Pesquisa em ubimus na Educação Básica : um relato do Projeto Música Ubíqua no Colégio de Aplicação da UFRGS

Descrevemos aqui ações e abordagens em ensino e pesquisa em ubimus no contexto da Educação Básica, desenvolvidas no Colégio de Aplicação da UFRGS, envolvendo a participação de alunos do Ensino Médio através do Programas de Bolsa em Iniciação Científica modalidade Júnior implementadas no Colégio de Aplicação da UFRGS, bem como os trabalhos desenvolvidos em parceria com membros do g-ubimus durante o período de 2012-2018.This paper reports ubimus educational research actions and approaches carried out at the UFRGS Application School, targeting activities in basic education. These activities feature the participation of high-school students through a Brazilian undergraduate research programme called “Scientific Initiation”. It also reports collaborative research done by members of the Ubiquitous Music Group (g-ubimus), between the years 2012 and 2018

Hepatitis C virus genotypes in blood donors from the Federal District, Central Brazil

The objective of this study was to characterize hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotypes in blood donors from the Federal District, Central Brazil, and to compare HCV screening by serological assays and reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Plasma samples from 57 individuals with reactive or indeterminate results in serological anti-HCV screening assays (ELISA or EIA) were tested for HCV RNA by RT-PCR. The results from a confirmatory LIA serological assay were also evaluated. The 5' non-coding region of the HCV genome was amplified from 41 PCR positive samples (71.9%), which were further characterized by nucleotide sequencing analysis. Of these, 60.9% were of HCV genotype 1 and 39.1% of genotype 3

Measurement of the Bottom-Strange Meson Mixing Phase in the Full CDF Data Set

We report a measurement of the bottom-strange meson mixing phase \beta_s using the time evolution of B0_s -> J/\psi (->\mu+\mu-) \phi (-> K+ K-) decays in which the quark-flavor content of the bottom-strange meson is identified at production. This measurement uses the full data set of proton-antiproton collisions at sqrt(s)= 1.96 TeV collected by the Collider Detector experiment at the Fermilab Tevatron, corresponding to 9.6 fb-1 of integrated luminosity. We report confidence regions in the two-dimensional space of \beta_s and the B0_s decay-width difference \Delta\Gamma_s, and measure \beta_s in [-\pi/2, -1.51] U [-0.06, 0.30] U [1.26, \pi/2] at the 68% confidence level, in agreement with the standard model expectation. Assuming the standard model value of \beta_s, we also determine \Delta\Gamma_s = 0.068 +- 0.026 (stat) +- 0.009 (syst) ps-1 and the mean B0_s lifetime, \tau_s = 1.528 +- 0.019 (stat) +- 0.009 (syst) ps, which are consistent and competitive with determinations by other experiments.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figures, Phys. Rev. Lett 109, 171802 (2012

Genetic diversity and connectivity of southern right whales (Eubalaena australis) found in the Brazil and Chile-Peru wintering grounds and the South Georgia (Islas Georgias del Sur) feeding ground

As species recover from exploitation, continued assessments of connectivity and population structure are warranted to provide information for conservation and management. This is particularly true in species with high dispersal capacity, such as migratory whales, where patterns of connectivity could change rapidly. Here we build on a previous long-term, large-scale collaboration on southern right whales (Eubalaena australis) to combine new (nnew) and published (npub) mitochondrial (mtDNA) and microsatellite genetic data from all major wintering grounds and, uniquely, the South Georgia (Islas Georgias del Sur: SG) feeding grounds. Specifically, we include data from Argentina (npub mtDNA/microsatellite=208/46), Brazil (nnew mtDNA/microsatellite=50/50), South Africa (nnew mtDNA/microsatellite=66/77, npub mtDNA/microsatellite=350/47), Chile-Peru (nnew mtDNA/microsatellite=1/1), the Indo-Pacific (npub mtDNA/microsatellite=769/126), and SG (npub mtDNA/microsatellite=8/0, nnew mtDNA/microsatellite=3/11) to investigate the position of previously unstudied habitats in the migratory network: Brazil, SG and Chile-Peru. These new genetic data show connectivity between Brazil and Argentina, exemplified by weak genetic differentiation and the movement of one genetically identified individual between the South American grounds. The single sample from Chile-Peru had a mtDNA haplotype previously only observed in the Indo-Pacific and had a nuclear genotype that appeared admixed between the Indo-Pacific and South Atlantic, based on genetic clustering and assignment algorithms. The SG samples were clearly South Atlantic, and were more similar to the South American than the South African wintering grounds. This study highlights how international collaborations are critical to provide context for emerging or recovering regions, like the SG feeding ground, as well as those that remain critically endangered, such as Chile-Peru

