Adaptability and Procedural Content Generation for Educational Escape Rooms

We present a literature review that aims to understand the role of the Educational Escape Room (EER) in improving the teaching, learning, and assessment processes through an EER design framework. The main subject is to identify the recent interventions in this field in the last five years. Our study focuses on understanding how it is possible to create an EER available to all students, namely visually challenged users. As a result of the implementation of new learning strategies that promote autonomous learning, a concern arose in adapting educational activities to each student's individual needs. To study the adaptability of each EER, we found the EER design framework essential to increase the student experience by promoting the consolidation of knowledge through narrative and level design. The results of our study show evidence of progress in students' performance while playing an EER, revealing that students' learning can be effective. Research on Procedural Content Generation (PCG) highlighted how important it is to implement adaptability in future studies of EERs. However, we found some limitations regarding the process of evaluating learning through the EERs, showing how important it is to study and implement learning analytics in future studies in this field

Indução de brotação apical em mudas provenientes de sementes e do enraizamento de estacas de mangostãozeiro.

Com objetivo de induzir a brotação apical de mudas de mangostãozeiro, foi realizado um experimento que consistiu na aplicação de dois reguladores de crescimento: cinetina (0, 100 e 400 mg L-1) e giberelina (50 mg L-1), e outros dois experimentos para obtenção de estacas enraizadas: a) aplicação de ácido-indol-3-butírico nas concentrações de 0, 100, 500 e 1000 mg L-1 e b) aplicação de ácido a naftaleno acético na concentração de 6000 mg L-1. Nesses ensaios foram utilizadas estacas maduras provenientes de ramos ortotrópicos. Os resultados indicaram a possibilidade do uso de reguladores para a obtenção de porta-enxertos mais uniformes e com menor tempo de formação, e apesar da baixa taxa de enraizamento, a obtenção de mudas de estacas enraizadas de mangostãozeiro obtida com fitormônios apresenta grande potencial, equivalendo em tamanho a uma muda de um ano proveniente de sementes apomíticas

Indução de brotação apical em mudas provenientes de sementes e do enraizamento de estacas de mangostãozeiro.

Com objetivo de induzir a brotação apical de mudas de mangostãozeiro, foi realizado um experimento que consistiu na aplicação de dois reguladores de crescimento: cinetina (0, 100 e 400 mg L-1) e giberelina (50 mg L-1), e outros dois experimentos para obtenção de estacas enraizadas: a) aplicação de ácido-indol-3-butírico nas concentrações de 0, 100, 500 e 1000 mg L-1 e b) aplicação de ácido a naftaleno acético na concentração de 6000 mg L-1

Metabolic and chromosomal changes in a <i>Bacillus subtilis whiA</i> mutant

The conserved protein WhiA is present in most Gram-positive bacteria and plays a role in cell division. WhiA contains a DNA-binding motif and is a transcription regulator of the key cell division gene ftsZ in actinomycetes. In Bacillus subtilis, the absence of WhiA influences both cell division and chromosome segregation; however, the protein does not regulate any gene involved in these processes. In this study, we addressed three alternative mechanisms by which WhiA might exert its activity in B. subtilis and examined whether WhiA influences either (i) central carbon metabolism, (ii) fatty acid composition of the cell membrane, or (iii) chromosome organization. Mutations in glycolytic enzymes have been shown to influence both cell division and DNA replication. To measure the effect of WhiA on carbon metabolism, we tested different carbon sources and measured exometabolome fluxes. This revealed that the absence of WhiA does not affect glycolysis but does influence the pool of branched-chain fatty acid precursors. Due to the effect of WhiA on chromosome segregation, we examine chromosome organization in a ∆whiA mutant using chromosome conformation capture (Hi-C) analysis. This revealed a local reduction in short-range chromosome interactions. Together, these findings provide new avenues for future research into how this protein works in the non-actinomycete firmicutes

State of the science and the way forward for the ecotoxicological assessment of contaminated land.

Durante as últimas duas décadas, ecotoxicologistas de solo têm feito progressos ao utilizar conceitos básicos e avanços da zoologia e ecologia do solo. Os métodos existentes têm sido aplicados, e têm-se desenvolvido novas ferramentas para avaliar de que modo a contaminação química pode afetar o ecossistema terrestre, inclusive pela degradação ou destruição da qualidade do solo e dos habitats ou pela redução da biodiversidade edáfica. Os ecotoxicologistas de solo utilizam um conjunto de protocolos padronizados, originalmente desenvolvidos como testes de laboratório com compostos químicos simples como os pesticidas e, posteriormente, adaptados em termos de abordagens e métodos, para a avaliação de áreas contaminadas. No entanto, a relevância ecológica de algumas abordagens permanece questionável. Neste artigo, os autores discutem os recentes desafios para uma avaliação ecotoxicológica coerente do ecossistema solo em áreas contaminadas e apresentam recomendações de como integrar os efeitos das propriedades físicoquímicas do solo, as variações na diversidade de invertebrados do solo e, as interações entre organismos dos vários níveis tróficos. São analisadas novas abordagens e métodos de avaliação, usando-se exemplos de três continentes (particularmente o trabalho desenvolvido no Brasil), e são dadas recomendações de como aumentar a relevância ecológica na avaliação ecotoxicológica de áreas contaminadas

Fenologia reprodutiva da andirobeira (Carapa guianensis Aublet.), na região de Parintins - AM.

O estudo da fenologia da espécie Carapa guianensis Aublet foi realizado na comunidade N. S. do Rosário, município de Parintins - AM

Stellar ages and convective cores in field main-sequence stars: first asteroseismic application to two Kepler targets

Using asteroseismic data and stellar evolution models we make the first detection of a convective core in a Kepler field main-sequence star, putting a stringent constraint on the total size of the mixed zone and showing that extra mixing beyond the formal convective boundary exists. In a slightly less massive target the presence of a convective core cannot be conclusively discarded, and thus its remaining main-sequence life time is uncertain. Our results reveal that best-fit models found solely by matching individual frequencies of oscillations corrected for surface effects do not always properly reproduce frequency combinations. Moreover, slightly different criteria to define what the best-fit model is can lead to solutions with similar global properties but very different interior structures. We argue that the use of frequency ratios is a more reliable way to obtain accurate stellar parameters, and show that our analysis in field main-sequence stars can yield an overall precision of 1.5%, 4%, and 10% in radius, mass and age, respectively. We compare our results with those obtained from global oscillation properties, and discuss the possible sources of uncertainties in asteroseismic stellar modeling where further studies are still needed.Comment: 46 pages, 10 figures, ApJ accepte

Characterizing two solar-type Kepler subgiants with asteroseismology: KIC10920273 and KIC11395018

Determining fundamental properties of stars through stellar modeling has improved substantially due to recent advances in asteroseismology. Thanks to the unprecedented data quality obtained by space missions, particularly CoRoT and Kepler, invaluable information is extracted from the high-precision stellar oscillation frequencies, which provide very strong constraints on possible stellar models for a given set of classical observations. In this work, we have characterized two relatively faint stars, KIC10920273 and KIC11395018, using oscillation data from Kepler photometry and atmospheric constraints from ground-based spectroscopy. Both stars have very similar atmospheric properties; however, using the individual frequencies extracted from the Kepler data, we have determined quite distinct global properties, with increased precision compared to that of earlier results. We found that both stars have left the main sequence and characterized them as follows: KIC10920273 is a one-solar-mass star (M=1.00 +/- 0.04 M_sun), but much older than our Sun (t=7.12 +/- 0.47 Gyr), while KIC11395018 is significantly more massive than the Sun (M=1.27 +/- 0.04 M_sun) with an age close to that of the Sun (t=4.57 +/- 0.23 Gyr). We confirm that the high lithium abundance reported for these stars should not be considered to represent young ages, as we precisely determined them to be evolved subgiants. We discuss the use of surface lithium abundance, rotation and activity relations as potential age diagnostics.Comment: 12 pages, 3 figures, 5 tables. Accepted by Ap