Escala macroscópica de maturaçāo e ciclo sexual das espécies Penaeus indicus H. Milne Edward e Metapenaeus monoceros (Fabricius)

The macroscopic scale used for determination of sexual maturity in shrimps was tested against objective parameters namely the gonad-somatic index and the size of oocytes. The two main species caught in Mozambique, Penaeus indicus and Metapenaeus monoceros, were the object of the work. In order to reduce the subjectivity in the macroscopic exam, a table with the colours representative of each stage is presented. Since this study was conducted over a period of 13 consecutive months and there were observations from previous years, the sexual cycle of the two species is also presented, as well as an estimate of the size at first maturity.

Psychometric evaluation and experimental validation of the statistics anxiety rating scale.

The Statistics Anxiety Rating Scale (STARS) was adapted into German to examine its psychometric properties (n = 400). Two validation studies (n = 66, n = 96) were conducted to examine its criterion-related validity. The psychometric properties of the questionnaire were very similar to those previously reported for the original English version in various countries and other language versions. Confirmatory factor analysis indicated 2 second-order factors: One was more closely related to anxiety and the other was more closely related to negative attitudes toward statistics. Predictive validity of the STARS was shown both in an experimental exam-like situation in the laboratory and during a real examination situation. Taken together, the findings indicate that statistics anxiety as assessed by the STARS is a useful construct that is more than just an expression of a more general disposition to anxiety.

工作社会规范观念的心理学研究与跨文化比较

Data on meaning of working (MOW) were collected from 905 respondents in Beijing area through a stratified sampling procedure of the questionnaire used in the restudy of meaning of working (which is still on going, adapted for using in China). Some parts of the factor structure obtained in this study are similar to what found by the MOW International Research Team (1987). Detailed analysis and cross-cultural comparisons were concentrated on the most similar parts societal norms about working (SNW). T-scores of the obligation norm (ON) and entitlement norm (EN) of Chinese were calculated based on the reaction frequencies of relevant items provided by the MOW International Research Team and shown as follows. The results reveal the obligation orientation characteristic of Chinese respondents. And more, 4 SNW patterns of Chinese respondents were obtained through multivariate cluster analysis and multivariate discrimination analysis and shown as follows. The influences of antecedent variables on SNW and the consequences of SNW were analyzed. Two questions were raised from these analyses: 1) The present measurements of SNW are not able to reflect the nature of the relation and dependency between ON and EN and are not free from social desirability; 2) the relationship between SNW and actual working behaviors need to be tested while the relationship between SNW and several work intentions was confirmed. A forced-choice scale of SNW was designed to overcome the shortcomes of the original scale. This scale includes 30 items. Each item is composed of a ON statement and a EN statement with similar values of social desirability. A repertory grids test was used to exam the constructure validity and to analyze the differences of cognitive structures of the 4 SNW patterns. The results indicated that the new scale had a good discrimination power. An experiment was designed to test the relationship of SNW and the actual work behaviors of the respondents. The respondents' action in completing a task was chosen as working behavior index. 4 hypotheses were tested: 1) higher obligation orientation subjects are more likely to complete tasks no matter overtime; 2) scheduled tasks are more likely to be completed no matter overtime; 3) the obligation norm about working is positively correlated with general obligation norms; and, 4) external motivtors will enhance lower obligation orientation subjects' working motivation more than higher obligation orientation subjects' the results verified hypothesis 1 and 3, but didn't support hypothesis 2 and 4 these findings will have great implication in administrating.

Neonatal exposure to estradiol in female rats influences neuroactive steroid concentrations and behaviour in the adult rat

The gonadal steroids, in particular estradiol, exert an important action during perinatal period in the regulation of sexual dimorphism and neuronal plasticity, and in the growth and development of nervous system. Exposure of the developing female to estrogens during perinatal period may have long-lasting effects that are now regarded as “programming” the female neuroendocrine axis to malfunction in adulthood. The purpose of this study was to describe the effect of a single administration of a low dose (10 μg) of β-estradiol 3-benzoate (EB) to female rats on the day of birth on brain and plasma concentrations of the neuroactive steroid allopregnanolone, general behaviours and behavioral sensitivity to benzodiazepines. Neonatal administration of EB induces a dramatic reduction in the cerebrocortical and plasma levels of allopregnanolone and progesterone that were apparent in both juvenile (21 days) and adult (60 days). In contrast, this treatment did not affect 17β-estradiol levels. Female rats treated with β-estradiol 3-benzoate showed a delay in vaginal opening, aciclicity characterized by prolonged estrus, and ovarian failure. Given that allopregnanolone elicits anxiolytic, antidepressive, anticonvulsant, sedative-hypnotic effects and facilitates social behaviour, we assessed whether this treatment might modify different emotional, cognitive and social behaviours. This treatment did not affect locomotor activity, anxiety- and mood-related behaviours, seizures sensitivity and spatial memory. In contrast, neonatal β-estradiol 3-benzoate-treated rats showed a dominant, but not aggressive, behaviour and an increase in body investigation, especially anogenital investigation, characteristic of male appetitive behaviour. On the contrary, neonatal administration of β-estradiol 3-benzoate to female rats increases sensitivity to the anxiolytic, sedative, and amnesic effects of diazepam in adulthood. These results indicate that the marked and persistent reduction in the cerebrocortical and peripheral concentration of the neuroactive steroid allopregnanolone induced by neonatal treatment with β-estradiol 3-benzoate does not change baseline behaviours in adult rats. On the contrary, the low levels of allopregnanolone seems to be associated to changes in the behavioural sensitivity to the positive allosteric modulator of the GABAA receptor, diazepam. These effects of estradiol suggest that it plays a major role in pharmacological regulation both of GABAergic transmission and of the abundance of endogenous modulators of such transmission during development of the central nervous system.

Learning styles and performance in the introductory programming sequence

Thomas, L., Ratcliffe, M., Woodbury, J., and Jarman, E. 2002. Learning styles and performance in the introductory programming sequence. SIGCSE Bull. 34, 1 (Mar. 2002), 33-37.

ewaluacja Nowej Matury

In the frame of the Polish educational reform there are some attempts undertaken to improve the final exam of secondary school. The reformers' proposals undergo an outside analysis and crittique. The author presents two models of democratic evaluation of the so-called in the “matura” exam. One model is a qualitative analysis of the criteria of grading essays in the subject of the Polish language. The other model is a quantitative study of qualitative differences between problem tasks within the exam in mathematics. Both naturalistic approaches are based on evaluating opinions of the subjects of the „matura”, i.e. students who take the exam and teachers who grade the output.

Cancro oral

Projeto de Pós-Graduação/Dissertação apresentado à Universidade Fernando Pessoa como parte dos requisitos para obtenção do grau de Mestre em Medicina Dentária

HPV clearance and the neglected role of stochasticity.

Clearance of anogenital and oropharyngeal HPV infections is attributed primarily to a successful adaptive immune response. To date, little attention has been paid to the potential role of stochastic cell dynamics in the time it takes to clear an HPV infection. In this study, we combine mechanistic mathematical models at the cellular level with epidemiological data at the population level to disentangle the respective roles of immune capacity and cell dynamics in the clearing mechanism. Our results suggest that chance-in form of the stochastic dynamics of basal stem cells-plays a critical role in the elimination of HPV-infected cell clones. In particular, we find that in immunocompetent adolescents with cervical HPV infections, the immune response may contribute less than 20% to virus clearance-the rest is taken care of by the stochastic proliferation dynamics in the basal layer. In HIV-negative individuals, the contribution of the immune response may be negligible.

El aprendizaje activo de la microbiología en el Grado de Podología incrementa el rendimiento académico

Se ha planteado como objetivo la mejora de la calidad de la docencia de la Microbiología mediante la actualización de la metodología docente , introduciendo como actividad docente el aprendizaje activo basado en preguntas (inquirybased learning:IBL) para conseguir mejorar las competencias que deberán adquirir los estudiantes como parte de su formación integral. En este estudio han participado 55 alumnos de Segundo Curso del Grado de Podología (Curso 2014-2015),y se ha calculado el porcentaje de alumnos que participaron en las 3 pruebas (3 IBL), en 2 (2 IBL), en 1 (1 IBL), y los que no participaron en ninguna y posteriormente se relacionó con las calificaciones obtenidas en la asignatura de Microbiología. Se incluyeron las preguntas IBL que se realizaron en clase en el campus virtual de la asignatura, pero sin incluir la corrección de las mismas. En los alumnos que realizaron alguna prueba IBL se obtuvieron calificaciones mejores en las preguntas diseñadas para analizar la síntesis de conocimientos y el análisis de datos que en aquellos que no habían participado en ninguna. Al finalizar la actividad se realizó un estudio transversal a través de un cuestionario autocumplimentado en el que se valoraba la opinión de los alumnos sobre el aprendizaje activo mediante IBL valorando positivamente esta actividad para medir el aprendizaje y mejorar la preparación del examen. Consideramos que el uso del campus virtual unido a la actualización en la metodología docente puede mejorar el rendimiento académico de los estudiantes de Microbiología.

