Consolidated Knowledge Research Articles

A República de Weimar, suas crises e o Nazismo como alternativa

The purpose of this article is to consider the variables that allow us to assess the end of the Weimar Republic and the growth of the Nazi Party in Germany in the early 1930s. It is expected that, through the systematization of consolidated knowledge on the subject, we are able to consider the role played by the generalized crisis that reaches Germany in the winter of 1929-1930 as an explanatory factor for the defeat of the liberal republican project and for the emergence of Nazism as a political alternative in that specific context.

<b>Diferenças de conhecimento prévio e processos de estudo: interaçoes entre nível de expertise e aprendizagem

Esta pesquisa qualitativa e exploratória investigou como conhecimentos prévios influenciaram processos de estudo a partir da análise da atividade de estudo de indivíduos com material de domínio e não domínio. Participaram da pesquisa seis indivíduos que leram dois textos, de domínio e não domínio, com orientação para o estudo dos materiais. Após o estudo de cada texto, os participantes eram questionados sobre os processos de estudo. Os resultados sugerem que o conhecimento prévio consolidado influi sobre o processo de estudo, afetando o reconhecimento de informações, a velocidade de estudo, a capacidade de articulação metacognitiva dos indivíduos e a postura perante o processo de ensino, considerando necessidades de suporte informacional para a sustentação do processo de estudo e a forma do apoio em situação de ensino. Os resultados apontam a importância da ação docente para o incremento de oportunidades de aprendizagem, o que implica no desenvolvimento aperfeiçoado e competente de processos de avaliação da aprendizagem, sobretudo as de fundo diagnóstico.

Multidisciplinary Learning through Implementation of the DVB-S2 Standard

Telecommunication standards are documents that contain consolidated knowledge about communication systems and implementation best practices. They are created based on long consensus processes in order to meet practical constraints. This article describes how the DVB-S2 standard is used in the electrical engineering curricula at KU Leuven within a design and implementation course called EAGLE. The goal of the course is to teach third-year Bachelor students how to apply the abstract knowledge gathered in the theoretical courses (control theory, communication theory, software, and hardware) to the design of a complex and real engineering project. Based on their progress during the academic year, we illustrate how standards can be used to teach a broad skill set and act as an accelerator to abstract system implementation complexity. We give an overview of the objectives of the EAGLE project and the relevance of the DVB-S2 standard, the design and implementation task that the students need to accomplish, and how they finally learn to master the complexity of a real communication standard, VHDL coding, and system verification and integration.

Ambiguous genitalia associated with an extremely rare syndrome: a case report of xlag syndrome and review of the literature

X-linked lissencephaly, absent corpus callosum, and epilepsy of neonatal onset with ambiguous genitalia comprises the XLAG syndrome and only 15 cases have been reported in literature. Due to its rarity, the exact clinical course and outcome are not known. Exact associations of this disease are also elusive. Hereby we are reporting this extremely rare entity and we searched the English literature extensively to get consolidated knowledge regarding this entity that would help the readers. Pre-natal radiological work-up can detect these malformations, which should be followed by medical termination, counseling and karyotyping. Till date the longest survival noted was 4 years only.

Organic Food and Health: A Systematic Review

The current knowledge regarding effects of organic food on health is unclear. In this study we have focused to yield a consolidated knowledge on health related aspects of organic food. We searched for the MeSH term “organic food” in Pubmed search engine (other terms used for search are: Organic food-18296 articles, organic food and health-4018 articles). Studies done on organic food, related to health, free full papers available in English were included for review. From the total of 2,215 articles, 1805 were excluded due to studies which were not related to organic food, studies without abstracts. Out of remaining 410 studies, 338 studies were excluded due to nonavailability of full studies. Finally, 32 studies were selected after removal of articles not related to health. Out of 38 studies included, 9 studies focused on humans, in which 3 studies showed decreased pesticide content, 6 studies showed decreased risk of pre-eclampsia, hypospadias, cardiovascular diseases, etc. 14 studies focused on nutritional quality which showed increased lutein, PUFA and n-3 PUFA, antioxidants, analgesic and antiinflammatory properties, etc. A total 9 studies focused on microbiological aspects which showed increased prevalence of microbial contamination, increased antibiotic susceptibility, etc. From the available studies, the effect of organic food on health is not convincing enough to recommend widely. More follow-up studies on humans, with large sample size might possibly enlighten the concept of organic food and its effect on health in future.

Music Teacher Training: A precarious area within the Spanish university

In the last few years expressions like European convergence, European Higher Education Area, European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System and others have become more and more usual not only in academic circles but also even in the mass media. But to what extent are these expressions valid for all knowledge areas in all EU countries? After analysing the curricula for Music Teaching Training in Spain (through the lens of J. Butler and J. Derrida) I will show the situation of precarity of this knowledge area under a postmodern perspective and how the expressions above have become non-neutral expressions sous rature that manage to preserve the rights of the already consolidated knowledge areas to the detriment of the non-consolidated ones.

Banded leaf and sheath blight: A menacing disease of maize (Zea mays L.) and its management

Maize (Zea mays L.) crop is attacked by number of fungal, bacterial and viral diseases, out of which banded leaf and sheath blight (BLSB) caused by anastomosis group 1-IA of Rhizoctonia solani f. sp. sasakii Exner. is one of the most widespread and destructive disease of maize in Southeast Asian countries. The occurrence of this disease has also been reported from other parts of the world, which causes significant yield loss up to 100%. R. solani can survive in the soil for several years and able to infect plants belonging to more than 32 families, including many economically important monocots and dicots plants. The severity of the disease favoured by humid weather with temperature around 28°C, poses challenge to maize growers due to its soil borne nature and lack of resistance cultivars. It is indicated that none of the disease management approaches are effective against BLSB. Banded leaf and sheath blight is difficult to control through either fungicide or crop rotation alone. A number of quantitative trait loci (QTLs) controlling BLSB have been identified that would help the development of maize hybrids resistance to this disease. Management of BLSB requires an integrated approach based on the knowledge of each stage of the disease and molecular aspect of maize defence responses against R. solani. Mention conclusion statement and novelty of the work. The present review summarizes consolidated information on distribution, yield loss, symptoms, pathogen life cycle, epidemiology, genetic structure of the pathogen population, molecular aspect of pathogenicity and its integrated management through cultural, biological, chemical and genetic means. The consolidated knowledge presented in this review should help better disease management and reduce crop yield loss due to banded leaf and sheath blight pathogen.

Formulation of a roadmap towards the enhancement of international rail passenger transport – The South East Europe example

No strangers to the phenomenon of rail transport decline, related authorities responsible for managing the sector have lately turned their attention to exploring ways for enhancing its position in the transportation market. In the quest for identifying optimal measures that will contribute to its overall improvement, they find themselves presented with a series of options, yet have no assurances that their choices will best deal with the challenges. Starting from a detailed desktop and literature review, in order to create a consolidated knowledge base on the challenges currently faced by rail transport, and focusing on South East Europe, this paper proposes a methodological approach for the formulation of roadmaps regarding the enhancement rail passenger transport. The paper conducts a clustering of reported measures in content structures (e.g. technical options, organizational and decision making structures, etc.) and assesses them in terms of their contribution to the enhancement of rail transport. These assessments build towards the formulation of roadmaps of actions, measures, policies and strategies that should be taken to strengthen the future of rail passenger transport. The evaluation is conducted via an expert group survey, covering multiple sectors and disciplines (academia, research, industry, government). Findings are formulated in the form of roadmaps that can serve as a useful tool and basis for an improved decision-making approach for different end-users to address rail transport decline.

Overview of Progress on the EU DEMO Reactor Magnet System Design

The DEMO reactor is expected to be the first application of fusion for electricity generation in the near future. To this aim, conceptual design activities are progressing in Europe (EU) under the lead of the EUROfusion Consortium in order to drive on the development of the major tokamak systems. In 2014, the activities carried out by the magnet system project team were focused on the toroidal field (TF) magnet system design and demonstrated major achievements in terms of concept proposals and of consolidated evaluations against design criteria. Several magnet system RD and 2) the HTS R&D activities building upon the consolidated knowledge acquired over the past years.

Current status of pediatric renal transplant pathology.

Histopathology is still an indispensable tool for the diagnosis of kidney transplant dysfunction in adult and pediatric patients. This review presents consolidated knowledge, recent developments and future prospects on the biopsy procedure, the diagnostic work-up, classification schemes, the histopathology of rejection, including antibody-mediated forms, ABO-incompatible transplants, protocol biopsies, recurrent and de novo disease, post-transplant lymphoproliferative disorder, infectious complications and drug-induced toxicity. It is acknowledged that frequently the correct diagnosis can only be reached in consensus with clinical, serological, immunogenetical, bacteriological and virological findings. This review shall enhance the understanding of the pediatric nephrologist for the thought processes of nephropathologists with the aim to facilitate teamwork between these specialist groups for the benefit of the patient.

Neurogenic plasticity of mesenchymal stem cell, an alluring cellular replacement for traumatic brain injury.

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) imposes horrendous neurophysiological alterations leading to most devastating forms of neuro-disability. Which includes impaired cognition, distorted locomotors activity and psychosomatic disability in both youths and adults. Emerging evidence from recent studies has identified mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) as one of the promising category of stem cells having excellent neuroregenerative capability in TBI victims. Some of the clinical and animal studies reported that MSCs transplantation could cure neuronal damage as well as improve cognitive and locomotors behaviors in TBI. However, mechanism behind their broad spectrum neuroregenerative potential in TBI has not been reviewed yet. Therefore, in the present article, we present a comprehensive data on the important attributes of MSCs, such as neurotransdifferentiation, neuroprotection, axonal repair and plasticity, maintenance of blood-brain integrity, reduction of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and immunomodulation. We have reviewed in detail the crucial neurogenic capabilities of MSCs in vivo and provided consolidated knowledge regarding their cellular remodeling in TBI for future therapeutic implications.

Assessment of Students’ Lean Competencies with the Help of Behavior Video Analysis – Are Good Students Better Problem Solvers?

Engineering students are often lectured and afterwards examined in a knowledge-oriented way. The question is if the students we identify with those methods as good students are also better problem solvers in practice. To review if there is any correlation between knowledge and the development of competencies, students need to a) perform a written examination and b) solve real industrial tasks at the Process Learning Factory CiP like rebalancing a production line. Regarding a), students gain the theoretical knowledge in a classroom lecture to the topic „Lean Production” and write an exam. Regarding b), videos recorded showing the actions tasks are evaluated regarding the presence of problem solving competencies. A comparison of the test results and the action tasks evaluation clarifies whether the existence of knowledge leads to a similar strong development of competencies. The evaluation of the learning success shows that the student groups achieve a good and very good competency development in the lecture modules “line balancing”, “kanban” and “systematic problem solving”. The respective lecture module is confirmed by a high degree of students’ success. However, a correlation between the level of knowledge and competency cannot be clearly established because on the one hand students with good exam results achieve a good and very good degree of competency development. On the other hand students with a bad exam result achieve nevertheless a comparatively good competency development degree. Nevertheless, as a trend it can be confirmed that consolidated knowledge is one important prerequisite for the ability to act in practice.

