Virtually brushing my tooth

Apresentamos uma instalação direccionada para o público infantil, onde através da visualização de uma projecção de bactéria virtuais sobre a superfície de um dente construído em gesso, as crianças eliminam as bactérias com uma escova gigante sendo assim sensibilizadas para a importância da higiene oral. A conjunção de um objecto físico com um meio multimédia proporciona às crianças uma experiência nova, muito estimulante, que suscita nelas um conjunto de emoções, levando-as a uma identificação com o objecto e facilitando deste modo o processo de aprendizagem

Finalmente limpinho! Interface física para os meus primeiros contactos com a higiene oral

Discutimos o ciclo de desenvolvimento de uma interface direccionada para o público infantil, cuja finalidade é a de sensibilizar as crianças para a importância da higiene oral. São relatados os processos de entrevista e observação, a elaboração dos requisitos, desenvolvimento de protótipos e a observação informal da interacção das crianças com o sistema. Observamos que a combinação de elementos multimédia com um objecto físico, concreto proporciona às crianças uma experiência aliciante e é um excelente veículo para a realização de actividades pedagógicas

Predictors and methological issues in tracking total body fat mass, trunk fat, mass and abdominal fat mass : changes in a weight loss intervention with overweight and obese women.

Doutoramento em Motricidade Humana, especialidade de Saúde e Condição FísicaOne of the purposes of this dissertation was to analyze the usefulness of simple anthropometric measurements in predicting total body fat mass, as well as trunk and abdominal fat regions of interest, assessed by DXA, along with their changes in a weight loss program. Another purpose was to examine the influence of different physical activity dimensions on body weight, total body fat mass, abdominal and trunk fat regions of interest, selected by conventional whole body DXA in premenopausal overweight and obese women. Three studies were conducted within the PESO Program (Promotion of Exercise and Health in Obesity), a behavioural intervention addressed to premenopausal overweight and obese women. Key results show that: a) changes in lifestyle habits during a weight loss intervention may provide a stimulus to reduce trunk fat mass, with special focus on abdominal fat mass; b) abdominal circumference is a better predictor of body fat mass loss than waist circumference; c) baseline values of body weight, BMI, sagital diameter and hip circumference, are able to predict total body fat mass changes, but are unable to predict alterations in more specific depots of body fat estimated by DXA; d) alterations in DXA abdominal fat mass estimations were reasonably detected by all the anthropometric variables, but cannot be used to quantify fat mass loss; e) physical activity variables did not induce changes in total body fat mass and body weight; f) an increase in the total amount of physical activity and the increment of total minutes walking played an important role in the reduction of abdominal fat mass estimated by DXA in obese women. RESUMO: Analisar a utilidade de simples medidas antropométricas na predição da massa gorda corporal total, assim como da massa gorda do tronco e região abdominal, estimadas por uma região de interesse obtida pela DXA, bem como as suas alterações, foi um dos objectivos desta dissertação. Outro dos objectivos desta tese prendeu-se com a análise da influência de diferentes dimensões de actividade física no peso corporal, massa gorda corporal total e regiões de interesse (tronco e abdominal) estimadas pela DXA em mulheres com excesso de peso ou obesas. Três estudos foram realizados com base no Programa PESO (Promoção do Exercício e da Saúde na Obesidade), uma intervenção de modificação comportamental em mulheres com excesso de peso ou obesas. Os resultados destes estudos demonstraram que: a) as alterações no estilo de vida durante uma intervenção de perda de peso podem constituir um estímulo na redução da massa gorda do tronco, em particular da massa gorda abdominal; b) o perímetro abdominal prediz melhor a perda de massa gorda corporal total do que o perímetro da cintura; c) os valores iniciais do peso corporal, IMC, diâmetro sagital e perímetro da anca, são bons predictores das alterações da massa gorda corporal total, mas são ineficazes na predição das alterações dos depósitos mais específicos estimados pela DXA; d) as alterações na estimação da massa gorda abdominal obtida pela DXA foram razoavelmente detectadas por todas as medidas antropométricas, mas estas medidas não podem ser utilizadas na quantificação da perda de massa gorda; e) as variáveis de actividade física não induziram alterações na massa gorda corporal total e no peso corporal; f) um incremento na quantidade total de actividade física e um incremento no número de minutos a caminhar podem ter um papel importante na redução da massa gorda abdominal estimada pela DXA em mulheres obesas

