NARRATIVE AND IMAGE: METAPHORS OF THE DIALOGICAL SELF AND THE PROBLEM OF SPATIALITY

Ruck and Slunecko (2008) present a proposal for a method of investigation of the dialogical self which is based on the potential of the image as a form of self-expression and a privileged means of accessing its structure and relational dynamics. The main objective of the pictorial method is the study of the role of the self’s spatial and temporal dimensions and it seeks to become an alternative tool to methods of a narrative nature, which put stress on the temporal dimension, and which have dominated dialogical self theory at a meta-theoretical and theoretical levels and also at a methodological level. This commentary takes the form of a reflection on the dichotomy inherent to the general argument of the authors: image versus narrative in the dialogical conception of the self. The viability of both narrative and pictorial metaphors, in the description of the dialogicality intrinsic to the processes pertaining to identity is discussed through the difference between narrative/textual/linguistic spatiality and imagery/pictorial/geographic spatiality.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

NARRATIVE AND IMAGE: METAPHORS OF THE DIALOGICAL SELF AND THE PROBLEM OF SPATIALITY (COMMENTARY ON RUCK & SLUNECKO)

Ruck and Slunecko (2008) present a proposal for a method of investigation of the dialogical self which is based on the potential of the image as a form of self-expression and a privileged means of accessing its structure and relational dynamics. The main objective of the pictorial method is the study of the role of the self’s spatial and temporal dimensions and it seeks to become an alternative tool to methods of a narrative nature, which put stress on the temporal dimension, and which have dominated dialogical self theory at a meta-theoretical and theoretical levels and also at a methodological level. This commentary takes the form of a reflection on the dichotomy inherent to the general argument of the authors: image versus narrative in the dialogical conception of the self. The viability of both narrative and pictorial metaphors, in the description of the dialogicality intrinsic to the processes pertaining to identity is discussed through the difference between narrative/textual/linguistic spatiality and imagery/pictorial/geographic spatiality

Desenvolvimento de metodologias de biologia molecular para a detecão de carne de cavalo (Equus caballus) em produtos cárneos

A identificação de espécies em alimentos é cada vez mais importante para avaliar a sua autenticidade, principalmente nos produtos cárneos. O consumidor tem direito a uma escolha informada, uma vez que esta pode ser um reflexo de um estilo de vida, práticas religiosas ou problemas de saúde. Assim, uma rotulagem correta e verdadeira é fundamental para manter o consumidor informado sobre a identidade e qualidade dos produtos alimentares que está a adquirir. Recentemente, surgiu um escândalo de dimensões internacionais, relacionado com a adição de carne de cavalo não declarada em alimentos processados. Contudo, a presença desta espécie não representa um risco para a saúde do consumidor, a não ser que a carne de cavalo contenha fenilbutazona. Esta droga não é permitida para o consumo humano, uma vez que pode causar doenças sanguíneas, como a anemia aplástica. Animais que forem medicados com esta droga não podem ser utilizados para consumo, uma vez que não é possível definir um limite máximo de resíduo para este medicamento veterinário. Todavia, a presença não declarada desta espécie representa uma fraude alimentar. Assim, este trabalho teve como objetivo o desenvolvimento de técnicas de PCR específicas e sensíveis para a identificação de carne de cavalo em produtos alimentares. Inicialmente foi desenvolvida a técnica de PCR qualitativa, onde foram estabelecidos limites de deteção (LOD) absolutos e relativos. A sensibilidade obtida para o LOD absoluto foi de 1pg e 10 pg para ADN de cavalo cruo e autoclavado, respetivamente. Relativamente ao LOD relativo também se alcançaram limites distintos para misturas binárias cruas e processadas, de 0,001% e 0,01%, respetivamente. Esta técnica foi aplicada a um conjunto de 77 amostras adquiridas antes e depois do “escândalo da carne de cavalo”, sendo que 2 revelaram a presença da espécie. Posteriormente, de forma a confirmar e quantificar a espécie de cavalo, recorreu-se à técnica de PCR em tempo real com o corante EvaGreen e análise de melting. Atingiu-se um limite de deteção absoluto de 0,1 pg de ADN de cavalo cruo e autoclavado, e um LOD relativo de 0,0001% de carne de cavalo em misturas cruas e processadas. Por fim, foi construído e validado o modelo normalizado de quantificação com base no método ΔCt, tendo-se passado à sua aplicação nas amostras que amplificaram positivamente a espécie de cavalo na PCR qualitativa. O método permitiu confirmar a presença de ADN de cavalo, no entanto os valores baixos encontrados indicaram que a presença de cavalo deverá ser resultado de contaminação cruzada e não de possível fraude. Pode-se concluir que neste trabalho foram desenvolvidas ferramentas úteis e eficazes para a deteção de adulterações em produtos cárneos com carne de cavalo.Nowadays, identification of species in food is of major importance to evaluate food authenticity, with special emphasis on meat products. The consumer has the right of an informed choice, which may be a reflection of lifestyles, religious practices or health problems. Therefore, a correct and truthful labelling is crucial to inform the consumer about the identity and quality of food products they are buying. Recently, associated with the undeclared addition of horse meat to processed foods, an international scandal emerged. The presence of this species does not pose a health risk to the consumer, unless the horse meat contains phenylbutazone. This drug is not allowed for human consumption since it can cause blood diseases such as aplastic anaemia. Animals that are treated with this drug cannot be used for consumption since it is not possible to set a maximum residue limit for this veterinary medicine. However, the presence of non-declared horse-species is a food fraud. This work aimed at developing sensitive and specific PCR-based methods for the identification of horse meat in food products. Initially qualitative PCR assay was developed, where absolute and relative limits of detection (LOD) were established. The sensitivity obtained for the absolute LOD was 1 pg of raw horse DNA and 10 pg of processed horse DNA. The relative sensitivity was achieved by means of raw and processed binary reference mixtures, showing LOD of 0.001 % and 0.1%, respectively. This technique has been successfully applied to a set of 77 samples, prior and after the “horse meat scandal”, which showed the presence of two positive samples to horse DNA. Subsequently, in order to confirm and quantify the presence of horse, we resorted to the technique of real-time PCR with EvaGreen dye and melting curve analysis. The technique reached a absolute LOD of 0.1 pg in raw and autoclaved horse DNA and a relative LOD 0.0001% of horse meat in raw and processed mixtures. Finally, the standard model for quantification was built based on ΔCt method, successfully validated and applied to the positive samples in qualitative PCR. However, this model can be only applied in one sample. Quantification revealed the presence of the specie at very low amount, which suggests the possibility of cross-contamination. The method allowed confirming the presence of horse DNA, though the low values indicate that its presence should have been the result of cross-contamination and not an eventual food fraud. This work allowed concluding that useful and effective tools were developed for the adulteration detection in meat products with horse meat

