Diálogos e aprendizagens na formação em agronomia para assentados

This thesis aims to investigate the Agronomy course in the perspective of the graduation course for the settlers of the Universidade Federal do Pará- Marabá. This course requires a partnership with the social movements of the North region of the country, with the purpose to understand knowledge production and how learning process occurs from the point of interaction and reliable relationships which are established in the organization during the course. The base of theses studies is to reflect of how the dialogue and learning processes occurred during the Agronomy course and resulted in changing in the teachers behavior and in the other integrated members of the group and mainly in the graduating settlers students. These changings happens as a consenquence of the dialogue production between the most varied areas, different people and institutions which take collective decisions. I observe educational actions, researches, extention concepts of extension and also development researches presented in the educative actions discussed by Freire (1985), Simões (2001, 2003) e de Amartya Sen (2000). The theory in which I am basing these studies are based in Boaventura de Souza Santos Simões (2001, 2003) and Amartya Sen (2000). Methodologically I analyse knowledge production by sudying the thesis and scientific works related to rural education, social movements, university and higher education in the last 20 years. I analyze the scientific works of all settler students, and besides, I do open interviews with the students, as well as, with the teachers and the leaders of social movements (MST, FETAGRI, CPT, EFA/FATA). I organize and analyze all the speeches from the ecological knowledge as defined by Boaventura de Souza Santos (2006). Finally, I visit five towns of municipal districts of the southeast of Pará, which represents the final methodological part of the research, in order to verify in loco the practices of the experiments purposed as final activity of the Agronomy course. I organize the work in five areas composed by the occupational process and the initiatives which emerged from them; development model and the social and environmental consequences; I also organize the university role and the relationship established between people and institutions which gave origin to the Agronomy course of UFPA and the programs developed in the region; conjuncture of creation of the groups of settled students, curriculum, principles and focus on the course and the experienced actions; developed practices in the course and the relations of reliability experienced internally and externally to the Academy, the learning and dialogue promoted by the course. I believe that the dialogue has caused changes in the organization of the knowledge and in the educative practices of the teachers, as well as, in the socio-productive practices of the regressed settled students

Agro-ecology as a mediating science between the training of the agronomist and sustainable agriculture

Agro-ecology plays an important role in the implementation of sustainable development, and an agronomist can be a leading agent in the dissemination of that culture. In this perspective, a survey was carried out with the attendants of the course in Agronomy at the Instituto Federal de Educacao, Ciencia e Tecnologia do Mato Grosso, Campus Campo Novo do Parecis, Brazil. The object of the study was to analyze the participation of the academics in agro-ecological activities, seeking to observe the acceptance, perceptions and possible indications of incorporation of these principles in the training. The survey was conducted during the period July-December 2011. The approach was the qualitative method and the instruments used in data collection were participant observation and interviews during the activities. The results revealed the satisfaction of students in engaging in agro-ecological activities: Students developed concepts and incorporated the proposal of agro-ecology throughout the project. The contents of the agronomy course offered at the institution, in the perception of students, is strongly linked to the principles of conventional farming, not fully considering training to meet the challenges, and current and emerging demands of agriculture.

Impact Of Pregabalin Treatment On Synaptic Plasticity And Glial Reactivity During The Course Of Experimental Autoimmune Encephalomyelitis.

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune and neurodegenerative disease that affects young adults. It is characterized by generating a chronic demyelinating autoimmune inflammation in the central nervous system. An experimental model for studying MS is the experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), induced by immunization with antigenic proteins from myelin. The present study investigated the evolution of EAE in pregabalin treated animals up to the remission phase. The results demonstrated a delay in the onset of the disease with statistical differences at the 10th and the 16th day after immunization. Additionally, the walking track test (CatWalk) was used to evaluate different parameters related to motor function. Although no difference between groups was obtained for the foot print pressure, the regularity index was improved post treatment, indicating a better motor coordination. The immunohistochemical analysis of putative synapse preservation and glial reactivity revealed that pregabalin treatment improved the overall morphology of the spinal cord. A preservation of circuits was depicted and the glial reaction was downregulated during the course of the disease. qRT-PCR data did not show immunomodulatory effects of pregabalin, indicating that the positive effects were restricted to the CNS environment. Overall, the present data indicate that pregabalin is efficient for reducing the seriousness of EAE, delaying its course as well as reducing synaptic loss and astroglial reaction.

