Resumo: Planejamos uma sequência didática, relacionando as dimensões epistêmica e pedagógica com os pressupostos Ciência, Tecnologia e Sociedade (CTS). Definimos a energia elétrica como temática, devido à importância da Usina Hidrelétrica de Furnas como matriz energética da região sul de Minas Gerais, estando relacionada à realidade dos alunos dessa região, e sendo pouco explorada em planejamentos de ensino. Estabelecemos as dificuldades no processo de ensino e aprendizagem, e definimos os recursos e estratégias de ensino para melhor compreensão dos conteúdos. Consideramos que as dimensões epistêmica e pedagógica podem ampliar a percepção do professor sobre a temática proposta e promover interações que favorecem a tomada de decisão por meio de ações que permitam refletir a temática na perspectiva CTS. Assim, a sequência didática descrita pode proporcionar ao professor uma melhor percepção de ensino, explorando conceitos científicos a partir de temáticas relacionadas ao cotidiano dos alunos.

Abstract: In this work, a didactic sequence was planned by linking the epistemological and pedagogical dimensions to Science, Technology and Society (STS) assumptions.. Electric power was defined as a theme due to the importance of the Furnas Hydroelectric Plant as energy matrix in the south of Minas Gerais (Brazil) which is part of the reality of students from this region. The difficulties of the teaching and learning process were established as well as the resources and strategies of teaching were defined in order to enhance the understanding of contents. It was considered that dimensions may widen the perception by the teacher about the theme and promote interactions which benefit the taking of decisions that enable reflection about the theme from the perspective of STS. Thus, the didactic sequence described might provide a better perception of teaching to the teacher who can explore scientific concepts from the theme related to the daily life of students.

Blogs and other technology tools are commonly used in our society. Although we are familiar with the use of technology for social interaction, its application in the classroom environment is still not fully appreciated by the teaching community as a useful learning tool. This paper sheds light on this use by presenting the analysis of the comments posted on a blog used by undergraduate chemistry students for a scientific communication undergraduate course. On the course, students used the blog to ask questions and discuss assignments. All the comments were monitored by the professor and her teaching assistant, who also posted their comments. We analyzed the content of these comments using the model proposed by Henri and adapted by McKenzie and Murphy. The results show a predominance of administrative comments, followed by course content comments. The findings also indicated that this tool complements classroom discussions, supports the participation of students who would otherwise not take part, and allows a continuous learning process for all the students. We concluded that the use of blogs improved the classroom experience and supported the instructional classroom activities.

Rotaviruses are the major cause of acute gastroenteritis in infants world-wide. The genome consists of eleven double stranded RNA segments. The major segment encodes the structural protein VP1, the viral RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp), which is a minor component of the viral inner core. This study is a detailed bioinformatic assessment of the VP1 sequence. Using various methods we have identified canonical motifs within the VP1 sequence which correspond to motifs previously identified within RdRps of other positive strand, double-strand RNA viruses. The study also predicts an overall structural conservation in the middle region that may correspond to the palm subdomain and part of the fingers and thumb subdomains, which comprise the polymerase core of the protein. Based on this analysis, we suggest that the rotavirus replicase has the minimal elements to function as an RNA-dependent RNA polymerase. VP1, besides having common RdRp features, also contains large unique regions that might be responsible for characteristic features observed in the Reoviridae family

Adenovirus genotype 7h was previously reported to be originated from a recombination event between adenovirus genotypes 7p and 3p. Based on those findings, further characterization of other adenovirus 7h strains become important to determine whether all adenovirus 7h strains arose from a single recombinational event. To explore such a possibility, 160 clinical isolates were studied after developing a PCR assay using a primer set designed to amplify the region corresponding to E3-7,7 Kd of adenovirus ADV 7p and E3-9 Kd of adenovirus 3p. The assay was able to differentiate most of the subgenus B strains from adeno 7h with the genotype 3d. The study of several adenovirus 7h clinical isolates revealed the existence of three variants of adeno7h. One of the variants, 7h3, shows a high degree of similarity with gene E3-9 Kd of ADV 3p, but lacks the corresponding AUG codon. Our results suggest that more than one recombination event may explain the detection of three different types of adenovirus 7h. The genotype variants of adeno 7h were detected in different years, indicating that the recombination events took place independently from each other. The study of the recombination region may allow further understanding of the function of several viral polypeptides in the immune response, and understanding the mechanism involved in virulence associated to adenovirus 7h.