Physical education and quality of life: reflections and perspectives

The study of the quality of life of individuals has become a prominent issue for contemporary society. However, research involving quality of life should consider that this is a complex issue that involves objective and subjective aspects, living conditions, lifestyles and multidimensional factors. There is a widespread idea in society that physical activity, exercise, sports and related activities can have a positive impact on improving the quality of life of the population. However, in several studies, this relationship is examined from the biological point of view, which considers only health indicators. Such practices are being studied in the area of Physical Education in various perspectives, such as biological, psychological, social, and cultural. Therefore, Physical Education should seek to produce knowledge that meets the scientific principles, and look for evidence that effectively clarifies the dynamics of this relationship. In this sense, methodological rigor, particularly the conceptual definition, is essential for a better understanding of the results and of which generalizations are actually likely to e proved. In addition, it is necessary to identify the possibilities and limitations of quantitative evaluations, qualitative evaluations and possible combinations.

Disentangling social networks from spatiotemporal dynamics: the temporal structure of a dolphin society

Social networks are static illustrations of dynamic societies, within which social interactions are constantly changing. Fundamental sources of variation include ranging behaviour and temporal demographic changes. Spatiotemporal dynamics can favour or limit opportunities for individuals to interact, and then a network may not essentially represent social processes. We examined whether a social network can embed such nonsocial effects in its topology, whereby emerging modules depict spatially or temporally segregated individuals. To this end, we applied a combination of spatial, temporal and demographic analyses to a long-term study of the association patterns of Guiana dolphins, Sotalia guianensis. We found that association patterns are organized into a modular social network. Space use was unlikely to reflect these modules, since dolphins' ranging behaviour clearly overlapped. However, a temporal demographic turnover, caused by the exit/entrance of individuals (most likely emigration/immigration), defined three modules of associations occurring at different times. Although this factor could mask real social processes, we identified the temporal scale that allowed us to account for these demographic effects. By looking within this turnover period (32 months), we assessed fission-fusion dynamics of the poorly known social organization of Guiana dolphins. We highlight that spatiotemporal dynamics can strongly influence the structure of social networks. Our findings show that hypothetical social units can emerge due to the temporal opportunities for individuals to interact. Therefore, a thorough search for a satisfactory spatiotemporal scale that removes such nonsocial noise is critical when analysing a social system. (C) 2012 The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Advancing the management of primary immunodeficiency diseases in Latin America: Latin American Society for Immunodeficiencies (LASID) Initiatives

Primary immunodeficiency diseases (PIDD) are associated with significant morbidity and mortality and result in a significant public health burden. This is in part due to the lack of appropriate diagnosis and treatment of these patients. It is critical that governments become aware of this problem and provide necessary resources to reduce this impact on health care systems. Leading physicians in their respective countries must be supported by their own governments in order to implement tools and provide education and thus improve the diagnosis and treatment of PIDD. The Latin American Society of Primary Immunodeficiencies (LASID) has initiated a large number of activities aimed at achieving these goals, including the establishment of a PIDD registry, development of educational programmes and guidelines, and the introduction of a PIDD fellowship programme. These initiatives are positively impacting the identification and appropriate treatment of patients with PIDD in Latin America. Nevertheless, much remains to be done to ensure that every person with PIDD receives proper therapy. (C) 2011 SEICAP. Published by Elsevier Espana, S.L. All rights reserved.

Food and Nutrition Security - meanings and appropriations from the civil society segment of the National Council for Food and Nutrition Security

The huge transformations that occurred in the last two decades had impacts on the standards of food production and consumption, and determined a wider discussion in Brazil about the theme of food and nutrition security. It has also expanded the scope of it, which now considers nourishing aspects regarding the entire population and not only its most vulnerable segments. This research identified different meanings present in the speech about food and nutrition security, terms incorporated by movements and civil society organizations that were represented at the National Council for Food and Nutrition Security (administration 2004-2007). Thematic appropriation could be observed in the following directions: a) privileging the interaction between thematic fields from both production and consumption spheres; b) strengthening the idea of nutrition as a human right; c) including an ethical goal to the country's development; d) development of an intra and intersectorial perspective; e) identifying the need of dialogic and freeing educational processes.

Science and Society: The Case of Acceptance of Newtonian Optics in the Eighteenth Century

The present paper presents a historical study on the acceptance of Newton's corpuscular theory of light in the early eighteenth century. Isaac Newton first published his famous book Opticks in 1704. After its publication, it became quite popular and was an almost mandatory presence in cultural life of Enlightenment societies. However, Newton's optics did not become popular only via his own words and hands, but also via public lectures and short books with scientific contents devoted to general public (including women) that emerged in the period as a sort of entertainment business. Lectures and writers stressed the inductivist approach to the study of nature and presented Newton's ideas about optics as they were consensual among natural philosophers in the period. The historical case study presented in this paper illustrates relevant aspects of nature of science, which can be explored by students of physics on undergraduate level or in physics teacher training programs.

Improvement of Older Women's Sexuality Through Emancipatory Education

The purpose of this action research (AR) was to explore the ways in which sexuality is experienced daily and to improve the expression of older women's sexuality. The pedagogy of autonomy as proposed by the Brazilian educator Paulo Freire theoretically supported this AR, with the participation of six older adult women living in a rural setting in southwest Brazil. The older women's experiences regarding sexuality, their concerns, and their educational demands could be summarized through five phrases: the improvement of self-esteem as a way to promote sexuality; sexuality impaired by loneliness and lack of affection; men's sexual satisfaction seen as a woman's obligation; women's sexuality controlled by the society; and relinquishment of the companion to attend to the expectations of family members. Dialogical and participative educational approaches and continuous observation-participation strategies were performed to support the women's care and educational requirements.

Highlights of the XXI annual meeting of the Brazilian Society of Protozoology, the XXXII annual meeting on Basic Research in Chagas' disease & an international symposium on vesicle trafficking in parasitic Protozoa – 7 to 9 November 2005, Caxambu, Minas Gerais, Brazil

This report focuses on the 2005 Annual meeting held in Caxambu, Minas Gerais, Brazil that was convened and organized by the Brazilian Society of Protozoology http://www.sbpz.org.br/. This is an annual event and details of these meetings can be found on the Society's website. Within the space available it has been impossible to cover all the important and fascinating contributions and what is presented are our personal views of the meetings scientific highlights and new developments. The contents undoubtedly reflect each author's scientific interests and expertise. Fuller details of the round tables, seminars and posters can be consulted on line at http://www.sbpz.org.br/livroderesumos2005.php.

A critical analysis on "Active Learning" in the light of Cultural-Historical Activity Theory (CHAT): Implications to Physics Education and to experimental activities as a particular case.

This is a research paper in which we discuss “active learning” in the light of Cultural-Historical Activity Theory (CHAT), a powerful framework to analyze human activity, including teaching and learning process and the relations between education and wider human dimensions as politics, development, emancipation etc. This framework has its origin in Vygotsky's works in the psychology, supported by a Marxist perspective, but nowadays is a interdisciplinary field encompassing History, Anthropology, Psychology, Education for example.