Telling stories of culture through literature

Grounded on Raymond Williams‘s definition of knowable community as a cultural tool to analyse literary texts, the essay reads the texts D.H.Lawrence wrote while travelling in the Mediterranean (Twilight in Italy, Sea and Sardinia and Etruscan Places) as knowable communities, bringing to the discussion the wide importance of literature not only as an object for aesthetic or textual readings, but also as a signifying practice which tells stories of culture. Departing from some considerations regarding the historical development of the relationship between literature and culture, the essay analyses the ways D. H. Lawrence constructed maps of meaning, where the readers, in a dynamic relation with the texts, apprehend experiences, structures and feelings; putting into perspective Williams‘s theory of culture as a whole way of life, it also analyses the ways the author communicates and organizes these experiences, creating a space of communication and operating at different levels of reality: on the one hand, the reality of the whole way of Italian life, and, on the other hand, the reality of the reader who aspires to make sense and to create an interpretative context where all the information is put, and, also, the reality of the writer in the poetic act of writing. To read these travel writings as knowable communities is to understand them as a form that invents a community with no other existence but that of the literary text. The cultural construction we find in these texts is the result of the selection, and interpretation done by D.H.Lawrence, as well as the product of the author‘s enunciative positions, and of his epistemological and ontological filigrees of existence, structured by the conditions of possibility. In the rearticulation of the text, of the writer and of the reader, in a dynamic and shared process of discursive alliances, we understand that Lawrence tells stories of the Mediterranean through his literary art.

A literature review on the optimization of legged robots

Over the last two decades the research and development of legged locomotion robots has grown steadily. Legged systems present major advantages when compared with ‘traditional’ vehicles, because they allow locomotion in inaccessible terrain to vehicles with wheels and tracks. However, the robustness of legged robots, and especially their energy consumption, among other aspects, still lag behind mechanisms that use wheels and tracks. Therefore, in the present state of development, there are several aspects that need to be improved and optimized. Keeping these ideas in mind, this paper presents the review of the literature of different methods adopted for the optimization of the structure and locomotion gaits of walking robots. Among the distinct possible strategies often used for these tasks are referred approaches such as the mimicking of biological animals, the use of evolutionary schemes to find the optimal parameters and structures, the adoption of sound mechanical design rules, and the optimization of power-based indexes.

Literature, translation and national identity: Christina Rossetti and Rosalía de Castro in the work of Plácido Castro

Plácido Castro‘s work has aroused our interest, because it evolves around the question of Galician personality and identity. While working as a journalist and a translator or while writing essays on different literary issues, Plácido Castro has never forgotten his roots or his nation. One could even say that his whole life turns around Galicia. Our purpose is to make a critical analysis of his work, especially as a translator, and try to show how he used translation in order to develop national conscience and identity and to see how far his ideology interfered in the interpretation and translation of Rossetti‘s poetry, in which he found a great similarity with Rosalìa de Castro‘s work.

DOTS in primary care units in the city of Rio de Janeiro, Southeastern Brazil

OBJECTIVE: To describe the implantation and the effects of directly-observed treatment short course (DOTS) in primary health care units. METHODS: Interviews were held with the staff of nine municipal health care units (MHU) that provided DOTS in Rio de Janeiro City, Southeastern Brazil, in 2004-2005. A dataset with records of all tuberculosis treatments beginning in 2004 in all municipal health care units was collected. Bivariate analyses and a multinomial model were applied to identify associations between treatment outcomes and demographic and treatment process variables, including being in DOTS or self-administered therapy (SAT). RESULTS: From 4,598 tuberculosis cases treated in public health units administrated by the municipality, 1,118 (24.3%) were with DOTS and 3,480 (75.7%) with SAT. The odds of DOTS were higher among patients with age under 50 years, tuberculosis relapse and prior history of default or treatment failure. The odds of death were 52.0% higher among patients on DOTS as compared to SAT. DOTS modality including community health workers (CHWs) showed the highest treatment success rate. A reduction of 21.0% was observed in the odds of default (vs. cure) among patients on DOTS as compared to patients on SAT, and a reduction of 64.0% among patients on DOTS with CHWs as compared to those without CHWs. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with a "low compliance profile" were more likely to be included in DOTS. This strategy improves the quality of care provided to tuberculosis patients, although the proposed goals were not achieved.

O papel do educador no modelo curricular do movimento da escola moderna: reflexão em torno da construção da prática profissional supervisionada

Relatório da Prática Profissional Supervisionada Mestrado Em Educação Pré-Escolar

Indicadores prognósticos na hipertensão pulmonar

Mestrado em Tecnologia de Diagnóstico e Intervenção Cardiovascular - Ramo de especialização: Intervenção Cardiovascular

Music and drama in primary schools in the Madeira Island - Narratives of ownership and leadership

Este artigo foi uma das publicações resultantes do projeto financiado pela FCT "Música e Drama no 1º ciclo do Ensino básico – o caso da Região Autónoma da Madeira" (PTDC/CED/72112/2006).

Desenvolvendo o pensamento algébrico no 2.º ciclo do ensino básico: o sentido dos símbolos e da generalização

Dissertação apresentada à Escola Superior de Educação de Lisboa para obtenção do grau de mestre em Educação Matemática na Educação Pré-escolar e nos 1.º e 2.º Ciclos do Ensino Básico

A leitura, a escrita e os textos de literatura

Apresenta-se um trabalho de investigação realizado numa turma de 3.º e 4.º ano de 1.ºciclo de ensino básico. Focalizou-se o ensino explícito, sistemático e partilhado da escrita a partir da leitura e compreensão de textos de literatura infantil, sob mediação do docente. O trabalho surge após tomada de consciência de fragilidades que os alunos revelam na área do Português, nomeadamente nos domínios da compreensão leitora e da escrita. A leitura e análise de textos integrais de literatura infantil foram centrais no estudo, dando atenção à linguagem, em geral, e ao léxico e aos processos retóricos utilizados pelos autores, em particular. Os textos de autor foram explorados como fonte tanto de ideias, para escrever, como de modos de escrever. A leitura e discussão do que se lê e a discussão do que se escreve envolvem os alunos com o trabalho de escrita, comprometendo-os com a reflexão sobre o que leem e sobre o que escrevem.