Banded Leaf and Sheath Blight of Maize: Historical Perspectives, Current Status and Future Directions

Rhizoctonia solani f. sp. sasakii causing banded leaf and sheath blight disease is one of the important pathogens of maize. It has rapidly gained economic importance in several parts of world and has potential to inflict economic loss up to 100 %. The disease, which is more prevalent in humid weather with temperature of around 28 °C, poses challenge to maize growers due to its soil borne nature and lack of resistant cultivars. The disease is difficult to control through either fungicides or crop rotation alone. Inheritance studies have indicated digenic and oligogenic nature of disease resistance. Quantitative trait loci controlling banded leaf and sheath blight have recently been identified that would facilitate the development of maize hybrids resistant to this disease. Therefore, a combination of management practices is required for control of banded leaf and sheath blight. The present paper reviews the available information on various aspects such as distribution, yield loss, symptoms, pathogen life cycle, epidemiology, creation of artificial disease epiphytotics and its integrated management through cultural, biological, chemical and genetic means. The consolidated knowledge presented in this review should help better disease management and reduce crop loss due to banded leaf and sheath blight.

Optimal processor dynamic-energy reduction for parallel workloads on heterogeneous multi-core architectures

With the increase in the number of cores in processor chips observed in recent years, design choices—such as the number of cores in chip, the amount of resources per core, and whether to design homogeneous or heterogeneous chips—need to be given proper support. Several studies on heterogeneous multi-core processors are concerned with performance improvements. In this work, we propose mathematical models to analyze some of these design issues with focus on the reduction of processor dynamic energy. In particular, these models allow the comparison of the dynamic-energy consumption of multi-core architectures when they execute a workload in the same amount of time while allowing different core operating frequency between the compared architectures. The results of the analysis allow chip designers to choose the right conditions for optimal energy savings in heterogeneous multi-core chips based on the parallel fraction of the workloads and on the distributions of the resources among the cores in the chip. Under a simplified context, the devised models agree with the consolidated knowledge that heterogeneous multi-core chips have considerable advantage over homogeneous multi-core and single-core architectures in terms of energy efficiency.

Kidney cancer and 2014: is innovation really over?

2014 has been a year of significant innovations on kidney cancer treatments, the most relevant of which will be shown below. In particular, we analyzed the consolidated knowledge regarding the role of surgery in localized and advanced renal cell carcinoma and the targeted therapies already approved for metastatic renal cell carcinoma. Furthermore, we examined the outstanding issues, with particular reference to the choice of the second-line and the role of adjuvant and neoadjuvant treatments. Finally, we outlined the future therapeutic perspectives and those definitely abandoned.

The Padanian LiMeS. Spatial Interpretation of Local GHG Emission Data

The relevant role of spatial planning in the enforcement of climate change mitigation, managing the development of new low-carbon infrastructures and increasing system-wide efficiencies across sectors, has been addressed at global level (IPCC, 2014 WGIII). In this context, local GHG inventories appear a relevant tool toward the definition of a coherent, inter-sectorial background for local planning, mitigation, and adaptation policies. Taking advantage of consistent GHG emissions data availability in the Lombard context, local maps of direct GHG emissions have been linked with geographic data, including municipal boundaries, population data, and land-use information, produced and organized within the research PRIN 2007 From metropolitan city to metropolitan corridor: the case of the Po Valley Corridor . The results of this mapping exercise have been evaluated on the background of consolidated knowledge about northern Italy urban patterns, including the Linear Metropolitan System – LiMeS – and preliminary observations about characteristics, potential, and limits of the tool are proposed.

Functional and Biomechanical Effects of the Edge-to-Edge Repair in the Setting of Mitral Regurgitation: Consolidated Knowledge and Novel Tools to Gain Insight into Its Percutaneous Implementation.

