The METAFOR project: preserving data through metadata standards for climate models and simulations

Climate modeling is a complex process, requiring accurate and complete metadata in order to identify, assess and use climate data stored in digital repositories. The preservation of such data is increasingly important given the development of ever-increasingly complex models to predict the effects of global climate change. The EU METAFOR project has developed a Common Information Model (CIM) to describe climate data and the models and modelling environments that produce this data. There is a wide degree of variability between different climate models and modelling groups. To accommodate this, the CIM has been designed to be highly generic and flexible, with extensibility built in. METAFOR describes the climate modelling process simply as "an activity undertaken using software on computers to produce data." This process has been described as separate UML packages (and, ultimately, XML schemas). This fairly generic structure canbe paired with more specific "controlled vocabularies" in order to restrict the range of valid CIM instances. The CIM will aid digital preservation of climate models as it will provide an accepted standard structure for the model metadata. Tools to write and manage CIM instances, and to allow convenient and powerful searches of CIM databases,. Are also under development. Community buy-in of the CIM has been achieved through a continual process of consultation with the climate modelling community, and through the METAFOR team’s development of a questionnaire that will be used to collect the metadata for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 (CMIP5) model runs.

The early transcriptomic response to interleukin 1β and interleukin 33 in rat neonatal cardiomyocytes

In the heart, inflammatory cytokines including interleukin (IL) 1β are implicated in regulating adaptive and maladaptive changes, whereas IL33 negatively regulates cardiomyocyte hypertrophy and promotes cardioprotection. These agonists signal through a common co-receptor but, in cardiomyocytes, IL1β more potently activates mitogen-activated protein kinases and NFκB, pathways that regulate gene expression. We compared the effects of external application of IL1β and IL33 on the cardiomyocyte transcriptome. Neonatal rat cardiomyocytes were exposed to IL1β or IL33 (0.5, 1 or 2h). Transcriptomic profiles were determined using Affymetrix rat genome 230 2.0 microarrays and data were validated by quantitative PCR. IL1β induced significant changes in more RNAs than IL33 and, generally, to a greater degree. It also had a significantly greater effect in downregulating mRNAs and in regulating mRNAs associated with selected pathways. IL33 had a greater effect on a small, select group of specific transcripts. Thus, differences in intensity of intracellular signals can deliver qualitatively different responses. Quantitatively different responses in production of receptor agonists and transcription factors may contribute to qualitative differences at later times resulting in different phenotypic cellular responses.

Still feeling it: the time course of emotional recovery from an attentional perspective

Emotional reactivity and the time taken to recover, particularly from negative, stressful, events, are inextricably linked, and both are crucial for maintaining well-being. It is unclear, however, to what extent emotional reactivity during stimulus onset predicts the time course of recovery after stimulus offset. To address this question, 25 participants viewed arousing (negative and positive) and neutral pictures from the International Affective Picture System (IAPS) followed by task-relevant face targets, which were to be gender categorized. Faces were presented early (400–1500 ms) or late (2400–3500 ms) after picture offset to capture the time course of recovery from emotional stimuli. Measures of reaction time (RT), as well as face-locked N170 and P3 components were taken as indicators of the impact of lingering emotion on attentional facilitation or interference. Electrophysiological effects revealed negative and positive images to facilitate face-target processing on the P3 component, regardless of temporal interval. At the individual level, increased reactivity to: (1) negative pictures, quantified as the IAPS picture-locked Late Positive Potential (LPP), predicted larger attentional interference on the face-locked P3 component to faces presented in the late time window after picture offset. (2) Positive pictures, denoted by the LPP, predicted larger facilitation on the face-locked P3 component to faces presented in the earlier time window after picture offset. These results suggest that subsequent processing is still impacted up to 3500 ms after the offset of negative pictures and 1500 ms after the offset of positive pictures for individuals reacting more strongly to these pictures, respectively. Such findings emphasize the importance of individual differences in reactivity when predicting the temporality of emotional recovery. The current experimental model provides a novel basis for future research aiming to identify profiles of adaptive and maladaptive recovery.

Modulation of stretch-induced myocyte remodeling and gene expression by nitric oxide: a novel role for lipoma preferred partner in myofibrillogenesis

Prolonged hemodynamic load as a result of hypertension eventually leads to maladaptive cardiac adaptation and heart failure. The signalling pathways that underlie these changes are still poorly understood. The adaptive response to mechanical load is mediated by mechanosensors which convert the mechanical stimuli into a biological response. We examined the effect of cyclic mechanical stretch on myocyte adaptation using neonatal rat ventricular myocytes with 10% (adaptive) or 20% (maladaptive) maximum strain, 1Hz for 48 hours to mimic in vivo mechanical stress. Cells were also treated with and without L-NAME, a general nitric oxide synthase (NOS) inhibitor to suppress NO production. Maladaptive 20% mechanical stretch led to a significant loss of intact sarcomeres which was rescued by LNAME (P<0.05, n≥5 cultures). We hypothesized that the mechanism was through NOinduced alteration of myocyte gene expression. L-NAME up-regulated the mechanosensing proteins Muscle LIM protein (MLP (by 100%, p<0.05, n=4 cultures)) and lipoma preferred partner, a novel cardiac protein (LPP (by 80%, p<0.05, n=4 cultures)). L-NAME also significantly altered the subcellular localisation of LPP and MLP in a manner that favoured growth and adaptation. These findings suggest that NO participates in stretch-mediated adaptation. The use of isoform selective NOS inhibitors indicated a complex interaction between iNOS and nNOS isoforms regulate gene expression. LPP knockdown by siRNA led to formation of α-actinin aggregates and Z-bodies showing that myofibrillogenesis was impaired. There was an up-regulation of E3 ubiquitin ligase (MUL1) by 75% (P<0.05, n=5 cultures). This indicates that NO contributes to stretch-mediated adaptation via the upregulation of proteins associated mechansensing and myofibrillogenesis, thereby presenting potential therapeutic targets during the progression of heart failure. Keywords: Mechanotransduction, heart failure, stretch, heart, hypertrophy

Perceived helplessness is associated with individual differences in the central motor output system

Learned helplessness is a maladaptive response to uncontrollable stress characterized by impaired motor escape responses, reduced motivation and learning deficits. There are important individual differences in the likelihood of becoming helpless following exposure to uncontrollable stress but little is known about the neural mechanisms underlying these individual differences. Here we used structural MRI to measure gray and white matter in individuals with chronic pain, a population at high risk for helplessness due to prolonged exposure to a poorly controlled stressor (pain). Given that self-reported helplessness is predictive of treatment outcomes in chronic pain, understanding such differences might provide valuable clinical insight. We found that the magnitude of self-reported helplessness correlated with cortical thickness in the supplementary motor area (SMA) and midcingulate cortex, regions implicated in cognitive aspects of motor behavior. We then examined the white matter connectivity of these regions and found that fractional anisotropy of connected white matter tracts along the corticospinal tract was associated with helplessness and mediated the relationship between SMA cortical thickness and helplessness. These data provide novel evidence that links individual differences in the motor output pathway with perceived helplessness over a chronic and poorly controlled stressor.

Self-concept clarity and compulsive Internet use: the role of preference for virtual interactions and employment status in British and North-American samples

Background and Aims Compulsive Internet Use (CIU) describes a maladaptive relationship with the Internet characterised by loss of control and conflict. Although also affecting adults, most studies use teenage samples, and theoretical development on risk factors is scarce. According to Davis (2001), the social connectivity function of the Internet is key in identifying traits associated with CIU. Since Self-Concept Clarity (SCC) is strongly related to social anxiety, and virtual interactions allow “self-edition”, we hypothesized that individuals low in SCC could choose virtual interactions as safer alternative to satisfy their social needs. This could in turn increase the risk of CIU. Building on a previous study, we also expected CIU to be more harmful in the unemployed. Methods We collected samples from the UK (N = 532) and US (N = 502) with equal distribution of employed and unemployed individuals. We ran Measurement Invariance tests to confirm that the constructs were equivalent across countries. Subsequently, we conducted mediation and moderation analysis to test our hypothesis with Multigroup Confirmatory Factor Analysis. Results Measurement Invariance was confirmed. The relationship between SCC and CIU was partially mediated by preference of virtual interactions in both countries. This preference was significantly related to lower social support. Short term unemployment seemed to accentuate the negative impact of CIU on life satisfaction in both countries, although only marginally significantly in the US. The unemployed reported significantly lower levels of life satisfaction. Conclusion We demonstrated that SCC is a key vulnerability factor to CIU in adults, and confirmed the additional risks for the unemployed.

Redox-sensitive prosurvival and proapoptotic protein expression in the myocardial remodeling post-infarction in rats

In this study, we investigated the oxidative stress influence in some prosurvival and proapoptotic proteins after myocardial infarction (MI). Male Wistar rats were divided in two groups: Sham-operated (control) and MI. MI was induced by left coronary artery occlusion. 28-days after surgery, echocardiographic, morphometric, and hemodynamic parameters were evaluated. Redox status (reduced to oxidized glutathione ratio, GSH/GSSG) and hydrogen peroxide levels (H(2)O(2)) were measured in heart tissue. The p-ERK/ERK, p-Akt/Akt, p-mTOR/mTOR and p-GSK-3 beta/GSK-3 beta ratios, as well as apoptosis-inducing factor (AIF) myocardial protein expression were quantified by Western blot. MI group showed an increase in cardiac hypertrophy (23%) associated with a decrease in ejection fraction (38%) and increase in left ventricular end-diastolic pressure (82%) when compared to control, characterizing ventricular dysfunction. Redox status imbalance was seen in MI animals, as evidenced by the decrease in the GSH/GSSG ratio (30%) and increased levels of H(2)O(2) (45%). This group also showed an increase in the ERK phosphorylation and a reduction of Akt and mTOR phosphorylation when compared to control. Moreover, we showed a reduction in the GSK-3 beta phosphorylation and an increase in AIF protein expression in MI group. Taken together, our results show increased H(2)O(2) levels and cellular redox imbalance associated to a higher p-ERK and AIF immunocontent, which would contribute to a maladaptive hypertrophy phenotype.

Prototype Generation from Ontology Charts

Semantic Analysis is a business analysis method designed to capture system requirements. While these requirements may be represented as text, the method also advocates the use of Ontology Charts to formally denote the system's required roles, relationships and forms of communication. Following model driven engineering techniques, Ontology Charts can be transformed to temporal Database schemas, class diagrams and component diagrams, which can then be used to produce software systems. A nice property of these transformations is that resulting system design models lend themselves to complicated extensions that do not require changes to the design models. For example, resulting databases can be extended with new types of data without the need to modify the database schema of the legacy system. Semantic Analysis is not widely used in software engineering, so there is a lack of experts in the field and no design patterns are available. This make it difficult for the analysts to pass organizational knowledge to the engineers. This study describes an implementation that is readily usable by engineers, which includes an automated technique that can produce a prototype from an Ontology Chart. The use of such tools should enable developers to make use of Semantic Analysis with minimal expertise of ontologies and MDA.

A Harmonized Vocabulary For Water Quality

Interoperability of water quality data depends on the use of common models, schemas and vocabularies. However, terms are usually collected during different activities and projects in isolation of one another, resulting in vocabularies that have the same scope being represented with different terms, using different formats and formalisms, and published in various access methods. Significantly, most water quality vocabularies conflate multiple concepts in a single term, e.g. quantity kind, units of measure, substance or taxon, medium and procedure. This bundles information associated with separate elements from the OGC Observations and Measurements (O&M) model into a single slot. We have developed a water quality vocabulary, formalized using RDF, and published as Linked Data. The terms were extracted from existing water quality vocabularies. The observable property model is inspired by O&M but aligned with existing ontologies. The core is an OWL ontology that extends the QUDT ontology for Unit and QuantityKind definitions. We add classes to generalize the QuantityKind model, and properties for explicit description of the conflated concepts. The key elements are defined to be sub-classes or sub-properties of SKOS elements, which enables a SKOS view to be published through standard vocabulary APIs, alongside the full view. QUDT terms are re-used where possible, supplemented with additional Unit and QuantityKind entries required for water quality. Along with items from separate vocabularies developed for objects, media, and procedures, these are linked into definitions in the actual observable property vocabulary. Definitions of objects related to chemical substances are linked to items from the Chemical Entities of Biological Interest (ChEBI) ontology. Mappings to other vocabularies, such as DBPedia, are in separately maintained files. By formalizing the model for observable properties, and clearly labelling the separate concerns, water quality observations from different sources may be more easily merged and also transformed to O&M for cross-domain applications.

Avaliação de mecanismos de defesa em pacientes com transtorno do pânico, sua relação com gravidade, resposta ao tratamento e alteração pós tratamento

Os mecanismos de defesa representam uma dimensão importante da estrutura da personalidade e do funcionamento psicodinâmico, sendo uma das formas de medir como o indivíduo habitualmente responde aos estressores. O estudo dos mecanismos de defesa utilizados por pacientes com Transtorno do Pânico (TP) pode ter utilidade no entendimento e no tratamento desse transtorno. O objetivo deste trabalho é o de avaliar os mecanismos de defesa do ego, nos pacientes com TP, e sua associação com gravidade, resposta ao tratamento e alteração pós tratamento. Sessenta pacientes com TP e 31 controles participaram da primeira fase do trabalho. O Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview foi usado para confirmar o diagnóstico de TP e estabelecer o diagnóstico de co-morbidades. A Impressão Clínica Global (CGI) foi usada para avaliar a gravidade do TP e o Defense Style Questionnaire (DSQ-40) foi usado para avaliar os mecanismos de defesa. Em uma segunda etapa, 33 pacientes com TP sintomáticos e 33 voluntários normais foram avaliados com os mesmos instrumentos, aplicados no início do estudo e após 16 semanas. Os pacientes receberam durante esse período tratamento farmacológico com sertralina. Ambos os estudos demonstraram que pacientes com TP utilizam mais defesas neuróticas e imaturas comparados ao grupo controle. Os pacientes com pânico grave (CGI>4) apresentaram maior co-morbidade com depressão atual e usaram mais defesas imaturas do que os pacientes com CGI< 4 (média=4.2 vs. 3.5; p<0.001). Após 4 meses de tratamento, houve diminuição no uso de defesas neuróticas (4.6 vs. 4.2; p=0.049) e imaturas (3.6 vs. 3.4 p=0.035) no grupo de pacientes. Pacientes que usavam mais defesas neuróticas e imaturas apresentaram pior resposta ao tratamento. Pacientes com TP usaram mais defesas mal-adaptativas quando comparados ao grupo controle, no basal e após 4 meses. O uso de defesas neuróticas e imaturas está associado à gravidade do TP e à pior resposta ao tratamento. Os mecanismos de defesa são, então, parte de uma maneira estável do indivíduo lidar com conflitos, mas também são influenciados pelo estado agudo da doença.

Tempo no trabalho: a experiência dos gerentes médios

A sociologia das organizações ainda é realizada sob a construção de esquemas analíticos livres de tempo (CLARK, 1985; HASSARD, 2000; GIDDENS, 2003). No entanto, questões temporais permeiam toda e qualquer organização, o que torna o conceito de tempo de central importância para os estudos organizacionais. Com base nisso, esta pesquisa teve a ambição de abordar a dimensão temporal do trabalho nas organizações; sob a perspectiva dos indivíduos. E, dado que os gerentes médios vivenciam um duplo foco de pressão: originado da alta gerência e do nível operacional da organização, decidiu-se investigar como os gerentes médios experimentam o tempo no trabalho. Para desvendar a experiência temporal dos gerentes médios, foram analisadas, com a metodologia de análise de conteúdo, entrevistas com 20 profissionais de média gerência que trabalham em empresas que operam na cidade de São Paulo. A coleta do material de pesquisa ocorreu com entrevistas em profundidade semi-estruturadas. A análise das entrevistas sugere que embora o tempo no trabalho seja, por todos os profissionais entrevistados, definido como um recurso econômico, cuja utilização dever ser otimizada ao máximo, a experiência temporal entre os gerentes médios não é homogênea. Há fatores ambientais comuns a todos os entrevistados, que tendem a aproximar as experiências temporais dos mesmos. Tais fatores, que são a compressão do tempo, o sentido de urgência, as novas tecnologias, características intrínsecas ao papel de gerente e a organização de si próprios, das empresas e colaboradores, estão associados ao cenário econômico e social contemporâneo. No entanto, características relacionadas à idade, gênero, valores e experiências pessoais, além do segmento de atuação da empresa também impactam a experiência temporal dos gerentes médios e contribuem para a diversificação da maneira como os gerentes médios experimentam e lidam com as pressões temporais. Em síntese, a despeito dos fatores ambientais compartilhados, com destaque para a crescente compressão do tempo, a natureza humana e a impermanência dos fenômenos sociais desnudam a complexidade da experiência temporal dos gerentes médios no trabalho. E revelam que – apesar da homogeneidade, objetividade e linearidade representadas pelo relógio, ícone do tempo nas sociedades ocidentais contemporâneas – heterogeneidade, subjetividade e ciclicidade fazem parte da experiência temporal dos trabalhadores.

