Bringing the Divine down into Man : the building-up of the yoga path

O autor analisa a evolução do Yoga como uma disciplina ascética, desde o tempo da absorção dos habitantes originais da ?ndia pelas tribos arianas, que ali chegaram numa época proto-histórica. Ritos austeros, práticas mágicas, exercícios de controle respiratório e atitudes ascéticas dos habitantes locais foram incorporados na metafísica e na religião Védicas, e também no Yoga pré-clássico. A descoberta do poder das práticas ascéticas e meditacionais permitiu um distanciamento progressivo dos yogis em relação a práticas religiosas externas, tais como sacrifícios realizados com a intenção de favorecer os deuses, e a um avanço paralelo da visão do Yoga como um tipo de sacrifício em si mesmo, fundamentado na associação - entendida como uma ligação ou [re]união - entre o "Self"/a Alma vivente (âtman; jivâtman) do homem e a norma eterna (sanatana dharma), o "Senhor das Criaturas" (Prajâpati), o Ser Supremo (Parameshtin; Brahman; Shiva do Shaivismo; Vishnu do Vaishnavismo), ou a força ou poder (Shakti do Shaktismo [Tantrismo]) que torna a vida possível e que mantém o cosmos. Através de uma revisão do tema do Purusha (sânscrito para "pessoa; homem", mas também para "Homem Universal; homem-deus") em algumas referências clássicas da literatura indiana - incluindo o Rigveda, o Atharvaveda, muitos Upanishads, porções relevantes do Mahâbhârata (particularmente do Bhagavad-Gîtâ, e também do Mokshadharma e de outras seções do Shânti Parva), o Yoga-Sûtra de Patañjali (texto fundador do Yoga clássico), o Bhâgavata-Purâna, o Yoga-Vâsishtha atribuído a Vâlmîki, e o Kulârnava-Tantra (um texto essencial ao Tantra-yoga), entre outros -, percebe-se uma articulação que consolida a autonomia humana e o status superior do homem no universo, dando lugar à idéia de que pode-se ser "iluminado", e que o status de Deus-no-homem pode ser alcançado, tanto através do conhecimento (jñâna) quanto através do yoga - o modo de "iluminação" associado com o controle e a estabilidade da mente, e com a obtenção de uma consciência trans-racional. Práticas de meditação e concentração "transcendental" progressivamente [re]dirigem-se para uma situação onde o corpo é valorizado como um tipo de "templo", que deve ser apropriadamente construído e cuidado de modo a permitir e favorecer o encontro e assimilação final entre o homem e o Divino.The author analizes the evolution of Yoga as an ascetic discipline, since the time of the absorption of the local inhabitants by the Aryan tribes, that settled in India in protohistoric times. Austerity vows, magical practices, breath control exercises and ascetic attitudes of the locals were incorporated in Vedic metaphysics and religion, and also in preclassical Yoga. The discovery of the power of ascetic/meditational practices gave rise to a progressive distantiation of the yogis from external religious practices such as sacrifices, intended to propitiate the gods, and to a parallel advance of the view of yoga as a kind of sacrifice in itself, grounded on the association - thought as a binding or [re]union - between the Self/the living Soul (âtman; jivâtman) of man and the eternal norm (sanatana dharma), the "Lord of Creatures" (Prajâpati), the Supreme Being (Parameshtin; Brahman; Shiva of Shaivism; Vishnu of Vaishnavism), or the force or power (Shakti of Shaktism [Tantrism]) that makes life possible and maintains the cosmos. Through a review of the Purusha (Sanskrit for "person; man", but also for "Universal man; man-god") theme in some classical Indian literary references - encompassing the Rigveda, the Atharvaveda, many Upanishads, relevant portions of the Mahâbhârata (particularly of the Bhagavad-Gîtâ, and of the Mokshadharma and other sections of the Shânti Parva), the Yoga-Sûtra of Patañjali (the founding text of classical yoga), the Bhâgavata-Purâna, the Yoga-Vâsishtha attributed to Vâlmîki, and the Kulârnava-Tantra (an essential text to tantra-yoga), among others -, an articulation that consolidates human autonomy and superior status in the universe is perceived, giving way to the idea that one can be "enlighted", and the God-in-man status can be achieved, both through knowledge (jñâna) and through yoga - the way of enlightment associated with bodily and mental control and stability, and with the achievement of trans-rational conciousness. Purely "transcendental" meditation and concentration practices progressively [re]turn to a situation where the body is valued as a kind of "temple", that must be appropriately constructed and cared for in order to allow and to favour the final encounter and assimilation between man and the Divine

