Economic Policies and Bankruptcy Institutions: Brazil in a Period of Transition from Colony to Independent Nation

This paper studies the legislation on bankruptcy introduced into Brazil by D.João VI (1808-1821) and shows how this legislation was used in this period as an instrument of protection for certain specific economic activities. On one hand, this work deliberately seeks to incorporate institutions into the study of Brazilian economic history, based on the assumption that the lack of interest in the role played by these institutions has hindered a better understanding of the country’s economic development during the Nineteenth Century. On the other hand, this paper introduces new material for the purpose of re-assessing the economic policies enforced in this period. In fact the study of the bankruptcy legislation suggests that one of the Government’s main concern at the time was to promote the development of activities directly related to gold and sugar exports. Therefore the general and popular acceptance of the revolutionary character of the economic policy in this period is challenged.Institutions, Bankruptcy, D. João VI, Legislation

Development of a large animal model for percutaneous vertebroplasty for in vivo evaluation of a new injectable cement

The present work aimed to test in vivo a new biomaterial for vertebral augmentation. Vertebral compression fractures not healing with conservative management are treated through minimally invasive surgical techniques. Presently, most of the cements used in percutaneous bone interventions are based on a polymeric non-resorbable matrix. However, they can present some complications. Calcium suphate-based cements are effective bone substitutes. Disadvantages include their limited shear and compressive strength. To go beyond the state of the art, a new bioactive calcium sulphate-based cement was developed - Spine-Ghost. To test the suitability of the injectable cement for percutaneous vertebroplasty, a preclinical study was mandatory. A new large animal model for percutaneous vertebroplasty was developed in sheep. In the ex vivo model, bone defects were created in the cranial hemivertebrae through a bilateral modified parapedicular approach, and mechanical tests were performed. The ex vivo model is reproducible, and safe under physiological loads. In the in vivo study, two groups of Merino sheep were defined (n=8): a) the control group, injected with a commercial ceramic cement; and b) the experimental group, injected with Spine-Ghost. Of the first interventioned animals, two presented cardiorespiratory distress during the cement injection, and one had mild neurologic deficits in the hindlimbs. All sheep survived and completed the 6-month implantation period. After sacrifice, the samples were assessed by micro-computed tomography, histological, histomorphometric, and immunohistological studies. There was no evidence of cement leakage into the vertebral foramen. No signs of infection or inflammation were observed. Most importantly, there was cement resorption and new trabecular bone formation in the bone defects of all sheep. The model of percutaneous vertebroplasty is considered suitable for preclinical in vivo studies, mimicking clinical application. Spine-Ghost proved to be an adequate material for percutaneous vertebroplasty, with a biological response identical, if not superior, to the one elicited by the available commercial control; Desenvolvimento de modelo animal superior para vertebroplastia percutânea para avaliação in vivo de um novo cimento injetável. Sumário: O trabalho aqui apresentado teve por objetivo a avaliação in vivo de um novo biomaterial injetável para vertebroplastia a cifoplastia percutâneas. As fraturas de compressão vertebral com indicação cirúrgica são tratadas com recurso a técnicas minimamente invasivas. Presentemente, a maioria dos cimentos utilizados baseiam-se numa matriz polimérica não reabsorvível. Podem, no entanto, causar algumas complicações. Os cimentos à base de sulfato de cálcio são substitutos ósseos eficazes, cujas desvantagens incluem resistência limitada a esforços de corte e compressão. Um novo cimento bioativo de sulfato de cálcio - Spine-Ghost - foi desenvolvido. Para testar a sua aplicabilidade na vertebroplastia percutânea, tornou-se imperativo um estudo pré- clínico. Para o efeito, um novo modelo animal para vertebroplastia percutânea foi desenvolvido em ovinos e sujeito a ensaios mecânicos. No modelo ex vivo, foram criados bilateralmente dois defeitos ósseos interligados, nas hemivértebras craniais, através de uma abordagem parapedicular modificada. O modelo ex vivo é reprodutível e seguro sob cargas fisiológicas. No estudo in vivo, definiram-se dois grupos de ovelhas Merino (n=8): a) grupo controlo, injetado com cimento comercial de base cerâmica; b) grupo experimental, injetado com Spine-Ghost. Nos primeiros animais intervencionados, dois apresentaram alterações cardiorrespiratórias durante a injeção de cimento, e um défices neurológicos ligeiros nos membros pélvicos. Todos os animais sobreviveram e completaram o período de implantação de 6 meses. Após a ocisão, as amostras foram avaliadas por microtomografia computorizada, histologia, histomorfometria e imunohistoquímica. Não se observou derrame de cimento para o canal vertebral, nem sinais de infeção ou inflamação. Ademais, verificou-se a reabsorção do cimento e a neoformação de tecido ósseo trabecular no interior dos defeitos ósseos, em todos os animais. O modelo de vertebroplastia percutânea é considerado adequado para estudos pré- clínicos, mimetizando a aplicação clínica. O Spine-Ghost demonstrou ser um biomaterial adequado para vertebroplastia percutânea, com uma resposta biológica idêntica, se não superior, à elicitada pelo controlo comercial

Urinary biomarkers of biofortified beef in healthy women explored by untargeted metabolomics

Background: The prevalence of overweight and non-communicable chronic diseases is rising all over the globe. The high consumption of energy dense foods on behalf of high nutrient-dense food leads to lower intake of essential vitamins and minerals, such as vitamins D, E, K, and selenium. These micronutrients are related with numerous human vital functions and their deficiency is positively associated with higher risk of chronic diseases and mortality. Bovine meat is an important source of several micronutrients, with higher bioavailability compared to other plant-based foods. Meat consumption is expected to increase worldwide, therefore the biofortification of bull’s feeds can be an innovative strategy to increase population’s exposure to nutrients. Metabolomics techniques are capable to explore if the supplementation will ultimately lead to a higher micronutrient’s uptake in the body. Objective: The aim of the present study was to explore the differences on urinary metabolic fingerprint of women ingesting 300g of beef a day from bulls fed concentrate supplemented with extra vitamin D, E, K, and selenium compared to the regular composite feed. Methodology: A 32 days double-blind randomized cross-over human intervention study with two intervention periods, each for 6 days, was conducted in 35 healthy women. The participants were instructed to eat 300g of grinded beef meat as raw weight per day, either from bulls fed with regular control feed or meat supplemented with vitamin D, E, K and selenium, combined with their habitual diet. Fasting urine samples were collected in the morning before and after each intervention period and were analyzed by LC-MS untargeted metabolomics. Multivariate and univariate analysis were applied do identify discriminative features between the two interventions. Results: A total of 7 and 6 metabolites for positive and negative mode, respectively, were selected as discriminative of the two interventions. Among these, markers of overall meat intake, as well as markers of animal feed, markers related with the participants diet and inflammation-related markers were identified as upregulated or downregulated for the supplemented intervention. No markers specifically related to the biofortification were observed. Conclusions: Based on our methodology, the ingestion of biofortified beef did not results in a higher level of related metabolites when comparing the two interventions. Minor changes indicate that consequences of biofortification were very small. Further research is needed to understand if a higher increase of vitamin D, E, K, and selenium on animal´s feed composite can lead to different outcomes

A asma induzida pelo exercício na criança

A Asma Brônquica é a doença crónica mais comum nas crianças. É definida como uma disfunção inflamatória crónica das vias aéreas que provoca uma resposta exacerbada das mesmas, levando ao aparecimento recorrente de episódios de pieira, dispneia, opressão torácica e tosse associada a obstrução do fluxo de ar que pode ser reversível, quer de uma forma espontânea quer por terapêutica. Nas crianças, o exercício contínuo e intenso pode levar a um aumento transitório da resistência das vias aéreas, conduzindo a obstrução brônquica ao aparecimento da tosse, pieira, dispneia e opressão torácica, a chamada asma induzida pelo exercício

Mecanismos Cognitivos e Humor: uma Atitude Linguística que Pressupõe a Inteligibilidade Mútua.

Language is understood as part of a cognitive system, containing some processes as emotions, perception, categorization, abstraction and reasoning. Information processing and language understanding are active phenomena, requiring from the listener the obligation to use cognitive rules in order to resemble each sentence he or she is reading or listening to what he or she has read or heard before taking into account the perspective of textual cohesion. Thus, a cognitive rule can be defined as a general construct, a logical proposition or a fact that comes from experience. When the speech is humorous, the incongruity must be present. This is because the physical response of laughter is caused by the coexistence of two or more inconsistent, incongruous and apparently not bound together instances. The incongruity resolution model states that the creation of humor begins with the construction of an incongruity that is resolved later due to information which is provided, but there are several processes of creating and resolving the incongruity. However, humour appreciation also implies the cognitive ability to understand the humorous material, so that it is expected that an individual should select, correctly, the original conclusion of a humorous text (Shammi & Stuss, 1999). This study aims to understand how the cognitive mechanisms may influence the interpretation of a humorous text under the perspective of mutual intelligibility, considering the speaker and the listener in interlocutory terms. The methodological proceedings rely on asking 100 people to choose the original punch-line or funny end of seven pre-tested texts, among four hypotheses: logical but not surprising; surprising but not logical; not funny or coherent and the funny punch-line. The results are conclusive

Implicações da participação do professor cooperante

O presente texto reporta-se a um trabalho de investigação que pretendeu explorar as implicações da participação do professor cooperante nos portfólios reflexivos elaborados pelos alunos em contexto de prática pedagógica. Os instrumentos a que nos referimos têm vindo a ser adoptados em algumas instituições de formação inicial de professores, especificamente em contexto de prática pedagógica, enquanto estratégia de formação, supervisão e avaliação. Foi nosso objectivo compreender em que medida a participação do professor cooperante pode contribuir para o desenvolvimento de competências reflexivas dos estagiários, fomentando o seu desenvolvimento profissional e pessoal e, ainda, as implicações para o próprio. Para tal propusemo-nos acompanhar uma equipa de estágio, designada por tríade, que incluiu duas estagiárias, a professora tutora e a professora cooperante, no seu processo de implementação da construção partilhada de portfólios reflexivos. Através da análise de entrevistas realizadas a todos os elementos da equipa de estágio, bem como dos portfólios reflexivos das duas estagiárias, pretendemos capturar o sentido atribuído por cada um deles a esta experiência. Os resultados obtidos evidenciam o valor dos portfólios enquanto estratégia potenciadora de processos de formação partilhada, perspectivada como um processo contínuo de problematização das práticas profissionais e de desenvolvimento de competências

Humour and Leadership at School

Humour and Leadership at School This study establishes a relationship between the capacity of humour appreciation and the way leadership is held at school. The individual leadership characteristics of some school leaders have been compared with their sense of humour and although the results haven’t been very conclusive, there is a strong tendency, showing that school headmasters who are true leaders reveal a good sense of humour. In methodological terms, this study was organized in two phases: in the first one, 85 headmasters answered to a questionnaire built in order to evaluate their leadership characteristics; in the second phase, 50 headmasters chosen among the initial 85 because of their good capacity of leadership were evaluated, taking into account Thorson and Powell sense of humour scale (1993). This experimental research enables us to conclude that there is a moderate positive correlation between sense of humour and the dominance personality of a leader as far as school environment is concerned

Optimizing rearing and welfare in Senegalese sole (Solea senegalesensis) broodstock: effect of ambient light intensity and handling time on stress response