Internet-delivered cognitive behavioral therapy for anxiety among university students: a systematic review and meta-analysis

University years are marked by multiple stressors. Consequently, university students often report anxiety symptoms or disorders, but most remain untreated. Internet-delivered cognitive behavioral therapy (ICBT) has been proposed as an alternative to address known help-seeking barriers, which were aggravated during the COVID-19 pandemic. This meta-analysis aims to evaluate the efficacy of ICBT for university students with anxiety. A systematic search on three databases, EBSCOhost, PubMed, and Web of Science, and a manual search were performed. Fifteen studies were identified, including a total of 1619 participants. Seven studies evaluated ICBT treatment for both anxiety and depression, three for social anxiety, two for generalized anxiety, while the remaining (k = 3) only targeted anxiety, test anxiety, and comorbidity between anxiety and insomnia. Analyses were performed based on a random-effects model using the metafor package in R. The results indicated that ICBT had a significant and positive effect on university students with anxiety compared to controls at post-test (g = 0.48; 95 % CI: 0.63, 0.27; p < .001, I2 = 67.30 %). Nevertheless, more research is required to determine the intervention components that are more relevant for therapeutic change, how much guidance is required to produce better outcomes, and how patient engagement can be improved.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Qual a importância da Auditoria Operacional nas PME Portuguesas?

