O Fantoche em jardim-de-infância : um recurso à integração social da criança inibida

Relatório de Estágio apresentado ao Instituto Politécnico de Castelo Branco para cumprimento dos requisitos necessários à obtenção do grau de Mestre em Educação Pré-escolar e Ensino do 1º Ciclo do Ensino Básico.Os estudos mostram que a criança inibida apresenta dificuldades na interacção social com os outros (adultos e pares), evidenciando dificuldades em integrar-se, naturalmente, no grupo de colegas do jardim-de-infância. Este comportamento pode levar ao isolamento da criança. Consideramos que o recurso ao fantoche como estratégia promotora da interacção com os colegas e adultos, de relações sociais e expressão dos sentimentos e emoções da criança é uma mais-valia para que esta desenvolva competências sociais e relacionais. Consolidados na metodologia investigação-acção desenvolvemos e implementamos um conjunto de actividades com fantoches com o objectivo de integrar a criança inibida no grupo, incluindo-a neste. Para identificar as crianças inibidas, recorremos á aplicação do teste sociométrico e este permitiu analisar as escolhas do grupo relativamente aos colegas mais e menos escolhidos para as diversas situações do quotidiano do jardim-de-infância. Este processo permitiu também a identificação das crianças isoladas. As entrevistas feitas à Educadora e Auxiliar de Acção Educativa responsáveis pelo grupo, permitiu-nos identificar as crianças que estas consideram inibidas. Ao cruzarmos estes dados com os do teste sociométrico foi possível identificar um grupo de sete crianças inibidas. A implementação das actividades permitiu verificar que o objecto de integração das crianças inibidas no grupo foi alcançado. As crianças foram, progressivamente, evidenciando comportamentos de menor inibição, mais contactos sociais e menos receosos na interacção com os outros

MOHID as a tool to evaluate the impact of water discharge from dams on the advection of estuarine fish larval stages

The impoundment of rivers by dams is the biggest direct anthropogenic impact on the hydrological cycle. The utility of dams, as providers of water for human consumption, irrigation and electrical production, is undeniable. However, the price to pay, weighting benefits versus ecological impacts caused by dams, is enormous and often questionable. The deleterious ecological impacts caused by dams are detected at the dam’s site are and at hundreds of kilometers downstream from dams, even in estuaries and coastal areas. The uncontrolled water discharge from dams, both high volumes of water and inappropriate timing, compromise fish recruitment because eggs are flushed from estuarine spawning and nursery areas. Thus, our goal was to develop an hydrodynamic modelling approach that evaluates the impact of water discharge from dams on the advection of fish larval stages off estuaries and into coastal areas. This goal was accomplished by merging the abundance of anchovy eggs along the Guadiana estuary in MOHID

AVALIAÇÃO DE EQUINOS SUBMETIDOS À HIDRATAÇÃO ENTERAL COM SOLUÇÕES ELETROLÍTICAS ISOTÔNICAS CONTENDO DIFERENTES FONTES DE ENERGIA E CÁLCIO

Avaliaram-se comparativamente os efeitos de duas soluções contendo concentrações iguais de cloreto de sódio, cloreto de potássio e magnésio, porém, uma delas contendo cloreto de cálcio e dextrose (SEDex), e a outra propionato de cálcio (SEProp), sobre parâmetros clínicos, proteínas plasmáticas totais, densidade urinária, pH urinário e glicose na urina de equinos (dois machos castrados e duas fêmeas) submetidos à um delineamento crossover 4x2. Os animais foram desidratados experimentalmente com duas aplicações de furosemida na dose de 1mg kg-1, além de jejum hídrico-alimentar de 24 horas, anteriormente aos tratamentos com as soluções, as quais foram administradas por via enteral em fluxo contínuo através de sonda nasogástrica de pequeno diâmetro numa taxa de infusão de 15 mL kg-1 h-1. A desidratação induzida provocou desidratação discreta. As soluções ocasionaram expansão da volemia, diminuiu a densidade urinária e não alterou os parâmetros clínicos dos padrões de referência. Além disso, a SEProp ocasionou glicosúria

ALTERAÇÕES NA MORFOLOGIA ESPERMÁTICA EM TOUROS DE CORTE COM E SEM SUPLEMENTAÇÃO DE ZINCO NA MISTURA MINERAL

rebanho sem Zn na suplementação mineral (ZN-0, n=4, 0mg/Zn/kg/dia) foram comparadas com as de touros contemporâneos criados com suplementação adequada (ZN-60FI, n=4, 60mg/Zn/kg/dia). O sêmen foi colhido quinzenalmente, entre 17 e 29 meses de idade. Incluíram-se no exame a análise da cromatina espermática e o perfil morfométrico da cabeça espermática, com base no comprimento, largura superior e inferior (µm) e área (µm2). Os touros do ZN-0 apresentaram redução de espermatozoides normais em relação ao ZN-60FI (62,4 ±2,88% x 74,5 ±2,83), sendo que a prevalência de anormalidades de cromatina (16,7 ±2,05%) e de defeitos de peça intermediária (9,3 ±0,81%) foi superior aos do ZN-60FI (9,5 ±2,03 e 3,2 ±0,80, respectivamente). A microscopia eletrônica de transmissão mostrou irregularidades mitocondriais e ruptura dos feixes de fibras densas externas.  Nos touros do ZN-60FI, a área da cabeça espermática foi proporcionalmente inferior a do ZN-0. Conclui-se que touros criados e mantidos a campo, provenientes de rebanhos com deficiência na suplementação de Zn, estão sujeitos à redução da qualidade seminal, por apresentarem maior frequência de anormalidades morfológicas, na cromatina, e nos padrões morfométricos da cabeça espermática com predomínio de lesões na estrutura mitocondrial e nos feixes de fibras densas na peça intermediária. PALAVRAS-CHAVES: Bovino, cromatina, morfometria espermática, nutrição, qualidade seminal, zinco

