Identificação por professores de alunos com dotação intelectual: construção de instrumento e evidências de validade de conteúdo

The present study reports the construction process of a screening-type scale for evidence indicating academic giftedness (Scale for Nominating Intellectual Giftedness: teacher version [ENDI-p]), as well as presenting evidence of content validity. The construction of the items was based on the ten broad domains of the theoretical model of intelligence known as Cattell-Horn-Carroll (CHC): fluid intelligence, quantitative knowledge, short-term memory, long-term memory storage and retrieval, visual processing, auditory processing, processing and execution speed, reaction, and decision speed, reading and writing; initially containing 80 items. Such items were evaluated by five reviewers. The results showed that 21 items (26.2 %) were excluded once they did not reach an agreement value equal to or greater than 80 %. The kappa coefficient between judges was adequate. Version 2 of the scale is ready to be used in future studies which aim at investigating its psychometric qualities.El presente estudio reporta el proceso de construcción de una escala tipo cribado para signos indicativos de dotación académica (Escala para Nomeação de Dotação Intelectual: versão professor [ENDI-p]), además de presentar evidencia de validez de contenido. La construcción de los ítems se basó en los diez amplios dominios del modelo teórico sobre inteligencia, conocido como Cattell-Horn-Carroll (CHC): inteligencia fluida, razonamiento matemático cuantitativo, memoria a corto plazo, almacenamiento y recuperación a largo plazo, procesamiento visual, procesamiento auditivo, velocidad de procesamiento y ejecución, velocidad de reacción y decisión, lectura y escritura; inicialmente con 80 ítems. Estos elementos fueron evaluados por cinco jueces. Los resultados mostraron que se excluyeron 21 ítems (26.2 %) por no alcanzar un valor de concordancia igual o superior al 80 %. El coeficiente kappa entre jueces fue adecuado. La versión 2 de la escala está lista para ser utilizada en futuros estudios destinados a investigar sus cualidades psicométricas.O presente estudo relata o processo de construção de uma escala do tipo rastreio para sinais indicativos de dotação acadêmica (Escala para Nomeação de Dotação Intelectual: versão professor [ENDI-p]), bem como apresentar evidências de validade de conteúdo. A construção dos itens foi baseada nos dez domínios amplos do modelo teórico sobre inteligência conhecido como Cattell-Horn-Carroll (CHC): inteligência fluida, raciocínio matemático quantitativo, memória de curto prazo, armazenamento e recuperação em longo prazo, processamento visual, processamento auditivo, rapidez de processamento e execução, velocidade de reação e decisão, leitura e escrita; contendo, inicialmente, 80 itens. Tais itens foram avaliados por cinco juízes. Os resultados demonstraram que 21 itens (26,2 %) foram excluídos por não alcançarem valor de concordância igual ou maior do que 80 %. O coeficiente kappa entre os juízes foi adequado. A versão 2 da escala está pronta para ser utilizada em estudos futuros voltados à investigação das suas qualidades psicométricas

OVICIDAL EFFECT OF PIPERACEAE SPECIES ON Biomphalaria glabrata, Schistosoma mansoni HOST

SUMMARY Schistosomiasis is a neglected disease with public health importance in tropical and subtropical regions. An alternative to the disease control is the use of molluscicides to eliminate or reduce the intermediate host snail population causing a reduction of transmission in endemic regions. In this study nine extracts from eight Piperaceae species were evaluated against Biomphalaria glabrata embryos at blastula stage. The extracts were evaluated in concentrations ranging from 100 to 10 mg/L. Piper crassinervium and Piper tuberculatum extracts were the most active (100% of mortality at 20 mg/L and 30 mg/L respectively).RESUMO A esquistossomose é uma doença negligenciada de importância para a saúde pública em regiões tropicais e subtropicais. Uma alternativa para o controle da doença é o uso de moluscicidas para eliminar ou reduzir a população de caramujo hospedeiro, acarretando uma redução da transmissão da doença nas regiões endemicas. Neste estudo, nove extratos vegetais provenientes de oito espécies de Piperaceae foram expostos a embriões de Biomphalaria glabrata no estágio de blástula. Os extratos foram avaliados em concentrações que variaram entre 100 e 10 mg/L, sendo Piper crassinervium e Piper tuberculatum os extratos mais ativos (100% de mortalidade a 20 mg/L e 30 mg/L respectivamente)

