue of intergenerational relationships into my PhD research. Initially, the goal was to understand the impact of EFA certification2 on Lusophone immigrants’ lives. According to the official statistics, it is immigrants who rely most on EFA training courses. However, the first biographical interviews that I carried out showed that the category ‘foreign’ includes not only immigrants but also the descendants of immigrants who, for family or legal reasons, do not have Portuguese nationality. Many immigrant descendants, in fact, have difficulty in acquiring citizenship, which affects various dimensions of their lives, including access to and continuation in the educational system and labour market. In the official statistics these immigrants and their descendants appear in the category ‘foreigners’, i.e. despite being born in Portugal, a significant number of the descendants of immigrants have never been able to acquire Portuguese nationality. The situation found in the fieldwork has thus led to the resizing of the sample, which now considers not only Lusophone immigrants but also the descendants of Lusophone immigrants as a key object of analysis. I aim to understand the different impacts of EFA certification on their lives, treating the generational differences as a crucial point of analysis. Despite these two generations sharing the certification processes, I start from the assumption that the discourses on the impact of the EFA experience in their lives can be differentiated. In this paper I intend to show that the official statistics in the ‘foreign’ category embrace different groups and different generations, which appear interchangeably in a single category. On the basis of interviews conducted to date, I argue that being a Lusophone immigrants and the descendants of Lusophone immigrants form two distinct categories – for we are referring here to different generations that, despite the firmly established relationships between them, ultimately (self)evaluate the EFA experience differently

Rapid bacteria identification and susceptibility profile in blood culture from patients attending at a tertiary care hospital in South of Brazil