A "liberação em vida" do Jñana Yoga na visão do Vedanta

O Jñâna Yoga, controle das funções vitais com a finalidade de realização da sabedoria/do "conhecimento absoluto", baseia-se, com raras exceções, quase que totalmente nos ensinamentos da filosofia Advaita (não-dualista) da escola Vedânta (do "Final dos Vedas"), e tem o capítulo IV do Bhagavad-Gitâ (o "Canto do Divino Mestre") como uma referência fundamental. Shankara (788-820), cujo sistema filosófico é denominado kevalâdvaita (não-dualismo [monismo] único/perfeito) ou shuddhâdvaita (não-dualismo inqualificado), tomou a vida moral como um pré-requisito essencial ao conhecimento metafísico, necessário para que se atinja o objetivo último da vida, o conhecimento da identidade essencial do eu (âtman) com o Ser Supremo (Brahman). No seu Viveka-Chûdâmani ("A Jóia Suprema do Discernimento"), bem como em outros escritos vedânticos, Brahman é chamado de Sat-Chit-Ânanda (Ser-Consciência-Bemaventurança ), e G. Dandoy faz a seguinte analogia entre essa concepção e imagens de Deus em Santo Agostinho (De Civitate Dei, VIII, 10): Sat - "causa constituta universitatis"; Chit -"lux percipiendæ veritatis"; Ânanda - "fons bibendæ felicitatis" (G. Dandoy, L'Ontologie du Vedanta, 1932: 33). Analisamos de que modo essas características da natureza divina, que só podem ser logradas pelo homem que atingir o estágio de jîvanmukti ("libertação em vida"), podem motivá-lo a chegar lá, espelhando-se nelas enquanto percorre a senda do viveka (discernimento), e praticando como pré-requisitos as ações obrigatórias de yama ("disciplina moral", consistindo em Ahimsâ ["não-violência"], Satyâ ["veracidade"], Asteyâ ["não-roubar"], Brahmacaryâ ["castidade" ou "sexualidade não-desvirtuada"], Aparigrahâ ["não-cobiça"]) e niyama ("autocontrole", consistindo em Shachka ["limpeza" ou "pureza"], Samtosha ["contentamento"], Tapas ["austeridade" ou "ascese"], Svâdhyâya ["estudo"], e Îshvara-pranidhâna ["devoção ao Ser Divino"]). Vemos com profundidade porque no Vedânta a vitória sobre o ahamkâra (egotismo) é o acontecimento mais importante na vida do buscador da libertação, no espírito do que ensinou Vivekânanda: "o altruísmo é a negação de nosso eu inferior ou aparente. Cabe a nós liberarmo-nos desse miserável sonho no qual somos esses corpos que vemos..." (Swami Vivekânanda, Jnâna- Yoga, 1936: 463).Jñâna Yoga, the control of vital functions aiming at the actualization of wisdom/of "absolute knowledge", is based, with rare exceptions, almost completely on the teachings of the Advaita (non-dualist) branch of the Vedânta (from the "End of the Veda") school, and has chapter IV of the Bhagavad-Gitâ (the "Song of the Divine Master") as a fundamental referece. Shankara (788-820), whose philosophical system is called kevalâdvaita (unique/perfect non-dualism [monism]) ou shuddhâdvaita (inqualified nondualism), has taken moral life as an essential requisite to metaphysical knowledge, necessary to reaching the ultimate objective of life: knowledge of the essential identity between the "I"(âtman) and the Supreme Being (Brahman). In his Viveka-Chûdâmani ("The Supreme Jewel of Discernment"), as well as in other vedantic writings, Brahman is called Sat-ChitÂnanda (Being-Conscience-Blessedness), and G. Dandoy makes the following analogy between this conception and images of God in Saint Augustine (De Civitate Dei, VIII, 10): Sat - "causa constituta universitatis"; Chit - "lux percipiendæ veritatis"; Ânanda - "fons bibendæ felicitatis" (G. Dandoy, L'Ontologie du Vedanta, 1932: 33). We analize the way how these characteristics of the divine nature, that can be attained solely by those men that have reached the stage of jîvanmukti ("liberation in life"), can motivate men to reach the Divine, mirroring themselves in His/Her characteristics while trecking the trail of viveka (discerniment), and practicing as pre-requisites the obligatory actions of yama ("moral discipline", consisting in Ahimsâ ["non-violence"], Satyâ ["truthfulness"], Asteyâ ["notrobbing"], Brahmacaryâ ["chastity" or "non-vicious sexuality"], Aparigrahâ ["non-envy"]) and niyama ("self-control", consisting in Shachka ["cleanliness" or "purity"], Samtosha ["content"], Tapas ["austerity" or "askesis"], Svâdhyâya ["study"], and Îshvara-pranidhâna ["devotion to the Supreme Being"]). We see in depth the reasons why, in the Vedânta, victory over ahamkâra (egotism) is the most important event in the life of the seeker of liberation, in the spirit of what Vivekânanda has thaught: "altruism is the negation of our lower or apparent self. It's our task to freed ourselves from the miserable dream in which we are those bodies we see..." (Swami Vivekânanda, Jnâna-Yoga, 1936: 463)

