Pensando a criatividade: apontamentos sobre o percurso explicativo do conceito

Criatividade é algo concetualmente complexo e de difícil definição. Porém, e começando este artigo pela problemática básica da definição de criatividade, a sua preocupação essencial é fazer emergir como o conceito tem evoluído e enriquecido na sua complexidade, tecido pelos contextos já de um século. São aqui expostas e refletidas as principais teorias explicativas de criatividade no caminho que foram fazendo até à atualidade. Perspectivas que rodearam os primórdios do conceito, mitos ainda resistentes à investigação, teorias que atravessaram a modernidade ou que caraterizam o período atual de globalização são analisadas. Enfatiza-se, porém, a orientação holística e multidisciplinar das perspectivas integradoras recentes, já que reforçam a impossibilidade redutora de definir ou explicar criatividade por dimensões singulare

Comparison of classical kinematics, entropy, and fractal properties as measures of complexity of the motor system in swimming

The aim of this study was to compare the non-linear properties of the four competitive swim strokes. Sixty-eight swimmers performed a set of maximal 4 × 25 m using the four competitive swim strokes. The hip's speed-data as a function of time was collected with a speedo-meter. The speed fluctuation (dv), approximate entropy (ApEn) and the fractal dimension by Higuchi's method (D) were computed. Swimming data exhibited non-linear properties that were different among the four strokes (14.048 ≤ dv ≤ 39.722; 0.682 ≤ ApEn ≤ 1.025; 1.823 ≤ D ≤ 1.919). The ApEn showed the lowest value for front-crawl, followed by breaststroke, butterfly, and backstroke (P < 0.001). Fractal dimension and dv had the lowest values for front-crawl and backstroke, followed by butterfly and breaststroke (P < 0.001). It can be concluded that swimming data exhibits non-linear properties, which are different among the four competitive swimming strokes

A to Z of the Muon anomalous magnetic moment in the MSSM with Pati-Salam at the GUT scale

We analyse the low energy predictions of the minimal supersymmetric standard model (MSSM) arising from a GUT scale Pati-Salam gauge group further constrained by an A4 × Z5 family symmetry, resulting in four soft scalar masses at the GUT scale: one left-handed soft mass m0 and three right-handed soft masses m1, m2, m3, one for each generation. We demonstrate that this model, which was initially developed to describe the neutrino sector, can explain collider and non-collider measurements such as the dark matter relic density, the Higgs boson mass and, in particular, the anomalous magnetic moment of the muon (g − 2)μ. Since about two decades, (g − 2)μ suffers a puzzling about 3σ excessoftheexperimentallymeasuredvalueoverthetheoreticalprediction,whichour model is able to fully resolve. As the consequence of this resolution, our model predicts specific regions of the parameter space with the specific properties including light smuons and neutralinos, which could also potentially explain di-lepton excesses observed by CMS and ATLAS

Latent regulatory potential of human-specific repetitive elements

At least half of the human genome is derived from repetitive elements, which are often lineage specific and silenced by a variety of genetic and epigenetic mechanisms. Using a transchromosomic mouse strain that transmits an almost complete single copy of human chromosome 21 via the female germline, we show that a heterologous regulatory environment can transcriptionally activate transposon-derived human regulatory regions. In the mouse nucleus, hundreds of locations on human chromosome 21 newly associate with activating histone modifications in both somatic and germline tissues, and influence the gene expression of nearby transcripts. These regions are enriched with primate and human lineage-specific transposable elements, and their activation corresponds to changes in DNA methylation at CpG dinucleotides. This study reveals the latent regulatory potential of the repetitive human genome and illustrates the species specificity of mechanisms that control it

Characterization of the pavement foundation with the results of the light dynamic penetrometer test

