Bia’s smile: an health education instrument on cleft lip and palate

This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited."The human smile is a hegemonic factor to an aesthetically harmonious facial appearance and it is an elementary agent in a child’s socialisation. Children manifesting sequels associated with clef lip and palate (CLP) are likely to be targets of discriminatory attitudes; in the eyes of society, their aesthetically mutilated faces reach conspicuous stigmatizing visibility. Preventive interventions tackling social exclusion should be implemented, first and foremost, at schools; they should involve multidisciplinary teams and be aimed at enabling behavioural skills and social aptitudes among the peers of children with CLP, so as to allow deconstruction of prejudice associated with this condition. The health education tool now introduced is a children’s book titled Bia’s Smile. Its ludic-pedagogic goal is to build awareness and sensitivity in children aged 4 to 7 years old, as well as alert and inform education agents on the issue, with the ultimate object of the book being the eradication of social exclusion and bullying experienced by children with CLP. The children’s book / learning textbook to mental health was designed so as to include a set of pictograms, inserted in the story’s narrative. It should be noted that the available literature reveals a paucity of preventive programs on this issue, both at national and international level, which amplifies the pertinence of our ludicpedagogic project.

Long-Term Exercise Training Modulates Breast Cancer Outcomes and Attenuates Cancer-Induced Muscle Wasting in Animals Academic.

Esta tese é suportada por duas revisões sistemáticas da literatura com metaanálise,que perspetivaram a sistematização e a quantificação da investigaçãoproduzida em animais, e por dois estudos experimentais com ratos Sprague-Dawley que objetivaram a avaliação dos efeitos de 35 semanas de exercíciofísico regular de intensidade moderada, no desenvolvimento de neoplasiasmamárias induzidas por carcinogénese química, no microambiente tumoral daslesões infiltrativas e no grau de atrofia muscular esquelética. As revisõessistemáticas com os respetivos procedimentos de meta-análise revelaram quea prática regular de exercício físico com caraterísticas específicas reduz acarga tumoral, a proliferação celular e a inflamação sistémica, aumentando ascaraterísticas pro-apoptóticas das células tumorais e regulando o nívelcirculante das hormonas sexuais e dos fatores associados ao metabolismo daglicose. Não se encontraram evidências convincentes da associação entreexercício físico e angiogénese tumoral. Os resultados dos estudosexperimentais revelaram, nos animais exercitados, uma redução nodesenvolvimento dos tumores e no número de lesões infiltrativas. Nas lesõesinfiltrativas observou-se, também com o exercício físico regular, uma melhoriano equilíbrio entre a proliferação celular e a morte celular, bem como umaredução de tecido conjuntivo, o que sugere uma menor agressividade tumoral.Constatou-se ainda que o exercício físico regular inibiu a ativação de vias desinalização associadas ao catabolismo proteico muscular esquelético, situaçãoque conduziu a um aumento da área de secção transversal das fibrasmusculares e a uma melhoria do seu metabolismo oxidativo. Os resultadosencontrados permitem concluir que, no modelo animal com cancro da mamainduzido quimicamente, o exercício físico regular atenua a carga tumoral efavorece o estadio microscópico, limitando a agressividade infiltrativa e aprogressão tumoral, reduzindo também as suas repercussões orgânicassistémicas, particularmente a nível muscular esquelético.The research for this thesis involved two systematic reviews of the literatureguided by meta-analyses, which intend to summarize and quantify the effects ofexercise on breast tumor outcomes in animal research. It also entailed twoexperimental studies with Sprague-Dawley rats to evaluate the effects of 35weeks of regular physical exercise of moderate intensity not only on thedevelopment of chemically induced breast neoplasms, and in the tumormicroenvironment of infiltrative lesions, but also on the degree of skeletalmuscular atrophy. Guided by meta-analytic procedures, the systematic reviewsrevealed that regular physical exercise under specific conditions can reducetumor burden, cell proliferation, and systemic inflammation, as well as increasethe proapoptotic features of tumors, regulating the circulating levels of sexhormones and of glucose-related factors. By contrast, no convincing evidencewas found to indicate a positive association between exercise and tumorangiogenesis. Moreover, the results of the experimental studies revealed areduction in tumors development and in the number of infiltrative lesions inanimals that exercised. In the infiltrative lesions of those animals, the improvedbalance of cell proliferation and cell death was observed, as was a reduction ofconnective tissue, which suggests lower tumor aggressiveness. Among otherobservations, regular physical exercise inhibited the activation of signalingpathways associated with catabolic effects in skeletal muscle proteins, whichprompted increases in the cross-sectional area of muscle fibers, accompaniedby improvements in their oxidative metabolism. Altogether, findings indicate thatin animal models with chemically induced breast cancer, regular exercisetraining attenuates tumor burden and favorably affects tumor staging by limitinginfiltrative aggressiveness and tumor progression, as well as by reducingsystemic organic consequences in skeletal muscle