Background. Bloodstream infection is a critical disease with high mortality rate. Adequate treatment required rapid microbiological identification and timely administration of appropriate antibiotics. Rapid diagnostic tests that accurately identify infection-causing pathogens and the effective antimicrobials against these pathogens can increase the likelihood that patients are treated appropriately. Rapid diagnostic tests can also be used to help clinicians discontinue unnecessary antibiotics or de-escalate broad-spectrum antimicrobial therapy to a narrower-spectrum option. Current technologies employed in blood culture routine diagnostics are precise and sensitive but rather slow, most depending on bacterial growth. Objective. In this study, we evaluated a rapid bacterial identification (rID) and a rapid antimicrobial susceptibility testing by disk diffusion (rAST) from positive blood culture to overcome the limitations of the conventional methods. We investigated a rapid workflow to reduce the turnaround time in bloodstream infections diagnostics in a routine microbiology laboratory. Methods. The study included hemocultures flagged as positive by BACT/ALERT® (Biomérieux, Marcy l’Etoile, France) between 7-12:00 a.m. and inoculated on Chocolate agar at our clinical microbiology laboratory. At 16.00 p.m., after 4-6h incubation at 35-38°C (5% CO2), identification by MALDI-TOF MS (VITEK MS® system,Biomérieux, Marcy-l’Étoile, France) and AST (disk diffusion method) were performed. Results were compared to identification (sID) and AST (sAST) results after 24h incubation. An identification score value of > 96% was considered as a correct species identification. For AST categorical agreement (CA), very major errors (VME, false-susceptible result of rapid AST), major errors (ME, false-resistant result of rapid AST), minor errors (mE, false categorization involving intermediate result) were investigated. Results. We identified a total of 526 bacterial isolated from blood cultures obtained from patients attended at a tertiary hospital in the south of Brazil, 246 Gram-negative (GN) and 279 Gram-positive (GP) aerobes. The overall concordance between rID and sID was 88.6% and was highest for GN (95.5%). K. pneumoniae and E. coli presented 96.0% and 98.5% rate of concordance, respectively. Total of 2196 and 1476 antimicrobial agents’ comparisons were obtained for GN and GP, respectively. Evaluating rAST, the CA, VME, ME and mE were 97.7, 0.7, 0.5 and 1.1% for GN and 98.0, 0.5, 0.7 and 0.8% for GP, respectively. Meropenem CA, VME and ME were 98.3, 0.5 and 0.5%, respectively; no mE was observed. Oxacillin CA, ME and mE were 97.4, 1.6 and 0.6%, respectively; no VME was observed. Sensitivity and specificity of rAST method were calculated for each antimicrobial agents. Meropenem presented 99.2 and 98.1% and Oxacillin presented 96.9 and 97.9% of sensibility and specificity, respectively. Overall Kappa scores of the comparisons results demonstrated the high agreement between rAST and sAST. Conclusions. The rapid methods for bacterial identification and for rapid AST results proposed in this study were distinguished from standards ones by feasible modifications and the accuracy of rAST were comparable with the standard method. Identification and AST of aerobic bacteria from positive blood cultures after a shortened incubation on solid blood agar is a fast and reliable method that may improve management of bloodstream infections, allowing us to save up to 24 h to identifying bacteria and supply useful information to adapt antibiotic therapy when necessary.Introdução. A infecção da corrente sanguínea é uma doença crítica com alta taxa de mortalidade. O tratamento adequado exige identificação microbiológica rápida e administração oportuna de antibióticos apropriados. Testes diagnósticos rápidos que identifiquem com precisão os patógenos causadores de infecções e os antimicrobianos eficazes contra esses patógenos podem aumentar a probabilidade dos pacientes serem tratados adequadamente. As tecnologias atuais empregadas nos diagnósticos de rotina da hemocultura são precisas e sensíveis, mas bastante lentas, e dependente do crescimento bacteriano em cultura em meio sólido. Objetivo. Neste estudo, nós avaliamos a identificação rápida bacteriana (rID) e um teste rápido de susceptibilidade antimicrobiana por disco-difusão (rAST) de hemocultura positiva para otimizar a rotina de hemoculturas positivas, superando as limitações dos métodos convencionais. Nós investigamos um fluxograma rápido para reduzir o tempo de liberação dos resultados no diagnósticos de infecções da corrente sanguínea em um laboratório de microbiologia clínica. Métodos Hemoculturas positivas pelo BACT / ALERT® (Biomérieux, Marcy l'Etoile, França) entre as 7 - 12:00h eram processadas e inoculadas em ágar Chocolate. Após 4-6h de incubação a 35-38 ° C (5% CO2), identificação por MALDI-TOF MS (sistema VITEK MS®, Biomérieux, Marcy-l'Étoile, França) e AST (método de difusão em disco) foram realizados. Os resultados foram comparados com os resultados de identificação (sID) e AST (sAST) a partir de culturas de 24h. Para a concordância categórica AST (CA), erros muito importantes (VME, resultado falso-suscetível da AST rápida), erros maiores (ME, resultado falso-resistente da AST rápida), erros menores (mE, falsa categorização envolvendo resultado intermediário) foram investigados. Resultados. Identificamos um total de 526 bactérias isoladas de hemoculturas obtidas de pacientes atendidos em um hospital terciário no sul do Brasil, 246 aeróbios Gram-negativos (GN) e 279 Gram-positivos (GP). A concordância global entre rID e sID foi de 88,6% e foi mais alta para GN (95,5%). K. pneumoniae e E. coli apresentaram taxa de concordância de 96,0% e 98,5%, respectivamente. Total de 2196 e 1476 comparações de agentes antimicrobianos foram obtidas para GN e GP, respectivamente. Avaliando rAST, o CA, VME, ME e mE foram 97,7, 0,7, 0,5 e 1,1% para GN e 98,0, 0,5, 0,7 e 0,8% para GP, respectivamente. Para meropenem CA, VME e ME foram 98,3, 0,5 e 0,5%, respectivamente; nenhum mE foi observado. Para oxaciina CA, ME e mE foram 97,4, 1,6 e 0,6%, respectivamente; nenhum VME foi observado. A sensibilidade e especificidade do método rAST foram calculadas para cada agente antimicrobiano. Meropenem apresentou 99,2 e 98,1% e a Oxacilina apresentou 96,9 e 97,9% de sensibilidade e especificidade, respectivamente. Os escores Kappa gerais dos resultados das comparações demonstraram a alta concordância entre rAST e sAST. Conclusão. Os métodos rápidos para identificação bacteriana e para teste de sensibilidade aos antimicrobianos propostos neste estudo diferenciam-se dos padrões por modificações no tempo de cultura e a precisão do rAST foi comparável com o método padrão. Identificação e AST de bactérias aeróbias de hemoculturas positivas após uma incubação rápida em meio sólido é um método rápido e confiável que pode otimizar o diagnóstico de infecções de corrente sanguínea, permitindo-nos reduzir em até 24 h a liberação da identificação bacteriana e o perfil de sensibilidade, assim fornecer informações de forma mais rápida e precisas a equipe assistencial

