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First Published June 4, 2020., Forensic DNA phenotyping isa genetic technology that might be used in criminal investigations. Based on DNA samples of the human bodyfound at crime scenes, it allows to infer externally visible characteristics (such as eye, hair and skin colour)and continental-based biogeographical ancestry.By indicating the probable visible appearance of a criminal suspect, forensic DNA phenotyping allows to narrowdown the focus of a criminal investigation.In this article, drawing on interviews with forensic geneticists, we explorehow their narratives translate contemporary focus on criminalmolecularizedbodies. We propose the concept of (de)materialization to approach three aspects of the forensic geneticists’ views. The first regards consideringbodies as mutable entities. The second relates to socially contingent meanings attributed to bodies. The third regardsto controversies surrounding data reliability.Byreflecting upon the(de)materialization of criminal bodies, forensic geneticists juxtapose the defence and unsettling of forensic DNA phenotyping claims., This work has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (Consolidation grant, agreement No. [648608]) within the project “EXCHANGE – Forensic geneticists and the transnational exchange of DNA data in the EU: Engaging science with social control, citizenship and democracy”, which is led by Helena Machado and hosted at the Communication and Society Research Centre (CECS), Institute for Social Sciences of the University of Minho, Portugal.

Effects of preharvest sprays of calcium with and without traditional and novel growth regulators (gibberellic acid, abscisic acid and salicylic acid, glycine betaine and a biostimulant (Ascophyllum nodosum)) on quality and sensory attributes of ‘Skeena’ and ‘Sweetheart’ sweet cherries were investigated at harvest. Experiments were carried out during 2015 and 2016 in a Portuguese orchard. Spray treatment effects were affected by cultivar and year, with spray treatments eliciting more responses in 2016 and for ‘Sweetheart’ cherries. Abscisic acid spray treatment showed small effects on quality attributes at harvest. Gibberellic and salicylic acid increased fruit weight, while glycine betaine with calcium increased fruit weight, appearance and colour development. The spray treatments did not affect the soluble sugars, while salicylic acid and Ascophyllum nodosum with calcium increased total organic acid levels. Gibberellic acid and glycine betaine sprays are candidates to increase quality attributes at harvest for two important commercial cherry cultivars.

Cracking of sweet cherry (Prunus avium L.) fruits is caused by rain events close to harvest. This problem has occurred in most cherry growing regions with significant economic losses. Several orchard management practices have been applied to reduce the severity of this disorder, like the foliar application of minerals or growth regulators. In the present study, we hypothesized that preharvest spray treatments improve the physiological performance of sweet cherry trees and could also mitigate environmental stressful conditions. Effects of repeated foliar spraying of calcium (Ca), gibberellic acid (GA3), abscisic acid (ABA), salicylic acid (SA), glycine betaine (GB), and the biostimulant Ascophyllum nodosum (AN) on the physiological and biochemical performance of &lsquo, Skeena&rsquo, sweet cherry trees during two consecutive years (without Ca in 2015 and in 2016 with addition of Ca) were studied. Results showed that in general spray treatments improved the physiological performance and water status of the trees. AN and ABA sprays were demonstrated to be the best compounds for increasing yield and reducing cherry cracking as well as improving photosynthetic performance and leaf metabolites content. In conclusion, AN and ABA might be promising tools in the fruit production system.

