Browsing by Issue Date, starting with "2011-10"
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- A definition of literary literacy: a content analysis of literature syllabuses and interviews with Portuguese lecturers of literaturePublication . Baleiro, RitaThe aim of this paper is to present a definition of literary literacy in the context of majors in languages, literatures and cultures, in Portugal. A definition of literary literacy was deduced from a content analysis of primary data sources and from the theoretical underpinnings of the transactional theory of reading. The primary data sources are fourteen Portuguese and English literature syllabuses from four Portuguese universities (Lisboa, Nova, Coimbra and Porto) and twelve interviews with Portuguese university lecturers of literature. Based on the findings of a content analysis of both syllabuses and interviews, from the lecturers‘ point of view, a literary literate student doing a major in languages, literatures and cultures must, above all, be able to contextualize literary texts and their authors both historically and culturally, must be able to present an interpretation as a coherent text, and must be able to do and organize bibliographical research.
- BAM: business alignment methodologyPublication . Zacarias, Marielba; Martins, Paula VenturaInformation flows across the organization are complex and procedures employed to understand, share and control organizational knowledge and experiences should be properly supported by collaborative environments. Nevertheless, few collaborative methodologies had been proposed to describe and evolve business processes. In the future, business processes models should be the result of cross-team and cross-departmental collaboration, with involved business people sharing their personal knowledge and formalizing it. This paper focuses on a methodology for business process discovery and the importance to integrate local information into coherent and sound process definitions. Business Alignment Methodology (BAM) is a methodology that provides guidance about how organizational practices and knowledge are gathered to contribute for business process improvement against current BPM approaches.
- Age and growth of the bigeye thresher shark, Alopias superciliosus, from the pelagic longline fisheries in the tropical northeastern Atlantic Ocean, determined by vertebral band countsPublication . Fernandez-Carvalho, Joana; Coelho, Rui; Erzini, Karim; Santos, Miguel NevesThe bigeye thresher, Alopias supercilious, is commonly caught as bycatch in pelagic longline fisheries targeting swordfish. Little information is yet available on the biology of this species, however. As part of an ongoing study, observers sent aboard fishing vessels have been collecting set of information that includes samples of vertebrae, with the aim of investigating age and growth of A. supercilious. A total of 117 specimens were sampled between September 2008 and October 2009 in the tropical northeastern Atlantic, with specimens ranging from 101 to 242 cm fork length (FL) (176 to 407 cm total length). The A. supercilious vertebrae were generally difficult to read, mainly because they were poorly calcified, which is typical of Lamniformes sharks. Preliminary trials were carried out to determine the most efficient band enhancement technique for this species, in which crystal violet section staining was found to be the best methodology. Estimated ages in this sample ranged from 2 to 22 years for females and 1 to 17 years for males. A version of the von Bertalanffy growth model (VBGF) re-parameterised to estimate L(0), and a modified VBGF using a fixed L(0) were fitted to the data. The Akaike information criterion (AIC) was used to compare these models. The VBGF produced the best results, with the following parameters: L(inf) = 293 cm FL, k = 0.06 y(-1) and L(0) = 111 cm FL for females; L(inf) = 206 cm FL, k = 0.18 y(-1) and L(0) = 93 cm FL for males. The estimated growth coefficients confirm that A. supercilious is a slow-growing species, highlighting its vulnerability to fishing pressure. It is therefore urgent to carry out more biological research to inform fishery managers more adequately and address conservation issues.
- Disparity energy model with keypoint disparity validationPublication . Farrajota, Miguel; Martins, J. C.; Rodrigues, J. M. F.; du Buf, J. M. H.A biological disparity energy model can estimate local depth information by using a population of V1 complex cells. Instead of applying an analytical model which explicitly involves cell parameters like spatial frequency, orientation, binocular phase and position difference, we developed a model which only involves the cells’ responses, such that disparity can be extracted from a population code, using only a set of previously trained cells with random-dot stereograms of uniform disparity. Despite good results in smooth regions, the model needs complementary processing, notably at depth transitions. We therefore introduce a new model to extract disparity at keypoints such as edge junctions, line endings and points with large curvature. Responses of end-stopped cells serve to detect keypoints, and those of simple cells are used to detect orientations of their underlying line and edge structures. Annotated keypoints are then used in the leftright matching process, with a hierarchical, multi-scale tree structure and a saliency map to segregate disparity. By combining both models we can (re)define depth transitions and regions where the disparity energy model is less accurate.