HOUSEHOLD SOCIO-ENVIRONMENT AND INFANT FECAL MICROBIOME

The “old friends” hypothesis suggests that exposure to a diverse range of co-evolved microbes during early life can regulate the immune system and reduce the risk of allergies. Previous research has shown that household factors are associated with the diversity and composition of the infant gastrointestinal microbiome (IGM). However, there is still limited data on different socio-environmental factors within household that may be associated with the development and composition of the IGM. The fecal microbiome (IFM) is used as an alternative to denote the gastrointestinal microbiome, a common tradition in microbiome literature. Here, we investigate potential relationships between household socio-environmental factors and infant fecal microbiome (IFM) composition and alpha diversity. We analyzed fecal samples from 48 healthy, exclusively breastfed infants from eastern Washington and northwest Idaho. The V1-V3 region of the bacterial 16S rRNA gene was sequenced to describe and analyze the role of household socio-environmental factors on the IFM. Household socio-environmental factors were reported by mothers of infants via survey and through naturalistic observations. Results showed that the household socio-environmental factors in our study were related to the composition of IFM but not the diversity of the IFM.

As origens iranianas do milenarismo

Este ensaio consiste de uma avaliação crítica da contribuição iraniana para as origens do milenarismo judaico-cristão, através do Zoroastrismo ou do Zurvanismo. Para tanto, são recapitulados os primórdios do milenarismo iraniano com Zaratustra (Zoroastro), e analisa-se a razão da criação do tempo finito e sua função como ponte para o período vindouro do tempo ilimitado. São discutidos brevemente alguns aspectos da recepção e transmissão grega de ideias escatológicas iranianas; é avaliada a relação entre o milenarismo e a soteriologia zoroastriana e, finalmente, são apontados alguns traços da duradoura herança ocidental do apocalipsismo zoroastriano.This essay consists in a critical evaluation of the Iranian contribution to the origins of Judaeo-Christian millennialism through Zoroastrianism and Zurvanism. With that aim, the beginnings of Iranian millennialism with Zarathustra (Zoroaster) are reviewed, and the reason for the creation of finite time, as well as its function as a bridge to the coming epoch of unlimited time, are analysed. Some aspects of the Greek reception and transmission of Iranian eschatological ideas are briefly discussed; the relation between Zoroastrian millennialism and soteriology is evaluated, and finally some traces of the lasting western heritage of Zoroastrian apocalypticism are pointed out

