From Continuity to Rhythm II : Adjustment and Entrainment

This work is the second part of the article “From Continuity to Rhythm” (Acta Se-miotica, II, 3, 2022), where I set out to define rhythm as a semiotic concept. The cornerstones for such a definition are Victoria Santa Cruz’s concept of Rhythm as an active and continu-ous principle of integration, Landowski’s understanding of continuity, Leibniz’s notion of Harmony, the physical concept of entrainment, and the formal definition of feedback from engineering as a framework to understand manipulation, adjustment and entrainment. The main contributions are: 1) analysing the regimes of adjustment and manipulation in terms of feedback, 2) establishing a link between manipulation and adjustment, showing that the former is a simplification of the latter, 3) providing a semiotic definition of entrainment that considers five different dimensions, expressing manipulation and adjustment as specific modes of entrainment, 4) providing a semiotic definition of Rhythm as a dynamic unification process departing from Leibniz’s notion of Harmony, 5) questioning Leibniz’s Harmony in favor of an active view of Rhythm that not only produces order or common properties, but that actively strives to maintain them in virtue of feedback.Trabajo académic

Formulación de un procedimiento heurístico evolucionario para la selección preliminar de estructuras de proceso alternativas

Formula un procedimiento que reduce el número de estructuras de proceso mediante la implementación sistemática de modificaciones topológicas para maximizar la rentabilidad del proceso. El presente trabajo formula un procedimiento heurístico evolucionario para la selección preliminar de estructuras de proceso competitivas contando con un conjunto inicial de estructuras alternativas. El procedimiento de selección es organizado como un problema de optimización con el objetivo único de maximizar la ganancia. Para aproximarse a la ganancia óptima se realizan modificaciones topológicas a las estructuras de proceso iniciales. Tales modificaciones se basan en el análisis paramétrico de las variables independientes del balance de materiales. Así se obtiene un conjunto final de estructuras de proceso mejoradas.Estados Unidos. Laspau - FulbrightTesi

From Continuity to Rhythm

This work departs from the opposition between continuity and discontinuity as formulated by semiotician Eric Landowski. I argue that the opposition is a complex that can be fruitfully analysed in terms of self-identity vs difference, unity vs diversity and determinism vspure randomness. The study of these oppositions deploying Greimas’s square provides an insight into the notions of difference, boundary and cohesion. These will be key to the formulation of a semiotic concept of Harmony as the interplay between a unifying and a diversifying force. Harmony, I claim, is the first step for the study of rhythm as a semiotic concept.Trabajo académic

Digital contact tracing and data protection: assessing the French and Portuguese applications

The rapid outbreak of COVID-19 has necessitated a global response to manage the transmission, spread, and impact of the virus. Many countries started developing digital contact tracing applications to contribute to the process of lifting the restrictions imposed on its citizens. Generally, the protection of personal data is a right that appears in constitutional and legal provisions, and its processing can only be performed under very restricted circumstances, the protection of health being a valid justification. This article focusses on the systems developed as digital contact tracing tools in France (StopCovid) and in Portugal (STAYAWAY COVID), presenting their characteristics and the most relevant aspects concerning the processing of personal data. The most relevant positive characteristics of these systems are their voluntary adoption, their developers’ concern with the people’s security and privacy, and the transparency of their functioning. With the negative characteristics, the most relevant are the restricted interoperability with the systems from other EU countries, and the permanent risk to people’s privacy of collecting lists of contacts and the circumstances of their interactions with other users of the systems

Atmospheric Plasma Spray Processes: From Micro to Nanostructures

Atmospheric plasma spray is probably the most versatile of all thermal spraying processes, because there are few limitations either on the materials that can be sprayed or the substrate, in relation to its material, size, and shape. The material precursor of the coating could be in the form of powders, wires, melted materials, solutions, or suspensions. What distinguishes the plasma spray process from other technologies is its applicability and capacity to process a wide variety of materials, including metallic and refractory materials at atmospheric pressure. The coatings properties are improved by deposition of coatings with finer microstructure, which is are more suitable for mechanical and thermal stresses than the lamellar microstructure of conventional plasma-sprayed coatings

An analysis of the use of multiple transmission power levels on wireless sensor networks

The energy consumption in wireless sensor networks is the critical concern of different studies, especially because of the great effort, or even the impossibility, to replace the battery of their motes. Consequently, it is fundamental to investigate and evaluate the energy spent by every individual task executed by the motes in order to provide an efficient use of their batteries. In this work, we employ different metrics to present a thorough study of how the use of multiple transmission power levels affects multihop wireless sensor networks. This work is motivated by the current employment of the multiple transmission power levels, on both academic works and commercial solutions, which is a novel feature of some radio transceivers commonly used in wireless sensor network motes. Aiming for reliable and extensive analysis, this study employs simulations in different scenarios and models of commonly employed electronic components. The contribution of this works is a detailed investigation of the impact caused by the use of different transmission power levels employing different metrics, offering a wide perspective on the subject. In general, the results of this study indicate that the use of multiple power levels grants both positive and negative results, according to the scenario and metrics analyzed43COORDENAÇÃO DE APERFEIÇOAMENTO DE PESSOAL DE NÍVEL SUPERIOR - CAPESnão tem5th International electronic conference on sensors and application