Mitral regurgitation is the most prevalent heart valve disease in the western population. When severe, it requires surgical treatment, repair being the preferred option. The edge-to-edge repair technique treats mitral regurgitation by suturing the leaflets together and creating a double-orifice valve. Due to its relative simplicity and versatility, it has become progressively more widespread. Recently, its percutaneous version has become feasible, and has raised interest thanks to the positive results of the Mitraclip(®) device. Edge-to-edge features and evolution have stimulated debate and multidisciplinary research by both clinicians and engineers. After providing an overview of representative studies in the field, here we propose a novel computational approach to the most recent percutaneous evolution of the edge-to-edge technique. Image-based structural finite element models of three mitral valves affected by posterior prolapse were derived from cine-cardiac magnetic resonance imaging. The models accounted for the patient-specific 3D geometry of the valve, including leaflet compound curvature pattern, patient-specific motion of annulus and papillary muscles, and hyperelastic and anisotropic mechanical properties of tissues. The biomechanics of the three valves throughout the entire cardiac cycle was simulated before and after Mitraclip(®) implantation, assessing the biomechanical impact of the procedure. For all three simulated MVs, Mitraclip(®) implantation significantly improved systolic leaflets coaptation, without inducing major alterations in systolic peak stresses. Diastolic orifice area was decreased, by up to 58.9%, and leaflets diastolic stresses became comparable, although lower, to systolic ones. Despite established knowledge on the edge-to-edge surgical repair, latest technological advances make its percutanoues implementation a challenging field of research. The modeling approach herein proposed may be expanded to analyze clinical scenarios that are currently critical for Mitraclip(®) implantation, helping the search for possible solutions.

‘Training by Papua New Guinea women, for Papua New Guinea women’: lessons from the development of a co-constructed course for women smallholder farmers

This article examines the lessons from a collaborative project that worked with women agricultural leaders in Papua New Guinea. The project sought to build the capacity of these leaders as trainers in a way that would enable the development of a sustainable community of practice and worked within a critical and place-based pedagogy underpinned by asset-based community development principles. Whilst the process of our collaborative work has a number of salutary lessons, the co-construction of the training course with PNG women farmer leaders did illustrate a particular knowledge design continuum: that is, surfacing knowledge, distilling knowledge, clarifying knowledge and then consolidating knowledge. From this consolidated knowledge, together we were able to design locally valid and locally relevant modules. As the trainers went out to trial their training, they were then engaging in sharing knowledge and reviewing that knowledge which then lead to our collective ability to improve knowledge that will enhance future training in this area.

Challenge of Sport Towards Social Inclusion and Awareness-Raising Against Any Discrimination

Abstract Sport presents itself as a social configuration that enhances social inclusion by promoting tolerance, respect for others, cooperation, loyalty and friendship, and values associated with fair play, the most important ethical principles of sport. However, intolerance and exclusion can also be expressed in sport, certainly even more so the bigger the social inequalities and the ethnic, religious, gender, disability, and sexual orientation prejudices are in society. The processes of social exclusion, integration, and inclusion are research areas in the social sciences with consolidated knowledge, namely in the study of the problems of poverty, social inequalities, racial and ethnic discrimination, disability, and education. However, it is necessary to discuss the existing theoretical approaches and conceptions seen as explanatory principles of the reality of these fields of analysis, look at how they can frame the reality on the sports field, and then confirm them through empirical research in order to produce knowledge based on the reality of social facts. Despite the broad consensus on the potential of sport in promoting social inclusion, in this paper I stress that this potential can only become real if the orientation of sport includes strategies aimed at achieving these goals. I intend to show how the –social issue‖ in the field of sports has gained relevance in the institutional context, and thereby a new field of research for the social science of sport has been opened and needs to be deepened.

Social Work as an Action Science

It is a surprising fact that social work is not conceived as a scientific discipline in many countries and especially in the United States. It is surprising because the extent of academic social work programs and the scientific output of people working at schools of social work are significant. And it is surprising anyway if social work is conceived as a profession that by definition is linked to scientific knowledge. This article presents a characterization of the debate on social work science that has been led in the German-speaking countries. As a consequence of this debate and following the philosophy of science as developed by Mario Bunge, it introduces some basic propositions on how to conceive social work as a science, namely as a transdisciplinary action science ( Handlungswissenschaft)1 and outlines the target of building a consolidated knowledge base of social work as well as the challenges related to this goal.