Intercultural Spaces in Teaching English as a Foreign Language to Elementary School in Brazil

This work is part of my doctoral research in Brazil. I have been investigating the presence of Intercultural Spaces in the English lessons in an Elementary School from the perspective of the teacher. Thus, it is a Case Study in which lesson observations will be compared to the teacher’s discourse about her own practice (Cohen, Manion & Morrison, 2011). It is a study of a single teacher practice and the students are not participants. The definition of Intercultural Spaces is based on Bhaba’s concept (1994), Kostogriz’s definition (2005) applied to Second Language Acquisition, Kramsch’s idea (2009) in the context of Foreign Language Learning and Widin and Yasukawa’s study (2013) when it comes to teacher’s role of creating such types of Intercultural Spaces in the classroom. Hence, as background to this research, it is believed that students in Early Elementary School, who are between seven and ten years old, should be educated as critical and ethical citizens (Morin, 2005; Menezes de Sousa, 2011; Rocha 2012). Thus, I expect to contribute to Teacher Education with this research in the light of New Learning (Cope & Kalantzis, 2012).Este trabajo es parte de mi investigación de doctorado en Brasil. Estoy analizando la presencia de espacios interculturales en las clases de inglés de un colegio de enseñanza primaria desde la perspectiva de una profesora. Es un estudio de caso en el cual las observaciones de clase se compararán al discurso de la profesora con respecto a su propia práctica (Cohen, Manion & Morrison, 2011). Asimismo, es un estudio de la práctica de una única profesora y los alumnos no participan en la investigación. La definición de Espacios Interculturales se basa en el concepto de Bhabha (1994), en la definición de Kostogriz (2005) aplicada a la adquisición de segundas lenguas, en la idea de Kramsch (2009) en el contexto de enseñanza de lengua extranjera, y en el estudio de Widin y Yasukawa (2013) en lo que concierne al papel de la profesora de crear tales espacios interculturales en la clase. Como telón de fondo de este trabajo, se cree que los alumnos de enseñanza primaria que tienen entre siete y diez años deberían ser formados como ciudadanos críticos y éticos (Morin, 2005; Mendez de Sousa, 2011; Rocha, 2012). Con este trabajo inspirado en el Nuevo Aprendizaje (Cope & Kalantzis, 2012), espero contribuir a la formación de nuevos profesores

Efficient execution of Java programs on GPU

Dissertação de mestrado em Informatics EngineeringWith the overwhelming increase of demand of computational power made by fields as Big Data, Deep Machine learning and Image processing the Graphics Processing Units (GPUs) has been seen as a valuable tool to compute the main workload involved. Nonetheless, these solutions have limited support for object-oriented languages that often require manual memory handling which is an obstacle to bringing together the large community of object oriented programmers and the high-performance computing field. In this master thesis, different memory optimizations and their impacts were studied in a GPU Java context using Aparapi. These include solutions for different identifiable bottlenecks of commonly used kernels exploiting its full capabilities by studying the GPU hardware and current techniques available. These results were set against common used C/OpenCL benchmarks and respective optimizations proving, that high-level languages can be a solution to high-performance software demand.Com o aumento de poder computacional requisitado por campos como Big Data, Deep Machine Learning e Processamento de Imagens, as unidades de processamento gráfico (GPUs) tem sido vistas como uma ferramenta valiosa para executar a principal carga de trabalho envolvida. No entanto, esta solução tem suporte limitado para linguagens orientadas a objetos. Frequentemente estas requerem manipulação manual de memória, o que é um obstáculo para reunir a grande comunidade de programadores orientados a objetos e o campo da computação de alto desempenho. Nesta dissertação de mestrado, diferentes otimizações de memória e os seus impactos foram estudados utilizando Aparapi. As otimizações estudadas pretendem solucionar bottle-necks identificáveis em kernels frequentemente utilizados. Os resultados obtidos foram comparados com benchmarks C / OpenCL populares e as suas respectivas otimizações, provando que as linguagens de alto nível podem ser uma solução para programas que requerem computação de alto desempenho