Early Diagnosis of Invasive Aspergillosis in Neutropenic Patients. Comparison between Serum Galactomannan and Polymerase Chain Reaction

Background Invasive aspergillosis (IA) is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in profoundly neutropenic patients, so early diagnosis is mandatory. Aim Consecutive patients with hematological malignancies undergoing intensive chemotherapy were screened for IA with two different methods which were compared. Methods From October 2000 to August 2003 we tested 1311 serum samples from 172 consecutive patients with a polymerase chain reaction assay and between April 2005 and April 2008 we tested 806 serum samples from 169 consecutive patients with a Galactomannan (GM) test. Bronchoalveolar (BAL) samples were obtained whenever the patient's condition allowed and tested with either method. Results: The serum PCR assay had a sensitivity of 75.0% and a specificity of 91.9% and the serum GM assay had a sensitivity of 87.5% and a specificity of 93.1%, ( P > 0.05). The presence of two or more consecutive positive serum samples was predictive of IA for both assays. BAL GM/PCR was positive in some patients without serum positivity and in patients with 2 or more positive serum GM/PCR. Conclusions: No significant differences between the 2 serum tests were found. The GM assay has the advantage of being standardized among several laboratories and is incorporated in the criteria established by the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer/Invasive Fungal Infections Cooperative Group and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Mycosis Study Group (EORTC/MSG), however is much more expensive. BAL GM and PCR sampling aids in IA diagnosis but needs further validation studies to differentiate between colonization and true infection in cases where serum GM or PCR are negative

Local iron homeostasis in the breast ductal carcinoma microenvironment

Abstract BACKGROUND: While the deregulation of iron homeostasis in breast epithelial cells is acknowledged, iron-related alterations in stromal inflammatory cells from the tumor microenvironment have not been explored. METHODS: Immunohistochemistry for hepcidin, ferroportin 1 (FPN1), transferrin receptor 1 (TFR1) and ferritin (FT) was performed in primary breast tissues and axillary lymph nodes in order to dissect the iron-profiles of epithelial cells, lymphocytes and macrophages. Furthermore, breast carcinoma core biopsies frozen in optimum cutting temperature (OCT) compound were subjected to imaging flow cytometry to confirm FPN1 expression in the cell types previously evaluated and determine its cellular localization. RESULTS: We confirm previous results by showing that breast cancer epithelial cells present an 'iron-utilization phenotype' with an increased expression of hepcidin and TFR1, and decreased expression of FT. On the other hand, lymphocytes and macrophages infiltrating primary tumors and from metastized lymph nodes display an 'iron-donor' phenotype, with increased expression of FPN1 and FT, concomitant with an activation profile reflected by a higher expression of TFR1 and hepcidin. A higher percentage of breast carcinomas, compared to control mastectomy samples, present iron accumulation in stromal inflammatory cells, suggesting that these cells may constitute an effective tissue iron reservoir. Additionally, not only the deregulated expression of iron-related proteins in epithelial cells, but also on lymphocytes and macrophages, are associated with clinicopathological markers of breast cancer poor prognosis, such as negative hormone receptor status and tumor size. CONCLUSIONS: The present results reinforce the importance of analyzing the tumor microenvironment in breast cancer, extending the contribution of immune cells to local iron homeostasis in the tumor microenvironment context.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Pervasive gaps in Amazonian ecological research

Biodiversity loss is one of the main challenges of our time,1,2 and attempts to address it require a clear un derstanding of how ecological communities respond to environmental change across time and space.3,4 While the increasing availability of global databases on ecological communities has advanced our knowledge of biodiversity sensitivity to environmental changes,5–7 vast areas of the tropics remain understudied.8–11 In the American tropics, Amazonia stands out as the world’s most diverse rainforest and the primary source of Neotropical biodiversity,12 but it remains among the least known forests in America and is often underrepre sented in biodiversity databases.13–15 To worsen this situation, human-induced modifications16,17 may elim inate pieces of the Amazon’s biodiversity puzzle before we can use them to understand how ecological com munities are responding. To increase generalization and applicability of biodiversity knowledge,18,19 it is thus crucial to reduce biases in ecological research, particularly in regions projected to face the most pronounced environmental changes. We integrate ecological community metadata of 7,694 sampling sites for multiple or ganism groups in a machine learning model framework to map the research probability across the Brazilian Amazonia, while identifying the region’s vulnerability to environmental change. 15%–18% of the most ne glected areas in ecological research are expected to experience severe climate or land use changes by 2050. This means that unless we take immediate action, we will not be able to establish their current status, much less monitor how it is changing and what is being lostinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio