Onto4CAAL: An Ontology to Support Requirements Specification in the Development of AAL (Ambient Assisted Living) Systems

The Ambient Assisted Living (AAL) is a technological approach that emerged to meet the demands of the elderly and people with disabilities. As they are considered complex and multidisciplinary systems, it is necessary to identify and define which modules need to compose these systems. Among the challenges found in the development of the AAL systems are the alignment with functional and/or non-functional requirements and the compliance with ethical, legal, social, medical and technical restrictions that guide these types of systems. Therefore, this work presents a core ontology (Onto4CAAL) to support the specification of requirements in AAL systems, where the elements that are part of the system type are integrated. Using this ontology, it was possible to develop a domain ontology (Onto4Elev) for Vertical Lift Platforms, where a validation was carried out with the industry in relation to the elements that constitute it and, later, a scenario was built for the application simulation and verification. With the use of ontology, it will be possible to standardize the understanding of the associated terms and, at the same time, to verify the relationship among the elements, helping the designer in the decision making

Dataset from the Snakes (Serpentes, Reptiles) collection of the Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi, Pará, Brazil

We present a dataset with information from the snake collection of the Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi, known as the "Ophidia Collection". This collection currently has 26,728 specimens of snakes, including 9 families, 66 genera and 220 species. For the most part, it represents material from the Amazon Region. Specimens are preserved mostly in wet (alcohol) preparation, with some samples preserved in dry form, as is the case of the shells and skeletons of turtles. The dataset is now available for public consultation on the Global Biodiversity Information Facility portal (https://doi.org/10.15468/lt0wet). The Herpetological collection of Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi comprises the largest collection of its kind in the Amazon region with about 100,000 specimens of amphibians and reptiles (chelonians, alligators, lizards, snakes and amphisbaenians). This collection currently has 26,728 specimens of snakes, including 9 families, 66 genera and 220 species, some of which are endemic to the Amazon rainforest region. The Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi is the second oldest institution of science in Brazil in activity, founded in 1866

Potential Drug Candidates in Clinical Trials for the Treatment of Covid-19: An Updated Overview

The coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) emerged in December 2019 in Wuhan, China and by the end of April 2020, it spread to more than 200 countries worldwide. Particularly the USA, Brazil, Spain, Italy, France, Germany, UK, Turkey, Iran, and Russia were the most affected countries till December 2020. Currently, most of the researchers are in a continuous struggle to develop a vaccine or new drugs to combat Covid-19. There are more than 30 drug candidates including Western medicines, natural products, and traditional Chinese medicines, that have shown to exhibit some efficacy against this highly infectious virus. This review encompasses the potential efficacy of some key drugs recently tested against Covid-19.  With the rapid spread of Covid-19 reaching a new level every day, there is an immediate need to find safe and effective measures to diagnose, treat, mitigate, and combat the disease. Looking at the alarming dimensions that the disease is acquiring, treatment strategies among the different drug systems are being investigated. Currently, clinical management includes infection prevention, control measures, and supportive care, including supplemental oxygen and mechanical ventilation when indicated.  The pharmaceutical interventions evaluated for the treatment of Covid-19 include human immunoglobulin, interferons, chloroquine, hydroxychloroquine, arbidol, remdesivir, oseltamivir, favipiravir, carrimycin, methylprednisolone, bevacizumab, thalidomide, vitamin C, pyrodfenidone, darthviravir, bromexistone, ryrexavir, lopinavir, xiyanping, and traditional Chinese medicine. But still, the researchers are struggling to discover the most effective drug for the treatment of the current pandemic of Covid-19. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.17807/orbital.v13i4.163

A influência da experimentação para a melhoria do ensino e aprendizagem de Física: relatos de experiências em cursos técnicos integrados