Investing in U.S. natural gas: an exchange-traded funds approach

Este estudo visa apresentar o funcionamento do mercado de gás natural nos EUA e analisar a fundo todos os seus Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs) disponíveis como perspectiva de investimento. Inicialmente descreve um mercado fragmentado em cinco regiões e sete actividades desde a exploração à distribuição para uso residencial, industrial ou electricidade, com vários factores a afectarem o volátil preço spot: procura, nível económico, bens substitutos, mercado externo, meteorologia, regulamentação, relatórios de armazenamento, desenvolvimentos tecnológicos, novas reservas e o menos volátil mercado de futuros. Os resultados mostram que os ETFs de futuros são os mais voláteis mas que nos últimos dois anos maiores retornos têm alcançado, numa categoria onde só os alavancados demonstram boas capacidades de réplica. No geral evidenciaram-se proporcionais à evolução dos preços; após 2012 os ganhos voltaram a aparecer depois de um largo período de perdas. Os ETFs baseados em índices de equidade são igualmente voláteis mas com desempenho recente inferior aos anteriores pois a relação com os preços de gás natural é indirecta. No entanto apresentam boas capacidades de réplica. Os fundos baseados em parcerias limitadas (MLPs), onde se encontram os maiores ETFs, de modo geral geram, por oposição aos activos, retornos absolutos positivos. Esta é a categoria onde os fundos melhor copiam os seus índices, com volatilidades muito reduzidas, contudo recentemente apresentam uma ligeira quebra de performance. Na parte final do estudo são apresentadas considerações sobre os temas mais relevantes: a aposta no gás de xisto e terminais de Gás Natural Liquefeito (LNG), visando a independência energética, um país exportador, e uma diminuição dos custos do gás natural internacionalmente.This study presents the mechanics of the USA natural gas market and performs a deep analysis of its available Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs) as an investment perspective. Initially it describes a fragmented market into five regions and seven activities from exploration to distribution for residential use, industrial use or electricity generation, with many factors affecting the volatile spot prices: demand, economic wealth, substitute goods, external markets, weather, regulations, storage reports, technological developments, new reserves and finally the less volatile futures market. Results show that futures based ETFs are the most volatile but in the last two years those who have achieved higher returns, on a category where only the leveraged funds show good tracking abilities. Generally these funds proved themselves proportional to prices’ evolution; after 2012 consistent gains were registered following a large period of losses and declining prices. Equity ETFs are equally volatile but present inferior returns when compared to the previous, as the relation with prices is indirect. However they present good tracking capacities. As to Master Limited Partnerships (MLPs) based funds, where some of the largest ETFs belong, on a general basis generate, contradicting the active returns, positive absolute returns. This is the category where funds better replicate indexes presenting low volatilities, however recently we observe a slight decrease in performance. On the final part of this study, considerations about the most relevant topics are presented: the bet on the shale gas and on Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) terminals, aiming energetic independency, a net exporter position and a decrease of natural gas costs internationally

Desarrollo de nuevos productos alimenticios de alto valor nutricional y funcional con base en flores, frutos y tallos de plantas

[ES]El desarrollo de alimentos saludables y sostenibles es cada vez más frecuente en repuesta a las demandas de los consumidores, que buscan combinaciones de nuevos ingredientes a partir de fuentes alternativas a las clásicas y con posibles beneficios para la salud. En este trabajo, pétalos e infusiones de flores comestibles de Dahlia mignon, una mezcla de rosas (Rosa damascena 'Alejandría' y R. gallica 'Francesa' en R. canina), Calendula officinalis L. y Centaurea cyanus L., frutos de Vaccinium myrtillus L., manzanas Malus domestica Borkh variedad ‘Bravo de Esmolfe’, y frutos y tallos de Lycium barbarum L. se caracterizaron en cuanto a su composición proximal, contenidos de azúcares solubles, ácidos orgánicos y compuestos fenólicos individuales y potencial bioactivo (actividades antioxidante y antibacteriana para todas las muestras, y capacidad antiproliferativa en flores y sus infusiones). Además, las flores, frutos y tallos también se caracterizaron en términos de sus perfiles de ácidos grasos y tocoferoles. Los carbohidratos fueron los macronutrientes más abundantes en todos los casos. Fructosa, glucosa y sacarosa fueron identificadas en todas las flores y sus infusiones. Las infusiones de flores de rosa y C. officinalis mostraron el mayor contenido de ácidos orgánicos, siendo la última especie la que presentaba mayor cantidad de tocoferoles. En todas las muestras de flores, los ácidos grasos poliinsaturados predominaron sobre los saturados. Las distintas flores estudiadas revelaron perfiles fenólicos diferentes, aunque todas mostraron un alto potencial biológico, siendo los extractos hidrometanólicos de rosas los que presentaron mayor bioactividad. Además de alto valor nutricional y composición química variada, los extractos preparados a partir de manzanas ‘Bravo de Esmolfe’ presentaron un perfil fenólico característico, con epicatequina y procianidinas de tipo B, ácidos hidroxicinamoilquínicos y derivados de floretina, así como signficativos efectos antioxidantes y antibacterianos

