Crenças sobre a avaliação e retenção escolar nos professores portugueses

The present research aims to understand which conceptions and beliefs Portuguese teachers have about assessment in compulsory school, and whether if their beliefs are in line with the guidelines on national education policy. Moreover, it aims to understand why Portuguese teachers use grade repetition as a common resource when it is not scientifically recommended. To do so, a focus group was conducted, and a survey carried out with a sample of Portuguese teachers’ population, with a 95% confidence level and a margin of error of 2.3%. Those procedures led to the conclusion that Portuguese teachers have personal beliefs towards assessment and grade repetition that have an impact on their practice and succeed in superimposing themselves on national educational policies and scientific recommendations.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

36 degree step size of proton-driven c-ring rotation in FoF1-ATP synthase

Synthesis of the biological "energy currency molecule" adenosine triphosphate ATP is accomplished by FoF1-ATP synthase. In the plasma membrane of Escherichia coli, proton-driven rotation of a ring of 10 c subunits in the Fo motor powers catalysis in the F1 motor. While F1 uses 120 degree stepping, Fo models predict a step-by-step rotation of c subunits 36 degree at a time, which is here demonstrated by single-molecule fluorescence resonance energy transfer.Comment: 8 pages, 1 figur

GRAPE: GRaphical Abstracted Protein Explorer

The region surrounding a protein, known as the surface of interaction or molecular surface, can provide valuable insight into its function. Unfortunately, due to the complexity of both their geometry and their surface fields, study of these surfaces can be slow and difficult and important features may be hard to identify. Here, we describe our GRaphical Abstracted Protein Explorer, or GRAPE, a web server that allows users to explore abstracted representations of proteins. These abstracted surfaces effectively reduce the level of detail of the surface of a macromolecule, using a specialized algorithm that removes small bumps and pockets, while preserving large-scale structural features. Scalar fields, such as electrostatic potential and hydropathy, are smoothed to further reduce visual complexity. This entirely new way of looking at proteins complements more traditional views of the molecular surface. GRAPE includes a thin 3D viewer that allows users to quickly flip back and forth between both views. Abstracted views provide a fast way to assess both a molecule's shape and its different surface field distributions. GRAPE is freely available at http://grape.uwbacter.org

Exposure to Parathion Effect on General Population and Asthmatics

There has been much lay and medical concern regarding toxic effects of insecticides on the general population. In addition to direct toxic effects, it is suspected that insecticidal application has deleterious physical effects on persons with respiratory diseases. To evaluate some of these problems, the authors have attempted to quantitate actual absorption, symptoms, and laboratory evidence of intoxication in persons with varying degrees of exposure to parathion. By means of controlled observations, the respiratory effect of application of this compound on persons with bronchial asthma was also measured. The results suggest that the effect of this chemical on the general population is negligible

Carbon and oxygen in HII regions of the Magellanic Clouds: abundance discrepancy and chemical evolution

We present C and O abundances in the Magellanic Clouds derived from deep spectra of HII regions. The data have been taken with the Ultraviolet-Visual Echelle Spectrograph at the 8.2-m VLT. The sample comprises 5 HII regions in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) and 4 in the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC). We measure pure recombination lines (RLs) of CII and OII in all the objects, permitting to derive the abundance discrepancy factors (ADFs) for O^2+, as well as their O/H, C/H and C/O ratios. We compare the ADFs with those of other HII regions in different galaxies. The results suggest a possible metallicity dependence of the ADF for the low-metallicity objects, but more uncertain for high-metallicity objects. We compare nebular and B-type stellar abundances and we find that the stellar abundances agree better with the nebular ones derived from collisionally excited lines (CELs). Comparing these results with other galaxies we observe that stellar abundances seem to agree better with the nebular ones derived from CELs in low-metallicity environments and from RLs in high-metallicity environments. The C/H, O/H and C/O ratios show almost flat radial gradients, in contrast with the spiral galaxies where such gradients are negative. We explore the chemical evolution analysing C/O vs. O/H and comparing with the results of HII regions in other galaxies. The LMC seems to show a similar chemical evolution to the external zones of small spiral galaxies and the SMC behaves as a typical star-forming dwarf galaxy.Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRAS, 17 pages, 11 figures, 8 table

