Construction of Hamiltonian-Minimal Lagrangian submanifolds in Complex Euclidean Space

We describe several families of Lagrangian submanifolds in complex Euclidean space which are H-minimal, i.e. critical points of the volume functional restricted to Hamiltonian variations. We make use of various constructions involving planar, spherical and hyperbolic curves, as well as Legendrian submanifolds of the odd-dimensional unit sphere.

Associated Family of G-Structure Preserving Minimal Immersions in Semi-Riemannian Manifolds

We prove the existence of an associated family of G-structure preserving minimal immersions into semi-Riemannian manifolds endowed with a compatible infinitesimally homogeneous G-structure. We will study in more details minimal embeddings into product of space forms.

NAVET's Boxes - an Evaluation of the Post-Visit Loan Service at a Science Centre in Borås

Many pedagogues believe science centres to be a good complement to the more formal school teaching. For a visit to a science centre to be as educational as possible, there is a need for pre-visit information of some sort, a guided visit, and post-visit work. Many science centres offer loan services of different kinds. At Navet, a science centre in Borås, teachers can borrow boxes with experiments connected to the different themes they provide. The experiments are supposed to be a continuation of the visit and help settle the knowledge gained during the visit. This thesis is an evaluation of how the boxes function in the schools, and what the teachers think of them. The study was conducted through questionnaires and interviews with both teachers and the staff at Navet. The results of the study are very positive. Many teachers have been involved with Navet from the very beginning and they see a visit to Navet as an integrated part of their teaching. Some boxes work better than others and some might need clearer information, but overall the teachers see the boxes as timesavers, as a way to vary their teaching more easily, and as a help for teachers not specialized in mathematics and science.

Communication in Smoking Cessation and Self-management : a study at Nurse-led COPD-clinics in Primary Health Care

ABSTRACTThe general aim of this thesis was to investigate behavioral change communication at nurse-led chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) clinics in primary health care, focusing on communication in self-management and smoking cessation for patients with COPD.Designs: Observational, prospective observational and experimental designs were used.Methods: To explore and describe the structure and content of self-management education and smoking cessation communication, consultations between patients (n=30) and nurses (n=7) were videotaped and analyzed with three instruments: Consulting Map (CM), the Motivational Interviewing Treatment Integrity (MITI) scale and the Client Language Assessment in Motivational Interviewing (CLAMI). To examine the effects of structured self-management education, patients with COPD (n=52) were randomized in an intervention and a control group. Patients’ quality of life (QoL), knowledge about COPD and smoking cessation were examined with a questionnaire on knowledge about COPD and smoking habits and with St. George’s Respiratory Questionnaire, addressing QoL. Results: The findings from the videotaped consultations showed that communication about the reasons for consultation mainly concerned medical and physical problems and (to a certain extent) patients´ perceptions. Two consultations ended with shared understanding, but none of the patients received an individual treatment-plan. In the smoking cessation communication the nurses did only to a small extent evoke patients’ reasons for change, fostered collaboration and supported patients’ autonomy. The nurses provided a lot of information (42%), asked closed (21%) rather than open questions (3%), made simpler (14%) rather than complex (2%) reflections and used MI non-adherent (16%) rather than MI-adherent (5%) behavior. Most of the patients’ utterances in the communication were neutral either toward or away from smoking cessation (59%), utterances about reason (desire, ability and need) were 40%, taking steps 1% and commitment to stop smoking 0%. The number of patients who stopped smoking, and patients’ knowledge about the disease and their QoL, was increased by structured self-management education and smoking cessation in collaboration between the patient, nurse and physician and, when necessary, a physiotherapist, a dietician, an occupational therapist and/or a medical social worker.Conclusion The communication at nurse-led COPD clinics rarely involved the patients in shared understanding and responsibility and concerned patients’ fears, worries and problems only to a limited extent. The results also showed that nurses had difficulties in attaining proficiency in behavioral change communication. Structured self-management education showed positive effects on patients’ perceived QoL, on the number of patients who quit smoking and on patients’ knowledge about COPD.

Upper secondary school students' gendered conceptions about mathematics

This study explores Swedish Natural Science students' conceptions about gender and mathematics. I conducted and compared the results from two questionnaires. The first questionnaire revealed a view of rather traditional feminities and masulinities, a result that did not repeat itself in the second questionnaire. There was a discrepancy between the traits the students ascribed as gender different and the traits they ascribed to themselves.

Rapport från projektet Multimodala uppgifter och bedömning i matematik : Video och kollaborativa samtal som metod vid lärares bedömning av elevers matematiska kunskaper

This research will discuss some experiences from a four year school research study. It was conducted in cooperation with teachers from four municipalities in Dalarna. The aim of the research was to examine teachers´ professional development when they participated in collaborative discussions based on video recordings and video edited material from specific lessons in their own practice. The study had two foci one was to investigate methods and tools that teachers can use to develop their ability to assess their students while working on multimodal tasks. The other was to examine how video can be used by teachers wanting to obtain knowledge about assessing students. The study is based on several theories about when teachers collaborate to create new knowledge. The first is the design theoretical approach – where visual ethnography and a semiotic approach contribute to problematize the use and mixture of different modes. A basic assumption of the framework here is that meanings are made and communicated in mathematics through a wide range of semiotic modes. By using video as an essential tool in the research the framework theories concerning visual ethnography, video documentation and individuals as reflective practitioners were also needed. The findings can be divided into the following themes: the use of tasks for assessment, collaborative discussion, equipment, ethical dilemmas. Collaborative discussions were evaluated as a meaningful way of sharing knowledge. The use of video recordings in association with these discussions raised important ethical issues. Working with the assessment framework was of great interest to the teachers but it took a lot of time from their ordinary work. In this way the project highlighted more general aspects of school development. The research also concerns teachers´ use of collaborative discussions in assessment work, multimodal tasks in mathematics and video as a research tool in general.

Discrimination of geomorphic surfaces with multivariate analysis of soil attributes in sandstone - basalt lithosequence

O conceito de superfície geomórfica permite uma interligação entre os diferentes ramos da ciência do solo, tais como geologia, geomorfologia e pedologia. Esta associação favorece a compreensão da distribuição espacial dos solos na paisagem, e torna possível compreender o comportamento dos atributos do solo, que estão principalmente relacionadas com a estratigrafia e formas do relevo. Assim, este estudo visa à aplicação da estatística multivariada para categorizar superfícies geomórficas em uma litossequência arenito-basalto, de modo a fornecer uma base para a avaliação do solo em áreas afins. A área de estudo está localizada no município de Pereira Barreto, São Paulo, Brasil. A área escolhida possui 530 hectares, onde foram localizadas e mapeadas três superfícies geomórficas (I, II e III). Na área, 134 amostras foram coletadas nas profundidades de 0,0-0,2 m e 0,8-1,0 m, foram determinados os conteúdos de areia, silte e argila, pH em CaCl2, conteúdo de MO, P, Ca, Mg, K, Al e H+Al. Com base nos resultados, foram realizadas a análise univariada e multivariada de variância, clusters e principal componente, a fim de comparar as três superfícies geomórficas. A análise estatística univariada dos atributos do solo não foi eficiente na identificação das três superfícies geomórficas. Utilizando-se os atributos físicos e químicos do solo, as técnicas estatísticas multivariada permitiram à separação dos três grupos de corpos naturais do solo que foram equivalentes as três superfícies geomórficas mapeadas. Estes resultados são interessantes, pois demonstram a viabilidade da utilização de classificação numérica das superfícies geomórficas para ajudar no mapeamento de solo.

Investigação histórica na formação de professores de matemática: um estudo centrado no conceito de função

In this study we analyzed the development of a teaching experience, involving students with a bachelor s degree in mathematics from UFRN, based on the history of mathematics and mathematical investigations with the aim of contributing to the improvement of the teaching-learning of mathematics. The historical investigation tasks were planned and applied in the classroom, focusing on functional thought. The results obtained during the experience were described and evaluated based on authors who support the assumption of investigation and history as an alternative to the learning of mathematics. We emphasize that the material of analysis consisted of a work diary, audio recordings, questionnaires with testimony of the students involved, and, in addition, the assessment of the teacher of that subject. With regard to the mathematical content, the study was restricted to the concept of function, forms of representation and notation. It was evident that students showed great improvement with regard to the necessary formalization of the mathematical contents which were focused on, and to the active involvement of the students at different stages of the study. We can affirm that the completed study certainly represents significant contributions to an approach in the teaching-learning of functional thought

