Academic Writing Development Through Dialogues Between Tutors and Second-language Learners

This thesis presents an analysis of dialogues between writing tutors and second-language learners in a writing center setting. The analysis includes a discussion about session appropriation by tutors, the validity of addressing sentence-level mistakes during writing conferences, and strategies that tutors may use to make the sessions beneficial to second-language learners. Among the literature covered throughout the study are studies on Educational Psychology, L1 and L2 Composition, and Cognitive Linguistics (Situated Learning). Collected data include measurements of dialogical patterns in the sessions and qualitative data extracted from session recordings and interviews with interlocutors. Study results suggest that a) sentence-level correction should take place during tutoring sessions involving second-language learners at different stages of the writing process, b) tutors should be explicitly trained in strategies to minimize their session ownership and increase tutee participation time, and c) researchers must look beyond interlocutors\u27 talk time when addressing issues of tutor appropriation

On the correct name for some subfamilies of Mustelidae (Mammalia, Carnivora)

Os mustelídeos (Mustelidae) exibem uma grande diversidade morfológica e ecológica, variando desde formas aquáticas até formas semi-arborícolas e fossoriais. É a família mais diversa em Carnivora, e isso promoveu uma grande quantidade de arranjos taxonômicos para as subfamílias, que podem variar de duas até 15 dependendo do autor. Recentemente a inclusão de dados moleculares tem ajudado a elucidar a classificação dos mustelídeos e atualmente oito subfamílias são reconhecidas: Mustelinae, Galictinae, Helictidinae, Martinae, Melinae, Mellivorinae, Taxidiinae e Lutrinae. Porém, algumas dessas subfamílias apresentam problemas nomenclaturais, não recebendo o nome mais antigo disponível. A subfamília que inclui as martas (Martes, Charronia e Pekania), a irara (Eira) e o carcaju (Gulo) tem recebido o nome de Martinae Wagner, 1841, porém o nome mais antigo disponível é Guloninae Gray, 1825. Este problema também ocorre para a subfamília que inclui os furões-sul-americanos (Galictis), a doninha-da-patagônia (Lyncodon), a doninha-marmoreada (Vormela) e as doninhas-listradas (Ictonyx e Poecilogale), que são conhecidos por Grisoninae Pocock, 1921, mas o nome correto para este grupo é Ictonychinae, Pocock, 1921. A subfamília que inclui os texugos-furões (Melogale) mantém o nome Helictidinae Gray, 1865, pois sua validade não é afetada quando o gênero-tipo da subfamília torna-se sinônimo-júnior de outro gênero. Além disso, é fornecida uma lista das subfamílias de Mustelidae viventes contendo seus respectivos sinônimos e os gêneros incluídos.Mustelids (Mustelidae) exhibit a wide morphological and ecological diversity, ranging from aquatic to semi arboreal and fossorial forms. It is the most diversity family in Carnivora, and this has promoted a great number of taxonomic arrangements for subfamilies, which can range from two to 15 depending on the author. The relatively recent use of molecular data has helped to elucidate the classification of mustelids, and eight subfamilies are currently recognized: Mustelinae, Galictinae, Helictidinae, Martinae, Melinae, Mellivorinae, Taxidiinae and Lutrinae. However, some of these subfamilies have nomenclatural problems, not receiving the oldest available name. The subfamily that includes martens (Martes, Charronia and Pekania), tayra (Eira) and wolverine (Gulo) has received the name of Martinae Wagner, 1841, but the oldest available name is Guloninae Gray, 1825. This problem also occurs for the subfamily that includes the grisons (Galictis), Patagonian weasel (Lyncodon), marbled polecat (Vormela) and striped weasels (Ictonyx and Poecilogale), which are known as Grisoninae Pocock, 1921, but the correct name for this group is Ictonychinae, Pocock, 1921. The subfamily that includes ferret badgers (Melogale) retains the name Helictidinae Gray, 1865, because its validity is not affected when the type-genus of the subfamily becomes a junior synonym of another genus. Furthermore, a list of the extant subfamilies of Mustelidae and their respective synonyms and included genera is provided

On the morphological variation and taxonomy of the Geoffroy's cat Leopardus geoffroyi (d'Orbigny & Gervais, 1844) (Carnivora, Felidae)

The Geoffroy's cat Leopardus geoffroyi (d'Orbigny & Gervais, 1844) is a small cat found in the Southern Cone of South America and, depending on the author, four or five subspecies have been usually recognized (L. g. geoffroyi, L. g. paraguae, L. g. euxanthus, L. g. salinarum and L. g. leucobaptus), mainly based on external morphological characters, such as color pattern of the pelage. In order to clarify the taxonomy of L. geoffroyi, I analyzed approximately 200 specimens housed in museums. I have examined the external and craniodental morphology in quantitative and qualitative terms in the search for patterns of congruent characters that would indicate the existence of taxonomic units. Twenty craniodental measurements were taken and tested by univariate and multivariate (MANOVA, PCA and DFA) procedures. In this study I detected a great variation in the morphological characters, and thus it was not possible to determine whether any of these were geographically consistent and could be used to determine any taxonomic unit. Based on this, I do not recognize any subspecific division for L. geoffroyi. Along its geographic range, a gradual and subtle change from one color pattern to the next along the latitude was detected, but the morphological characters that were used to define the putative subspecies were also detected in a same population. Furthermore, the present study is congruent with the results obtained by previous molecular data, suggesting that L. geoffroyi has a high level of genetic diversity with no geographic structure. This indicates the existence of a large panmictic population with no significant barriers to gene flow and, as a consequence, no subspecies should be recognized.O gato-do-mato-grande Leopardus geoffroyi (d'Orbigny & Gervais, 1844) é um felídeo de pequeno porte encontrado no cone sul da América do Sul e, dependendo do autor, quatro ou cinco subespécies são habitualmente reconhecidas (L. g. geoffroyi, L. g. paraguae, L. g. euxanthus, L. g. salinarum e L. g. leucobaptus), principalmente baseadas em caracteres morfológicos externos, como o padrão de coloração da pelagem. Com a finalidade de esclarecer a taxonomia de L. geoffroyi, analisei aproximadamente 200 espécimes depositados em museus. Examinei a morfologia externa e craniodentária quantitativa e qualitativamente, procurando por padrões de caracteres congruentes que poderiam indicar a existência de unidades taxonômicas. Vinte medidas craniodentárias foram aferidas e posteriormente testadas através de procedimentos univariados e multivariados (MANOVA, PCA e DFA). Neste estudo detectei uma variação grande nos caracteres morfológicos, e com isso não foi possível determinar se alguns deles foram geograficamente consistentes e se poderiam ser utilizados para determinar alguma unidade taxonômica. Baseando-me nisso, não reconheço quaisquer divisões subespecíficas para L. geoffroyi. Ao longo de sua distribuição geográfica, uma mudança gradual e sutil de um padrão de coloração para outro foi detectada ao longo da latitude, porém os caracteres morfológicos que foram utilizados para definir as supostas subespécies foram detectados em uma mesma população. Além disso, o presente estudo é congruente com os resultados obtidos anteriormente através de dados moleculares, que sugeriram que L. geoffroyi tem um nível elevado de diversidade genética sem estruturação geográfica. Isto indica a existência de uma grande população panmítica sem barreiras significativas para o fluxo gênico e, como conseqüência, nenhuma subespécie poderia ser reconhecida

Mediações teóricas para a análise da financeirização da produção do espaço na América Latina

The article aims to establish dialogical connections between the abstract-theoretical and the concrete-historical planes of the regional and urban manifestations of the financialization process in the capitalist periphery. Referring to the existing literature, it rescues exogenous and endogenous interdependencies that define the specificity of underdevelopment and argues for the need of this analytical interface for an adequate interpretation of space production in Latin American reality. It proposes to qualify the political, economic, social and geographic reach of the contemporary hegemony of interest-bearing capital and highlights the relational, procedural and mediators aspects that imbricate such dimensions in a transscalar approach, based on Brazilian case. It argues that the subsumption of the environment built by the process of financialization deepens the selectivity, the fragmentation, and the exclusion typical of peripheral spatiality.O artigo objetiva estabelecer conexões dialógicas entre o plano abstrato-teórico e concreto-histórico das manifestações regionais e urbanas do processo de financeirização na periferia capitalista. Referenciando-se na literatura existente, resgata as interdependências exógenas e endógenas que definem a especificidade do subdesenvolvimento e argumentam pela necessidade dessa interface analítica para uma adequada interpretação da produção do espaço na realidade latino-americana. Propõe qualificar o alcance político, econômico, social e geográfico da hegemonia contemporânea do capital portador de juros e evidencia os aspectos relacionais, processuais e mediadores que imbricam tais dimensões em uma abordagem transescalar, baseada no caso brasileiro. Argumenta que a seletividade, a fragmentação e a exclusão típicas da espacialidade periférica são aprofundadas pela subsunção do ambiente construído pelo processo de financeirização.O artigo objetiva estabelecer conexões dialógicas entre o plano abstrato-teórico e concreto-histórico das manifestações regionais e urbanas do processo de financeirização na periferia capitalista. Referenciando-se na literatura existente, resgata as interdependências exógenas e endógenas que definem a especificidade do subdesenvolvimento e argumentam pela necessidade dessa interface analítica para uma adequada interpretação da produção do espaço na realidade latino-americana. Propõe qualificar o alcance político, econômico, social e geográfico da hegemonia contemporânea do capital portador de juros e evidencia os aspectos relacionais, processuais e mediadores que imbricam tais dimensões em uma abordagem transescalar, baseada no caso brasileiro. Argumenta que a seletividade, a fragmentação e a exclusão típicas da espacialidade periférica são aprofundadas pela subsunção do ambiente construído pelo processo de financeirização

Nonlinear MPC for Offset-Free Tracking of systems learned by GRU Neural Networks

The use of Recurrent Neural Networks (RNNs) for system identification has recently gathered increasing attention, thanks to their black-box modeling capabilities.Albeit RNNs have been fruitfully adopted in many applications, only few works are devoted to provide rigorous theoretical foundations that justify their use for control purposes. The aim of this paper is to describe how stable Gated Recurrent Units (GRUs), a particular RNN architecture, can be trained and employed in a Nonlinear MPC framework to perform offset-free tracking of constant references with guaranteed closed-loop stability. The proposed approach is tested on a pH neutralization process benchmark, showing remarkable performances.Comment: This work is the extended version of the article accepted at the Third IFAC Conference on Modelling, Identification and Control of Nonlinear Systems (MICNON 2021) for publication under a Creative Commons Licence CC-BY-NC-N

The Egyptian Civil Society Organisations Role in Public Policy-making Process: Lessons from the Brazilian Experience

This paper looks at civil society organizations (CSOs) as an important tool to enable community participation needed for the public policy process. In addition to its importance as a means of developing both democratic practices and public policies, especially social policies, as well as its role in shaping the relationship between state and society, Utilizing qualitative methods, the paper focuses on the role of informal actors, and in particular civil society organizations, in the processes of public policy making in Egypt and Brazil, and especially in the formulation of policy. The authors also examined the nature of the relationship between the state and CSOs, and explored the question of whether or not there is a space for Egyptian and Brazilian CSOs to play an active role in the public policy making process, or whether they are primarily tools that government used to achieve its goals. This research observed the performance of CSOs in Egypt and Brazil in recent years and findings showed that, in comparison to Brazil, there are many obstacles that undermine the effective contribution of civil society organisations in the different stages of the process of policy-making which hinder its ability to influence public policies in Egypt. Keywords:Civil Society – public Policy Making in Egypt and Brazil – Central State – Civil Institutions

Effects of kinesiotaping on symptoms, functional limitations, and underlying deficits on individuals with rotator cuff tendinopathy

