Children, computer and creativity : usability guidelines for designing a game authoring tool for children

Magdeburg, Univ., Fak. für Informatik, Diss., 2009

Verbesserung der Störsicherheit bei der Mimikanalyse in mono- und binokularen Farbbildsequenzen durch Auswertung geometrischer und dynamischer Merkmale

Magdeburg, Univ., Fak. für Elektrotechnik und Informationstechnik, Diss., 2010

Remissão de sintomas iniciais do declínio de citros pela aplicação de reguladores vegetais

Para a instalação do presente experimento foi escolhido um talhão do cultivar de laranja Pera/ limão 'Cravo', de 13 anos, no município de Mogi-Guaçu, Estado de São Paulo. Todas as plantas mostravam em janeiro de 1984, sintomas de declínio inicial unilateral. A ocorrência do declínio foi confirmada pela baixa absorção de água. O delineamento estatístico utilizado foi em blocos ao acaso, com 6 tratamentos e 4 repetições, considerando-se uma planta por parcela. Os seguintes tratamentos com reguladores vegetais foram aplicados em janeiro de 1985: Controle, ácido giberélico (GA) 100ppm + ácido 2,4-diclorofenoxiacético (2,4-D) 10ppm; GA 50ppm + ácido naftalenacético (NAA) 20ppm; GA 50ppm + NAA 15ppm + biofertilizante foliar (Fort Flora-2) 1ml/lde água e etilclozato (Figaron) 0,1ml/lde água. Os reguladores vegetais foram aplicados em pulverização foliar, com cobertura completa das folhas. Cinco avaliações visuais foram realizadas aos 100, 193, 276, 346 e 405 dias da aplicação dos produtos químicos. Os resultados obtidos, baseados na observação visual e no teste de Kruskal-Wallis mostraram que os tratamentos com GA 50ppm + NAA 20ppm; Ga 100ppm + 2,4-D 10ppm e GA 50ppm + NAA 15ppm + biofertilizante foliar 1ml/lde água apresentaram um nível de remissão de sintomas que diferiu estatisticamente do controle. Essa melhoria, todavia, não encontrou paralelismo com os resultados obtidos pelo teste de absorção de água, que mostrou baixos níveis. Entretanto, os níveis de absorção de água das plantas tratadas ainda foram um pouco maiores que nas controle. Esse experimento deverá ser conduzido por mais alguns anos para determinar se a remissão dos sintomas nas folhas é ou não permanente e se poderá levar eventualmente a melhoria de toda a planta.

Ovos produzidos por rainhas e operárias de Scaptotrigona depilis (Hymenoptera, Apidae, Meliponina): morfometria e aspectos relacionados

A caracterização morfométrica de 785 ovos produzidos por rainhas e 193 (161 funcionais e 32 tróficos) produzidos por operárias de Scaptotrigona depilis (Moure, 1942), mostrou que eles são similares, em tamanho e formato, aos de outras espécies de abelhas Meliponina. Numa mesma colônia, ovos de rainha sempre apresentaram menor comprimento que os de operárias (funcionais ou tróficos). Entre ovos produzidos por operárias, ovos funcionais foram, normalmente, mais curtos e estreitos que os tróficos. O estudo dos ovos produzidos por rainhas não mostrou, como esperado, a presença de dois grupos de ovos distinguíveis pelo comprimento, como observado em S. postica (Latreille, 1807).