A cross-sectional study of neuropsychiatric symptoms in 435 patients with Alzheimer's disease

OBJECTIVES: The behavioral and psychological symptoms of Alzheimer's disease (AD) are associated with significant patient and caregiver distress and increased likelihood of institutionalization. We attempted to characterize in detail these symptoms and the distress they cause to caregivers. METHODS: Patients with probable AD were assessed with the Mini-Mental State Exam (MMSE), Functional Assessment Staging (FAST), and the Neuropsychiatric Inventory With Caregiver Distress (NPI-D). RESULTS: Four hundred and thirty-five patients were recruited. Neuropsychiatric symptoms of all types were highly prevalent. The most common and most persistent symptom was apathy (75%). Delusional symptoms were the least persistent. Depressive and apathetic symptoms were the earliest to appear, and hallucinations, elation/euphoria, and aberrant motor behavior were the latest symptoms to emerge. Hallucinations were significantly more common in severe dementia. Symptoms of irritability were most prevalent in early disease. Total Neuropsychiatric Symptom score was significantly correlated with MMSE and FAST score. Caregivers rated their own emotional distress levels as moderate or severe for 10 out of 12 symptom domains. The sum total of caregiver distress was strongly correlated with total NPI-D but not cognition or functional state. Distress levels did not vary when analyzed according to the patients' place of residence. CONCLUSIONS: Potentially treatable neuropsychiatric symptoms are common in AD and represent a major source of distress among caregivers. The extent of neuropsychiatric symptomatology is seen to correlate with the level of functional and cognitive disability although some symptoms are variably persistent and related to disease stage.

Conscientiousness and laboriousness as academic achievement predictors in a Spanish students sample

To understand academic performance of students, the variable of conscientiousness from personality inventory Big Five, has been recognized as an important key. The aim of this paper is to analyze the relationship established between the personality factor conscientiousness itself and two of its facets, laboriousness and planning, with academic performance, and observe if there are genre differences in consciousness personality factor. A total of 456 Spanish students of high school and college participated in the study. They were requested to answer a personality report and a self inform questionnaire. The results show that both conscientiousness as a personality dimension and the consideration of laboriousness facet are able to predict academic performance, especially with regard to student’s exam marks, classroom attendance and dedication to study. The genre variable pointed out that feminine genre is more conscious than male in that personality factor. From a practical perspective, these results indicate that the establishment of a routine of continuous work is suitable for improving student grades and their adaptation to the educational environment.

A Survey of Search Methodologies and Automated System Development for Examination Timetabling

Exam timetabling is one of the most important administrative activities that takes place in academic institutions. In this paper we present a critical discussion of the research on exam timetabling in the last decade or so. This last ten years has seen an increased level of attention on this important topic. There has been a range of significant contributions to the scientific literature both in terms of theoretical andpractical aspects. The main aim of this survey is to highlight the new trends and key research achievements that have been carried out in the last decade.We also aim to outline a range of relevant important research issues and challenges that have been generated by this body of work.

We first define the problem and review previous survey papers. Algorithmic approaches are then classified and discussed. These include early techniques (e.g. graph heuristics) and state-of-the-art approaches including meta-heuristics, constraint based methods, multi-criteria techniques, hybridisations, and recent new trends concerning neighbourhood structures, which are motivated by raising the generality of the approaches. Summarising tables are presented to provide an overall view of these techniques. We discuss some issues on decomposition techniques, system tools and languages, models and complexity. We also present and discuss some important issues which have come to light concerning the public benchmark exam timetabling data. Different versions of problem datasetswith the same name have been circulating in the scientific community in the last ten years which has generated a significant amount of confusion. We clarify the situation and present a re-naming of the widely studied datasets to avoid future confusion. We also highlight which research papershave dealt with which dataset. Finally, we draw upon our discussion of the literature to present a (non-exhaustive) range of potential future research directions and open issues in exam timetabling research.

Keeping it real! Enhancing realism in standardised patient OSCE stations

Background: Objective structured clinical examinations (OSCEs) are a
commonly used method of assessing clinical competency in healthcare education. They can providean opportunity to observe candidates interacting with patients.
There are many challenges in using real patients in OSCEs, and increasingly standardised patients are being used as a preference. However, by using standardised patients there is a risk of making the encounter arti?cial and removed from actual clinical practice.
Context: Efforts made in terms of cognitive, auditory, visual, tactile, psychological and emotional cues can minimise the differences between a simulated
and real clinical scenario. However, a number of factors, including feasibility, cost and usability, need to be considered if such techniques are to be practicable
within an OSCE framework.
Innovation: This article describes a series of techniques that have been used in our institution to enhance the realism of a standardised patient encounter in an
OSCE. Efforts in preparing standardised patient roles, and how they portray these roles, will be considered. A wide variety of equipment can also be used in
combination with a patient and the surrounding environment, which can further enhance the authenticity of the simulated scenario.
Implications: By enhancing the realism in simulated patient OSCE encounters, there is potential to trigger more authentic conscious responses from candidates and implicit reactions that the candidates themselves may be less
aware of. Furthermore, using such techniques may allow faculty members to select scenarios that were previously not thought possible in an OSCE