Det planlagda och det som visar sig : klasslärarstuderandes syn på undervisning i teknisk slöjd

Sloyd as an activity concretizes man’s ability to, with the help of mind and body, reshape materials into objects and change her conditions for survival. The sloyd actor outside school works when the spirit moves her, while the pupil in school is expected to sloyd regardless of motivation. Subject teachers become experts on sloyd in educational settings, while the qualification requirements may set the class teachers’ voluntariness within parenthesis. All class teachers qualify to teach all core subjects of the national curriculum in Finland from preschool to grade six. The aim of the current thesis is to deepen the knowledge on how the science of sloyd education can support class teacher students’ future teaching in sloyd. In the empirical part of the study, Swedish-speaking Finnish class teacher students’ views on technical sloyd as one of their future subjects for teaching are examined. The class teacher’s qualifying skills in teaching technical sloyd are expected to take shape during only a few ECTS study points. The teacher students’ experience of the subject from the pupil’s perspective is supposed to move into a budding teacher subject. In a research-based teacher education, self-reflection and reflection as a dialogue are extended aided by research results. Intuitive thinking interplays with rational thinking during this time. The teacher student’s approach to make use of the autonomous free space in teaching is, in the current thesis, as considerations where the individual weighs the pros and cons in relation to various phenomena in sloyd and the school overall. The basis for an individual autonomy is shaped and is expected to interplay on the common arena of autonomy. In the exercise of their profession, the class teacher teaching sloyd is expected to oscillate between the sloyd educational practice and theory. The first step in this movement within the teacher education is the coverage of a selection of theories during the studies. The empirical part of the study is carried out at two separate occasions with directed open-ended interviews with fifteen class teacher students in the beginning and end of their first year of study. The data was analysed with a hermeneutic approach and a qualitatively oriented approach to content analysis. The results are mirrored against theory within the science of sloyd education. The results show that class teacher students have a versatile view of educational sloyd. The overall results overthrow parts of the researcher’s pre-understanding. The viewpoint of the students seems to broaden from a merely manual activity to seeing sloyd as an educational activity. In order for the results to gain significance in the teacher education of the future, a line of reasoning is conducted in order to recommend an extended dialogue and thirteen possible themes for enriching discussions are put forth as a result of the present study. The extended dialogue focuses on that teacher education should make conscious ventures to create opportunities for the students to take part in effective discussions on the subject of sloyd, complementing the existing dialogue between the teacher educator and the students. This thesis lends support to reflections on the following aspects of educational sloyd in these dialogues: the reasons for why the sloyd subject exists, the ambitions of the subject, the content and organization of the subject for students as well as for the teacher educators.

Building the ‘Digital’ Library: Routes to Managing our Institutional Digital Learning, Teaching and Research Assets Together

Presentation at Open Repositories 2014, Helsinki, Finland, June 9-13, 2014

Gap effect and reaction time distribution: simple vs choice manual responses

It is well known that saccadic reaction times (SRT) are reduced when the target is preceded by the offset of the fixation point (FP) - the gap effect. Some authors have proposed that the FP offset also allows the saccadic system to generate a separate population of SRT, the express saccades. Nevertheless, there is no agreement as to whether the gap effect and express responses are also present for manual reaction times (MRT). We tested the gap effect and the MRT distribution in two different conditions, i.e., simple and choice MRT. In the choice MRT condition, subjects need to identify the side of the stimulus and to select the appropriate response, while in the simple MRT these stages are not necessary. We report that the gap effect was present in both conditions (22 ms for choice MRT condition; 15 ms for simple MRT condition), but, when analyzing the MRT distributions, we did not find any clear evidence for express manual responses. The main difference in MRT distribution between simple and choice conditions was a shift towards shorter values for simple MRT.

