Teacher training processes and teachers' competence : A sociological study in the primary school

The paper describes part of a study whose aim was to investigate the relation between modalities of teacher training and modalities of pedagogic practice implemented in the science classroom. The study is focused on primary school context and analyses the evolution of teachers performance in terms of their acquisition of recognition and realisation rules, i.e. coding orientation, to specific scientific learning contexts. Theoretically, the study is based on Bernstein’s theory of pedagogic discourse (1999, 2000)which provided the concepts to characterise the modalities of teacher training and of classroom pedagogic practices and to analyse teachers’ evolution in terms of recognition and realisation rules. The sample was made up of four teachers and their four socially heterogeneous school classes. An action-research methodology was followed.The results suggest that the teacher training implemented was favourable to the teachers’ professional development and their competence to lead all children to a high level of scientific development. The efficiency of the training process has to be mostly attributed to the strong classification of the researcher-teachers relation and to the strong framing of evaluation criteria, selection and sequence, together with weak framing of hierarchical rules and pacing.Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian, Instituto de Inovação Educacional e Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT)

A nonlinear vehicle-structure interaction methodology with wheel-rail detachment and reattachment

. A vehicle-structure interaction methodology with a nonlinear contact formulation based on contact and target elements has been developed. To solve the dynamic equations of motion, an incremental formulation has been used due to the nonlinear nature of the contact mechanics, while a procedure based on the Lagrange multiplier method imposes the contact constraint equations when contact occurs. The system of nonlinear equations is solved by an efficient block factorization solver that reorders the system matrix and isolates the nonlinear terms that belong to the contact elements or to other nonlinear elements that may be incorporated in the model. Such procedure avoids multiple unnecessary factorizations of the linear terms during each Newton iteration, making the formulation efficient and computationally attractive. A numerical example has been carried out to validate the accuracy and efficiency of the present methodology. The obtained results have shown a good agreement with the results obtained with the commercial finite element software ANSY

Qualidade e sustentabilidade.

O Conceito da qualidade. A história da qualidade. O sistema de gestão. Qualidade e meio ambiente. Atendimento ao cliente. Novos paradigmas de gestãobitstream/CNPAB-2010/27354/1/doc115.pd

Contributo da análise ergonómica do trabalho para o estudo de acidentes de trabalho em enfermeiros no serviço de urgência

Mestrado em Segurança e Higiene no Trabalho.O presente estudo pretende identificar os contributos da Análise Ergonómica Trabalho (AET) para a compreensão dos Acidentes de Trabalho (AT) com implicações a nível da coluna lombar em enfermeiros do serviço de urgência (SU). Na maioria dos casos, os resultados da análise dos AT (AAT) revelam-se insuficientes, quer na gestão do risco, quer na identificação dos motivos que impedem a aprendizagem com os AT. Metodologia: O estudo é de carácter exploratório/descritivo e transversal e integra todos os enfermeiros do SU de uma UH. A recolha de dados assenta na identificação dos últimos 10 AT no SU, recorrendo aos resultados da AAT e comparando-os com a aplicação da metodologia da AET (questionários, entrevistas, observação directa do local do AT, presencial, com registos em fotografia e/ou filme e confrontação dos acidentados). Resultados esperados: a AAT relaciona-se essencialmente com causas activas, o que é visível, atribuindo “culpas ao trabalhador” pelo acidente ocorrido. Em oposição, a AET identifica condições latentes da actividade de LMTD, designadamente a nível da concepção e organização do espaço de trabalho, da (in)adequação dos equipamentos, dos rácios doente/enfermeiro, da presença de stress, etc., que estão na origem da ocorrência de AT, frequentemente “ocultas ou diluídas” no contexto e, por isso, invisíveis, e associa-as às causas activas (ex. posições corporais, decisões e acções). Só através desta associação se consegue efectuar um diagnóstico das situações reais de trabalho. Espera-se um contributo para uma abordagem de gestão de risco mais assertiva e, sobretudo, com maior probabilidade de prevenção desses AT. ABSTRACT - This study aims to identify the contributions of Ergonomic Work Analysis (EWA) for the understanding of Occupational Accidents (OA) with implications for the lumbar spine in nurses at the emergency room department (ER). In most cases, the results of the Occupational Accidents Analysis (OAA) are insufficient, either in risk management, or in identifying the reasons which prevent the learning with the OA. Methodology: The study is an exploratory/descriptive and transversal that integrates all the nurses of the ER from one Hospital. The data collection is based on the identification from the last 10 OA occurred in the ER, using the results of the OAA comparing them with the EWA methodology (questionnaires, interviews, direct observation from the workplace where OA occurred, photography/movie records, and workers confrontation). Expected Results: The OAA is primarily related with active causes, what is visible, assigning "blame to worker" for the accident occurred. In opposition EWA identifies latent conditions of the manual patients handling (MPH) activity particularly, the design and layout from the workplace, the (in)adequacy of equipment, the ratios of patient/nurses, the presence of stress, etc., which are the source of OA, often "hidden or diluted" in the context and, therefore invisible, so those are associated with the active causes (eg, body positions, decisions and actions). Only through this association is possible to make a diagnosis of real work situations. It is expected to contribute to a more assertive risk management approach and, especially, to prevent OA related with manual patient handling