Crescimento de Callinectes sapidus (Crustacea, Decapoda, Portunidae) no estuário da laguna dos Patos, RS, Brasil

Utilizando o método de deslocamento modal para a identificação das idades, estimou-se o crescimento do siri-azul Callinectes sapidus Rathbun, 1896 em duas áreas de pesca no estuário da Lagoa dos Patos. Os indivíduos foram coletados entre fevereiro de 2005 e março de 2006 no Saco da Mangueira e Saco do Arraial por meio de arrasto de rede de portas da pesca artesanal. Coletou-se um total de 2.609 animais, sendo 1.193 machos e 1.416 fêmeas. Para obtenção das curvas de crescimento utilizou-se o modelo de von Bertalanffy. As curvas foram validadas pela sua adequação ao ciclo de vida e aspectos biológicos da espécie. O tamanho máximo de largura de carapaça (LCmáx) utilizado foi mantido fixo em todas as análises (LCmáx=162,71mm; ± d.p.=3,10 para machos e LCmáx=157,78mm; ± d.p.=5,45 para fêmeas), sendo esses valores médios das maiores medidas obtidas em mais de 20 anos de coletas no estuário. Os parâmetros de crescimento e longevidade foram estimados para machos (Saco da Mangueira, K=0,0039/dia; t o=-6.07; 1.195 dias; Saco do Arraial, K=0,0041/dia; t o=-5,84; 1.102 dias) e fêmeas (Saco da Mangueira, K=0,0040/dia; t o=-6,22; 1.153 dias; Saco do Arraial, K=0,0039/dia; t o=-5.91; 1.181 dias). As curvas de crescimento estimadas nesse trabalho denotam que a espécie atinge o tamanho mínimo de captura praticamente no primeiro ano de vida (120mm).

Molecular estimation of dispersal for ecology and population genetics

The dispersal process, by which individuals or other dispersing agents such as gametes or seeds move from birthplace to a new settlement locality, has important consequences for the dynamics of genes, individuals, and species. Many of the questions addressed by ecology and evolutionary biology require a good understanding of species' dispersal patterns. Much effort has thus been devoted to overcoming the difficulties associated with dispersal measurement. In this context, genetic tools have long been the focus of intensive research, providing a great variety of potential solutions to measuring dispersal. This methodological diversity is reviewed here to help (molecular) ecologists find their way toward dispersal inference and interpretation and to stimulate further developments.

Pla director de la bicicleta de Santa Perpètua de Mogoda

El Pla Director de la Bicicleta de Santa Perpètua pretén, no tan sols oferir unes condicions òptimes per a l’ús de la bicicleta com a mitjà de transport al municipi, sinó promocionar el seu paper com a element revitalitzador de la vida als carrers de la població.

Quantitative and qualitative research on brief systemic therapies carried out within the framework of an ambulatory consultation for couples and families

Abstract: This article presents both a brief systemic intervention method (IBS) consisting in 6 sessions developed in an ambulatory service for couples and families, and two research projects done in collaboration with the Institute for Psychotherapy of the University of Lausanne. The first project is quantitative and it aims at evaluating the effectiveness of ISB. One of its main feature is that outcomes are assessed at different levels of individual and family functioning: 1) symptoms and individual functioning; 2) quality of marital relationship; 3) parental and co-parental relationships; 4) familial relationships. The second project is a qualitative case study about a marital therapy which identifies and analyses significant moments of the therapeutic process from the patients' perspective. Methodology was largely inspired by Daniel Stem's work about "moments of meeting" in psychotherapy. Results show that patients' theories about relationship and change are important elements that deepen our understanding of the change process in couple and family therapy. The interest of associating clinicians and researchers for the development and validation of a new clinical model is discussed.

Uptake of new treatment strategies for deep vein thrombosis: an international audit.

OBJECTIVE: Study of the uptake of new medical technologies provides useful information on the transfer of published evidence into usual practice. We conducted an audit of selected hospitals in three countries (Canada, France, and Switzerland) to identify clinical predictors of low-molecular-weight (LMW) heparin use and outpatient treatment, and to compare the pace of uptake of these new therapeutic approaches across hospitals. DESIGN: Historical review of medical records. SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: We reviewed the medical records of 3043 patients diagnosed with deep vein thrombosis (DVT) in five Canadian, two French, and two Swiss teaching hospitals from 1994 to 1998. Measures. We explored independent clinical variables associated with LMW heparin use and outpatient treatment, and determined crude and adjusted rates of LMW heparin use and outpatient treatment across hospitals. RESULTS: For the years studied, the overall rates of LMW heparin use and outpatient treatment in the study sample were 34.1 and 15.8%, respectively, with higher rates of use in later years. Many comorbidities were negatively associated with outpatient treatment, and risk-adjusted rates of use of these new approaches varied significantly across hospitals. CONCLUSION: There has been a relatively rapid uptake of LMW heparins and outpatient treatment for DVT in their early years of availability, but the pace of uptake has varied considerably across hospitals and countries.

