Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Web curriculo e UCA: onde se cruzam as perspetivas de investigadores e formadores

O conceito de web curriculo desenvolvido por Maria Elizabeth Almeida (2010) e definido por Almeida e Valente como “processo no qual as TDIC se encontram imbricadas no desenvolvimento do curriculo em atividades pedagogicas, nas quais professores e alunos se apropriam destas tecnologias e as utilizam para aprender, como se elas fossem invisiveis” (2012, p. 59) enforma o trabalho de pesquisa dos investigadores do programa de Pos-Graduacao em Educacao: Curriculo, da Pontificia Universidade Catolica de Sao Paulo-Brasil. Alguns destes investigadores sao tambem formadores de professores integrados no Projeto “Um Computador por Aluno” (UCA) que tem como objetivo a inclusao digital, a inovacao na educacao atraves da mudancas das metodologias da pratica pedagogica com vistas a criar melhores condicoes de aprendizagem e, por esta via, a promocao do sucesso escolar. No contexto de um estagio junto desta equipade investigadores, foi realizado um estudo de natureza exploratoria e interpretativa para conhecer as concecoes e as praticas acerca da utilizacao educativa das TIC em distintos niveis e contextos. Neste artigo, e por limitacoes de espaco, apresentamos de forma integral os resultados relativos as concecoes desses investigadores e referimos muito brevemente as praticas desses professores. A recolha de dados obedeceu aos criterios da amostragem teorica, tipica da grounded theory, e foi feita atraves de inquerito por questionario. A analise dos dados empiricosbaseou-se nas tecnicas sugeridas pela grounded theory com apoio do software NVivo10. Os resultados indicam que todos trabalham como formadores ou professores na area de Educacao Basica (educacao fundamental I e II) e apontam para quatro tendencias: a) as concecoes dos investigadores acerca da utilizacao educativa das TDIC nao dependem da sua formacao inicial nem da formacao para o uso educativo de TDIC na pratica pedagogica; sao tambem independentes do seu tempo de atuacao nesta area; b) os seus interesses de investigacao articulam-se com as suas praticas letivas ou de formacao de professores no contexto do projeto UCA; c) as suas concecoes acerca da utilizacao educativa das tecnologias centram-se em quatro grandes areas: integracao curricular das tecnologias digitais; autonomia e reflexividade do professor/formando; comunicacao e colaboracao entre pares e entre professor/aluno; formacao contextualizada e “in loco” e dependente dos interesses do professor; d) emergem as tematicas da mobilidade e das redes de aprendizagem como areas a desenvolver. Em conclusao: as concecoes e as praticas destes investigadores estao em sintonia com as perspetivas teoricas e praticas constituintes do conceito de web curriculo, havendo algumas ideias emergentes relevantes para a evolucao do trabalho do grupo de pesquisa.
C-type natriuretic peptide hyperpolarizes and relaxes human penile resistance arteries.

INTRODUCTION In addition to nitric oxide (NO), it is thought that an endothelium-derived hyperpolarizing factor (EDHF) plays an important role in the relaxation of penile arteries. Recently, it has been shown that C-type natriuretic peptide (CNP) shows the characteristics of EDHF in systemic small arteries. AIM To investigate the mechanism involved in CNP-evoked vasodilatation and to address whether CNP is an EDHF in human penile resistance arteries. METHODS Erectile tissue was obtained in connection with transsexual operations. Intracavernous penile resistance arteries were isolated and mounted in microvascular myographs for recording of isometric tension. Membrane potential was recorded by the use of a small glass electrode inserted in the smooth muscle layer. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE In vitro evidence for hyperpolarization and vasorelaxation induced by CNP. RESULTS Acetylcholine (ACh) and CNP hyperpolarized smooth muscle membrane potential in resting penile resistance arteries. In penile small arteries incubated with inhibitors of NO synthase and cyclooxygenase and contracted with phenylephrine, ACh and CNP evoked concentration-dependent relaxations with maximum of 56 +/- 6% and 71 +/- 6%, respectively. Addition of a combination of blockers of small- and intermediate-conductance calcium-activated K(+) channels, apamin plus charybdotoxin, respectively, and a combination thought to block the smooth muscle response of EDHF-type relaxation, barium plus ouabain, markedly reduced ACh- and CNP-evoked relaxation. Iberiotoxin, a blocker of big-conductance calcium-activated K(+) channels inhibited the vasorelaxant responses evoked by ACh and CNP. A selective natriuretic peptide receptor type C (NPR-C) agonist, C-atrial natriuretic factor(4-23) (cANF(4-23)), induced relaxations with less maximum response compared to CNP. CONCLUSION The present findings suggest that CNP possesses the characteristics of an EDHF in human penile resistance arteries. By activation of natriuretic peptide receptor type B and NPR-C receptors, CNP causes relaxation by activation, respectively, of large-conductance calcium-activated K(+) channels and Na(+)/K(+)-adenosine triphosphatase (ATPase), and barium-sensitive inward rectifier K(+) channels. Modulation of the CNP pathway opens for new treatment modalities of erectile dysfunction.
To examine delayed PTSD symptomatology over time among trauma survivors in Pakistan

This study investigates the presence of delayed PTSD symptoms after a period of twenty months in individuals who had an exposure to a traumatic event and to distinguish them from individuals who had no direct exposure but were affected indirectly. A purposive sample of fifty one individuals comprising Group 1 (Female N=30) and Group 2 (Male N=21) examined in this study. Two standardised psychological tests known as Clinician- Administered PTSD Scale (CAPS) and PTSD Checklist – Civilian Version (PCL-C) were used for this purpose. Our results indicated a significant difference (P<.001) between Group 1 and Group 2 and distinguished Group 1 (Individuals with direct exposure to trauma) from Group 2 (Individuals with indirect exposure to trauma) on the basis of PTSD symptomatology. This suggests the presence of delayed PTSD symptoms in individuals who were exposed to a traumatic event than the individuals with no direct exposure to a traumatic event after a long period of a recovery phase. Our results were found consistent with the previous studies and add the findings of this study to the scientific literature in
Facilitating the Electorate: A Multilevel Analysis of Election Timing, Registration Procedures, and Turnout

Abstract This study suggests that certain election administration arrangements can have a modest but significant impact on the probability of voting. Using data from Module 3 of the Comparative Study of Electoral Systems, supplemented by contextual data from the ACE Electoral Knowledge Network, I explore the effects of election timing and voter registration procedures on turnout in 30 democracies. I show that when voter registration is in the hands of an independent electoral management body, there is a greater likelihood of an individual voting. Contrary to conventional wisdom, election timing has little impact on the probability of voting. Weekend voting, polling hours, and the timing of the election during the year have no significant impact, even among young people, supposedly the beneficiaries of such arrangements. The results show the potential for certain election arrangements to stimulate turnout. They also reveal that facilitating voters by lessening voting costs is not a cure to the problem of growing abstention. These findings have implications for our understanding of voter turnout and the means by which declining electoral engagement is addressed.
Collaborative Newspaper: Exploring an adaptive Scrolling Algorithm in a Multi-user Reading Scenario

Digital content, like news presented on screens at public places (e.g., subway stations) is pervasive. Usually it is not possible for passers-by to conveniently interact with such public displays, as content is not interactive or responsive. Especially news screens are normally showing one news article after another, reducing the amount of information fitting the screen dimensions. In this paper we developed a collaborative newspaper application based on an adaptive scrolling algorithm, that manages scrolling of the same content for several users simultaneously. We are using head-mounted eye trackers to track people's gaze on the screen and detect their reading positions. Thus we offer the possibility to display news texts which are larger than the screen height, as the system automatically adapts the text scrolling to the person's reading behavior. In a user study with fifteen participants we investigated how the scrolling algorithm affects the reading speed of people in single- and multi-user scenarios. Further we evaluated the work load while using the system. The results show that the adaptive scrolling algorithm does not negatively influence the reading speed, neither in single- nor in a multi-user reading scenario.
Mother's choice to provide breast milk and developmental outcome.

We do not know what proportion of our patients were scanned in the third trimester, but during 1985-7 the mean number of ultrasound examinations per booked pregnancy was 2-7. In contrast to Gunn et al, six out of 15 cases of definite pathology detected to date were first suspected between 15 and 19 weeks' gestation. We agree with them, however, that in addition to a routine scan at about 18 weeks, every fetus should ideally have a further ultrasound examination after 28 weeks' gestation.
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: Problems and prospects

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a lethal degenerative disorder of motoneurons, which may occur concurrently with frontotemporal dementia. Genetic analyses of the ∼10% of ALS cases that are dominantly inherited provide insight into ALS pathobiology. Two broad themes are evident. One, prompted by investigations of the SOD1 gene, is that conformational instability of proteins triggers downstream neurotoxic processes. The second, from studies of the TDP43, FUS, and C9orf72 genes, is that perturbations of RNA processing can be highly adverse in motoneurons. Several investigations support the concept that non‐neuronal cells (microglia, astroglia, oligodendroglia) participate in the degenerative process in ALS. Recent data also emphasize the importance of molecular events in the axon and distal motoneuron terminals. Only 1 compound, riluzole, is approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for ALS; several therapies are in clinical trials, including 2 mesenchymal stem cell trials. The challenges and unmet needs in ALS emphasize the importance of new research directions: high‐throughput sequencing of large DNA sets of familial and sporadic ALS, which will define scores of candidate ALS genes and pathways and facilitate studies of epistasis and epigenetics; infrastructures for candidate gene validation, including in vitro and in vivo modeling; valid biomarkers that elucidate causative molecular events and accelerate clinical trials; and in the long term, methods to identify environmental toxins. The unprecedented intensity of research in ALS and the advent of extraordinary technologies (rapid, inexpensive DNA sequencing; stem cell production from skin‐derived fibroblasts; silencing of miscreant mutant genes) bode well for discovery of innovative ALS therapies. Ann Neurol 2013;74:309–316
Endosialin Promotes Atherosclerosis Through Phenotypic Remodeling of Vascular Smooth Muscle Cells

Objective— Vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMC) play a key role in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis, the globally leading cause of death. The transmembrane orphan receptor endosialin (CD248) has been characterized as an activation marker of cells of the mesenchymal lineage including tumor-associated pericytes, stromal myofibroblasts, and activated VSMC. We, therefore, hypothesized that VSMC-expressed endosialin may display functional involvement in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis. Approach and Results— Expression of endosialin was upregulated during atherosclerosis in apolipoprotein E (ApoE)–null mice and human atherosclerotic samples analyzed by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction and immunohistochemistry. Atherosclerosis, assessed by Oil Red O staining of the descending aorta, was significantly reduced in ApoE/endosialin-deficient mice on Western-type diet. Marker analysis of VSMC in lesions induced by shear stress–modifying cast implantation around the right carotid artery identified a more pronounced contractile VSMC phenotype in the absence of endosialin. Moreover, in addition to contributing to neointima formation, endosialin also potentially regulated the proinflammatory phenotype of VSMC as evidenced in surrogate cornea pocket assay experiments in vivo and corresponding flow cytometry and ELISA analyses in vitro. Conclusions— The experiments identify endosialin as a potential regulator of phenotypic remodeling of VSMC contributing to atherosclerosis. The association of endosialin with atherosclerosis and its absent expression in nonatherosclerotic samples warrant further consideration of endosialin as a therapeutic target and biomarker.
[Phytoestrogens and SERMS, alternatives to classical hormone therapy?].

Isoprene is the main component of steroid hormones. It is found in many plants and herbal compounds, e.g. the isoflavonoids are therefore slightly estrogenic. Since they are bound to the estradiol receptors, more active estrogens cannot induce a signal transduction. Hence phytoestrogens may be protective on breast tissue and other hormone dependent organs.
Protease activity of plasma hemopexin.

BACKGROUND Previous studies into the relevance of a putative circulating factor in the pathogenesis of minimal change nephrotic syndrome have opened the possibility that plasma hemopexin might be an important effector molecule in this disorder. Thus, intra renal infusion of isolated plasma hemopexin into rats induced minimal change like glomerular lesions and proteinuria. Both, in vivo and in vitro effects of the active isoform of hemopexin could be attributed to protease activity of this molecule. However, the question remained whether hemopexin per se rather than some contaminating plasma factor is responsible for the potential enzymatic activity of this molecule. METHODS Recombinant hemopexin was prepared according to standard methods in Pichia pastoris and compared for its identity and protease activity with plasma hemopexin using Western blotting and various in vitro assays. Unilateral renal perfusion in anesthetized rats was used to test the proteinuria inducing capacity of recombinant hemopexin versus heat-inactivated recombinant hemopexin. RESULTS The blotting results show identical 85 kD bands in both native as well as recombinant hemopexin. Incubation of kidney tissue with recombinant hemopexin resulted in loss of of glomerular ectoapyrase and sialoglycoproteins, as shown by immunohistochemistry, which effect can be inhibited with the serine protease inhibitor phenylmethanesulfonyl fluoride. Artificial substrates for serine proteases, like kallikrein or thrombin, are hydrolysed by recombinant hemopexin in vitro, and not by heat-inactivated recombinant hemopexin or saline. Unilateral kidney perfusion of recombinant hemopexin, in contrast to control Pichia transfection products or heat-inactivated recombinant hemopexin, followed by a protein marker showed significantly enhanced urinary protein leakage 5.0, 10.0, and 15.0 minutes after perfusion. CONCLUSION It is concluded that the hemopexin molecule as such can potentially act as a toxic protease, leading in the rat to proteinuria and glomerular alterations characteristic for minimal change nephrotic syndrome.
Minimizing the cost of competition in the black-crested titmouse: status signaling, dominance, and foraging behavior

Status signals allow senders and receivers to minimize the costs of competition by minimizing the need for costly physical fights. While much research has focused on demonstrating that individuals respond to status signals in both breeding and non-breeding contexts, less is known about how the function of status signals may change as resource availability changes seasonally. In this thesis, I provide a basic review of status signaling in birds and report the results of an investigation on status signaling in the black-crested titmouse during different environmental conditions. The black-crested titmouse is a socially monogamous passerine that defends territories throughout the year. This species forms small family groups during the breeding and post-breeding season, which dissolve into mated pairs during the non-breeding and pre-breeding seasons. Using an array of supplemental seed-feeders outfitted with RFID technology, I investigated the relationship between the crest size of adult male titmice and their foraging behavior during the postand pre-breeding seasons. I also investigated the effect of both crest size and dominance on an individual’s ability to maintain baseline foraging behavior after approximately half of the feeders were removed. I found that birds with larger crests had greater access and monopolization of feeders during the post-breeding season, but not the pre-breeding season. When the number of available feeders were reduced during the pre-breeding season, males that monopolized their most-used feeder the most during baseline, and males that had longer crests, reduced their access to the feeders relatively less than other birds. Taken together, these findings indicate that the crest is used to signal status, particularly during times of increased competition (i.e. due to seasonal fluctuation in resources or increased competition between family groups).
Effektivität aufsuchender Familien-fokussierter Interventionen

Summary Effectiveness of in-home family-focused interventions Results of evaluation studies with a (quasi-)experi mental design covering different models of in-home family-focused interventions are rev iewed. These models are of the family support or the family preservation type of program. The methodological quality of the evaluation is high or very high in the case of the two family support programs Nurse Home Visitation and Healthy Families America and the two family preservation programs Functional Family therapy and Multisystemic Therapy . All of them are producing clinically relevant positive long-term effects. The mode ls of in-home family-focused intervention currently used in Germany are to be evaluated in studies with (quasi-)experimental design.
Detecting Categories in News Video Using Acoustic, Speech, and Image Features