Um estudo sobre o ensino-aprendizagem das demonstrações matemáticas

Demonstrations are fundamental instruments for Mathematics and, as such, are frequently used by mathematicians, math teachers and students. In fact, demonstrations are part of every Mathematics teaching environment, because Mathematics considers something true when it can be demonstrated. This is in contrast to other fields of knowledge that employ observation and experimentation to validate truth. This dissertation presents a study of the teaching and learning of demonstrations in Mathematics, describing a Teaching Module applied in a course on the Theory of Numbers offered by the Mathematics Department of the Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte for mathematics majors. The objective of the dissertation was to propose and test a Teaching Module that can serve as a model for teaching demonstrations. The Teaching Module consisted of the following five steps: the application of a survey to determine the students‟ profiles and their previous knowledge of mathematical language and techniques of demonstration; the analysis of a series of dialogues containing arguments in everyday language; the investigation and analysis of the structure of some important techniques of demonstration; a written assessment; and, finally, an interview to further verify the principal results of the Teaching Module. The analysis of the data obtained though the classroom activities, written assessments and interviews led to the conclusion that there was a significant amount of assimilation of the issue at the level of relational understanding, (SKEMP, 1980). These instruments verified that the students attained considerable improvement in their use of mathematical language and of the techniques of demonstration presented. Thus, the evidence supports the conclusion that the proposed Teaching Module is an effective means for the teaching/learning of mathematical demonstration and, as such, provides a methodological guide which may lay the foundations for a new approach to this important subject

A formação pós-graduada em ensino de ciências naturais e matemática de docentes do IFRN: implicações na atuação docente

This research part of the educational context of the Federal Rio Grande do Norte, through the resumption of legal frameworks that characterize it as an institution belonging to the Federal Network of Professional Education and Technology Brazilian, with a focus on continued education policies for the servers who work there specifically teachers, especially those who have their work in the Teaching of Natural Science and Mathematics. To do this the cut in an agreement between the IFRN and UFRN PPGECNM through the professional master's degree Teaching of Natural Sciences and Mathematics. This agreement as we have research collaborators 08 master teachers who graduated in the period 2004 to 2010, so we undertook a qualitative and quantitative research aimed to conduct the study in general terms of description and analysis of the impacts caused by the formation of masters IFRN in PPGECNM UFRN, taking into account the production of the same academic (dissertation), his performance in the context of the institution and the historical, social, economic and political aspects involved, and also meet the guidelines of the project at the Observatory in 2008 - MEC / CAPES / BSD-P. We used the theoretical options methodological elements of Comprehensive Interview and multireferentiality, our data collection instrument was the main interview, we also performed the analysis of dissertations by lecturers and teachers featured, from the specific descriptors used in catalogs USP / IFUSP (1992, 1996) and UNICAMP / FE / CEDOC (1998) and by other researchers. In analyzing and understanding the speech of the interviewees were able to identify the implications of teacher education in the school context, the motivation to seek the Master; how was the construction of the object of study of the educational product and its use in teaching practice and intervention, the question of the role of master teachers in the school environment to the post master taking into account changes in professional performance and influence in the working groups, how does the use of research and investigation in the classroom after training and between training and educational quality in the context of IFRN. In reading and analysis of the dissertations were able to identify the main focus and under-explored thematic focus as well as the theoretical methodological references. At the end of the research developed a product that could be used for technical analysis studies and assessment in quantitative terms the results achieved by the master teachers IFRN through his training in PPGECNM UFRN

Effects of intra-hippocampal infusion of WAY-100635 on plus-maze behavior in mice - Influence of site of injection and prior test experience