- Inorganic arsenic in Chinese food and its cancer riskPublication . Li, Gang; Sun, Guo-Xin; Williams, Paul N.; Nunes, L.; Zhu, Yong-GuanEven moderate arsenic exposure may lead to health problems, and thus quantifying inorganic arsenic (iAs) exposure from food for different population groups in China is essential. By analyzing the data from the China National Nutrition and Health Survey (CNNHS) and collecting reported values of iAs in major food groups, we developed a framework of calculating average iAs daily intake for different regions of China. Based on this framework, cancer risks from As in food was deterministically and probabilistically quantified. The article presents estimates for health risk due to the ingestion of food products contaminated with arsenic. Both per individual and for total population estimates were obtained. For the total population, daily iAs intake is around 42 mu g day(-1), and rice is the largest contributor of total iAs intake accounting for about 60%. Incremental lifetime cancer risk from food iAs intake is 106 per 100,000 for adult individuals and the median population cancer risk is 177 per 100,000 varying between regions. Population in the Southern region has a higher cancer risk than that in the Northern region and the total population. Sensitive analysis indicated that cancer slope factor, ingestion rates of rice, aquatic products and iAs concentration in rice were the most relevant variables in the model, as indicated by their higher contribution to variance of the incremental lifetime cancer risk. We conclude that rice may be the largest contributor of iAs through food route for the Chinese people. The population from the South has greater cancer risk than that from the North and the whole population. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
- Percepções de duas professoras do 1º ciclo sobre actividades preconizadas no EECPublication . Dionísio Gonçalves, Carla Alexandra Lourenço Duarte RochaEste estudo insere-se no quadro de uma investigação mais ampla, onde se pretende averiguar que mudanças evidenciam os professores do 1º Ciclo do Ensino Básico (1º CEB) nas concepções de ensino e de aprendizagem, após a implementação do Programa de Formação de Professores do 1º CEB em Ensino Experimental das Ciências (PFEEC). Discute-se, com base nos resultados de uma entrevista semi-estruturada, a situação particular de duas formandas em dois momentos distintos do processo: antes do PFEEC e após a conclusão deste programa de formação. Pretende-se dar resposta às seguintes questões de investigação: (i) Que expectativas revelam os professores do 1º Ciclo sobre as actividades que irão ser implementadas no PFFEC? (ii) Que potencialidades atribuem os professores às actividades, no âmbito das Ciências Experimentais, após a realização desse programa de formação? (iii) Que dificuldades encontram esses professores na implementação dessas actividades?
- Local gist vision of man-made objectsPublication . Martins, J. C.; Rodrigues, J. M. F.; du Buf, J. M. H.Attention is usually modelled by sequential fixation of peaks in saliency maps. Those maps code local conspicuity: complexity, colour and texture. Such features have no relation to entire objects, unless also disparity and optical flow are considered, which often segregate entire objects from their background. Recently we developed a model of local gist vision: which types of objects are about where in a scene. This model addresses man-made objects which are dominated by a small shape repertoire: squares, rectangles, trapeziums, triangles, circles and ellipses. Only exploiting local colour contrast, the model can detect these shapes by a small hierarchy of cell layers devoted to low- and mid-level geometry. The model has been tested successfully on video sequences containing traffic signs and other scenes, and partial occlusions were not problematic.
- Quando a transgressão é norma: a religião grega em progressoPublication . Nogueira, AdrianaEste trabalho é o resultado de uma reflexão sobre a relação entre homem e divindade e as questões que a partir desta se levantam, nomeadamente a relação tomada quer de um ponto de vista individual, quer de um ponto de vista de grupo. Dentro das possibilidades que esta equação permite, interessa-me sobretudo a relação que o homem estabelece com o divino através de rituais de iniciação que, por sua vez, implicam a participação colectiva. Esta forma de relacionamento homem/divindade ultrapassa (apesar das necessárias coincidências) as aventuras dos deuses que as histórias da mitologia nos trouxeram. A ênfase deste artigo será dada aos aspectos transgressores dos cultos. Isto é, o que devia ser considerado como transgressão é norma em determinadas e delimitadas circunstâncias.
- Erratum: Mixed quantum-classical dynamics of an amide-I vibrational excitation in a protein a-helix [Phys. Rev. B 82, 174308 (2010)]Publication . Freedman, Holly; Martel, Paulo; Cruzeiro, LeonorIn the GROMACS codemodifications, instead of the nanometer unit for the distance that is standard in GROMACS, a unit of 1 °A was previously assumed. This led to dipole-dipole interactions between amide I vibrations at different sites and the interaction energies of the amide I vibration with the protein hydrogen bonds being overestimated, respectively, by three orders and by one order of magnitude.
- Skin healing and scale regeneration in fed and unfed sea bream, Sparus auratusPublication . Vieira, Florbela A.; Gregorio, Silvia; Ferraresso, Serena; Thorne, Michael A. S.; Costa, Rita; Milan, Massimo; Bargelloni, Luca; Clark, M. S.; Canario, Adelino V. M.; Power, DeborahAbstract Background Fish scales are an important reservoir of calcium and phosphorus and together with the skin function as an integrated barrier against environmental changes and external aggressors. Histological studies have revealed that the skin and scales regenerate rapidly in fish when they are lost or damaged. In the present manuscript the histological and molecular changes underlying skin and scale regeneration in fed and fasted sea bream (Sparus auratus) were studied using a microarray 3 and 7 days after scale removal to provide a comprehensive molecular understanding of the early stages of these processes. Results Histological analysis of skin/scales revealed 3 days after scale removal re-epithelisation and formation of the scale pocket had occurred and 53 and 109 genes showed significant up or down-regulation, respectively. Genes significantly up-regulated were involved in cell cycle regulation, cell proliferation and adhesion, immune response and antioxidant activities. 7 days after scale removal a thin regenerated scale was visible and only minor changes in gene expression occurred. In animals that were fasted to deplete mineral availability the expression profiles centred on maintaining energy homeostasis. The utilisation of fasting as a treatment emphasised the competing whole animal physiological requirements with regard to barrier repair, infection control and energy homeostasis. Conclusions The identification of numerous genes involved in the mitotic checkpoint and cell proliferation indicate that the experimental procedure may be useful for understanding cell proliferation and control in vertebrates within the context of the whole animal physiology. In response to skin damage genes of immune surveillance were up-regulated along with others involved in tissue regeneration required to rapidly re-establish barrier function. Additionally, candidate fish genes were identified that may be involved in cytoskeletal re-modelling, mineralization and stem cells, which are of potential use in aquaculture and fish husbandry, as they may impact on the ability of the fish to produce structural proteins, such as muscle, efficiently.