Aplicación en el ámbito del rendimiento deportivo de un método de análisis biomecánico para valorar la ejecución técnica del salto zancada de gimnasia rítmica

La capacidad de ejecutar una buena técnica es un factor importante en deportes de alto componente estético como es la Gimnasia Rítmica. Los saltos específicos de este deporte son elementos que lo caracterizan, debido a la muestra de flexibilidad y belleza estética que aportan a la gimnasta. Pero el qué nos hace tener una técnica de ejecución óptima para lograr la máxima calidad de salto es algo que se puede descubrir mediante el estudio y el análisis de la técnica que nos proporcionan los diferentes métodos de la Biomecánica Deportiva. De este modo, el objetivo del siguiente trabajo es la aplicación en el ámbito del Alto Rendimiento Deportivo de un método de análisis, basado en la Biomecánica Deportiva, con el propósito de valorar el rendimiento en saltos específicos de Gimnasia Rítmica. Para su desarrollo, el estudio se concretó en observar y analizar el Salto Zancada (Split Jump o Grand jetté).

Gestión de la velocidad en la carrera de aproximación del salto de longitud. Comparativa entre géneros

En la carrera de aproximación del salto de longitud el atleta trata de alcanzar la máxima velocidad controlable hasta la tabla de batida, momento en el que se transfiere toda la energía adquirida en la carrera al salto. Este parámetro por tanto influye en el rendimiento final del salto. El objetivo de este trabajo (a través de revisión bibliográfica) fue analizar las diferentes formas de gestionar la velocidad a lo largo de la carrera de aproximación, en la competición y la posible diversidad entre sexos. La base del trabajo son los datos de un estudio científico con datos inéditos de velocidades máximas en el Campeonato de Madrid de salto de longitud (Ferro et al, 2012b). A partir de esos resultados se ha comprobado las diferentes formas de gestionar la velocidad entre hombres y mujeres, las mayores diferencias se observan en los intervalos 5-3 m y 3-1 m hasta la tabla de batida.

Efficient chemo-enzymatic gluten detoxification: reducing toxic epitopes for celiac patients improving functional properties

Protein engineering of gluten, the exogenous effector in celiac disease, seeking its detoxification by selective chemical modification of toxic epitopes is a very attractive strategy and promising technology when compared to pharmacological treatment or genetic engineering of wheat. Here we present a simple and efficient chemo-enzymatic methodology that decreases celiac disease toxic epitopes of gluten proteins improving its technological value through microbial transglutaminase-mediated transamidation of glutamine with n-butylamine under reducing conditions. First, we found that using low concentrations of amine-nucleophile under non-reducing conditions, the decrease in toxic epitopes is mainly due to transglutaminase-mediated cross-linking. Second, using high amine nucleophile concentrations protein cross-linking is substantially reduced. Third, reducing conditions increase 7-fold the transamidation reaction further decreasing toxic epitopes amount. Fourth, using n-butylamine improves gluten hydrophobicity that strengthens the gluten network. These results open the possibility of tailoring gluten for producing hypoallergenic flours while still taking advantage of the unique viscoelastic properties of gluten.

AVALIAÇÃO INSTITUCIONAL NA EDUCAÇÃO BÁSICA: UMA ANÁLISE DA PRÁTICA DA EDUCAÇÃO ADVENTISTA

O tema desta dissertação é a Avaliação Institucional da Educação Básica. Para tal, faz-se a análise do processo de avaliação, com ênfase no instrumento utilizado pelas Escolas Adventistas de nível básico do estado de São Paulo, considerando que a educação adventista se tornou uma parte consistente dentro da estrutura da Igreja Adventista do Sétimo Dia. Procurou-se, neste trabalho, como objetivo geral, compreender como se configura a prática da avaliação institucional das escolas da Rede Adventista de Educação. O método da investigação incluiu análise bibliográfica dos principais teóricos da área de políticas públicas e do sistema privado bem como da avaliação institucional, seguido de exame documental do instrumento utilizado no processo de avaliação institucional. O estudo resgata a contextualização histórica do desenvolvimento da escola privada, destacando aspectos relevantes de sua relação com o Estado. Também apresenta brevemente a história da Igreja Adventista do Sétimo Dia (IASD) nos Estados Unidos (EUA) e no Brasil, de modo a situar o surgimento do sistema educacional adventista, bem como a sua filosofia de ensino, buscando conhecer as origens desse grupo religioso que há mais de um século atua no cenário educacional brasileiro. Em seguida, aborda aspectos da Avaliação Institucional. Finalmente, apresenta-se uma síntese do processo e uma descrição analítica do instrumento de avaliação institucional das escolas de nível básico da Educação Adventista. Na conclusão do trabalho, não se encontraram indícios de que o conceito adventista de avaliação educacional seja diferente do das abordagens tradicionais. Entretanto, na concepção adventista de avaliação, existe mais fortemente a preocupação de se manter um processo de avaliação contínuo e sistemático.

Do pingers cause stress in fish? An experimental tank study with European sardine, Sardina pilchardus (Walbaum, 1792) (Actinopterygii, Clupeidae), exposed to a 70 kHz dolphin pinger

Date of acceptance: 06/12/2014 Acknowledgments The study was funded by the Portuguese Ministry of Science (Fundac¸a˜o para a Cieˆncia e Tecnologia– FCT) through a PhD Grant of SG (SFRH/BD/47931/2008). We would like to thank the captain of the purse-seiner (Jose´ Manuel Saveedra) and his crew for facilitating the capture and transport of live fish. Moreover, we want to thank Ana Marc¸alo for suggestions on the experimental design, Manuel Garci for technical advice on underwater video recordings and James Turner from the company Future Oceans for providing technical details on the 70 kHz dolphin pingers. We would also like to acknowledge the scientific advice of Dr. Jose´ Iglesias and the technical and logistic support for the preparation of the laboratory and the materials for tank experiments by Enrique Martı´nez Gonza´lez, Ricardo Pazo´and other staff at the aquaculture facilities of the Spanish Institute for Oceanography (IEO) and the Marine Sciences Station of Toralla (ECIMAT) in Vigo. Furthermore, we are grateful to Francisco de la Granda Grandoso for his practical assistance during the fish tank experiments and to Juan Santos Blanco for helping with statistical analysis. Finally, we would like to thank Pilar Riobo´ Agula, Amelia Fernandez Villamarin, Jose´ Franco Soler, Jose´ Luis Mun˜oz, Angela Benedetti, Marcos Antonio Lopez Patin˜o and Marta Conde Sieira for scientific advice and practical support with cortisol analysis and Rosana Rodrı´guez for preparing histological samples for us.

Human Search for a Target on a Textured Background is Consistent with a Stochastic Model

This research was supported by the James S. McDonnell Foundation (ARH). Early version was supported by EPSRC grants EP/F02553X/1 and EP/D059364/1.

In vivo telomere dynamics of human hematopoietic stem cells

Aging in vivo and cell division in vitro are associated with telomere shortening. Several lines of evidence suggest that telomere length may be a good predictor of the long term replicative capacity of cells. To investigate the natural fate of chromosome telomeres of hematopoietic stem cells in vivo, we measured the telomere length of peripheral blood granulocytes from 11 fully engrafted bone marrow transplant recipients and from their respective donors. In 10 of 11 donor–recipient pairs, the telomere length was significantly reduced in the recipient and the extent of reduction correlated inversely with the number of nucleated cells infused. These data provide internally controlled in vivo evidence that, concomitantly with their proliferation, hematopoietic stem cells lose telomere length; it is possible that, as a result, their proliferative potential is reduced. These findings must be taken into account when developing new protocols in which few stem cells are used for bone marrow transplantation or for gene therapy.

Dopamine receptor regulating factor, DRRF: A zinc finger transcription factor

Dopamine receptor genes are under complex transcription control, determining their unique regional distribution in the brain. We describe here a zinc finger type transcription factor, designated dopamine receptor regulating factor (DRRF), which binds to GC and GT boxes in the D1A and D2 dopamine receptor promoters and effectively displaces Sp1 and Sp3 from these sequences. Consequently, DRRF can modulate the activity of these dopamine receptor promoters. Highest DRRF mRNA levels are found in brain with a specific regional distribution including olfactory bulb and tubercle, nucleus accumbens, striatum, hippocampus, amygdala, and frontal cortex. Many of these brain regions also express abundant levels of various dopamine receptors. In vivo, DRRF itself can be regulated by manipulations of dopaminergic transmission. Mice treated with drugs that increase extracellular striatal dopamine levels (cocaine), block dopamine receptors (haloperidol), or destroy dopamine terminals (1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine) show significant alterations in DRRF mRNA. The latter observations provide a basis for dopamine receptor regulation after these manipulations. We conclude that DRRF is important for modulating dopaminergic transmission in the brain.

Local form interference in biological motion perception

Peer reviewed

Formação continuada e profissionalização docente na Rede Municipal de São Paulo

Essa pesquisa situa-se no âmbito da problemática da formação continuada de professores da educação básica, especialmente daqueles que trabalham nas séries iniciais do ensino fundamental. Considerando a importância da educação continuada e a diversidade de modelos e espaços de formação de professores, que são oferecidos pela Secretaria Municipal de Educação de São Paulo, a pesquisa propõe-se a investigar experiências diversas que nesse sentido foram desenvolvidas no período pós LDBEN 9394/96, tendo por objetivo principal compreender a contribuição de tais cursos para a profissionalização e a melhoria da competência docente. A metodologia é de natureza qualitativa, envolvendo dois tipos de coleta de dados: (a) documentais: textos oficiais e outros produzidos no âmbito dos programas analisados; e (b) depoimentos orais colhidos por meio de entrevistas gravadas com um grupo de 5 professoras polivalentes do Ensino Fundamental I da rede municipal de ensino de São Paulo. A análise dos dados se respalda em vários autores que sob diferentes enfoques têm teorizado sobre o trabalho e a profissão docente, dentre os quais, Nóvoa, Dubar, Tardif, Bourdoncle e Popkewitz. A articulação entre os dados empíricos e o referencial teórico foi feita por meio dos principais conceitos que orientam a investigação: profissão, profissionalização, desenvolvimento profissional, competência e saberes docente. A expectativa é a de poder contribuir com elementos novos a propósito da questão da formação continuada de professores e, também, sobre os diferentes modelos de formação propostos para a profissionalização docente, identificando as concepções que têm se incorporado à prática dos professores por meio desse processo. As análises permitiram concluir que a educação continuada pode ser um dos elementos constitutivos do processo de profissionalização docente, no entanto, sem outras ações conjuntas torna-se inviável a sua efetivação, pois esse processo está intimamente relacionado a uma gama de fatores sociais, econômicos e políticos e a níveis elevados de rigorosidade correlacionados à formação, organização e prestígio.

Plasma membrane dynamics in the Drosophila embryo

ABSTRACT Convergent extension is a highly conserved process among mammals, in which the tissue narrows in one axis, and extends across another. Tissue elongation is directed by the regulation of cell interface behaviors, which guides cell intercalation and rosette formation. Rosette formation occurs through the contraction of vertically oriented cell interfaces, and the subsequent elongation of new horizontal interfaces. It has been shown that actomyosin-generated tension functions to direct rosette formation. In this thesis, I have tested the function of regulators of F-actin networks, as well as endocytic and exocytic mechanisms, to identify new components that control interface behaviors and cell shape. I have performed a screen of F-actin regulators and nucleators, and pinpointed the specific actin nucleator dPod-1 as a candidate protein that is localized to vertical interfaces during tissue elongation. Furthermore, I have probed the function of endocytosis using the Shibire mutation, and demonstrated that endocytosis is required for vertical interface shrinking. Finally, I have used mutations in components of the Exocyst Complex and the associated protein RalA to inhibit exocytic mechanisms, in order to address their function in directing cell and tissue morphologies.

Transmission and Transport of Energy in the Western U.S. and Canada: A Law and Policy Road Map

This collection of short essays arose from the inaugural meeting of the Idaho Symposium on Energy in the West, which was held in November, 2014. The topic for this first Symposium was Transmission and Transport of Energy in the Western U.S. and Canada: A Law and Policy Road Map. The essays in this collection provide a notable introduction to the major energy issues facing the West today. Topics include: building a resilient legal architecture for western energy production; natural gas flaring; transmission planning for wind energy; utilities and rooftop solar; special considerations for western states and the Clean Power Plan; the Clean Power Plan's implications for the western grid; siting renewable energy on public lands; and implications of utility reform in New York and Hawaii for the Northwest.

Investigating the influence of surfactants on the stabilization of aqueous reduced graphene oxide dispersions and the characteristics of their composite films

The stabilization of reduced graphene oxide (RGO) sheets in aqueous dispersion using a wide range of surfactants of anionic, non-ionic and zwitterionic type has been investigated and compared under different conditions of pH, surfactant and RGO concentration, or sheet size. The observed differences in the performance of the surfactants were rationalized on the basis of their chemical structure (e.g., alkylic vs. aromatic hydrophobic tail or sulfonic vs. carboxylic polar head), thus providing a reference framework in the selection of appropriate surfactants for the processing of RGO suspensions towards particular purposes. RGO-surfactant composite paper-like films were also prepared through vacuum filtration of the corresponding mixed dispersions and their main characteristics were investigated. The composite paper-like films were also electrochemically characterized. Those prepared with two specific surfactants exhibited a high capacitance in relation to their surfactant-free counterpart.