PERCEPÇÕES E PRÁTICAS DE MÃES DE PRÉ-ESCOLARES BRASILEIROS ACERCA DA ALIMENTAÇÃO DOS FILHOS

Introduction: In March, 2006, there were 5,.588,.153 children aged 4 to 6 years enrolled in Brazilian pre-schools. Unfortunately only 3.8% of these institutions have a health professional, in addition to which, the relationship between the pre-schools and the Health System is poor. The first 5 years of life are crucial in the development of good eating habits, and consequently, for preventing degenerative illnesses in later life, such as obesity. Objective: The aim of this study is to identify and analyze maternal perceptions and practices concerning the eating behaviors of children aged 3 to 6 years attending a Brazilian pre-school. Material and methods: A qualitative survey was carried out using individual, non-directive interviews. 21 mothers were interviewed: 10 with children enrolled in full-time classes and 11 with children in part-time classes. In terms of height and weight, the children were between the 10 and 90 percentile (NCHS standard). For data analysis we used the method of Thematic Content Analysis, as proposed by Bardin. Results: Diet is an issue of major concern for these mothers. The main difficulty is child development: they do not know how to deal with it. Therefore, they use harmful strategies, such as bargaining, coercion, disguising food, and punishment. Also, they do not know how food is served in the pre-school. However, 15 of the 21 children improved their eating behavior after attending the institution (autonomy, regular meal times, and better meal choices), particularly twhose attending the pre-school on a full-time basis. Conclusion: Brazilian pre-schools ought to implement health programs in partnership with the SUS (Unified Health System) - the Brazilian national health system.En marzo de 2006, existían 5.588.153 de niños entre 4 y 6 años de edad matriculados en escuelas de preescolar en Brasil. Lamentablemente, sólo el 3.8% de esas instituciones tiene un profesional de salud y, además, no existe una relación efectiva entre esas instituciones y el Sistema de Salud en el país. Los primeros cinco años de vida son cruciales en el desarrollo de hábitos alimentares sanos y, consecuentemente, en la prevención de enfermedades degenerativas en la fase adulta, y también de la obesidad. Objetivo: Identificar y analizar las percepciones y prácticas maternas sobre la alimentación de niños de 3 a 6 años que frecuentaban una preescuela brasileña. Material y Método: Estudio cualitativo con entrevistas a fondo, individuales y no directivas, involucrando a madres de preescolares, donde los criterios para inclusión fueron: edad del niño entre 3 y 6 años; mínimo de 1 año de preescuela y peso del niños entre los percentiles 10 y 90 (gráficos NCHS). 21 madres fueron entrevistadas: 10 cuyos hijos estaban matriculados en el período integral y 11 en el período parcial. Para el análisis de los datos, fueron utilizados los métodos del Análisis Temático de Contenido, propuesto por Bardin. Resultados: La alimentación es tema de gran preocupación para las madres. La principal dificultad se refiere a los cambios propios del desarrollo infantil: No saben lidiar con esos cambios y, así, usan varias estrategias perjudiciales, tales como cambalache, insistencia, castigo y coerción, además de camuflar o mezclar los alimentos recusados con los aceptados. Las madres en este estudio tampoco sabían cómo eran los momentos de alimentación en la preescuela, aunque 15 de los 21 niños mejoraron la conducta alimentaria después de frecuentar la institución (autonomía, mejora en elhábito alimentario y estandarización en los horarios de las comidas), especialmente los niños de período integral. Conclusión: Las preescuelas brasileñas deberían implementar programas de salud en colaboración con el Sistema Único de Salud.Introdução: Em Março de 2006, existiam 5.588.153 crianças de 4 a 6 anos matriculadas em pré-escolas no Brasil. Infelizmente, apenas 3.8% dessas instituições têm um profissional da saúde e, adicionalmente, não existe relação efetiva entre essas instituições e o Sistema de Saúde no país. Os primeiros cinco anos de vida são cruciais no desenvolvimento de hábitos alimentares saudáveis e, consequentemente, na prevenção de doenças degenerativas na fase adulta, assim como a obesidade. Objetivo: identificar e analisar as percepções e práticas maternas sobre a alimentação de crianças de 3 a 6 anos que frequentavam uma pré-escola brasileira. Material e Método: estudo qualitativo com entrevistas aprofundadas, individuais e não-diretivas, realizado com mães de pré-escolares, onde os critérios para inclusão foram: idade da criança entre 3 e 6 anos;  tempo de frequência à pré-escola de, no mínimo 1 ano e peso da criança entre os percentis 10 e 90 (gráficos NCHS). Vinte e uma mães foram entrevistadas: 10 cujos filhos estavam matriculados no período integral e 11 no período parcial. Para a análise dos dados, foram utilizados os métodos da Análise Temática de Conteúdo, proposta por Bardin. Resultados: a alimentação é assunto que causa preocupação e dificuldades para as mães, devido as mudanças peculiares ao desenvolvimento infantil. Devido a isto usam diversas estratégias negativas para tentar modificar o comportamento alimentar dos filhos, sendo elas: barganha, insistência, castigo e coação, além de misturar ou camuflar os alimentos recusados com os aceitos. Além disto, as mães não tinham informações sobre a alimentação na pré-escola. No entanto, 15 das 21 crianças melhoraram o comportamento alimentar depois de começarem a frequentar a instituição. Ficaram mais autônomas, passaram a aceitar novos alimentos e padronizaram os horários das refeições. As mudanças foram mais evidentes nas crianças que frequentam a pré-escola período integral (de 8 a 9.5 horas por dia). Conclusão: as mães não sabem lidar, no domicílio, com as peculiaridades de desenvolvimento dos filhos na área de alimentação. Além disto, desconhecem seus comportamentos alimentares na pré-escola, onde há melhoras em comparação com o domicílio. Sugere-se melhorar a comunicação entre famílias e pré-escola, além de parceria entre estas e o sistema público de saúde