Self-efficacy, mathematics’ anxiety and perceived importance: an empirical study with Portuguese engineering students

The accomplishment in mathematics has gained attention from educators and arises as an emerging field of study, including in engineering education. However, in Portugal, there is still incipient research in the area; so it is high time to explore factors that might enlighten the gap in the study of the relationship between Portuguese engineering students and the learning of mathematics. The main purpose of this study is to explore three factors identified in the literature as influencing the learning of mathematical concepts – self-efficacy, anxiety towards mathematics and perceived importance of mathematics – and search for differences by gender and by type of engineering course, a dimension not much reported in the literature but which was revealed as important in the team’s previous research. Based on a sample of 140 undergraduate students of different engineering courses from University of Minho, results only identify differences in the type of course and not in gender. These results constitute a contribution and open new paths for future research in the engineering education.FCT (Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia, Portugal) in the scope of the project PEst-OE/EEI/UI0319/201

Characterization of middle-ear condition of Oporto daycare children up-to 3 years-old: A cross sectional study

Objective The aim of this study was to determine tympanometric values of children who attend Oporto daycare centers and further analyze any relations with host and environmental factors. Methods Cross sectional study in a randomly selected sample of 117 daycare children up-to 3-years old from Oporto. Tympanometric measures were collected. Results Children presented in left ear (LE) a mean peak pressure (PP) of −156.53 daPa and a mean compliance of 0.16 cm3. Right ear (RE) revealed a PP of −145.61 daPa and a compliance of 0.19 cm3. Normal tympanograms (type A) had a lower frequency than abnormal tympanograms (type B and type C). There was a positive association between age and compliance (LE: p = 0.016; RE: p = 0.013) and between the presence of rhinorrhea and PP (LE: p = 0.002; RE: p < 0.05). Abnormal tympanograms were more frequent in Spring (RE: p = 0.009), in younger children (LE: p = 0.03) and in children that had rhinorrhea (LE: p = 0.002; RE: p = 0.044). Healthy children had a mean PP of −125.19 daPa and a mean compliance of 0.21 cm3 in LE and a mean PP of −144.27 daPa and a mean compliance of 0.22 cm3 in RE. Conclusion Tympanometric measures presented in this paper may be applicable to Oporto daycare children up-to 3 years-old. Most of daycare children revealed abnormal tympanograms. Age, rhinorrhea and season influenced children's middle-ear condition

Les facteurs qui influencent l'apprentissage des concepts mathématiques dans les cours d'Ingénierie: une étude exploratoire avec des étudiants de l'Université de Minho

O sucesso na aprendizagem da Matemática no ensino superior constitui um campo emergente de pesquisa, em particular nos cursos de Engenharia. No entanto, em Portugal ainda é incipiente a pesquisa na área, pelo que é pertinente explorar fatores que podem esclarecer a relação entre os estudantes de Engenharia e a Matemática. Com base em três focus group realizados com estudantes de dois cursos de Engenharia da Universidade do Minho, este estudo exploratório pretende investigar as atitudes dos estudantes na aprendizagem de conceitos matemáticos e averiguar os fatores que influenciam a sua experiência no processo de aprendizagem. Para além da perceção da importância da Matemática no seu curso e na sua futura profissão, os resultados sugerem que há fatores que influenciam o seu desempenho, nomeadamente o papel do professor e a sua metodologia de ensino, bem como a aplicabilidade dos conceitos matemáticos no contexto da Engenharia, o papel ativo do estudante na aprendizagem e a influência dos pais e da sociedade.Success in the learning of Mathematics in higher education constitutes an emerging field of research, particularly in the Engineering courses. In Portugal, however, the research in this area remains incipient. It is therefore relevant to explore which factors may clarify the relation between the Engineering students and Mathematics. Based on three focus groups carried out with students from two Engineering courses at the University of Minho, this exploratory study aims to investigate the attitudes of students in the learning of mathematical concepts and find out the factors that influence their experience in the learning process. Beyond the perception of the importance of Mathematics in their course and their future profession, the results suggest that there are factors that influence their performance, such as the teacher's role and his/her teaching methodology, as well as the applicability of mathematical concepts in the context of Engineering, the student’s active role in learning and the influence of parents and society.Le succès de l'apprentissage de la Mathématique à l'enseignement supérieur est un domaine émergent de la recherche, particulièrement aux cours d'Ingénierie. Toutefois, au Portugal, la recherche est encore naissante, donc il est pertinent d'explorer les facteurs qui peuvent expliquer la relation entre les étudiants en Ingénierie et les Mathématiques. Basé sur trois groupes de discussion menés avec des étudiants de deux cours d'Ingénierie de l'Université de Minho, cette étude exploratoire vise à étudier les attitudes des élèves dans l'apprentissage des concepts mathématiques et de déterminer les facteurs qui influent sur leur expérience dans le processus d'apprentissage. En plus de la perception de l'importance des Mathématiques dans leur cours et leur future profession, les résultats suggèrent qu'il existe des facteurs qui influencent leur performance, à savoir : le rôle de l'enseignant dans la méthodologie de l'enseignement et l'applicabilité des concepts mathématiciens dans le contexte de l'Ingénierie, le rôle active de l'étudiant dans l'apprentissage et l'influence des parents et de la société.FCT (Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia, Portugal) no âmbito do projeto PEst-OE/EEI/UI0319/201

What service?