Ear acupuncture and fMRI: a pilot study for assessing the specificity of auricular points.

In recent years research explored different acupuncture stimulation techniques but interest has focused primarily on somatic acupuncture and on a limited number of acupoints. As regards ear Acupuncture (EA) there is still some criticism about the clinical specificity of auricular points/areas representing organs or structures of the body. The aim of this study was to verify through (Functional magnetic resonance imaging) fMRI the hypothesis of EA point specificity using two auricular points having different topographical locations and clinical significance. Six healthy volunteers underwent two experimental fMRI sessions: the first was dedicated to the stimulation of Thumb Auricular Acupoint (TAA) and the second to the stimulation of Brain Stem Auricular Acupoint (BSAA). The stimulation of the needle placed in the TAA of the left ear produced an increase in activation bilaterally in the parietal operculum, region of the secondary somatosensory area SII. Stimulation of the needle placed in the BSAA of the left ear showed a pattern that largely overlapped regions belonging to the pain matrix, as shown to be involved in previous somatic acupuncture studies but with local differences in the left amygdala, anterior cingulate cortex, and cerebellum. The differences in activation patterns between TAA and BSAA stimulation support the specificity of the two acupoints. Moreover, the peculiarity of the regions involved in BSAA stimulation compared to those involved in the pain matrix, is in accordance with the therapeutic indications of this acupoint that include head pain, dizziness and vertigo. Our results provide preliminary evidence on the specificity of two auricular acupoints; further research is warranted by means of fMRI both in healthy volunteers and in patients carrying neurological/psychiatric syndromes.

Subcellular fractionation of stored red blood cells reveals a compartment-based protein carbonylation evolution.

During blood banking, erythrocytes undergo storage lesions, altering or degrading their metabolism, rheological properties, and protein content. Carbonylation is a hallmark of protein oxidative lesions, thus of red blood cell oxidative stress. In order to improve global erythrocyte protein carbonylation assessment, subcellular fractionation has been established, allowing us to work on four different protein populations, namely soluble hemoglobin, hemoglobin-depleted soluble fraction, integral membrane and cytoskeleton membrane protein fractions. Carbonylation in erythrocyte-derived microparticles has also been investigated. Carbonylated proteins were derivatized with 2,4-dinitrophenylhydrazine (2,4-DNPH) and quantified by western blot analyses. In particular, carbonylation in the cytoskeletal membrane fraction increased remarkably between day 29 and day 43 (P<0.01). Moreover, protein carbonylation within microparticles released during storage showed a two-fold increase along the storage period (P<0.01). As a result, carbonylation of cytoplasmic and membrane protein fractions differs along storage, and the present study allows explaining two distinct steps in global erythrocyte protein carbonylation evolution during blood banking. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: Integrated omics.

International Evidence on the New Keynesian Phillips Curve Using Aggregate and Disaggregate Data

We present a unique empirical analysis of the properties of the New Keynesian Phillips Curve using an international dataset of aggregate and disaggregate sectoral in ation. Our results from panel time-series estimation clearly indicate that sectoral heterogeneity has important consequences for aggregate in ation behaviour. Heterogeneity helps to explain the overestimation of in ation persistence and underestimation of the role of marginal costs in empirical investigations of the NKPC that use aggregate data. We nd that combining disaggregate information with heterogeneous-consistent estimation techniques helps to reconcile, to a large extent, the NKPC with the data.