CodeMaker : una nova forma de jugar al MasterMind

Mastermind és un joc de lògica per a dos jugadors, el qual consisteix en que un dels jugadors (el CodeBreaker) intenta encertar una combinació secreta pensada per l’altre jugador (CodeMaker). En aquest projecte s'han afegit dos noves normes al joc; la primera permet que el CodeMaker pugui canviar la seva combinació secreta sempre que vulgui (però sense incomplir les anteriors respostes del taulell); la segona consisteix en que només es conservin les tres últimes preguntes al taulell (després de respondre la quarta, la més antiga s'elimina). Per comprovar com afecten les normes al joc s’ha creat un sistema que juga partides de forma automàtica per obtenir informació estadística. S'ha creat un algorisme que juga amb les noves normes, com també un algorisme de Machine Learning que usa la mateixa lògica. Per últim, s'ha implementat una aplicació mòbil que permet jugar en els dos rols existents contra les diferents estratègies de la màquina, o fer que dos estratègies juguin entre ells.Mastermind es un juego de lógica para dos jugadores, el cual consiste en que un jugador (CodeBreaker) intenta acertar la combinación secreta pensada por el otro jugador (CodeMaker). En este proyecto se han añadido dos nuevas reglas al juego; la primera permite que el CodeMaker cambie la combinación secreta siempre que quiera (pero sin incumplir las respuestas de tablero); la segunda consiste en que solo se conserven las tres ultimas preguntas del tablero (después de responder la cuarta, la mas antigua se elimina). Para comprobar como afectan las nuevas reglas al juego se ha creado un sistema que juegue partida de forma automática para obtener información estadística. Se ha creado un algoritmo que juega con las nuevas reglas, como también un algoritmo de Machine Learning que usa la misma lógica. Por ultimo, se ha implementado una aplicación móvil que permite jugar en los dos roles existentes contra las distintas estrategias de la maquina, o hacer que dos estrategias jueguen entre ellas.Mastermind is a logic game for two players. The first player (CodeBreaker) tries to answer the secret code created by the other player (CodeMaker). In this project we added two new rules; the first one enables the CodeMaker to change his secret code whenever he wants (however, he has to respect the old guess on the board); the second rule says that only the last three guesses are stored on the board (after answering the forth guesses, the last one is deleted). To check the impact of the new rules, we created a program that plays games automatically; therefore, we will recollect a lot of statistical information. We created an algorithm that plays with the new rules; moreover, we created a Machine Learning algorithm that plays with this new logic. Last but not least, we implemented a mobile application in which you can play in both roles (CodeMaker and CodeBreaker) against a lot of machine’s algorithm; or you can see two algorithm playing against

Migration, Mobility and Human Rights at the Eastern Border of the European Union - Space of Freedom and Security

This edited collection of migration papers would like to emphasise the acute need for migration related study and research in Romania. At this time, migration and mobility are studied as minor subjects in Economics, Sociology, Political Sciences and European Studies only (mostly at post-graduate level). We consider that Romanian universities need more ‘migration studies’, while research should cover migration as a whole, migration and mobility being analysed from different points of view – social, economical, legal etc. Romania is part of the European Migration Space not only as a source of labourers for the European labour market, but also as source of quality research for the European scientific arena. Even a country located at the eastern border of the European Union, we consider Romania as part of the European area of freedom, security and justice, and therefore interested in solving correctly all challenges incurred by the complex phenomena of migration and workers’ mobility at the European level. The waves of illegal immigrants arriving continuously on the Spanish, Italian and Maltese shores, and the workers’ flows from the new Member States from Central and Eastern Europe following the 2004 accession, forced the EU officials and the whole Europe to open the debate on the economical and mostly social consequences of labour mobility. This study volume is our contribution to this important scientific debate. Starting with the spring of 2005, the Jean Monnet European Centre of Excellence and the School of High Comparative European Studies (SISEC), both within the West University of Timisoara, have proposed a series of events in order to raise the awareness of the Romanian scientific environment on this very sensitive issues: migration and mobility in the widen European Space. An annual international event to celebrate 9 May - The Europe Day was already a tradition for SISEC (an academic formula launched back in 1995 in order to prepare national experts in European affairs, offering academic post-graduate degrees in High European Studies). With the financial support from the Jean Monnet Programme (DG Education and Culture, European Commission), a first migration panel was organised in the framework of the international colloquium ‘Romania and the European Union in 2007’ held in Timisoara between 6 and 7 of May 2005 (panel Migration, Asylum and Human Rights at the Eastern Border of the European Union). Having in mind the positive welcoming of the migration related subjects during the 2005 colloquium, a second event was organised on 5 May 2006 in the framework of the European Year of Workers’ Mobility: the international colloquium Migration and Mobility: Assets and Challenges for the Enlargement of the European Union. In the same period, the Jean Monnet European Centre of Excellence, SISEC and The British Council in Bucharest have jointly edited two special issues of The Romanian Journal of European Studies, no.4/2005 and 5-6/2006, both dedicated to migration and mobility. Preliminary versions of many of the chapters of this volume were presented at the above mentioned international events. The papers were chosen according to their scientific quality, after an anonymously peer-review selection. The authors debate both theoretical issues and practical results of their research. They are renowned experts at international level, members of the academia, PhD students or experienced practitioners involved in the management of the migration flows at the governmental level. This volume was financed by the Jean Monnet Programme of the Directorate General Education and Culture, European Commission, throughout the Jean Monnet European Centre of Excellence (C03/0110) within the West University of Timisoara, Romania, and is dedicated to the European Year of Workers’ Mobility 2006. Timisoara, December 200

