The Impact of Covid-19 and Accelerated Growth of e-commerce: The Insignia Case

2020 was an atypical year. It was marked by a world pandemic caused by the infectious disease called coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) that radically changed people’s lives. Therefore, the present Internship Report is intended to carry out a case study of how the new consumer behavior and e-commerce trends caused by the Covid-19 Pandemic had a direct impact on Insignia Note!’s business, a company which I had the opportunity to work as an intern for three months. The report focuses on describing the company, the role and experiences developed during this period in the third chapter. In this report, there is a contextualization of the pandemic period, regarding the severe impact in the economic outlooks in almost all industries and sectors worldwide, as well as its consequences. This work aims at understanding how lockdown and restrictions measures have changed consumer behavior and created a digital acceleration around the world, which is bringing both new opportunities and new challenges to bear. In addition to the tasks realized during the mentioned internship, a study case was also presented showing how Note! turn the problems brought by the pandemic into a real opportunity to grow by creating its own online business. Then, the report makes a link between the knowledge acquired during the Master’s course in Intercultural Studies for Business and the internship

Libros didácticos en la formación de profesores de ciencias: comprendiendo las relaciones entre los saberes académicos y los saberes escolares

En este trabajo fueron analizados diversos libros didácticos de ciencias para la educación fundamental del profesorado en ciencias y biología, buscando ayudar a los futuros profesores a ampliar su conocimiento sobre la educación escolar. Históricamente, los libros didácticos vienen desempeñando un importante papel en la selección y organización tanto de los contenidos como de los métodos de enseñanza. Diversas críticas vienen siendo dirigidas a estos materiales, sin considerar las características específicas que los distinguen de los libros de texto académicos. Partiendo de esta perspectiva, fueron comparados seis libros didácticos brasileños de ciencias con libros universitarios académicos de bioquímica y de ecología, en los que se tomó como foco del análisis el contenido fotosíntesis. Los futuros profesores en formación analizaron cómo se introducía en los libros el concepto de la fotosíntesis, y su relación con los otros contenidos para identificar diferencias entre los dos conjuntos de libros. Se estableció que los libros didácticos se distinguen de los libros universitarios académicos tanto en lo que se refiere a la selección de los contenidos, como a las ilustraciones empleadas; además, éstos también se diferencian desde el punto de vista de sus propuestas de enseñanza, y el lenguaje empleado en cada uno de los niveles de enseñanza es una forma de identificar estas diferencias. Con la suposición de que los estudiantes universitarios dominan un conjunto de conceptos básicos para comprender la fotosíntesis, los libros académicos emplean un estilo de lenguaje formal. Los dos conjuntos de libros contrastan no sólo en los objetivos educativos, sino también en el abordaje pedagógico, indicando que atienden a finalidades sociales distintas. El análisis efectuado por los estudiantes propició reflexiones acerca de su formación como futuros profesores de ciencias, considerando las diferencias entre el conocimiento académico y el escolar

A INSERÇÃO DA EDUCAÇÃO AMBIENTAL CRÍTICA NA ESCOLA VIA EXTENSÃO UNIVERSITÁRIA

Apresentamos os resultados de uma pesquisa sobre a inserção da Educação Ambiental (EA) crítica em duas escolas públicas municipais do Rio de Janeiro, mediada por um projeto de extensão universitária. Nosso objetivo foi identificar limites e possibilidades da inserção da vertente crítica da Educação Ambiental na educação básica. Grupos focais foram realizados com professores que participaram do projeto. Os docentes entrevistados na pesquisa reconhecem a relevância da Educação Ambiental na escola e procuram adequar suas práticas a diferentes contextos sócio educativos. Considerando três macrotendências da Educação Ambiental (conservacionista, pragmática e crítica), julgamos que, ao ser recontextualizada na escola, a EA apresenta uma mescla de concepções, mobilizadas de acordo com diversas demandas escolares. Apostamos no potencial da extensão para o fortalecimento da EA crítica na escola, na promoção de diálogos e troca de saberes entre os sujeitos das instituições envolvidas e na busca da superação das realidades socioambientais

Interannual fuctuations in connectivity among crab populations (Liocarcinus depurator) along theAtlantic‑Mediterranean transition

An interesting evolutionary question that still remains open is the connectivity between marine populations. Marine currents can favour the dispersal of larvae or adults, but they can also produce eddies and gyres generating oceanographic fronts, thus limiting gene flow. To address this subject, we selected the Atlantic-Mediterranean transition, where several fronts are located: Gibraltar Strait (GS), Almeria-Oran Front (AOF) and Ibiza Channel (IC). Seven populations of the marine crab Liocarcinus depurator (Cadiz, West and East Alboran, Alacant, Valencia, Ebro Delta and North Catalonia) located along this transition were analysed in six consecutive years (2014–2019) using a fragment of the COI (Cytochrome Oxidase subunit I) gene. All sequences (966) belonged to two well defined haplogroups: ATL (most abundant in Atlantic waters) and MED (predominant in Mediterranean waters). Following a geographic variation, the frequency of ATL decreased significantly from Cadiz to North Catalonia. However, this variation presented steps due to the effect of oceanographic restrictions/fronts. Significant effects were recorded for GS (2015, 2017, 2018 and 2019), AOF (all years except 2018) and IC (2016). The intensity and precise location of these fronts changed over time. Multivariate analyses distinguished three main population groups: Cadiz, Alboran Sea and the remaining Mediterranean populations. These findings could be relevant to properly define Marine Protected Areas and for conservation and fisheries policies

Acaricidal and Repellent Effects of Essential Oils against Ticks: A Review

17 Pág. Departamento de Reproducción Animal​Tick control is a priority in order to prevent the transmission of vector-borne diseases. Industrial chemical acaricides and repellents have been the most efficient tools against hard ticks for a long time. However, the appearance of resistances has meant the declining effectiveness of the chemicals available on the market. The trend today is to develop alternative control methods using natural products to replace nonefficient pesticides and to preserve the efficient ones, hoping to delay resistance development. Traditional in vitro evaluation of acaricidal activity or resistance to synthetic pesticides have been reviewed and they mainly focus on just one species, the one host tick (Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus (Acari: Ixodidae)). Recent reports have called for the standardization of natural product components, extraction techniques, and experimental design to fully discover their acaricidal potential. This study reviews the main variables used in the bibliography about the efficiency of natural products against ticks, and it proposes a unification of variables relating to ticks, practical development of bioassays, and estimation of ixodicidal activity.This study was funded by Villamagna S.A.Peer reviewe

Staff’s views on delivering patient-led therapy during inpatient stroke rehabilitation: a focus group study with lessons for trial fidelity

Background; Fidelity to the treatment protocol is key to successful trials but often problematic. This article reports the staff’s views on delivering a complex rehabilitation intervention: patient-led therapy during inpatient stroke care. Methods; An exploratory qualitative study using focus groups with staff involved in a multicenter (n = 12) feasibility trial of patient-led therapy (the MAESTRO trial) was undertaken as part of the evaluation process. Purposive sampling ensured that participants represented all recruiting sites, relevant professions and levels of seniority. Data analysis used a Framework Approach. Results; Five focus groups were held involving 30 participants. Five main themes emerged: the effect of the interventions, practical problems, patient-related factors, professional dilemmas, and skills. Staff felt the main effect of the therapies was on patients’ autonomy and occupation; the main practical problems were the patients’ difficulties in achieving the correct position and a lack of space. Staff clearly identified characteristics that made patient-led therapy unsuitable for some patients. Most staff experienced dilemmas over how to prioritize the trial interventions compared to their usual therapy and other clinical demands. Staff also lacked confidence about how to deliver the interventions, particularly when adapting the interventions to individual needs. For each barrier to implementation, possible solutions were identified. Of these, involving other people and establishing a routine were the most common. Conclusions; Delivering rehabilitation interventions within a trial is complex. Staff require time and support to develop the skills, strategies and confidence to identify suitable patients, deliver new treatments, adapt the new treatments to individuals’ needs and balance the demands of delivering the trial intervention according to the treatment protocol with other clinical and professional priorities

Allergenic Lipid Transfer Proteins from Plant-Derived Foods Do Not Immunologically and Clinically Behave Homogeneously: The Kiwifruit LTP as a Model

BACKGROUND: Food allergy is increasingly common worldwide. Tools for allergy diagnosis measuring IgE improved much since allergenic molecules and microarrays started to be used. IgE response toward allergens belonging to the same group of molecules has not been comprehensively explored using such approach yet. OBJECTIVE: Using the model of lipid transfer proteins (LTPs) from plants as allergens, including two new structures, we sought to define how heterogeneous is the behavior of homologous proteins. METHODS: Two new allergenic LTPs, Act d 10 and Act c 10, have been identified in green (Actinidia deliciosa) and gold (Actinidia chinensis) kiwifruit (KF), respectively, using clinically characterized allergic patients, and their biochemical features comparatively evaluated by means of amino acid sequence alignments. Along with other five LTPs from peach, mulberry, hazelnut, peanut, mugwort, KF LTPs, preliminary tested positive for IgE, have been immobilized on a microarray, used for IgE testing 1,003 allergic subjects. Comparative analysis has been carried out. RESULTS: Alignment of Act d 10 primary structure with the other allergenic LTPs shows amino acid identities to be in a narrow range between 40 and 55%, with a number of substitutions making the sequences quite different from each other. Although peach LTP dominates the IgE immune response in terms of prevalence, epitope recognition driven by sequence heterogeneity has been recorded to be distributed in a wide range of behaviors. KF LTPs IgE positive results were obtained in a patient subset IgE positive for the peach LTP. Anyhow, the negative results on homologous molecules allowed us to reintroduce KF in patients' diet. CONCLUSION: The biochemical nature of allergenic molecule belonging to a group of homologous ones should not be taken as proof of immunological recognition as well. The availability of panels of homologous molecules to be tested using microarrays is valuable to address the therapeutic intervention