Leitura e educação literária: da viagem possível às restrições do mapa

Este texto pretende, partindo da discussão dos conceitos de leitura e educação literária, apresentar uma visão crítica relativamente aos mais recentes documentos normativos para a disciplina de Português no Ensino Básico, em Portugal, no que àqueles domínios diz respeito. A sua forma e conteúdo bem como a sua articulação com determinadas práticas dominantes de avaliação configuram-se como elementos potencialmente restritivos das competências profissionais do professor, do potencial que a leitura e que um percurso de educação literária possibilitariam e da formação do aluno em sentido mais abrangente. Procuraremos, na nossa reflexão, destacar os aspetos que se afiguram como os mais restritivos e limitadores na abertura à possibilidade de práticas mais flexíveis e ajustadas aos contextos de aprendizagem e, consequentemente, os maiores obstáculos à formação de leitores críticos e à promoção de uma efetiva educação literária

Mapping Wide Row Crops with Video Sequences Acquired from a Tractor Moving at Treatment Speed

This paper presents a mapping method for wide row crop fields. The resulting map shows the crop rows and weeds present in the inter-row spacing. Because field videos are acquired with a camera mounted on top of an agricultural vehicle, a method for image sequence stabilization was needed and consequently designed and developed. The proposed stabilization method uses the centers of some crop rows in the image sequence as features to be tracked, which compensates for the lateral movement (sway) of the camera and leaves the pitch unchanged. A region of interest is selected using the tracked features, and an inverse perspective technique transforms the selected region into a bird’s-eye view that is centered on the image and that enables map generation. The algorithm developed has been tested on several video sequences of different fields recorded at different times and under different lighting conditions, with good initial results. Indeed, lateral displacements of up to 66% of the inter-row spacing were suppressed through the stabilization process, and crop rows in the resulting maps appear straight

IN VITRO AND IN VIVO REMOVAL OF ORAL ANTIDIABETIC AGENTS (METFORMIN) USING ACTIVATED CARBONS

Diabetes is the most worldwide common chronic disease, according the International Diabetes Federation [1], more than 32 million citizens living in the European Union have diabetes, representing nearly 10% of the population, to which we should add equal number of people suffering from impaired glucose tolerance. Diabetes prevalence is growing at alarming rate worldwide, being of particular relevance the type 2 diabetes. Nowadays 285 million people worldwide live with diabetes and it is expected that this numbers will increase by 20% until 2030 due to obesity and the ageing of the population [1]. This growth leads to an increasing consumption of drugs such as oral antidiabetics. Metformin is one of the active principles most commonly used for this purpose being among the pharmaceuticals with the highest production numbers worldwide to treat type 2 diabetes because is cheap, has high level of tolerance and when used in the prescribed dosage is very secure with minimal side effects. However, in case of overdose of metformin upon a ingestion of more than 10 times the prescribed dosage, accidentally or on propose, lactic acidosis and low blood pressure can occur. Overdoses with metformin are relatively uncommon, but may have serious consequences, if medical attention is not given on time, it may lead to coma and ultimately death Because of its spread use another problem must be taken into consideration, which needs to be addressed, the occurrence of metformin residues in sewage and surface waters due to improper discharge of the non-used tablets to regular garbage [2]. This situation is becoming a serious problem of environmental pollution and public health. This paper reports the use of activated carbon produced from biomass for the removal of metformin in 2 different settings. On one hand, from aqueous solutions and, in another hand, from simulated biological fluids (gastric and intestinal) conjugated with in vivo testing

El-WOZ: a client-server wizard-of-oz open-source interface

International audienceWizard of Oz (WOZ) prototyping employs a human wizard to simulate anticipated functions of a future system. In Natural Language Processing this method is usually used to obtain early feedback on dialogue designs, to collect language corpora, or to explore interaction strategies. Yet, existing tools often require complex client-server configurations and setup routines, or suffer from compatibility problems with different platforms. Integrated solutions, which may also be used by designers and researchers without technical background, are missing. In this paper we present a framework for multi-lingual dialog research, which combines speech recognition and synthesis with WOZ. All components are open source and adaptable toIn this paper, we present a speech recording interface developed in the context of a project on automatic speech recognition for elderly native speakers of European Portuguese. In order to collect spontaneous speech in a situation of interaction with a machine, this interface was designed as a Wizard-of-Oz (WOZ) plateform. In this setup, users interact with a fake automated dialog system controled by a human wizard. It was implemented as a client-server application and the subjects interact with a talking head. The human wizard chooses pre-defined questions or sentences in a graphical user interface, which are then synthesized and spoken aloud by the avatar on the client side. A small spontaneous speech corpus was collected in a daily center. Eight speakers between 75 and 90 years old were recorded. They appreciated the interface and felt at ease with the avatar. Manual orthographic transcriptions were created for the total of about 45 minutes of speech. different application scenario

The formation of the Brazilian environmental movement

Relying on a conceptual synthesis provided by the Political Processes Theory, this paper explains the formation of the Brazilian environmental movement from the 1970s to the 1990s. The authors argue that this formation process went through three political opportunity structures – redemocratisation, constituent assembly and Rio 92 – in that each of them provided opportunities for increasing environmental mobilisation as well as forcing isolated environmental groups to answer problems of coordination of collective action, regarding mobilising strategies and frames. Agreements on these points made durable coalitions among environmental groups possible. The answer to these challenges provided the steps for building an environmental movement’s identity. Keywords: Brazilian environmental movement, political opportunity structure, micromobilisation contexts, collective identity, framing processes and mobilising strategies

Testosterone, Endothelial Health, and Erectile Function

Experimental and clinical studies have reported that testosterone has a critical role in the maintenance of homeostatic and morphologic corpus cavernosum components, essential for normal erectile physiology. Although the exact mechanisms mediated by testosterone in erectile function are still under investigation, recent research has suggested an important role in the regulation of endothelial cell (EC) biological functions. Besides stimulating the production of EC mediators, testosterone is also thought to promote the vasculogenic reendothelialization process, mediated by bone marrow-derived endothelial progenitor cells. Additionally, testosterone seems to modulate other erectile tissue components, including trabecular smooth muscle cells, nerve fibers, and tunica albuginea structure, all essential for the erectile process. This paper summarizes current data regarding testosterone-induced cellular and molecular mechanisms that regulate penile tissue components, focusing particularly on the role of testosterone in endothelial health and erectile function

Tattoos: Mass culture and affimation subjective emerged

Como afirmar a própria subjetividade e pertenças identitárias num mundo em constante mudança pelo excesso de informação midiática e pela alternância de papéis sociais? Para jovens urbanos, o consumo cultural possibilita utilizar a imagem do próprio corpo como instância de incorporação de valores, símbolos midiáticos e expressão de subjetividade a partir de sua escolha por produtos simbólicos veiculados pela mídia da comunicação de massa e tatuados na pele. Com suporte principal em Hall, Canclíni, Morin e Le Breton, partimos do pressuposto de que não existe realidade sem representação da linguagem; assim, a opção por certos tipos de narradores midiáticos da cultura contemporânea põe em foco o simbolismo sobreposto à pele, que reproduz imagens icônicas de bandas, filmes e desenhos animados ou de quadrinhos. Essas imagens são resíduos de memórias individuais/coletivas ostentadas socialmente e que discursam sobre as relações de consumo dos sujeitos sociais e as novas sensibilidades originadas da convivência tecnologicamente midiatizad

