Estratégias Didáticas para o Ensino de Botânica: Microscópio Artesanal Simplificado e Práticas Laboratoriais com Corantes Alternativos

TCC(graduação) - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina. Centro de Ciências Biológicas. Biologia.O Ensino de Botânica tem sido motivo de diversas preocupações no âmbito acadêmico, como a dificuldade do ensino-aprendizagem e a indisponibilidade de estrutura física e material. Isso posto, pode contribuir para o desinteresse e a não percepção das plantas no cotidiano, sendo então chamado Cegueira Botânica. A partir destas considerações, o trabalho teve como objetivo construir um microscópio artesanal simplificado e propor protocolos foto-documentados de sua montagem bem como da preparação de lâminas histológicas com materiais alternativos e acessíveis. O microscópio foi construído com materiais em desusos e/ou de valores reduzidos. Para os protocolos foto-documentados foram utilizados materiais vegetais de fácil acesso, como plantas de jardins e hortas, e corantes alternativos encontrados em farmácia. A construção do microscópio artesanal apresentou vantagens como baixo custo, funcionamento sem a necessidade de eletricidade, tamanho e peso reduzido o que facilita o transporte, além da possibilidade de observação de determinadas estruturas anatômicas, porém não apresentou aumento e nitidez para observação de alguns detalhes celulares, como dos tecidos xilemático e floemático. Plantas como Tradescantia sp., Cymbopogon citratus, Chrysanthemum anethifolium, Paphiopedilum sp. e Solanum tuberosum se apresentaram como ótimas sugestões para confecção de lâminas histológicas, por serem de fácil corte e preparação e apresentarem maiores possibilidades de observação de estruturas, como parede celular, vacúolos, plastídios e tricomas. A elaboração de ferramentas didáticas, como o microscópio artesanal simplificado e a foto-documentação das preparações de lâminas histológicas, pode proporcionar uma aprendizagem atrativa e motivadora, contribuindo numa melhor compreensão dos conteúdos mais complexos, além de estimular o interesse da sociedade pelas plantas e possibilitar a minimização da Cegueira Botânica.Botany Teaching has been the origin of several concerns in the academic field, being a result of both the difficulty of the teaching-learning process and the unavailability of physical and material structure. Thus, it may contribute to the lack of interest and no perception of plants in everyday life, the Botanical Blindness. Based on these considerations, this work aimed to build a simplified handmade microscope and to propose photo-documented protocols for its assembly as well as the preparation of histological slides with alternative and accessible materials. The microscope was built with used and low-cost materials. For the photo-documented protocols, easily accessible plant materials were used, such as garden and vegetable plants, and alternative dyes found in pharmacies. The built handcrafted microscope presented advantages such as low cost, operation without electricity, reduced size, and weight, which facilitates transport, in addition to the possibility of observing certain anatomical structures. However, it did not show any increase and clarity for observing some cellular details, for instance xylemic and phloemic tissues. Plants like Tradescantia sp., Cymbopogon citratus, Chrysanthemum anethifolium, Paphiopedilum sp., and Solanum tuberosum showed to be great suggestions for making histological slides, as they are easy to cut and prepare and have greater possibilities for observing structures corresponding to cell walls, vacuoles, plastids and trichomes. The elaboration of teaching tools, such as the simplified handmade microscope and the photo-documentation of the preparations of histological slides, can provide attractive and motivating learning, contributing to a better understanding of the most complex contents and, moreover, stimulating the society's interest in plants and enabling the minimization of Botanical Blindness

Automatic assessment of the 2-minute walk distance for remote monitoring of people with multiple sclerosis

The aim of this study was to investigate the feasibility of automatically assessing the 2-Minute Walk Distance (2MWD) for monitoring people with multiple sclerosis (pwMS). For 154 pwMS, MS-related clinical outcomes as well as the 2MWDs as evaluated by clinicians and derived from accelerometer data were collected from a total of 323 periodic clinical visits. Accelerometer data from a wearable device during 100 home-based 2MWD assessments were also acquired. The error in estimating the 2MWD was validated for walk tests performed at hospital, and then the correlation (r) between clinical outcomes and home-based 2MWD assessments was evaluated. Robust performance in estimating the 2MWD from the wearable device was obtained, yielding an error of less than 10% in about two-thirds of clinical visits. Correlation analysis showed that there is a strong association between the actual and the estimated 2MWD obtained either at hospital (r = 0.71) or at home (r = 0.58). Furthermore, the estimated 2MWD exhibits moderate-to-strong correlation with various MS-related clinical outcomes, including disability and fatigue severity scores. Automatic assessment of the 2MWD in pwMS is feasible with the usage of a consumer-friendly wearable device in clinical and non-clinical settings. Wearable devices can also enhance the assessment of MS-related clinical outcomes