A análise de sequências pictóricas por alunos do 4.º ano de escolaridade na promoção do pensamento algébrico

O presente artigo foca um estudo desenvolvido no âmbito do relatório de estágio da primeira autora integrado na Prática de Ensino Supervisionada do Mestrado em Educação Pré-escolar e Ensino do 1.º ciclo do ensino básico relativo à promoção do pensamento algébrico nos primeiros anos no trabalho com sequências pictóricas. O estudo visa compreender como é que alunos do 4.º ano analisam e generalizam sequências pictóricas crescentes, nomeadamente como determinam termos próximos, distantes e como expressam as suas generalizações. A metodologia é qualitativa de cariz interpretativo na modalidade de estudo de caso com três alunos. A recolha de dados é efetuada através de entrevistas clínicas gravadas em áudio e vídeo e das produções escritas destes alunos em duas tarefas com sequências pictóricas distintas que envolvem a descoberta de um termo próximo e um termo distante e uma generalização para determinar qualquer termo de sequências. Os resultados mostram que os três alunos utilizam estratégias distintas em ambas as tarefas, revelando a importância da estrutura dos termos pictóricos nas relações que os alunos estabelecem. Todos os alunos manifestam dificuldade em expressar a generalização.This paper focuses on a study developed by the first author in her internship report on supervised teaching practice of the Masters in Pre-school Education and Teaching in primary school related with the promotion of algebraic thinking in the early years in the work with pictorial sequences. The study aims to understand how students of the 4th year analyze and generalize growing pictorial sequences, in particular how they determine near and far terms and how they express their generalizations. The methodology has a qualitative and interpretative nature with the design of case study with three students. Data collection is performed through clinical interviews recorded in audio and video and written production of these students in two tasks with different pictorial sequences involving the discovery of one near term and one distant term and a generalization to determine any sequence term. The results show that the three students use different strategies in both tasks revealing the importance of the structure of the pictorial terms in the relations that they establish. All students presents difficulty in expressing the generalization.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Developing a tangible interface for storytelling

This paper describes a first study of a paper based interface, consisting of a large format book and a set of picture cards that children can use to create stories. The handling of the picture cards has shown to be highly motivating and engaging, helping children to build a storyline creating logical relations among different characters and objects. The interface has shown to be an experimental space where children can play with the language and simultaneously reflect over it, in a collaborative process. We present the data collected with a group of five years old preschoolers and report our findings regarding the interaction design, as well as a reflection over future work.FC

A digital manipulative for embodied "stage-narrative" creation

This paper presents a study of the use of a digital manipulative developed to promote creative narrative construction and storytelling. The study was carried with 27 groups of preschoolers, of five years of age, who interacted with the digital manipulative during free-play time, during a period of six months. The study sought to assess aspects of children’s embodiment of the narratives, and how they shaped the creation of stories. We observed that by using the digital manipulative, children’s narrative construction occurred in two levels, as children shared the stage, (controlling the characters, the location, the props, and the nature elements) and simultaneously performed on this stage. The sharing of the input devices (blocks) gave children equal control of the performance and orchestration of the story, while promoting and supporting peer collaboration. We conclude that the digital manipulative enables the performance of what we call embodied stage-narratives, promoting children’s imagination and creative thinking, as well as fostering early literacy skills and metalinguistic awareness.Fundação para a Ciência e TecnologiaCIEC – Research Centre on Child Studies, UM (FCT R&D 317

Play platforms for children’s creativity

Serie : Springer series on cultural computing, ISSN 2195-9056Children’s imagination and their natural need for exploration and discovery can be stimulated when they are in contact with rich contexts and environments (Van Scoter et al. 2001; Van Scoter 2008); this inherent tendency offers an enormous opportunity for researchers and designers to develop tools that unleash children’s potential, involving them in creating meaningful projects (Papert 1993). Research on this field has highlighted that well-design technological tools for children need to be compelling, support exploration, encourage creativity, develop curiosity and promote interaction and collaboration with peers while being simple and intuitive to use (Plowman et al. 2012; Resnick et al. 2005; Resnick and Silverman 2005).FCT, QREN, COMPETE, FEDRCIEC – Research Centre on Child Studies, IE, UMinho (FCT R&D unit 317), Portuga

Tailored algorithms for anomaly detection in photovoltaic systems

Branco, P., Gonçalves, F., & Costa, A. C. (2020). Tailored algorithms for anomaly detection in photovoltaic systems. Energies, 13(1), [225]. https://doi.org/10.3390/en13010225The fastest-growing renewable source of energy is solar photovoltaic (PV) energy, which is likely to become the largest electricity source in the world by 2050. In order to be a viable alternative energy source, PV systems should maximise their efficiency and operate flawlessly. However, in practice, many PV systems do not operate at their full capacity due to several types of anomalies. We propose tailored algorithms for the detection of different PV system anomalies, including suboptimal orientation, daytime and sunrise/sunset shading, brief and sustained daytime zero-production, and low maximum production. Furthermore, we establish simple metrics to assess the severity of suboptimal orientation and daytime shading. The proposed detection algorithms were applied to a set of time-series of electricity production in Portugal, which are based on two periods with distinct weather conditions. Under favourable weather conditions, the algorithms successfully detected most of the time-series labelled with either daytime or sunrise/sunset shading, and with either sustained or brief daytime zero-production. There was a relatively low percentage of false positives, such that most of the anomaly detections were correct. As expected, the algorithms tend to be more robust under favourable rather than under adverse weather conditions. The proposed algorithms may prove to be useful not only to research specialists, but also to energy utilities and owners of small- and medium-sized PV systems, who may thereby effortlessly monitor their operation and performance.publishersversionpublishe

Beyond the binding : exploring the future book

We have reached a special moment in the story of the book: today’s youngest generation will experience literature in a vastly different way than the generation preceding. What we call a book has always morphed over time, but digital capabilities and the ubiquity of mobile electronics are changing the landscape at an unprecedented pace. This workshop will be a forum for creative exploration and discussion of the future of the book, motivated by this particular historical moment and a desire to bring together researchers from diverse backgrounds who are working on book-related technologies. We will share and document visions, approaches, and techniques.(undefined

N-Acetylcysteine or Sodium Selenite Prevent the p38-Mediated Production of Proinflammatory Cytokines by Microglia during Exposure to Mercury (II)

Mercury (Hg) is known for its neurotoxicity and is reported to activate microglia cells at low exposure levels. Since mercury decreases the activity of the glutathione and thioredoxin systems, we hypothesize that Hg would, in turn, disrupt microglia homeostasis by interfering with redox regulation of signaling pathways. Thus, in this work, we analyzed the effect of exposure to Hg2+ on nuclear translocation and activation of NF-kB (p50) and p38 and pro-inflammatory gene transcription (IL-1ß; iNOS, TNF-alpha) considering the interaction of Hg with the glutathione system and thioredoxin systems in microglial cells. N9 (mouse) microglia cells were exposed to different concentrations of Hg2+ and the 24 h EC50 for a reduction in viability was 42.1 ± 3.7 μM. Subsequent experiments showed that at sub-cytotoxic levels of Hg2+, there was a general increase in ROS (≈40%) accompanied by a significant depletion (60–90%) of glutathione (GSH) and thioredoxin reductase (TrxR) activity. Upon 6 h of exposure to Hg2+, p38 (but not p50) accumulated in the nucleus (50% higher than in control), which was accompanied by an increase in its phosphorylation. Transcript levels of both IL1-ß and iNOS were increased over two-fold relative to the control. Furthermore, pre-exposure of cells to the p38 inhibitor SB 239063 hindered the activation of cytokine transcription by Hg2+. These results show that disruption of redox systems by Hg2+ prompts the activation of p38 leading to transcription of pro-inflammatory genes in microglia cells. Treatment of N9 cells with NAC or sodium selenite—which caused an increase in basal GSH and TrxR levels, respectively, prevented the activation of p38 and the transcription of pro-inflammatory cytokines. This result demonstrates the importance of an adequate nutritional status to minimize the toxicity resulting from Hg exposure in human populations at risk.This work was supported by Project PTDC/MED-FAR/31136/2017 and by iMed.ULisboa through project UID/DTP/04138/2019 both funded by Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia, Portugal (FCT). Vasco Branco is financed by national funds via FCT through Norma Transitória—DL57/2016/CP1376/CT002. M.A. was supported in part by a grant from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) R01ES07331.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio