Introducing programming to basic schools students using robotics

The present work reports on the development of programming activities with students from the 1st and 2nd cycles of schools in the town of Braga in the northwestern Portuguese region of Minho. These activities of promotion of computer programming were applied in order to promote the programming and innovative practices on science and technology education. The explored interdisciplinary methodologies in STEM teaching-learning processes, stimulate critical thinking and creativity while promoting the benefits of learning in collaborative environments. The active involvement of the students in these robot programming, “high tech” and trendy, activities is easy to achieve if the proposed challenges are set at an adequate level of difficulty and appealing enough to the age group and level of cognitive development of the student. Whenever possible to the students is given the possibility of choosing or even defining the problem/subject they will be exploring by programming a robot, which is seen as a mechanical artificial being the students will be able to understand, interact with and use and control. The teacher/educator should be available to provide to the students a proper empowering environment and to provide all support requested by the students giving, as much as possible, not straight answers but yes clues and small hints and examples leading the students to reach, themselves, to a solution to the problem the students face or to an answer to the students’ question that satisfy their own critical judgment. Through the programming testing process, it is possible to verify and see the level of perception and proficiency of the students assessing what students have learned and accomplished, creating immediate feedback for students and adjusting or re-orienting the students’ focus on a particular task or reasoning process. If well succeeded these activities can develop among the students a sound appreaciation towards Science Technology and Engineering while establishing relevant knowledge, creativity critical reasoning abilities and a large number of other competencies that will be valuable for the future development of the students in their studies and academic life but also in their future careers. The improvement of the self-esteem of the students when they realize they can actually “do it” is also a major benefit of this type of activities. As well in what concerns the boost of the self-esteem and selft-appreaciation of their teachers and educators, that often fear to explore this type of innovative approaches

Outcomes of Vaginal Birth After Caesarean: Experience of a Portuguese Hospital

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Positive APPtidude: from social entrepreneurship to ICT programming

ICT programming project for the creation of applications for mobile devices developed with 5th grade students of the 2nd and 3rd Cycles classes of André Soares Basic School in Bragainfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Narratives of adolescents with an active and sedentary lifestyle

Nuestra investigación trata de analizar las narraciones de adolescentes que han adoptado diferentes estilos de vida e identificar las variables psicológicas, comportamentales, sociales y ambientales relacionadas con un estilo de vida activo y una vida sedentaria. Se aplicaron entrevistas de carácter narrativo a 2 niñas (1 activa y 1 sedentaria) y 2 niños (1 activo y 1 sedentario). El análisis temático ha identificado las categorías que distinguen a los dos grupos de estudiantes, a lo largo de su infancia y adolescencia, específicamente: historia de la actividad física (AF); valor de los comportamientos sedentarios; apoyo social de la familia y amigos a la AF; seguridad física y las instalaciones en el barrio; participación en AF extracurricular en la escuela; la escuela primaria y secundaria y experiencias en Educación Física (EF); profesores y compañeros de EF; conocimiento de la AF y la salud; y actitudes hacia la EF y la escuelaThis study sought to analyse the narratives of adolescents who have adopted an active or a sedentary lifestyle, and to identify psychological, behavioural, social and environmental variables related to an active and a sedentary lifestyle among adolescents. Narrative interviews were conducted with 2 girls (1active and 1 sedentary) and 2 boys (1 active and 1sedentary). Thematic analysis identified a number of key personal, social and environmental influences on physical activity (PA) that distinguished the two groups of students, through their childhood and adolescence. These included PA history, the value of sedentary behaviours, social support from family and friends for PA, safety and PA facilities in the local neighbourhood, PA participation in school besides Physical Education (PE), primary and secondary school and experiences in PE, PE teachers and PE peers, PA and health knowledge and perception of PE goals, and attitudes toward school and PE

K X-Ray Energies and Transition Probabilities for He-, Li- and Be-like Praseodymium ions

Theoretical transition energies and probabilities for He-, Li- and Be-like Praseodymium ions are calculated in the framework of the multi-configuration Dirac-Fock method (MCDF), including QED corrections. These calculated values are compared to recent experimental data obtained in the Livermore SuperEBIT electron beam ion trap facility

Differential mesenteric fat deposition in bovines fed on silage or concentrate is independent of glycerol membrane permeability

© The Animal Consortium 2011In the meat industry, the manipulation of fat deposition in cattle is of pivotal importance to improve production efficiency, carcass composition and ultimately meat quality. There is an increasing interest in the identification of key factors and molecular mechanisms responsible for the development of specific fat depots. This study aimed at elucidating the influence of breed and diet on adipose tissue membrane permeability and fluidity and their interplay on fat deposition in bovines. Two Portuguese autochthonous breeds, Alentejana and Barrosã, recognized as late- and early-maturing breeds, respectively, were chosen to examine the effects of breed and diet on fat deposition and on adipose membrane composition and permeability. Twenty-four male bovines from these breeds were fed on silage-based or concentrate-based diets for 11 months. Animals were slaughtered to determine their live slaughter and hot carcass weights, as well as weights of subcutaneous and visceral adipose depots. Mesenteric fat depots were excised and used to isolate adipocyte membrane vesicles where cholesterol content, fatty acid profile as well as permeability and fluidity were determined. Total accumulation of neither subcutaneous nor visceral fat was influenced by breed. In contrast, mesenteric and omental fat depots weights were higher in concentrate-fed bulls relative to silage-fed animals. Membrane fluidity and permeability to water and glycerol in mesenteric adipose tissue were found to be independent of breed and diet. Moreover, the deposition of cholesterol and unsaturated fatty acids, which may influence membrane properties, were unchanged among experimental groups. Adipose membrane lipids from the mesenteric fat depot of ruminants were rich in saturated fatty acids, and unaffected by polyunsaturated fatty acids dietary levels. Our results provide evidence against the involvement of cellular membrane permeability to glycerol on fat accumulation in mesenteric fat tissue of concentrate-fed bovines, which is consistent with the unchanged membrane lipid profile found among experimental groups.This study was supported by Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) through grant PTDC/CVT/2006/66114 and individual fellowships to Ana P. Martins (SFRH/BD/2009/65046), Ana S. H. Costa (SFRH/BD/2009/61068) and Susana V. Martins (SFRH/BPD/2009/63019). Paula A. Lopes is a researcher from the program ‘‘Ciência 2008’’ from FC

Anemia: only a marker or an independent predictor of mortality in advanced heart failure?

INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES: Advanced heart failure (HF) remains a major cause of mortality. Identification of new prognostic risk factors is therefore a priority. Anemia, a frequent comorbidity in HF patients and a recognized trigger of symptoms, has recently received considerable attention in this context. Several studies have demonstrated an association between anemia and increased mortality in stable chronic HF patients. However, the prognostic impact of this comorbidity on the survival of advanced HF patients remains unclear. Our aim was to assess whether anemia is not only a marker of advanced HF, but also an independent predictor of mortality. METHODS: We performed a retrospective study of 391 consecutive patients admitted to a single advanced HF care unit and divided into two groups according to the presence or absence of anemia at admission. Demographic, clinical, laboratory and therapeutic data were compared between the groups. Anemia was defined as hemoglobin at admission of <12 g/dl for women and <13 g/dl for men. Appropriate statistical tests and multivariate analysis were used to identify independent predictors of one-year and overall mortality. Median follow-up was 3.2 years. RESULTS: Group A, anemic patients (n=169, 43.2%), were older (61.7 +/- 14.7 vs. 58.0 +/- 14.5 years, p = 0.01) and included a higher number of patients with ischemic cardiomyopathy (40.7% vs. 28.6%, p = 0.01), but fewer with dilated cardiomyopathy (41.0% vs. 55.8%, p = 0.004). At admission, group A had lower systolic blood pressure (110.1 +/- 24.8 mmHg vs. 115.2 +/- 22.0 mmHg, p = 0.03) and higher mean C-reactive protein (1.90 +/- 3.6 mg/dl vs. 1.19 +/- 2.6 mg/dl, p = 0.004) and creatinine (1.50 +/- 0.9 mg/dl vs. 1.20 +/- 0.5 mg/dl, p < 0.001). Gender, prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors, previous medication and left ventricular ejection fraction were not statistically different between the groups. At discharge, fewer anemic patients received digoxin (71.1% vs. 81.8%, p = 0.03). Mortality rates at 3 months (13.6% vs. 6.7%, p = 0.05), one year (22.9% vs. 11%, p = 0.006) and during follow-up (39.8 % vs. 23.8%, p = 0.002) were significantly higher in Group A. Multivariate analysis demonstrated that anemia was an independent predictor of mortality at one year (p = 0.035) and during median follow-up: (p = 0.014). In the anemic group a linear relationship between hemoglobin levels and mortality was also detected. CONCLUSIONS: In our population, anemia was a frequent comorbidity and had an independent and negative impact on long-term mortality. Its correction could improve outcomes in advanced HF patients

Classroom teachers’ perception about physical education and physical activity: A typology

Introduction: According to the socioecological model teachers may act as facilitators or barriers in a school physical activity (PA) program. Objectives: The purpose of this study was to characterize classroom teachers’ perceptions about Physical Education (PE). Methods: 297 teachers answered a questionnaire about PE past experience, status, aims, and academic benefits of PA. The Multiple Correspondence Analysis was used aiming to identify teachers’ profiles. Results: Dimension 1 combines the view that the PA affects academic achievement (AA) with the idea that PE must be optional or compulsory, but non-examinable. In dimension 2 the biggest difference is between a standard that refers to a relatively neutral position in relation to PA (PE as important for promotion of healthy lifestyles associated with the idea that PA does not affect AA, and PE should be compulsory but non-examinable), as opposed to positions, either in favour (PA benefits AA and PE should be compulsory and examinable) or against PA (PE should be optional). The joint analysis of the two dimensions allowed to identify three distinct patterns of teacher’s perceptions which made possible to build a typology, regardless the cluster they belong to. Considering their personal experience teachers make a misjudgment of PE in schools they attended specially in cluster 3. As for the relation between PA and AA, most teachers say that the PA benefits AA (65% in cluster 1; 96% in cluster 2). In cluster 3, 70% of the teachers say that PA impairs AA. Conclusions: These results support the importance of the earliest good experiences in PE, in generating positive attitudes towards PE. PE teachers should explain to other teachers that PA does not affect academic performance, and that PA prevents deviant behaviours.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Policies for widening participation and success factors in Portuguese higher education

Portugal’s body of higher education students has progressively expanded, and opportunities for graduate certification at this level have multiplied. This paper advances factors that may provide a differentiated explanation of successful paths in higher education. It gives a first-hand account of the recent dynamics of participation in higher education in Portugal within the Bologna Process and uses institutional statistics to compare some of its most relevant characteristics with the European framework as a whole. Secondly, we used an extensive survey of Portuguese higher education students to identify factors potentially involved in successful paths and conducted a multiple logistic binary regression. The resulting model therefore included not only social and educational characteristics and backgrounds but also previous school trajectories, attendance of educational institutions and everyday practices. It identified key factors for success in academic careers by reference to a specific policy context and attendance of higher education. Our definition of these factors (dimensions of analysis) was based on the proposals of Tinto (2006; 1997) and Pinto (2002), using the variables available in that survey. Our results point to the relevance of institutional and educational dimensions as differentiated contexts of significance in different academic paths.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio