Biochemistry of the Envenomation Response-a Generator Theme for Interdisciplinary Integration

The understanding of complex physiological processes requires information from many different areas of knowledge. To meet this interdisciplinary scenario, the ability of integrating and articulating information is demanded. The difficulty of such approach arises because, more often than not, information is fragmented through under graduation education in Health Sciences. Shifting from a fragmentary and deep view of many topics to joining them horizontally in a global view is not a trivial task for teachers to implement. To attain that objective we proposed a course herein described Biochemistry of the envenomation response aimed at integrating previous contents of Health Sciences courses, following international recommendations of interdisciplinary model. The contents were organized by modules with increasing topic complexity. The full understanding of the envenoming pathophysiology of each module would be attained by the integration of knowledge from different disciplines. Active-learning strategy was employed focusing concept map drawing. Evaluation was obtained by a 30-item Likert-type survey answered by ninety students; 84% of the students considered that the number of relations that they were able to establish as seen by concept maps increased throughout the course. Similarly, 98% considered that both the theme and the strategy adopted in the course contributed to develop an interdisciplinary view.

Knowledges and practices of successful literacy teachers (Brazil, 1950-1980)

Significant changes have marked Brazilian education in the period focused on by this research. Aiming to understand the configurations of the teaching profession in that period, this work focuses on the issue of the school success in the area of literacy by means of an analysis of the practices of literacy teachers who were at work between the 1950s and 1980s. The research is based on life-history accounts. The study aimed at describing the various experiences of these teachers identifying the knowledges and practices that sustained their successful literacy work as well as the various factors of a social, religious, political, familiar or other nature that, in the history of each of these teachers, favoured the development of a pedagogical style of literacy particular to each one of them. Despite the peculiarities and originality of each history, the success in the literacy process, as the defining feature of the profile of the four teachers, results from two main aspects: first, the autonomy that each one managed to keep in the development of his/her teaching work, particularly in the organisation of the teaching practices that indicated greater chances of a pupil`s learning to read and write; second, their trust in the capacity of every child for learning, independently of his/her social, economic and cultural conditions. Based on this evidence it is argued that the success of the pedagogical work, particularly during the early years of schooling, lies in an ethics of the teaching work with a double implication: first, it requires the teachers` dedication to their pupils, and second, it requires respect for the work of the teacher, so that she/he can maintain her/his autonomy and inventiveness. These aspects indicate the need for reflection on teaching work and a review of current teacher education policies, particularly the policies targeted at teachers working with literacy practices.

Distance Education in Another Register: Uses and Appropriation of Technologies in Teacher Education

The article explores the relationships between distance education, information and communication technologies and teacher education. Its focus is on the interactive media and its uses in an in-service teacher education program, in Brazil, and on the ways the teachers used the technologies doing their own appropriateness. It departs from the presuppositions of the society of knowledge, that is, the close relationships between new technologies, continuing professional development and social inclusion, arguing that this paradigm is an ideological discourse. The article shows how the teachers have used the technologies in creative ways, calling the attention to the importance of this teachers` abilities as a basic skill to facing the challenges of the society of knowledge itself.

The rational reconstruction of the research program on classic rationalism: Locke and the empiricist approach

This article intends to rationally reconstruct Locke`s theory of knowledge as incorporated in a research program concerning the nature and structure of the theories and models of rationality. In previous articles we argued that the rationalist program can be subdivided into the classical rationalistic subprogram, which includes the knowledge theories of Descartes, Locke, Hume and Kant, the neoclassical subprogram, which includes the approaches of Duhem, Poincare and Mach, and the critical subprogram of Popper. The subdivision results from the different views of rationality proposed by each one of these subprograms, as well as from the tools made available by each one of them, containing theoretical instruments used to arrange, organize and develop the discussion on rationality, the main one of which is the structure of solution of problems. In this essay we intend to reconstruct the assumptions of Locke`s theory of knowledge, which in our view belongs to the classical rationalistic subprogram because it shares with it the thesis of the identity of (scientific) knowledge and certain knowledge.

Analysis of Approaches to Controllership in Mater`s Thesis from Post-graduate Programs in Accounting Sciences

The objective of the Study is to analyze approaches in master`s thesis in Brazilian Post-Graduate Programs in Accounting Sciences in relation to Controllership, in terms of their conceptual, procedural and organizational aspects, as proposed by Borinelli (2006). The research is descriptive and it uses a quantitative approach. The sample consists of 26 master`s thesis which have the word ""Controllership"" in their titles. Resulting from analysis, in Perspective I (conceptual aspects), in which the elements of definition, object of study and relationship with other sciences were referenced, consensus among authors of the master`s thesis was not verified. In Perspective II (procedural aspects), which deals with activities and functions of Controllership by means of how they materialize as areas of knowledge within organizations, it was observed that the approach in the master`s thesis is quite differentiated in terms of the scope of activities. In relation to Perspective III (organizational aspects), there is also no consensus about what constitutes typical Controllership activities, but master`s thesis do include in the definition of Controllership the idea that it is a service or function of information. It was concluded that the approach to controllership, in terms of its conceptual, procedural and organizational aspects is similar to the elements proposed by Borinelli (2006).

Children`s oral production of narratives and constructive memory using prior reading of pictures

With the purpose of approximating two issues, oral narrative and constructive memory, we assume that children, as well as adults, have a constructive memory. Accordingly, researchers of the constructive memory share with piagetians the vision that memory is an applied cognition. Under this perspective, understanding and coding into memory constitute a process which is considered similar to the piagetian assimilation of building an internal conceptual representation of the information (hence the term constructive memory. The objective of this study is to examine and illustrate, through examples drawn from a research about oral narrative with 5, 8 and 10 years old children, the extent to which the constructive memory is stimulated by the acquisition of the structures of knowledge or ""mental models"" (schemes of stories and scenes, scripts), and if they automatically employ them to process constructively the information in storage and rebuild them in the recovery. A sequence of five pictures from a book without text was transformed into computerized program, and the pictures were thus presented to the children. The story focuses on a misunderstanding of two characters on a different assessment about a key event. In data collection, the demands of memory were preserved, since children narrate their stories when the images were no longer viewed on the computer screen. Each narrative was produced as a monologue. The results show that this story can be told either in a descriptive level or in a more elaborated level, where intentions and beliefs are attributed to the characters. Although this study allows an assessment of the development of children`s capabilities (both cognitive and linguistic) to narrate a story, there are for sure other issues that could be exploited.

The epistemological basis of the metaphysics of the Will of Arthur Schopenhauer

RESUMO: Analisamos neste artigo a teoria do conhecimento de Arthur Schopenhauer com base em sua dissertação Sobre a quádrupla raiz do princípio de razão suficiente (1813), seu ensaio Sobre a visão e as cores (1816), os dois primeiros livros de O mundo como vontade e representação (1819), bem como o apêndice a esta obra intitulado Crítica da filosofia kantiana. Aqui temos em mente a relação de Schopenhauer com as filosofias anteriores (em especial a de Kant) e a fundamentação de sua intuição do mundo como Vontade baseada em uma epistemologia de raízes kantianas.

Study of the Extent of the Information of Cardiologists from Sao Paulo City, Brazil, Regarding a Low-Prevalence Entity: Brugada Syndrome

Objective: To determine the degree of knowledge that cardiologists from Sao Paulo, Brazil, have regarding a low-prevalent entity associated with a high rate of sudden death-Brugada syndrome. Methods: Two hundred forty-four cardiologists were interviewed by an instrument divided in two parts: in the first, we recorded gender, age, and data related to academic profile. The second-answered only by the professionals that manifested having some degree of knowledge on the syndrome-had 28 questions that evaluated their knowledge. The answers were spontaneous and they did not have a chance to consult. We used uni- and multivariate analysis on the average percentage of right and wrong answers, and the influence of the academic profile. Results: The predominant gender was the male gender (61.1%), the average age was 44.32 +/- 10.83 years, 40% with more than 20 years after obtaining their degree, 44% were educated in public institutions, 69% had a residency in cardiology, 20% had overseas practice, 12% had postdegree, 41% were linked to an educational institution, 24% with publication(s) in an indexed journal, 17.2% were authors of chapters in books, 2.5% had edited books, and 10% were linked to the Brazilian Society of Cardiac Arrhythmias. The average percentage of right answers was 45.7%. Conclusion: The sample studied revealed a little knowledge on the entity. A residency in cardiology was the factor of greater significance in the percentage of right answers. Other significant factors were the link of the interviewed person to an educational institution, or the Brazilian Society of Cardiac Arrhythmias, and having a specialist degree.

Effects of the utilization of homeopathic elements in commercial diluent on swine sperm viability

It has been speculated that the homeopathic treatment of sperm cells in order to improve semen quality could be promising. However, few data is available and its use in spermatozoa requires investigation. It is well established that mitochondrial membrane potential is an important viability parameter of spermatozoa and it is intimately related to reproductive efficiency. In this manner, new technologies in order to improve the activity of sperm cells and, finally, the fecundity of swine herds are of extremely importance. Due to the lack of knowledge of homeopathic treatment effect on spermatozoa, the aim of the present study was to verify the effect of three different homeopathic treatments on viability of boar sperm cells. Three homeopathic treatments composed by Pulsatila CH6, Pulsatila and Avena CH6, Avena CH6 and one control treatment (sucrose) were added to diluted boar semen, which were cooled for 24 or 48 h. Interestingly, no positive effect of homeopathic treatments was observed over semen viability. However, it was demonstrated that the 24 h of cooling storage provided more viable sperm cells when compared to the 48-h period. This effect of storage period on sperm viability was assessed by intact plasmatic membrane, intact acrosome and mitochondrial membrane potential evaluation.