Variations of Quality of Teacher–infant Interactions Across Play and Care Routine Activities

This study examined the extent to which the quality of teacher-infant interactions varies across play and routine care activities. In addition, the effects of the quantity of adult involvement in the quality of teacher-infant interactions were investigated. Participants were 90 infant classrooms in Portugal. Classrooms had, on average, 6 infants enrolled (M = 6.38, SD = 2.34), with the number of adults ranging from 1 to 3 (M = 2.00, SD = 0.60). Classrooms were observed by trained observers using the Classroom Assessment Scoring System–Infant (CLASS-Infant; Hamre et al., 2014). Research Findings: Multilevel models showed that interaction quality varied as a function of type of activity. The quality of interactions of all CLASS domains was lower in routine care activities compared to play activities. Findings further showed that adult involvement was positively associated with all CLASS domains. In addition, after adding adult involvement to the models, differences between play and routine care activities were no longer statistically significant for most CLASS domains. Practice or Policy: Findings suggest the importance of considering the context of the activity and the levels of adult involvement when assessing and improving the quality of teacher-infant interactions.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Leaf age, seasonal and annual variations in Salvia officinalis L. var. purpurascens biochemical characteristics

Medicinal and aromatic plants (MAP’s) have gain new attention in the past years due to their content in bioactive compounds and recognized health-promoting effects. One of the most important species of MAP’s is Salvia officinalis L., rich in several phytochemicals (essential oil, phenolic compounds) and vitamins. Besides, it has various uses and pharmacological effects (including antibacterial, antiviral, antioxidative, anti-inflammatory, antidiabetic and antitumour activities). Salvia officinalis L. has many cultivars, including Salvia officinalis L. var. purpurascens, which is currently understudied. As few is known about this specific cultivar, characterization of this plant, as well as the study of biochemical variations occurring during its development, is of great significance. Hence, in this work, young and adult leaves of Salvia officinalis L. var. purpurascens, were collected in two different seasons (June and September) and in two different years (2011 and 2013). Several biochemical traits were analyzed, namely carbohydrate content, photosynthetic pigments concentration, total phenolics, soluble proteins, as well as oxidation parameters (thiobarbituric acid reactive substances, thiols and electrolyte leakage). The Year factor significantly influenced carbohydrate content (higher in 2013 for non-structural carbohydrates and soluble sugars, but lower for starch), but also chlorophyll and carotenoid content (higher in 2011), with a similar influence recorded for the Season of harvest (higher values for starch, chlorophyll and carotenoids in September, but lower for soluble sugars). The developmental stage of leaves showed significant influence mainly in the content of photosynthetic pigments, with higher values of chlorophyll and carotenoids recorded in young leaves. The results show the biochemical variations occurring in plants of Salvia officinalis L. var. purpurascens, during developmental stages, and others associated to season of harvest and year, and their relation to climatic factors. The gathered data, besides useful for the characterization of this plant, is also valuable when aiming for the optimization of sage cultivation

The quality of caregiver–child interactions in infant classrooms in Portugal: the role of caregiver education

Recent research has shown that caregiver education and training can be important in determining levels of quality in early childhood, but has mainly considered the education and training of the lead teacher. In infant child care, however, classrooms have more than one caregiver with varying levels of education and in Portugal it is less common to have a qualified teacher exclusively assigned to infant classrooms. This study examines the quality of caregiver–child interactions in infant classrooms and its association with caregiver qualifications and training, specifically the level of pre-service education and in-service training of the lead caregiver, whether she is exclusively assigned to an infant classroom or to more classrooms, and the pre-service education of the multiple caregivers in the classroom. Participants were 90 infant classrooms from Porto, Portugal. The CLASS–Infant was used to measure quality of caregiver–infant interactions. Classrooms with one lead caregiver holding at least a bachelor’s degree, whether exclusively assigned to the infant classroom or not, showed higher levels of quality. Few effects were found for in-service training. Results suggest that lead teachers with pre-service education in early childhood are likely to play an important role not only directly by interacting with children but also indirectly through team work.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Stability and change in teacher-infant interaction quality over time

Given that an increasing number of infants spend part of the day in center-based childcare in many countries, understanding infants’ education and care experiences in these settings is essential. The aims of this study are to examine change in teacher-infant interaction quality over time, and to determine the extent to which teacher and classroom structural characteristics are associated with change in teacherinfantinteraction quality. Ninety infant childcare classrooms from the greater metropolitan area of Porto, Portugal, participated in this study. Each classroom was observed twice (6-month interval between Time 1 and Time 2) by trained and reliable observers using the Infant/Toddler Environment Rating Scale – Revised (ITERS-R; Harms et al., 2006), the Classroom Assessment Scoring System – Infant (CLASS-Infant; Hamre et al., 2014), and the Caregiver Interaction Scale (CIS; Arnett, 1989). Additionally, teachers provided demographic information aboutthemselves and structural characteristics ofthe classroom. Overall results indicated that the quality of teacher-infant interactions changed over time, with a general trend toward lower quality at Time 2. The increase in infant:adult ratio from Time 1 to Time 2 was an important predictor of process quality levels at Time 2, after controlling for prior quality and other structural characteristics. These findings can be informative for policymaking as group size and number of adults per classroom are regulated features of childcare in many countries, including Portugalinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

A escolha de uma carreira no ensino em Portugal: Motivos e autoeficácia de estudantes de mestrado

Neste estudo analisaram-se os motivos de estudantes para escolherem a carreira docente e respetivas associações com variáveis sociodemográficas, com características do curso de formação de professores e com crenças de autoeficácia. Participaram no estudo 183 estudantes (86% do género feminino) de cursos de mestrado em ensino de instituições portuguesas, que preencheram um questionário on-line sobre características sociodemográficas, motivos da sua decisão de se tornarem professores e crenças de autoeficácia. Através da análise fatorial, foram derivados quatro fatores subjacentes aos motivos para ser professor: (a) Benefícios da profissão, (b) Influências sociais, (c) Interesse no curso ou nos conteúdos académicos, e (d) Promoção do desenvolvimento das crianças/adolescentes. Foram encontrados valores médios mais elevados nos motivos relacionados com a Promoção do desenvolvimento das crianças/adolescentes e com o Interesse no curso/nos conteúdos académicos. Foram encontradas diferenças estatisticamente significativas entre os motivos de estudantes que optaram por um curso que profissionaliza para a educação pré-escolar e/ou primeiro ciclo e os que optaram por um curso que profissionaliza para o ensino de disciplinas específicas, assim como em função da idade, do género e da autoeficácia. As implicações para a formação de professores são discutidas.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Predictors of parent-teacher communication during infant transition to childcare in Portugal

Although literature reports associations between parent-teacher communication and childcare quality, little is known about how such communications are related to family, child and childcare characteristics. This study examines whether child, family and childcare experience characteristics predict the level of parent-teacher communication, and differences between parents’ and teachers’ reports of communication. Participants were mothers of 90 infants and their teachers in childcare in Portugal. Results show that both parents and teachers report higher levels of communication in higher-quality programmes. Teachers reported more frequent communication than parents. Teachers, but not parents, reported more frequent communication when children spent fewer hours in childcare. Discussion highlights the relevance of monitoring the quality of childcare contexts, especially in early ages, and to increase parent-teacher communication when children spend more time in childcare. The importance of promoting high-quality childcare and accounting for variables at the mesosystemic level of development in teacher training are also discussed.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

A escolha de uma carreira no ensino em Portugal: motivos e autoeficácia de estudantes de mestrado

Neste estudo analisaram-se os motivos de estudantes para escolherem a carreira docente e respetivas associações com variáveis ​​sociodemográficas, com características do curso de formação de professores e com crenças de autoeficácia. Participaram 183 estudantes (86% mulheres) de cursos de mestrado em ensino de instituições portuguesas, que preencheram um questionário on-line sobre características sociodemográficas, motivos da sua decisão de se tornarem professores (Kiel, Geider, & Junger, 2004) e crenças de autoeficácia (Schwarzer & Jerusalem, 1995; versão portuguesa de Araújo & Moura, 2011). Através da análise fatorial, foram derivados quatro fatores subjacentes aos motivos para ser professor: (a) Benefícios da profissão, (b) Influências sociais, (c) Interesse no curso ou nos conteúdos académicos, e (d) Promoção do desenvolvimento das crianças/adolescentes. Foram encontrados valores médios mais elevados nos motivos relacionados com a Promoção do desenvolvimento das crianças/adolescentes e com o Interesse no curso/nos conteúdos académicos. Foram encontradas diferenças estatisticamente significativas entre os motivos de estudantes que optaram por um curso que profissionaliza para a educação pré-escolar e/ou primeiro ciclo e os que optaram por um curso que profissionaliza para o ensino de disciplinas específicas, assim como em função da idade, do género e da autoeficácia. As implicações para a formação de professores são discutidas

Parceria família-creche na transição do bebé para a creche

Este estudo apresenta atitudes e comportamentos de parceria família-creche, relatados por mães e educadoras, durante o período de entrada de bebés na creche. Mães e educadoras de 90 bebés responderam à Escala de Parceria Educadores-Pais (Ware, Rusher, Barfoot & Owen, 1995). Os resultados indicam uma grande valorização, por parte das mães e educadoras, da parceria família-creche para dar resposta às necessidadesdas crianças, bem como uma elevada probabilidade, relatada, de se envolverem em comportamentos de parceria. Os relatos das mães são relativamente mais positivos, quer no que se refere às atitudes, quer no que se refere aos comportamentos de parceria. Verificaram-se também associações positivas entre os relatos das mães e das educadoras. Encontraram-se ainda outras associações, no sentido esperado, com variáveis do ambiente familiar e de creche

SARS-CoV-2 introductions and early dynamics of the epidemic in Portugal

Genomic surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 in Portugal was rapidly implemented by the National Institute of Health in the early stages of the COVID-19 epidemic, in collaboration with more than 50 laboratories distributed nationwide. Methods By applying recent phylodynamic models that allow integration of individual-based travel history, we reconstructed and characterized the spatio-temporal dynamics of SARSCoV-2 introductions and early dissemination in Portugal. Results We detected at least 277 independent SARS-CoV-2 introductions, mostly from European countries (namely the United Kingdom, Spain, France, Italy, and Switzerland), which were consistent with the countries with the highest connectivity with Portugal. Although most introductions were estimated to have occurred during early March 2020, it is likely that SARS-CoV-2 was silently circulating in Portugal throughout February, before the first cases were confirmed. Conclusions Here we conclude that the earlier implementation of measures could have minimized the number of introductions and subsequent virus expansion in Portugal. This study lays the foundation for genomic epidemiology of SARS-CoV-2 in Portugal, and highlights the need for systematic and geographically-representative genomic surveillance.We gratefully acknowledge to Sara Hill and Nuno Faria (University of Oxford) and Joshua Quick and Nick Loman (University of Birmingham) for kindly providing us with the initial sets of Artic Network primers for NGS; Rafael Mamede (MRamirez team, IMM, Lisbon) for developing and sharing a bioinformatics script for sequence curation (https://github.com/rfm-targa/BioinfUtils); Philippe Lemey (KU Leuven) for providing guidance on the implementation of the phylodynamic models; Joshua L. Cherry (National Center for Biotechnology Information, National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health) for providing guidance with the subsampling strategies; and all authors, originating and submitting laboratories who have contributed genome data on GISAID (https://www.gisaid.org/) on which part of this research is based. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not reflect the view of the National Institutes of Health, the Department of Health and Human Services, or the United States government. This study is co-funded by Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia and Agência de Investigação Clínica e Inovação Biomédica (234_596874175) on behalf of the Research 4 COVID-19 call. Some infrastructural resources used in this study come from the GenomePT project (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-022184), supported by COMPETE 2020 - Operational Programme for Competitiveness and Internationalisation (POCI), Lisboa Portugal Regional Operational Programme (Lisboa2020), Algarve Portugal Regional Operational Programme (CRESC Algarve2020), under the PORTUGAL 2020 Partnership Agreement, through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), and by Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Snapshot of viral infections in wild carnivores reveals ubiquity of parvovirus and susceptibility of Egyptian mongoose to feline panleukopenia virus

The exposure of wild carnivores to viral pathogens, with emphasis on parvovirus (CPV/FPLV), was assessed based on the molecular screening of tissue samples from 128 hunted or accidentally road-killed animals collected in Portugal from 2008 to 2011, including Egyptian mongoose (Herpestes ichneumon, n = 99), red fox (Vulpes vulpes, n = 19), stone marten (Martes foina, n = 3), common genet (Genetta genetta, n = 3) and Eurasian badger (Meles meles, n = 4). A high prevalence of parvovirus DNA (63%) was detected among all surveyed species, particularly in mongooses (58%) and red foxes (79%), along with the presence of CPV/FPLV circulating antibodies that were identified in 90% of a subset of parvovirus-DNA positive samples. Most specimens were extensively autolysed, restricting macro and microscopic investigations for lesion evaluation. Whenever possible to examine, signs of active disease were not present, supporting the hypothesis that the parvovirus vp2 gene fragments detected by real-time PCR possibly correspond to viral DNA reminiscent from previous infections. The molecular characterization of viruses, based on the analysis of the complete or partial sequence of the vp2 gene, allowed typifying three viral strains of mongoose and four red fox’s as feline panleukopenia virus (FPLV) and one stone marten’s as newCPV-2b type. The genetic similarity found between the FPLV viruses from free-ranging and captive wild species originated in Portugal and publicly available comparable sequences, suggests a closer genetic relatedness among FPLV circulating in Portugal. Although the clinical and epidemiological significance of infection could not be established, this study evidences that exposure of sympatric wild carnivores to parvovirus is common and geographically widespread, potentially carrying a risk to susceptible populations at the wildlife-domestic interface and to threatened species, such as the wildcat (Felis silvestris) and the critically endangered Iberian lynx (Lynx pardinus).publishe