A practice-oriented professional development programme to support the introduction of a new mathematics curriculum in Portugal

This article presents the extended workshop, a national professional development programme that was used in the preparatory stages of the introduction of a new mathematics curriculum for basic education (grades 1–9) in Portugal. These workshops are based on five major ideas—orientation towards practice, focus on students’ learning, collaboration, practitioner research, and change of professional culture. The evaluation shows that these workshops constituted a stimulating professional development setting that encouraged teachers to reflect about classroom practice and students’ learning and was quite successful in supporting an overall movement favourable to the orientations of the new curriculum.     

Movement behaviors and their association with depressive symptoms in Brazilian adolescents: A cross-sectional study

Background:Physical activity,sleep,and sedentary behaviors compose 24-h movement behaviors and have been independently associated with depressive symptoms.However,it is not clear whether it is the movement behavior itself or other contextual factors that are related to depressive symptoms.The objective of the present study was to examine the associations between self-reported and accelerometer-measured movement behaviors and depressive symptoms in adolescents.Methods:Cross-sectional data from 610 adolescents(14-18 years old)were used.Adolescents answered questions from the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression scale and reported time spent watching videos,playing videogames,using social media,time spent in various physical activities,and daytime sleepiness.Wrist-worn accelerometers were used to measure sleep duration,sleep efficiency,sedentary time,and physical activity.Mixed-effects logistic regressions were used.Results:Almost half of the adolescents(48%)were classified as being at high risk for depression(score≥20).No significant associations were found between depressive symptoms and accelerometer-measured movement behaviors,self-reported non-sport physical activity,watching videos,and playing videogames.However,higher levels of self-reported total physical activity(odd ratio(OR)=0.92,95%confidence interval(95%CI):0.86-0.98)and volume of sports(OR=0.88,95%CI:0.79-0.97),in minutes,were associated with a lower risk of depression,while using social media for either 2.0-3.9 h/day(OR=1.77,95%CI:1.58-2.70)or>3.9 h/day(OR=1.67,95%CI:1.10-2.54),as well as higher levels of daytime sleepiness(OR=1.17,95%CI:1.12-1.22),were associated with a higher risk of depression.Conclusion:What adolescents do when they are active or sedentary may be more important than the time spent in the movement behaviors because it relates to depressive symptoms.Targeting daytime sleepiness,promoting sports,and limiting social media use may benefit adolescents.     

When intuitive conceptions overshadow pedagogical content knowledge: Teachers’ conceptions of students’ arithmetic word problem solving strategies

Intuitive conceptions in mathematics guide the interpretation of mathematical concepts. We investigated if they bias teachers’ conceptions of student arithmetic word problem solving strategies, which should be part of their pedagogical content knowledge (PCK). In individual interviews, teachers and non-teaching adults were asked to describe students’ strategies in situational contexts within or outside the scope of the intuitive conception. The results revealed that teachers relied on their PCK and identified student strategies; however, in the presence of the intuitive conception, their PCK was overshadowed and they ceased to differ significantly from non-teachers. This brings the attention to certain biases that can have a strong impact on teachers’ efficient use of PCK.     

Estimation of Upper Limit of Normal for Serum Alanine Transaminase in Healthy South Indian Population

Alanine aminotransferase (ALT) is the most common and cost effective screening test for asymptomatic liver disease. There is paucity of data on normal ALT among healthy individuals in India. An observational cross sectional study was conducted from January to July 2013 to estimate the upper limit of normal for ALT in healthy south Indian population. Adults undergoing voluntary or pre-employment health screening were included. Those with current and past alcoholism or smoking, acute illness or hospitalization during preceding 12 months, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory or over the counter medication use within a month, current or past intake of herbal medications, any chronic medical illness, abnormal body mass index (BMI), fatty liver in ultrasound, abnormality in haemoglobin, platelet count, blood sugar, creatinine, lipid profile and thyroid function test and positive serology (Hepatitis B, C or HIV) were excluded. A total of 2600 subjects were screened. 344 were included for analysis. Mean age was 35 years in men and 34.83 years in women, with a mean BMI of 22.2 kg/m² in men and 21.8 kg/m² in women. The mean ALT in men and women were 21.87 ± 2.9 (97.5th percentile 28 U/L) and 19.35 ± 3.3 (97.5th percentile 24 U/L) respectively. In conclusion, mean and upper limit of ALT (97.5th percentile) in south Indian men was 21.87 and 28 IU/L and women were 19.35 and 24 IU/L respectively. There is a need to re-consider ALT levels in our population for better detection of individuals at risk for liver disease.     

