Integrating children ́s values in policymaking: Challenges and opportunities in a diverse society

Values are a central dimension of human social life, they are core to a person’s self-concept and identity and drive individual actions towards both personal enhancement and social transformation. At a social level, values govern how individuals relate to others and shape the organization of societies being, therefore, powerful guidelines to face new societal challenges like inclusion/exclusion issues, social justice or cultural diversity. Research with adults in this field has demonstrated that human values are powerful predictors of a wide range of behaviours, attitudes and beliefs. However, research with children is still very recent and has mostly focused on adolescents and older children, probably due to concerns about young children's capabilities to produce reliable information and discourse. In the same way, children's voices regarding political issues have been frequently dismissed even when children's right to participate fully in political and cultural life is specifically recognized in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. Therefore, giving voice to children is ultimately a matter of respecting their rights. To address this gap we introduce in this presentation a project that seeks to respond to this need by mapping the basic human values (e.g. Schwartz, 1992) of children and young adolescents (6 to 14 years) and its associations with the representations of justice and attitudes towards different social groups. Also, we intend to propose further directions to incorporate values and children’s views in education policies and decision-making.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

RepositóriUM: implementação do DSpace em português: lições para o futuro e linhas de investigação.

Neste trabalho descrevemos a implementação do Repositório Institucional (RepositóriUM) da Universidade do Minho (UMinho), Portugal. A UMinho traduziu e está a utilizar a primeira versão em língua portuguesa do DSpace, um programa Open Source desenvolvido numa parceria entre o Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) e a Hewlett-Packard (HP). As cinco fases definidas para o plano de implementação são descritas neste trabalho (1. instalação, tradução e configuração; 2. carregamento de teses e dissertações; 3. instituição das comunidades piloto; 4. abertura do repositório ao público, e 5. abertura para toda comunidade da UMinho), bem como as razões que conduziram à escolha das seis comunidades piloto de diferentes áreas do conhecimento para participarem nesse período de implementação (Sistemas de Informações; Engenharia de Polímeros; Engenharia Biológica; Gestão, e uma da área de Ciências Humanas e outra da área de Ciências Sociais). Neste artigo pretendemos compartilhar as lições aprendidas com o processo, e os caminhos de investigação que o projecto abriu, em particular para investigação e comparação de comportamentos de comunidades com diferentes culturas, de acordo com algumas questões e observações surgidas durante os primeiros dez meses de experiência. Tendo estas informações como base, foram identificados alguns caminhos para pesquisa que começam a ser desenvolvidos no contexto de pesquisas de mestrado ou doutorado na UMinho

RepositóriUM: implementing DSpace in portuguese: lessons for the future and research pathways

In this paper we describe the implementation of the Minho University (UMinho) Institutional Repository (RepositóriUM), Portugal. UMinho translated and has been using the first Portuguese version of DSpace, an Open Source software system developed in a partnership of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Hewlett-Packard (HP). The five phases established for the implementation plan are pointed out in this work (1. installation, translation, and configuration; 2. upload of thesis and dissertations; 3. establishment of pilot communities; 4. making the repository public, and 5. opening to the overall UMinho community), as well as, the reasons that led to the choice of the six pilot communities of different areas of knowledge (Information Systems; Polymers Engineering; Biological Engineering; Management, and one from the Humanities and another from the Social Sciences areas) to participate in this implementation period. In this paper we wish to share the lessons learnt, and the pathways for research, in particular for cross-cultural research, according to some questions and observations obtained during the first 10 months of experience. With this information as a background, some research pathways have been identified and are starting to be further developed in the context of MSc or PhD research at UMinho

Descrição de uma forma autossômica dominante de síndrome de Kabuki por mutação no gene MLL2

Aims: Although there are more than 400 cases of Kabuki syndrome described in the literature, it is believed that this syndrome is under-diagnosed. Most cases occur sporadically, despite cases with autosomal dominant familial transmission being described. Here we describe three cases identified in the same family. Cases description: A family (mother and two children) was diagnosed with Kabuki syndrome. The three patients show the typical characteristics (facial appearance, musculoskeletal abnormalities, cognitive impairment, growth retardation and peculiar dermatoglyphic pattern) associated with other anomalies described in the syndrome (congenital heart disease and increased susceptibility to infections). Genetic studies revealed a nonsense mutation c.14710 C > T (p.Arg4904X) in the MLL2 gene in the three members of the family. Conclusions: With the description of another case of familial Kabuki syndrome, the authors wish to illustrate the autosomal dominant inheritance with variable expressivity, which are present in this situation, and to alert to the need for a rigorous clinical and molecular evaluation of the affected patient’s relatives, allowing appropriate genetic counseling

Seleção de primers ISSR para genotipagem de murici.

