Composing music with case-based reasoning

Comunicação apresentada na International Conference on Computational Models of Creative Cognition, Dublin, 1997.Music is one of the most intriguing and joyful domain of research and analysis. Driven by this insatiable curiosity, Musical Analysis has emerged to formally understand and structure music and its intrinsic intention and causality. Each complete analysis of a piece points to issues that go far beyond the normal graphical music representation. A better analysis is important not only to a better interpretation, but also to a more perfect composition. An exceptional composer is indeed an exceptional analyst. This paper presents a computational approach to music composition through the use and exploration of musical analysis. Centered on Case-Based Reasoning and Planning techniques, it consists on creating new solutions by keeping, transforming and extrapolating knowledge from already expert-made music analysis. For our approach, each analysis is represented as a precisely structured Case, divisible into all of its components. The process of composition we adopt is progressive, left-to-right, and top-to-bottom and has some similarities with (Wallas’ 1926) theory for creative production (Macedo et al. 1996a) which we adapted for this specifically structured and complex domain. The resulting implemented program has already generated several different musical pieces, which were examined and analyzed by experts, bringing up precious questions and advice

Estudo dos processos de recuperação de pneus e melhoria do processo de avaliação da limpeza industrial

O presente trabalho foi desenvolvido durante um período de estágio, em contexto industrial, na empresa Continental Mabor – Indústria de Pneus, S.A., incorporado na Direção de Engenharia Industrial e surge pela necessidade de se efetuar um estudo aos processos de Recuperação de pneus (vulcanizados) e de melhorar o processo de avaliação das limpezas industriais. O estudo aos processos de Recuperação de pneus teve como principal objetivo a determinação e atualização dos tempos-padrão dos respetivos processos, os quais foram obtidos através da análise de métodos e estudo dos tempos. A atualização dos tempos-padrão permitirá quantificar com maior precisão a capacidade e eficiência dos processos, assim como as necessidades de mão-de-obra e de equipamentos, atividades pelas quais a Direção de Engenharia Industrial é responsável. Foram determinados os tempos-padrão dos quatro tipos de processos de Recuperação de Pneus existentes na empresa, com um nível de confiança de 95% e um erro de 10%. O estudo desenvolvido envolveu a condução de uma metodologia para a obtenção desses tempos, a qual permitiu ter em consideração e pesar todas as variantes existentes dentro de cada processo. A melhoria do processo de avaliação das limpezas industriais teve como objetivo uma redução significativa do tempo despendido pelos técnicos que a efetuam. Para o efeito foi desenvolvida uma solução em linguagem Visual Basic for Aplications (VBA) e que foi incorporada nas atuais ferramentas (MS Excel®) que servem de suporte a este processo. A solução implementada permitiu alcançar o ganho de tempo atribuído à execução deste processo de 25,9% e um ganho de tempo diário total na carga de trabalho destes trabalhadores de 12,27%.The present work was developed during an internship period, in an industrial context, carried out in the company Continental Mabor – Indústria de Pneus, S.A., incorporated in the Board Unit of Industrial Engineering and arises from the need to carry out a study on the processes of tire recovery (vulcanized) and to improve the evaluation of industrial cleaning process. Tire recovery processes study had as main objective the determination and updating of the standard times of the respective processes, which were obtained through the analysis of methods and time study. The updating of the standard times will allow to quantify with greater precision the capacity and efficiency of the processes as well as the needs of manpower and equipment, activities for which the Directorate of Industrial Engineering is responsible. The standard times of the four types of Tire Recovery processes in the company were determined, with a confidence level of 95% and a 10% error. The study involved the conduction of a methodology to obtain these times which allowed to take into consideration and to weigh all the variants existing within each process. The improvement of the evaluation of industrial cleaning process had as goal a significant reduction of the time spent by the technicians who carry it out. For this purpose, a Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) language solution was developed and incorporated into the current MS Excel® tools that support this process. The implemented solution allowed to achieve the gain of time attributed to the execution of this process of 25.9% and a total daily time gain in the workload of these workers of 12.27%