Gender perceptions of active mobility: Insights from three European cities

European cities have seen an increase in the use of personal means as an effect of the COVID-19 pandemic: they are asked to accelerate the shift towards more sustainable modes, as the active ones. The current paper tries to shed light on how the perception towards these latter modes changes according to gender. In the framework of H2020 TInnGO project, data collected through a survey in three European cities (Turin, Valencia, Paris) are investigated. Results show that women are more worried about safety, both while walking or riding a bike, as female cyclists do not appreciate sharing space with motor vehicles. Moreover, the absence of a dedicated space for children prevents women from starting to use bike-sharing. Comparing the results in the three cities provides interesting indications and suggestions for including the need of all active modes users in transport plannin

MiR-33a Controls hMSCS Osteoblast Commitment Modulating the Yap/Taz Expression Through EGFR Signaling Regulation

Mesenchymal stromal cells (hMSCs) display a pleiotropic function in bone regeneration. The signaling involved in osteoblast commitment is still not completely understood, and that determines the failure of current therapies being used. In our recent studies, we identified two miRNAs as regulators of hMSCs osteoblast differentiation driving hypoxia signaling and cytoskeletal reorganization. Other signalings involved in this process are epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT) and epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) signalings through the regulation of Yes-associated protein (YAP)/PDZ-binding motif (TAZ) expression. In the current study, we investigated the role of miR-33a family as a (i) modulator of YAP/TAZ expression and (ii) a regulator of EGFR signaling during osteoblast commitments. Starting from the observation on hMSCs and primary osteoblast cell lines (Nh-Ost) in which EMT genes and miR-33a displayed a specific expression, we performed a gain and loss of function study with miR-33a-5p and 3p on hMSCs cells and Nh-Ost. After 24 h of transfections, we evaluated the modulation of EMT and osteoblast genes expression by qRT-PCR, Western blot, and Osteoimage assays. Through bioinformatic analysis, we identified YAP as the putative target of miR-33a-3p. Its role was investigated by gain and loss of function studies with miR-33a-3p on hMSCs; qRT-PCR and Western blot analyses were also carried out. Finally, the possible role of EGFR signaling in YAP/TAZ modulation by miR-33a-3p expression was evaluated. Human MSCs were treated with EGF-2 and EGFR inhibitor for different time points, and qRT-PCR and Western blot analyses were performed. The above-mentioned methods revealed a balance between miR-33a-5p and miR-33a-3p expression during hMSCs osteoblast differentiation. The human MSCs phenotype was maintained by miR-33a-5p, while the maintenance of the osteoblast phenotype in the Nh-Ost cell model was permitted by miR-33a-3p expression, which regulated YAP/TAZ through the modulation of EGFR signaling. The inhibition of EGFR blocked the effects of miR-33a-3p on YAP/TAZ modulation, favoring the maintenance of hMSCs in a committed phenotype. A new possible personalized therapeutic approach to bone regeneration was discussed, which might be mediated by customizing delivery of miR-33a in simultaneously targeting EGFR and YAP signaling with combined use of drugs

Changes in the microflora of Serra cheese: evolution throughout ripening time, lactation period and axial location

Changes in the microflora and physicochemical characteristics in Serra da Estrela cheese were examined using a three-way factorial design over a 3.5 day ripening period, throughout the lactation period, and for several slices taken normal to the cheese axis. Lactic acid bacteria were the major components of the microflora during ripening throughout the lactation period, but no statistically signtficant differences were detected between the surface and the interior of the cheese. Both enterobacteriaceae and staphylococci in the curd were at maximum numbers during the first week and were still at significant numbers towards the end of the maturation period. The numbers of staphylococci were statistically different between slices and at different times within the lactation period, whereas the numbers of enterobacteriaceae showed statisticalty signrficant variations only throughout the lactation period. Ripening time, lactation period and axial location signtficantly affected the number of yeasts. AN factors studied had statistically significant effects on pH, salt and moisture content; the hypotheses that ripening time, lactation period, and axial location had effects on salt and moisture contents were accepted, in this order, at increasingly lower levels of signtficance; the hypotheses that ripening time, axial location, and lactation period had effects on pH were accepted, in this order, at increasingly lower levels of significance