Factores de modelado que afectan la elección del teletrabajo y su impacto en la demanda en las redes de transporte

This research estimates the extent of using teleworking to mean the feasibility and appropriateness of this method of work for employees and professors according to their characteristics and features of career. The study population included university staff and professors in Tehran and data collection was carried out through 447 questionnaires. A logistic regression model was used to investigate the transport demand caused by teleworking. The results showed that various factors including history and percentage of telework and after that, the time delay of home-to-work and trave distance affected the model of transportation demand of professor’s members. For the staffing community, it had the greatest impact on teleworking, history and percentage of telework, followed by travel distances, latency from work to home, and latency from home to work

Iranian origins of millenialism

This essay consists in a critical evaluation of the Iranian contribution to the origins of Judaeo-Christian millennialism through Zoroastrianism and Zurvanism. With that aim, the beginnings of Iranian millennialism with Zarathustra (Zoroaster) are reviewed, and the reason for the creation of finite time, as well as its function as a bridge to the coming epoch of unlimited time, are analysed. Some aspects of the Greek reception and transmission of Iranian eschatological ideas are briefly discussed; the relation between Zoroastrian millennialism and soteriology is evaluated, and finally some traces of the lasting western heritage of Zoroastrian apocalypticism are pointed out

Experimental and modeling study of foam flow in pipes with two foam-flow regimes

The use of foams can be found abundantly in many applications in a wide range of industries, including oil and gas industry. Although understanding foam flow behavior is crucial for the optimization of such applications, the complex flow behavior of foams has been a major challenge. Recent experimental studies with surfactant foams presented a new way to characterize foam flow characteristics by using two flow regimes: the low-quality regime showing either plug-flow or segregated-flow pattern, and the high-quality regime showing slug-flow pattern. This study consists of three main components: (1) experimental investigation of foam rheology in pipes; (2) building up of a new foam model consistent with lab-measured experimental data; and (3) use of the model in petroleum drilling hydraulics modeling and simulation. The major outcome of this study can be summarized as follows. First (Part 1), by conducting foam flow experiments in pipes, this study shows the concept of two foam-flow regimes is still valid and effective not only with surfactant foams but also with foams in the presence of additives such as polymers and oils. This finding is important because many field applications of foam flow involve some levels of additives. Second (Part 2), this study for the first time presents how to build a foam model which is consistent with two foam-flow regimes evidenced by experimental data. The model requires four model parameters – two parameters to capture rheological properties (e.g. consistency index and flow behavior index, if power-law rheology is applied) and two parameters to define the dependence of foam rheology to gas and liquid flow rates in both foam flow regimes. Third and last (Part 3), the significance of this model is verified by implementing it into existing foam drilling hydraulics calculations in a 10,000 ft vertical well in which foams are injected down into the drill pipe, through the drill bit and circulated up to the surface along the annulus. The results show that this new foam model equipped with two flow regimes is advantageous over the conventional foam model especially when foams become dry and unstable in the well, improving the accuracy

Knowledge management technology for integrated decision support systems in process industries