Exploration of experiences in therapeutic groups for patients with severe mental illness: development of the Ferrara group experiences scale (FE-GES)

The study has been supported by the University of Ferrara (University Funds for Scientific Research 2008–2009

EphA3 Expressed in the Chicken Tectum Stimulates Nasal Retinal Ganglion Cell Axon Growth and Is Required for Retinotectal Topographic Map Formation

BACKGROUND: Retinotopic projection onto the tectum/colliculus constitutes the most studied model of topographic mapping and Eph receptors and their ligands, the ephrins, are the best characterized molecular system involved in this process. Ephrin-As, expressed in an increasing rostro-caudal gradient in the tectum/colliculus, repel temporal retinal ganglion cell (RGC) axons from the caudal tectum and inhibit their branching posterior to their termination zones. However, there are conflicting data regarding the nature of the second force that guides nasal axons to invade and branch only in the caudal tectum/colliculus. The predominant model postulates that this second force is produced by a decreasing rostro-caudal gradient of EphA7 which repels nasal optic fibers and prevents their branching in the rostral tectum/colliculus. However, as optic fibers invade the tectum/colliculus growing throughout this gradient, this model cannot explain how the axons grow throughout this repellent molecule. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: By using chicken retinal cultures we showed that EphA3 ectodomain stimulates nasal RGC axon growth in a concentration dependent way. Moreover, we showed that nasal axons choose growing on EphA3-expressing cells and that EphA3 diminishes the density of interstitial filopodia in nasal RGC axons. Accordingly, in vivo EphA3 ectodomain misexpression directs nasal optic fibers toward the caudal tectum preventing their branching in the rostral tectum. CONCLUSIONS: We demonstrated in vitro and in vivo that EphA3 ectodomain (which is expressed in a decreasing rostro-caudal gradient in the tectum) is necessary for topographic mapping by stimulating the nasal axon growth toward the caudal tectum and inhibiting their branching in the rostral tectum. Furthermore, the ability of EphA3 of stimulating axon growth allows understanding how optic fibers invade the tectum growing throughout this molecular gradient. Therefore, opposing tectal gradients of repellent ephrin-As and of axon growth stimulating EphA3 complement each other to map optic fibers along the rostro-caudal tectal axis

Global Spore Sampling Project: A global, standardized dataset of airborne fungal DNA

Novel methods for sampling and characterizing biodiversity hold great promise for re-evaluating patterns of life across the planet. The sampling of airborne spores with a cyclone sampler, and the sequencing of their DNA, have been suggested as an efficient and well-calibrated tool for surveying fungal diversity across various environments. Here we present data originating from the Global Spore Sampling Project, comprising 2,768 samples collected during two years at 47 outdoor locations across the world. Each sample represents fungal DNA extracted from 24 m3 of air. We applied a conservative bioinformatics pipeline that filtered out sequences that did not show strong evidence of representing a fungal species. The pipeline yielded 27,954 species-level operational taxonomic units (OTUs). Each OTU is accompanied by a probabilistic taxonomic classification, validated through comparison with expert evaluations. To examine the potential of the data for ecological analyses, we partitioned the variation in species distributions into spatial and seasonal components, showing a strong effect of the annual mean temperature on community composition.publishedVersio

Potentially inappropriate medication use among institutionalized elderly individuals in southeastern Brazil

In recent decades, the elderly population in Brazil has grown rapidly, as has concern for the health of this population. Institutionalization in nursing homes has appeared as an alternative form of health care for frail elderly that live alone. The present study evaluated the pharmacotherapy and inappropriate drug prescriptions for institutionalized elderly patients living in long-term institutions in southeastern Brazil. This research was conducted at five institutions with a total sample of 151 individuals aged at least 60 years. Databases were used to identify drug interactions, defined daily dose and inappropriate prescriptions. The prevalence of drug intake among the elderly was 95.36%, and there were an average of 3.31 ± 1.80 drug prescriptions per individual. Based on Beers criteria, the prevalence of inappropriate prescriptions was 25.83%. In addition, 70.2% of prescriptions were prescribed at a higher dosage than the defined daily dose (ATC/WHO). Potential drug interactions were identified for 54.11% of prescriptions; 81.42% of these were of moderate severity. The main inappropriate drugs were prescribed for cardiovascular and nervous system problems. Institutionalized elderly individuals presented a high consumption and misuse of medications, requiring professional intervention to monitor prescriptions and improve the quality of service for this population