Atualmente, as organizações enfrentam vários desafios, por exemplo, as suas transações organizacionais crescem em volume e complexidade e estão a viver em ambientes de negócios altamente regulamentados. Portanto, os mecanismos de controlo e monitorização são necessários para avaliar e validar todas as transações, de forma abrangente, para atender aos controlos e regulamentos. Contudo, o processo de auditoria tradicional ocorre principalmente após a conclusão das transações, uma vez que não é viável auditá-las a tempo. Assim, torna possível inibir o risco associado à sua execução. Para muitas organizações existe um conjunto de riscos significativos de erros e fraudes e estes não são detetados atempadamente, resultando num impacto bastante nefasto para as organizações. A atual crise financeira global e os sucessivos e conhecidos escândalos de algumas organizações, como Lehman Brothers, A-Tec, Madoff, Kaupthing Bank, WorldCom, Enron, Parmalat, e muitos outros, levaram a que exista uma forma de prever esses erros e fraudes. Assim, qualquer organização deve estar suficientemente preparada para sobreviver, independentemente do número de riscos a que está sujeito, mediante a implementação de um sistema adequado de Garantia Contínua, com o quadro legislativo e regulamentar aplicável. Esta garantia contínua poderá ser efetuada através da auditoria operacional. O presente artigo tem como objetivo a análise da importância da auditoria operacional das PME’s portuguesas. Através da aplicação de um questionário semiestruturado, e da análise de um caso prático, identificam-se o tipo de erros que podem ocorrer afetando de forma significativa as Demostrações Financeiras

Aprender a ensinar, ensinar a aprender : práticas de ensino e aprendizagem em contexto educativo : relatório

O presente documento, elaborado no âmbito da Prática de Ensino Supervisionada do Mestrado em Ensino de Informática, descreve e analisa as atividades desenvolvidas na escola EB 2,3/S de Arcos de Valdevez. O trabalho aborda o conjunto de atividades letivas e não letivas desenvolvidas. A componente letiva decorreu numa turma do décimo primeiro ano do Curso Profissional de Técnico de Informática de Gestão, no contexto da disciplina de Linguagens de Programação. Neste relatório, é também apresentada a componente de investigação como parte integrante do mestrado, sobre o tema “Os Estilos de Aprendizagem e a Utilização de Recursos Informáticos”, na forma de artigo científico, onde se pretendeu clarificar de que modo a escolha, a utilização e a conjugação das diversas ferramentas informáticas poderá beneficiar os diferentes estilos de aprendizagem.The present document was elaborated during the supervised teaching practice of the “Mestrado em Ensino de Informática”, master in informatics teaching. It describes and analyses the activities developed on the EB 2,3/S de Arcos de Valdevez school. Through the report are pointed the set of teaching and non-teaching activities. The teaching component took place in a class of eleventh year of the Professional Course of “Técnico de Informática de Gestão” in the context of the discipline of programming languages. In the work is also presented a project research entitled “Os Estilos de Aprendizagem e a Utilização de Recursos Informáticos” witch is intended to clarify how the choice, use and combination of different tools may benefit different learning styles

Novas metodologias para a identificação de adulterações de produtos cárneos com carne de cavalo

O consumo de carne de cavalo depende, principalmente, dos hábitos alimentares das populações que habitam em algumas regiões. Regra geral, este animal é mais consumido nos países onde é produzido [1]. Ao longo dos tempos, o seu consumo tem variado amplamente de acordo com as dife-renças culturais e económicas da sociedade. Este animal fornece uma fonte, relativamente barata, de proteína ani-mal em países onde os cavalos são extensivamente utiliza-dos como animais de trabalho e transporte humano [2]. A textura da carne de cavalo é relativamente firma, e o seu sabor adocicado é-lhe atribuído pelo seu elevado teor em glicogénio, em comparação com outras espécies [1]. Esta carne contém um elevado teor em água, proteínas, ferro e vitaminas, que são solúveis em água. O seu menor teor em lípidos e elevado em fibras musculares e vitaminas insolú-veis em água torna-a diferente, em comparação com a carne bovina e suína [3]. Muitas vezes a ingestão de carne de ca-valo esteve associada a épocas de escassez de alimentos. Contudo, o consumo deste animal é relativamente popular nos países nórdicos e asiáticos, bem como na Itália [4]. Nos países membros da UE, o consumo médio por habitante é de apenas 0,4 kg por ano, mas devido a uma produção insu-ficiente a importação abrange 66,7% das necessidades do mercado [3].Os autores agradecem o apoio financeiro da Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) através do projeto PEst-C/EQB/LA0006/2013.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

A network approach to emotion regulation and symptom activation in depression and anxiety