O muricizeiro, espécie frutífera da família Malpighiaceae, encontra-se disperso em todo o território brasileiro. A Embrapa possui plantas matrizes que precisam ser caracterizadas à nível de DNA. Nesse sentido, os materiais vegetais foram coletados da coleção da Embrapa Amazônia Oriental e conservadas no banco de DNA dessa intuição. As reações de PCR-ISSR foram realizadas testando 100 primer disponíveis em cinco clones de muricizeiro, com objetivo de selecionar os melhores fragmentos polimórficos para os materiais de murici, totalizando no mínimo 100 bandas polimórfica

A novel hot-plate test sensitive to hyperalgesic stimuli and non-opioid analgesics

It is widely accepted that the classical constant-temperature hot-plate test is insensitive to cyclooxygenase inhibitors. In the current study, we developed a variant of the hot-plate test procedure (modified hot-plate (MHP) test) to measure inflammatory nociception in freely moving rats and mice. Following left and right hind paw stimulation with a phlogogen and vehicle, respectively, the animals were placed individually on a hot-plate surface at 51ºC and the withdrawal latency for each paw was determined simultaneously in measurements performed at 15, 60, 180, and 360 min post-challenge. Plantar stimulation of rats (250 and 500 µg/paw) and mice (125-500 µg/paw) with carrageen an led to a rapid hyperalgesic response of the ipsilateral paw that reached a plateau from 15 to 360 min after challenge. Pretreatment with indomethacin (4 mg/kg, ip) inhibited the phenomenon at all the times analyzed. Similarly, plantar stimulation of rats and mice with prostaglandin E2 (0.5 and 1 µg/paw) also resulted in rapid hyperalgesia which was first detected 15 min post-challenge. Finally, we observed that the MHP test was more sensitive than the classical Hargreaves' test, being able to detect about 4- and 10-fold lower doses of prostaglandin E2 and carrageenan, respectively. In conclusion, the MHP test is a simple and sensitive method for detecting peripheral hyperalgesia and analgesia in rats and mice. This test represents a low-cost alternative for the study of inflammatory pain in freely moving animals

Possível associação entre tipos de hemoglobina e problemas reprodutivos em éguas Mangalarga brasileiras

In the present report the biochemical polymorphism of Mangalarga mares hemoglobin, in reproductive age, from Santa Fé Farm, Botucatu, São Paulo, was studied. Animals were classified in two groups, according to reproductive history of each mare; the first group was performed by normal mares (control group) and the second one by animals with reproductive disorders (barren mares). From each animal, around 15 ml of vessel blood were collected. Hemoglobins were typed by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, 7% of concentration in the resolving gel, in a discontinuous alkaline (pH 8.6) buffer system. The following hemoglobins phenotypes were found in the control group, with the respective frequencies:A¹--- (2,0%), A¹, A²m+m+ (21,0%) e A¹A² m+m (27,0%). To the group performed by reproductive disorders carrier animals the following results were obtained : A¹--- (10,0%), A¹A² m+m+ (12,0%) e A¹A²m+m+ (28,0%). The difference observed in the A¹--- phenotype between the groups may be due to a probable liaison with hemoglobin locus and another one related with reproductive traits. Besides this fact, tropical environment effects may be acting on this locus, thus leading to obtained resultsForam estudadas as hemoglobinas de 100 éguas da raça Mangalarga, em idade de reprodução, provenientes da Fazenda Santa Fé, situada na região de Botucatu. Esses animais foram divididos em 2 grupos, de acordo com o histórico reprodutivo de cada animal, sendo um formado por éguas reprodutivamente normais e o segundo por éguas portadoras de problemas reprodutivos. Foram colhidas amostras de 15 ml de sangue com anticoagulante. As hemoglobinas foram identificadas por meio de eletroforese em gel de poliacrilamida em placa vertical, a 7% em pH 8.6, segundo Davis11 (1964). Quanto ao sistema de hemoglobinas, foram encontrados os seguintes fenótipos para o grupo de éguas reprodutivamente normais:A¹--- (2,0%), A¹, A²m+m+ (21,0%) e A¹A² m+m (27,0%); para o grupo de éguas com problemas reprodutivos: A¹--- (10,0%), A¹A² m+m+ (12,0%) e A¹A²m+m+ (28,0%). A diferença na freqüência do fenótipo A¹--- entre os grupos pode ter ocorrido devido ã existência da ligação do loco hemoglobina a outro que controlaria características de produção. Além disso, pode estar ocorrendo influência do tipo de clima existente nos trópicos

Caste- and pesticide-specific effects of neonicotinoid pesticide exposure on gene expression in bumblebees

Social bees are important insect pollinators of wildflowers and agricultural crops, making their reported declines a global concern. A major factor implicated in these declines is the widespread use of neonicotinoid pesticides. Indeed, recent research has demonstrated that exposure to low doses of these neurotoxic pesticides impairs bee behaviours important for colony function and survival. However, our understanding of the molecular‐genetic pathways that lead to such effects is limited, as is our knowledge of how effects may differ between colony members. To understand what genes and pathways are affected by exposure of bumblebee workers and queens to neonicotinoid pesticides, we implemented a transcriptome‐wide gene expression study. We chronically exposed Bombus terrestriscolonies to either clothianidin or imidacloprid at field‐realistic concentrations while controlling for factors including colony social environment and worker age. We reveal that genes involved in important biological processes including mitochondrial function are differentially expressed in response to neonicotinoid exposure. Additionally, clothianidin exposure had stronger effects on gene expression amplitude and alternative splicing than imidacloprid. Finally, exposure affected workers more strongly than queens. Our work demonstrates how RNA‐Seq transcriptome profiling can provide detailed novel insight on the mechanisms mediating pesticide toxicity to a key insect pollinator