Tese de Doutoramento em Psicologia Aplicada, Children’s emotional and behavioural functioning is increasingly recognized as critical for children's success, in school as well as in other contexts, and in later phases of life into adulthood. Emotional and behavioural disorders during early childhood has been vastly studied, with recent considerable interest in expanding the research from environmental (e.g., maternal care and contextual experience), to genetic predictors (e.g., polymorphisms in neurotransmission system, given its link to behaviour). Despite this growing interest, research is still in many ways preliminary. The goal of the present doctoral dissertation was to study preschoolers’ emotional and behavioural disorders using a Gene-X-Environment interaction (GxE) approach, combining environmental variables and child’s genetic background related to the immune system. Specifically, its two main aims were to investigate environmental determinants and their action mechanisms on child’s internalizing and externalizing problems; and, on the other hand, to examine whether an immune-related gene interact with environment in the prediction of withdraw behaviour (internalizing symptoms). Therefore, Chapter 1 introduced the state of the art behind the proposed field of study. Chapter 2 then focus the first aim of this dissertation: to examine the effect of family risks and maternal care and their action mechanisms on child’s internalizing and externalizing problems in preschool age. Specifically, Chapter 2 analyzed whether the relationship between family risk and child’s internalizing and externalizing problems is differentially mediated by maternal insensitivity and intrusiveness. Based on a sample of 205 children, their mothers and their preschool teachers, results revealed that only maternal intrusiveness mediated the relation between family risk and children’s internalizing behaviours, in way that children display higher internalizing symptoms when mothers were more intrusive particulatly in the case of higher risk families. Chapter 3 provided a systematic review on GxE research focused on internalizing or/and externalizing problems in early childhood in order to provide a critical overview of the literature. Based on a sample of 14 studies, results concluded that the prevalence of G×E effects in predicting early emotional and behaviour problems is salient, with parental variables, namely, parental psychopathology and parental interactive behaviours, as important moderators. This review also revealed a prevalence of ‘usual suspect’ candidate genes, mostly integrated in the dopaminergic and serotonergic systems (neurotransmission-related genes), disregarding other putatively relevant systems, such as the immune system. Finally, Chapter 4 took into consideration the link between the immune system and some psychiatric conditions, and analyzed the role of the child’s polymorphism (rs2430561) on the Interferon Gamma Gene (IFNG) on withdrawn behaviour, testing maternal psychological distress as a possible moderator of such association. Results proved consistent with the differential susceptibility model of person-X-context interaction. This dissertation underlines the relevance of considering the interaction between individual and environmental factors in shaping emotional and behavioural functioning in a preschool age. Building on this work, future studies should consider larger scale samples, and follow approaches which include different biological, psychological and environmental aspects for a broader comprehension of early emotional and behavioural problems., O funcionamento emocional e comportamental infantil tem sido amplamente reconhecido como critício para o sucesso das crianças, no contexto escolar, mas também em outros contextos, e em fases posteriores do ciclo de vida, até à idade adulta. As perturbações emocionais e comportamentais durante a infância têm sido muito estudadas, recentemente com considerável interesse na expansão da investigação de preditores ambientais (e.g., cuidados maternos e experiências contextuais), para preditores genéticos (e.g., polimorfismos em genes implicados no sistema de neurotransmissão, dada a sua relação com o comportamento). Apesar deste interesse crescente, a investigação é ainda preliminar em múltiplos aspetos. O objetivo da presente dissertação de doutormaneto foi estudar as perturbações emocionais e comportamentais em idade pré-escolar, usando uma abordagem de intereção entre Genes e Ambiente (Gene-X-Ambiente) combinando variáveis ambientais e informação genética relacionada com o sistema imunitário da criança. Especificamente, os dois objetivos principais foram estudar determinantes ambientais e os seus mecanismos de interação relativamente a problemas de internalização e externalização da criança; e, por outro lado, investigar se um gene relacionado com o sistema imunitário interage com o ambiente na predição de comportamento de isolamento (sintomas de internalização). Assim, o Capítulo 1 introduz o estado da arte acerca da área de estudo proposta. O Capítulo 2 foca o primeiro objetivo desta dissertação: estudar o efeito do risco familiar e dos cuidados maternos e os seus mecanismos de interação nos problemas de internalização e externalização em idade pré-escolar. Especificamente, o Capítulo 2 analisa se a relação entre risco familiar e problemas de internalização e externalização é mediada de forma diferencial pela insensibilidade ou intrusividade maternas. Baseado numa amostra de 205 crianças, as suas mães e professores, os resultados revelaram que a relação entre o risco familiar e os problemas de internalização foi apenas mediada pela inrusividade, de forma que as crianças apresentaram mais problemas de internalização quando as suas mães eram mais intrusivas, particularmente no caso de elevado risco familiar. O Capítulo 3 forneceu uma revisão sistemática da literatura sobre estudos de interação Gene-X-Ambiente focados em problemas de internalização e/ou externalização na infância, de forma a oferecer uma visão crítica da literatura neste âmbito. Baseado numa amostra de 14 estudos, os resultados concluiram que a prevalência do efeito de interação Gene-X-Ambiente na predição de problemas emocionais e comportamentais é saliente entre os estudos, com variáveis parentais a funcionarem como moderadores importantes, nomeadamente a psicopatologia parental e os comportamentos interativos parentais. Esta revisão sistemática também realçou a prevalência dos genes candidatos ‘suspeitos do costume’, integrados maioritariamente nos sistemas dopaminérgico e serotonérgico (genes relacionados com a neurotransmissão), desconsiderando outros sistemas putativamente relevantes, como o sistema imunitário. Finalmente, o Capítulo 4 teve em consideração a relação entre o sistema imunitário e algumas condições psiquiátricas, e analisou o papel de um polimorfismo (rs2430561) no Gene do Interferon Gama (IFNG) no comportamento de isolamento da criança, testando o bem-estar psicológico materno como possível moderador. Os resultados provaram consistência com o modelo da susceptibilidade diferencial. Esta dissertação sublinha a relevância de considerar a interação entre fatores individuais e ambientais no funcionamento emocional e comportamental em idade préescolar. Com base neste trabalho, estudos futuros deverão considerar amostras de maior escala e seguir abordagens que incluam diferentes aspectos biológicos, psicológicos e ambientais, para uma compreensão mais ampla dos problemas emocionais e comportamentais manifestados em idades tão precoces., This research was conducted at the Psychology Research Centre (UID/PSI/01662/2013), University of Minho. It was supported by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (PhD Fellowship SFRH/BD/85536/2012) and the Portuguese Ministry of Science, Technology and Higher Education through national funds, and in the scope of QREN – POPH – Typology 4.1 – Advanced Training, reimbursed by the European Social Found and MSTHE funds. It was conducted as part of the PTDC/PSI-PCL/116897/2010 project, which was financed by national funds through the FCT/MEC (PIDDAC) and cofunded by the European Regional Development Fund (FEDER) through COMPETE – Operational Programme Competitiveness Factors (POFC).