Spectral analysis of the electromyograph of the erector spinae muscle before and after a dynamic manual load-lifting test

The aim of the present study was to assess the spectral behavior of the erector spinae muscle during isometric contractions performed before and after a dynamic manual load-lifting test carried out by the trunk in order to determine the capacity of muscle to perform this task. Nine healthy female students participated in the experiment. Their average age, height, and body mass (± SD) were 20 ± 1 years, 1.6 ± 0.03 m, and 53 ± 4 kg, respectively. The development of muscle fatigue was assessed by spectral analysis (median frequency) and root mean square with time. The test consisted of repeated bending movements from the trunk, starting from a 45º angle of flexion, with the application of approximately 15, 25 and 50% of maximum individual load, to the stand up position. The protocol used proved to be more reliable with loads exceeding 50% of the maximum for the identification of muscle fatigue by electromyography as a function of time. Most of the volunteers showed an increase in root mean square versus time on both the right (N = 7) and the left (N = 6) side, indicating a tendency to become fatigued. With respect to the changes in median frequency of the electromyographic signal, the loads used in this study had no significant effect on either the right or the left side of the erector spinae muscle at this frequency, suggesting that a higher amount and percentage of loads would produce more substantial results in the study of isotonic contractions.

Looking for the GAP effect in manual responses and the role of contextual influences in reaction time experiments

When the offset of a visual stimulus (GAP condition) precedes the onset of a target, saccadic reaction times are reduced in relation to the condition with no offset (overlap condition) - the GAP effect. However, the existence of the GAP effect for manual responses is still controversial. In two experiments using both simple (Experiment 1, N = 18) and choice key-press procedures (Experiment 2, N = 12), we looked for the GAP effect in manual responses and investigated possible contextual influences on it. Participants were asked to respond to the imperative stimulus that would occur under different experimental contexts, created by varying the array of warning-stimulus intervals (0, 300 and 1000 ms) and conditions (GAP and overlap): i) intervals and conditions were randomized throughout the experiment; ii) conditions were run in different blocks and intervals were randomized; iii) intervals were run in different blocks and conditions were randomized. Our data showed that no GAP effect was obtained for any manipulation. The predictability of stimulus occurrence produced the strongest influence on response latencies. In Experiment 1, simple manual responses were shorter when the intervals were blocked (247 ms, P < 0.001) in relation to the other two contexts (274 and 279 ms). Despite the use of choice key-press procedures, Experiment 2 produced a similar pattern of results. A discussion addressing the critical conditions to obtain the GAP effect for distinct motor responses is presented. In short, our data stress the relevance of the temporal allocation of attention for behavioral performance.

Manual and semi-automatic quantification of in vivo ¹H-MRS data for the classification of human primary brain tumors

In vivo proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (¹H-MRS) is a technique capable of assessing biochemical content and pathways in normal and pathological tissue. In the brain, ¹H-MRS complements the information given by magnetic resonance images. The main goal of the present study was to assess the accuracy of ¹H-MRS for the classification of brain tumors in a pilot study comparing results obtained by manual and semi-automatic quantification of metabolites. In vivo single-voxel ¹H-MRS was performed in 24 control subjects and 26 patients with brain neoplasms that included meningiomas, high-grade neuroglial tumors and pilocytic astrocytomas. Seven metabolite groups (lactate, lipids, N-acetyl-aspartate, glutamate and glutamine group, total creatine, total choline, myo-inositol) were evaluated in all spectra by two methods: a manual one consisting of integration of manually defined peak areas, and the advanced method for accurate, robust and efficient spectral fitting (AMARES), a semi-automatic quantification method implemented in the jMRUI software. Statistical methods included discriminant analysis and the leave-one-out cross-validation method. Both manual and semi-automatic analyses detected differences in metabolite content between tumor groups and controls (P < 0.005). The classification accuracy obtained with the manual method was 75% for high-grade neuroglial tumors, 55% for meningiomas and 56% for pilocytic astrocytomas, while for the semi-automatic method it was 78, 70, and 98%, respectively. Both methods classified all control subjects correctly. The study demonstrated that ¹H-MRS accurately differentiated normal from tumoral brain tissue and confirmed the superiority of the semi-automatic quantification method.

