Blindness, by José Saramago

This novel, launched in the original in Portuguese in 1995 (with the title Ensaio sobre a Cegueira), now reaches the English-speaking audience to make it feel awe and concern for the possible fate of the present society

A leitura do conto The Happy Prince, de Oscar Wilde, como prática norteadora do ensino-aprendizagem de inglês como língua adicional

This article addresses the teaching of English as an Additional Language (EAL) in the Brazilian basic education context through a pedagogical practice developed upon the use of literary texts, in this case Oscar Wilde’s short story entitled The Happy Prince (1888). This work describes this pedagogical practice as well as highlights the benefits of using literature in EAL teaching practices. The justification relies on the disbelief manifested by many teachers concerning the use of literary texts in the EAL teaching context. Important theorists in the field of language teaching, such as Violetta-Irene (2015), Corchs (2006), Brumfit & Carter (1986), Festino (2011), among others, provided the theoretical framework for this research. The results demonstrate that language teaching through the use of literary texts is feasible, creating a more contextualized, reflective, critical, motivating learning process that develops the linguistic abilities of the students while enriching their social, historical and cultural knowledge.Este artigo trata do ensino da ILA no contexto da educação básica e pública brasileira por meio de uma prática pedagógica desenvolvida com base na utilização de textos literários, no caso o conto The Happy Prince (1888) de Oscar Wilde. O objetivo deste trabalho é oferecer um relato dessa prática pedagógica, bem como reflexões acerca do benefício da utilização da literatura no ensino da ILA. A justificativa é pautada sobre a descrença dos professores quanto à utilização de textos literários frente ao ensino da ILA. Importantes teóricos na área da linguagem e ensino, como Violetta-Irene (2015), Corchs (2006), Brumfit & Carter (1996), Festino (2011), entre outros, subsidiaram os apontamentos teóricos dessa pesquisa. Os resultados evidenciam que é possível um ensino de língua por meio do texto literário, já que este oferece um ensino mais contextualizado, reflexivo, crítico, motivador, e que desenvolve as aptidões linguísticas dos alunos ao mesmo tempo em que enriquece seu conhecimento social, histórico e cultural

Charge transport through a single molecule of trans-1-bis-diazofluorene [60]fullerene

Fullerenes have attracted interest for their possible applications in various electronic, biological, and optoelectronic devices. However, for efficient use in such devices, a suitable anchoring group has to be employed that forms well-defined and stable contacts with the electrodes. In this work, we propose a novel fullerene tetramalonate derivate functionalized with trans-1 4,5-diazafluorene anchoring groups. The conductance of single-molecule junctions, investigated in two different setups with the mechanically controlled break junction technique, reveals the formation of molecular junctions at three conductance levels. We attribute the conductance peaks to three binding modes of the anchoring groups to the gold electrodes. Density functional theory calculations confirm the existence of multiple binding configurations and calculated transmission functions are consistent with experimentally determined conductance values.Comment: 22 pages, 6 figure

The yeast prion Ure2p native-like assemblies are toxic to mammalian cells regardless of their aggregation state.

The yeast prion Ure2p assembles in vitro into oligomers and fibrils retaining the alpha-helix content and binding properties of the soluble protein. Here we show that the different forms of Ure2p native-like assemblies (dimers, oligomers, and fibrils) are similarly toxic to murine H-END cells when added to the culture medium. Interestingly, the amyloid fibrils obtained by heat treatment of the toxic native-like fibrils appear harmless. Moreover, the Ure2p C-terminal domain, lacking the N-terminal segment necessary for aggregation but containing the glutathione binding site, is not cytotoxic. This finding strongly supports the idea that Ure2p toxicity depends on the structural properties of the flexible N-terminal prion domain and can therefore be considered as an inherent feature of the protein, unrelated to its aggregation state but rather associated with a basic toxic fold shared by all of the Ure2p native-like assemblies. Indeed, the latter are able to interact with the cell surface, leading to alteration of calcium homeostasis, membrane permeabilization, and oxidative stress, whereas the heat-treated amyloid fibrils do not. Our results support the idea of a general mechanism of toxicity of any protein/peptide aggregate endowed with structural features, making it able to interact with cell membranes and to destabilize them. This evidence extends the widely accepted view that the toxicity by protein aggregates is restricted to amyloid prefibrillar aggregates and provides new insights into the mechanism by which native-like oligomers compromise cell viability

Illusory Contours over Pathological Retinal Scotomas

Our visual percepts are not fully determined by physical stimulus inputs. Thus, in visual illusions such as the Kanizsa figure, inducers presented at the corners allow one to perceive the bounding contours of the figure in the absence of luminance-defined borders. We examined the discrimination of the curvature of these illusory contours that pass across retinal scotomas caused by macular degeneration. In contrast with previous studies with normal-sighted subjects that showed no perception of these illusory contours in the region of physiological scotomas at the optic nerve head, we demonstrated perfect discrimination of the curvature of the illusory contours over the pathological retinal scotoma. The illusion occurred despite the large scar around the macular lesion, strongly reducing discrimination of whether the inducer openings were acute or obtuse and suggesting that the coarse information in the inducers (low spatial frequency) sufficed. The result that subjective contours can pass through the pathological retinal scotoma suggests that the visual cortex, despite the loss of bottom-up input, can use low-spatial frequency information from the inducers to form a neural representation of new complex geometrical shapes inside the scotoma

Prefibrillar amyloid protein aggregates share common features of cytotoxicity.

The intracellular free Ca(2+) concentration and redox status of murine fibroblasts exposed to prefibrillar aggregates of the HypF N-terminal domain have been investigated in vitro and in vivo using a range of fluorescent probes. Aggregate entrance into the cytoplasm is followed by an early rise of reactive oxygen species and free Ca(2+) levels and eventually by cell death. Such changes correlate directly with the viability of the cells and are not observed when cell are cultured in the presence of reducing agents or in Ca(2+)-free media. In addition, moderate cell stress following exposure to the aggregates was found to be fully reversible. The results show that the cytotoxicity of prefibrillar aggregates of HypF-N, a protein not associated with clinical disease, has the same fundamental origin as that produced by similar types of aggregates of proteins linked with specific amyloidoses. These findings suggest that misfolded proteinaceous aggregates stimulate generic cellular responses as a result of the exposure of regions of the structure (such as hydrophobic residues and the polypeptide main chain) that are buried in the normally folded proteins. They also support the idea that a higher number of degenerative pathologies than previously known might be considered as protein deposition diseases