Violência intrafamiliar contra crianças e adolescentes na percepção de mães agressoras

A violência intrafamiliar afeta todos os membros da família, porém, crianças/adolescentes são as principais vítimas. Este estudo objetivou compreender os significados atribuídos por mães usuárias de drogas sobre a violência perpetrada junto a seus filhos, tendo por base seu contexto histórico-social. Utilizou-se uma abordagem qualitativa e para a coleta de dados foram realizadas entrevistas abertas com dez mulheres. A análise temática de conteúdo foi adotada, constatando-se que o contexto familiar e sociocultural em que viveram as mulheres, durante seu processo de socialização na família de origem, reunia fatores contribuintes para dissociações importantes no desempenho dos papéis maternos, destacando-se: perdas de entes queridos, situações de afetos/desafetos, alcoolismo, pobreza e violência, que não se modificaram em suas famílias atuais. Enfatiza-se a essencialidade da família no trabalho de proteção integral a crianças/adolescentes; além de um trabalho junto aos agressores, que também requerem cuidados, a fim de minimizar e combater este tipo de violência

Thinking and Creating Styles in Students of Humanities and Social Sciences Applied Areas: Differences by Gender and Course

The assessment of styles of thinking and creating can provide important information about the preferences of individuals and their behavior. The aim of this study was to investigate styles of thinking and creating on undergraduate students according course of origin and gender. The sample was compounded by 439 students (79 men and 360 women) studying Administration and Psychology courses, ages between 18 and 55. The scale “Styles of Thinking and Creating” of Wechsler was administered collectively. The results of Analysis of Variance indicated that the variables gender and course didn’t have a significant influence on the styles, only the interaction between these variables in relation to the relational‑divergent style. The findings indicate the need for further studies on the styles of thinking and creating involving more students to obtain knowledge about the cognitive preferences and behavior preferences of Brazilian undergradutates

Joint Binding of OTX2 and MYC in Promotor Regions Is Associated with High Gene Expression in Medulloblastoma

Both OTX2 and MYC are important oncogenes in medulloblastoma, the most common malignant brain tumor in childhood. Much is known about MYC binding to promoter regions, but OTX2 binding is hardly investigated. We used ChIP-on-chip data to analyze the binding patterns of both transcription factors in D425 medulloblastoma cells. When combining the data for all promoter regions in the genome, OTX2 binding showed a remarkable bi-modal distribution pattern with peaks around −250 bp upstream and +650 bp downstream of the transcription start sites (TSSs). Indeed, 40.2% of all OTX2-bound TSSs had more than one significant OTX2-binding peak. This OTX2-binding pattern was very different from the TSS-centered single peak binding pattern observed for MYC and other known transcription factors. However, in individual promoter regions, OTX2 and MYC have a strong tendency to bind in proximity of each other. OTX2-binding sequences are depleted near TSSs in the genome, providing an explanation for the observed bi-modal distribution of OTX2 binding. This contrasts to the enrichment of E-box sequences at TSSs. Both OTX2 and MYC binding independently correlated with higher gene expression. Interestingly, genes of promoter regions with multiple OTX2 binding as well as MYC binding showed the highest expression levels in D425 cells and in primary medulloblastomas. Genes within this class of promoter regions were enriched for medulloblastoma and stem cell specific genes. Our data suggest an important functional interaction between OTX2 and MYC in regulating gene expression in medulloblastoma

CDK1 is a synthetic lethal target for KRAS mutant tumours.