Plataforma para o suporte de blended peer assisted learning

Este projecto foi realizado na Universidade da Madeira, no âmbito do Mestrado em Engenharia Informática e tem como título “Plataforma para o suporte de Blended Peer Assisted Learning”. Ao longo da nossa pesquisa sobre os vários métodos de aprendizagem online, deparamo-nos com uma grande lacuna que abrange a maior parte dos sistema de ensino assistidos por computador, ou seja, todas elas preocupam-se com a passagem de conhecimentos, mas raras são aquelas que têm em atenção o tipo de utilizador, qual a seu percurso académico e profissional, qual a metodologia que fará com que o mesmo capte melhor os conteúdos, etc. Com este objectivo em mente, e tendo em atenção as diversas plataformas e metodologias de ensino existentes, optou-se por elaborar uma arquitectura de uma plataforma capaz de centralizar na mesma, um conjunto de funcionalidades e metodologias que possibilitassem um acompanhamento mais específico do utilizador, proporcionando um maior conhecimento, através do qual poderia encaminhar o utilizador para a estratégia de aprendizagem que mais se adequasse a um utilizador com as suas características. Como se poderá constatar no decorrer desta dissertação, a plataforma desenhada e o módulo desenvolvido têm como base teórica o Peer Assisted Learning (PAL) e as suas estratégias de aprendizagem. O PAL é um conceito relativamente novo, que se encontra em plena ascensão, sendo cada vez maior o número de instituições/organizações que adoptam o PAL como metodologia de ensino para a formação dos seus membros. Este crescimento deve-se em grande parte às várias estratégias PAL que visam uma maior adequação ao tipo de utilizador, contribuindo assim para uma aprendizagem mais rápida e eficaz. Uma vez que a implementação da plataforma na sua totalidade seria de todo impossível, optouse por desenvolver apenas um dos módulos referente à estratégia de PAL – Peer Tutoring (PT). No final, o objectivo principal, passa não só por fornecer as bases necessárias ao desenvolvimento da referida plataforma, mas também pela disponibilização do módulo de PT que servirá de referência para o desenvolvimento das restantes estratégias. Tendo em atenção toda a investigação efectuada, facilmente se depreende as inúmeras vantagens que podem advir da utilização do PAL, das quais se salienta, a adequação da estratégia PAL mais indicada para cada tipo de utilizador.

Processos cognitivos que operam na configuração de narrativas: uma pesquisa exploratória dos fenômenos que subjazem à compreensão de textos

This paper investigates the cognitive processes that operate in understanding narratives in this case, the novel Macunaíma, by Mário de Andrade. Our work belongs to the field of Embodied-based Cognitive Linguistics and, due to its interdisciplinary nature, it dialogues with theoretical and methodological frameworks of Psycholinguistics, Cognitive Psychology and Neurosciences. Therefore, we adopt an exploratory research design, recall and cloze tests, adapted, with postgraduation students, all native speakers of Brazilian Portuguese. The choice of Macunaíma as the novel and initial motivation for this proposal is due to the fact it is a fantastic narrative, which consists of events, circumstances and characters that are clearly distant types from what is experienced in everyday life. Thus, the novel provides adequate data to investigate the configuration of meaning, within an understanding-based model. We, therefore, seek, to answer questions that are still, generally, scarcely explored in the field of Cognitive Linguistics, such as to what extent is the activation of mental models (schemas and frames) related to the process of understanding narratives? How are we able to build sense even when words or phrases are not part of our linguistic repertoire? Why do we get emotionally involved when reading a text, even though it is fiction? To answer them, we assume the theoretical stance that meaning is not in the text, it is constructed through language, conceived as a result of the integration between the biological (which results in creating abstract imagery schemes) and the sociocultural (resulting in creating frames) apparatus. In this sense, perception, cognitive processing, reception and transmission of the information described are directly related to how language comprehension occurs. We believe that the results found in our study may contribute to the cognitive studies of language and to the development of language learning and teaching methodologies

Acionamento de frames e esquemas no processo de construção de sentidos no padrão discursivo charge por alunos do ensino médio

Our research has as goal to describe and analyze the main processes related to the activation of conceptual domains underlying the comprehension in the discourse pattern cartoons by the students of third grades of high school, at Professor Antonio Basílio Filho School. Theoretically, we are grounded on assumptions of Conceptual Linguistics, whose interest analyzes our cognitive apparatus in correlation with our socio-cultural and bodies experiences. We intend to check how is the process of meaning construction and integration of various cognitive domains that are activated during the reading activity. That s why, we take the concept of cognitive domains as equivalent to the structures that are stored in our memory from our sociocultural and corporeal experiences and they are stabilized, respectively, through the frames and schemas. The activation of these conceptual domains, as evidenced by our data, supports the assumption that previous knowledge from our inclusion in specific sociocultural contexts, concurrently with the functioning of our sensory-motor system are essential during the construction activity direction. With this research, we still intend to present a proposal confront the expectations of responses produced by students from the activation of frames and schemas with our predictions