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The “Great Municipalities to Live” project, developed by INTEC since 2008, aims to measure and rank the quality of life in Portuguese municipalities. While international comparisons of quality of life do exist, this initiative focuses on the local level, where public policies impact citizens’ lives more directly. The project combines both subjective and objective indicators, addressing aspects such as health services, education, housing, and employment. The framework includes 10 domains of quality of life, such as environment, economy, health, culture, and security, among others. Objective data is sourced from public databases such as INE (Instituto Nacional de Estatística), while subjective data is collected through large-scale national surveys, with over 4,000 participants in the 2022 edition. The 2022 results identified key predictors of well-being: satisfaction with professional life, purchasing power relative to the cost of living, and housing quality. These findings are particularly relevant in the context of Portugal’s current economic challenges, including high inflation and a significant rise in housing prices. Job satisfaction emerged as the most predictive factor, highlighting the need for public policies that address employment conditions and economic stability. This study emphasizes the importance of material and financial factors in shaping citizens’ perceptions of well-being, suggesting targeted actions to improve living conditions and support sustainable local development.

Organizational commitment is an indicator of organizational performance, regarding the attainment of competitive advantages. Knowing the factors that promote or inhibit organizational commitment fills a gap in the literature in the area of aversive leadership in Angola and reinforces the role of managers in promoting employees’ organizational commitment. This study aimed to analyze the moderating role of perceived aversive leadership in the relationship between psychological capital and organizational commitment. Although recent studies have indicated the negative effects of aversive leadership on organizational outcomes, the role of perceived aversive leadership on employees’ organizational commitment has not been tested. To this end, we applied a self-report questionnaire from 335 employees from different sectors of activity in Angola to examine this relationship. To analyze the results of the study, we used structural equation modeling. The results showed that the relevance of psychological capital in organizational commitment is highlighted when perceived aversive leadership is low. On the other hand, when perceived aversive leadership is high, employees will exhibit lower levels of organizational commitment. This study may influence the adoption of more sophisticated leadership selection techniques, based on behavioral and situational interviews, to ensure that professionals with aversive behaviors cannot hold positions of responsibility.

This article presents new research on producing lignin nanoparticles (LNPs) using the antisolvent nanoprecipitation method. Acetone (90%) served as the lignin solvent and water (100%) as the antisolvent, using five types of lignins from various sources. Comprehensive characterization techniques, including NMR, GPC, FTIR, TEM, and DLS, were employed to assess both lignin and LNP properties. The antioxidant activity of the LNPs was evaluated as well. The results demonstrated the successful formation of spherical nanoparticles below 100 nm with initial lignin concentrations of 1 and 2%w/v. The study highlighted the crucial role of lignin purity in LNP formation and colloidal stability, noting that residual carbohydrates adversely affect efficiency. This method offers a straightforward, environmentally friendly approach using cost-effective solvents, applicable to diverse lignin sources. The innovation of this study lies in its demonstration of a cost-effective and eco-friendly method to produce stable, nanometric-sized spherical LNPs. These LNPs have significant potential as reinforcement materials due to their reinforcing capability, hydrophilicity, and UV absorption. This work underscores the importance of starting material purity for optimizing the process and achieving the desired nanometric dimensions, marking a pioneering advancement in lignin-based nanomaterials.

We analyze JWST Mid-Infrared Instrument/Medium Resolution Spectrograph integral field unit observations of three Seyferts from the Galactic Activity, Torus, and Outflow Survey (GATOS) and showcase the intriguing polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) and emission-line characteristics in regions of ∼500 pc scales over or around their active galactic nuclei (AGN). Combing the measurements and model predictions, we find that the central regions containing a high fraction of neutral PAHs with small sizes, e.g., those in ESO137-G034, are in highly heated environments, due to collisional shock heating, with hard and moderately intense radiation fields. Such environments are proposed to result in inhibited growth or preferential erosion of PAHs, decreasing their average size and overall abundance. We additionally find that the central regions containing a high fraction of ionized PAHs with large sizes, e.g., those in MCG-05-23-016, are likely experiencing severe photoionization because of the radiative effects from the radiative shock precursor besides the AGN. The severe photoionization can contribute to the ionization and further destruction of PAHs. Overall, different Seyferts, even different regions in the same galaxy, e.g., those in NGC 3081, can contain PAH populations of different properties. Specifically, Seyferts that exhibit similar PAH characteristics to ESO137-G034 and MCG-05-23-016 also tend to have similar emission-line properties to them, suggesting that the explanations for PAH characteristics of ESO137-G034 and MCG-05-23-016 may also apply generally. These results have promising application in the era of JWST, especially in diagnosing different (i.e., radiative and kinetic) AGN feedback modes.

Utilizing JWST MIRI/Medium Resolution Spectrograph integral field unit observations of the kiloparsec-scale central regions, we showcase the diversity of ionized gas distributions and kinematics in six nearby Seyfert galaxies included in the GATOS survey. Specifically, we present spatially resolved flux distribution and velocity field maps of six ionized emission lines covering a large range of ionization potentials (15.8–97.1 eV). Based on these maps, we showcase the evidence of ionized gas outflows in the six targets, and find some highly disturbed regions in NGC 5728, NGC 5506, and ESO137-G034. We propose active galactic nucleus (AGN)-driven radio jets plausibly play an important role in triggering these highly disturbed regions. With the outflow rates estimated based on [Ne V ] emission, we find the six targets tend to have ionized outflow rates converged to a narrower range than the previous finding. These results have an important implication for the outflow properties in AGN of comparable luminosity.

Pancreatic cancer (PC) is an aggressive cancer subtype presenting unmet clinical challenges. Conventional chemotherapy, which includes antimetabolite gemcitabine (GEM), is seriously undermined by a short half-life, its lack of targeting ability, and systemic toxicity. GEM incorporation in self-assembled nanosystems is still underexplored due to GEM’s hydrophilicity which hinders efficient encapsulation. We hypothesized that vitamin E succinate–GEM prodrug (VES-GEM conjugate) combines hydrophobicity and multifunctionalities that can facilitate the development of Pluronic® F68 and Pluronic® F127 micelle-based nanocarriers, improving the therapeutic potential of GEM. Pluronic® F68/VES-GEM and Pluronic® F127/VES-GEM micelles covering a wide range of molar ratios were prepared by solvent evaporation applying different purification methods, and characterized regarding size, charge, polydispersity index, morphology, and encapsulation. Moreover, the effect of sonication and ultrasonication and the influence of a co-surfactant were explored together with drug release, stability, blood compatibility, efficacy against tumour cells, and cell uptake. The VES-GEM conjugate-loaded micelles showed acceptable size and high encapsulation efficiency (>95%) following an excipient reduction rationale. Pluronic® F127/VES-GEM micelles evidenced a superior VES-GEM release profile (cumulative release > 50%, pH = 7.4), stability, cell growth inhibition (

The current study investigated gender (control) and number (target) agreement processing in Northern and non-Northern Norwegians living in Northern Norway. Participants varied in exposure to Northern Norwegian (NN) dialect(s), where number marking differs from most other Norwegian dialects. In a comprehension task involving reading NN dialect writing, P600 effects for number agreement were significantly affected by NN exposure. The more exposure the NN nonnatives had, the larger the P600 was, driven by the "presence" of number agreement (ungrammatical in NN). In contrast, less exposure correlated to the inverse: P600 driven by the "absence" of number agreement (ungrammatical in most other dialects). The NN natives showed P600 driven by the "presence" of number agreement regardless of exposure. These findings suggests that bilectalism entails the representation of distinct mental grammars for each dialect. However, like all instances of bilingualism, bilectalism exists on a continuum whereby linguistic processing is modulated by linguistic experience.

Organizational commitment is an indicator of organizational performance, regarding the attainment of competitive advantages. Knowing the factors that promote or inhibit organizational commitment fills a gap in the literature in the area of aversive leadership in Angola and reinforces the role of managers in promoting employees' organizational commitment. This study aimed to analyze the moderating role of perceived aversive leadership in the relationship between psychological capital and organizational commitment. Although recent studies have indicated the negative effects of aversive leadership on organizational outcomes, the role of perceived aversive leadership on employees' organizational commitment has not been tested. To this end, we applied a self-report questionnaire from 335 employees from different sectors of activity in Angola to examine this relationship. To analyze the results of the study, we used structural equation modeling. The results showed that the relevance of psychological capital in organizational commitment is highlighted when perceived aversive leadership is low. On the other hand, when perceived aversive leadership is high, employees will exhibit lower levels of organizational commitment. This study may influence the adoption of more sophisticated leadership selection techniques, based on behavioral and situational interviews, to ensure that professionals with aversive behaviors cannot hold positions of responsibility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This document provides a summary of a research topic on heritage language (HL) acquisition, processing, and maintenance. The studies included in the research topic explore various aspects of HL bilingualism, including cross-cultural and cross-linguistic differences in speech act pragmatics, syntactic processing, and grammatical gender knowledge. The studies utilize different methodologies such as self-paced reading tasks, eye-tracking, and EEG/ERP to investigate linguistic processing in HL speakers. The findings highlight the complexity and richness of HL bilingualism and emphasize the importance of considering linguistic, cognitive, and sociocultural factors in understanding HL acquisition. The research topic serves as a foundation for future research and pedagogical innovations in the field of HL bilingualism. [Extracted from the article]

A educação brasileira está vinculada ao projeto colonial. Assim, é necessário adotar abordagens pedagógicas que busquem superar essa realidade. Este trabalho propõe uma reflexão sobre como três coleções de livros didáticos de Ciências da Natureza, do Ensino Médio, nas unidades referentes à história e natureza da ciência, atuam na preservação da colonialidade e/ou como age para superá-la. Para isso, questionamos: quais traços de colonialidade/decolonialidade estão presentes em livros didáticos de Ciências da Natureza, aprovados pelo Programa Nacional do Livro e do Material Didático 2021? Como esses traços são manifestados? Realizamos uma Análise de Conteúdo sob uma perspectiva decolonial. Observamos a presença dos seguintes traços de colonialidade: hierarquização e silenciamento de conhecimentos; caracterização da ciência moderna ocidental como universal e único conhecimento válido para ser propagado na educação formal. Salientamos evidências de pequenos progressos, como a citação de povos não-europeus. Concluímos que não há livro totalmente alinhado às discussões propostas por uma educação científica decolonial, apesar de ser possível observar alguns avanços em determinadas coleções. Reconhecer tais traços é um importante passo rumo à construção e estabelecimento de uma educação científica decolonial, pois a partir disso é possível escrever novas histórias e almejar outros futuros possíveis. Logo, fomentamos discussões sobre como os LD estão lidando com elementos decoloniais.

Nas últimas décadas, houve um foco significativo nas pesquisas sobre o ensino de ciências, que se concentraram em compreender e analisar as dificuldades e lacunas no processo ensino-aprendizagem. Ao mesmo tempo, essas pesquisas propuseram metodologias e estudos com o objetivo de aprimorar tanto qualitativamente quanto quantitativamente o processo ensino-aprendizagem. Portanto, este artigo tem como objetivo analisar as percepções dos Estudantes acerca da utilização do método hipotético dedutivo no processo de ensino-aprendizagem, de uma instituição de ensino superior pública do estado do Amazonas, quais são as habilidades hipotético-dedutivas, sejam nas questões acadêmicas, pessoais e profissionais e, desta forma, aplicamos questionários baseados na escala Likert para uma amostra de 21 alunos do curso de licenciatura em Física em que verificamos o desconhecimentos destes quanto as habilidades hipotético-dedutivas. A abordagem da pesquisa é qualitativa, este estudo visa não apenas reconhecer as habilidades presentes, mas também propor caminhos para aprimorar qualitativa e quantitativamente o processo ensino-aprendizagem, alinhando-se ao contexto específico dos cursos de licenciatura em física na região amazônica.

The present study uses electroencephalography (EEG) with an N-back task (0-, 1-, and 2-back) to investigate if and how individual bilingual experiences modulate brain activity and cognitive processes. The N-back is an especially appropriate task given recent proposals situating bilingual effects on neurocognition within the broader attentional control system (Bialystok and Craik, 2022). Beyond its working memory component, the N-Back task builds in complexity incrementally, progressively taxing the attentional system. EEG, behavioral and language/social background data were collected from 60 bilinguals. Two cognitive loads were calculated: low (1-back minus 0-back) and high (2-back minus 0-back). Behavioral performance and brain recruitment were modeled as a function of individual differences in bilingual engagement. We predicted task performance as modulated by bilingual engagement would reflect cognitive demands of increased complexity: slower reaction times and lower accuracy, and increase in theta, decrease in alpha and modulated N2/P3 amplitudes. The data show no modulation of the expected behavioral effects by degree of bilingual engagement. However, individual differences analyses reveal significant correlations between non-societal language use in Social contexts and alpha in the low cognitive load condition and age of acquisition of the L2/2L1 with theta in the high cognitive load. These findings lend some initial support to Bialystok and Craik (2022), showing how certain adaptations at the brain level take place in order to deal with the cognitive demands associated with variations in bilingual language experience and increases in attentional load. Furthermore, the present data highlight how these effects can play out differentially depending on cognitive testing/modalities – that is, effects were found at the TFR level but not behaviorally or in the ERPs, showing how the choice of analysis can be deterministic when investigating bilingual effects.

This study examines online processing and offline judgments of subject-verb person agreement with a focus on how this is impacted by markedness in heritage speakers (HSs) of Italian. To this end, 54 adult HSs living in Germany and 40 homeland Italian speakers completed a self-paced reading task (SPRT) and a grammaticality judgment task (GJT). Markedness was manipulated by probing agreement with both first-person (marked) and third-person (unmarked) subjects. Agreement was manipulated by crossing first-person marked subjects with third-person unmarked verbs and vice versa. Crucially, person violations with 1st person subjects (e.g., io *suona la chitarra “I plays-3rd-person the guitar”) yielded significantly shorter RTs in the SPRT and higher accuracy in the GJT than the opposite error type (e.g., il giornalista *esco spesso “the journalist go-1st-person out often”). This effect is consistent with the claim that when the first element in the dependency is marked (first person), the parser generates stronger predictions regarding upcoming agreeing elements. These results nicely align with work from the same populations investigating the impact of morphological markedness on grammatical gender agreement, suggesting that markedness impacts agreement similarly in two distinct grammatical domains and that sensitivity to markedness is more prevalent for HSs.