Pulmonary Epithelial Integrity in Children: Relationship to Ambient Ozone Exposure and Swimming Pool Attendance

Airway irritants such as ozone are known to impair lung function and induce airway inflammation. Clara cell protein (CC16) is a small anti-inflammatory protein secreted by the nonciliated bronchiolar Clara cells. CC16 in serum has been proposed as a noninvasive and sensitive marker of lung epithelial injury. In this study, we used lung function and serum CC16 concentration to examine the pulmonary responses to ambient O(3) exposure and swimming pool attendance. The measurements were made on 57 children 10–11 years of age before and after outdoor exercise for 2 hr. Individual O(3) exposure was estimated as the total exposure dose between 0700 hr until the second blood sample was obtained (mean O(3) concentration/m(3) × hours). The maximal 1-hr value was 118 μg/m(3) (59 ppb), and the individual exposure dose ranged between 352 and 914 μg/m(3)hr. These O(3) levels did not cause any significant changes in mean serum CC16 concentrations before or after outdoor exercise, nor was any decrease in lung function detected. However, children who regularly visited chlorinated indoor swimming pools had significantly lower CC16 levels in serum than did nonswimming children both before and after exercise (respectively, 57 ± 2.4 and 53 ± 1.7 μg/L vs. 8.2 ± 2.8 and 8.0 ± 2.6 μg/L; p < 0.002). These results indicate that repeated exposure to chlorination by-products in the air of indoor swimming pools has adverse effects on the Clara cell function in children. A possible relation between such damage to Clara cells and pulmonary morbidity (e.g., asthma) should be further investigated

Miguel Clara Vasconcelos: faço cinema porque existe o digital

O projecto “Principais tendências no cinema português contemporâneo” nasceu no Departamento de Cinema da ESTC, com o objectivo de desenvolver investigação especializada a partir de um núcleo formado por alunos da Licenciatura em Cinema e do Mestrado em Desenvolvimento de Projecto Cinematográfico, a que se juntaram professores-investigadores membros do CIAC e convidados. O que agora se divulga corresponde a dois anos e meio de trabalho desenvolvido pela equipa de investigação, entre Abril de 2009 e Novembro de 2011. Dada a forma que ele foi adquirindo, preferimos renomeá-lo, para efeitos de divulgação, “Novas & velhas tendências no cinema português contemporâneo”.QUAIS SÃO, hoje, as principais características do desenvolvimento de projectos para cinema em Portugal? O que pensam realizadores cinematográficos, produtores, distribuidores e exibidores sobre o cinema português? Que conclusões tirar das suas opiniões, relatos de experiências e análises da situação contemporânea? Que novas tendências surgiram no cinema português, nos primeiros anos do séc. XXI?Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia, Centro de Investigação em Artes e Comunicação, Instituto do Cinema e do Audiovisual, Ministério da Cultura, Escola Superior de Teatro e Cinema

Academic Engagement and Learning Experience of English Learners: A Case Study of Chandler Magnet Elementary School, Worcester, MA

Drastic increases in English Learner (EL) populations in public schools have prompted districts to investigate ways to improve programs for EL students to support their academic growth. This study explores academic engagement of ELs at Chandler Magnet Elementary School to understand how student success may differ among three distinct EL programs. This study incorporated teacher and EL student interviews, however, limitations prevented this study from making conclusions about student success by program. The findings of this study reveal that student learning experience is unique and academic engagement is influenced by many factors that are not necessarily associated with the EL program in which students are enrolled. Moreover, the study highlights that EL students participate differently based on their English proficiency level, EL students are more cognitively engaged when they feel they can be successful, and relational engagement is an important factor when understanding student academic engagement

A propósito de Paul Auster: uma tradução de "As palavras, a página e o livro"

Este artigo consiste numa exposição de alguns dos problemas e pontos de interesse encontrados no decorrer da tradução do texto “As Palavras, a Página e o Livro”, da autoria de Clara Sarmento. O artigo procura descrever e reflectir sobre algumas das estratégias teóricas e práticas usadas para abordar esta tradução.This article discusses some of the problems and points of interest pertinent to the translation of the text “As Palavras, a Página e o Livro”, by Clara Sarmento. The article describes and reflects on some of the theoretical and practical approaches used during on this translation

Efeitos de doses e formas de aplicação de reguladores de crescimento em uvas sem sementes, cv. BRS Clara, em região tropical.