This work describes systems for detecting semantic categories present in news video. The multimedia data was processed in three ways: the audio signal was converted to a sequence of acoustic features, automatic speech recognition provided a word-level transcription, and image features were computed for selected frames of the video signal. Primary acoustic, speech, and vision systems were trained to discriminate instances of the categories. Higher-level systems exploited correlations among the categories, incorporated sequential context, and combined the joint evidence from the three information sources. We present experimental results from the TREC video retrieval evaluation.
Critical Theory and Security Studies

Security studies has been slow to accept critical challenges to its problematic, and these have often been met with hostility and deliberately marginalized. This article responds to some of the critiques, and outlines the main elements of a critical engagement with security studies. It discusses the intellectual and `disciplining' power of rationalist and neorealist security studies scholarship, and highlights some of the practices that marginalize critical scholarship. It then overviews the rich and diverse threads of current research within `critical security studies', and emphasizes the central themes of its research agenda: how threats and appropriate responses are constructed; how the `objects' of security are constructed; and what the possibilities are for the transformation of `security dilemmas'. It summarizes the six central claims (concerning the constitution of the actors of world politics, its dynamic and constructed nature, the concomitant epistemological claims and methodological tools, and the purpose of theorizing) that are the hallmark of a critical approach to security studies. Finally, it clarifies what these claims do and do not entail for research and practice in international security studies.
Neurotrophin receptor immunoreactivity in the hippocampus of patients with mesial temporal lobe epilepsy

Recent evidence supports a critical role of neurotrophins in the regulation of both neuronal survival and synaptic transmission during epileptogenesis. We have examined the immunohistochemical expression of high‐ (tyrosine kinase receptors, trk) and low‐affinity (p75) neurotrophin receptors (NTRs) in the hippocampal specimens from 18 patients with chronic temporal lobe epilepsy [TLE; 14 patients with hippocampal sclerosis (HS) and four with focal lesions (tumours) not involving the hippocampus proper]. Nonepileptic autopsy brains (n = 6) and surgical specimens from tumour patients without epilepsy (n = 3) were used as controls. Immunoreactivity (IR) for the trk receptors (trkA, trkB, trkC) was detected in normal human brain within the pyramidal neurones of hippocampal cornus ammoni (CA) regions and in the dentate gyrus. There were no detectable differences in the neuronal trk IR patterns in the hippocampus between control and TLE cases with HS, except for a decrease in neuronal density in regions where cell death had occurred (CA1, CA3 and CA4). In contrast, a consistent increase in trkA IR was observed in reactive astrocytes in CA1 and dentate gyrus. The low‐affinity p75 neurotrophin receptor (p75NTR) was expressed in low levels in postnatal normal hippocampus. In contrast, neuronal p75NTR IR was detected in 10/14 cases of HS in spared neurones within the CA and hilar regions of the hippocampus. Double labelling revealed that p75NTR‐positive neurones also contain trk receptor IR. In six cases with prominent glial activation strong p75NTR IR was observed in microglial cells within the sclerotic hippocampus. The present results indicate that changes in NTR expression are still detectable in the hippocampus of patients with chronic TLE and involve both glial and neuronal cells. Reactive astrocytes were immunoreactive for trkA, whereas activated microglia cells were reactive for p75NTR, suggesting different functions for specific NTRs in the development of reactive gliosis. Moreover, the increased expression of p75NTR in hippocampal neurones of TLE patients may critically influence the neuronal survival during the epileptogenic process.
Employment Programmes for the Poor and Female Empowerment: The Effect of NREGS on Gender-based Violence in India

The introduction of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) in India increased employment opportunities for the poor and even more so for poor women. In this article, we analyze the relationship between female labour participation and violence against women. Using district–time variation in the implementation of this anti-poverty programme, we estimate the effect of improved participation and access to the employment of women on gender-based violence. We find evidence that increased female labour participation following the NREGS has increased total gender-based violence. There have been increases in kidnappings, sexual harassments and domestic violence, while dowry deaths have decreased. JEL: J12, J24, J71