Constraining Variations in the Fine Structure Constant in the presence of Early Dark Energy

We discuss present and future cosmological constraints on variations of the fine structure constant $\alpha$ induced by an early dark energy component having the simplest allowed (linear) coupling to electromagnetism. We find that current cosmological data show no variation of the fine structure constant at recombination respect to the present-day value, with $\alpha$ / $\alpha_0$ = 0.975 \pm 0.020 at 95 % c.l., constraining the energy density in early dark energy to $\Omega_e$ < 0.060 at 95 % c.l.. Moreover, we consider constraints on the parameter quantifying the strength of the coupling by the scalar field. We find that current cosmological constraints on the coupling are about 20 times weaker than those obtainable locally (which come from Equivalence Principle tests). However forthcoming or future missions, such as Planck Surveyor and CMBPol, can match and possibly even surpass the sensitivity of current local tests.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure

Pedagogia da Infância: interlocuções disciplinares na pesquisa em Educação

Este artigo tem como objetivo situar interlocuções disciplinares na busca de caminhos para a delimitação de uma área específica da pesquisa em Educação no Brasil, a qual se denomina de Pedagogia da Infância ou da Educação Infantil (Rocha, 1999). Inicialmente e de forma sintética,são recuperados elementos conceituais presentes em publicações e pesquisas para, em seguida, apresentar uma revisão do percurso e das construções teóricas já realizadas, as quais afirmam a necessidade de consolidação de um diálogo disciplinar para o estudo da educação infantil, sobretudo a partir dos estudos sociais da infância. Posteriormente, o artigo apresenta alguns exercícios de possibilidades dessas interlocuções, em particular, tomando o estudo de Buss-Simão (2012) acerca das relações sociais no âmbito do contexto educativo para a pequena infância. Por fim, concluímos com a indicação de perspectivas e demandas de aprofundamentos relativas aos processos de socialização e à constituição da experiência das crianças na educação infantil.Abstract This paper seeks to situate disciplinary dialogues on finding ways for the delineating a specific area of research in Education in Brazil, otherwise known as Pedagogy of Childhood or Pedagogy of Early Childhood Education (Rocha, 1999). Initially, conceptual elements present in publications and research are concisely recovered in order to present a review on the pathways and theoretical constructs already dealt with, which claim for the need of consolidating a disciplinary dialogue for the study of early childhood education, especially from social studies of childhood. Moreover, the paper presents some exercises on the possibilities of these dialogues, taking in particular the study of Buss-Simão (2012) as a reference, for dealing with the social relations in educational settings for early infancy. Finally, the study indicates some perspectives, and warrants the in-depth search for socialization processes and the establishment of infant experience in early childhood education

Educational psychology interventions in an educational center : paths and contributions

Orientador: Ângela Fátima SoligoTese (doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de EducaçãoResumo: Crianças são encaminhadas com queixas escolares constantemente e desnecessariamente para serviços especializados. Estão sendo diagnosticadas erroneamente, o que contribui para estigmatizá-las. Filas de espera para atendê-las são uma realidade e a demanda crescente clama por outras intervenções. Foi por reconhecer tal situação que a coordenadora de um núcleo educacional, que tem como propósito atender queixas escolares, solicitou o trabalho de uma assessoria em Psicologia Escolar, da qual fiz parte junto com outra profissional que também é psicóloga. Realizamos este trabalho durante um ano e três meses e foi por intermédio dele que defini que o núcleo educacional e o trabalho da assessoria fariam parte de minha pesquisa de doutorado. Para tanto, estabeleci os seguintes objetivos: 1) Analisar o funcionamento do núcleo educacional e investigar se ele atende efetivamente a proposta de acolhimento da demanda escolar; 2) Conhecer e analisar as concepções sobre o núcleo dos profissionais que trabalham neste local, bem como de diretores, coordenadores e professores; 3) Compreender as modificações ocorridas no funcionamento de um núcleo educacional a partir das intervenções da assessoria escolar. Participaram desta pesquisa 31 sujeitos, entre funcionários do núcleo, diretores, coordenadores e professores da rede municipal de ensino de uma cidade do interior paulista. Todos responderam a entrevistas semiestruturadas, que foram gravadas e posteriormente transcritas. Além deste instrumento, utilizei-me de registros em diário de campo e de registros ampliados. Os dados foram analisados qualitativamente de acordo com a teoria defendida por González Rey (2002; 2003; 2005) e os resultados mostraram que a as intervenções que o núcleo realizava e a forma como ele estava estruturado contribuíram para perpetuar o processo de estigma e exclusão escolar, embora fora proposto com objetivo contrário a este. Foi possível verificar que ainda é grande a expectativa para que o núcleo educacional intervenha diante das queixas escolares a partir de uma perspectiva médica e clínica. Mediante isto e devido ao fato de vários profissionais que integram o núcleo discordarem que este seja seu propósito, está ocorrendo um movimento em busca de diálogos para que os papéis e funções do núcleo sejam devidamente estabelecidos. Este movimento foi compreendido como favorável, pois anteriormente à assessoria ele não ocorria. Transformações ocorreram e puderam ser compreendidas por intermédios das mudanças nas concepções, nas práticas e no funcionamento do núcleo. Este local passou a direcionar suas intervenções também para o contexto escolar, o que está permitindo maior diálogo e integração com as escolas. Os profissionais, em sua maioria, avaliaram a assessoria como algo positivo, reconheceram sua contribuição e manifestaram necessidade de serem novamente assessorados. Este processo será extremamente válido, pois poderá contribuir para que o núcleo caminhe, cada vez mais, em direção à melhoria do processo de escolarização. Acredito que os resultados apresentados poderão contribuir com isto ao apontarem caminhos mais críticos e menos naturalizantes no trabalho com as queixas escolares.Abstract: Due to school complaints, children are constantly and unnecessarily sent to specialized treatment centers. They have been wrongly diagnosed with specific disorders, which help their stigmatization. Waiting in line to be attended is part of their routine and reality, and the increasing numbers of such cases demand immediate intervention. Moved by such conditions the coordinator of an Educational Center, who keeps as her main purpose to attend these complaints, asked for the help of an Educational Psychology consultant group, of which I took part, together with another professional psychologist. We carried this consultancy work for one year and three months and it was because of it that I decided that both the Educational Center and the advisory work would be part of my doctoral study. In order to carry out my research, the following objectives have been established: 1) To evaluate the way the Educational Center worked and to analyze whether it effectively attends school demands; 2) To get to know and to evaluate the conceptions about the Educational Center held by the professionals working there, as well by the directors, coordinators and teachers; 3) To understand the changes which took place as far as the way the Educational Center functioned, as a result of the school advisory group interventions. Thirty one subjects participated in this study, among which we can mention Educational Center workers, as well as, some Public Primary School directors, coordinators and teachers of a small city located in the countryside of São Paulo State. All participants answered semi-structures interviews, which were recorded and transcribed afterwards. Besides this research instrument, field diaries were also used. Data was analyzed on qualitative basis, according to the theory supported by González Rey ( 2002; 2003; 2005). Results have shownthat the way the Educational Center was structured and the interventions it made contributed to maintain the stigmatizing process students suffered and to school exclusion, even though its main objectives were originally opposite to these factors. It was also possible to verify that the expectancy is still very high in order for the Educational Center to treat school complaints from a medical and clinical perspective. In face of these excluding processes and due to the fact that many professionals that made part of the Educational Center did not agree with them being its main goals, a movement towards a dialog among participants has been taking place, so that the roles and objectives of the Educational Center can be more appropriately established. Such a movement has been seen as positive, once it did not take place before the consulting work existed. Changes have happened and could be better understood through the changes in the conceptions, the practices and the working structure of the Educational Center. This place has started to also direct its interventions to the school context, which has allowed a bigger dialog and integration among schools. Most of he professionals involved considered the consulting work as something positive, recognized its contribution and showed interest in its future continuation. This process will be of extreme value, because it can help the Educational Center to follow its path, in an ever better and stronger way, towards the improvement of the educational process. I believe that the results shown can contribute to such improvement, as it shows more critical and less naturalizing ways as far as the work with school complaints is concerned.DoutoradoPsicologia EducacionalDoutor em Educaçã