Genetic structure and conservation of Mountain Lions in the South-Brazilian Atlantic Rain Forest

The Brazilian Atlantic Rain Forest, one of the most endangered ecosystems worldwide, is also among the most important hotspots as regards biodiversity. Through intensive logging, the initial area has been reduced to around 12% of its original size. In this study we investigated the genetic variability and structure of the mountain lion, Puma concolor. Using 18 microsatellite loci we analyzed evidence of allele dropout, null alleles and stuttering, calculated the number of allele/locus, PIC, observed and expected heterozygosity, linkage disequilibrium, Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium, FIS, effective population size and genetic structure (MICROCHECKER, CERVUS, GENEPOP, FSTAT, ARLEQUIN, ONESAMP, LDNe, PCAGEN, GENECLASS software), we also determine whether there was evidence of a bottleneck (HYBRIDLAB, BOTTLENECK software) that might influence the future viability of the population in south Brazil. 106 alleles were identified, with the number of alleles/locus ranging from 2 to 11. Mean observed heterozygosity, mean number of alleles and polymorphism information content were 0.609, 5.89, and 0.6255, respectively. This population presented evidence of a recent bottleneck and loss of genetic variation. Persistent regional poaching constitutes an increasing in the extinction risk

Modulating spin transfer torque switching dynamics with two orthogonal spin-polarizers by varying the cell aspect ratio

We study in-plane magnetic tunnel junctions with additional perpendicular polarizer for subnanosecond-current-induced switching memories. The spin-transfer-torque switching dynamics was studied as a function of the cell aspect ratio both experimentally and by numerical simulations using the macrospin model. We show that the anisotropy field plays a significant role in the dynamics, along with the relative amplitude of the two spin-torque contributions. This was confirmed by micromagnetic simulations. Real-time measurements of the reversal were performed with samples of low and high aspect ratio. For low aspect ratios, a precessional motion of the magnetization was observed and the effect of temperature on the precession coherence was studied. For high aspect ratios, we observed magnetization reversals in less than 1 ns for high enough current densities, the final state being controlled by the current direction in the magnetic tunnel junction cell.Comment: 6 pages, 7 figure

Flexible n-i-p thin film silicon solar cells on polyimide foils with textured ZnO:Ga back reflector

In thin film silicon solar cells on opaque substrates in n-i-p deposition sequence where the textured transparent conductive oxide (TCO) layer serves as a back reflector, one can independently optimize the morphology of the TCO layer without compromise on transparency and conductivity of this layer and further adjust the electro-optical properties of the back contact by using additional layers on top of the textured TCO. In the present work, we use this strategy to obtain textured back reflectors for solar cells in n-i-p deposition sequence on non-transparent flexible plastic foils. Gallium doped ZnO (ZnO:Ga) films were deposited on polyimide substrates by DC magnetron sputtering at a temperature of 200 °C. A wet-chemical etching step was performed by dipping the ZnO:Ga covered foil into a diluted HCl solution. The textured ZnO:Ga is then coated with a highly reflective Ag/ZnO double layer. On this back reflector, we develop thin film silicon solar cells with a microcrystalline silicon absorber layer. The current density for the cell with the textured ZnO:Ga layer is ~ 23 mA/cm2, 4 mA/cm2 higher than the one without such layer, and a maximum efficiency of 7.5% is obtained for a 1 cm2 cell.Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT

Piezoresistive silicon thin film sensor array for biomedical applications

N-type hydrogenated nanocrystalline silicon thin film piezoresistors, with gauge factor −28, were deposited on rugged and flexible polyimide foils by Hot-wire chemical vapor deposition using a tantalum filament heated to 1750 °C. The piezoresistive response under cyclic quasi-static and dynamical (up to 100 Hz) load conditions is reported. Test structures, consisting of microresistors having lateral dimensions in the range from 50 to 100 μm and thickness of 120 nm were defined in an array by reactive ion etching. Metallic pads, forming ohmic contacts to the sensing elements, were defined by a lift-off process. A readout circuit for the array consisting in a mutiplexer on each row and column of the matrix is proposed. The digital data will be processed, interpreted and stored internally by an ultra low-power micro controller, also responsible for the communication of two-way wireless data, e.g. from inside to outside the human body.© 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reservedFundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT

Deposition of silicon nitride thin films by hot-wire CVD at 100ºC and 250ºC

Silicon nitride thin films for use as passivation layers in solar cells and organic electronics or as gate dielectrics in thin-film transistors were deposited by the Hot-wire chemical vapor deposition technique at a high deposition rate (1-3 Ǻ/s) and at low substrate temperature. Films were deposited using NH3/SiH4 flow rate ratios between 1 and 70 and substrate temperatures of 100º C and 250ºC. For NH3/SiH4 ratios between 40 and 70, highly transparent (T ~ 90%), dense films (2.56 - 2.74 g/cm3) with good dielectric properties and refractive index between 1.93 and 2.08 were deposited on glass substrates. Etch rates in BHF of 2.7 Ǻ/s and 10 MV cm−1.Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT) - FCT/CNRS programa com o contracto no. 20798, bolsa de investigaçao e projecto PTDC-CTM-66558-200

Scale-free movement patterns in termites emerge from social interactions and preferential attachments

As the number or density of interacting individuals in a social group increases, a transition can develop from uncorrelated and disordered behaviour of the individuals to a collective coherent pattern. We expand this observation by exploring the fine details of termite movement patterns to demonstrate that the value of the scaling exponent µ of a power-law describing the Lévy walk of an individual is modified collectively as the density of animals in the group changes. This effect is absent when termites interact with inert obstacles. We also show that the network of encounters and interactions among specific individuals is selective resembling a preferential attachment mechanism which is important for social networking. TeOur data suggest strongly that preferential attachments, a phenomenon not reported previously, and favourite interactions with a limited number of acquaintances are responsible for the generation of Lévy movement patterns in these social insects

The European Reference Genome Atlas: piloting a decentralised approach to equitable biodiversity genomics

A global genome database of all of Earth’s species diversity could be a treasure trove of scientific discoveries. However, regardless of the major advances in genome sequencing technologies, only a tiny fraction of species have genomic information available. To contribute to a more complete planetary genomic database, scientists and institutions across the world have united under the Earth BioGenome Project (EBP), which plans to sequence and assemble high-quality reference genomes for all ~1.5 million recognized eukaryotic species through a stepwise phased approach. As the initiative transitions into Phase II, where 150,000 species are to be sequenced in just four years, worldwide participation in the project will be fundamental to success. As the European node of the EBP, the European Reference Genome Atlas (ERGA) seeks to implement a new decentralised, accessible, equitable and inclusive model for producing high-quality reference genomes, which will inform EBP as it scales. To embark on this mission, ERGA launched a Pilot Project to establish a network across Europe to develop and test the first infrastructure of its kind for the coordinated and distributed reference genome production on 98 European eukaryotic species from sample providers across 33 European countries. Here we outline the process and challenges faced during the development of a pilot infrastructure for the production of reference genome resources, and explore the effectiveness of this approach in terms of high-quality reference genome production, considering also equity and inclusion. The outcomes and lessons learned during this pilot provide a solid foundation for ERGA while offering key learnings to other transnational and national genomic resource projects.info:eu-repo/semantics/draf

THE USE OF VIRTUAL REALITY FOR TRAINING PROFESSIONALS OF NUCLEAR MEDICINE

The use of virtual reality has becoming an important tool for training purposes, with emphasis to those procedures that involve risk to professionals, as those associated with occupational exposure to ionizing radiation in nuclear medicine services. According to the basic safety standards (BSS), published by International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the qualification and training of all personnel of a nuclear medicine service should be performed periodically in order to ensure its understanding and better performance of their respective duties. In face of that, this work consists in research, analysis and unification of requirements and specifications for the radiological protection of nuclear medicine workers, specifically those of radiopharmacy. To this end, a detailed study of the radiological safety and workflow related to radiopharmacy procedures is under development considering the radiological recommendations and safety standards of nuclear medicine services. As a result, it is expected a set of information that will enable the development of a virtual training environment in radiological protection for such professionals aiming the development of skills and the improvement of competencies by means of the simulation with lower cost, unlimited number of repetitions of training, without interference in the laboratory routine and the primary purpose of this work: in safe conditions