Dicionário virtual de ornitologia e ecologia: as novas tecnologias de informação ao serviço do ensino da Biologia e Ecologia

1º Encontro de Observadores de Aves das Arribas do Douro, Solar dos Marcos, Bemposta, Mogadouro, 26-27 Julho 2003.Este artigo apresenta o projeto “Dicionário Virtual de Ornitologia e Ecologia”, que pretende tirar partido do veículo de divulgação por excelência que é a Internet para divulgar informação científica, nas áreas da Ornitologia e Ecologia. Na sequência de um trabalho anterior, e com o apoio do ministério da educação, através do programa Nónio Século XXII e PRODEP III, foi possível constituir um consórcio que reúne as competências necessárias e suficientes para a concepção, implementação e manutenção do projeto. De facto, a junção da competência técnica do Centro de Computação Gráfica aos conhecimentos científicos do Instituto do Mar e à qualidade das ilustrações científicas da empresa Gradientes e Texturas, permitiu a implementação de um portal com as funcionalidades necessárias para reunir à sua volta uma comunidade mundial de amantes da natureza, e da ornitologia em particular. São as principais características deste portal que se apresentam ao longo deste artigo, bem como algumas conclusões que foi possível formular desde que ficou oficialmente online

Employees’ fit to telework and work well-being: (in)voluntariness in telework as a mediating variable?

Purpose: The present study aims to examine the mediating role of (in)voluntariness in teleworking in explaining the relationship between employees’ fit to telework and work well-being (i.e. work engagement and exhaustion). Design/methodology/approach: A cross-sectional survey design was used in this study. The sample comprised 222 individuals performing telework in Portugal. Statistical analyses employed were descriptive statistics, Pearson’s correlation, confirmatory factor and structural equation analyses, and mediation analysis using Hayes Process macro. Findings: The findings confirmed the hypothesis that employees’ fit to telework raises the voluntariness in telework and decreases involuntariness in telework. However, contrary to expectations, no significant relationships were found between voluntariness in telework, work engagement and exhaustion. Yet, involuntariness in telework showed a significant role in decreasing work engagement and increasing workers’ exhaustion. The mediating role of involuntariness in telework was confirmed in explaining the relationship between employees’ fit to telework and exhaustion. Practical implications: Managers in global firms can draw from the results to understand how employees’ fit to telework directly and/or indirectly contributes to work well-being and develop human resource (HR) management practices aiming to increase employees’ fit to telework. Originality/value: Although teleworking is already studied, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, no studies have analyzed the same conceptual model employees’ fit to telework, (in)voluntariness in teleworking and work well-being.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

Monitoring goat milk quality during pasteurisation and ohmic treatment using UV-VIS-SWNIR spectroscopy

This study evaluates the effectiveness of UV-VIS-SWNIR spectroscopy of goat milk quality degradation during pasteurisation and ohmic heating, being performed on: i) raw goat milk; ii) non-processed milk but passing though pumps, pasteurizer and ohmic heater; and iii) processed milk by pasteurisation and ohmic heating. Spectra were collected by a transmittance probe for UV-VIS and UV-NIR wavelengths. The samples temperature was recorded (18.0 ± 2.0oC) and the probe was always checked for bubble formation or fat residues on lens/mirror system. The integration time was set to 25s and 4s for the collection of UV-VIS and VIS-NIR spectra respectively. Data analysis was performed on each product and for each spectral range independently. The spectra were normalized by its maximum intensity and the corrected for using a robust multiplicative scatter correction algorithm. A principal component analysis was performed to the pre-processed spectra. Results show that UV-VIS-SWNIR reflectance spectroscopy provides a quick and fast assessment of goat milk characteristics and thus it can be used as an indication of the overall product variability, allowing to develop monitoring and control models for both pasteurisation and ohmic heating of goat milk.Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT)EDERPRIME progra

Mathematical model of brain tumour with glia-neuron interactions and chemotherapy treatment

Acknowledgements This study was possible by partial financial support from the following Brazilian government agencies: Fundação Araucária, EPSRC-EP/I032606/1 and CNPq, CAPES and Science Without Borders Program Process nos. 17656125, 99999.010583/2013-00 and 245377/2012-3.Peer reviewedPreprin

