1,649 research outputs found
THE ENTROPIC ANALYSIS OF ELECTORAL RESULTS: THE CASE OF EUROPEAN COUNTRIES
Entropy is a measure of information and uncertainty which has been used recently in different areas, besides of its original utilization in physics. Finance, microeconomics, macroeconomics, utility functions or even psychology are approached areas, using analogies between the areas physics and nature, creating a new research area: Econophysics (see, for example, Ausloos et al, 1999 or Bouchaud, 2002). This paper intends to explore the utilization of entropy through politics and election results, an area just slightly explored (Gill, 2005). It generalizes interpretation of entropy, considering it a measure of dissatisfaction and disillusion of populations in relation to politics. Some phenomena like the increase of abstention in a country, consequence of the dissatisfaction of population and of their alienation in relation to politics could be detected and analysed. This discontentment could result, for example, in the appearance of new political parties, with more division of votes and increasing entropy (result of the discontentment and uncertainty by electors). Absolute majorities, while imply less dispersion of votes, are synonym of more confidence in a given party, making a reduction of entropy. Electoral results could also be influenced by particular phenomena, like those terrorist attacks made in vespers of the two last elections in Spain, with consequences on the affluence to the polls by electors, and influencing levels of entropy. Elections' dates could also influence results: for example, elections on summer season suffer from more abstention. Elections' results could also be connected with aspects like safety feeling of citizens, with unpopular socio-economic policies taken by government or even with the economic performance of a country. One of the purposes of this paper is to find these types of phenomena and try to relate them with the concept of entropy. Another objective is to analyse the reality in different European countries.Entropy, electoral results, satisfaction and dissatisfaction of population
Assessment of 48 Stock markets using adaptive multifractal approach
Stock market comovements are examined using cointegration, Granger causality
tests and nonlinear approaches in context of mutual information and
correlations. Underlying data sets are affected by non-stationarities and
trends, we also apply AMF-DFA and AMF-DXA. We find only 170 pair of Stock
markets cointegrated, and according to the Granger causality and mutual
information, we realize that the strongest relations lies between emerging
markets, and between emerging and frontier markets. According to scaling
exponent given by AMF-DFA, , we find that all underlying data sets
belong to non-stationary process. According to EMH, only 8 markets are
classified in uncorrelated processes at confidence interval. 6 Stock
markets belong to anti-correlated class and dominant part of markets has memory
in corresponding daily index prices during January 1995 to February 2014.
New-Zealand with and Jordan with are far
from EMH. The nature of cross-correlation exponents based on AMF-DXA is almost
multifractal for all pair of Stock markets. The empirical relation, , is confirmed. Mentioned relation for is also
satisfied while for there is a deviation from this relation confirming
behavior of markets for small fluctuations is affected by contribution of major
pair. For larger fluctuations, the cross-correlation contains information from
both local and global conditions. Width of singularity spectrum for
auto-correlation and cross-correlation are and , respectively. The
wide range of singularity spectrum for cross-correlation confirms that the
bilateral relation between Stock markets is more complex. The value of
indicates that all pairs of stock market studied in this time
interval belong to cross-correlated processes.Comment: 16 pages, 13 figures and 4 tables, major revision and match to
published versio
Phage display as a tool for generation of bio-therapeutic agents for breast cancer
Notch is a conserved signalling pathway, which plays a crucial role in a multiple cellular processes such as stem cell self-renewal, cell division, proliferation and apoptosis. In mammalian, four Notch receptors and five ligands are described, where interaction is achieved through their extracellular domains, leading to a transcription activation of different target genes. Increased expression of Notch ligands has been detected in several types of cancer, including breast cancer suggesting that these proteins represent possible therapeutic targets.
The goal of this work was to generate quality protein targets and, by phage display technology, select function-blocking antibodies specific for Notch ligands. Phage display is a powerful technique that allows the generation of highly specific antibodies to be used for therapeutics, and it has also proved to be a reliable approach in identifying and validating new cancer-related targets. Also, we aimed at solving the tri-dimensional structure of the Notch ligands alone and in complex with selected antibodies.
In this work, the initial phase focused on the optimization of the expression and purification of a human Delta-like 1 ligand mutant construct (hDLL1-DE3), by refolding from E. coli inclusion bodies. To confirm the biological activity of the produced recombinant protein cellular functional studies were performed, revealing that treatment with hDLL1-DE3 protein led to a modulation of Notch target genes. In a second stage of this study, Antibody fragments (Fabs) specific for hDLL1-DE3 were generated by phage display, using the produced protein as target, in which one good Fab candidate was selected to determine the best expression conditions. In parallel, multiple crystallization conditions were tested with hDLL1-DE3, but so far none led to positive results
A "saída do armário": um estudo exploratório com mães e pais de lésbicas e gays
Dissertação de mestrado integrado em Psicologia (área de especialização em Psicologia Escolar e da Educação)As reações parentais, em relação à “saída do armário”, envolvem percursos
que, ainda, não estão totalmente compreendidos. A evolução social permitiu que
emergissem novas conceções dos pais e mães em relação à orientação sexual dos
progenitores, superando-se assim, as visões mais tradicionais de família.
Este estudo empírico teve como principais objetivos avaliar o modo como
pais e mães gerem a “saída do armário” dos seus filhos; as reações parentais que
marcam este processo e que estratégias são utilizadas na aceitação e integração
da orientação sexual dos filhos e filhas.
Os participantes são seis figuras parentais (cinco mães e um pai) cujos
filhos já tenham feito o coming out. A idade da amostra, no momento da entrevista,
varia entre os 52 e os 70 anos (M=59.33; DP=7.37). O instrumento aplicado para a
recolha de dados foi a entrevista semiestruturada, através da utilização de um
guião, previamente estruturado. Este continha oito questões fundamentadas nas
seguintes linhas: (1) avaliar se existe um padrão de resposta dos progenitores, no
modo como gerem o coming out dos filhos e filhas; (2) que estratégias usam
durante este processo e (3) que mudanças ocorrem nas relações da família
nuclear, durante e após o processo de “saída do armário” dos filhos e filhas. As
entrevistas foram analisadas seguindo os pressupostos da Análise temática.
Os dados recolhidos sugerem que existem reações parentais comuns em
quase todos os casos avaliados (negação, medos, aceitação). No entanto,
verificaram-se diferenças individuais e situacionais, pelo facto das reações não
ocorrerem segundo um continuum ou ordem específica, mas sim consoante o
contexto/situação. O associativismo, a partilha de experiências e a procura de
informação acerca da orientação sexual foram as estratégias mais recorrentes.
Relativamente à mudança, a maioria das figuras parentais refere que ainda se
encontra a adaptar às questões do casamento homossexual e da possibilidade da
adoção.
Finalmente sugere-se que em investigações futuras haja um maior enfoque
no papel que a família nuclear desempenha na vida das minorias sexuais.The parental reactions in relation to "coming out", involve pathways that also
are not fully understood. Social evolution has allowed the appearance of new
concepts from parents regarding the sexual orientation of their descendents, thus
surpassing more traditional views of family.
The main purposes of this empirical study, is to show how the parents handle
the out-coming of their descendants; parental reactions that characterize this
process and strategies that are used in the acceptance and integration of the sexual
orientation of their sons and daughters.
Participants are six parental figures (five mothers and one father), who´s
son´s or daughter’s already had done their own “coming out”. The age of the
sample, at the time of interview, varies between 52 and 70 years old. The instrument
used for collecting data was the semi-structured interview using a script, previously
designed. This was composed by eight questions based on the fallowing guideline:
(1) to evaluate whether there is a pattern of response of the parents, in the way they
manage the “coming out” of the sons and daughters (2) what strategies do they use
doing this process and (3). changes that occur in the relations of the nuclear family,
during and after the process of "coming out" of their sons and daughters. The
interviews were analyzed following the assumptions of Thematic Analysis. The data
collected suggests that there are common parental reactions in all cases evaluated
(denial, fears and acceptance). However, there were individual differences and
situational, in that the reactions do not occur according to a continuum or specific
order, but are influenced by the context/situation. Sharing the information,
experiences in associations, and the search for information about the sexual
orientation were the strategies more used. Regarding the change, most of the
parental figures are still adapting to issues of gay marriage and the possibility of
adoption.
Finally it is suggested that in future investigations there is a greater focus on
the role that the nuclear family plays in the lives of sexual minorities
Revisiting Covered Interest Parity in the European Union: the DCCA Approach
This paper analyzes the evidence of financial integration, with covered
interest parity (CIP), for a group of countries that have already adopted the euro
and another group of countries that kept their currencies. We use detrended crosscorrelation
analysis, which allows analyzing the behavior of time series even when they
are not stationary. The main results indicate that countries that adopted the euro do not
show much evidence in favor of CIP, before joining the Eurozone, which could imply
they will not benefit from all common currency advantages. In the group of countries
that did not adopt the euro, Denmark, Sweden, the UK and the Czech Republic are
the ones presenting better conditions for financial integration with the euro, while Bulgaria
has also some evidence of this. Some possible explanations of CIP deviations are
agents not considering all countries’ assets as similar and also the underdevelopment of
markets and liquidity problems (more pronounced due to periods of turmoil)
An application to general maximum entropy to utility
Methodologies related to information theory have been increasingly
used in studies in economics and management. In this paper, we use
generalised maximum entropy as an alternative to ordinary least squares in the
estimation of utility functions. Generalised maximum entropy has some
advantages: it does not need such restrictive assumptions and could be used
with both well and ill-posed problems, for example, when we have small
samples, which is the case when estimating utility functions. Using linear,
logarithmic and power utility functions, we estimate those functions and
confidence intervals and perform hypothesis tests. Results point to the greater
accuracy of generalised maximum entropy, showing its efficiency in
estimation
A importância das emoções sócio-afectivas no pré-escolar
Relatório Final de Prática de Ensino Supervisionada do Mestrado em Educação Pré-escolar apresentado na Escola Superior de Educação do Instituto Politécnico de Viana do CasteloO tema desta investigação é as emoções sócio-afectivas no jardim-de-infância.