CARACTERIZAÇÃO DO MERCADO CONSUMIDOR DO PEQUI (CARYOCAR BRASILIENSE CAMB.), EM GOIÂNIA - GO

O pequi (Caryocar brasiliense Camb.) é um fruto nativo com ocorrência generalizada no Bioma Cerrado. O consumo e comercialização do fruto "in natura" e de seus derivados, com importância sócio-econômica, geram renda e emprego para agricultores familiares e trabalhadores com pouca qualificação profissional. Entretanto, a exploração sustentável desta atividade encontra-se ameaçada pelo desconhecimento do mercado consumidor, inexistência de padrões de qualidade na comercialização, dispersão, desarticulação e informalidade dos agentes e segmentos do arranjo extrativista. Visando gerar informações que contribuam para o fortalecimento da cadeia extrativista e o desenvolvimento sustentável, este trabalho teve como objetivos identificar e caracterizar os agentes consumidores de pequi no principal centro consumidor: Goiânia. Constatou-se que, em Goiânia, existe mercado de consumo empresarial, formado por restaurantes além dos consumidores finais que adquirem o produto em feiras e de ambulantes. ---------------------------------------------The “pequi” (Caryocar brasiliense Camb.) is a traditional fruit in the culture of the inhabitants of the Brazilian Savanna which is still harvested from wild trees. The sustainable use of this species is at the moment threatened by limitations such as: the lack of knowledge of type of products commercialized, and dispersion and disarticulation of the main agents members of the chain of the fruit collectors; besides the general informality in component agents. On the other hand its use vitalizes the economy of several counties in Goiás, capable of contributing to a sustainable territorial development from a social and environmental point of view. At present, the consume and commercialization of the fruit “in natura” and its derivates (preserves, oil, liqueur, soap, etc) have great socio-economic significance: it is used in various typical dishes and is a symbol of the local gastronomy, besides complementing the diet of the agricultural population and generating income and jobs to a sizeable parcel of family farmers. This study has as its main goal the discussion about the consumer market of the fruits and derivates in Goiânia, state of Goiás.Caryocar brasiliense, pequi, mercado consumidor, consumidor final, Caryocar brasiliense, pequi, commercialization, consumer market, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety,

Variabilidade isoenzimática de acessos de mandioca de diferentes regiões do Brasil

A mandioca (Manihot esculenta Crantz) pertence à família Euphorbiaceae, gênero Manihot, cultivada em todo o país. É a única do gênero utilizada na alimentação. O presente trabalho teve como objetivo o estudo da variabilidade isoenzimática de 200 acessos de mandioca obtidos junto ao banco de germoplasma da Embrapa Amazônia Oriental. Os acessos foram agrupados de acordo com o local de origem, obtendo-se desta forma sete grupos: 1-Amazonas, 2-Amapa, 3-Bahia, 4-Para, 5-Rondonia, 6-Diversos, incluindo-se neste grupo os acessos que se apresentavam em pequena quantidade por local de origem (um ou no máximo dois indivíduos), e 7- Acessos de origem desconhecida. Os acessos foram também avaliados como um todo. Para a corrida eletroforética, foram utilizadas amostras de folhas jovens em gel de amido a 12%. Foram avaliados oito sistemas isoenzimáticos: glutamato desidrogenase (GTDH), fosfatase ácida (ACP), leucina aminopeptidase (LAP), isocitrato desidrogenase (IDH), xiquimato desidrogenase (SKDH), enzima málica (ME), malato desidrogenase (MDH) e glucose-6-fosfato desidrogenase (G6PDH). A análise revelou um loco polimórfico por sistema. O material avaliado apresentou grande variabilidade isoenzimática. O número médio de alelos por loco variou de 2,3 a 2,5, a heterozigosidade média observada (;) variou de 0,381 a 0,615, e o índice de diversidade de 0,479 a 0,559. Observou-se maior variabilidade genética dentro dos grupos do que entre grupos, sugerindo um padrão de distribuição de variabilidade genética semelhante ao esperado para populações naturais de espécies alógamas.Cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) belongs to the Euphorbiaceae family, and is widely cultivated in Brazil. The objective of this study was to evaluate the isoenzymatic variability of 200 cassava accessions from the germplasm bank of Embrapa Amazonia Oriental. Seven groups were formed according to their origin: 1-Amazonas, 2-Amapa, 3-Bahia, 4-Para, 5-Rondonia, 6-Various, for accessions with a maximum of three individuals per place of origin, and 7 - Accessions of indefinite origin. The accessions were also evaluated as a whole. For the electrophoretic analyses, samples of young leaves were used in a 12% starch gel. Eight isoenzymatic systems were evaluated: acid phosphatase (ACP), leucine aminopeptidase (LAP), glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PDH), malate dehydrogenase (MDH), shikimate dehydrogenase (SKDH), malic enzyme (ME), glutamate dehydrogenase (GTDH) and isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH). Analysis revealed a polymorphic locus for each system and high isoenzymatic variability among accessions. The average number of alleles per locus varied from 2.3 to 2.5. Average observed heterozigosity varied from 0.381 to 0.615 and the diversity index varied from 0.479 to 0.559. Genetic variability within groups was greater than among groups, suggesting a distribution pattern similar to what can be expected for natural populations of outcrossing plants

