Perspectives on Reoffenders: The Views of Detainees, the General Public and Those Working with Offenders

The literature has offered significant data on reoffending: for example, the relationship with drug taking, addiction, mental illness and security. However, research directly involving the voices of detainees and those intervening in the prevention of reoffending appears to be less developed. The present research aims to observe how reoffending is approached by the various players involved: the detainees (whether reoffenders or not), educators and ordinary people. In particular we endeavour to determine how reoffending is perceived, interpreted and managed. The ultimate aim is to assist those involved in the improvement of social reintegration. Interviews revealed substantial differences in how reoffending is interpreted and perceived, and this influences both the management of the risk of reoffending and the process of rehabilitation into society. Furthermore, the results showed some improvements, such as in the teamwork by all players involved, in education for the detainees, and in the implementation of social reintegration projects as alternatives to imprisonment

Extreme Gaussian targeting as a possible explanation for redundancy

openUna possibile spiegazione della ridondanza in biologia è la necessità di ottimizzare i processi di ricerca "estremi", nei quali è richiesto che solamente una o poche particelle raggiungano effettivamente l'obiettivo, come nel caso della fecondazione umana. Ispirandosi al legame ligando-recettore sulla superficie di una cellula, in questa tesi si affronta il targeting di una particella che diffonde su un piano, con condizioni al contorno riflettenti in un bordo circolare e una piccola area assorbente al centro. Dopo aver studiato la soluzione per l'ordinario tempo medio di primo passaggio, viene analizzato analiticamente e numericamente il targeting del più veloce tra molti ligandi. I risultati vengono valutati nel contesto di recenti teoremi per i tempi estremi di primo passaggio.A possible explanation of redundancy in biology is the need of optimizing extreme searching processes, where only one or few among many particles are requested to reach the target like in human fertilization. Inspired by the ligand-receptor binding mechanism on the surface of a cell, in this thesis it is addressed the targeting of a particle diffusing on a plane, with circular reflecting boundaries at the border and an absorbing small area at the center. After studying the solution for the ordinary mean first passage time, we address both analytically and numerically the fastest targeting among many searchers. We assess our results in the context of recent theorems for extreme first passage times

Afasia no contexto da pandemia: atividades de linguagem desenvolvidas pelo Zoom e Whatsapp

Abstract: Taking into account the difficulties faced by aphasic subjects in the utterances production and comprehension, both oral and written, this study aims at discussing the continuous work positive impacts, using Zoom and WhatsApp, during the pandemic period, while developing language activities with GB, a young aphasic woman, who attends the Center for Aphasic Individuals (Institute of Language Studies from the State University of Campinas, Unicamp). The longitudinal study is supported by an ongoing doctoral research, developed by the Group of Language Studies on Aging and Pathologies. The present article follows the theoretical-methodological principles based on enunciative-discursive neurolinguistics (Coudry, 1986, 1988) with focus on qualitative research and case studies. Based also on Luria’s (1981, 1986) and Vygotsky’s (2000 [1984]) neuropsychology, the brain is understood as a system that operates from the joint and integrated activity of functional units, emphasizing the social relations mediated by culturally developed symbols. In addition, Bakhtinian categories (Novaes-Pinto, 1999) allow us to analyze the dialogic processes, considering language production effective contexts, in order to understand the neurological damage impact on linguistic-cognitive functioning. For this, we bring some clippings of virtual interactions between the researcher (Idb) and GB, emphasizing the epi- and metalinguistic work that constitute discursive reorganization processes developed. By providing different features, the digital tools bring new possibilities for creating meaningful alternative strategies, generating a fundamental network that brings benefits to aphasics, while becoming an object of interest for research in several areas. Keywords:     Aphasias; neurolinguistics; reading; writing; epilinguisticsResumo: Levando em conta as dificuldades enfrentadas por sujeitos afásicos na produção e compreensão de enunciados, tanto orais quanto escritos, este estudo tem como objetivo discutir os impactos positivos do trabalho contínuo, utilizando Zoom e WhatsApp, durante o período de pandemia, no desenvolvimento de atividades de linguagem com GB , uma jovem afásica, que frequenta o Centro de Afásicos (Instituto de Estudos da Linguagem da Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Unicamp). O estudo longitudinal é apoiado por uma pesquisa de doutorado em andamento, desenvolvida pelo Grupo de Estudos da Linguagem sobre Envelhecimento e Patologias. O presente artigo segue os princípios teórico-metodológicos baseados na neurolinguística enunciativo-discursiva (Coudry, 1986, 1988) com foco em pesquisas qualitativas e estudos de caso. Com base também na neuropsicologia de Luria (1981, 1986) e de Vygotsky (2000 [1984]), o cérebro é entendido como um sistema que opera a partir da atividade conjunta e integrada de unidades funcionais, enfatizando as relações sociais mediadas por símbolos culturalmente desenvolvidos. Além disso, as categorias bakhtinianas (Novaes-Pinto, 1999) permitem analisar os processos dialógicos, considerando contextos efetivos de produção da linguagem, a fim de compreender o impacto do dano neurológico no funcionamento linguístico-cognitivo. Para isso, trazemos alguns recortes de interações virtuais entre o pesquisador (Idb) e GB, enfatizando os trabalhos epi e metalinguísticos que constituem os processos de reorganização discursiva desenvolvidos. Ao fornecer recursos diferenciados, as ferramentas digitais trazem novas possibilidades de criação de estratégias alternativas significativas, gerando uma rede fundamental que traz benefícios aos afásicos, ao mesmo tempo em que se torna objeto de interesse para pesquisas em diversas áreas.   Palavras-chave: Afasias; neurolinguística; leitura; escrevendo; epilinguístic

Through their eyes: multi-subject Brain Decoding with simple alignment techniques

Previous brain decoding research primarily involves single-subject studies, reconstructing stimuli via fMRI activity from the same subject. Our study aims to introduce a generalization technique for cross-subject brain decoding, facilitated by exploring data alignment methods. We utilized the NSD dataset, a comprehensive 7T fMRI vision experiment involving multiple subjects exposed to 9841 images, 982 of which were viewed by all. Our approach involved training a decoding model on one subject, aligning others' data to this space, and testing the decoding on the second subject. We compared ridge regression, hyper alignment, and anatomical alignment techniques for fMRI data alignment. We established that cross-subject brain decoding is feasible, even using around 10% of the total data, or 982 common images, with comparable performance to single-subject decoding. Ridge regression was the best method for functional alignment. Through subject alignment, we achieved superior brain decoding and a potential 90% reduction in scan time. This could pave the way for more efficient experiments and further advancements in the field, typically requiring an exorbitant 20-hour scan time per subject

Upper bound for the grand canonical free energy of the Bose gas in the Gross-Pitaevskii limit

We consider a homogeneous Bose gas in the Gross-Pitaevskii limit at temperatures that are comparable to the critical temperature for Bose-Einstein condensation in the ideal gas. Our main result is an upper bound for the grand canonical free energy in terms of two new contributions: (a) the free energy of the interacting condensate is given in terms of an effective theory describing its particle number fluctuations, (b) the free energy of the thermally excited particles equals that of a temperature-dependent Bogoliubov Hamiltonian.Comment: 41 page

Analysis of the normalized LMS optimum solution in the context of channel equalization

Albeit being presented as an alternative to the classical least-mean-square (LMS) algorithm, the normalized LMS (NLMS) actually deals with a modified mean squared error (MSE) cost function, so that the expected optimum solution may differ from the Wiener solution. In this work, we perform an investigation concerning the question as to whether such difference may arise in the context of the channel equalization problem by considering a representative set of transmitted signal modulations, channel models and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) conditions. Additionally, we analyze the influence of the potential deviation from the optimal solution on the performance of the equalizer3312230CONSELHO NACIONAL DE DESENVOLVIMENTO CIENTÍFICO E TECNOLÓGICO - CNPQnão te