Forensic DNA phenotyping (FDP) technology represents a set of techniques that aim to predict physical features of criminal suspects, such as eye, skin and hair colour, and also ethnicity through the inference of biogeographic ancestry from their biological samples. In contrast to other forensic technologies, FDP is not used for identifi- cation purposes but valued for its potential intelligence value. Since features predicted by FDP relate to common traits shared by different population groups, critical voices highlight that this technology may (re)create dy- namics of collectivisation of suspect populations. Looking at the criminal justice system, this paper aims to explore the diverse understandings of FDP by professionals working in forensic laboratories and by the members of police forces, alongside the automatic exchange of genetic profiles to fight cross-border crime. Their perceptions are explored according to the per- ceived potential investigative value and potential threats of FDP. Furthermore, we discuss how racial issues are implicitly and explicitly present in these narratives. Results show that FDP may be ushering in a new assemblage of racial issues along three entangled dimensions: the differentiating power of externally visible characteristics, the comparison between genetic and eyewitness testimonies, and the collectivisation of suspicion., EXCHANGE – Forensic geneticists and the transnational exchange of DNA data in the EU: Engaging science with social control, citizenship and democracy (grant agreement N°. [648608]); UID/CCI/00736/2019

Trabalho Final do Mestrado Integrado em Medicina apresentado à Faculdade de Medicina A gravidez é um estado capaz de induzir múltiplas alteações na fisiologia da glândula tiróide, levando a um aumento dos níveis de T3 e T4 durante toda a gestação e a uma diminuição nos níveis de TSH, dominante na primeira metade da gravidez. A importância das hormonas tiroideias para o desenvolvimento placentar e fetal já foi demonstrada em estudos animais e suportada por estudos em humanos. Existe uma prevalência de 2-3% de patologia tiroideia durante a gravidez e a avaliação da função tiroideia durante a gestação deve ser realizada por análise dos níveis de TSH e FT4 ou TT4, usando intervalos específicos para a população em questão ou, quando estes não estão disponíveis, os intervalos definidos pela ATA ou ETA. O hipotiroidismo subclínico (HSC) representa uma forma moderada, compensada ou pré-clínica de hipotiroidismo primário e é definido por níveis elevados de TSH na presença de níveis normais de FT4. Esta é considerada a patologia tiroideia mais prevalente durante a gravidez, com estudos sugerindo prevalências tão altas como 15%. As mulheres com HSC durante a gravidez podem ser assintomáticas, ou apresentar alguma sintomatologia fruste como cansaço e intolerância ao calor. Uma vez que estes sintomas podem ser relacionados com o estado gravídico por si só, o HSC tem um diagnóstico bioquímico. A principal causa de HSC em áreas cuja população não apresenta carência de iodo é a autoimunidade, estando especialmente relacionado com a presença de autoanticorpos TPOAb e TGAb. Embora a literatura possa demonstrar alguns resultados contraditórios, é bem aceite entre a população médica e científica que o HSC durante a gravidez está relacionado com consequências negativas para a mãe e feto, tais como aborto espontâneo, parto pré-termo, hipertensão gestacional, diabetes gestacional, pré-eclampsia, descolamento prematuro da placenta, índice Apgar baixo, baixo peso ao nascimento, morte perinatal e diminuição do QI na criança. Métodos de rastreio baseados numa abordagem universal ou numa estratégia oportunista estão a ser discutidos, no entanto, a maioria das associações cientificas reconhecidas continua a defender uma abordagem caso-a-caso.Ao longo dos últimos anos, diferentes estudos têm sido publicados, tentando medir os benefícios da levotiroxina (LT4) no tratamento do HSC, com o objetivo de diminuir as suas consequências negativas durante a gravidez. A LT4 é um levo-isómero da tiroxina com a mesma atividade bioquímica que a hormona endógena e a sua utilização na gravidez é segura. Os estudos realizados em relação à LT4 apresentam alguns resultados contraditórios, com alguns concluindo a favor e outros contra a sua utilização no HSC. No que diz respeito à dose inicial que deve ser utilizada quando o tratamento é iniciado, e ao controlo do mesmo, estudos têm concluído que esta dose pode ser definida sem ter em conta o nível de TSH inicial e que, independentemente da dose, testes de função tiroideia devem ser elaborados periodicamente e o ajuste de dose deve ser feito sempre que necessário. A grande maioria dos estudos realizados mostra um claro benefício do tratamento do HSC durante a gravidez, especialmente por diminuir o risco de aborto espontâneo e parto pré-termo. Corroborando isto, as orientações da ATA e ETA recomendam o tratamento. Posto isto, cada país deve definir os seus próprios valores de referência, de modo a fazer um correto diagnóstico e tratamento do HSC durante a gravidez. Pregnancy is a stage able to induce many physiological changes in thyroid gland leading to an increase in T3 and T4 levels during all pregnancy and a decrease in TSH levels, especially during the first half of pregnancy. The importance of thyroid function in placental and foetal development is supported by human data and has been demonstrated in animal models. Thyroid disease during pregnancy have an estimated prevalence of 2-3% and screening for thyroid hormone alterations in pregnancy must be performed by measuring TSH and FT4 or TT4 concentration using specific population-based pregnancy reference ranges or, when unavailable, ATA or ETA reference ranges. SCH represents a mild, compensated or preclinical form of overt hypothyroidism and is defined as elevated TSH levels with normal FT4. It is considered to be the most prevalent thyroid disorder during pregnancy with some studies finding prevalence as high as 15%. Pregnant women with SCH can be asymptomatic or present few symptoms of hypothyroidism such as fatigue or cold intolerance. Since these symptoms can be easily related to normal pregnant status, SCH is a biochemical diagnosed. The primary cause of SCH in iodine sufficient areas is autoimmunity, being especially related with auto-antibodies TPOAb and TGAb. Although literature can have some mixed results, it is well accepted among both medical and scientific population that SCH is related with negative pregnancy outcomes such as miscarriage, preterm delivery, gestational hypertension, gestational diabetes, pre-eclampsia, placental abruption, low Apgar score, LBW, neonatal death and decreased IQ in the offspring. An universal vs case-finding approach for screening thyroid disease during pregnancy keep being discussed, with the majority of the worldwide recognized associations defending a case-finding approach. In order to lower the risk of negative outcomes related to SCH during pregnancy many studies have been performed on the last few years measuring the benefits on treating SCH with LT4. LT4 is a levo-isomer of thyroxine with the same biochemical activity as the endogenous hormone and is proven to be safe during pregnancy and breast feeding. On the studies made for LT4 treatment during pregnancy there are some mixed results, with some studies favouring treatment and others against it. Concerning the dose that should be used and the management that should be done in pregnant women going through LT4 treatment, some different studies have shown that starting dose may not depend on TSH levels and, regardless the chosen starting dose, regular thyroid function tests must be performed and dose adjustment should be done.Most of studies show a clear benefit on treating SCH during pregnancy, especially in lowering the risk for miscarriage and preterm delivery. Besides this, ATA and ETA guidelines support the treatment of women with SCH during pregnancy. Hereupon, every country must define population-based cut offs for TSH levels in order to perform a correct diagnostic and treatment of SCH during pregnancy.