High-frequency resistance training does not promote greater muscular adaptations compared to low frequencies in young untrained men

The aim of the study was to compare the effect of resistance training (RT) frequencies of five times (RT5), thrice- (RT3) or twice- (RT2) weekly in muscle strength and hypertrophy in young men. Were used a within-subjects design in which 20 participants had one leg randomly assigned to RT5 and the other to RT3 or to RT2. 1?RM and muscle cross-sectional area (CSA) were assessed at baseline, after four (W4) and eight (W8) RT weeks. RT5 resulted in greater total training volume (TTV) than RT3 and RT2 (P?=?.001). 1?RM increased similarly between protocols at W4 (RT5: 55?±?9?Kg, effect size (ES): 1.18; RT3: 51?±?11?Kg, ES: 0.80; RT2: 54?±?7?Kg, ES: 1.13; P?P?2, ES: 0.54; RT3: 22.0?±?4.6?cm², ES: 0.19; RT2: ES: 0.25; 23.8?±?3.8?cm²; P?2; ES: 0.69; RT3: 23.6?±?4.2?cm², ES: 0.58; RT2: 25.5?±?3.7?cm²; ES: 0.70; P?2; RT3: 21.2?±?4.0?cm²; RT2: 22.9?±?3.8?cm²). Performing RT5, RT3 and RT2 a week result in similar muscle strength increase and hypertrophy, despite higher TTV for RT5.     

Improved similarity-based modeling for the classification of rotating-machine failures

Similarity-based modeling (SBM) is a technique whereby the normal operation of a system is modeled in order to detect faults by analyzing their similarity to the normal system states. First proposed around two decades ago, SBM has been successfully used for fault detection in varied systems. In spite of this success, there is not much study performed in the literature regarding its design, that encompasses both similarity metrics and model training. This work aims at contributing with an in-depth study of SBM for fault detection considering these two design aspects. This is done in the context of proposing a novel system to identify rotating-machinery faults based on SBM, that is employed either as a standalone classifier or to generate features for a random forest classifier. New approaches for training the model and new similarity metrics are investigated. Experimental results are shown for the recently developed Machinery Fault Database (MaFaulDa) that has an extensive set of sequences and fault types, and for the Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) bearing database. Results for both databases indicate that the proposed techniques increase the generalization power of the similarity model and of the associated classifier, achieving accuracies of 98.5% on MaFaulDa and 98.9% on CWRU database.     

Biometric technology for voter identification: The experience in Ghana

Our study examines how and why Ghana's first attempt to use biometric technology for voter identification and verification in its 2012 general elections failed. We employ activity theory as the analytical lens and interpretive case study as the methodology. Our findings show that the effectiveness of biometric technology to provide reliable identification does not depend solely on its technical qualities but also on real-time connectivity between registration centres and an electronic national register. Furthermore, the electoral officials need to be trained intensively to operate the machines and given guidance on how to handle situations when breakdowns occur. While biometric technology does introduce powerful capabilities, it is just one piece of a complex human activity system.     

关于加强民办高等学校管理工作的几点思考

文章论述了入世后我国民办高等学校的管理工作 ,要树立科学管理理念 ,要加强研究、改进和改革 ,力图向管理要质量、要规模、要效益、要发展 ,并就民办高等学校管理工作中的思想理念、队伍建设、改革实践等有关问题阐述了看法、表明了观点     

Enfants autochtones et apprentissage: la corporalité comme langage en Amérique du Sud tropicale

In this article on the cultural context of children's learning processes among the indigenous peoples of tropical South America, the author aims to show how in these cultures the human body offers a language and a mechanism central to the process of production, elaboraton and transmission of knowledge, skills and emotions. She works from the assumption that the construction of a child's identity is a process which takes place in the body, creating a synthesis of social, cosmological, psychological, emotional and cognitive meanings. In constructing an ethnography of the Akwe~-Xavante and Akwe~-Xerente peoples of central Brazil, the author refers to recent anthropological debates on the cosmology and outlook of the indigenous peoples of this region, as well as to the literature of the new discipline known as "anthropology of the child".     

Parent Autonomy Support,Academic Achievement,and Psychosocial Functioning: a Meta-analysis of Research

A meta-analysis of 36 studies examining the relations between parent autonomy support (PAS) and child outcomes indicated that PAS was related to greater academic achievement and indicators of adaptive psychosocial functioning, including autonomous motivation, psychological health, perceived competence, engagement, and positive attitudes toward school, among other outcomes. The strongest relation emerged between PAS and psychological health. Results indicated that the strength of the PAS relation was stronger when PAS was reflective of both parents, rather than of just mothers or just fathers among five of six outcomes for which moderators could be examined. Moderator analyses also suggested that PAS correlations are stronger when the outcome is better aligned to the predictor and the relation between PAS and psychosocial outcomes may vary by grade level. Implications for theory and future research are discussed.