Le kinesiotape est une ressource complémentaire largement utilisée dans les cliniques pour le traitement de nombreuses pathologies musculosquelettiques, qui a été suggéré comme un traitement efficace pour diminuer la douleur et les limitations fonctionnelles chez les individus avec une tendinopathie de la coiffe des rotateurs (TCR) par l’augmentation du retour proprioceptif, qui contribuerait à l’amélioration du contrôle neuromusculaire de l’épaule. L’objectif de cette thèse était de déterminer si le kinesiotape engendre des gains supplémentaires à la réadaptation des individus avec TCR à moyen et long terme. L’efficacité du kinesiotape à moyen et long terme a été étudiée lorsqu’utilisé en association avec un programme de réadaptation de six semaines, basé sur l’entraînement sensorimoteur pour restaurer le contrôle neuromusculaire de l’épaule. Pour atteindre nos objectifs, 52 individus diagnostiqués avec une TCR unilatérale ont participé à un traitement composé de 10 séances de physiothérapie et d’exercices à la maison. Les participants ont été assignés, aléatoirement, à l’un des deux groupes (KT [expérimental] ou No-KT [contrôle]), dans lesquels le groupe KT a reçu une application thérapeutique de kinesiotape, spécifique pour la TCR, en plus du programme de réadaptation, alors que le groupe No-KT a reçu seulement le programme de réadaptation. Le programme de réadaptation était le même pour les deux groupes, incluant un entraînement sensorimoteur, la rééducation du patient, des exercices résistés pour le renforcement musculaire, de la thérapie manuelle, et des étirements. Un plan de traitement individuel a été personnalisé et mis en place pour chaque participant. Les techniques utilisées variaient en fonction des besoins spécifiques de chacun. Le niveau de symptômes et les limitations fonctionnelles ont été évalués avec le questionnaire Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder, and Hand (DASH), le Brief Pain Inventory (BPI), et le Western Ontario Rotator Cuff (WORC) à cinq moments (évaluation initiale, 3, 6 et 12 semaines, et 6 mois), alors que les amplitudes de mouvement (ADM) de l’épaule, sans douleur et complète, et la distance acromio-humérale (DAH) au repos et à 60° d’abduction active de l’épaule, ont été évaluées avant (évaluation initiale) et après le traitement (semaine 6). De plus, l’effet immédiat du kinesiotape sur l’augmentation de la DAH et sur l’amélioration de la capacité de repositionnement articulaire actif des individus avec TCR a également été évaluées avant la première séance de physiothérapie chez les participants du groupe KT (devis transversal). Globalement, 78.8% des participants ont rapporté un changement positif significatif de leur condition à la fin du traitement. Les résultats de l’essai randomisé contrôlé (ECR) montrent que les deux groupes ont présenté une amélioration similaire et significative de leurs symptômes et limitations fonctionnelles au fil du temps. Par conséquent, le kinesiotape n’a apporté aucun bénéfice supplémentaire au processus de réadaptation pour réduire les symptômes et les limitations fonctionnelles chez les individus avec TCR à moyen et long terme. De plus, les résultats de l’étude transversale ont montré que le kinesiotape seul a entraîné une augmentation immédiate de la DAH chez les individus avec TCR alors qu’aucun changement immédiat de la capacité proprioceptive chez ces mêmes individus n’a été observé.Kinesiotaping, an adjunct resource widely used in clinics for treating several musculoskeletal disorders, has been suggested to be effective in immediately reducing pain and functional limitations in individuals with rotator cuff tendinopathy (RCTe) through improvement of the proprioceptive feedback, which may contribute to improving shoulder control. The objective of this thesis was to determine whether kinesiotaping provides additional benefits for the rehabilitation of individuals with RCTe in the mid and long-term. The effectiveness of kinesiotaping in the mid and long-term was investigated when used in conjunction with a 6-week rehabilitation programme based on sensorimotor training for the restoration of shoulder neuromuscular control. To reach our objectives, 52 individuals diagnosed with unilateral RCTe took part in a treatment composed of 10 physiotherapy sessions and home exercises. Participants were randomly assigned to one of two groups (KT [experimental] or No-KT [control]), in which KT group received a therapeutic kinesiotaping application, specific for RCTe, in addition to the rehabilitation programme, whereas No-KT group received only the rehabilitation programme. The physiotherapy rehabilitation programme was the same for both groups, including sensorimotor training, patient re-education, resisted exercises for muscular strengthening, manual therapy, and stretching exercises. An individual rehabilitation plan was customized for each participant. The techniques used varied according to the specific needs of each participant. The level of symptoms and functional limitations were assessed using the Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder, and Hand (DASH) questionnaire, Brief Pain Inventory (BPI) scores, and the Western Ontario Rotator Cuff (WORC) index, in five-time points (at baseline, week-3, week-6, week-12 and 6-months follow-up), whereas pain-free and full shoulder active range of motion (ROM), and acromiohumeral distance (AHD) at rest and at 60º of active shoulder abduction were evaluated before (baseline) and after the treatment (week-6). In addition, the immediate effect of kinesiotaping in increasing AHD and improving the active joint repositioning ability of individuals with RCTe was also assessed before the first physiotherapy session in the participants of the KT-group (crosssectional design). In general, 78.8% of the participants reported a significant positive change in their shoulder condition at the end of the treatment. The results of the randomized controlled trial (RCT) show that both groups presented a similar and significant improvement of their symptoms and functional limitations over time. Therefore, kinesiotaping did not provide additional benefits to the rehabilitation process for reducing symptoms and functional limitations of individuals with RCTe in the mid- and long-term. In addition, the results of the cross-sectional study showed that kinesiotaping alone provided an immediate increase of AHD in individuals with RCTe, whereas no immediate changes in the proprioceptive ability of these individuals were observed

Learning to Race through Coordinate Descent Bayesian Optimisation

In the automation of many kinds of processes, the observable outcome can often be described as the combined effect of an entire sequence of actions, or controls, applied throughout its execution. In these cases, strategies to optimise control policies for individual stages of the process might not be applicable, and instead the whole policy might have to be optimised at once. On the other hand, the cost to evaluate the policy's performance might also be high, being desirable that a solution can be found with as few interactions as possible with the real system. We consider the problem of optimising control policies to allow a robot to complete a given race track within a minimum amount of time. We assume that the robot has no prior information about the track or its own dynamical model, just an initial valid driving example. Localisation is only applied to monitor the robot and to provide an indication of its position along the track's centre axis. We propose a method for finding a policy that minimises the time per lap while keeping the vehicle on the track using a Bayesian optimisation (BO) approach over a reproducing kernel Hilbert space. We apply an algorithm to search more efficiently over high-dimensional policy-parameter spaces with BO, by iterating over each dimension individually, in a sequential coordinate descent-like scheme. Experiments demonstrate the performance of the algorithm against other methods in a simulated car racing environment.Comment: Accepted as conference paper for the 2018 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA