Increase of cooperation permitted by computers in a distance education environment

This article analyzes part of the results of a social research program developed along with neighborhood health agents of São Marcos and Santa Mônica in Campinas, state of São Paulo. It was a longitudinal study carried out over a period of a year and a half carried out throughout three phases: face-to-face, intermediary stage and pure distance work. In this article we solely discuss the activities during the face-to-face phase, whereby agents learnt how to use the computer and the TelEduc system. We opted to apply qualitative observation given that the main objective of this research was to identify Piaget's developmental stages within the context of the agents' capacity to understand tangible and intangible aspects of the technological universe. This relationship was possible when the subjects began to interact with basic elements of the computer and with TelEduc. After overcoming a state of anomia and understanding the tools that allowed a heteronomous attitude, agents used resources allowing them to enter a relationship of cooperation.O artigo contempla parte dos resultados de uma pesquisa-ação desenvolvida junto aos agentes de saúde dos bairros São Marcos e Santa Mônica, em Campinas-SP. Trata-se de pesquisa longitudinal, com duração de um ano e meio, envolvendo três fases: presencial, semipresencial e a distância. Aqui tratamos apenas das atividades ocorridas na fase presencial, nas quais os agentes começaram a aprender a utilizar o computador, e do TelEduc. Para tanto, optamos por uma observação qualitativa, já que o objetivo principal foi aferir os estágios de desenvolvimento de Piaget com a capacidade dos agentes em dominar as entidades tangíveis e intangíveis da informática (compreendem-se as entidades tangíveis como os elementos de hardware; e as entidades intangíveis, como os de software). Essa relação foi possível quando eles, de maneira presencial, começaram a interagir com os elementos básicos do computador e com o TelEduc. Após superarem a anomia e terem dominado as ferramentas que favoreceram posturas heterônomas, os agentes manipularam recursos que permitiram o começo de uma relação de cooperação.Este artículo contempla parte de los resultados de una investigación-acción desarrollada juntamente con los agentes de salud de los barrios Sao Marcos y Santa Mônica, Campinas/ Sao Paulo. Fue una investigación longitudinal, con duración de un año y medio, que constó de tres fases: Presencial, semipresencial y a distancia. En este artículo tratamos solamente de las actividades ocurridas en la fase presencial, en la cual los agentes comenzaron a aprender a utilizar el ordenador y TelEduc. Optamos por una observación cualitativa, ya que el objetivo principal fue asociar las tres fases de desarrollo piagetianas -anomia, heteronomia y cooperación - con la capacidad de los agentes de dominar las propiedades tangibles e intangibles de la informática. Esta asociación fue posible cuando ellos empezaron a interactuar con los elementos básicos del ordenador y del TelEduc. Después de superar la anomia y de dominar las herramientas qué favorecieran actitudes heterónomas, los agentes manipularon recursos que permitieron el comienzo de una relación de cooperación.42744

Methylparaben concentration in commercial Brazilian local anesthetics solutions

OBJECTIVE: To detect the presence and concentration of methylparaben in cartridges of commercial Brazilian local anesthetics. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Twelve commercial brands (4 in glass and 8 in plastic cartridges) of local anesthetic solutions for use in dentistry were purchased from the Brazilian market and analyzed. Different lots of the commercial brands were obtained in different Brazilian cities (Piracicaba, Campinas and São Paulo). Separation was performed using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with UV-Vis detector. The mobile phase used was acetonitrile:water (75:25 - v/v), pH 4.5, adjusted with acetic acid at a flow rate of 1.0 ml.min-1. RESULTS: When detected in the solutions, the methylparaben concentration ranged from 0.01% (m/v) to 0.16% (m/v). One glass and all plastic cartridges presented methylparaben. CONCLUSION: 1. Methylparaben concentration varied among solutions from different manufacturers, and it was not indicated in the drug package inserts; 2. Since the presence of methylparaben in dental anesthetics is not regulated by the Brazilian National Health Surveillance Agency (ANVISA) and this substance could cause allergic reactions, it is important to alert dentists about its possible presence