Development and characterization of semitransparent double skin PV façades

This research aims at developing new standardized typologies of semitransparent double skin façades formed by PV laminates in the outer skin. At present there are many buildings in Europe which incorporate such active façades, but all have been designed as user defined projects and very few accurately evaluate the feasibility of using the heat produced within the air gap. There is actually a lack of effective methodology to allow non-specialist architects to design and evaluate such façades. This research tries to address this situation: the Spanish PV manufacturer ISOFOTON, together with the partners of the PVTBUILDING project: CIMNE, the UdL, PICHAguilera, DOMUS and BSC have begun a collaboration to design industrialized modules constituted by an external semitransparent PV layer, a wide air gap and an internal glass layer. This paper describes the results of four stages of a more wide research: a detailed analysis of the existing double skin façades in office buildings and the definition of a family of standard PV modules and ventilated façades; an intensive evaluation of the existing heat transfer relations for asymmetrical heated vertical air channels; the programming of a dynamic transient solver based on TRNSYS and the validation of the codes with the set up of prototypes and the beginning of an experimental campaign

Dataset and species aggregation method applied to food-web models in the Northern Ionian Sea (Central Mediterranean Sea)

The ecological roles of the species in the food web are studied through the Ecopath with Ecosim modelling approach. In this modelling approach, the food web is described by means of functional groups, each representing a species, a life stage of a species, or a group of species with similar trophic, ecological and physiological features. Links between the groups are formally described by a set of linear equations, informed with ecological and fishing data. Here, the data input collected to implement 3 Ecopath models in the Northern Ionian Sea (Central Mediterranean Sea) from 1995 to 2015 are reported. This dataset applied to study the ecological roles of the demersal Chondrichthyes in the study area could be useful to explore different fishing management scenarios. A large dataset of over 300 taxa is shown detailing the ecological inputs, such as Biomass (kg km−2), Production and Consumption rates (y−1), Diet information (weight in %), and fishing data represented by Landings and Discards (t km−2 y−1). In particular, the fishery data described the catches of trawls, longlines, passive nets, other gears and purse seine. In addition, a description of the aggregation method of the species is shown

Managing multiple pressures for cetaceans’ conservation with an Ecosystem-Based Marine Spatial Planning approach

Despite the recognized important ecological role that cetaceans play in the marine environment, their protection is still scarcely enforced in the Mediterranean Sea even though this area is strongly threatened by local human pressures and climate change. The piecemeal of knowledge related to cetaceans' ecology and distribution in the basin undermines the capacity of addressing cetaceans' protection and identifying effective conservation strategies. In this study, an Ecosystem-Based Marine Spatial Planning (EB-MSP) approach is applied to assess human pressures on cetaceans and guide the designation of a conservation area in the Gulf of Taranto, Northern Ionian Sea (Central-eastern Mediterranean Sea). The Gulf of Taranto hosts different cetacean species that accomplish important phases of their life in the area. Despite this fact, the gulf does not fall within any area-based management tools (ABMTs) for cetacean conservation. We pin down the Gulf of Taranto being eligible for the designation of diverse ABMTs for conservation, both legally and non-legally binding. Through a risk-based approach, this study explores the cause-effect relationships that link any human activities and pressures exerted in the study area to potential effects on cetaceans, by identifying major drivers of potential impacts. These were found to be underwater noise, marine litter, ship collision, and competition and disturbance on preys. We draw some recommendations based on different sources of available knowledge produced so far in the area (i.e., empirical evidence, scientific and grey literature, and expert judgement) to boost cetaceans’ conservation. Finally, we stress the need of sectoral coordination for the management of human activities by applying an EB-MSP approach and valuing the establishment of an ABMT in the Gulf of Taranto