Broodstock rearing conditions and handling procedures should be optimized in aquaculture species in order to benefit fish welfare and guarantee optimal conditions for spawning. In teleosts, basal cortisol levels display daily rhythms, oscillating along the 24 h of the day. In this sense, handling fish at different moments of the day may lead to different stress responses. The present study aimed at investigating the optimal rearing conditions for Senegalese sole broodstock, considering ambient light intensity and handling time. The optimal light intensity (50, 100 or 200 lx) was investigated by measuring fish cortisol levels and monitoring locomotor activity rhythms under each intensity tested. Results showed a significant increase in cortisol levels of fish exposed to 200 lx, when compared to values obtained under 100 lx, accompanied by changes in locomotor activity rhythms in both tanks under study. These results suggested that 200 lx may be too high as light intensity for this species, whereas 100 lx seems to be more adequate. Also, daily rhythms of stress response were investigated in breeders from different origins (Wild and first generation, G1). Basal cortisol levels and cortisol stress response after an acute stressor (air exposure) were monitored at two distinct moments of the day (Mid-Light and Mid-Dark). Basal levels were higher during the day in the wild group, while G1 fish seemed to have lost the daily fluctuations in basal cortisol plasma levels, as well as their daily rhythms of locomotor activity. Both groups showed lower stress responses during night-time, an indication that this is an adequate period of the day to handle this species. Senegalese sole breeders born in captivity presented more pronounced stress responses when compared to wild fish, reflecting their different life history in terms of stress challenges.FP7/SME/2008/1; UID/Multi/04326/2019; DL 57/2016/CP1361/CT0007; DL 57/2016/CP1361/CT0033info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Toward predicting Dinophysis blooms off NW Iberia: a decade of events

Dinophysis acuminata and Dinophysis acuta are recurrent species off NW Iberia but their outbreaks occur under different conditions. A decade (2004-2013) of weekly data for each species at two sentinel stations located at the entrance of Rias de Aveiro-AV (NW Portugal, 40 degrees 38.6' N) and Pontevedra-PO (Galicia, Spain, 42 degrees 21.5' N), were used to investigate the regional synchronism and mesoscale differences related to species detection, bloom (>200 cells L-1) initiation and development. Results highlight the high interannual variability of bloom events and summarize the associated meteorological/oceanographic conditions. D. acuta blooms were observed in 2004-2008 and 2013, and the species highest maxima at AV occurred after the highest maxima of its prey Mesodinium, with a time-lag of 2-3 weeks. D. acuminate blooms were observed every year at both stations. The cell concentration time series shows that the blooms generally present a sequence starting in March with D. acuminata in PO and three weeks later in AV, followed by D. acuta that starts at AV and three months later in PO. Exceptionally, D. acuminate blooms occurred earlier at AV than PO, namely in high spring upwelling (2007) or river runoff (2010) years. A four-year gap (2009-2012) of D. acuta blooms occurred after an anomalous 2008 autumn with intense upwelling which is interpreted as the result of an equatorward displacement of the population core. Numerical model solutions are used to analyze monthly alongshore current anomalies and test transport hypotheses for selected events. The results show a strong interannual variability in the poleward/equatorward currents associated with changes in upwelling forcing winds, the advection of D. acute blooms from AV to PO and the possibility that D. acuminata blooms at AV might result from inocula advected southward from PO. However, the sensitivity of the results to vertical position of the lagrangian tracers call for more studies on species distribution at the various bloom stages. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Procedimentos dos Professores Relativamente aos Comportamentos de Indisciplina dos Alunos na Aula de Educação Física

Resumo A indisciplina na escola e na sala de aula constitui uma séria preocupação para todos os que se interessam pela problemática do ensino. Ela é um tema de debate inflamado, mas é também um tema recorrente, refletindo, em primeiro lugar, a importância que a sociedade atribui à disciplina na escola, expressa na pluralidade de perspetivas e de posições mais ou menos acantonadas em torno de ideologias ou escalas de valores conflituantes. Em segundo lugar é um tema que resiste teimosamente a soluções milagrosas ou definitivas, ainda que as segregue continuada e abundantemente