A 3-form Gauge Potential in 5D in connection with a Possible Dark Sector of 4D-Electrodynamics

We here propose a 5-dimensional {\bf Abelian gauge} model based on the mixing between a $U(1)$ potential and an Abelian 3-form field by means of a topological mass term. An extended covariant derivative is introduced to minimally couple a Dirac field to the $U(1)$ potential, while this same covariant derivative non-minimally couples the 3-form field to the charged fermion. A number of properties are discussed in 5D; in particular, the appearance of a topological fermionic current. A 4-dimensional reduced version of the model is investigated and, { \bf in addition to the $U(1)$ electric- and magnetic-sort of fields,} there emerges an extra set of electric- and magnetic-like fields which contribute a negative pressure and may be identified as a possible fraction of dark energy. The role of the topological fermionic current is also contemplated upon dimensional reduction from 5D to 4D. Other issues we present in 4 space-time dimensions are the emergence {\bf of a pseudo-scalar massive particle,} an extra massive neutral gauge boson,{\bf which we interpret as a kind of paraphoton}, and the calculation of spin- and velocity-dependent interparticle potentials associated to the exchange of the intermediate bosonic fields of the model.Comment: -- 30 pages -- L. P. R. Ospedal appears as a new co-author; modifications by inclusion of the gravitational sector and the attainment of a spin- and velocity-dependent potential as an application have been worked out in this Revised Versio

Fever and Generalised Lymphadenopathy in an HIV-Positive Patient: a Diagnostic Challenge

Fever and generalised lymphadenopathy is a common presentation of a variety of diseases and a thorough investigation is often necessary for appropriate diagnosis.We present a 53-year-old male patient admitted with fever, weight loss of 15 kg in 3 months and abdominal discomfort. Examination was only remarkable for axillary and inguinal lymphadenopathy. Blood tests showed normocytic normochromic anaemia, cholestasis and a previously unknown HIV-1 infection with lymphocyte CD4 +count of 239 cells/mm(3) and viral load 3.172.370 copies/mL. A body CT scan showed multiple axillary, mediastinal, lumbar, aortic, iliac and pelvic lymphadenopathy as well as hepatosplenomegaly. An excisional biopsy of the left axillary lymphadenopathy was performed and histology ultimately revealed multicentric Castleman's disease associated with Human Herpes Virus-8. After initiation of antiretroviral therapy, rituximab was given and progressive clinical improvement occurred.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Order and Disorder in AKLT Antiferromagnets in Three Dimensions

The models constructed by Affleck, Kennedy, Lieb, and Tasaki describe a family of quantum antiferromagnets on arbitrary lattices, where the local spin S is an integer multiple M of half the lattice coordination number. The equal time quantum correlations in their ground states may be computed as finite temperature correlations of a classical O(3) model on the same lattice, where the temperature is given by T=1/M. In dimensions d=1 and d=2 this mapping implies that all AKLT states are quantum disordered. We consider AKLT states in d=3 where the nature of the AKLT states is now a question of detail depending upon the choice of lattice and spin; for sufficiently large S some form of Neel order is almost inevitable. On the unfrustrated cubic lattice, we find that all AKLT states are ordered while for the unfrustrated diamond lattice the minimal S=2 state is disordered while all other states are ordered. On the frustrated pyrochlore lattice, we find (conservatively) that several states starting with the minimal S=3 state are disordered. The disordered AKLT models we report here are a significant addition to the catalog of magnetic Hamiltonians in d=3 with ground states known to lack order on account of strong quantum fluctuations.Comment: 7 pages, 2 figure

Control of quantum transverse correlations on a four-photon system

Control of spatial quantum correlations in bi-photons is one of the fundamental principles of Quantum Imaging. Up to now, experiments have been restricted to controlling the state of a single bi-photon, by using linear optical elements. In this work we demonstrate experimental control of quantum correlations in a four-photon state comprised of two pairs of photons. Our scheme is based on a high-efficiency parametric downconversion source coupled to a double slit by a variable linear optical setup, in order to obtain spatially encoded qubits. Both entangled and separable pairs have been obtained, by altering experimental parameters. We show how the correlations influence both the interference and diffraction on the double slit.Comment: 14 pages, 6 figure