Disarray Of Glomerular And Tubular Cell Adhesion Molecules In The Course Of Experimental Bothrops Moojeni Envenomation.

In this study, we show that administration of Bothrops moojeni venom in rats induces a general disturbance in the distribution and content of the tight junctional protein ZO-1, the cell-matrix receptor beta 1 integrin, the cytoskeletal proteins, vinculin and F-actin, and of the extracellular matrix component laminin in renal corpuscles and cortical nephron tubules. These findings suggest that cell-cell and cell-matrix adhesion proteins may be molecular targets in the B. moojeni-induced kidney injury.

Delivery Of A Urology Online Course Using Moodle Versus Didactic Lectures Methods.

To subjectively and objectively compare an accessible interactive electronic library using Moodle with lectures for urology teaching of medical students. Forty consecutive fourth-year medical students and one urology teacher were exposed to two teaching methods (4 weeks each) in the form of problem-based learning: - lectures and - student-centered group discussion based on Moodle (modular object-oriented dynamic learning environment) full time online delivered (24/7) with video surgeries, electronic urology cases and additional basic principles of the disease process. All 40 students completed the study. While 30% were moderately dissatisfied with their current knowledge base, online learning course delivery using Moodle was considered superior to the lectures by 86% of the students. The study found the following observations: (1) the increment in learning grades ranged from 7.0 to 9.7 for students in the online Moodle course compared to 4.0-9.6 to didactic lectures; (2) the self-reported student involvement in the online course was characterized as large by over 60%; (3) the teacher-student interaction was described as very frequent (50%) and moderately frequent (50%); and (4) more inquiries and requisitions by students as well as peer assisting were observed from the students using the Moodle platform. The Moodle platform is feasible and effective, enthusing medical students to learn, improving immersion in the urology clinical rotation and encouraging the spontaneous peer assisted learning. Future studies should expand objective evaluations of knowledge acquisition and retention.

Mentors, students, and the undergraduate medical course: a virtuous circle

BACKGROUND: Mentoring Programs have been developed in several medical schools, but few studies have investigated the mentors'perspective. PURPOSES: To explore mentors'perceptions regarding their experience. METHODS: Mentors at a medical school were invited to participate in an in-depth interview including questions on satisfaction, difficulties, and perception of changes resulting from the program. RESULTS: Mentors' satisfaction and difficulties are strongly associated with students'involvement in the activity. Mentors believe changes observed in students were more related to life issues; for some mentors, there is no recognition or awareness of the program. However, most of the mentors acknowledged important changes in relation to themselves: as teachers, faculty members, and individuals. CONCLUSION: Attendance is crucial for both the mentoring relationship and strengthening of the program. Students involved in the activity motivate mentors in teaching and curriculum development, thereby creating a virtuous circle and benefiting undergraduate medical education as a whole.

Time course of training-induced microcirculatory changes and of vegf expression in skeletal muscles of spontaneously hypertensive female rats

Exercise-induced vessel changes modulate arterial pressure (AP) in male spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR). Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is important for angiogenesis of skeletal muscle. The present study evaluated the time course of VEGF and angiogenesis after short- and long-term exercise training of female SHR and Wistar Kyoto (WKY) rats, 8-9 weeks (200-250 g). Rats were allocated to daily training or remained sedentary for 3 days (N = 23) or 13 weeks (N = 23). After training, the carotid artery was catheterized for AP measurements. Locomotor (tibialis anterior and gracilis) and non-locomotor skeletal muscles (temporalis) were harvested and prepared for histologic and protein expression analyses. Training increased treadmill performance by all groups (SHR = 28%, WKY = 64%, 3 days) and (SHR = 141%, WKY = 122%, 13 weeks). SHR had higher values of AP than WKY (174 ± 4 vs 111 ± 2 mmHg) that were not altered by training. Three days of running increased VEGF expression (SHR = 28%, WKY = 36%) simultaneously with an increase in capillary-to-fiber ratio in gracilis muscle (SHR = 19%, WKY = 15%). In contrast, 13 weeks of training increased gracilis capillary-to-fiber ratio (SHR = 18%, WKY = 19%), without simultaneous changes in VEGF expression. Training did not change VEGF expression and capillarity of temporalis muscle. We conclude that training stimulates time- and tissue-dependent VEGF protein expression, independent of pressure levels. VEGF triggers angiogenesis in locomotor skeletal muscle shortly after the exercise starts, but is not involved in the maintenance of capillarity after long-term exercise in female rats.

Lack of Galectin-3 Disturbs Mesenteric Lymph Node Homeostasis and B Cell Niches in the Course of Schistosoma mansoni Infection

Galectin-3 is a beta-galactoside-binding protein that has been shown to regulate pathophysiological processes, including cellular activation, differentiation and apoptosis. Recently, we showed that galectin-3 acts as a potent inhibitor of B cell differentiation into plasma cells. Here, we have investigated whether galectin-3 interferes with the lymphoid organization of B cell compartments in mesenteric lymph nodes (MLNs) during chronic schistosomiasis, using WT and galectin-3(-/-) mice. Schistosoma mansoni synthesizes GalNAc beta 1-4(Fuc alpha 1-3) GlcNAc(Lac-DiNAc) structures (N-acetylgalactosamine beta 1-4 N-acetylglucosamine), which are known to interact with galectin-3 and elicit an intense humoral response. Antigens derived from the eggs and adult worms are continuously drained to MLNs and induce a polyclonal B cell activation. In the present work, we observed that chronically-infected galectin-3(-/-) mice exhibited a significant reduced amount of macrophages and B lymphocytes followed by drastic histological changes in B lymphocyte and plasma cell niches in the MLNs. The lack of galectin-3 favored an increase in the lymphoid follicle number, but made follicular cells more susceptible to apoptotic stimuli. There were an excessive quantity of apoptotic bodies, higher number of annexin V(+)/PI(-) cells, and reduced clearance of follicular apoptotic cells in the course of schistosomiasis. Here, we observed that galectin-3 was expressed in nonlymphoid follicular cells and its absence was associated with severe damage to tissue architecture. Thus, we convey new information on the role of galectin-3 in regulation of histological events associated with B lymphocyte and plasma cell niches, apoptosis, phagocytosis and cell cycle properties in the MLNs of mice challenged with S. mansoni.

Granulomatous Reactivation during the Course of a Leprosy Infection: Reaction or Relapse

Background: Leprosy is a chronic granulomatous infectious disease and is still endemic in many parts of the world. It causes disabilities which are the consequence of nerve damage. This damage is in most cases the result of immunological reactions. Objectives: To investigate the differences between a type 1 leprosy (reversal) reaction and relapse on using histopathology. Methods: The histopathological changes in 167 biopsies from 66 leprosy patients were studied. The patients were selected when their sequential biopsies demonstrated either different patterns or maintained the same pattern of granulomatous reaction over more than two years during or after the treatment of leprosy. Results: In 57 of the patients studied, a reactivation was seen which coincided with a decrease in the bacteriological index (BI), suggesting that this reactivation (reversal reaction or type 1 leprosy reaction) coincides with an effective capacity for bacteriological clearance. In nine patients, an increase of the bacteriologic index (IB) or persistence of solid bacilli occurred during the reactivation, indicating proliferative activity, suggestive of a relapse. The histopathological aspects of the granulomas were similar in both groups. Conclusion: Bacterioscopy provided the only means to differentiate a reversal reaction from a relapse in patients with granulomatous reactivation. The type 1 leprosy reaction may be considered as a part effective immune reconstitution (reversal, upgrading reaction) or as a mere hypersensitivity reaction (downgrading reaction) in a relapse.