Technology is changing society, organizations, and interactions between service organizations and customers at a fast pace. Moreover, technology is transforming the nature of services and, in academia, multidisciplinary research is trying to make sense of these changes and leverage the opportunity of service innovation in different fields. After a brief review of the literature focused on services, we found that the term “service” is often used to mean many different things. This paper explores the meaning and scope of services in technological and managerial domains. As a final result, we summarize the concepts of services in the broad areas of management and technology that we found in the literature. Management refers to the concepts that are often used in the fields of marketing and operations management, whereas technology includes the service-like concepts from the fields of software engineering and information systems

Hipermobilidade Articular em Instrumentistas: Medidas Preventivas e Tratamentos

Dentre os diversos fatores que predispõem um instrumentista a lesões, desconfortos e dores, está a Hipermobilidade Articular e/ou Sí­ndrome de Hipermobilidade Articular. Este artigo visa abordar questões gerais sobre hipermobilidade, baseando-se em pesquisas já realizadas, a exemplo de Larsson et al. (1993), que analisaram 660 músicos, destacando os benefí­cios e desvantagens da hipermobilidade em instrumentistas. É de grande importância para o instrumentista hipermóvel o desenvolvimento da consciência corporal em conjunto com um acompanhamento por um profissional fisioterapeuta para a formulação de exercí­cios que desenvolvam a propriocepção, o fortalecimento muscular das estruturas envolvidas e atuem na prevenção ou recuperação de lesões

CONSELHOS GESTORES, CONTROLE E POLÍTICAS SOCIAIS: A face do consenso

RESUMO: O presente trabalho se configura como estudo bibliográfico sobre o controle social das Políticas Sociais, o qual em como objetivo analisar o processo de controle social após a Constituição de 1988. A partir desse enfoque, aborda-se como se deu a nova relação de consenso entre o Estado e a sociedade civil, no trato das Políticas Sociais no Brasil, em seguida trata-se do controle social das políticas sociais através dos Conselhos Gestores, enquanto espaços de participação dos cidadãos, sem negar a sua contradição, já que se insere em um Estado capitalista. Por fim, se tece que os Conselhos ora é instrumento de controle social via cidadão, ora pode tornar-se um controle pelo Estado para promover consensos e silenciar as lutas sociais. Como também se aponta o desafio de mobilização da sociedade, a fim de fortalecer os movimentos sociais, já que os Conselhos não são os únicos condutos de participação social

ATUAÇÃO DO ASSISTENTE SOCIAL NOS CONSELHOS GESTORES: Uma demanda contemporânea

Este trabalho apresenta a contribuição do Assistente Social face a implementação do controle social através dos conselhos gestores de políticas públicas, compreendendo a importância da profissão nesses espaços institucionais de participação e mobilização social. O objetivo do trabalho é oferecer subsídios ao debate acerca dessa demanda ao profissional de Serviço Social na contemporaneidade. Conclui-se que a atribuição de novas competências, se dá por mediações ético-política diante dos conflitos no processo de interesses contraditórios dos diversos sujeitos envolvidos, considerando a sociedade capitalista na qual estamos inseridos

Locomotion gait optimization for a quadruped robot

This article describes the development of a gait optimization system that allows a fast but stable robot quadruped crawl gait. We focus in the development of a quadruped robot walking gait locomotion that combine bio-inspired Central Patterns Generators (CPGs) and Genetic Algorithms (GA). The CPGs are modelled as autonomous differential equations, that generate the necessary limb movement to perform the walking gait, and the Genetic Algorithm perform the search of the CPGs parameters. This approach allows to explicitly specify parameters such as amplitude, offset and frequency of movement and to smoothly modulate the generated trajectories according to changes in these parameters. It is therefore easy to combine the CPG with an optimization method. A genetic algorithm determines the best set of parameters that generates the limbs movements. We intend to obtain a walking gait locomotion that minimizes the vibration and maximizes the wide stability margin and the forward velocity. The experimental results, performed on a simulated Aibo robot, demonstrated that our approach allows low vibration with a high velocity and wide stability margin for a quadruped walking gait locomotion