Tese de mestrado, Biologia Molecular e Genética, Universidade de Lisboa, Faculdade de Ciências, 2019 Submitted by Teresa Boa (tdboa@fc.ul.pt) on 2019-12-19T16:35:09Z No. of bitstreams: 1 ulfc125598_tm_Alda_Silva.pdf: 1457121 bytes, checksum: c96721a647808f3ba81d8780c80aebfc (MD5) Made available in DSpace on 2019-12-19T16:35:26Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 ulfc125598_tm_Alda_Silva.pdf: 1457121 bytes, checksum: c96721a647808f3ba81d8780c80aebfc (MD5) Previous issue date: 2019

Effects of repeated sprayings expected to affect phenolic, anthocyanin, carotenoid and ascorbic acid content in ‘Skeena’ and ‘Sweetheart’ cherries were observed during two years (without addition of calcium (Ca) in 2015, and with Ca in 2016). A shift in phytonutrients, with higher phenolic and carotenoid- and lower ascorbic acid content was observed when comparing Ca and the control (water) treatments in 2016 compared to 2015. Higher radiation, higher temperatures and less precipitation in 2015 compared to 2016 likely contributed to this shift. Gibberellic acid (GA3), abscisic acid (ABA), salicylic acid (SA) and glycine betaine (GB) sprays increased anthocyanin content in 2015 and for ‘Skeena’ cherries in 2016. GA3 and GB induced lower carotenoid content for ‘Skeena’- in 2015 and for ‘Sweetheart’ cherries in 2016 and lowered ascorbic acid content for ‘Sweetheart’ cherries. GA3 sprays induced the largest changes, increasing anthocyanin- (42 %), lowering carotenoid (19 %) and ascorbic acid content (53 %) compared to control. Ascophyllum nodosum, one of the novel spray treatments next to GB, appears to induce an effect opposite to GB, increasing carotenoid and ascorbic acid, but lowering phenolic content. Whether these phytonutrient shifts, due to climate conditions or to spray treatments, are beneficial to consumer health is unclear.

This paper examines the contrasting perspectives of doctors and midwives in Portugal regarding their roles in childbirth, the institutional contexts in which these divergent perspectives are enacted and sustained, and the inter-related experiences of birthing women. The ethnographic research presented found obstetricians’ rhetoric to focus on potential risk; interventions were often explicated through a perception of childbirth as a risk-laden, and potential emergency, situation. Within this discourse, hospital-based birth was presented as a triumph of progress. Technical measures were justified using institutional rationales, such as the use of anaesthetic pain relief during labour ensuring tranquillity within maternity units, and labour induction guaranteeing “throughput” and freeing up hospital beds. Midwives, contrastingly, described a philosophy of care focused on offering women presence, guidance, and informed choices during birthing, professing their commitment to minimal intervention, except in cases of clinical necessity. Both professional groups expressed mutual respect for each other’s skills and respective roles. Yet the co-existence of different professional rationales within the same hospital setting resulted in tensions which were exacerbated by historical power dynamics and the present spatial and organisational separation of the two groups. The ramifications of the current situation for the provision of effective maternity care are discussed, and the conceptualisation of women as autonomous consumers of services is challenged. Extracts from Portuguese women’s birth narratives from the same study are utilised to elucidate the highly variegated experiences of women. Este artigo analisa as perspetivas contrastantes de médicos e enfermeiras parteiras em Portugal relativamente aos seus papéis durante o parto e aos contextos institucionais, interrelacionando as experiências das parturientes. O trabalho etnográfico realizado revela uma retórica dos obstetras sobre o parto focada nos potenciais riscos; revela também que várias intervenções médicas são realizadas com base numa perceção do parto enquanto situação de emergência e riscos. ­Dentro destas lógicas, o nascimento hospitalar surge enquanto triunfo do progresso. As ­racionalidades institucionais surgem mencionadas para justificar a utilização de determinadas medidas técnicas, tais como o uso de anestesia para o alívio da dor durante o parto, garantindo maior tranquilidade na maternidade, e a indução do parto, permitindo um maior rendimento e libertação de camas hospitalares. Contrariamente, as parteiras descrevem uma filosofia de cuidado focada na sua presença, orientação junto das mulheres e na forma como apresentam escolhas informadas na gestão do nascimento. Assim, afirmam o seu compromisso com um modelo de parto normal fundado na intervenção mínima, exceto em casos de necessidade clínica. Ambos os grupos profissionais expressam respeito mútuo tanto nas suas áreas de especialidade como nos respetivos papéis. No entanto, a coexistência destas racionalidades no mesmo ambiente hospitalar acentua tensões de poder históricas que sempre caracterizaram estes grupos. Discutem-me e desafiam-se as perceções das mulheres enquanto consumidoras autónomas de serviços. São utilizados extratos de entrevistas conduzidas a mulheres portuguesas com o objetivo de elucidar a grande variedade de narrativas existentes.

Clinical encounters are the most widely shared form of engagement of citizens with health care and medical knowledge and a major setting for the constitution of the health-aware, somatic citizen and are included in the repertoire of participation in the field of health. Following Joelle Zask's notion of participation, we propose to look at clinical encounters as an instances of “taking part” in the field of health through the mutual engagement of diverse forms of knowledge and experience. Through interviews with health professionals and patients diagnosed with asthma, we explore clinical encounters as settings where physicians and patients mutually engage in a process of contesting, sharing and appropriating medical knowledge and information, while recognizing the normative authority of medical knowledge and expertise and the status of biomedicine as a form of veridiction. Clinical encounters are described as processes where citizens qua patients appropriate biomedical knowledge and health information for coping with health problems and the disruptions they generate in their lives, even if their outcomes are uncertain concerning the binding power of medical authority. Patients' engagements with health care services and health professionals and their use of biomedical knowledge for the (self) management of their condition offers a privileged entry point into a neglected dimension of citizen participation in the field of health.

O presente Relatório do Projeto de Investigação, desenvolvido no âmbito da unidade curricular Estágio III, do curso de Mestrado em Educação Pré-Escolar e Ensino do 1.º Ciclo do Ensino Básico, descreve, reflete e analisa a intervenção pedagógica realizada numa turma de 2.º ano do 1.º Ciclo do Ensino Básico. Esta intervenção assenta na implementação de tarefas com recurso a diversos materiais com o objetivo de facilitar a aprendizagem das crianças. A relevância dos materiais na aprendizagem da matemática, tal como a relação entre a construção de conhecimentos matemáticos e essa utilização como instrumentos de mediação, são possíveis facilitadores na construção desses conhecimentos. Neste sentido, o professor tem o papel conduzir as crianças através de um percurso informal até à Matemática, valorizando e respeitando as suas diferenças, motivando-as na construção do pensamento matemático, indispensável nos dias de hoje. A metodologia considerada mais adequada ao estudo empírico posiciona-se na abordagem da investigação-ação, sendo uma investigação que se insere numa perspetiva qualitativa e que é igualmente uma investigação sobre a minha prática. Assim, o método de recolha de informação baseia-se na intervenção no contexto, sendo complementado pelos questionários realizados aos alunos, pela observação participante, pelas notas de campo e pela análise documental. Através deste estudo, é possível inferir que no processo de ensino-aprendizagem os alunos conseguem ter um maior interesse e um empenho mais concreto quando se consegue promover um bom ambiente entre todos, diversificando as estratégias e material utilizado durante as aulas, ou seja é necessário valorizar os conteúdos, materiais ou a relação entre eles. The following Research Project Report, developed within the framework of the Stage III curricular unit, of the Master Course in Pre-School Education and Teaching of Elementary Education, describes, reflects and analyses the pedagogical intervention carried out in a second-grade class, of an Elementary School. This intervention is based on the implementation of tasks using various materials to facilitate the learning of children. The relevance of materials in the learning of mathematics, such as the relation between the construction of mathematical knowledge and its use as instruments of mediation, are possible facilitators in the construction of this knowledge. In this sense, the teacher has the role of leading the children through an informal course to Mathematics, valuing and respecting their differences, motivating them in the construction of mathematical thinking, which is indispensable today. The methodology that is considered more appropriate to the empirical study is positioned in the approach of action research, being an investigation that is inserted in a qualitative perspective and that is also an investigation about my practice. Thus, the method of gathering information is based on intervention in the context, being complemented by the questionnaires made to the students, by the participant observation, the field notes, and the documentary analysis. Through this study, it is possible to infer that in the teaching-learning process the students can have a greater interest and a more concrete commitment when it is possible to promote a good atmosphere among all, diversifying the strategies and material used during the classes, that is, it is necessary to value content, materials, or the relationship between them.

Relatório final do estágio profissionalizante do 6.º ano

Este artigo relata um projeto de intervenção-investigação, desenvolvido numa turma de 1.º Ciclo do Ensino Básico (CEB) sobre a educação para o consumo alimentar, que consistiu na conceção, implementação e avaliação de uma sequência didática com orientação CTS (Ciência, Sociedade e Tecnologia) sobre a mencionada temática. Os resultados revelaram que as crianças envolvidas no projeto desenvolveram aprendizagens ao nível dos conhecimentos, das capacidades, das atitudes e dos valores fundamentais no processo de construção de cidadãos-consumidores mais conscientes, responsáveis e críticos., Interacções, vol. 11 n.º 39 (2015): NÚMERO ESPECIAL - XV Encontro Nacional de Educação em Ciências

Agricultural productivity is severely affected by soil salinity. It is estimated that >6% of the world’s land and 30% of the world’s irrigated area already suffer from salinity problems. Expansion of agriculture to semi-arid regions with the use of intensive irrigation will increase the salinity-affected areas. Like most horticultural crops, potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) has low to moderate tolerance to salinity. Attempts to enhance the salt tolerance in potato and other crops through conventional breeding methods have had limited success, warranting the use of alternative biotechnology-based strategies as a rapid means for the production of salt-tolerant genotypes. Plant tissue cultures may be an effective tool to improve salt tolerance through in vitro selection of salt-tolerant cell lines and subsequent regeneration of whole-plants. Previously, a stable potato calli line adapted to grow on 150 mM NaCl was selected and it has been used as a model to study cellular mechanisms of salinity tolerance. The macroscopic appearance of the NaCl-adapted line was similar to that of the control. Although salinity negatively affected the calli growth rate and antioxidant enzyme activities in the salt-adapted cells, an increase in the levels of antioxidant compounds and proline assured survival. In this work, we used the random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) fingerprinting technique to detect the occurrence of genetic polymorphism in response to salt condition and obtain DNA-based markers. After DNA extraction, a total of 40 arbitrary primers were screened, but only eight were found to generate polymorphic band patterns. A total of sixteen well-resolved and reproducible bands were chosen as RAPD markers, which differentiated geno¬typically NaCl-adapted line from the control. RAPD analysis showed that potato cell line grown under salinity is a somaclonal variant that can be used to regenerate plants with improved salt tolerance, which would be very useful in potato breeding programmes.

Cell lines able to grow on media containing 50, 100, 150 or 200 mM NaCl were established from potato callus cultures by direct recurrent selection or gradual selection. In callus subjected to direct selection only small clusters of cells survived on medium with 150 or 200 mM NaCl, whereas on 100 mM small cell portions appear necrotic. When cell lines were obtained by successive subcultures on media with increased concentrations of NaCl, salt-tolerant calli were more compact and developed a greenish colour free from necrotic areas. The response of calli lines grown on media with NaCl was compared to control line. The NaCl-tolerant calli showed a decrease in relative growth rate and water content, with higher reductions in the 150 mM tolerant callus. Lipid peroxidation was increased in 50 mM and 100 mM NaCl-tolerant calli, while in 150 mM tolerant callus remained similar to 100 mM values. There was a significant increase in ascorbic acid content in 100 mM and 150 mM NaCl-tolerant calli as compared to the 50 mM, that was two-fold the value found in the control. Also, the contents of soluble and insoluble proteins increased in salt-tolerant lines. SDS-PAGE of soluble proteins showed the synthesis of specific polypeptides in the presence of NaCl in culture medium and the synthesis of a new polypeptide.