Efficacy of a 7-day course of furazolidone, levofloxacin, and lansoprazole after failed Helicobacter pylori eradication

Background: Increasing resistance to clarithromycin and nitroimidazole is the main cause of failure in the Helicobacter pylori eradication. The ideal retreatment regimen remains unclear, especially in developing countries, where the infection presents high prevalence and resistance to antibiotics. The study aimed at determining the efficacy, compliance and adverse effects of a regimen that included furazolidone, levofloxacin and lansoprazole in patients with persistent Helicobacter pylori infection, who had failed to respond to at least one prior eradication treatment regimen. Methods: This study included 48 patients with peptic ulcer disease. Helicobacter pylori infection was confirmed by a rapid urease test and histological examination of samples obtained from the antrum and corpus during endoscopy. The eradication therapy consisted of a 7-day twice daily oral administration of lansoprazole 30 mg, furazolidone 200 mg and levofloxacin 250 mg. Therapeutic success was confirmed by a negative rapid urease test, histological examination and 14C- urea breath test, performed 12 weeks after treatment completion. The Chi-square method was used for comparisons among eradication rates, previous treatments and previous furazolidone use. Results: Only one of the 48 patients failed to take all medications, which was due to adverse effects (vomiting). Per-protocol and intention-to-treat eradication rates were 89% (95% CI-89%-99%) and 88% (88-92%), respectively. Mild and moderate adverse effects were reported by 41 patients (85%). For patients with one previous treatment failure, the eradication rate was 100%. Compared to furazolidone-nave patients, eradication rates were lower in those who had failed prior furazolidone-containing regimen(s) (74% vs. 100%, p = 0.002). Conclusion: An empiric salvage-regimen including levofloxacin, furazolidone and lansoprazole is very effective in the eradication of Helicobacter pylori, particularly in patients that have failed one prior eradication therapy.

Age of Child, More than HPV Type, Is Associated with Clinical Course in Recurrent Respiratory Papillomatosis

Background: RRP is a devastating disease in which papillomas in the airway cause hoarseness and breathing difficulty. The disease is caused by human papillomavirus (HPV) 6 or 11 and is very variable. Patients undergo multiple surgeries to maintain a patent airway and in order to communicate vocally. Several small studies have been published in which most have noted that HPV 11 is associated with a more aggressive course. Methodology/Principal Findings: Papilloma biopsies were taken from patients undergoing surgical treatment of RRP and were subjected to HPV typing. 118 patients with juvenile-onset RRP with at least 1 year of clinical data and infected with a single HPV type were analyzed. HPV 11 was encountered in 40% of the patients. By our definition, most of the patients in the sample (81%) had run an aggressive course. The odds of a patient with HPV 11 running an aggressive course were 3.9 times higher than that of patients with HPV 6 (Fisher's exact p = 0.017). However, clinical course was more closely associated with age of the patient (at diagnosis and at the time of the current surgery) than with HPV type. Patients with HPV 11 were diagnosed at a younger age (2.4y) than were those with HPV 6 (3.4y) (p = 0.014). Both by multiple linear regression and by multiple logistic regression HPV type was only weakly associated with metrics of disease course when simultaneously accounting for age. Conclusions/Significance Abstract: The course of RRP is variable and a quarter of the variability can be accounted for by the age of the patient. HPV 11 is more closely associated with a younger age at diagnosis than it is associated with an aggressive clinical course. These data suggest that there are factors other than HPV type and age of the patient that determine disease course.

E-Learning Used in a Training Course on Atraumatic Restorative Treatment (ART) for Brazilian Dentists

The purpose of this study was to assess the benefits of using e-learning resources in a dental training course on Atraumatic Restorative Treatment (ART). This e-course was given in a DVD format, which presented the ART technique and philosophy. The participants were twenty-four dentists from the Brazilian public health system. Prior to receiving the DVD, the dentists answered a questionnaire regarding their personal data, previous knowledge about ART, and general interest in training courses. The dentists also participated in an assessment process consisting of a test applied before and after the course. A single researcher corrected the tests, and intraexaminer reproducibility was calculated (kappa=0.89). Paired t-tests were carried out to compare the means between the assessments, showing a significant improvement in the performance of the subjects on the test taken after the course (p<0.05). A linear regression model was used with the difference between the means as the outcome. A greater improvement on the test results was observed among female dentists (p=0.034), dentists working for a shorter period of time in the public health system (p=0.042), and dentists who used the ART technique only for urgent and/or temporary treatment (p=0.010). In conclusion, e-learning has the potential of improving the knowledge that dentists working in the public health system have about ART, especially those with less clinical experience and less knowledge about the subject.