O objetivo deste trabalho é identificar e caracterizar fundações de pavimentos em diferentes obras/aterros. Foram realizados ensaios laboratoriais e em campo de identificação e caracterização mecânica de solos com uso exclusivo para fundação de pavimentos. Realizaram-se ensaios de identificação dos solos estudados e posteriormente foram realizados ensaios para caracterizar mecanicamente o solo no âmbito do dimensionamento do pavimento. Foram assim realizados ensaios laboratoriais como o California Bearing Ratio CBR e ensaio Proctor e ensaios de campo como o ensaio de controlo da compactação em campo com célula radioativa, o ensaio de carga em placa e por último o ensaio com o penetrómetro dinâmico ligeiro. Com estes ensaios pretende-se fazer um estudo comparativo de correlação empírica entre os diferentes ensaios de caracterização mecânica realizados, tanto laboratoriais como de campo, aprofundando a relação que existe entre propriedades mecânicas e as classes de fundação de pavimentos e os resultados dos ensaios de campo, principalmente com os resultados do ensaio penetrómetro dinâmico ligeiro por ser um ensaio fácil de usar e realizar.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Effects of inter-annual freshwater inflow shifts on the community structure of estuarine decapods

The objective of this study was to evaluate how inter-annual changes in freshwater inputs have affected the decapod assemblages in the Guadiana estuary. Three major areas in the estuary were sampled during the summer, in 2001 (high inflow year and before the filling of the Alqueva dam), in 2002 (low inflow and after filling of the Alqueva dam), and in 2008 and 2009 (low inflow and after consolidation of the impacts of the Alqueva dam). A significant increase in total decapod densities was recorded for the entire estuary, but especially in the upper estuary, after the closure of the dam in 2002. Changes in salinity, turbidity and temperature, which were mainly due to changes in freshwater input and climatic influence (North Atlantic Oscillation index), had an important influence on the structure of the decapod crustacean assemblages. The major conclusions of the study were that, following the construction of the Alqueva dam and regularization of the freshwater inflow, the decapod crustacean community in the Guadiana estuary changed and a shift of the dominant decapod species to upper zones of the estuary happened. These changes, and the presence of the non-native Palaemon macrodactylus in 2008 and 2009, further enhance the importance of estuarine monitoring studies to improve ecologists’ knowledge on distinguishing and understanding natural changes and anthropogenic impacts in the ecosystem.Effets des variations interannuelles d’apports d’eau douce sur la structure d’une communauté estuarienne de décapodes. L’objectif de cette étude était d’évaluer comment les variations interannuelles d’apports d’eau douce affectent l’assemblage de décapodes dans l’estuaire du Guadiana. Trois grands domaines de l’estuaire ont été échantillonnés en été : en 2001 (année d’apports importants et avant le remplissage du barrage d’Alqueva), en 2002 (faible apport d’eau douce et après le remplissage du barrage d’Alqueva), en 2008 et 2009 (après la consolidation de l’impact du barrage d’Alqueva). Une augmentation significative de la densité totale des décapodes pour tout l’estuaire a été enregistrée, mais surtout dans l’estuaire supérieur, après la fermeture du barrage en 2002. Les variations de salinité, turbidité et température, principalement dues à des changements d’apports d’eau douce et à l’influence du climat (indice d’oscillation nordatlantique), ont eu une influence importante sur la structure des assemblages de crustacés décapodes. Les principales conclusions de l’étude sont que, à la suite de la construction du barrage d’Alqueva et de la régulation de l’apport d’eau douce, la communauté de crustacés décapodes dans l’estuaire du Guadiana a changé et les principales espèces de décapodes se sont déplacées vers les zones supérieures de l’estuaire. Ces changements, ainsi que la présence de l’espèce non native Palaemon macrodactylus en 2008 et 2009, soulignent l’importance de surveiller l’estuaire dans le futur proche afin de pouvoir mieux distinguer et comprendre les changements naturels et les impacts anthropiques sur l’écosystème

Development & performance assessment of a new ATMP for cartilage tissue engineering

Publicado em "Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology. Conference Abstract: 10th World Biomaterials Congress"NORTE-07-0202-FEDER-023189 / ARTICULATE - Desenvolvimento de novos produtos e terapias regenerativas para o tratamento de patologias articulares / AD

Negative symptoms mediate the relationship between social cognition and functioning in schizophrenia: a pilot study

