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To meet a Brazilian guideline for engineering courses, which advocates the use of active learning in applied disciplines, this research studies new students entering an Engineering course at an important university in Brazil. It was applied to them a traditional MTBI (Myers-Briggs Type Indicator) questionary with the aim of finding out if there is recurrence of psychological profiles and to understand the characteristics of the freshmen to learning. This information was subjected to statistical analysis to observe the recurrence of the psychological characteristics of freshmen over the years (2017 to 2021). The data was also subjected to the Self Organizing Maps (SOM) machine learning technique, to delineate and group the psychological profiles observed in the students, enabling the analysis of the psychological characteristics and the comparison with the results obtained via statistics. After that, the results from the MBTI Traditional and the SOM clustering were submitted to comparison methods through multivariate statistics and Multiple Correspondence Analysis (MCA). It was found that there is recurrence of psychological characteristics between the years of collection, what were the psychological profiles of these freshmen as to how they learned. It was found that the freshmen surveyed mostly belong to Generation Z (or iGen) and characteristics pertinent to this group were observed. A scenario is obtained to point out the best active learning techniques for these students with the verification of recurrence of profiles and other correlated psychological characteristics, aiming to provide the most effective teaching in the engineering course.

Teaching human histology is part of understanding the tissues of the human body and, therefore, it is part of the training curriculum of all health courses. The increase in technologies and active teaching methodologies has a positive impact on student learning, as it reduces the challenges present in the subject. Therefore, this work aimed to compare the performance of students in the histology discipline, when compared to traditional teaching methodology and its association with game-based learning and a basic histology teaching platform. Three classes of the medical course were selected between the years 2022 and 2023, each of which was separated into a group. One group did not have access to any platform, being called the Traditional Group (TG), a group that used Kahoot!, being called the Kahoot Group (KG), and a group that used the teaching platform, being called the Histoatlas Group (HG). Both KG and HG groups showed greater effectiveness in learning and improved performance, when compared to TG. These improvements in KG and HG were also highlighted as learning aids and easy to use. KG students performed better in the practical test when comparing groups. However, this difference was not observed in the students' averages. However, students pointed out the relevance of trying to improve the traditional teaching methodology. Therefore, this study points out that, even though the traditional teaching methodology is efficient in the student's teaching and learning process, there is a need on the part of students to make the subject more dynamic.

The main purpose of this study is to investigate the best approaches to teaching a foreign language to older people to help them achieve the desired results and explore their benefits. This review strictly follows the PRISMA methodology for systematic reviews and meta-analyses to identify the core experimental studies that deal with the topic of foreign language learning approaches among the older generations. Altogether eight studies detected were included in the systematic review. The available sources were found in Web of Science and Scopus. The findings indicate that foreign language learning can promote seniors' welfare and successful aging despite their learning outcomes, which means that the key benefit for third-age foreign language learners while learning a foreign language is not the achieved proficiency level, but the feeling of subjective satisfaction. This can be a good incentive to achieve better learning outcomes, provided that learners have been offered a pleasant and safe learning environment, using suitable learning approaches during which they can build on their acquired knowledge and experience, as well as discuss the topics they are interested in. Thus, foreign language teachers play an important part in seniors' educational process because their teaching methods and materials when adapted to the elderly's educational needs can have a positive impact on the maintenance and possibly, enhancement of the older people's cognitive functions and on the improvement of their mental activity, which consequently maintains their healthy aging.

The dorsal stream vulnerability hypothesis posits that the dorsal stream, responsible for visual motion and visuo-motor processing, may be particularly vulnerable during neurodevelopment. Consistent with this, autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has been associated with deficits in global motion integration, though deficits in ventral stream tasks, such as form identification, have also been reported. In the current study, we examined whether a similar pattern of results is found in a cohort of 381 children born with neurodevelopmental risk factors and exhibiting a wide spectrum of caregiver-reported autistic traits. Methods: We examined the associations between global motion perception, global form perception, fine motor function, visual-motor integration, and autistic traits (autism spectrum quotient, AQ) using linear regression, accounting for possible interactions with sex and other factors relevant to neurodevelopment. Results: All assessments of dorsal stream function were significantly associated with AQ such that worse performance predicted higher AQ scores. We also observed a significant sex interaction, with worse global form perception associated with higher AQ in boys (n = 202) but not girls (n = 179). Conclusion: We found widespread associations between dorsal stream functions and autistic traits. These associations were observed in a large group of children with a range of AQ scores, demonstrating a range of visual function across the full spectrum of autistic traits. In addition, ventral function was associated with AQ in boys but not girls. Sex differences in the associations between visual processing and neurodevelopment should be considered in the designs of future studies.