Família, escola, comunidade/sociedade: Contiguidades educativas

Um dos problemas mais sérios que a formação cidadã enfrenta, hoje, é a que chamamos de "déficit de socialização" que se manifestam o caráter da sociedade atual. Por essa razão, a nossa primeira preocupação é mostrar a imagem da necessidade de harmonizar os quatro grandes fundamentos educativos para se  ser responsável por colocar em prática o seu próprio campo de atividade missionária, ter em conta a contiguidade gradual entre si. Desta forma, no nosso trabalho, desenvolvemos o nosso objetivo neste molde: (1) Família - a estrutura da personalidade, identidade, unicidade; (2) Escola - educação / ensino-aprendizagem; (3) - Comunidade - para usar o conhecimento útil (4) Sociedade - para se oferecer os meios necessários para responder neste mundo cada vez mais global

Um relato sobre estratégias de motivação e desenvolvimento do pensamento computacional para e por mulheres

INTRODUCTION : Initiatives to engage girls and women in STEM-related areas have been successfully reported in the literature. However, such initiatives should involve the participation of the local community and address their needs and interests. OBJECTIVE : This article reports a project that aims to apply different strategies to motivate and teach computational thinking for women, led by students of Science and Technology at UFABC. METHOD : The methodology proposes three working branches: research (understanding the factors that discourage girls from the Computer Science course), outreach actions and teaching programming logic for women. RESULTS : Preliminary research revealed a female participation of less than 18% in all subjects of the course and a percentage lower than 15% of female graduates. The teaching actions had a total of 61 graduates. The events held (workshop and seminar) had about 80 participants. CONCLUSION : The actions of research, teaching, extension and dissemination of this project managed to engage more than 200 women and contemplate the interests of the internal and external community to UFABC. As future work, the initiatives will be extended to high schools in the region. The methodology should be consolidated and applied at the institutional level to include other STEM courses at UFABC.INTRODUÇÃO: Iniciativas para engajar meninas e mulheres nas áreas relacionadas a STEM têm sido reportadas com sucesso na literatura. Entretanto, essas iniciativas devem contemplar a participação da comunidade local e abordar suas necessidades e interesses. OBJETIVO: Este artigo relata um projeto que visa aplicar diferentes estratégias para motivar e ensinar o pensamento computacional para mulheres, liderado por alunas de Ciência e Tecnologia da UFABC. MÉTODO: A metodologia propõe três frentes de trabalho: pesquisa (compreensão dos fatores que afastam meninas do curso de Ciência da Computação), ações de divulgação e ensino de lógica de programação para mulheres. RESULTADOS: As pesquisas preliminares revelaram uma participação feminina menor de 18% em todas as disciplinas do curso e uma porcentagem inferior a 15% de alunas formadas. As ações de ensino tiveram o total de 61 concluintes. Os eventos realizados (workshop e seminário) tiveram cerca de 80 participantes. CONCLUSÃO: As ações de pesquisa, ensino, extensão e divulgação deste projeto conseguiram engajar mais de 200 mulheres e contemplar os interesses da comunidade interna e externa a UFABC. Como trabalho futuro, as iniciativas serão estendidas a escolas de ensino médio da região. A metodologia deve ser consolidada e aplicada no nível institucional para incluir outros cursos de STEM da UFABC

Dietary t10,c12-CLA but not c9,t11 CLA Reduces Adipocyte Size in the Absence of Changes in the Adipose Renin–Angiotensin System in fa/fa Zucker Rats

In obesity, increased activity of the local renin–angiotensin system (RAS) and enlarged adipocytes with altered adipokine production are linked to the development of obesity-related health problems and cardiovascular disease. Mixtures of conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) isomers have been shown to reduce adipocyte size and alter the production of adipokines. The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of feeding individual CLA isomers on adipocyte size and adipokines associated with the local adipose RAS. Male fa/fa Zucker rats received either (a) control, (b) cis(c)9,trans(t)11-CLA, or (c) t10,c12-CLA diet for 8 weeks. The t10,c12-CLA isomer reduced adipocyte size and increased cell number in epididymal adipose tissue. RT-PCR and Western blot analysis revealed that neither CLA isomer altered mRNA or protein levels of angiotensinogen or AngII receptors in adipose tissue. Likewise, levels of the pro-inflammatory cytokines TNF-α and IL-6 or the anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10 were unchanged in adipose tissue. Similarly, neither CLA isomer had any effect on phosphorylation nor DNA binding of NF-κB. Our results suggest that although the t10,c12-CLA isomer had beneficial effects on reducing adipocyte size in obese rats, this did not translate into changes in the local adipose RAS or associated adipokines

Measurement of the cosmic ray spectrum above 4×10184{\times}10^{18} eV using inclined events detected with the Pierre Auger Observatory

A measurement of the cosmic-ray spectrum for energies exceeding $4{\times}10^{18}$ eV is presented, which is based on the analysis of showers with zenith angles greater than $60^{\circ}$ detected with the Pierre Auger Observatory between 1 January 2004 and 31 December 2013. The measured spectrum confirms a flux suppression at the highest energies. Above $5.3{\times}10^{18}$ eV, the "ankle", the flux can be described by a power law $E^{-\gamma}$ with index $\gamma=2.70 \pm 0.02 \,\text{(stat)} \pm 0.1\,\text{(sys)}$ followed by a smooth suppression region. For the energy ($E_\text{s}$) at which the spectral flux has fallen to one-half of its extrapolated value in the absence of suppression, we find $E_\text{s}=(5.12\pm0.25\,\text{(stat)}^{+1.0}_{-1.2}\,\text{(sys)}){\times}10^{19}$ eV.Comment: Replaced with published version. Added journal reference and DO

Energy Estimation of Cosmic Rays with the Engineering Radio Array of the Pierre Auger Observatory

The Auger Engineering Radio Array (AERA) is part of the Pierre Auger Observatory and is used to detect the radio emission of cosmic-ray air showers. These observations are compared to the data of the surface detector stations of the Observatory, which provide well-calibrated information on the cosmic-ray energies and arrival directions. The response of the radio stations in the 30 to 80 MHz regime has been thoroughly calibrated to enable the reconstruction of the incoming electric field. For the latter, the energy deposit per area is determined from the radio pulses at each observer position and is interpolated using a two-dimensional function that takes into account signal asymmetries due to interference between the geomagnetic and charge-excess emission components. The spatial integral over the signal distribution gives a direct measurement of the energy transferred from the primary cosmic ray into radio emission in the AERA frequency range. We measure 15.8 MeV of radiation energy for a 1 EeV air shower arriving perpendicularly to the geomagnetic field. This radiation energy -- corrected for geometrical effects -- is used as a cosmic-ray energy estimator. Performing an absolute energy calibration against the surface-detector information, we observe that this radio-energy estimator scales quadratically with the cosmic-ray energy as expected for coherent emission. We find an energy resolution of the radio reconstruction of 22% for the data set and 17% for a high-quality subset containing only events with at least five radio stations with signal.Comment: Replaced with published version. Added journal reference and DO

Measurement of the Radiation Energy in the Radio Signal of Extensive Air Showers as a Universal Estimator of Cosmic-Ray Energy

We measure the energy emitted by extensive air showers in the form of radio emission in the frequency range from 30 to 80 MHz. Exploiting the accurate energy scale of the Pierre Auger Observatory, we obtain a radiation energy of 15.8 \pm 0.7 (stat) \pm 6.7 (sys) MeV for cosmic rays with an energy of 1 EeV arriving perpendicularly to a geomagnetic field of 0.24 G, scaling quadratically with the cosmic-ray energy. A comparison with predictions from state-of-the-art first-principle calculations shows agreement with our measurement. The radiation energy provides direct access to the calorimetric energy in the electromagnetic cascade of extensive air showers. Comparison with our result thus allows the direct calibration of any cosmic-ray radio detector against the well-established energy scale of the Pierre Auger Observatory.Comment: Replaced with published version. Added journal reference and DOI. Supplemental material in the ancillary file

Measurements of Higgs boson production and couplings in diboson final states with the ATLAS detector at the LHC

Measurements are presented of production properties and couplings of the recently discovered Higgs boson using the decays into boson pairs, H →γ γ, H → Z Z∗ →4l and H →W W∗ →lνlν. The results are based on the complete pp collision data sample recorded by the ATLAS experiment at the CERN Large Hadron Collider at centre-of-mass energies of √s = 7 TeV and √s = 8 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of about 25 fb−1. Evidence for Higgs boson production through vector-boson fusion is reported. Results of combined fits probing Higgs boson couplings to fermions and bosons, as well as anomalous contributions to loop-induced production and decay modes, are presented. All measurements are consistent with expectations for the Standard Model Higgs boson