Decomposition of oat straw and release of macronutrients in different managements

The present work was aimed in order to evaluate the decomposition process of remaining straw from oat cultivars submitted to different handling during the cultivation of corn for silage intercropped with Urochloa brizantha cv. MG13 Braúna. We considered nine oat cultivars named as follows: "IAPAR 61 IBIPORÃ" oat hay (61F), "IAPAR 61 IBIPORÃ" pasture (61P), "IAPAR 61 IBIPORÃ" cover crop (61SM), "Embrapa 139 (Fog)" oat hay (139F),"Embrapa 139 (Fog)" pasture (139P)," Embrapa 139 (Fog)" cover crop (139SM), "Emerald IPR 126" oat hay (EF), "Emerald IPR 126" grazed (EP) and "Emerald IPR 126" cover crop (ESM) from which we evaluated the decomposition of the remaining straw using the method of litter bags. The evaluations were carried out at 0, 15, 30, 60, 90 and 108 days after sowing corn for silage intercropped with Brizantha brachiaria cv. MG13 Braúna (Urochloa brizantha). Every oat cultivar had three repetitions arranged in a split-plot design. We took into account the quantity of straw, organic matter, carbon, nitrogen, carbon / nitrogen ratio, phosphorus and potassium. The results we got clarify that oat decomposition rate varied with the meteorological factors and initial mass, so that the greater the initial mass is, the longer the straw permanency and mulch effectiveness on the soil. The time the residual oat straw took to be decomposed depended on meteorological factors both during the cover crop developmental stage and the decomposition period itself. The higher the initial mass, the greater the time and effectiveness of mulching

CYCLING OF WINTER FORAGE NUTRIENTS UNDER INTEGRATED CROP-LIVESTOCK SYSTEMS

This study aimed to evaluate the decomposition and release of nutrients from the remaining straw of two annual forage species conducted in an integrated crop-livestock system (ICLS). The experimental design used was randomized blocks, in split plots, with three replicates. The managements were allocated in the plots (52 m2): without grazing, one grazing, and two grazings. Subplots were defined by material collection times after the forage’s desiccation (0, 30, 60, 90, and 120 days after desiccation). Dry matter yield, amounts of carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium, and half-life time were evaluated. Oat cultivar IPR Esmeralda had the highest initial dry matter yield (6,099 kg ha-1) when not grazed, while triticale cultivar IPR 111 showed the highest average values when subjected to grazing (8,088 kg ha-1). The amounts of N, P, and K released from the remaining dry matter, regardless of the management adopted, decreased over time. Potassium was the nutrient that presented the most accelerated release, with an average half-life of 14 days. When subjected to grazing, triticale is more efficient in nutrient cycling, providing 197, 38, and 231 kg ha-1 of N, P, and K, respectively, with a half-life time of 10, 37, and 25 days, respectively. Forage species can improve the cycling of nutrients and make them available to crops in succession in the ICLS