O presente estudo foi realizado no Jardim-de-Infância da Meadela, na sala 1 com crianças com idades compreendidas entre o 3/4 anos, onde a investigadora estava a realizar a sua Prática Educativa Supervisionada.
Foi utilizado o método investigação – acção, com uma metodologia predominantemente qualitativa, onde se procedeu a uma recolha de informação acerca do reconhecimento e identificação das emoções por parte das crianças, tendo a investigadora um papel de observadora participante.
Esta investigação debruçasse sobre o quão importante é as crianças perceberem as suas emoções, sendo tal aspecto essencial para a sua envolvência e contacto com a sociedade. Foram realizadas cinco actividades, duas em grande grupo e as restantes em pequeno grupo, para verificar se as crianças ao serem estimuladas e caso haja uma maior abordagem desta temática, as crianças identifiquem e percebam as suas emoções de uma forma mais fácil e mais esclarecedora.
Com este estudo pode-se verificar que a abordagem das emoções sócio-afectivas no meio jardim-de-infância é muito importante para a vida social das crianças. Mas esta abordagem não se pode restringir apenas ao jardim, pois o papel do Encarregado de Educação e do meio familiar é bastante importante, porque se este for um assunto abordado as crianças compreende muito melhor as suas emoções e assim torna-se mais fácil a socialização com outras crianças e adultos.The theme of this research is the socio-affective emotions in the garden-care.
The study was conducted in the Garden-of-the Meadela Children in a room with children aged between 3 / 4 years, where the researcher was conducting its Supervised Practice Education.
Method was used for research - action, with a predominantly qualitative methodology, which held a collection of information about the recognition and identification of emotions by children, the researcher has a participatory role as an observer.
This research explored about how important the children understand their emotions, this aspect is essential to your surroundings and contact with society. Were carried out five activities, two large group and the other in small groups to see if the children are encouraged and if there is a greater approach to this theme, the children identify and understand their emotions in a way easier and enlightening.
This study can be seen that the approach of socio-affective emotions among garden-care is very important for the social life of children. But this approach can not be restricted only to the garden, for the role of the Guardian and the family is very important because if this is a subject matter much better children understand their emotions and so it becomes easier to socialize with other children and adults
Cyto- and genotoxicity assessment of manufactured nanomaterials in the A549 cell line
A number of nanomaterials (NMs) have been applied in different fields due to their unique physico-chemical properties. As the use and applications have increased in some industries, serious concerns about their potential impact on the environment and the human health have been raised and have been a challenge for the regulatory authorities.
This work aimed at assessing the toxicity of three classes of NMs, namely cerium dioxide, CeO2 (NM-212), titanium dioxide, TiO2 (NM-101 and NM-100) and barium sulphate, BaSO4 (NM-220) since they already have a broad range of applications in industry and consumer products.
A standardized protocol for NMs dispersion was followed and the quality of the dispersion in the culture medium was evaluated by the dynamic light scattering technique. Different concentrations (0, 1, 3, 10, 30, 75 and 100 μg/cm2) of each nanomaterial were used to expose A549 cells (human lung carcinoma cells) for cytotoxic evaluation through the MTT and clonogenic assays and genotoxicity assessment through the comet and the cytokinesis-blocked micronucleus (CBMN) assays.
The results showed a decrease in cell proliferation after exposure to cerium dioxide nanomaterials for 8 days, at the highest concentrations tested and a slight increase in the level of DNA breaks. Concerning the TiO2 NMs, a statistically significant increase in the level of DNA breaks was found for both NMs; however the CBMN assay did not show any increase in the frequency of chromosomal breaks. BaSO4 was the NM that showed the lowest toxicity in cyto- and genotoxicity assays.
Even though the present results contribute to assess the hazard of the tested NMs, the real effects of nanomaterials’ exposure to human health are still unclear and an unequivocal conclusion is difficult to present, given the inconsistent and often conflicting results found in the literature. Thus, the application of some nanomaterials in consumer products should be carefully evaluated until definite conclusions about their safety are available
Revisiting serial dependence in the stock markets of the G7 countries, Portugal, Spain and Greece
This article uses several tests to analyse serial dependence in financial data, trying
to confirm the existence of some kind of nonlinear dependence in stock markets.
In an attempt to provide a better explanation of the behaviour of stock markets, we
used tests based on mutual information and detrended fluctuation analysis (DFA).
Applying these tests to the series of stock market indexes of 10 countries, we
concluded for the absence of linear autocorrelation. However, with other tests, we
found nonlinear serial dependence that affects the rates of return. With DFA, we
found out that most return rate series have long-range dependence, which appears
to be more pronounced for Spain, Greece and Portugal. To confirm the inefficiency
of those markets, based on our results, we should prove the existence of
abnormal profits
Exploring glycobiomarkers for advanced stage bladder cancer: adding the influence of hypoxia to the equation
- …