Activating KRAS mutations are found in approximately 20% of human cancers but no RAS-directed therapies are currently available. Here we describe a novel, robust, KRAS synthetic lethal interaction with the cyclin dependent kinase, CDK1. This was discovered using parallel siRNA screens in KRAS mutant and wild type colorectal isogenic tumour cells and subsequently validated in a genetically diverse panel of 26 colorectal and pancreatic tumour cell models. This established that the KRAS/CDK1 synthetic lethality applies in tumour cells with either amino acid position 12 (p.G12V, pG12D, p.G12S) or amino acid position 13 (p.G13D) KRAS mutations and can also be replicated in vivo in a xenograft model using a small molecule CDK1 inhibitor. Mechanistically, CDK1 inhibition caused a reduction in the S-phase fraction of KRAS mutant cells, an effect also characterised by modulation of Rb, a master control of the G1/S checkpoint. Taken together, these observations suggest that the KRAS/CDK1 interaction is a robust synthetic lethal effect worthy of further investigation

Identification of Novel Targets of CSL-Dependent Notch Signaling in Hematopoiesis

Somatic activating mutations in the Notch1 receptor result in the overexpression of activated Notch1, which can be tumorigenic. The goal of this study is to understand the molecular mechanisms underlying the phenotypic changes caused by the overexpression of ligand independent Notch 1 by using a tetracycline inducible promoter in an in vitro embryonic stem (ES) cells/OP9 stromal cells coculture system, recapitulating normal hematopoiesis. First, an in silico analysis of the promoters of Notch regulated genes (previously determined by microarray analysis) revealed that the motifs recognized by regulatory proteins known to mediate hematopoiesis were overrepresented. Notch 1 does not bind DNA but instead binds the CSL transcription factor to regulate gene expression. The in silico analysis also showed that there were putative CSL binding sites observed in the promoters of 28 out of 148 genes. A custom ChIP-chip array was used to assess the occupancy of CSL in the promoter regions of the Notch1 regulated genes in vivo and showed that 61 genes were bound by activated Notch responsive CSL. Then, comprehensive mapping of the CSL binding sites genome-wide using ChIP-seq analysis revealed that over 10,000 genes were bound within 10 kb of the TSS (transcription start site). The majority of the targets discovered by ChIP-seq belong to pathways that have been shown by others to crosstalk with Notch signaling. Finally, 83 miRNAs were significantly differentially expressed by greater than 1.5-fold during the course of in vitro hematopoiesis. Thirty one miRNA were up-regulated and fifty two were down-regulated. Overexpression of Notch1 altered this pattern of expression of microRNA: six miRNAs were up-regulated and four were down regulated as a result of activated Notch1 overexpression during the course of hematopoiesis. Time course analysis of hematopoietic development revealed that cells with Notch 1 overexpression mimic miRNA expression of cells in a less mature stage, which is consistent with our previous biological characterization

Schistosoma mansoni: In vitro schistosomicidal activity and tegumental alterations induced by piplartine on schistosomula

Schistosomiasis is one of the most important parasitic infections in humans that occur in many tropical and subtropical countries. Currently, the control of schistosomiasis rests with a single drug, praziquantel, which is effective against adult worms but not the larval stages. Recent studies have shown that piplartine, an amide isolated from plants of the genus Piper (Piperaceae), reveals interesting antischistosomal properties against Schistosoma mansoni adult worms. Here, we report the in vitro antischistosomal activity of piplartine on S. mansoni schistosomula of different ages (3 h old and 1, 3, 5, and 7 days old), and examine alterations on the tegumental surface of worms by means of confocal laser scanning microscopy. Piplartine at a concentration of 7.5 mu M caused the death of all schistosomula within 120 h. The lethal effect occurred in a dose-dependent manner and was also dependent on the age of the parasite. Microscopy observation revealed extensive tegumental destruction, including blebbing, granularity, and a shorter body length. This report provides the first evidence that piplartine is able to kill schistosomula of different ages and reinforce that piplartine is a promising compound that could be used for the development of new schistosomicidal agent. (c) 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.Fundacao de Amparo Pesquisa do Estado de Sao Paulo (FAPESP), BrazilFundacao de Amparo Pesquisa do Estado de Sao Paulo (FAPESP, Brazil