Brazilian Amazonian politics and policy (2019-2022) and the need for transformative change

Despite its potential to transition toward a green economy, Brazil became an environmental villain in recent years. The anti-environmentalist and anti-indigenist administration of President Jair Bolsonaro (2019-2022) partly dismantled environmental governance. The Amazon and its more-than-human populations were severely hit by Bolsonaro's predatory agenda, which supported and legitimized the interests of the anti-conservationist forces within economic sectors such as agribusiness and mining, and fueled organized crime and violence in the region. This paper provides an overview and analysis of Amazonian politics and policy during this period, and discusses the importance of, and possibilities for, a transformative approach to the governance of the region

Low carbon development in Latin America

UID/CPO/04627/2013publishersversionpublishe

Impurity states on the honeycomb lattice using the Green's function method

Using the Green's function method, we study the effect of an impurity potential on the electronic structure of the honeycomb lattice in the one-band tight-binding model that contains both the nearest neighbor ($t$) and the second neighbor ($t'$) interactions. The model is relevant to the case of the substitutional vacancy in graphene. If the second neighbor interaction is large enough ($t' > t /3$), then the linear Dirac bands no longer occur at the Fermi energy and the electronic structure is therefore fundamentally changed. With only the nearest neighbor interactions present, there is particle-hole symmetry, as a result of which the vacancy induces a "zero-mode" state at the band center with its wave function entirely on the majority sublattice, i. e., on the sublattice not containing the vacancy. With the introduction of the second neighbor interaction, the zero-mode state broadens into a resonance peak and its wave function spreads into both sublattices, as may be argued from the Lippmann-Schwinger equation. The zero-mode state disappears entirely for the triangular lattice and if $t'$ is large for the honeycomb lattice as well. In case of graphene, $t'$ is relatively small, so that a well-defined zero-mode state occurs in the vicinity of the band center.Comment: 8 pages, 9 figure

Compreender as conceções de aprendizagem da população reclusa: um estudo fenomenográfico

Dissertação de mestrado integrado em Psicologia (área de especialização em Psicologia da Justiça)Baixos níveis de ensino, abandono escolar precoce e historial limitado de emprego, contribuem para o envolvimento criminal. O sistema prisional português oferece a possibilidade de os reclusos continuarem a sua formação escolar, contudo a taxa de adesão é reduzida e a de desistência elevada. Por estes motivos é importante analisar a forma como os reclusos percecionam a aprendizagem e o modo como aprendem. Este estudo fenomenográfico com 30 reclusos Portugueses, de idades compreendidas entre os 20 e os 58 anos de idade, revelou que estes interpretam a sua aprendizagem como aprender para saber, para se integrar, para perceber o propósito, para beneficiar, para se corrigir e para evoluir. Consequentemente, referem que o processo de aprendizagem ocorre fazendo coisas, pedindo ajuda, dando exemplo aos seus filhos, participando frequente e assiduamente nas aulas, refletindo nos seus erros e tornando o seu tempo útil. A aprendizagem é percebida pelos reclusos alunos como oportunidade de mudança e evolução. As implicações para os processos educativos e práticas escolares em meio prisional são também consideradas.Low levels of education, early school leaving and limited employment history, contribute to the criminal involvement. The Portuguese prison system offers the possibility of inmates completing their education. However the rate of adhesion is reduced and the rate of dropout is high. For these reasons, it is important to analyze how the inmates perceived their learning as well as how they learn. Data from a phenomenographic study of 30 Portuguese inmates students, ranging from 20 to 58 years of age, revealed that they understand their learning as learning to know, to integrate, to seeing purpose, to benefit, to correct themselves and to evolve. Consequently, they notice their learning process occurs doing things, asking for help, giving example to their children, participating assiduously in the classroom, reflecting on their mistakes and making their time useful. Hence, learning is perceived as an opportunity for change and evolve. The implications for educational processes and school practices in prison are considered