Pediatric pain: prevalence, assessment, and management in a teaching hospital

The goal of this study was to examine the prevalence, assessment and management of pediatric pain in a public teaching hospital. The study sample consisted of 121 inpatients (70 infants, 36 children, and 15 adolescents), their families, 40 physicians, and 43 nurses. All participants were interviewed except infants and children who could not communicate due to their clinical status. The interview included open-ended questions concerning the inpatients’ pain symptoms during the 24 h preceding data collection, as well as pain assessment and pharmacological/non-pharmacological management of pain. The data were obtained from 100% of the eligible inpatients. Thirty-four children/adolescents (28%) answered the questionnaire and for the other 72% (unable to communicate), the family/health professional caregivers reported pain. Among these 34 persons, 20 children/adolescents reported pain, 68% of whom reported that they received pharmacological intervention for pain relief. Eighty-two family caregivers were available on the day of data collection. Of these, 40 family caregivers (49%) had observed their child’s pain response. In addition, 74% reported that the inpatients received pharmacological management. Physicians reported that only 38% of the inpatients exhibited pain signs, which were predominantly acute pain detected during clinical procedures. They reported that 66% of patients received pharmacological intervention. The nurses reported pain signs in 50% of the inpatients, which were detected during clinical procedures. The nurses reported that pain was managed in 78% of inpatients by using pharmacological and/or non-pharmacological interventions. The findings provide evidence of the high prevalence of pain in pediatric inpatients and the under-recognition of pain by health professionals.

Brazil nut sorting for aflatoxin prevention: a comparison between automatic and manual shelling methods

The impact of automatic and manual shelling methods during manual/visual sorting of different batches of Brazil nuts from the 2010 and 2011 harvests was evaluated in order to investigate aflatoxin prevention.The samples were tested as follows: in-shell, shell, shelled, and pieces in order to evaluate the moisture content (mc), water activity (Aw), and total aflatoxin (LOD = 0.3 µg/kg and LOQ 0.85 µg/kg) at the Brazil nut processing plant. The results of aflatoxins obtained for the manually shelled nut samples ranged from 3.0 to 60.3 µg/g and from 2.0 to 31.0 µg/g for the automatically shelled samples. All samples showed levels of mc below the limit of 15%; on the other hand, shelled samples from both harvests showed levels of Aw above the limit. There were no significant differences concerning the manual or automatic shelling results during the sorting stages. On the other hand, the visual sorting was effective in decreasing the aflatoxin contamination in both methods.

Repercussão de um protocolo fisioterapêutico intradialítico na funcionalidade pulmonar, força de preensão manual e qualidade de vida de pacientes renais crônicos

INTRODUÇÃO: A doença renal crônica consiste na perda lenta, progressiva e irreversível da função renal. É considerada um problema social e economico, pois está relacionada a inúmeras doenças associadas, bem como a altos gastos em saúde pública. Sabe-se que os pacientes dialíticos passam por longos períodos de restrição da atividade física repercutindo em disfungoes nos mais diversos sistemas e na qualidade de vida (QV). OBJETIVO: Verificar os efeitos de uma intervenção fisioterapêutica nos pacientes em hemodiálise para: função da musculatura respiratória, força de preensão manual e QV. METODOLOGIA: Estudo experimental, não randomizado, quantitativo e qualitativo; amostra de 13 pacientes, 43,69 ± 9,28 anos, submetidos à hemodiálise na Santa Casa de Diamantina/MG, selecionados por conveniência. Todos realizaram avaliação das pressões respiratórias máximas (PImáx e PEmáx) e do pico de fluxo expiratório (PFE), antes e após a fisioterapia que consistiu de três sessões semanais, durante 2 meses de: exercícios para membros superiores, com técnica de FNP e respiração diafragmática; exercícios de fortalecimento para membros inferiores e exercícios com bola exercitadora para preensão manual. O tratamento estatístico foi realizado através do teste t de Student com valor de significância em p < 0,05. RESULTADOS: As médias respectivamente das variáveis pré- e pós-intervenção foram PI , (97,69 ± 28,3 cmH2O e 98,46 ± 23,399ªdriH2O) p = 0,93; PEmáx (83,07 ± 31,19 cmH2O e 88,46 ± 14,05 cmH2O) p = 0,46 e PFE (375,38 ± 75,23 L/min e 416,15 ± 57,37 L/min) p = 0,02. A media do dinamometro pré-intervenção: 57,23 ± 17,39 kgf e pósintervenção: 56,61 ± 16,09 kgf. No SF-36, que avalia QV, observou-se melhora dos oito domínios, exceto do item 'vitalidade'. De todas as variáveis mensuradas, somente o PFE mostrou-se estatisticamente significante. CONCLUSÃO: O protocolo fisioterapêutico proposto não promoveu melhoras expressivas, do ponto de vista estatístico, nas variáveis analisadas em pacientes submetidos à hemodiálise, justificando-se em parte ao número pequeno da amostra, tempo do protocolo e intervenções propostas.

