The Impact of Differences in Curriculum on Knowledge Related to European Citizenship: A Comparative Analysis in the Case of Portuguese and Romanian Pupils

AbstractGiven the European socio-economic and cultural context of the 21st century, the national educational systems must take into account both the local curriculum reforms and the European regulatory framework and developmental goals. The current research was conducted in Portugal and Romania, within the Comenius-funded ECLIPSE1 project, seeking to investigate how curricular approaches are reflected on pupils European Citizenship knowledge. A comparative analysis of the curriculum on European issues and a knowledge test (pre and post) of European Citizenship were used. Totally, 189 pupils in compulsory education, ages between 12 and 17 years old participated. Findings show an average increase of 3/4 points between the pre and post-tests results in both countries. Further, placing these findings in the context of curriculum differences provides relevant insights

High intensity interval training improves health-related quality of life in adults and older adults with diagnosed cardiovascular risk

info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

DESENVOLVIMENTO E PRODUÇÃO DE SOJA CO-INOCULADA COM AZOSPIRILLUM BRASILENSE EM SEMEADURA DIRETA SOBRE PALHIÇO DE CANA CRUA

A co-inoculação é uma tecnologia inovadora, atual e em sintonia com o contexto de sustentabilidade ambiental. Sendo assim, objetivou-se neste trabalho avaliar o desenvolvimento da cultura da soja, em semeadura direta sobre palhiço de cana crua submetida à co-inoculação das sementes com Azopirillum brasilense e doses variadas de inoculante a base de bactérias do gênero Bradyrhizobium, bem como, quantificar a produtividade neste sistema alternativo e sustentável de cultivo. O experimento foi instalado na safra 2015/16, em talhão com cinco cortes, pertencente ao Polo Regional Centro Norte, Pindorama, SP, sendo o mesmo conduzido em faixas/parcelas, conhecidas tecnicamente como “Strip Test’, de aproximadamente 280 metros de comprimento e 3,60 metros de largura e espaçamento entre linhas de 0,45 m. A cultivar testada foi a NS 7667 IPRO, em dez tratamentos: controle; 120 mL/60 kg de sementes de inoculante com Azospirillum brasilense estirpe Ab-V5 (A); 25 mL/60 kg de sementes de inoculante com Bradyrhizobium japonicum estirpes SEMIA 5079 + SEMIA 5080 (B); 25 mL de B+ 120 mL de A; 50 mL de B; 50 mL de B + 120 mL de A; 75 mL de B; 75 mL de B + 120 mL de A; 100 mL de B e 125mL de B. Avaliou-se em cada Strip Teste alguns parâmetros através da coleta de 10 plantas em 5 repetições no estádio fenológico R2, sendo: número de nódulos viáveis e não viáveis por planta, massa fresca de nódulos totais, comprimento da raiz principal, massa fresca do sistema radicular e da parte aérea. Em R8, determinou-se altura de planta, de inserção da 1ª vagem e produtividade de grãos. Pelos resultados obtidos verificou-se que o tratamento que envolveu a co-inoculação (75 mL de B + 120 mL de A) foi equivalente aos tratamentos em que se fez uso das maiores doses, 3 vezes ou mais, de inoculante contendo somente Bradyrhizobium para os parâmetros de fixação biológica de nitrogênio, altura de plantas e produtividade de grãos

A Cross-Sectional Study

Publisher Copyright: © 2022 The Author(s). Published by S. Karger AG, Basel. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC). Usage and distribution for commercial purposes requires written permission.Background: Listing patients with alcohol-associated liver disease (ALD) for liver transplant (LT) remains challenging especially due to the risk of alcohol resumption post-LT. We aimed to evaluate post-LT alcohol consumption at a Portuguese transplant center. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study including LT recipients from 2019 at Curry Cabral Hospital, Lisbon, Portugal. A pretested survey and a validated Portuguese translation of the Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test (AUDIT) were applied via a telephone call. Alcohol consumption was defined by patients' self-reports or a positive AUDIT. Results: In 2019, 122 patients underwent LT, and 99 patients answered the survey (June 2021). The mean (SD) age was 57 (10) years, 70 patients (70.7%) were males, and 49 (49.5%) underwent ALD-related LT. During a median (IQR) follow-up of 24 (20-26) months post-index LT, 22 (22.2%) recipients consumed any amount of alcohol: 14 had a drink monthly or less and 8 drank 2-4 times/month. On drinking days, 18 patients usually consumed 1-2 drinks and the remainder no more than 3-4 drinks. One patient reported having drunk ≥6 drinks on one occasion. All post-LT drinking recipients were considered low risk (score <8) as per the AUDIT score (median [IQR] of 1 [1-2]). No patient reported alcohol-related problems, whether self-inflicted or toward others. Drinking recipients were younger (53 vs. 59 years, p = 0.020), had more non-ALD-related LT (72.7 vs. 44.2%, p = 0.018) and active smoking (31.8 vs. 10.4%, p = 0.037) than abstinent ones. Conclusion: In our cohort, about a quarter of LT recipients consumed alcohol early posttransplant, all with a low-risk pattern according to the AUDIT score.publishersversionepub_ahead_of_prin

Chronic treatment with ivabradine does not affect cardiovascular autonomic control in rats.

A low resting heart rate (HR) would be of great benefit in cardiovascular diseases. Ivabradine-a novel selective inhibitor of hyperpolarization-activated cyclic nucleotide gated (HCN) channels- has emerged as a promising HR lowering drug. Its effects on the autonomic HR control are little known. This study assessed the effects of chronic treatment with ivabradine on the modulatory, reflex and tonic cardiovascular autonomic control and on the renal sympathetic nerve activity (RSNA). Male Wistar rats were divided in 2 groups, receiving intraperitoneal injections of vehicle (VEH) or ivabradine (IVA) during 7 or 8 consecutive days. Rats were submitted to vessels cannulation to perform arterial blood pressure (AP) and HR recordings in freely moving rats. Time series of resting pulse interval and systolic AP were used to measure cardiovascular variability parameters. We also assessed the baroreflex, chemoreflex and the Bezold-Jarish reflex sensitivities. To better evaluate the effects of ivabradine on the autonomic control of the heart, we performed sympathetic and vagal autonomic blockade. As expected, ivabradine-treated rats showed a lower resting (VEH: 362 ? 16 bpm vs. IVA: 260 ? 14 bpm, p = 0.0005) and intrinsic HR (VEH: 369 ? 9 bpm vs. IVA: 326 ? 11 bpm, p = 0.0146). However, the chronic treatment with ivabradine did not change normalized HR spectral parameters LF (nu) (VEH: 24.2 ? 4.6 vs. IVA: 29.8 ? 6.4; p > 0.05); HF (nu) (VEH: 75.1 ? 3.7 vs. IVA: 69.2 ? 5.8; p > 0.05), any cardiovascular reflexes, neither the tonic autonomic control of the HR (tonic sympathovagal index; VEH: 0.91? 0.02 vs. IVA: 0.88 ? 0.03, p = 0.3494). We performed the AP, HR and RSNA recordings in urethane-anesthetized rats. The chronic treatment with ivabradine reduced the resting HR (VEH: 364 ? 12 bpm vs. IVA: 207 ? 11 bpm, p < 0.0001), without affecting RSNA (VEH: 117 ? 16 vs. IVA: 120 ? 9 spikes/s, p = 0.9100) and mean arterial pressure (VEH: 70 ? 4 vs. IVA: 77 ? 6 mmHg, p = 0.3293). Our results suggest that, in health rats, the long-term treatment with ivabradine directly reduces the HR without changing the RSNA modulation and the reflex and tonic autonomic control of the heart

Building a Portuguese coalition for biodiversity genomics

The diverse physiography of the Portuguese land and marine territory, spanning from continental Europe to the Atlantic archipelagos, has made it an important repository of biodiversity throughout the Pleistocene glacial cycles, leading to a remarkable diversity of species and ecosystems. This rich biodiversity is under threat from anthropogenic drivers, such as climate change, invasive species, land use changes, overexploitation, or pathogen (re)emergence. The inventory, characterisation, and study of biodiversity at inter- and intra-specific levels using genomics is crucial to promote its preservation and recovery by informing biodiversity conservation policies, management measures, and research. The participation of researchers from Portuguese institutions in the European Reference Genome Atlas (ERGA) initiative and its pilot effort to generate reference genomes for European biodiversity has reinforced the establishment of Biogenome Portugal. This nascent institutional network will connect the national community of researchers in genomics. Here, we describe the Portuguese contribution to ERGA’s pilot effort, which will generate high-quality reference genomes of six species from Portugal that are endemic, iconic, and/or endangered and include plants, insects, and vertebrates (fish, birds, and mammals) from mainland Portugal or the Azores islands. In addition, we outline the objectives of Biogenome Portugal, which aims to (i) promote scientific collaboration, (ii) contribute to advanced training, (iii) stimulate the participation of institutions and researchers based in Portugal in international biodiversity genomics initiatives, and (iv) contribute to the transfer of knowledge to stakeholders and engaging the public to preserve biodiversity. This initiative will strengthen biodiversity genomics research in Portugal and fuel the genomic inventory of Portuguese eukaryotic species. Such efforts will be critical to the conservation of the country’s rich biodiversity and will contribute to ERGA’s goal of generating reference genomes for European species.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Aspectos metodológicos e desafios da Coorte On-line Comportamento Alimentar e Saúde Mental (COCASa) de docentes e discentes universitários durante a pandemia da COVID-19

O distanciamento social adotado para controle da COVID-19 obrigou Instituições de Ensino Superior (IES) a aderirem a novas estratégias para realização das atividades acadêmicas e muitas pesquisas passaram a ser realizadas em ambientes virtuais. O objetivo deste artigo é descrever os aspectos metodológicos e principais desafios enfrentados para a execução do projeto COCASa, um estudo de coorte on-line sobre comportamento alimentar e saúde mental de docentes e discentes de IES do Brasil. O estudo foi iniciado em julho de 2020 e acompanhará os participantes por dois anos. Adotou-se amostragem não probabilística estratificada proporcional com a utilização de escalas, de inquérito alimentar e de questões estruturadas elaboradas pela equipe do projeto. Entre os participantes do baseline, 4.074 discentes e 2.210 docentes iniciaram o questionário e, respectivamente, 76,8% e 85,1% finalizaram o preenchimento. Em ambos os grupos, a maior participação foi de mulheres (docentes: 66,7% e discentes: 76,2%) e residentes nas regiões Nordeste (docentes: 37% e discentes: 50,9%) e Sul (docentes: 27,1% e discentes: 22,5%) do Brasil. A pesquisa on-line amplia a possibilidade de recrutamento de participantes e alcança limites territoriais com menor demanda por financiamento. Durante a pandemia da COVID-19, o uso do ambiente virtual tornou-se uma estratégia viável e acessível para a manutenção das atividades de pesquisa, configurando-se como uma provável tendência a ser adotada pela comunidade científica