Abstract The finger tapping test (FTT) is a neuropsychological test that measures motor speed and coordination. It involves tapping a designated surface with a specific finger as quickly as possible for a certain duration. Touchscreen of smartphones has been used as interface to record the tap, what enables to extract information about the taps. The present study represents an initiative of construction for a national Database of Smartphone-Based FTT, which includes data from 176 healthy male and female adults ranging in age from 18 to 74 years. Participants were asked to perform the FTT using one or both hands, tapping on a central area of a smartphone as many times as possible within a 30-second interval. Data were extracted using an Android application, encompassing details such as touch timing, spatial coordinates, sex, smartphone model, hand used, and age. A Python-developed web visualization tool for individual and averaged analysis. This database serves as informative foundation for a healthy adult sample and supports further exploration and international comparative analyses of FTT performance.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to compare the outcomes and complications of selected patients treated with endovenous laser ablation (EVLA) or ambulatory phlebectomy for foot varicose veins. METHODS: From October 2016 to February 2022, selected patients undergoing EVLA (using 1470-nm with radial-slim or bare-tip fibers) or phlebectomy of foot varicose veins for cosmetic indications were analyzed, and the outcomes were compared. Patients were classified according to the Clinical, Etiologic, Anatomical, and Pathophysiological (CEAP) classification. Anatomic criteria provided the basis for the decision to perform EVLA or phlebectomy. Clinical and ultrasound assessments were performed on postoperative days 7, 30, and 90 for visualization of the sapheno-femoral and sapheno-popliteal junctions and the deep venous system. Disease severity was graded with the Venous Clinical Severity Score (VCSS), and quality of life was measured with the Aberdeen Varicose Vein Questionnaire (AVVQ) before and after treatment. Treatment outcomes were evaluated based on changes in VCSS and AVVQ scores. The groups were also compared for procedure-related complications. Data were statistically analyzed in SPSS v. 20.0 using the χ2, Student t test, Mann-Whitney test, Wilcoxon test, and analysis of variance. The results were presented as mean (standard deviation or median (interquartile range). RESULTS: The study included 270 feet of 171 patients. Mean patient age was 52.3 (standard deviation, 13.1) years, ranging from 21 to 84 years; 133 (77.8%) were women. Of 270 feet, 113 (41.9%) were treated with EVLA and 157 (58.1%) with phlebectomy. The median preoperative CEAP class was 2 (interquartile range, 2-3) in the phlebectomy and EVLA groups, with no statistically significant difference between the groups (P = .507). Dysesthesia was the most common complication in both groups. Only transient induration was significantly different between EVLA (7.1%) and phlebectomy (0.0%) (P = .001). The two approaches had an equal impact on quality of life and disease severity. CONCLUSIONS: Treatment complications were similar in phlebectomy and EVLA and to those previously described in the literature.

The selection of strategic conservation areas is a complex undertaking that requires the integration of various elements, including planning, indicators, and mapping. An extensive evaluation of vertebrate distribution patterns in Espírito Santo state, southern Brazil, revealed the existence of four consensus areas defined by two endemicity methods that can be designated as priority regions for multitaxa conservation. A brief remark is made regarding the importance of endemic areas and biogeographic units in the definition of priority areas for conservation.

We present unprecedented datasets of current and future projected weather files for building simulations in 15 major cities distributed across 10 climate zones worldwide. The datasets include ambient air temperature, relative humidity, atmospheric pressure, direct and diffuse solar irradiance, and wind speed at hourly resolution, which are essential climate elements needed to undertake building simulations. The datasets contain typical and extreme weather years in the EnergyPlus weather file (EPW) format and multiyear projections in comma-separated value (CSV) format for three periods: historical (2001-2020), future mid-term (2041-2060), and future long-term (2081-2100). The datasets were generated from projections of one regional climate model, which were bias-corrected using multiyear observational data for each city. The methodology used makes the datasets among the first to incorporate complex changes in the future climate for the frequency, duration, and magnitude of extreme temperatures. These datasets, created within the IEA EBC Annex 80 "Resilient Cooling for Buildings", are ready to be used for different types of building adaptation and resilience studies to climate change and heatwaves.