Espessura do músculo adutor do polegar como preditor da força de preensão manual nos pacientes em hemodiálise

INTODUÇÃO: A espessura do músculo adutor do polegar (EMAP) tem sido sugerida como um novo marcador de estado nutricional em diversas populações. OBJETIVO: Diante da escassez de dados sobre o uso desse marcador nos pacientes com doença renal crônica, o objetivo deste estudo foi avaliar a EMAP e sua associação com indicadores nutricionais em pacientes em hemodiálise. MÉTODOS: Foram avaliados 73 pacientes em hemodiálise (52,3 ± 17 anos, sem função renal residual). A EMAP foi aferida no braço sem o acesso vascular com o auxílio de um adipômetro. A composição corporal (bioimpedância elétrica), a força de preensão manual (dinamômetro), o estado nutricional (Avaliação Global Subjetiva) e os exames laboratoriais (creatinina, proteína total e albumina) também foram avaliados. RESULTADOS: Indivíduos com valores de EMAP acima da mediana eram em maior proporção negros/pardos, jovens e possuíam maior força de preensão manual. A EMAP correlacionou-se positivamente com a força de preensão manual, albumina sérica e massa celular (%), e negativamente com a idade. Na análise de regressão linear ajustada para sexo, idade e tempo em hemodiálise, a EMAP esteve independentemente associada com a força de preensão manual. CONCLUSÃO: A EMAP foi capaz de predizer a força de preensão manual nos pacientes em hemodiálise, o que sugere a EMAP como um marcador promissor de estado nutricional nessa população.

Impacto da sessão de hemodiálise na força de preensão manual

Resumo Introdução: A força de preensão manual (FPM) é um método simples, confiável e com bom valor preditivo para avaliar a função muscular de pacientes submetidos à hemodiálise (HD). Porém, ainda não existe um consenso a respeito do momento mais apropriado para a aferição da medida, já que o desempenho da FPM pode ser influenciado pelas flutuações hidroeletrolíticas e de pressão arterial que acometem esses pacientes. Objetivo: Investigar o impacto da sessão de diálise sobre a FPM em pacientes submetidos à HD. Métodos: Trata-se de um estudo transversal com 156 pacientes [57,7% homens, idade mediana de 56,5 (42-67) anos, 28,8% diabéticos, IMC médio de 24,75 ± 4,5 kg/m2 e tempo em HD de 38 (19,25-72,75) meses]. Foram realizadas aferições da FPM com um dinamômetro nos minutos iniciais e ao término da sessão de HD. Os valores obtidos foram comparados com um padrão de referência nacional. Dados clínicos, demográficos e laboratoriais foram coletados do prontuário médico. Resultados: Foi observada uma redução significante da FPM após a sessão de HD (28,6 ± 11,4 kg para 27,7 ± 11,7 kg; p < 0,01). A prevalência de pacientes com FPM abaixo do percentil 30 aumentou de 44,9% para 55,1% (p < 0,01). A redução da pressão arterial durante a diálise foi o único fator que se associou com a redução da FPM. Conclusão: Os achados mostram que o processo de HD influencia negativamente a FPM.