Background: Emotions can be regulated through several regulatory strategies that are involved in the development of psychopathological symptoms. Despite the well-established association between psychopathology and emotion dysregulation, little is known about the relationship between individual symptoms of depression and anxiety and emotion regulation strategies (ERS), as well as between ERS themselves. Method: We conducted a cross-sectional study and examined the interactions between six ERS (reappraisal, engagement, rumination, suppression, arousal control, and distraction) and assessed their distinctive association with the activation of specific symptoms of depression and anxiety in a community sample of 376 adults (80.4% female; Mage = 32.70; SDage = 11.80). The Regulation Emotion Systems Survey (RESS) was used to measure ERS. The Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) and the Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD-7) were used to assess psychological symptoms. An exploratory graph analysis was performed to examine the structural properties of the network of interactions between these behaviors. Additionally, to test the association of ERS with the activation of the depression symptoms network, an expected symptoms activity (ESA) was conducted. Results: Six communities were found that correspond to the six ERS. Rumination and suppression have a significant association with symptom activation (particularly low self-esteem), whereas reappraisal reduces symptomatic activation. The effect of arousal control, engagement, and distraction appears to depend on the remaining ERS rather than having much influence on their own. Conclusion: This study provides insight into how ERS interact with each other and with individual symptoms of depression and anxiety. Understanding the effects of these interactions on symptom activation and comorbidity can improve our understanding of psychopathology.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Ionic liquid-based materials for biomedical applications

Ionic liquids (ILs) have been extensively explored and implemented in different areas, ranging from sensors and actuators to the biomedical field. The increasing attention devoted to ILs centers on their unique properties and possible combination of different cations and anions, allowing the development of materials with specific functionalities and requirements for applications. Particularly for biomedical applications, ILs have been used for biomaterials preparation, improving dissolution and processability, and have been combined with natural and synthetic polymer matrixes to develop IL-polymer hybrid materials to be employed in different fields of the biomedical area. This review focus on recent advances concerning the role of ILs in the development of biomaterials and their combination with natural and synthetic polymers for different biomedical areas, including drug delivery, cancer therapy, tissue engineering, antimicrobial and antifungal agents, and biosensing.The authors thank the FCT (Fundacao para a Ciencia e Tecnologia) for financial support under the framework of the Strategic Funding UID/FIS/04650/2019 and pro-jects PTDC/BTM-MAT/28237/2017, PTDC/EMD-EMD/28159/2017, and PTDC/FIS-MAC/28157/2017. Funds provided by FCT in the framework of EuroNano-Med 2016 call, Project LungChek ENMed/0049/2016 are also gratefully acknowledged. D.M.C., L.C.F., R.M.M., and M.M.F. also thank the FCT for the grants SFRH/BPD/121526/2016, SFRH/BD/145345/2019, and FRH/BD/148655/2019, SFRH/BPD/121464/2016, respectively and CR thanks the FCT for the contract under the Stimulus of Scientific Employment (2020.04163.CEECIND). S.L.M. and J.R. acknowledge the funding support from the Spanish State Research Agency (AEI) through the project PID2019-106099RB-C43/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and from the Basque Government Industry Department under the ELKARTEK program.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Electrospun magnetic ionic liquid based electroactive materials for tissue engineering applications

Functional electrospun fibers incorporating ionic liquids (ILs) present a novel approach in the development of active microenviroments due to their ability to respond to external magnetic fields without the addition of magnetic particles. In this context, this work reports on the development of magnetically responsive magneto-ionic fibers based on the electroactive polymer poly(vinylidene fluoride) and the magnetic IL (MIL), bis(1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium) tetrathiocyanatocobaltate ([Bmim]2[(SCN)4Co]). The PVDF/MIL electrospun fibers were prepared incorporating 5, 10 and 15 wt.% of the MIL, showing that the inclusion of the MIL increases the polar β-phase content of the polymer from 79% to 94% and decreases the crystallinity of the fibers from 47% to 36%. Furthermore, the thermal stability of the fibers decreases with the incorporation of the MIL. The magnetization of the PVDF/MIL composite fibers is proportional to the MIL content and decreases with temperature. Finally, cytotoxicity assays show a decrease in cell viability with increasing the MIL content.This research was funded by FCT—Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT) under the scope of the strategic funding of UID/FIS/04650/2020, and project PTDC/BTM-MAT/28237/2017. Moreover, the authors thank FCT for the research grant SFRH/BD/145345/2019 (LMC), SFRH/BD/148655/2019 (RMM), and D.M.C. and CR thank the FCT for the contract under the Stimulus of Scientific Employment 2020.02915.CEECIND and 2020.04163.CEECIND, respectively.The authors acknowledge funding by Spanish State Research Agency (AEI) and the European Regional Development Fund (ERFD) through the project PID2019-106099RB-C43/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and from the Basque Government Industry Departments under the ELKARTEK program. Technical and human support provided by IZO-SGI, SGIker (UPV/EHU, MICINN, GV/EJ, ERDF and ESF) is gratefully acknowledged