New York: the animated city

The urban landscape of New York City is one that is familiar to many, but, through the medium of animation, this familiarity has been consistently challenged. Often metamorphic, and always meticulously constructed, animated imagery encourages reflective thinking. Focusing on the themes of construction, destruction, and interactivity, this article seeks to cast critical light upon the animated double life that New York City has lived through the following moving image texts: Disney’s Fantasia 2000 (1999), Patrick Jean’s computer-generated short Pixels (2009), and Rockstar Games’ open-world blockbuster Grand Theft Auto IV (2008)

Analytical tools used to distinguish chemical profiles of plants widely consumed as infusions and dietary supplements: artichoke, milk thistle and borututu

Artichoke, borututu and milk thistle are three medicinal plants widely consumed as infusions or included in dietary supplements (e.g., pills and syrups). Despite their high consumption, studies on nutritional value and primary metabolites are scarce, being only reported the composition in secondary metabolites such as phenolic compounds. Therefore, their nutritional value was assessed and analytical tools (liquid and gas chromatography coupled to different detectors) were used to distinguish the chemical profiles namely in hydrophilic (sugars and organic acids) and lipophilic (fatty acids and tocopherols) compounds. Chromatographic techniques are important analytical tools used in the identification and quantification of several molecules, also being a standard requirement to distinguish different profiles. Borututu gave the highest energetic value with the highest content of carbohydrates and fat, sucrose and total sugars, shikimic and citric acids, α-, β-, δ- and total tocopherols. Artichoke had the highest ash and protein contents, oxalic acid, SFA (mainly palmitic acid acid), and γ-tocopherol, as also the best n6/n3 ratio. Milk thistle showed the highest levels of fructose and glucose, quinic acid and total organic acids, PUFA, mainly linoleic acid, and the best PUFA/SFA ratio. The hydrophilic compounds identified in the studied plants, mostly sugars, are the responsible for the energetic contribution of their widely consumed infusions. Otherwise, the bioactivity of lipophilic compounds namely, unsaturated fatty acids and tocopherols, is lost in those preparations but can be recovered in dietary supplements based on the plants. As far as we know this is the first report on detailed composition of molecules with nutritional features.The authors are grateful to the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT, Portugal) for financial support to the research centre CIMO (PEst-OE/AGR/UI0690/2011)

Evaluating Reproducibility and Transparency in Emergency Medicine Publications

Introduction: We aimed to assess the reproducibility of empirical research by determining the availability of components required for replication of a study, including materials, raw data, analysis scripts, protocols, and preregistration.Methods: We used the National Library of Medicine catalog to identify MEDLINE-indexed emergency medicine (EM) journals. Thirty journals met the inclusion criteria. From January 1, 2014–  December 31, 2018, 300 publications were randomly sampled using a PubMed search. Additionally, we included four high-impact general medicine journals, which added 106 publications. Two investigators were blinded for independent extraction. Extracted data included statements regarding the availability of materials, data, analysis scripts, protocols, and registration.Results: After the search, we found 25,473 articles, from which we randomly selected 300. Of the 300, only 287 articles met the inclusion criteria. Additionally, we added 106 publications from high- impact journals of which 77 met the inclusion criteria. Together, 364 publications were included, of which 212 articles contained empirical data to analyze. Of the eligible empirical articles, 2.49%, (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.33% to 4.64%] provided a material statement, 9.91% (95% CI, 5.88% to 13.93%) provided a data statement, 0 provided access to analysis scripts, 25.94% (95% CI, 20.04% to 31.84%) linked the protocol, and 39.15% (95% CI, 32.58% to 45.72%) were preregistered.Conclusion: Studies in EM lack indicators required for reproducibility. The majority of studies fail to report factors needed to reproduce research to ensure credibility. Thus, an intervention is required and can be achieved through the collaboration of researchers, peer reviewers, funding agencies, and journals

Rompendo fronteiras na Educação Física através dos videogames com interação corporal Opening frontiers in physical education through body interaction video games

Os videogames, uma das mais fortes correntes da indústria do entretenimento, têm também influenciado a área da Educação Física através de novos dispositivos digitais que possibilitam a interação corporal. O videogame Wii Fit, objeto desta pesquisa, é um destes jogos, que tem como principal objetivo incentivar a prática de atividades físicas de maneira lúdica. Este artigo apresenta um estudo com base na etnografia virtual, envolvendo uma análise de conteúdo on-line sobre como os usuários do jogo Wii Fit o têm percebido. Três comunidades virtuais foram pesquisadas, buscando relatos sobre as percepções dos usuários quanto à influência do jogo em suas práticas de atividade física e manutenção de uma alimentação saudável. A investigação realizada permitiu concluir que o jogo Wii Fit funciona como uma ferramenta educativa capaz de levar os usuários a práticas físicas mais regulares bem como aos hábitos alimentares mais saudáveis.<br>The industry of video games, one of the most prominent, has also influenced the area of physical education through new digital devices which enable body interaction. The videogame Wii Fit, object of this research, is one of these games which tries to promote the practice of physical activity in an entertaining way. This article presents a study based on virtual ethnography, involving an online content analysis about the perceptions of Wii Fit users about the game. Three virtual communities have been analyzed, looking for posts about the perceptions of users regarding the influence of the game in their physical activity practices and healthy eating. The investigation showed that Wii Fit works as an educational tool that is able to influence users for regular physical activities as well as healthier nutrition habits