O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar o efeito do uso dos reguladores vegetais, ácido giberélico e tidiazuron, no tamanho de bagas da cultivar BRS Clara em Região Tropical. Os experimentos foram conduzidos em 2006 e 2007, na Estação Experimental de Viticultura Tropical, em Jales-SP, região noroeste do Estado de São Paulo, em plantas da cv. BRS Clara. Foram testadas diferentes concentrações de GA3 aplicadas isoladamente, combinadas com Crop Set ou tidiazuron, em aplicações únicas ou sequênciais (2 e 4 vezes). As avaliações foram feitas por ocasião da maturação das uvas, considerando-se a massa fresca dos cachos, dos engaços e das bagas, determinadas por meio de balança analítica; o comprimento e o diâmetro médio das bagas, utilizando-se de paquímetro; e o teor de sólidos solúveis (SS), por meio de refratômetro manual. Os experimentos foram conduzidos em delineamento experimental de blocos casualizados, representados por uma planta, com 15 repetições, no ano de 2006, e 10 repetições, no ano de 2007. Os dados foram submetidos à análise de variância e, para a comparação das médias dos tratamentos, foi utilizado o teste Skott Nott, ao nível de 5% de probabilidade. Observou-se que o uso dos reguladores promoveu o crescimento das bagas na cultivar BRS Clara em todos os tratamentos, diferindo da testemunh

A Lagrangian approach to identifying vortex pinch-off

A criterion for identifying vortex ring pinch-off based on the Lagrangian coherent structures (LCSs) in the flow is proposed and demonstrated for a piston-cylinder arrangement with a piston stroke to diameter (L/D) ratio of ≈ 12. It is found that the appearance of a new disconnected LCS and the termination of the original LCS are indicative of the initiation of vortex pinch-off. The subsequent growth of new LCSs, which tend to roll into spirals, indicates the formation of new vortex cores in the trailing shear layer. Using this criterion, the formation number is found to be 4.1±0.1, which is consistent with the predicted formation number of ≈ 4 of Gharib et al. [ Gharib et al. J. Fluid Mech. 360, 121 (1998) ]. The results obtained using the proposed LCS criterion are compared with those obtained using the circulation criterion of Gharib et al. and are found to be in excellent agreement. The LCS approach is also compared against other metrics, both Lagrangian and Eulerian, and is found to yield insight into the pinch-off process that these do not. Furthermore, the LCS analysis reveals a consistent pattern of coalescing or “pairing” of adjacent vortices in the trailing shear layer, a process which has been extensively documented in circular jets. Given that LCSs are objective and insensitive to local errors in the velocity field, the proposed criterion has the potential to be a robust tool for pinch-off identification. In particular, it may prove useful in the study of unsteady and low Reynolds number flows, where conventional methods based on vorticity prove difficult to us

Nested contour dynamics models for axisymmetric vortex rings and vortex wakes

Inviscid models for vortex rings and dipoles are constructed using nested patches of vorticity. These models constitute more realistic approximations to experimental vortex rings and dipoles than the single-contour models of Norbury and Pierrehumbert, and nested contour dynamics algorithms allow their simulation with low computational cost. In two dimensions, nested-contour models for the analytical Lamb dipole are constructed. In the axisymmetric case, a family of models for vortex rings generated by a piston–cylinder apparatus at different stroke ratios is constructed from experimental data. The perturbation response of this family is considered by the introduction of a small region of vorticity at the rear of the vortex, which mimics the addition of circulation to a growing vortex ring by a feeding shear layer. Model vortex rings are found to either accept the additional circulation or shed vorticity into a tail, depending on the perturbation size. A change in the behaviour of the model vortex rings is identified at a stroke ratio of three, when it is found that the maximum relative perturbation size vortex rings can accept becomes approximately constant. We hypothesise that this change in response is related to pinch-off, and that pinch-off might be understood and predicted based on the perturbation responses of model vortex rings. In particular, we suggest that a perturbation response-based framework can be useful in understanding vortex formation in biological flows

O MOSTEIRO DE SANTA CLARA E O SEU CONTRIBUTO PARA O DESENVOLVIMENTO URBANO DE ÉVORA – PORTUGAL

O mosteiro de Santa Clara, fundado no século XV, localizou-se numa área da cidade já fortemente condicionada urbanisticamente. Com a sua construção o espaço em redor, sofreu não só um desenvolvimento, mas principalmente uma consolidação urbana. Foram determinantes para o número de religiosas que professaram nesta casa, assim como seu nível social, a situação de proximidade de algumas casas senhoriais importantes. The Santa Clara monastery, founded in the 15th century, was located in an extremely conditioned area of the city, in terms of urbanism. With its construction, the surrounding space underwent not only a big development, but mainly urban consolidation. The proximity to some important stately houses was determinant to the number, and the social level, of the nuns that professed in this house