Atomic spin sensitive dissipation on magnetic surfaces

We identify the mechanism of energy dissipation relevant to spin-sensitive nanomechanics including the recently introduced magnetic exchange force microscopy, where oscillating magnetic tips approach surface atomic spins. The tip-surface exchange couples spin and atom coordinates, leading to a spin-phonon problem with Caldeira-Leggett type dissipation. In the overdamped regime, that can lead to a hysteretic flip of the local spin with a large spin-dependent dissipation, even down to the very low experimental tip oscillation frequencies, describing recent observations for Fe tips on NiO. A phase transition to an underdamped regime with dramatic drop of magnetic tip dissipation should in principle be possible by tuning tip-surface distance.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

Catering for gifted and talented students in the regular classroom

The provision of appropriate learning opportunities for gifted and talented students is becoming a priority focus for many schools. Despite this, many gifted and talented students are not identified and do not receive appropriate educational opportunities within regular classrooms. The purpose of this policy is to cater to the needs of gifted and talented students within regular classrooms. The policy will include considerations for: identifying giftedness, implementing effective differentiation within the regular classroom, and monitoring student progress. In addition, links and suggestions for further reading are provided to facilitate the implementation of the policy recommendations

Neuropathology of the Guillain-Mollaret Triangle (Dentato-Rubro-Olivary Network) in Sudden Unexplained Perinatal Death and SIDS

The present study was undertaken to evaluate the possible alterations of the triangle of Guillain and Mollaret (G-Mt), a neuronal brainstem/cerebellum network (from the dentate nucleus to red nucleus and inferior olivary nucleus) already known for its involvement in the pathogenesis of the palatal myoclonus, in sudden unexplained perinatal and infant death. In 44 cases of perinatal and infant death victims, aged from 26 gestational weeks to 10 months of life, we investigated, besides the histological morphology of the three nuclei, the c-fos and apoptotic expression, as well as the possible effects elicited by maternal cigarette smoking

Facing Resignation and Silence: A Transforming Action-Research Experience in Brazil

"This article aims to discuss how the action research process can allow socially and historically constructed silences to be overcome. These kinds of silences prevent the emergence of dialogues necessary to the investigation mode. The necessary dialogues are built through the creation of a common participatory universe, and the construction of a consensual space between researchers and subjects of the practice, between those who are different and those who are the same. The article analyzes an action research project with women embroiderers in the suburbs of a large Brazilian city, directed at the formation of a working collective. Focusing on this experience, the authors discuss the strategies used to break the silence between the researcher and the group, considering the differences between researcher and group that could reinforce silences that already existed for participants. In a joint conclusion, the authors point out that action research can work as a critical instrument for breaking silence, allowing subjects to produce communicative processes that make it possible to overcome “resigned states” in order to transform their reality." (author's abstract

Práticas pedagógicas de ensinar-aprender: por entre resistências e resignações

O presente artigo tem como pressuposto a consideração de que as práticas pedagógicas se configuram na mediação com o outro, ou com os outros, e é esse outro que oferece às práticas seu espaço de possibilidade. Contraditoriamente, observa-se que as práticas podem funcionar como espaço de resistência e de reverberação de múltiplas dominações; portanto, como um espaço eivado de contradições. Os dados empíricos que permitiram a construção desses pressupostos decorrem de uma pesquisa-ação pedagógica (FRANCO, 2012) realizada com docentes de ensino fundamental. A análise desses dados, realizada por meio da hermenêutica crítica, permite a discussão de três objetivos: a) analisar a abrangência e as possibilidades da prática pedagógica como espaço de contradição e de resistência; b) compreender a importância da pedagogia como ciência que pode esclarecer e indicar reflexões para as resistências que, inexoravelmente, impõem-se às práticas; e c) identificar as possibilidades da pesquisa-ação pedagógica como instrumento de mediação das contradições e como dispositivo formativo na negociação de sentidos que emergem das práxis. Conclui compreendendo que, na tensão primordial inerente ao processo de ensinar-aprender, convivem resistências e resignações; aprendizagens e possibilidades. As práticas pedagógicas operam a partir do diálogo fecundo, crítico e reflexivo, que se estabelece entre os múltiplos sujeitos, entre intencionalidades e ações. A retirada dessa esfera de reflexão crítica e do diálogo entre intencionalidades e ações implica o empobrecimento do sentido da prática educativa. Reafirma-se que os princípios fundadores da pesquisa-ação pedagógica podem auxiliar na ressignificação de práticas escolares

Quality of life in patients treated by organ preservation surgery for early laryngeal carcinoma

Eugenia Allegra, Teresa Franco, Serena Trapasso, Teodoro Aragona, Rossana Domanico, Aldo GarozzoDepartment of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, University of Catanzaro, Catanzaro, ItalyBackground and objective: Supracricoid partial laryngectomy (SCL) was introduced as an organ preservation procedure for treating selected early laryngeal cancer. However, the recovery of the voice after SCL may result in different degrees of dysphonia. To improve the functional recovery and quality of the voice, we realized a modified supracricoid laryngectomy (MSCL) using sternohyoid muscles for neoglottic reconstruction in selected patients affected by T1b–T2 laryngeal cancer. In this study, we evaluate the quality of life (QoL) in patients treated by SCL and MSCL.Methods: The quality of life (QoL) evaluation was undertaken using the Italian version of the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire.Results: The overall QoL, assessed with European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire C30, was better in patients treated with MSCL than in those treated with SCL. The better QoL correlates with the highest response scores to the questions on the relative global functioning scales in patients treated with MSCL.Conclusion: The new surgical technique has improved the QoL of patients with early laryngeal cancer, with improved communication ability achieved. Reconstruction of neocords in MSCL improves speech function in comparison to SCL, and patients experience less discomfort and achieve an almost normal communication performance.Keywords: supracricoid laryngectomy, quality of life, laryngeal carcinoma, EORTC QL

Pedagogia da pesquisa-ação

During the last decades, action research has been used in different ways, to different ends, giving rise to a mosaic of theoretical-methodological approaches, inviting us to reflect upon its epistemological essence, as well as upon its possibilities as an investigative praxis. This article promotes reflections about the appropriateness and possibilities of action research as a scientific and pedagogical instrument, hinting at answers to the following questions: should action research be essentially targeted at the participative transformation, where subjects and researchers interact in the production of new knowledge? Should it take on a formative-emancipative character? Drawing on existing research and studies, the text tries to compose a pedagogical process for action research that tackles the issue of the coherence between the ontology and the epistemology envisaged for the research. It was thus necessary to establish references for the questions: what research do we talk about when we refer to action research? Or even, what action do we talk about when we refer to action research? Or still, how do research and action come together in the pedagogical practice of action research? The present work highlights the fact that action research, structured according to its generating principles, is an eminently pedagogical research, under the perspective of being the pedagogical exercise, configured as an action that scientificizes the educative practice starting from ethical principles that have in sight the continual formation and emancipation of all subjects of the practice.A pesquisa-ação tem sido utilizada, nas últimas décadas, de diferentes maneiras, a partir de diversas intencionalidades, passando a compor um vasto mosaico de abordagens teórico-metodológicas, instigando-nos a refletir sobre sua essencialidade epistemológica, bem como sobre suas possibilidades como práxis investigativa. O presente trabalho aprofunda reflexões sobre a pertinência e as possibilidades da pesquisa-ação como instrumento pedagógico e científico, buscando indicativos de respostas às questões: a pesquisa-ação deve ser essencialmente uma pesquisa intencionada à transformação participativa, em que sujeitos e pesquisadores interagem na produção de novos conhecimentos? Deve assumir o caráter formativo-emancipatório? Mediando pesquisas e estudos já realizados, buscou-se estruturar um processo pedagógico para a pesquisa-ação, que organize a questão da coerência entre a ontologia e a epistemologia pretendida na pesquisa. Para tanto, foi necessário estabelecer referências às questões: de que pesquisa falamos quando nos referimos à pesquisa-ação? Ou mesmo, de que ação falamos quando nos referimos à pesquisa-ação? E ainda, como pesquisa e ação se integram na prática pedagógica da pesquisa-ação? O trabalho realça que a pesquisa-ação, estruturada dentro de seus princípios geradores, é uma pesquisa eminentemente pedagógica, dentro da perspectiva de ser o exercício pedagógico, configurado como uma ação que cientificiza a prática educativa, a partir de princípios éticos que visualizam a contínua formação e emancipação de todos os sujeitos da prática