The problem of navigation in hypertext is quite often associated with (dis)orientation. We begin this article by making a review of several mechanisms to support navigation after having done a brief presentation of the phenomena "getting lost in the hyperspace." To simplify and clarify our explanation we have assembled the various proposals of support to navigation into the following: 1) solutions regarding the tools to support navigation, 2) solutions regarding interface and navigation metaphors, and 3) solutions regarding hardware and other approaches to deal with this problem. The analyses made of each mechanism to support navigation intend to offer different points of view about the pros and cons of their use.

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Este texto aborda a temática da relação entre a evolução das tecnologias e as mudanças nos sistemas e modelos de educação a distância, tomando como ponto de partida a importância das tecnologias na mediatização dos conteúdos e na mediatização da comunicação entre professores e alunos e destes entre si. Neste contexto, discute-se o conceito de “geração de inovação tecnológica”, primeiramente utilizado por outros autores. Identifica-se a existência de cinco gerações de modelos de educação a distância possibilitados pela evolução tecnológica, e perspectiva-se o surgimento de uma sexta geração com base nos desenvolvimentos tecnológicos mais recentes, no domínio dos “mundos virtuais”. Procede-se também à caracterização de cada uma das gerações de educação a distância considerando como principais dimensões os aspectos relacionados com a mediatização e distribuição dos conteúdos educativos e com a mediatização e valorização da interacção e comunicação entre os sujeitos envolvidos em situações de educação a distância.

Therapeutics is a very complex subject for every pharmacy student, since it requires the application of knowledge from several other disciplines. The study of therapeutics is often done in case-based learning in order to promote reflective thinking and give a scenario as real as possible. The objective of this study was to compare student performance between faceto-face (n = 54) and blended learning (n = 56) approaches to the teaching of therapeutics. They can confirm that there are statistically significant differences (p < 0.05) between the final exam scores from both groups, being that the b-learning group achieved higher scores. Blended learning seems to be an effective way to teach therapeutics, following pre-established teaching methods, and above all, does not negatively affect student performance. It also provides new learning environments and strategies, and promotes the development of new skills such as learning and collaborating online, which may be relevant in a networked knowledge society.

Blueberries production has increased in the last few years boosted somehow by the World Health Organization (WHO) recommendations for a healthier nutrition and their recognized potential to treat several diseases. The production increase lead to high amounts of discarded leaves that could be very valuable. In this context, the antioxidant activity of Vaccinium spp. leaves, by means of the total phenolic (TPC) and flavonoid (TFC) content and total antioxidant capacity (TAC) was determined. Adult leaves of twenty-seven Vaccinium cultivars collected in three geographic regions and three seasons of the year were included. The antioxidant activity was additionally estimated with near infrared (NIR) spectroscopy and data transferability across the regions and seasons was evaluated. The TPC, TFC and TAC ranged from 39.6–272.8 mg gallic acid, 41.2–269.1 mg catechin and 22.6–124.8 mM Trolox per g of dry leaf, respectively. Globally through the seasons, the higher values of the three parameters were obtained in December. Regarding the geographic region, region A provided the cultivars with the higher antioxidant content. Titan was the cultivar with higher TPC and TAC and Misty the one with the higher TFC. NIR spectroscopy combined with the partial least squares analysis was able to successfully predict the antioxidant activity with coefficients of determination and range error ratios ranging from 0.84–0.99 and 11.2–26.8. Despite some identified limitations on data transferability, NIR spectroscopy proved to be a reliable, low cost and quick method to predict the antioxidant activity of the considered cultivar leaves.