Browsing by Issue Date, starting with "2009-07"
Now showing 1 - 9 of 9
Results Per Page
Sort Options
- The Social Network Induced by the Common Knowledge of Proverbs.Publication . Mendes, Armando B.; Funk, MatthiasIn a series of interviews, we collected a heterogeneous set of several million relations of positive and negative knowledge that a group of thousands of people has about a set of circa twenty-two thousand Portuguese proverbs. One of the interesting questions was if we could find a minimum base of proverbs as an indicator to decide from which place a person came due to their specific profile of proverbial knowledge. Before trying this challenge, we will analyse, in this article, the probability of achieving such an idea by trying to find out if a homomorphism between the proverbial knowledge and the geographical location of a person could exist. To solve this question, we chose an approach based on the analysis of social networks where the broadcast of oral culture, at least historically, could be interpreted as a trace of direct social contact between some of their users. We found, in the present pilot-project based on small data sets, that there are clusters where the neighbourhood relation inducted by the minimum Hamming distance could be a reflex of the geographical distribution and of some migration flux of the population.
- Student engagement in Portuguese schools : A national projectPublication . Veiga, Feliciano Henriques; Almeida, Ana; Carvalho, Carolina; Janeiro, Isabel; Nogueira, João; Melo, Madalena; Festas, Isabel; Bahia, Sara; Caldeira, Suzana NunesThe objective of this project is to analyse Student Engagement in Portuguese Schools (SEPS). The framework is linked to the "Exploring Student Engagement in Schools Internationally". The team of researchers conceptualized 6 major studies to analyse the relations between SEPS and: contextual factors; personal factors; student's outcomes; teachers' representations; and effects on SEPS of specific intervention programmes. The sample is around 1200 students, from preschool to 10th grade. The results will allow a deeper knowledge of SEPS and an international comparison with other countries.
- A software framework for measuring efficiency.Publication . Noncheva, Veska; Mendes, Armando B.; Silva, Emiliana"[...]. PAR is a software framework using a variety of models estimating efficiency and providing results explanation functionality. [...]. We are applying PAR framework to estimate the efficiency of the agricultural system in Azores [Mendes et al., 2009]. All Azorean farms will be clustered into homogeneous groups according to their efficiency measurements to define clusters of "good" practices and cluster of "less good" practices. This makes PAR appropriate to support public policies in agriculture sector in Azores. [...]"
- Programação museológica e espaço arquitectónico : o Museu Carlos Machado de Ponta Delgada, AçoresPublication . França, Igor Tavares de Melo Espínola; D'Alfonso, Maddalena; Martins, Rui de Sousa[…]. Efectivamente, a arquitectura de museus é um dos mais interessantes temas da arquitectura contemporânea. O fascínio que os museus hoje exercem no imaginário das sociedades desenvolvidas, radica, em grande parte, no facto dos seus edifícios constituírem, frequentemente, uma presença icónica no contexto urbano em que se inserem. Esse mecanismo de encantamento apoia-se no reconhecimento de que, num mundo crescentemente padronizado, uma arquitectura promotora de diferença, e susceptível de afirmar as “cores” de uma cidade, de uma região, ou mesmo de uma nação, pode constituir uma mais-valia assinalável. Suplantando os “herdeiros” das grandes catedrais medievais, estações ferroviárias, hospitais, fábricas, bibliotecas, prenunciados pelas vanguardasmodernistas, são precisamente os museus que hoje mais próximos estão decumprirem aquela profecia. Recentemente essa presunção tem-se apoiado num entendimento escultórico do edifício, que se afirma como algo de espectacular e susceptível de rivalizar, ou até mesmo de anular, a lógica expositiva. Por outro lado, desde remotamente considerados “instrumentos de medida” do nível cultural de um povo, pese embora o facto de terem despertado ódios e desamores ao longo da sua existência multissecular, são, ainda hoje, os edifícios dos museus que enformam o espaço expositivo por excelência. Este aspecto assume especial relevância na cultura ocidental, precisamente a geradora da instituição museal, uma vez que aquela se afirma na inter-relação entre a mensagem e o espaço onde a obra é exposta. Assim, encontrar um ponto de equilíbrio entre continente e conteúdo, entre o carácter distintivo da marca urbana, ou a exaltação pura e simples da arte e do coleccionismo abrigados no museu, deverá constituir-se como o principal desafio a enfrentar pelo arquitecto, chamado a intervir nesta área da arquitectura contemporânea. É neste contexto que a manifestação recente, por parte da tutela, da vontade de investir na sede do Museu Carlos Machado, constitui uma oportunidade para refundar o seu projecto museológico, conferindo às suas infra-estruturas as condições necessárias à sua implementação. É aquele pressuposto que justifica o nosso interesse em desenvolver este trabalho que, sendo embora um exercício académico, constitui também resposta a uma situação concreta. […].
- À procura de novas formas de vida.Publication . Tavares, JoãoCerca de 80 expedicionários regionais, nacionais e intemacionais, entre os quais 19 docentes e investigadores, estão a partir de hoje a desenvolver em Santa Maria uma série de estudos "para aprofundar o conhecimento sobre a vida e o ambiente", integrados na decima quarta expedição científica promovida pelo Departamento de Biologia da Universidade dos Açores. Durante uma semana, a equipa expedicionária, coordenada pelo Doutor João Tavares, director do Departamento de Biologia, vai em busca de novas formas de vida e promove uma série de conferências sobre temas de interesse relevante para os Açores.
- Predaea feldmannii subsp. azorica (Nemastomataceae, Nemastomatales), a new subspecies of red algae (Rhodophyta) from the AzoresPublication . Gabriel, Daniela; Schils, Tom; Neto, Ana I.; Paramio, Luz; Fredericq, SuzanneThe red algal genus Predaea (Rhodophyta, Nemastomataceae, Nemastomatales) currently comprises 20 species found in tropical to temperate waters worldwide. The species going under the name Predaea feldmannii (Nemastomataceae, Nemastomatales) in the Azores is here reduced to subspecies rank as P. feldmannii subsp. azorica on the basis of comparative morphology and rbcL sequence analysis. The evidence presented here includes a phylogenetic tree inferred from chloroplast-encoded rbcL sequences of selected members of the Nemastomatales. P. feldmannii subsp. azorica shares with P. feldmannii subsp. feldmannii linear-oblong outer cortical cells, dichotomously branched cortical fascicles, a large number of auxiliary nutritive cells per cluster, and gonimoblast initiation from the incoming connecting filament near its point of fusion with the auxiliary cell. Differences include a sac-like, lobed thallus and occasional lateral cells on the carpogonial branch in the Azorean subspecies, versus a subcylindrical, subdichotomous habit with marginal lobes, and lack of lateral cells on the carpogonial branch in P. feldmannii subsp. feldmannii. The known distribution of P. feldmannii subsp. feldmannii is worldwide in tropical regions and so far P. feldmannii subsp. azorica is known only from the Azores.
- Trace metals and over-expression of metallothioneins in bladder tumoral lesions: a case-control studyPublication . Amaral, André; Cymbron, Teresa; Gärtner, Fátima; Lima, Manuela; Rodrigues, ArmindoBackground: Previous studies have provided some evidence of a possible association between cancer and metallothioneins. Whether this relates to an exposure to carcinogenic metals remains unclear. Methods: In order to examine the association between the expression of metallothioneins and bladder tumors, and to compare the levels of arsenic, cadmium, chromium, lead and nickel in animals with bladder tumors and animals without bladder tumors, 37 cases of bovine bladder tumors and 17 controls were collected. The detection and quantification of metallothioneins in bladder tissue of both cases and controls was performed by immunohistochemistry. And the quantification of metals in tissue and hair was assessed by inductively coupled plasma – mass spectrometry. Results: Increased expression of metallothioneins was associated with bladder tumors when compared with non-tumoral bladder tissue (OR = 9.3, 95% CI: 1.0 – 480). The concentrations of cadmium, chromium, lead and nickel in hair of cases were significantly higher than those of controls. However, as for the concentration of metals in bladder tissue, the differences were not significant. Conclusion: Though the sample size was small, the present study shows an association between bladder tumors and metallothioneins. Moreover, it shows that concentrations of metals such as cadmium, chromium, lead and nickel in hair may be used as a biomarker of exposure.
- The red algal genus Titanophora (Schizymeniaceae, Nemastomatales) in the Gulf of MexicoPublication . Gabriel, Daniela; Fredericq, SuzanneABSTRACT: "Titanophora (J. Agardh) Feldmann currently comprises nine species inhabiting tropical and subtropical waters worldwide. The genus is distinguished from other members of the Schizymeniaceae primarily by the calcification of the frond and the presence of an involucre surrounding the carposporophyte. The present study provides a characterization of four distinct Titanophora species that were dredged throughout the Gulf of Mexico. On the basis of comparative vegetative and reproductive morphology and chloroplast-encoded rbcL sequence analysis, a new record for the Gulf, T. submarina Bucher & J.N. Norris, and two species new to science in addition to T. incrustans (J. Agardh) Boergesen are recognized for the region."
- New insights in the systematics of Peyssonnelia and the Peyssonneliaceae (Rhodophyta), with emphasis on taxa from the Gulf of Mexico and PanamaPublication . Krayesky, David; Norris, James N.; Gabrielson, Paul W.; Gabriel, Daniela; Fredericq, SuzanneABSTRACT: "Peyssonnelia Decaisne comprises a worldwide group of non-calcified or calcified, crust-forming red algae of great ecological significance, with some species involved in the establishment of rhodoliths. Of the eight genera currently recognized in the family, Peyssonnelia, is widely viewed to contain the largest number of species. The number of distinct species of Peyssonneliaceae present in the Gulf of Mexico has increased from 6 to 21. Comparative morphology, chloroplast-encoded rbcL and nuclear LSU rDNA sequence data suggest that species of Peyssonnelia do not occur in the Gulf of Mexico, and that previously reported Peyssonnelia species for the region actually belong to other genera of the Peyssonneliales." (a) University of Louisiana at Lafayette (b) Smithsonian Institution (c) University of North Carolina