Agrootics. A semiotic cubic model description for meaning interpretation

Semiotics has meaning models that constitute forms of observation of reality’s phenomenology. At current perspective of human reasoning, those models are insufficient reality interpreters before society and to the technology that accompanies it. In terms of meaning models of analysis in semiotics, it can be resumed as so: Saussure’s dichotomy (a binary model), Peirce, Ogden-Richards and Morris’ trichotomies (a triadic model) and Greimas’ square (a tetradic model). As we inhabit a three-dimensional reality, we assume that everything can be measured and observed in terms of distance and extension relativities, as to an emotion, a phenomenon, a social medium or an object. Thus, we propose an alternative meaning production and interpretation, through a conceptual cubic model rooted on Peirce’s trichotomy. This cubic perspective, represented by the development of a perception emulator in form of a cube, will be grounded through sensibility of social and physical space notions.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

A exploração da realidade aumentada pelo jornalismo: a exposição da informação dos média num espaço aumentado

Com a quebra da venda dos jornais, o jornalismo procura, fora do seu tradicional modelo de negócio, por outras formas de contacto com os leitores. Com o desenvolvimento das tecnologias, colocou-se à disposição dos média ferramentas pelas quais se proporcionou a possibilidade ao jornalismo de ir ao encontro de um dado público. Um público, essencialmente jovem, que se juntou a outros espaços sociais e que escolheu, por outras vias, o acesso à informação. Para tentar entender o modo como a relação com essas escolhas tecnológicas se veio a desenvolver, este artigo analisará a evolução, implementação e utilização no jornalismo de uma dessas tecnologias, nomeadamente a realidade aumentada. O objetivo desta comunicação será o de olhar para a realidade aumentada como uma extensão das opções disponíveis do jornalismo, no momento em que este entende esse meio digital como um lugar onde se possa reinventar e transformar. No geral, observou-se que a realidade aumentada teve uma boa receção; no entanto, ainda existe a necessidade de uma reformulação da redação na envolvência da produção de conteúdos, bem como no incentivo do público à interação com outros campos e dimensões informativas através da realidade aumentada.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Human Sexual Cycles are Driven by Culture and Match Collective Moods

It is a long-standing question whether human sexual and reproductive cycles are affected predominantly by biology or culture. The literature is mixed with respect to whether biological or cultural factors best explain the reproduction cycle phenomenon, with biological explanations dominating the argument. The biological hypothesis proposes that human reproductive cycles are an adaptation to the seasonal cycles caused by hemisphere positioning, while the cultural hypothesis proposes that conception dates vary mostly due to cultural factors, such as vacation schedule or religious holidays. However, for many countries, common records used to investigate these hypotheses are incomplete or unavailable, biasing existing analysis towards primarily Christian countries in the Northern Hemisphere. Here we show that interest in sex peaks sharply online during major cultural and religious celebrations, regardless of hemisphere location. This online interest, when shifted by nine months, corresponds to documented human birth cycles, even after adjusting for numerous factors such as language, season, and amount of free time due to holidays. We further show that mood, measured independently on Twitter, contains distinct collective emotions associated with those cultural celebrations, and these collective moods correlate with sex search volume outside of these holidays as well. Our results provide converging evidence that the cyclic sexual and reproductive behavior of human populations is mostly driven by culture and that this interest in sex is associated with specific emotions, characteristic of, but not limited to, major cultural and religious celebrations.Comment: Main Paper: 21 pages, 4 figures Supplementary Material: 66 pages, 15 figures, 13 table

Understanding Water Equilibration Fundamentals as a Step for Rational Protein Crystallization

Background: Vapor diffusion is the most widely used technique for protein crystallization and the rate of water evaporation plays a key role on the quality of the crystals. Attempts have been made in the past to solve the mass transfer problem governing the evaporation process, either analytically or by employing numerical methods. Despite these efforts, the methods used for protein crystallization remain based on trial and error techniques rather than on fundamental principles. Methodology/Principal Findings: Here we present a new theoretical model which describes the hanging drop method as a function of the different variables that are known to influence the evaporation process. The model is extensively tested against experimental data published by other authors and considering different crystallizing conditions. Aspects responsible for the discrepancies between the existing theories and the measured evaporation kinetics are especially discussed; they include the characterization of vapor-liquid equilibrium, the role of mass transfer within the evaporating droplet, and the influence of the droplet-reservoir distance. Conclusions/Significance: The validation tests show that the proposed model can be used to predict the water evaporation rates under a wide range of experimental conditions used in the hanging drop vapor-diffusion method, with no parameter fitting or computational requirements. This model combined with protein solubility data is expected to become a usefu

Avaliação de falências de empresas por meio de florestas causais

This study sought to analyze the variables that can influence company bankruptcy. For several years, the main studies on bankruptcy reported on the conventional methodologies with the aim of predicting it. In their analyses, the use of accounting variables was massively predominant. However, when applying them, the accounting variables were considered as homogenous; that is, for the traditional models, it was assumed that in all companies the behavior of the indicators was similar, and the heterogeneity among them was ignored. The relevance of the financial crisis that occurred at the end of 2007 is also observed; it caused a major global financial collapse, which had different effects on a wide variety of sectors and companies. Within this context, research that aims to identify problems such as the heterogeneity among companies and analyze the diversities among them are gaining relevance, given that the sector-related characteristics of capital structure and size, among others, vary depending on the company. Based on this, new approaches applied to bankruptcy prediction modeling should consider the heterogeneity among companies, aiming to improve the models used even more. A causal tree and forest were used together with quarterly accounting and sector-related data on 1,247 companies, 66 of which were bankrupt, 44 going bankrupt after 2008 and 22 before. The results showed that there is unobserved heterogeneity when the company bankruptcy processes are analyzed, raising questions about the traditional models such as discriminant analysis and logit, among others. Consequently, with the large volume in terms of dimensions, it was observed that there may be a functional form capable of explaining company bankruptcy, but this is not linear. It is also highlighted that there are sectors that are more prone to financial crises, aggravating the bankruptcy process.Esta pesquisa buscou analisar as variáveis que podem influenciar a falência das empresas. Durante vários anos, as principais pesquisas sobre falência reportaram as metodologias convencionais visando à sua predição. Em suas análises, a utilização de variáveis contábeis predominou maciçamente. Porém, ao aplicá-las, as variáveis contábeis eram consideradas homogêneas, ou seja, para os modelos tradicionais, presumia-se que em todas as empresas o comportamento dos indicadores era similar, ignorando a heterogeneidade entre elas. Observa-se, ainda, a relevância da crise financeira ocorrida no final de 2007, causando grande colapso financeiro mundial, tendo efeitos diferentes nos mais diversos setores e empresas. Nesse cenário, pesquisas que visam identificar problemas como a heterogeneidade entre as empresas e analisar as diversidades entre elas ganham relevância, haja vista que as características setoriais de estrutura de capital, porte, dentre outras, variam de acordo com as empresas. A partir disso, novas abordagens aplicadas à modelagem de previsão de falência devem considerar a heterogeneidade entre as empresas, buscando aprimorar ainda mais as modelagens utilizadas. Foram utilizadas a árvore e a floresta causais com dados contábeis trimestrais e setoriais de 1.247 empresas, sendo 66 falidas, das quais 44 depois de 2008 e 22 antes. Os resultados mostraram que existe heterogeneidade não observada quando se analisam os processos de falência das empresas, colocando em cheque os modelos tradicionais como, por exemplo, análise discriminante e logit, dentre outros. Por conseguinte, com o elevado volume em dimensões, observou-se que pode haver uma forma funcional capaz de explicar a falência das empresas, porém essa não é linear. Destaca-se, ainda, que existem setores mais propensos a crises financeiras, agravando o processo de falência.Esta pesquisa buscou analisar as variáveis que podem influenciar a falência das empresas. Durante vários anos, as principais pesquisas sobre falência reportaram as metodologias convencionais visando à sua predição. Em suas análises, a utilização de variáveis contábeis predominou maciçamente. Porém, ao aplicá-las, as variáveis contábeis eram consideradas homogêneas, ou seja, para os modelos tradicionais, presumia-se que em todas as empresas o comportamento dos indicadores era similar, ignorando a heterogeneidade entre elas. Observa-se, ainda, a relevância da crise financeira ocorrida no final de 2007, causando grande colapso financeiro mundial, tendo efeitos diferentes nos mais diversos setores e empresas. Nesse cenário, pesquisas que visam identificar problemas como a heterogeneidade entre as empresas e analisar as diversidades entre elas ganham relevância, haja vista que as características setoriais de estrutura de capital, porte, dentre outras, variam de acordo com as empresas. A partir disso, novas abordagens aplicadas à modelagem de previsão de falência devem considerar a heterogeneidade entre as empresas, buscando aprimorar ainda mais as modelagens utilizadas. Foram utilizadas a árvore e a floresta causais com dados contábeis trimestrais e setoriais de 1.247 empresas, sendo 66 falidas, das quais 44 depois de 2008 e 22 antes. Os resultados mostraram que existe heterogeneidade não observada quando se analisam os processos de falência das empresas, colocando em cheque os modelos tradicionais como, por exemplo, análise discriminante e logit, dentre outros. Por conseguinte, com o elevado volume em dimensões, observou-se que pode haver uma forma funcional capaz de explicar a falência das empresas, porém essa não é linear. Destaca-se, ainda, que existem setores mais propensos a crises financeiras, agravando o processo de falência

Seeking theta's desperately: Estimating the distribution of consumers under increasing block rates

This paper shows that the distribution of observed consumption is not a good proxy for the distribution of heterogeneous consumers when the current tariff is an increasing block tariff. We use a two step method to recover the "true" distribution of consumers. First, we estimate the demand function induced by the current tariff. Second, using the demand system, we specify the distribution of consumers as a function of observed consumption to recover the true distribution. Finally, we design a new two-part tariff which allows us to evaluate the equity of the existence of an increasing block tariff.Heterogeneous demand, nonlinear pricing

A fast Bayesian approach to discrete object detection in astronomical datasets - PowellSnakes I

A new fast Bayesian approach is introduced for the detection of discrete objects immersed in a diffuse background. This new method, called PowellSnakes, speeds up traditional Bayesian techniques by: i) replacing the standard form of the likelihood for the parameters characterizing the discrete objects by an alternative exact form that is much quicker to evaluate; ii) using a simultaneous multiple minimization code based on Powell's direction set algorithm to locate rapidly the local maxima in the posterior; and iii) deciding whether each located posterior peak corresponds to a real object by performing a Bayesian model selection using an approximate evidence value based on a local Gaussian approximation to the peak. The construction of this Gaussian approximation also provides the covariance matrix of the uncertainties in the derived parameter values for the object in question. This new approach provides a speed up in performance by a factor of `hundreds' as compared to existing Bayesian source extraction methods that use MCMC to explore the parameter space, such as that presented by Hobson & McLachlan. We illustrate the capabilities of the method by applying to some simplified toy models. Furthermore PowellSnakes has the advantage of consistently defining the threshold for acceptance/rejection based on priors which cannot be said of the frequentist methods. We present here the first implementation of this technique (Version-I). Further improvements to this implementation are currently under investigation and will be published shortly. The application of the method to realistic simulated Planck observations will be presented in a forthcoming publication.Comment: 30 pages, 15 figures, revised version with minor changes, accepted for publication in MNRA

Signal feature extraction for sewing analysis using non-linear tecniques

Comunicação apresentada no International Symposium on Industrial Electronics, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil, 9 - 11 Junho 2003.This paper describes the measurement of a proc-ess variable in industrial sewing machines using a piezoelectric sensing system and non-linear filtering and processing tech-niques. The objective is to obtain a measure of the needle pene-tration and withdrawal forces in a fabric, which can be used to detect faulty processing conditions causing second-rate quality products. Aimed for future real-time applications, currently the measurement process has been optimised for laboratory use. It provides the means for experimentation leading to the development of further processing techniques able to detect fault conditions automatically, a completely innovative indus-trial application. The signal is acquired by a piezoelectric sensor introduced in the needle support bar. With this set-up, the sensor provides not only the forces related to needle-fabric interaction, but also other, undesired components, that are reduced with specifi-cally developed techniques. This paper presents the advantages and drawbacks of the measurement set-up and describes the optimization of the complex processing techniques used to ex-tract the relevant information from the signals.Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia - POSI/SRI/38944/2001

Augmented reality: the augmented construct of communication

Augmented reality (AR) is becoming more than a virtual simulating hyperreality of cognitive sensitivity of a life’s situation. It may be considered a type of nature transforming into a mediator of worlds, increasing the perception of reality in real time within the medium that surrounds us. Augmented reality makes use of some smartphone technology, in conjunction with camera, video and positioning system for information visualization superimposed into real image. Now with AR we see-through information in radiographic surfaces of reality, it is becoming transparent. Since 1985 the access to goggles and gloves that interacts with virtual reality established as the gateway to an experience of our senses that would go beyond our imagination. We literally were stuck through gloves to a world that could be seen with the aid of special glasses (Google Glass, Facebook Oculus VR, Microsoft HoloLens). With promise of design creativity several technological companies (Garmin, Atheer Labs, Space Glasses, Ydreams, Total Immersion, Metaio, Layar) invested in new instruments and applications that would mediate and serve the frontier between the real and the digital information world. Through AR we are reflecting our transcendence and communication, beyond Kant and Husserl, bodying it with a strange normality

A exploração da realidade aumentada pelo jornalismo: a exposição da informação dos média num espaço aumentado

Com a quebra da venda dos jornais, o jornalismo procura, fora do seu tradicional modelo de negócio, por outras formas de contacto com os leitores. Com o desenvolvimento das tecnologias, colocou-se à disposição dos média ferramentas pelas quais se proporcionou a possibilidade ao jornalismo de ir ao encontro de um dado público. Um público, essencialmente jovem, que se juntou a outros espaços sociais e que escolheu, por outras vias, o acesso à informação. Para tentar entender o modo como a relação com essas escolhas tecnológicas se veio a desenvolver, este artigo analisará a evolução, implementação e utilização no jornalismo de uma dessas tecnologias, nomeadamente a realidade aumentada. O objetivo desta comunicação será o de olhar para a realidade aumentada como uma extensão das opções disponíveis do jornalismo, no momento em que este entende esse meio digital como um lugar onde se possa reinventar e transformar. No geral, observou-se que a realidade aumentada teve uma boa receção; no entanto, ainda existe a necessidade de uma reformulação da redação na envolvência da produção de conteúdos, bem como no incentivo do público à interação com outros campos e dimensões informativas através da realidade aumentada