Premi extraordinari doctorat curs 2011-2012, àmbit d’Enginyeria IndustrialNowadays, factors such as globalization of trade, market uncertainty and fierce competition involve dwindling error margins in enterprises. Two key aspects for achieve it are the viability and the competitiveness of enterprises, which highly depend on the effectiveness for taking their decisions related to their manufacturing characteristics, such as economic efficiency, product quality, flexibility or reliability. For this reason, companies have taken the task, for many years, of develop better management information systems in order to help the decision makers to exploit data and models, with the final objective of discussing and improving decision-making. In this sense, decision support systems must be improved in order to deal with the large amount of available data and the heterogeneity of existing modeling approaches along the hierarchical levels in the enterprise structure. Hence, this thesis proposes the application of ontologies as a decision support tool, since they are increasingly seen as a key semantic technology for addressing heterogeneities and mitigating the problems they create and for enabling data mining by semantics-driven the knowledge processing. The aim of this thesis is to contribute to the development of decision support tools for the enterprise process industry. As a decision support tool, must be capable of become a robust model which interacts among the different decision hierarchical levels, providing a unified framework of data and information levels integration. On the other hand, this thesis also aims the improvement in the development of the ontologies. Firstly, a detailed state of the art about the different production process systems, knowledge management base on ontologies, as well as decision support systems is carried out. Based on this review, the specific thesis objectives are posed. Next, a methodology is proposed for the development and use of ontologies, based on the analysis and adaptation of previously existing methodologies. Such methodology is based on the improvement cycle (PSDA), allowing a better way to design, construct and apply domain ontologies. The second part of this thesis is devoted to the application of the different parts of the previously proposed methodology for the development of an ontological framework in the process industry domain concerning the strategic, tactical and operational decision levels. Next, the description of the decision areas in which the ontological framework is applied is presented. Namely, in the process control decision level, the coordination control is considered. Regarding scheduling decisions level, mathematical optimization approaches are applied. Finally, the distributed hierarchical decision level considers the mathematical optimization for decentralized supply chain networks is adopted. These decision areas and the performance of the proposed framework interaction are studied along the different case studies presented in the thesis. On the whole, this thesis represents a step forward toward the integration among the enterprise hierarchical levels, the process and enterprise standardization and improved procedures for decision-making. The aforementioned achievements are boosted by the application of semantic models, which are currently increasingly used.En la actualidad, factores como la globalización del comercio, la incertidumbre del mercado y la feroz competencia implican la disminución de los márgenes de error en las empresas. Dos aspectos claves para lograrlo son la viabilidad y la competitividad de las enterprisesm, que dependen en gran medida la eficacia para la toma de sus decisiones relacionadas con sus características de fabricación, tales como eficiencia económica, la calidad del producto, la flexibilidad y fiabilidad. Por esta razón, las empresas han dado a la tarea, desde hace muchos años, de desarrollar mejores sistemas de gestión de la información con el fin de ayudar a los tomadores de decisiones de explotación de datos y modelos, con el objetivo final de la discusión y mejorar la toma de decisiones. En este sentido, los sistemas de apoyo a las decisiones deben ser mejorados con el fin de hacer frente a la gran cantidad de datos disponibles y la heterogeneidad de los métodos de modelización existentes a lo largo de los niveles jerárquicos en la estructura de la empresa. Por lo tanto, esta tesis se propone la aplicación de ontologías como herramienta de apoyo a la decisión, ya que son cada vez más como una tecnología clave semántica para hacer frente a las heterogeneidades y la mitigación de los problemas que crean y para permitir la extracción de datos por la semántica impulsado la elaboración del conocimiento. El objetivo de esta tesis es contribuir al desarrollo de herramientas de apoyo para la industria de procesos empresariales. Como una herramienta de apoyo a la decisión, debe ser capaz de convertirse en un modelo sólido que interactúa entre los diferentes niveles de decisión jerárquica, proporcionando un marco unificado de datos e integración de los niveles de información. Por otra parte, esta tesis también tiene como objetivo la mejora en el desarrollo del área de ingeniería ontológica. En primer lugar, un estado detallado de la técnica sobre los diferentes sistemas de procesos de producción, la base de la gestión del conocimiento en ontologías, así como los sistemas de soporte de decisiones se ha llevado a cabo. Basado en esa revision, los objetivos específicos de la tesis se plantean. A continuación, se propone una metodología para el desarrollo y uso de ontologías, con base en el análisis y adaptación de las metodologías ya existentes. Dicha metodología se basa en el ciclo de mejora (PSDA), lo que permite una mejor manera de diseñar, construir y aplicar las ontologías de dominio. La segunda parte de esta tesis se dedica a la aplicación de las diferentes partes de la metodología propuesta anteriormente para el desarrollo de un marco ontológico en el ámbito de la industria de procesos relativos a los niveles de decisiones estratégicas, tácticas y operativas. A continuación, la descripción de las áreas de decisión en la que se aplica el marco ontológico se presenta. Es decir, en el nivel de decision de proceso de control, el control de la coordinación se considera. En cuanto al nivel de decisiones de programación de la producción, los métodos matemáticos de optimización se aplican. Finalmente, el nivel jerárquico distribuido decisión considera la optimización matemática de las redes descentralizadas de la cadena de suministro que se adopte. Estas áreas de decisión y el desempeño de la interacción marco propuesto se estudian a lo largo de los diferentes casos de estudio presentados en la tesis. En general, esta tesis supone un paso hacia adelante en la integración entre los niveles jerárquicos de la empresa, el proceso y la estandarización de la empresa y mejorar los procedimientos de toma de decisiones. Los logros mencionados se potencian mediante la aplicación de modelos semánticos, que actualmente se utilizan cada vez más.Award-winningPostprint (published version