Understanding the role of CaMKIIa in Angelman Syndrome by looking at its potential interactors through proximity labelling

280 p.El Síndrome de Angelman es una enfermedad rara que se caracteriza por la ausencia de la E3 ligasa de ubicuitina UBE3A en las neuronas. Numerosos datos sugieren una relación entre CAMKII y UBE3A. En esta tesis se emplea el etiquetado por proximidad con BioID2 y TurboID, tanto en cultivos celulares como en Drosophila melanogaster, con el fin de identificar posibles interactores. Mediante esta estrategia hemos sido capaces de identificar la E3 ligasa de ubicuitina ITCH como la responsable de monoubicuitinar a CAMKIIa y a la deubiquitinasa MYSM1 como un mediador indirecto de la ubicuitinación de CAMKIIa. Además, cuando CaMKIIa se encuentra más ubicuitinada, su fosforilación en la T286 y, por tanto, activación se ve reducida. Los experimentos en mosca permitieron identificar varias proteínas relacionadas con enfermedades neurodegenerativas y la proteína Nbea, también identificada como posible sustrato de UBE3A, involucrada en el espectro autista. Por otro lado, nuestro grupo recientemente ha identificado la proteína Neurocondrina (NCDN) como un sustrato de UBE3A en el cerebro de ratón. NCDN regula de forma negativa la fosforilación de T286 de CaMKII, reduciendo así su actividad. Observamos que las cadenas a través de la lisina 48 son las que se forman en NCDN por UBE3A y la envían a su degradación. Finalmente, realizamos un estudio sobre cuáles eran las lisinas de NCDN que tendían a ser ubicuitinadas por UBE3A. Los resultados, aunque prometedores, no identificaban de manera significativa ninguna lisina dentro de la secuencia de NCDN

The impact of cigarette excise tax Increases and harmonisation in the East African community

Includes abstract.Includes bibliographical references.This paper proposes a model that can be used to predict the likely impacts of tobacco tax increases and harmonisation in the East African Community. The model has five sections, one for each EAC country. These sections consider different cigarette market segments based on tax or price differentials. The model can therefore calculate the likely effects of excise tax increases and harmonisation on the retail selling price of cigarettes, cigarette consumption, government revenue and industry revenue for each individual country and for the EAC as a whole

The application of chesterman's (1997 & 2000) translation strategies to the analysis of translated online news reports following nord's (1991 & 1997) functionalsit approach

Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Centro de Comunicação e Expressão. Programa de Pós-graduação em Inglês e Literatura CorrespondenteEste estudo visa iluminar uma área que ainda permanece amplamente inexplorada na disciplina de Estudos da Tradução, que é a área de Tradução e Jornalismo Online. Mais especificamente, este estudo investiga as práticas de traduzir textos de jornalismo online a partir dos seguintes passos: (i) apresentando a teoria e corpus selecionado - reportagens sobre conflitos no Oriente Médio - para a investigação da tradução de textos jornalísticos online; (ii) apresentando idéias fundamentais sobre Jornalismo Online; (iii) observando como as estratégias de tradução são aplicadas à tradução dos textos jornalísticos online de sites diferentes; e, finalmente (iv) discutindo as implicações das estratégias encontradas no corpus. Para tanto, o estudo esboça um arcabouço teórico e metodológico baseado na Abordagem Funcionalista de Nord (1991 & 1997), nos Memes e Estratégias de Tradução de Chesterman (1997 & 2000), nos Estudos de Tradução Baseados em Corpus, no Jornalismo Online e na Internet. Nord e Chesterman fornecem as noções e conceitos que informam o estudo; os estudos de Tradução Baseados em Corpus oferecem ferramentas metodológicas utilizadas na investigação de práticas de tradução e o Jornalismo Online e a Internet localizam o estudo na área de Estudos da Tradução. O corpus paralelo é formado por 43 textos de chegada e seus respectivos textos de partida, selecionados de quatro sites da Internet, formando um total de 86 textos (101,300 palavras). A análise de quais estratégias de tradução são mais utilizadas na tradução de textos jornalísticos online é realizada para validar a hipótese de que ao traduzir textos jornalísticos online, alguns tradutores tendem a seguir um tipo de tradução mais literal, ignorando algumas adaptações necessárias aos leitores do texto de chegada. Os resultados desta investigação mostraram que duas tendências principais surgem do corpus: uma em que os tradutores seguem um estilo mais voltado ao texto original (meme estático), e a outra tendência, na qual os tradutores optam por focar em um estilo mais voltado ao texto de chegada (meme dinâmico) produzido para um contexto de chegada específico - o contexto virtual. Encerra-se este estudo com algumas sugestões para o modelo de estratégias de tradução de Chesterman e com a validação das duas tendências apresentadas, mostrando que ambas são válidas, dependendo do escopo especificado para um determinado contexto

Impacts de la déshydratation et de l’hypohydratation sur la physiologie, les perceptions subjectives et la performance humaine : est-il possible d’en réduire les effets en s’y exposant fréquemment ?

La déshydratation, notamment ≥ 2 % de la masse corporelle, est généralement associée à une altération des fonctions physiologiques, des perceptions subjectives ainsi que de la performance d’endurance et des fonctions cognitives. Plus précisément, il est fréquemment mentionné qu’ensemble, les impacts cardiovasculaires, thermiques, métaboliques ainsi que subjectifs induits par la déshydratation pourraient contribuer à augmenter la perception de l’effort, qui à son tour, agirait comme un médiateur de la performance d’endurance. Si plusieurs études ont observé une exacerbation de la perception de l’effort avec la déshydratation, les évidences sont contradictoires, et certaines études n’observent pas d’effet. De plus, des évidences suggèrent que certaines personnes tolèrent mieux la déshydratation, tandis que d’autres en sont plus largement affectés. À cet égard, une hypothèse a récemment été émise, selon laquelle l’exposition répétée à la déshydratation pourrait en atténuer certains effets, notamment sur les perceptions subjectives dont la perception de l’effort, et donc en réduire l’impact subséquent sur la performance d’endurance. En plus d’être un possible médiateur clé dans la relation entre la déshydratation induite par l’exercice et la performance d’endurance, la perception de l’effort pourrait également jouer un rôle central dans le processus d’habituation à la déshydratation. Toutefois, l'idée que l’humain puisse s'habituer à la déshydratation n’a été discutée que de manière superficielle et anecdotique. De nombreuses questions restent donc en suspens et se doivent d’être étudiées. Le premier objectif de la présente thèse était de caractériser la magnitude de l’effet de la déshydratation sur la perception de l’effort à l’aide de la méthode méta-analytique. Dans un second temps, cette thèse visait à vérifier (1) l’impact de la déshydratation faible (2 %) et modérée (4 % de la masse corporelle) sur la réponse cardiovasculaire, thermique et subjective ainsi que sur la performance d’endurance et cognitive, lorsque non habitué à cette dernière et (2) si une exposition répétée à ces niveaux de déshydratation pouvait permettre d’en réduire les impacts néfastes sur les variables précédemment exposées. Tout d’abord, une revue systématique avec méta-analyse a permis de caractériser la relation entre la déshydratation induite par l’exercice et la perception de l’effort. Il a été émis l’hypothèse que la déshydratation serait associée à une plus grande perception de l’effort, et ce, proportionnellement au déficit hydrique induit. Cette méta-analyse a permis de démontrer que bien que ces variables soient liées, il est peu probable que les effets de la déshydratation sur la perception de l’effort soient significatifs d’un point de vue pratique lorsque la déshydratation est faible (c.-à-d. < à 3 % de la masse corporelle). Par la suite, une étude utilisant un devis chassé-croisé randomisé a été menée auprès d’individus afin de (1) caractériser l’impact de la déshydratation faible et modérée sur les fonctions physiologiques, les réponses subjectives et la performance d’endurance et cognitive et (2) vérifier l’effet d’une exposition répétée à ces niveaux de déshydratation. Il a été émis l'hypothèse que les variables d’intérêts seraient significativement altérées par la déshydratation, d’autant plus lorsque modérée, mais qu'après une exposition répétée, elles seraient similaires, qu'une hydratation adéquate soit maintenue ou non pendant l'exercice. Les résultats obtenus soutiennent l’effet négatif de la déshydratation, d’autant plus lorsque modérée, sur les variables cardiovasculaires, thermiques et subjectives ainsi que sur la performance d’endurance. Plus spécifiquement, l’effet observé dans cette étude sur la perception de l’effort soutient les conclusions de notre méta-analyse, c.-à-d. que la déshydratation induite par l’exercice exacerbe la perception de l’effort lorsque > 3 % de la masse corporelle. En revanche, nos données ne démontrent pas d’effet négatif de la déshydratation sur la performance cognitive. Enfin, et surtout, nos résultats démontrent également que l’exposition répétée à la déshydratation faible et modérée ne permet pas d’en atténuer les effets négatifs sur les variables étudiées. Autrement dit, nos résultats suggèrent que les personnes qui s'exposent de manière répétée à des niveaux d'hypohydratation faibles et modérés ne doivent pas s'attendre à une atténuation des effets néfastes sur leurs performances. Les travaux présentés dans cette thèse participent donc directement au développement du domaine de l’hydratation et de la performance humaine en contribuant de manière significative à l’enrichissement des connaissances quant (1) aux mécanismes impliqués dans l’impact de la déshydratation sur la performance humaine ainsi qu’aux (2) effets d’une exposition répétée à la déshydratation et la possibilité pour l’humain de s’y habituer