The utility of wearable devices in assessing ambulatory impairments of people with multiple sclerosis in free-living conditions

Background and objectives Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a progressive inflammatory and neurodegenerative disease of the central nervous system affecting over 2.5 million people globally. In-clinic six-minute walk test (6MWT) is a widely used objective measure to evaluate the progression of MS. Yet, it has limitations such as the need for a clinical visit and a proper walkway. The widespread use of wearable devices capable of depicting patients’ activity profiles has the potential to assess the level of MS-induced disability in free-living conditions. Methods In this work, we extracted 96 features in different temporal granularities (from minute-level to day-level) from wearable data and explored their utility in estimating 6MWT scores in a European (Italy, Spain, and Denmark) MS cohort of 337 participants over an average of 10 months’ duration. We combined these features with participants’ demographics using three regression models including elastic net, gradient boosted trees and random forest. In addition, we quantified the individual feature's contribution using feature importance in these regression models, linear mixed-effects models, generalized estimating equations, and correlation-based feature selection (CFS). Results The results showed promising estimation performance with R2 of 0.30, which was derived using random forest after CFS. This model was able to distinguish the participants with low disability from those with high disability. Furthermore, we observed that the minute-level (≤ 8 minutes) step count, particularly those capturing the upper end of the step count distribution, had a stronger association with 6MWT. The use of a walking aid was indicative of ambulatory function measured through 6MWT. Conclusions This study demonstrates the utility of wearables devices in assessing ambulatory impairments in people with MS in free-living conditions and provides a basis for future investigation into the clinical relevance

Autonomic response to walk tests is useful for assessing outcome measures in people with multiple sclerosis

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the association between changes in the autonomic control of cardiorespiratory system induced by walk tests and outcome measures in people with Multiple Sclerosis (pwMS).Methods: Electrocardiogram (ECG) recordings of 148 people with Relapsing-Remitting MS (RRMS) and 58 with Secondary Progressive MS (SPMS) were acquired using a wearable device before, during, and after walk test performance from a total of 386 periodical clinical visits. A subset of 90 participants repeated a walk test at home. Various MS-related symptoms, including fatigue, disability, and walking capacity were evaluated at each clinical visit, while heart rate variability (HRV) and ECG-derived respiration (EDR) were analyzed to assess autonomic nervous system (ANS) function. Statistical tests were conducted to assess differences in ANS control between pwMS grouped based on the phenotype or the severity of MS-related symptoms. Furthermore, correlation coefficients (r) were calculated to assess the association between the most significant ANS parameters and MS-outcome measures.Results: People with SPMS, compared to RRMS, reached higher mean heart rate (HRM) values during walk test, and larger sympathovagal balance after test performance. Furthermore, pwMS who were able to adjust their HRM and ventilatory values, such as respiratory rate and standard deviation of the ECG-derived respiration, were associated with better clinical outcomes. Correlation analyses showed weak associations between ANS parameters and clinical outcomes when the Multiple Sclerosis phenotype is not taken into account. Blunted autonomic response, in particular HRM reactivity, was related with worse walking capacity, yielding r = 0.36 r = 0.29 (RRMS) and r > 0.5 (SPMS). A positive strong correlation r > 0.7 r > 0.65 between cardiorespiratory parameters derived at hospital and at home was also found.Conclusion: Autonomic function, as measured by HRV, differs according to MS phenotype. Autonomic response to walk tests may be useful for assessing clinical outcomes, mainly in the progressive stage of MS. Participants with larger changes in HRM are able to walk longer distance, while reduced ventilatory function during and after walk test performance is associated with higher fatigue and disability severity scores. Monitoring of disorder severity could also be feasible using ECG-derived cardiac and respiratory parameters recorded with a wearable device at home