Mechanistic Leak-Detection Modeling for Single Gas-Phase Pipelines: Lessons Learned from Fit to Field-Scale Experimental Data

The use of pipelines is one of the most popular ways of delivering gas phases as shown by numerous examples in hydrocarbon transportation systems in Arctic regions, oil and gas production facilities in onshore and offshore wells, and municipal gas distribution systems in urban areas. A gas leak from pipelines can cause serious problems not only because of the financial losses associated but also its social and environmental impacts. Therefore, establishing an early leak detection model is vital to safe and secure operations of such pipeline systems.A leak detection model for a single gas phase is presented in this study by using material balance and pressure traverse calculations. The comparison between two steady states, with and without leak, makes it possible to quantify the magnitude of disturbance in two leak detection indicators such as the change in inlet pressure (ΔPin) and the change in outlet flow rate (Δqout) in a broad range of leak locations (xleak) and leak opening sizes (dleak). The results from the fit to large-scale experimental data of Scott and Yi (1998) show that the value of leak coefficient (CD), which is shown to be the single-most important but largely unknown parameter, ranges from 0.55 to 4.11, and should be a function of Reynolds number (NRe) which is related to leak characteristics such as leak location (xleak), leak opening size (dleak), leak rate (qleak) and system pressure. Further investigations show that between the two leak detection indicators, the change in outlet flow rate (Δqout) is superior to the change in inlet pressure (ΔPin) because of larger disturbance, if the pressure drop along the pipeline is relatively small compared to the outlet pressure; otherwise, the change in inlet pressure (ΔPin) is superior to the change in outlet flow rate (Δqout).Key words: Leak; Leak detection modeling; Pipeline; Leak coefficient; Gas flow in pip

A Combinatorial Approach for Single-cell Variant Detection via Phylogenetic Inference

Single-cell sequencing provides a powerful approach for elucidating intratumor heterogeneity by resolving cell-to-cell variability. However, it also poses additional challenges including elevated error rates, allelic dropout and non-uniform coverage. A recently introduced single-cell-specific mutation detection algorithm leverages the evolutionary relationship between cells for denoising the data. However, due to its probabilistic nature, this method does not scale well with the number of cells. Here, we develop a novel combinatorial approach for utilizing the genealogical relationship of cells in detecting mutations from noisy single-cell sequencing data. Our method, called scVILP, jointly detects mutations in individual cells and reconstructs a perfect phylogeny among these cells. We employ a novel Integer Linear Program algorithm for deterministically and efficiently solving the joint inference problem. We show that scVILP achieves similar or better accuracy but significantly better runtime over existing methods on simulated data. We also applied scVILP to an empirical human cancer dataset from a high grade serous ovarian cancer patient