Improving Critical Thinking and Clinical Reasoning With a Continuing Education Course

Background: Continuing education courses related to critical thinking and clinical reasoning are needed to improve the accuracy of diagnosis. Method: This study evaluated a 4-day, 16-hour continuing education course conducted in Brazil. Thirty-nine nurses completed a pretest and a posttest consisting of two written case studies designed to measure the accuracy of nurses` diagnoses. Results: There were significant differences in accuracy from pretest to posttest for case 1 (p = .008) and case 2 (p = .042) and overall (p = .001). Conclusion: Continuing education courses should be implemented to improve the accuracy of nurses` diagnoses. J Contin Educ Nurs 2009;40(3):121-127.

Time course of strength and power recovery after resistance training with different movement velocities

Ide, BN, Leme, TCF, Lopes, CR, Moreira, A, Dechechi, CJ, Sarraipa, MF, da Mota, GR, Brenzikofer, R, and Macedo, DV. Time course of strength and power recovery after resistance training with different movement velocities. J Strength Cond Res 25(7): 2025-2033, 2011-The purpose of this study was to evaluate the time course of strength and power recovery after a single bout of strength training designed with fast and slow contraction velocities. Nineteen male subjects were randomly divided into 2 groups: the slow-velocity contraction (SV) group and the fast velocity contraction (FV) group. Resistance training protocols consisted of 5 sets of 12 repetition maximum (5 x 12RM) with 50 seconds of rest between sets and 2 minutes between exercises. Contraction velocity was controlled by the execution time for each repetition (SV-6 seconds to complete concentric and eccentric phases and for FV-1.5 seconds). Leg Press 45 degrees 1RM (LP 1RM), horizontal countermovement jump (HCMJ), and right thigh circumference (TC) were accessed in 6 distinct moments: base (1 week before exercise), 0 (immediately after exercises), 24, 48, 72, and 96 hours after exercise protocol. The SV and FV presented significant LP 1RM decrements at 0, and these were still evident 24-48 hours postexercise. The magnitude of decline was significantly (p<0.05) higher for FV. The SV and FV presented significant HCMJ decrements at 0, but only for FV were these still evident 24-72 hours postexercise. The SV and FV presented significant TC increments at 0, and these were still evident 24-48 hours postexercise for SV but for FV it continued up to 96 hours. The magnitude of increase was significantly (p<0.05) higher for FV. In conclusion, the fast contraction velocity protocol resulted in greater decreases in LP 1RM and HCMJ performance, when compared with slow velocity. The results lead us to interpret that this variable may exert direct influence on acute muscle strength and power generation capacity.

Time course proteomic profiling of human myocardial infarction plasma samples: An approach to new biomarker discovery

Background: The aim of this study was to identify novel candidate biomarker proteins differentially expressed in the plasma of patients with early stage acute myocardial infarction (AMI) using SELDI-TOF-MS as a high throughput screening technology. Methods: Ten individuals with recent acute ischemic-type chest pain (< 12 h duration) and ST-segment elevation AMI (1STEMI) and after a second AMI (2STEMI) were selected. Blood samples were drawn at six times after STEMI diagnosis. The first stage (T(0)) was in Emergency Unit before receiving any medication, the second was just after primary angioplasty (T(2)), and the next four stages occurred at 12 h intervals after T(0). Individuals (n = 7) with similar risk factors for cardiovascular disease and normal ergometric test were selected as a control group (CG). Plasma proteomic profiling analysis was performed using the top-down (i.e. intact proteins) SELDI-TOF-MS, after processing in a Multiple Affinity Removal Spin Cartridge System (Agilent). Results: Compared with the CG, the 1STEMI group exhibited 510 differentially expressed protein peaks in the first 48 h after the AMI (p < 0.05). The 2STEMI group, had similar to 85% fewer differently expressed protein peaks than those without previous history of AMI (76, p < 0.05). Among the 16 differentially-regulated protein peaks common to both STEMI cohorts (compared with the CG at T(0)), 6 peaks were persistently down-regulated at more than one time-stage, and also were inversed correlated with serum protein markers (cTnI, CK and CKMB) during 48 h-period after IAM. Conclusions: Proteomic analysis by SELDI-TOF-MS technology combined with bioinformatics tools demonstrated differential expression during a 48 h time course suggests a potential role of some of these proteins as biomarkers for the very early stages of AMI, as well as for monitoring early cardiac ischemic recovery. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.