The positive profile of systemically-administered 5-HT(1A) receptor antagonists in several rodent models of anxiolytic activity suggests an important role for postsynaptic 5-HT(1A) receptor mechanisms in anxiety. To test this hypothesis, we investigated the effects of WAY-100635 microinfusions (0, 0.1, 1.0 or 3.0 mug in 0.2 mul) into the dorsal (DH) or ventral (VH) hippocampus an behaviours displayed by male Swiss-Webster mice in the elevated plus-maze. As prior experience is known to modify pharmacological responses in this test, the effects of intra-hippocampal infusions were examined both in maze-naive and maze-experienced subjects. Test videotapes were scored for conventional indices of anxiety (% open arm entries/time) and locomotor activity (closed arm entries), as well as a range of ethological measures (e.g. risk assessment). In maze-naive mice, intra-VH (but not intra-M) infusions of WAY-100635 (3.0 mug but not lower doses) increased open arm exploration and reduced risk assessment. These effects were observed in the absence of significant changes in locomotor activity. In contrast, neither intra-VH nor intra-DH infusions of WAY-100635 altered the behaviour of maze-experienced mice. These Findings suggest that postsynaptic 5-HT(1A) receptors in the ventral (but not dorsal) hippocampus play a significant role both in the mediation of plus-maze anxiety in mice and in experientially-induced alterations in responses to this test. (C) 2002 Elsevier B.V. BY All rights reserved.

Anxiolytic-like effect of way-100635 microinfusions into the median (but not dorsal) raphe nucleus in mice exposed to the plus-maze: influence of prior test experience

Studies in several laboratories have confirmed the anxiolytic potential of a wide range of 5-HT1A receptor antagonists in rats and mice, with recent evidence pointing to a postsynaptic site of action in the ventral hippocampus. It would, therefore, be predicted that blockade of 5-HT1A somatodendritic autoreceptors in the midbrain raphe nuclei should produce anxiogenic-like effects. To test this hypothesis, we investigated the effects of WAY-100635 microinfusions (0, 1.0 or 3.0 mug in 0.1 mul) into the dorsal (DRN) or median (MRN) raphe nuclei on behaviours displayed by male Swiss-Webster mice in the elevated plus-maze. As this test is sensitive to prior experience. The effects of intra-raphe infusions were examined both in maze-naive and maze-experienced subjects. Sessions, were videotaped and subsequently scored for conventional indices of anxiety (open arm avoidance) and locomotor activity (closed arm entries), as well as a range of ethological measures (e.g. risk assessment). In maze-naive mice, intra-MRN (but not intra-DRN) infusions of WAY-100635 (3.0 mug) increased open arm exploration and reduced risk assessment. Importantly, these effects could not be attributed to a general reduction in locomotor activity. A similar, though somewhat weaker, pattern of behavioural change was observed in maze-experienced animals. This unexpected anxiolytic effect of 5-HT1A autoreceptor blockade in the MRN cannot be accounted fur by a disinhibition of 5-HT release in forebrain targets (e.g. hippocampus and amygdala), where stimulation of postsynaptic 5-HT1A receptors enhances anxiety-like responses. However, as the MRN also projects to the periaqueductal gray matter (PAG), an area known to be sensitive to the anti-aversive effects or 5-HT, it is argued that present results may reflect increased 5-HT release at this crucial midbrain locus within the neural circuitry of defense. (C) 2002 Elsevier B.V. B.V. All rights reserved.

Concepções sobre Assimilação Solidária num curso universitário

O presente artigo é parte de uma tese de doutorado (Silva, 1997). A pesquisa foca as possibilidades, conseqüências e reflexões epistemológicas da implantação de uma proposta pedagógica alternativa ao ensino tradicional vigente (ETV) na disciplina Cálculo I, do Curso de Licenciatura em Matemática, Unesp, Câmpus de Bauru, durante o ano de 1995. Partindo do Contrato de Trabalho, segundo a Assimilação Solidária (cf. Baldino, 1995a), tematiza a articulação do funcionamento das regras do Contrato com a avaliação e o trabalho em grupo. Ao lado do prêmio ao saber, é considerado o justo prêmio ao trabalho coletivo produzido em sala de aula. A investigação, de ordem qualitativa, localiza-se na vertente Pesquisa-Ação (cf. Thiollent, 1992), na qual o professor-pesquisador tematiza sua própria sala de aula, além de contextualizar os sujeitos no seu meio sócio-histórico-político-cultural.

Stream fish, water and habitat quality in a pasture dominated basin, southeastern Brazil

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)