Untangling causes of variation in mercury concentration between flight feathers

Bird feathers are one of the most widely used animal tissue in mercury biomonitoring, owing to the ease of collection and storage. They are also the principal excretory pathway of mercury in birds. However, limitations in our understanding of the physiology of mercury deposition in feathers has placed doubt on the interpretation of feather mercury concentratoins. Throughout the literature, moult sequence and the depletion of the body mercury pool have been taken to explain patterns such as the decrease in feather mercury from the innermost (P1) to the outermost primary feather (P10) of the wing. However, it has been suggested that this pattern is rather a measurement artefact as a result of the increased feather mass to length ratio along the primaries, resulting in a dilution effect in heavier feathers. Here, we attempt to untangle the causes of variation in feather mercury concentrations by quantifying the mercury concentration as μg of mercury (i) per gram of feather, (ii) per millimetre of feather, and (iii) per day of feather growth in the primary feathers of Bulwer's Petrel Bulweria bulwerii chicks, effectively controlling for some of the axes of variation that may be acting in adults, and monitoring the growth rate of primary feathers in chicks. The mercury concentration in Bulwer's Petrel chicks' primaries increased from the innermost to the outermost primary for all three concentration measures, following the order of feather emergence. These observations confirm that the pattern of mercury concentration across primary feathers is not an artefact of the measure of concentration, but is likely an effect of the order of feather growth, whereby the earlier grown feathers are exposed to higher blood mercury concentrations than are later moulted feathers as a result of blood mercury depletion.Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia - FCTinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Using educational robotics in pre-service teacher training : orchestration between an exploration guide and teacher role

The proper integration of technology in teaching and learning processes must consider the role of teachers and students, as well as the design of tasks and the context in which they are implemented. Teachers’ perceived self-efficacy significantly influences their willingness to integrate educational robotics (ER) into their practice, so initial teacher training should provide opportunities for teachers to participate in structured activities that integrate ER. In this study, a class of pre-service teachers from an initial teacher training programme were provided with their first contact with an ER platform through the use of a simulator. We present the design process of a student exploration guide and teacher guide, developed over three iterative cycles of implementation, assessment and redesign. The analysis of the data collected allowed for improvements in the design of the tasks, the graphic component of the student exploration guide, and more precise indications for the teacher’s actions. The main contribution of this study is the chain orchestration between the simulator, student exploration guide and teacher guide, which allowed pre-service teachers to solve a set of challenges of increasing complexity, thereby progressively decreasing their difficulties and contributing to an adequate integration of ER in their future teaching practices.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Monitorização da qualidade do leite de cabra durante a pasteurização e processamento óhmico usando sensores de fibra óptica

Este estudo avalia a viabilidade da espectroscopia UVVIS- SWNIR na degradação da qualidade do leite de cabra durante a pasteurização e aquecimento Ohmico. Foram utilizados: i) leite de cabra cru; ii) leite não processado, mas passado pelas bombas do pasteurizador e aquecimento Ohmico; e iii) leite processado por pasteurização e aquecimento Ohmico. Os espectros são recolhidos por sensor de fibra óptica em comprimentos de onda UVVIS e UV-SWNIR. As amostras foram realizadas a uma temperatura de (18±2.0ºC), e os dados foram registados em cada produto e para cada gama espectral. Os espectros das amostras foram então normalizados e corrigidos usando o algoritmo de correcção da robusta da dispersão de radiação, sendo depois decomposto utilizando o algoritmo de decomposição de valores singulares relevantes. Os resultados demonstram que a espectroscopia de refletância dá-nos uma avaliação rápida das características do leite de cabra em vários cenários de produção, sendo um execelente sensor para a monitorização e automatização do processamento de lacticínios, em especial para o desenvolvimento da monitorização e controlo com a utilização de software de Tecnometria

Brain shape convergence in the adaptive radiation of New World monkeys

Primates constitute one of the most diverse mammalian clades, and a notable feature of their diversification is the evolution of brain morphology. However, the evolutionary processes and ecological factors behind these changes are largely unknown. In this work, we investigate brain shape diversification of New World monkeys during their adaptive radiation in relation to different ecological dimensions. Our results reveal that brain diversification in this clade can be explained by invoking a model of adaptive peak shifts to unique and shared optima, defined by a multidimensional ecological niche hypothesis. Particularly, we show that the evolution of convergent brain phenotypes may be related to ecological factors associated with group size (e.g., social complexity). Together, our results highlight the complexity of brain evolution and the ecological significance of brain shape changes during the evolutionary diversification of a primate clade.Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Muse