É consensual entre os pesquisadores e professores brasileiros que a maioria dos estudantes apresentam dificuldades de aprendizagem de Física, especialmente quando esta disciplina é trabalhada com maior enfoque matemático. Buscando investigar as causas deste problema e melhorar a aprendizagem desta Ciência tão importante, pesquisas vêm sendo realizadas com foco em Tecnologias de Informação e Comunicação (TIC), metodologias diferenciadas, aulas experimentais, dentre outras. A Educação Profissional e Tecnológica, em especial, é uma das modalidades de educação que mais necessita que os estudantes tenham boa base em Matemática, Física e Química. Com o intuito de identificar em quais condições as aulas experimentais favorecem os processos colaborativos de aprendizagem dos estudantes de Cursos Técnicos Integrados de uma Instituição Federal de Ensino, buscamos neste projeto levar às aulas de Física uma abordagem com enfoque na aprendizagem de conceitos científicos por meio de atividades utilizando os kits experimentais de Física disponíveis na instituição. De modo geral, observamos que a prática experimental facilita a identificação de maneira mais individualizada dos conceitos espontâneos dos discentes, de modo que o uso de equipamentos como o multímetro se torna uma rica oportunidade para o professor atuar na Zona de Desenvolvimento Proximal dos aprendizes

Construction and calibration of Time Domain Reflectometry probes for assessing soil humidity in distropheric red latosol

Among the indirect methods of assessing soil moisture, Time Domain Reflectometry (TDR) stands out, which uses the soil dielectric constant to provide volumetric moisture efficiently, quickly and non-destructively. Despite a practical and precise method, TDR has a high cost due to the probes and its Data Logger. In view of this, the present work aims to build and calibrate TDR probes to assess moisture in a Dystrophic Red Latosol. The present work was carried out in the experimental area of the hydraulics laboratory of the Federal University of Grande Dourados (UFGD), located in Dourados-MS, at latitude 22⁰ 12 \u27south, longitude 54⁰ 59\u27 west and altitude of 434 meters. Each probe built consisted of 3 stainless steel rods (Ø = 3 mm; L = 230 mm) RG 98 cable with 90% mesh and 50 ohm impedance, 4.7 pF ceramic capacitor and BNC connector. The construction procedures followed the following steps: 1- Making the cable, 2- Preparing the rods, 3- Welding the rods to the wires, 4 -Operating test and 5 - finishing phase. After construction, they were calibrated with the characteristic soil of the Region, proceeding with the Probe Reading in two depths (10 and 30 cm) and simultaneous collection of deformed soil samples to determine the moisture based on mass in Laboratory. Subsequently, calibrations with cubic polynomial adjustment were performed. The results showed adjustments with high determination coefficients, and the probes developed showed satisfactory performances

Global and regional ecological boundaries explain abrupt spatial discontinuities in avian frugivory interactions

Species interactions can propagate disturbances across space via direct and indirect effects, potentially connecting species at a global scale. However, ecological and biogeographic boundaries may mitigate this spread by demarcating the limits of ecological networks. We tested whether large-scale ecological boundaries (ecoregions and biomes) and human disturbance gradients increase dissimilarity among plant-frugivore networks, while accounting for background spatial and elevational gradients and differences in network sampling. We assessed network dissimilarity patterns over a broad spatial scale, using 196 quantitative avian frugivory networks (encompassing 1496 plant and 1004 bird species) distributed across 67 ecoregions, 11 biomes, and 6 continents. We show that dissimilarities in species and interaction composition, but not network structure, are greater across ecoregion and biome boundaries and along different levels of human disturbance. Our findings indicate that biogeographic boundaries delineate the world’s biodiversity of interactions and likely contribute to mitigating the propagation of disturbances at large spatial scales.The authors acknowledge the following funding: University of Canterbury Doctoral Scholarship (L.P.M.); The Marsden Fund grant UOC1705 (J.M.T., L.P.M.); The São Paulo Research Foundation - FAPESP 2014/01986-0 (M.G., C.E.), 2015/15172-7 and 2016/18355-8 (C.E.), 2004/00810-3 and 2008/10154-7 (C.I.D., M.G., M.A.P.); Earthwatch Institute and Conservation International for financial support (C.I.D., M.G., M.A.P.); Carlos Chagas Filho Foundation for Supporting Research in the Rio de Janeiro State – FAPERJ grant E-26/200.610/2022 (C.E.); Brazilian Research Council grants 540481/01-7 and 304742/2019-8 (M.A.P.) and 300970/2015-3 (M.G.); Rufford Small Grants for Nature Conservation No. 22426–1 (J.C.M., I.M.), No. 9163-1 (G.B.J.) and No. 11042-1 (MCM); Universidade Estadual de Santa Cruz (Propp-UESC; No. 00220.1100.1644/10-2018) (J.C.M., I.M.); Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado da Bahia - FAPESB (No. 0525/2016) (J.C.M., I.M.); European Research Council under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program (grant 787638) and The Swiss National Science Foundation (grant 173342), both awarded to C. Graham (D.M.D.); ARC SRIEAS grant SR200100005 Securing Antarctica’s Environmental Future (D.M.D.); German Science Foundation—Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft PAK 825/1 and FOR 2730 (K.B.G., E.L.N., M.Q., V.S., M.S.), FOR 1246 (K.B.G., M.S., M.G.R.V.) and HE2041/20-1 (F.S., M.S.); Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology - FCT/MCTES contract CEECIND/00135/2017 and grant UID/BIA/04004/2020 (S.T.) and contract CEECIND/02064/2017 (L.P.S.); National Scientific and Technical Research Council, PIP 592 (P.G.B.); Instituto Venezolano de Investigaciones Científicas - Project 898 (V.S.D.)

