1,628 research outputs found
Game-Making as a means to deliver the new Computing curriculum in England
Integrating digital technologies into the curriculum has been a growing challenge, especially due to the failures of the majority of initiatives that were envisioned for this purpose. In an effort to comprehend and solve these issues, England has recently proposed a shift in the curricular approach, focusing in teaching technology's conceptual basis rather than technological applications. Thus, the new National Curriculum in England, valid in 2014, focuses on the development of new concepts and the empowerment of the students towards information and communication technologies (ICT). This article presents these recent discussions in the curricular field related to ICT/Computing teaching. It also describes an empirical experience carried out in England, in which students from primary schools explored game-making activities through computational and media culture perspectives as a means to promote this new curriculum. The results obtained through this preliminary research show that, although using digital games to connect Computing, Media and Arts in Education could be regarded as a complex activity, this is a possible path to reach the objectives outlined by the new National Curriculum
Cerebral Abscess in a Patient with Rendu-Osler-Weber
A telangiectasia hemorrágica hereditária é uma doença familiar rara, descrita pela primeira vez no final do século 19, caracterizada por telangiectasias mucocutâneas e viscerais, e por malformações arteriovenosas. Manifestações neurológicas ocorrem em 8 a 12% dos doentes e resultam em mais de metade dos casos
de malformações arteriovenosas pulmonares. A telangiectasia hemorrágica hereditária é uma das causas mais frequentes de abcessos cerebrais recorrentes, múltiplos e bilaterais, tendendo estes a ocorrerem na 3a para a 5a década. Apresentamos o caso de uma mulher de 88 anos admitida por prostração, febre e insuficiência respiratória, com a suspeita de metastização pulmonar de neoplasia oculta, cuja investigação revelou, entretanto, um abcesso cerebral secundário a malformações arteriovenosas pulmonares.
Apesar da antibioterapia e da drenagem cirúrgica do abcesso, a paciente veio a falecer. O prognóstico após drenagem dos abcessos sem ressecção das lesões pulmonares é desfavorável, podendo sua elevada mortalidade refletir um atraso diagnóstico pela falta de reconhecimento dessa associação.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
Abcessos Hepáticos Recidivantes Provocados por Klebsiella Pneumoniae num Homem Diabético Não Asiático
The Klebsiella pneumoniae invasive syndrome, first described in Asia, is being reported in other parts of the world. It causes liver abcsesses, with or without extrahepatic lesions. Diabetes mellitus is the most common hosts’ underlying condition. It’s frequent among asian people, even outside Asia, appearing to exist genetic factors, not yet established, increasing the risk.
We present a case of a 55-year-old portuguese white diabetic man, who had a previous hospital admittion due to Klebsiella penumoniae pneumonia and a two-week latter diagnosis of liver abcsess. 4 years latter he was readmitted with nausea, chills, fever and myalgias. He had elevated inflammatory markers and the CT-scan showed 2 liver abscesses. Klebsiella pneumoniae was isolated in blood and antibiotics were given with complete clinical and imaging resolution. We present this case of relapsing Klebsiella pneumonia liver abscesses in a non-asian man emphasizing the growing incidence of this condition in Europe.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
Dilution versus pollution in watercourses affected by acid mine drainage: a graphic model for the Iberian Pyrite Belt (SW Spain)
The aim of this study was to chemically characterize
the water quality impacts of the 88 acid mine drainage
(AMD) generating mines in the Spanish sector of the Iberian
Pyrite Belt (IPB). This was necessary because the Water
Framework Directive of the European Union and the hydrological
plans of the Tinto, Odiel, and Piedras river basins
require that water quality be improved enough to allow at
least some of the rivers in the IPB to sustain healthy fish
populations by 2027. The results indicate a clear decrease in
metals, arsenic, and sulfate concentrations and increased pH
between the AMD-sources and the river channels.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
Motmot, an open-source toolkit for realtime video acquisition and analysis
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Video cameras sense passively from a distance, offer a rich information stream, and provide intuitively meaningful raw data. Camera-based imaging has thus proven critical for many advances in neuroscience and biology, with applications ranging from cellular imaging of fluorescent dyes to tracking of whole-animal behavior at ecologically relevant spatial scales.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Here we present 'Motmot': an open-source software suite for acquiring, displaying, saving, and analyzing digital video in real-time. At the highest level, Motmot is written in the Python computer language. The large amounts of data produced by digital cameras are handled by low-level, optimized functions, usually written in C. This high-level/low-level partitioning and use of select external libraries allow Motmot, with only modest complexity, to perform well as a core technology for many high-performance imaging tasks. In its current form, Motmot allows for: (1) image acquisition from a variety of camera interfaces (package motmot.cam_iface), (2) the display of these images with minimal latency and computer resources using wxPython and OpenGL (package motmot.wxglvideo), (3) saving images with no compression in a single-pass, low-CPU-use format (package motmot.FlyMovieFormat), (4) a pluggable framework for custom analysis of images in realtime and (5) firmware for an inexpensive USB device to synchronize image acquisition across multiple cameras, with analog input, or with other hardware devices (package motmot.fview_ext_trig). These capabilities are brought together in a graphical user interface, called 'FView', allowing an end user to easily view and save digital video without writing any code. One plugin for FView, 'FlyTrax', which tracks the movement of fruit flies in real-time, is included with Motmot, and is described to illustrate the capabilities of FView.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Motmot enables realtime image processing and display using the Python computer language. In addition to the provided complete applications, the architecture allows the user to write relatively simple plugins, which can accomplish a variety of computer vision tasks and be integrated within larger software systems. The software is available at <url>http://code.astraw.com/projects/motmot</url></p
High-Degree Atrioventricular Block Induced by Prinzmetal Angina
Apresentamos o caso de uma mulher de 46 anos com episódios frequentes de dor
precordial e síncope associados a elevação do segmento ST e períodos de bloqueio aurículoventricular de alto grau transitórios. A coronariogafia excluiu lesões significativas e a doente
foi tratada com nitratos e antagonistas do cálcio. Verificou-se persistência da sintomatologia associada a períodos de bloqueio aurículo-ventricular sintomáticos, refratários a otimização terapêutica. Implantação de pacemaker DDD-R. Follow-up de 4 meses sem intercorrências
Addressing quality and usability of surface water bodies in semi-arid regions with mining influences
Water resources management has considerable importance, specifically in the context of climate change. This subject has introduced new challenges in semi-arid regions with water quality problems, such as the Iberian Pyrite Belt, which is one of the largest metallogenetic provinces in the world and one of the driest regions in Europe. Positioned in the Mediterranean context, the region has a high density of polymetallic sulphide mines that promote the degradation of water systems. The present study aims to assess the water quality in the Pyrite Belt, considering a total of 34 surface water bodies, including constructed reservoirs, permanent and ephemeral streams, and mining facilities with accumulated water (e.g., pit lakes and mining dams). The water samples were analysed for physico-chemical properties, including field parameters (pH, electrical conductivity), alkalinity/acidity, hardness, anions, and potential toxic elements. The results were used for hydrochemical classifications and the assessment of suitability for public uses. Statistical methods, such as hierarchical cluster analysis and nearest centroid classifier, were used for grouping and evaluating the similarity between water bodies. Two groups were generated from the analysis: i) constructed lakes with alkaline and sodium signatures; and ii) waters suffering from the influence of mining wastes, e.g., showing high acidity, sulphate and metal contents. Therefore, the loss of water quality in the vicinity of mines reflects the impact of acid mine drainage. The methodological approach used may be applied to the integrated management of water resources in regions with mining influences and where it is necessary to combat drought and water scarcity scenarios.Patricia Gomes acknowledge FCT (Science and Technology Foundation, Portugal) by the research fellowship under the POCH (Programa Operacional Capital Humano) supported by the European Social Fund and National Funds of MCTES (Ministerio da Ciencia, Tecnologia e Ensino Superior) with reference SFRH/BD/108887/2015. This work was co-funded by the European Union through the European Regional Development Fund, based on COMPETE 2020 (Programa Operacional da Competitividade e Internacionalizacao) - project ICT (UID/GEO/04683/2013) with reference POCI-01-0145-FEDER-007690 and project Nano-MINENV number 029259
Fuzzy intelligence approach for modeling the migration of contaminants ina reservoir affected by AMD pollution
The Sancho Reservoir, located in the Huelva province (SW Spain), is supplied by the Meca River, which receives water contaminated by mining activities in Tharsis. This study focused on determining the relationship that temperature, pH, and electrical conductivity (EC) had with rainfall. The temperature, pH, and EC were simultaneously measured every 30 min by two probes suspended in the Sancho Reservoir. It was anticipated that the use of fuzzy logic and data mining would lead to a model that would show how the contaminant load evolved over space and time. Similar results were obtained for the two locations, except that the parameters had more outliers near the dam due to the greater distance from the contamination source. As expected, higher pH corresponded with lower EC, since, in the absence of chloride, sulphate was the principal anion. The dependency relationship of the variables as well as the cause–effect relationship with the rate of rainfall was more evident in the up-gradient sampling location than near the dam due to the different residence time and the transit time between the two points
Enrichment of trace elements in the clay size fraction of mining soils
Reactive waste dumps with sulfide minerals pro-
14 mote acid mine drainage (AMD), which results in water and
15 soil contamination by metals and metalloids. In these systems,
16 contamination is regulated by many factors, such as mineral-
17 ogical composition of soil and the presence of sorption sites
18 on specific mineral phases. So, the present study dedicates
19 itself to understanding the distribution of trace elements in
20 different size fractions (<2-mm and <2-μm fractions) of min-
21 ing soils and to evaluate the relationship between chemical
22 and mineralogical composition. Cerdeirinha and Penedono,
23 located in Portugal, were the waste dumps under study. The
24 results revealed that the two waste dumps have high degree of
25 contamination by metals and arsenic and that these elements
26 are concentrated in the clay size fraction. Hence, the higher
27 degree of contamination by toxic elements, especially arsenic
28 in Penedono as well as the role of clay minerals, jarosite, and
29 goethite in retaining trace elements has management implica-
30 tions. Such information must be carefully thought in the reha-
31 bilitation projects to be planned for both waste dumps
The impact of partially missing communities~on the reliability of centrality measures
Network data is usually not error-free, and the absence of some nodes is a
very common type of measurement error. Studies have shown that the reliability
of centrality measures is severely affected by missing nodes. This paper
investigates the reliability of centrality measures when missing nodes are
likely to belong to the same community. We study the behavior of five commonly
used centrality measures in uniform and scale-free networks in various error
scenarios. We find that centrality measures are generally more reliable when
missing nodes are likely to belong to the same community than in cases in which
nodes are missing uniformly at random. In scale-free networks, the betweenness
centrality becomes, however, less reliable when missing nodes are more likely
to belong to the same community. Moreover, centrality measures in scale-free
networks are more reliable in networks with stronger community structure. In
contrast, we do not observe this effect for uniform networks. Our observations
suggest that the impact of missing nodes on the reliability of centrality
measures might not be as severe as the literature suggests
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