Relatório de estágio: aulas de grupo de oboé

I (Prática Pedagógica) - Neste relatório de estágio apresenta-se uma caracterização do Conservatório de Música de Santarém (CMS). Dá-se a conhecer um pouco da sua história, o seu funcionamento e os seus objetivos pedagógicos. Caracterizam-se também os alunos que participam no estágio e faz-se uma pequena descrição dos seus percursos académicos; suas influências, motivações e expectativas. Nas práticas desenvolvidas apresentam-se os princípios pedagógicos – A Motivação, como condição fundamental para o sucesso escolar dos alunos; e ainda a importância da aquisição de competências metacognitivas, ao permitirem a reflexão sobre os processos de aprendizagem. É feita uma descrição sobre as estratégias que o professor deve adotar com o objetivo de obter a motivação dos alunos; e apresentam-se os objetivos pedagógicos propostos para este estágio. Por último é feita uma análise do trabalho desenvolvido com os alunos e uma análise crítica da atividade docente, onde a criatividade, a autoavaliação e a reflexão devem estar sempre presentes no íntimo do professor. Ainda no encerramento da secção pedagógica dá-se conta do novo paradigma do ensino vocacional de música, após a Portaria nº 691/2009 de 25 de junho, e a necessidade do professor se adaptar a esta nova realidade.

Obesity and dental caries: systematic review

OBJECTIVE Identifying, through a systematic literature review, evidence of a possible association between obesity and dental caries. METHODS A search of articles published between 2005 and January 2012 was performed in the Medline/PubMed, LILACS and Web of Science databases. The quality of scientific evidence of the selected articles was assessed by the items proposed for observational studies in the Downs & Black instrument. RESULTS Initially, 537 references were found; after checking the titles and abstracts by two independent researchers, twenty-eight articles were selected for complete reading. Ten of them that assessed the primary and/or permanent dentition observed a positive association between obesity and dental caries and one study found an inverse association. According to the Downs & Black classification, thirteen articles with good scientific evidence were found. CONCLUSIONS The present review did not find sufficient evidence regarding the association between obesity and dental caries, and it did not clarify the possible role of diet and other possible effect modifiers on this association.

A further investigation of the cytochrome b5–cytochrome c complex

J Biol Inorg Chem (2003) 8: 777–786

Nuclear medicine technologist education and training in Europe: literature and web-based findings

Purpose - The education and training of a nuclear medicine technologist (NMT) is not homogeneous among European countries, which leads to different scope of practices and, therefore, different technical skills are assigned. The goal of this research was to characterize the education and training of NMT in Europe. Materials and methods - This study was based on a literature research to characterize the education and training of NMT and support the historical evolution of this profession. It was divided into two different phases: the first phase included analysis of scientific articles and the second phase included research of curricula that allow health professionals to work as NMT in Europe. Results - The majority of the countries [N=31 (89%)] offer the NMT curriculum integrated into the high education system and only in four (11%) countries the education is provided by professional schools. The duration in each education system is not equal, varying in professional schools (2-3 years) and high education level system (2-4 years), which means that different European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System, such as 240, 230, 222, 210 or 180 European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System, are attributed to the graduates. The professional title and scope of the practice of NMT are different in different countries in Europe. In most countries of Europe, nuclear medicine training is not specific and curriculum does not demonstrate the Nuclear Medicine competencies performed in clinical practice. Conclusion - The heterogeneity in education and training for NMT is an issue prevalent among European countries. For NMT professional development, there is a huge need to formalize and unify educational and training programmes in Europe.

Screening for depressive symptoms in older adults in the Family Health Strategy, Porto Alegre, Brazil

OBJECTIVE To analyze the prevalence of depression in older adults and associated factors. METHODS Cross-sectional study using a stratified random sample of 621 individuals aged ≥ 60 from 27 family health teams in Porto Alegre, RS, Southern Brazil, between 2010 and 2012. Community health agents measured depression using the 15-item Geriatric Depression Scale. Scores of ≥ 6 were considered as depression and between 11 and 15 as severe depression. Poisson regression was used to search for independent associations of sociodemographic and self-perceived health with both depression and its severity. RESULTS The prevalence of depression was 30.6% and was significantly higher in women (35.9% women versus 20.9% men, p < 0.001). The variables independently associated with depression were: female gender (PR = 1.4, 95%CI 1.1;1.8); low education, especially illiteracy (PR = 1.8, 95%CI 1.2;2 6); regular self-rated health (OR = 2.2, 95%CI 1.6;3.0); and poor/very poor self-rated health (PR = 4.0, 95%CI 2.9;5.5). Except for education, the strength of association of these factors increases significantly in severe depression. CONCLUSIONS A high prevalence of depression was observed in the evaluations conducted by community health agents, professionals who are not highly specialized. The findings identified using the 15-item Geriatric Depression Scale in this way are similar to those in the literature, with depression more associated with low education, female gender and worse self-rated health. From a primary health care strategic point of view, the findings become still more relevant, indicating that community health agents could play an important role in identifying depression in older adults.