Efeito do estresse sobre a secreção de glicocorticoides como causa da infertilidade: The effect of stress on glucocorticoid secretion as a cause of infertility

Evidências sugerem que a patogênese de desordens reprodutivas, tais como a infertilidade, pode envolver perturbações no eixo hipotalâmico relacionadas ao estresse físico ou emocional. Este estudo se refere a uma revisão bibliográfica que busca reunir informações acerca do funcionamento dos hormônios reprodutivos sob condições de estresse como possível causa psicossomática da infertilidade

A implantação do Programa de Capacitação de Novos Usuários na modalidade virtual da Biblioteca Universitária da UFLA: relato de experiência.

Neste relato de experiência apresenta-se a implantação do Programa de Capacitação de Novos Usuários (PCNU) da Biblioteca Universitária da Universidade Federal de Lavras (BU/UFLA), na modalidade virtual. O PCNU presencial existe desde 2004 e foi criado com o objetivo de informar aos discentes recém-ingressados na universidade sobre as normas, o acervo, os serviços e procedimentos da biblioteca. Contudo, devido ao aumento no número de alunos matriculados semestralmente, foi elaborado um sistema on-line que oferece as mesmas informações repassadas na capacitação presencial. Esse serviço foi criado por uma equipe multidisciplinar formada por profissionais da área de biblioteconomia, pedagogia e ciência da computação e apresenta conteúdos textuais e de multimídia acessíveis por meio do site da biblioteca. Alguns resultados obtidos foram: participação de um maior número de alunos nos cursos de capacitação, redução da sobrecarga de trabalho no Setor de Referência no início do semestre letivo e oferta ininterrupta do curso de capacitação. Dessa forma, conclui-se que a educação a distância é um sistema eficaz e eficiente para massificar o serviço de orientação ao usuário e oferecer informações sobre o funcionamento da biblioteca

Secular Trends in Habitual Physical Activities of Mozambican Children and Adolescents from Maputo City

Social and economic changes occurring in the last two decades in Mozambique may have induced lifestyle changes among youth. This study aimed to document secular changes in habitual physical activities of Mozambican youth between 1992, 1999 and 2012. A total of 3393 youth (eight–15 years), were measured in three different time periods (1992, 1999, 2012). Habitual physical activity (PA) was estimated with a questionnaire, including items related to household chores, sport participation, traditional games and walking activities. Biological maturation was assessed. Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) was used to compare mean differences in PA across the years. Significant decreases between 1992–1999 and 1992–2012 were observed for boys in household chores, games and walking, and a significant decline between 1999 and 2012 was found in sport participation. Among girls, a significant and consistent decline (1992 > 1999 > 2012) was observed for household chores, a decline between 1992–1999 and 1992–2012 for games and walking, and a significant increase between 1992 and 1999 in sport participation. In general, a negative secular trend was found in habitual PA among Mozambican youth. Interventions aimed at increasing PA represent important educational and public health opportunities