In spite of significant advances in pharmacological and psychological treatments, schizophrenia still ranks among the leading causes of disability worldwide. People suffering from schizophrenia have significant impairment in major areas of everyday life, such as interpersonal relationships, work or school and even self-care. Enhancing the understanding of factors that hinder real-life functioning is therefore crucial for translating delivered care into more positive outcomes. Social cognition, defined as the mental operations that underlie social interactions, including perceiving, interpreting, and generating responses to the intentions, dispositions, and behaviors of others, has been implicated in impaired functioning. It is typically broken down into four domains: emotion processing, social perception, attributional bias and theory of mind. Negative symptoms have also been associated with patients' functional outcome; although generally conceptualized as a unitary construct, the most recent literature suggests that these symptoms are heterogeneous and include at least two factors: amotivation and diminished emotional expression. The aim of this study was to analyze the relationships between negative symptoms, social cognition and real-life functioning in people with schizophrenia. Methods: 12 patients with diagnosis of schizophrenia according to ICD-10 criteria were assessed cross-sectionally regarding relevant dimensions to our study: general psychopathology (Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale), social cognition (Face and Emotion Identification Test, Schema Component Sequencing Test - Revised, Social Perception Scale, Ambiguous Intentions and Hostility Questionnaire, Reading the Mind in The Eyes Test), negative symptoms (Clinical Assessment Interview for Negative Symptoms – CAINS) and general functioning (Personal and Social Performance scale – PSP). Spearman correlations were examined and regression and mediation models (Preacher and Hayes bootstrapping methodology) were performed. Results: In our preliminary results, emotion processing was the only social cognition dimension significantly correlated with functioning (rS = .87) and negative symptoms measured by the CAINS: rS = -.78 with amotivation; -.70 with diminished emotional expression and -.78 with total CAINS score (all Po.01). Both amotivation and diminished emotional expression, as well as negative symptoms as a whole, correlated with functioning (rS4.80, Po.01). Emotion processing was a significant predictor of amotivation, diminished emotional expression and total CAINS score (all Beta4-.65, p o.05). Both emotion processing (Beta = .71, P = 0.3) and amotivation (Beta = -.84, P = 0.001) were significant predictors of functioning. Finally, amotivation was found to be a partial mediator of the relationship between emotion processing and functioning (BCA 95% CI = .196 - 7.559). Discussion: Our results are in partial agreement with previous studies suggesting that emotional processing is the most relevant dimension of social cognition to everyday functioning, despite a possible contribution of theory of mind for such impairment in patients with schizophrenia. Regarding negative symptoms, amotivation seems to be the dimension of most relevance to functioning. Altogether, negative symptoms seem to be driven by social cognition deficits and, at least partially, negative symptoms may play a role in the deleterious impact of impaired social cognition on functional outcome. The complexity of the crosstalk between negative symptoms, social cognition and functioning will be better addressed in ongoing studies, as a greater understanding of underlying mechanisms is critical to development of effective treatments

The Galaxy Evolution Explorer

The Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX), a NASA Small Explorer Mission planned for launch in Fall 2002, will perform the first Space Ultraviolet sky survey. Five imaging surveys in each of two bands (1350-1750Å and 1750-2800Å) will range from an all-sky survey (limit m_(AB)~20-21) to an ultra-deep survey of 4 square degrees (limit m_(AB)~26). Three spectroscopic grism surveys (R=100-300) will be performed with various depths (m_(AB)~20-25) and sky coverage (100 to 2 square degrees) over the 1350-2800Å band. The instrument includes a 50 cm modified Ritchey-Chrétien telescope, a dichroic beam splitter and astigmatism corrector, two large sealed tube microchannel plate detectors to simultaneously cover the two bands and the 1.2 degree field of view. A rotating wheel provides either imaging or grism spectroscopy with transmitting optics. We will use the measured UV properties of local galaxies, along with corollary observations, to calibrate the UV-global star formation rate relationship in galaxies. We will apply this calibration to distant galaxies discovered in the deep imaging and spectroscopic surveys to map the history of star formation in the universe over the red shift range zero to two. The GALEX mission will include an Associate Investigator program for additional observations and supporting data analysis. This will support a wide variety of investigations made possible by the first UV sky survey