B-learning quality: dimensions, criteria and pedagogical approach

Measuring the quality of a b-learning environment is critical to determine the success of a b-learning course. Several initiatives have been recently conducted on benchmarking and quality in e-learning. Despite these efforts in defining and examining quality issues concerning online courses, a defining instrument to evaluate quality is one of the key challenges for blended learning, since it incorporates both traditional and online instruction methods. For this paper, six frameworks for quality assessment of technological enhanced learning were examined and compared regarding similarities and differences. These frameworks aim at the same global objective: the quality of e-learning environment/products. They present different perspectives but also many common issues. Some of them are more specific and related to the course and other are more global and related to institutional aspects. In this work we collected and arrange all the quality criteria identified in order to get a more complete framework and determine if it fits our b-learning environment. We also included elements related to our own b-learning research and experience, acquired during more than 10 years of experience. As a result we have create a new quality reference with a set of dimensions and criteria that should be taken into account when you are analyzing, designing, developing, implementing and evaluating a b-learning environment. Besides these perspectives on what to do when you are developing a b-learning environment we have also included pedagogical issues in order to give directions on how to do it to reach the success of the learning. The information, concepts and procedures here presented give support to teachers and instructors, which intend to validate the quality of their blended learning courses

Environmental tobacco smoke risk perception and smoking behavior in Portugal

This study analyzes public attitudes towards environmental tobacco smoking (ETS) risks. ETS legislation and smoking behaviors using recent data from Special Eurobarometer 272 that is a unique database on public perception of ETS. Some major conclusions are drawn: (1) both smokers and non-smokers are aware of health consequences from ETS, (2) moderate and heavy smokers tend to be less concerned with seriousness of the health consequences, (3) that the belief that ETS increases the risk of a serious disease decreases the probability of being smoker, (4)ETS beliefs do not affect the quitting decision, (5) those who smoke at home appear to be aware of health consequences of ETS, (6) ETS health risk beliefs is negatively associated with the number of cigarette consumed.

Os partidos políticos e a concepção democrática da ordem jurídica constitucional

Trata da matéria dos partidos políticos, correlacionando-a com a natureza democrática da Federação Brasileira, e destaca os institutos da filiação e disciplina partidárias. Aborda a concepção e o estudo do Estado Democrático de Direito, explicitando seus princípios basilares

RECONSIDERING BRAZILIAN REPRESENTATIONS IN CHOROS No. 5 AND BACHIANAS BRASILEIRAS No.4 FOR PIANO BY HEITOR VILLA-LOBOS

This study offers a reconsideration of the music of Villa-Lobos and its relationship to diverse musical expressions and musical syntheses in Brazil. Its primary purpose is to present a line of interpretative thought for Heitor Villa-Lobos’s piano compositions, emphasizing significant elements reflective of the folk and popular culture of Brazil that the composer integrates with stylistic features influenced by European art music traditions. It highlights Villa-Lobos’s adaptation of characteristic Brazilian dances, dance rhythms, melodies, direct quotations, and fragments of folk and popular tunes in Choros no. 5 (Alma Brasileira) and Bachianas Brasileiras no. 4 (Brazilian Bachianas no. 4). In the latter work, this study also considers the composer’s blend of Brazilian-based material with elements inspired by the work of Johann Sebastian Bach. In addition to stylistic analyses, an examination of the composer’s influences, intentions, and methods is fundamental to this study. This exploration offers insights into Villa-Lobos’s piano music and clarifies possible misinterpretations generated by lack of information about the composer’s musical contexts and his desires to represent Brazilian culture in his music. This discussion is intended to provide a basis for performing or interpretive solutions to the musical (including rhythmic and technical) complexities created by the use of folk and popular ideas in this repertoire. Divided into five chapters, this document begins with a brief overview of Villa-Lobos’s life and overall works in the second chapter. The third chapter contains a brief overview of the entire set of Choros with a focused examination of Choros no. 5. The fourth chapter discusses Villa-Lobos’s mixture of neoclassical and Brazilian elements within the set Bachianas Brasileiras, specifically no. 4, for piano. Descriptions and interpretations of the selected works are offered in the third and fourth chapters. The fifth chapter presents the conclusion of this research

Doctor of Philosophy

dissertationThe aim of this dissertation was to investigate potential mechanisms whereby nicotine (NIC) is neuroprotective to the dopamine (DA), serotonin (5- HT), and memory systems. As early as 1939, clinical studies have indicated that tremors, or Parkinson's disease (PD), are less likely to occur among tobacco smokers. More recent epidemiological studies have found an inverse correlation between tobacco smoking and PD risk. PD is the second most common neurodegenerative disorder characterized by death of DA and 5-HT neurons in the nigrostriatal pathway and is associated with motor and memory dysfunction. Extensive preclinical studies have since demonstrated that NIC is neuroprotective in models of PD. The mechanism by which NIC is neuroprotective is of particular interest in the field of neurodegeneration to understand disease risk and to develop better prevention and treatment strategies. Noteworthy, the abuse of methamphetamine (METH), a potent psychostimulant, causes long-term neurotoxic effects resembling some aspects of PD, including deficits to the DA, 5-HT and memory systems. The data presented in this dissertation indicate that long-term (56 d) oral NIC administration to rats starting in adolescence attenuates both the dopaminergic and memory deficits, but not the serotonergic deficits, caused by a high-dose METH regimen. The dopamine transporter (DAT) function and density in the iv striatum and nucleus accumbens core were used as markers of dopaminergic integrity, and the novel object recognition (NOR) test was used as marker of memory function. NIC is also neuroprotective when given short-term (21 d) beginning in adolescence, but not when it is initiated during adulthood. However, neuroprotection occurs when the duration of NIC administration is extended to 39 d beginning in adulthood. NIC pretreatment alone is sufficient for neuroprotection against METH-induced DAT deficits as well as NOR deficits. Furthermore, NIC ameliorates the NOR deficits caused by METH when given as posttreatment, suggesting that NIC has cognitive protection and cognitive enhancement properties. Lastly, the densities of α4β2 and α6β2 nicotinic acetylcholine receptors are upregulated and downregulated, respectively, after administration of NIC in combination with METH. These data suggest an involvement of these receptors in neuroprotection against METH-induced dopaminergic and memory deficits

Old and new ideas about the environment and science: an exploratory study

Using the framework of social representations theory, this article examines predictors of two belief systems linking beliefs about the environment with beliefs about scientific knowledge. In a survey study with 460 Portuguese respondents, the following four hypotheses were tested: (a) New ecological beliefs were expected to receive higher levels of agreement than old anthropocentric ones, (b) social identities (not only objective positions) were expected to be important predictors of respondents’ beliefs, and (c) the explanatory power of social identity variables was expected to be higher for those beliefs receiving lower levels of agreement (d) and for respondents expressing coherent representations. Analyses reconstructed two belief systems: prudence, linking new ecological ideas with a relativist view of science, and confidence, linking old anthropocentric ideas with a positivist view of science. Results support the hypothesis and show that although these systems can be viewed as contradictory, some respondents manage to agree with both