Methodological Choices For Research In Information Science: Contributions To Domain Analysis

The article focuses on the ways of organizing studies according to their methodological choices in the Base Referencial de Artigos de Periódicos em Ciência da Informação (Reference Database of Journal articles in Information Science). We highlight how the organization of scientific production by the methodological choices in Information Science contributes to the identification of its production features and domain analysis. We studied research categories and proposed five classification criteria: research purposes, approaches, focus, techniques and type of analysis. The proposal of a corpus in Information Science is empirically applied, represented by 689 articles, 10% of the production indexed in Base Referencial de Artigos de Periódicos em Ciência da Informação from 1972 to 2010. We adopt content analysis to interpret the methodological choices of authors identified in the corpus. The results point out that exploratory studies are more predominant when considering the research purpose; regarding the research approach, bibliographic and documentary studies are more predominant; systematic observation, questionnaire and interview were the most widely used techniques; document analysis and content analysis are the most widely used types of analysis; the research focus of theoretical, historical and bibliometric studies are more predominant. We found that some studies use two methodological choices and explicit epistemological approaches, such as the studies following the positivist approach in the 1970s, and those influenced by the phenomenological approach in the 1980s, which increased the use of methods in qualitative research.28151

Promoting cross-cultural awareness through exposure in game-based learning

With the global market constantly evolving through a globe-spanning network of communications, collaborations and immigrations, individuals are encouraged to be equipped with cultural literacy. To offset cultural division, it is essential to promote “cross-fertilisation across all boundaries, between ‘majority’ and ‘minorities’, ‘dominant’ and ‘sub’ cultures, localities, classes, faiths, disciplines and genres, as the source of cultural, social, civic and economic innovation”. Three main campaigns are: 1) Pluralism, which aims to promote positive diversity by encouraging understanding and respect. Britain, for instance, has increasingly diversified in ethnic and religious terms as a result of continued large scale immigration from a far wider set of source countries. 2) Homogenisation, that goes beyond co-existence through tolerance by promoting one common identity based around citizenship and assimilating minorities into the society. Malaysia, for instance, is running ‘1Malaysia’ campaign to promote homogenisation while celebrating diversity. 3) Globalisation: Awareness nurtured at the root level can be extended into a more global setting. The lack of cross-cultural awareness can be detrimental to the success of global marketing campaigns, business meetings and international relations. Within the domain of game-based learning (GBL), this article briefly describes the attributes of the e-VITA project, which may be adopted by future initiatives in exploring games to support cross-cultural awareness campaigns, such as ‘1Malaysia’ and multicultural Britain

Phenomenology of Mirror Fermions in the Littlest Higgs Model with T-Parity

Little Higgs models are an interesting alternative to explain electroweak symmetry breaking without fine-tuning. Supplemented with a discrete symmetry (T-parity) constraints from electroweak precision data are naturally evaded and also a viable dark matter candidate is obtained. T-parity implies the existence of new (mirror) fermions in addition to the heavy gauge bosons of the little Higgs models. In this paper we consider the effects of the mirror fermions on the phenomenology of the littlest Higgs model with T-parity at the LHC. We study the most promising production channels and decay chains for the new particles. We find that the mirror fermions have a large impact on the magnitude of signal rates and on the new physics signatures. Realistic background estimates are given.Comment: 13 p

Complementarity of the CERN Large Hadron Collider and the e+e−e^+e^- International Linear Collider

The next-generation high-energy facilities, the CERN Large Hadron Collider (LHC) and the prospective $e^+e^-$ International Linear Collider (ILC), are expected to unravel new structures of matter and forces from the electroweak scale to the TeV scale. In this report we review the complementary role of LHC and ILC in drawing a comprehensive and high-precision picture of the mechanism breaking the electroweak symmetries and generating mass, and the unification of forces in the frame of supersymmetry.Comment: 14 pages, 17 figures, to be published in "Supersymmetry on the Eve of the LHC", a special volume of European Physical Journal C, Particles and Fields (EPJC) in memory of Julius Wes

Quinze anos de monitorização das comunidades biológicas do estuário do Tejo no âmbito da construção e funcionamento das ETARs do Portinho da Costa e da Mutela (Concelho de Almada): Experiência adquirida e ensinamentos para futuros casos semelhantes.

Desde 2001 que a Câmara Municipal de Almada tem vindo a promover, em colaboração com o MARE, a monitorização ambiental das regiões estuarinas sob influência das ETARs do Portinho da Costa e da Mutela, que vieram substituir efluentes não tratados emitidos sensivelmente nas mesmas regiões. O objetivo deste programa de monitorização consiste em avaliar as principais alterações ocorridas (na maioria dos casos positivas) nos ecossistemas estuarinos dos vários locais, após a entrada em funcionamento de ambas as infraestruturas. Estes 15 anos de estudos das comunidades bentónicas e de peixes locais têm permitido identificar variações nos padrões espácio-temporais destes compartimentos biológicos e identificar quais dessas evoluções podem ser presumivelmente relacionáveis com o funcionamento das infraestruturas e quais derivam provavelmente de flutuações naturais. Nesta comunicação são enunciados os pressupostos do estudo, descritos os delineamentos experimentais e metodologias de tratamento dos dados adotados, apresentados os principais resultados obtidos e discutidas as grandes dificuldades sentidas para cumprir os objetivos estabelecidos. Este conjunto de elementos será analisado numa perspetiva de como a experiência adquirida pode ser útil, no futuro, para casos semelhantes, sobretudo numa ótica da correta identificação dos verdadeiros efeitos infraestruturais e de despiste da influência de outros fatores concorrentes

H-dibaryons and Primordial Nucleosynthesis

The apparent discrepancy between abundances of light nuclides predicted by the standard Big-Bang and observational data is explained, by assuming the presence of metastable H dibaryons at the nucleosynthesis era. These dibaryons could be formed out of a small fraction of strange quarks at the moment of the confinement transition. For a primordial deuterium abundance of the order of 3 10^{-5}, the measured differences in the 4He abundances requires a relative abundance of H dibaryons of the order of n_H/n_B = 0.07, decaying in a timescale of the order of 10^5 s.Comment: Latex, 5 pages, to appear in PR

Radiative corrections to scalar-fermion pair production in high energy e+e- collisions

We study the one-loop radiative corrections to pair production of the supersymmetric scalar partners of the standard fermions in e+e- annihilation. Both electroweak and SUSY-QCD corrections are considered. Applications are for production of scalar fermions of the third generation, e^+e^-\to \wt{f}_i \wt{f}_j^* (i,j=1,2), $f=t, b,\tau$, as well as for production of scalar quarks of the first and second generation. Effects on integrated cross sections are discussed and also the one-loop induced forward-backward asymmetries are studied. It is found that at low energy, \sqrt{s}\approx 500 \to 1000 GeV, the corrections are dominated by the QCD contributions, At high energy, $\sqrt{s}\geq 2$ TeV, the electroweak box diagrams give a substantial contribution and even dominate in some regions of parameters space. The purely loop-induced forward-backward asymmetry can reach values of several per cent.Comment: 23 pages, latex, 13 figure

Hybrid electrical energy generation from hydropower, solar photovoltaic and hydrogen

The global concern to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and increase the use of renewable sources has led Brazil to stand out as a promising nation in this context, with a large portion of its energy capacity coming from renewable sources. However, renewable sources have the disadvantage of intermittency and seasonality, which has prompted the search for solutions to these challenges. This study assesses the feasibility of integrating hydro and solar power with a Hydrogen-based Electrical Energy Storage System (H2EESS) at the Serra da Mesa hydroelectric Brazilian power plant. Hydrogen would be produced through water electrolysis, taking advantage of the available excess renewable energy, and subsequently converted back into electricity through fuel cells. The integration of hydro and solar power with H2EESS resulted in an increase of 11.10 % in the energy produced compared to conventional hydroelectric generation, with 36.06 % of this increase coming from H2EESS. Additionally, there was a 9.71 % increase in the utilization of substation capacity. These results highlight the feasibility and benefits of integrating hydro and solar power with H2EESS. This approach allows for maximizing renewable energy generation, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and better utilizing available resources without the need for significant infrastructure investments

Avaliação de genótipos de trigo oriundos de cruzamento interespecífico e radiação gama no estado de São Paulo

Twenty three inbred HEXAPLOID wheat lines were evaluated. They were originated by selections made in populations submited to gamma radiation (27.5 krad), in the F4 generation, from the interespecific hybrid between BH-1146 (Triticum aestivum L.) and Anhinga "S" x Winged "S" (Triticum durum L.) and the cultivars BH-1146 and Yavaros "S" (T. durum L.). Nine trials were carried out with irrigation and in upland conditions. Several agronomic characteristics were assessed. Under laboratory conditions the genotypes were evaluated with respect to Al toxicity using nutrient solutions. Semidwarf lines 11 and 19, with moderate lodging resistance, medium cycle from emergence to flowering, tolerance to aluminum toxicity, were the most productive. Seven lines showed resistance to the causal agent of mildew, but all genotypes were susceptible to the causal agents of leaf spots. Some of the genotypes could be used in cross breeding as genetic sources for short plant, long head, large number of spikelets per head, large number of grains per head and per spikelet and for heavy grains. BH-1146 and seven from the 23 lines were considered the most tolerant to aluminum toxicity, presenting good regrowth after treatment in nutrient solutions with 10 nig/liter of Al+3.Foram comparadas entre si e com dois controles vinte e três linhagens hexaplóides originárias de seleções realizadas em população submetida à radiação gama (27,5 krad), em geração F4, do cruzamento interespecífico entre BH-1146 (Triticum aestivum L.) e Anhinga "S" x Winged "S" (T. durum L.). Em nove ensaios em condições de irrigação e de sequeiro, analisou-se uma série de características agronômicas. Em laboratório efetuaram-se estudos da tolerância ao alumínio. As linhagens 11 e 19 de porte médio, com moderada resistência ao acamamento, tolerantes à toxicidade de alumínio destacaram-se quanto à produção de grãos. Sete linhagens apresentaram moderada resistência ao agente causai do oídio. Todos os genótipos foram suscetíveis aos agentes causais das manchas foliares. Alguns dos genótipos poderiam ser utilizados em programas de cruzamento como fontes genéticas para plantas de porte baixo, de espiga comprida, de grande numero de espiguetas por espiga, maior número de grãos por espiga, e maior número de grãos por espigueta e de grãos mais pesados. BH-1146 e sete das linhagens foram considerados os genótipos mais tolerantes à toxicidade de alumínio por por exibirem crescimento radicular após serem cultivados em soluções nutritivas contendo 10 mg/litro de Al+3