Phishing and advanced persistent threats

The paper addresses one of the techniques mor used by Advanced Persistent Threats attacks, phishing. The paper demonstrates the complexity of the technique, explains how attacks can be carried out, and presents defense techniques, and strategies against phishing attacks. The article also presents a summary description of what an Advanced Persistent Threat attack is. This description characterizes this type of attack.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Guia de campo "A febre do ouro"

Programa e guia de campo do Curso de primavera do Projecto ZOM 3D 2018

Fluid constraints for Au deposition at the Monges iron deposit, Ossa Morena Zone (Montemor-o-Novo, Portugal)

The Monges deposit was an important iron mine during late 19th and early 20th century. In recent decades the region of Montemor-o-Novo has attracted the interest of several exploration companies due to high-grade gold anomalies found through soil geochemistry work. Exploration drilling carried out in the WNW-ESE and conjugated N-S shear-zones (≈30 km) identified interesting gold grades, including in the vicinity of the Monges iron deposit. The fluid inclusion study presented here is focused on constraining the fluids related to iron and gold mineralization processes. Fluid constraints for the iron mineralization are difficult assess in the early stage (SEDEX environment) of the Ossa-Morena Zone geodynamic evolution. An overprinting of these early fluids is found, and most of the fluids present may be related to late metamorphism. Gold in Monges area shows affinity to a H2O-CO2-NaCl fluid system showing evidence of immiscibility and trace concentrations of CH4. The geological settings hosting gold mineralization as well as the fluid characteristics with low-salinity, with an average of 7.72 wt. % NaCl Equiv. and homogenization temperatures between 150ºC and 350ºC, points towards an orogenic gold deposit model, corroborating and reinforcing the current accepted model for gold mineralization of Montemor-o-Novo region

Musical and cognitive abilities in children from disadvantaged backgrounds

Human beings are born with several abilities which are amenable to change. A growing number of studies have focused on the relations between musical and cognitive abilities but research with children from disadvantaged communities is scarce. This study explored the relations between musical and cognitive abilities in disadvantaged children. Participants were 169 children from deprived neighborhoods, attending the second year of primary education in public schools that do not offer music education. Children’s musical abilities (perception) were measured with the Melody, Rhythm, and Memory tests of Montreal Battery for the Evaluation of Musical Abilities and their cognitive abilities, with five WISC-III subtests (Similarities, Vocabulary, Cubes, Picture Arrangement, and Digits). Parental level of education was obtained from a questionnaire on the socio-economic status of children’s families. Results revealed (1) few and weak correlations between musical and cognitive abilities; (2) stronger correlations of Socioeconomic Status (SES) with cognitive than with musical abilities; (3) digit span predicts all musical abilities; 4) a clear factorial distinction between musical and cognitive abilities. Overall, results suggest that disadvantaged children’s musical and cognitive abilities, as measured by the present instruments, are partly independent regarding processing components.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Illegal trade on non-native amphibians and reptiles in southeast Brazil: the status of e-commerce

Illegal trade on non-native amphibians and reptiles in southeast Brazil: the status of e-commerc