Foreign Divestment and Employee Disclosure and Consultation in the UK, 1978-1985

This thesis has two main objectives, namely, - to contribute to the theory of foreign divestment through a detailed analysis of the causes of UK plant closures by foreign-owned MNCs, - and to evaluate UK legislation on employee disclosure/consultation, with particular reference to its effect on foreign MNCs. The Financial Times has recorded since 1978 the closure of 96 manufacturing operations majority-owned by foreign MNCs. This thesis analyses 13 of them which involved compulsory redundancy of 500 or more employees in four industrial case studies. A total of 11 MNCs from 5 countries are examined, and the impact of home country culture is assessed. Of the three theoretical explanatory models of foreign divestment, condition-based theory emerges as far more appropriate than the motivation-based, and precipitating- circumstance based theories. The plant closures by foreign MNCs were due to certain unfavourable changes in the business environment, though these were not always sufficient to explain some closures. Deteriorating conditions created strong motives to divest, and new Chief Executives were often appointed. The arrival of a new man should be seen, not as a cause of, but, as a signal to divestment. The Department of Employment is content that workers receive the statutory minimum notification of redundancy, or pay in lieu of notice. Thus, not surprisingly, British employees' representatives were not consulted "at the earliest opportunity", but were informed some months after the decision had been made by the parent company at corporate headquarters. Regardless of market conditions and the parent company's financial situation, Union Officials will always castigate companies which close plants. It matters little whether they receive three months or three years notice, and whether or not their representatives meet the Chief Executive Officer of the parent company. Proponents of greater information disclosure believe that employees would use the knowledge to save Jobs, but in two closures, the fully-informed workforces voted against proposals in the knowledge that rejection endangered their plants. The behaviour of the Dutch, French, German and Canadian MNCs conformed with cultural profiles. Home country culture appears to have had influence on the three European MNCs and on the Canadian firm, but the behaviour of the seven US MNCs is so disparate that national culture appears to have had little impact. The British TUC has accused one foreign-owned firm of breaching the OECD's Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises during the divestment process. This case is analysed and reinforces the view that the key section on Employment and Industrial Relations is of little value. This crucial chapter of the Guidelines has no impact on corporate behaviour and is ineffective because it does not in any way supplement national law. While the EEC's "Vredeling Proposals" would raise the minimum legal requirements, many firms already exceed the UK legal minimum in some respects, eg. period of notice of closure. All of the plant closures examined in this thesis were part of a broader corporate restructuring strategy. Britain has not lost its attraction for foreign investors, though divestment will continue. Delays in restructuring may ultimately prove counterproductive. As the rate of technological change accelerates, the western world must come to grips with its fundamental economic and social problem, ie. a surplus of labour. Protracted debate and discussion on further legislation on employee disclosure and consultation has tended to divert attention from more pressing matters