Soil salinity is an important determinant to crop distribution and productivity. Proline accumulates in response to salt stress. Glutamine synthetase (GS, EC 6.3.1.2) present in the phloem plays a major role in regulating proline content. Potato (Solanum tuberosum L. cv. Desiree) plants appear to have three nuclear GS-encoding genes: one codes for plastidial (GS2) and the other two code for cytosolic (GS1) isoenzymes. Potato plants possess a low to moderate tolerance to salinity. Three callus tissue lines tolerant to increasing levels of salinity were grown under different salt concentrations (0, 50 and 100 mM NaCl) and proline and GS activity levels were determined and transcript and polypeptide accumulation patterns were analysed. The data obtained suggests a differential involvement of each potato GS isoenzyme in the tissue response to salt stress, as a result of a differential GS isogene expression, with one GS1 gene product becoming the main responsible for the GS activity detected in high salt concentrations.

This article provides an overview of the process that led to the adoption of a methodological strategy that privileges personal narratives on illness, within the framework of an ongoing research project. To this project, which focuses on three types of pathologies (cancer, respiratory diseases and child obesity), qualitative methodologies were considered as the most suitable, on the one hand, because of the richness of the information they elicit, on the other, by their adequateness concerning conjectured goals and work hypotheses. Hence, the use of MINI (McGill Illness Narrative Interview) (Groleau et al., 2006) was privileged, considering its appropriateness to the field.A preliminary approach to the methodological and conceptual choices is presented, as well as an account of the importance of personal illness narratives in the objectives of the project., O presente artigo vem dar conta do processo conducente à adopção de uma estratégia metodológica que privilegia a narrativa pessoal sobre a doença no âmbito de um projecto de investigação em curso. Para o âmbito deste projecto, que se centra em três doenças (cancro, doenças respiratórias e obesidade infantil), as metodologias qualitativas foram consideradas as mais adequadas, quer pela riqueza de informação que incorporam, quer pela adequabilidade no que respeita aos objectivos e às hipóteses de trabalho delineadas. Privilegiou-se assim a utilização do MINI (McGill Illness Narrative Interview) (Groleau et al., 2006), uma ferramenta cuja utilização é apropriada ao campo que pretendemos estudar. Pretende-se portanto apresentar uma primeira abordagem às escolhas metodológicas e conceptuais tointerdisciplinamadas, bem como dar conta da importância das narrativas pessoais nos objectivos a que o projecto se propõe dar resposta.

Mestrado em Educação Pré-Escolar e Ensino no 1º Ciclo do Ensino Básico O presente relatório final de estágio visa relatar um projeto de intervençãoinvestigação, desenvolvido numa turma de 4.º ano do 1.º Ciclo do Ensino Básico, com a temática da educação para o consumo alimentar com orientação Ciência, Tecnologia e Sociedade (CTS). Este projeto foi desenvolvido no âmbito da componente de formação de Prática Pedagógica Supervisionada e pressupôs a conceção, implementação e avaliação de uma sequência didática com orientação CTS sobre o consumo alimentar. Este projeto teve como principais objetivos: i) avaliar os efeitos da implementação da uma sequência didática nas aprendizagens das crianças ao nível dos conhecimentos, capacidades, atitudes e valores e ii) avaliar os efeitos da conceção e implementação de uma sequência didática no desenvolvimento profissional da professora-investigadora. A sequência didática foi concebida, implementada e avaliada pela professorainvestigadora e é constituída por 15 sessões que privilegiam a diversidade de metodologias e seguem as linhas da orientação CTS, promovendo a ligação da Ciência com a Sociedade e a Tecnologia e sendo as aprendizagens contextualizadas. Tratou-se de um projeto com características de investigação-ação, sendo que as técnicas de recolha de dados adotadas foram o inquérito por questionário, a observação, a compilação documental e o inquérito por entrevista. Quanto à análise de dados privilegiou-se a análise de conteúdo através do webQDA, software de apoio à análise qualitativa. Para a análise dos inquéritos por questionário recorreu-se à análise quantitativa com recurso ao software SPSS. Os resultados permitiram-nos concluir que existiram evidências do desenvolvimento de aprendizagens pelas crianças, ao nível dos conhecimentos, capacidades, atitudes e valores, o que contribuiu para que estas se tornassem cidadãs consumidoras mais conscientes, responsáveis e críticas. Além disso, o desenvolvimento profissional da professorainvestigadora registou-se a vários níveis sendo a natureza deste projeto potenciadora do desenvolvimento do conhecimento do conteúdo, do conhecimento do curriculum, do conhecimento pedagógico geral e de conteúdo, conhecimento dos fins, objetivos e valores educacionais, conhecimento dos aprendentes, conhecimento dos contextos e conhecimento sobre si próprio. This final apprenticeship report aims to inform about a research-intervention project, developed in a 4th grade class of primary education, with education of food consumption as the theme and Science, Technology and Society (STS) as orientation. This project was developed under the training component of supervised Pedagogical Practice and presupposed the planning, conception, implementation and evaluation of a teaching sequence with STS orientation on food consumption. This project had as main objectives: i) the evaluation of the effects of implementation of a didactic sequence in the learning of the children at the level of knowledge, skills, attitudes and values and ii) the assessment of the effects of planning, conception and implementation of a didactic sequence in the professional development of the investigating teacher. The didactic sequence was planned, implemented and evaluated by the investigating teacher and consists of 15 sessions focusing on the diversity of methodologies and following the orientation lines of STS, promoting the connection of science with society and technology and learning within context. This was a project with features of action research, and the data collection techniques were adopted by survey, observation, document compilation and interview by survey. For the data analysis the contents analyses, via webQDA, was privileged, a support software for qualitative analysis. For the analysis of the surveys, quantitative analysis was used via SPSS software. The results have enabled us to conclude that there was evidence of the development of learning by the children, in terms of knowledge, skills, attitudes and values, which contributed for more conscious, responsible and critical citizens. In addition, the professional development of the investigating teacher was registered at various levels being the nature of this project the enhancement of the development of content knowledge, curriculum knowledge, pedagogical knowledge, content and general knowledge of the purposes, goals and educational values of the learners, knowledge of contexts and knowledge of his or her oneself.

The efficient exclusion of excess Na from the cytoplasm and vacuolar Na + accumulation are the main mechanisms for the adaptation of plants to salt stress. This is typically carried out by transmembrane transport proteins that exclude Na + from the cytosol in exchange for H +, a secondary transport process which is energy-dependent and driven by the proton-motive force generated by plasma-membrane and tonoplast proton pumps. Tonoplast enriched-vesicles from control and 150 mM NaCl-tolerant calli lines were used as a model system to study the activity of V-H +-PPase and V-H +-ATPase and the involvement of Na + compartmentalization into the vacuole as a mechanism of salt tolerance in Solanum tuberosum. Both ATP- and pyrophosphate (PPi)-dependent H +-transport were higher in tonoplast vesicles from the salt-tolerant line than in vesicles from control cells. Western blotting of tonoplast proteins confirmed that changes in V-H +-PPase activity are correlated with increased protein amount. Conversely, immunodetection of the A-subunit of V-H +-ATPase revealed that a mechanism of post-translational regulation is probably involved. Na +-dependent dissipation of a pre-established pH gradient was used to measure Na +/H + exchange in tonoplast vesicles. The initial rates of proton efflux followed Michaelis-Menten kinetics and the Vmax of proton dissipation was 2-fold higher in NaCl-tolerant calli when compared to the control. H +-coupled exchange was specific for Na + and Li + and not for K +. The increase of both the pH gradient across the tonoplast and the Na +/H + antiport activity in response to salt strongly suggests that Na + sequestration into the vacuole contributes to salt tolerance in potato.

Dissertação de Mestrado em Arte e Educação apresentada à Universidade Aberta Submitted by Cristina Teixeira Alves (cta@univ-ab.pt) on 2013-01-25T16:12:23Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertação Marta.pdf: 923793 bytes, checksum: 0dd790e10317a752afea37fe9d628aa1 (MD5) Made available in DSpace on 2013-01-25T16:12:24Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertação Marta.pdf: 923793 bytes, checksum: 0dd790e10317a752afea37fe9d628aa1 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012

Nowadays, consumers are increasingly demanding in relation to cherry, expecting fruits with good size, firmness and flavour, while the producer aims to achieve higher and regular yields, searching to reduce fruit losses, mainly caused by fruit cracking, which is related to several factors, including genotype, soil type and volume and intensity of rainfall (1-4). The climate change predictions point to an increase in the duration of excess rainfall before harvest that may cause higher cherry cracking. Several strategies to reduce this physiological disorder are described, mainly the application of minerals or other chemicals, that delay or reduces the water uptake to fruit, increase the transpiration of free water from the fruit surface or improve the fruit skin properties (5-7). Therefore, this work aimed to study the effect of a biostimulant application in production, size, cracking index, cracking size, fruit waxes content, pH, titratable acidity, soluble solids and nutritional characteristics of the fruits from two cherry cultivars, Sweetheart and Skeena, grafted on Gisela 6. This study was carried out in an orchard installed in Carrazedo de Montenegro, northeast of Portugal. The treatment consisted in the application of a biostimulant composed mainly of seaweed extract (Ascophyllum nodosum) in three applications during 2014. For both cultivars, the application of the biostimulant promoted a significant reduction (p