Reading as an act of resistance

A partir de las novelas Nocturno de Chile (1998) y Amuleto (1999) del escritor chileno Roberto Bolaño se pretende reflexionar sobre la figura del lector tematizada a partir de los dos narradores, así como la forma como sus distintos códigos de lectura se espejan en la construcción textual de las narrativas. Las dos concepciones del lector presentadas en estas obras son prácticamente opuestas así que se busca, en un primer momento, comprender cómo dichos antagonismos encuentran resonancia en las esferas literaria, social, histórica y política. Pese a sus divergencias, se procurará enseguida comprender de qué manera los dos discursos coinciden al configurarse como actos de resistencia, al colocar en una nueva perspectiva conceptos como autoridad, poder y escritura, recurriendo para ello a algunas reflexiones de Piglia, Steiner y Agamben.Based on the novels Nocturno de Chile (1998) and Amuleto (1999), by the Chilean writer Roberto Bolaño, this article will consider the figure of the reader thematicized by way of the two narrators as well as the manner in which their distinct codes of reading are reflected in the textual construction of the narratives. The two conceptions of reader presented in these works are practically opposites so that this article attempts, in the first instance, to understand how such antagonisms find resonance in the literary, social, historical, and political spheres. Despite their divergence, the article will then attempt to understand in what way the two discourses coincide as they configure themselves as acts of resistance, placing in perspective concepts such as authority, power, and writing, utilizing to that end some reflections from Piglia, Steiner, and Agamben

La lectura como acto de resistencia

Based on the novels Nocturno de Chile (1998) and Amuleto (1999), by the Chilean writer Roberto Bolaño, this article will consider the figure of the reader thematicized by way of the two narrators as well as the manner in which their distinct codes of reading are reflected in the textual construction of the narratives. The two conceptions of reader presented in these works are practically opposites so that this article attempts, in the first instance, to understand how such antagonisms find resonance in the literary, social, historical, and political spheres. Despite their divergence, the article will then attempt to understand in what way the two discourses coincide as they configure themselves as acts of resistance, placing in perspective concepts such as authority, power, and writing, utilizing to that end some reflections from Piglia, Steiner, and Agamben.  A partir de las novelas Nocturno de Chile (1998) y Amuleto (1999) del escritor chileno Roberto Bolaño se pretende reflexionar sobre la figura del lector tematizada a partir de los dos narradores, así como la forma como sus distintos códigos de lectura se espejan en la construcción textual de las narrativas. Las dos concepciones del lector presentadas en estas obras son prácticamente opuestas así que se busca, en un primer momento, comprender cómo dichos antagonismos encuentran resonancia en las esferas literaria, social, histórica y política. Pese a sus divergencias, se procurará enseguida comprender de qué manera los dos discursos coinciden al configurarse como actos de resistencia, al colocar en una nueva perspectiva conceptos como autoridad, poder y escritura, recurriendo para ello a algunas reflexiones de Piglia, Steiner y Agamben

Maternal self-efficacy in newborn care: influence of maternal variables

Aim: To analyze the influence of sociodemographic, obstetric, childbirth, and breastfeeding variables on maternal self-efficacy in newborn care. Design: Descriptive cross-sectional study. Methods: The study was conducted in three hospital units in the Northern region of Portugal, with a non-probabilistic sample composed of 340 women recruited at postnatal wards on the day of hospital discharge. A questionnaire including the mother’s sociodemographic, obstetric, childbirth, and breastfeeding data was used. For the analysis of maternal self-efficacy in newborn care, the Scale of Perceived Parental Self-Efficacy in Child Care was used. The scale is a 20-item self-report instrument developed to identify women with low levels of self-efficacy in newborn care. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used for data analysis. Results: Significant differences concerning maternal self-efficacy in newborn care were found with regard to level of education and parity, with multiparous women and women with lower levels of education presenting higher levels of self-efficacy in newborn care. Conclusion: The analysis of these variables could be valuable in building new knowledge to support the development of an action model that would allow at-risk women to be highly confident in their parenting role.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Persistent genital arousal disorder: always look beyond the surface - a case report

Persistent genital arousal disorder is a rare condition characterized by unwanted intrusive symptoms of sexual arousal without specific context. Their possible aetiologies and treatments are multiple and mostly based on case reports. We aim to do a comprehensive review of persistent genital arousal disorder and describe a case of a postmenopausal woman who developed this disease and, during the follow-up, was diagnosed with advanced endometrial cancer, reminding physicians to keep in mind the possibility of multiple diagnosis in the same patient, including malignancy. Although there is no description of this association in the literature, the possible aetiologies of persistent genital arousal disorder are diverse, and we sought this rare case should be disclosed

Alimentos funcionais: uma tendência de mercado

A mudança dos hábitos e costumes da sociedade moderna que tem vindo a acontecer nas últimas décadas, conduziu a uma alteração dos padrões alimentares e, consequentemente, a consumidores mais exigentes e atentos aos benefícios que cada género alimentício aporta. Como resposta a esta situação, a indústria alimentar reforçou a sua política de investigação, surgindo um novo tipo de alimentos, denominados alimentos funcionais, os quais são caracterizados como alimentos comuns, integrados na dieta e capazes de produzir benefícios específicos para a saúde. As substâncias biologicamente ativas presentes nos alimentos funcionais podem ser classificadas em: probióticos e prebióticos, alimentos sulfurados e azotados, pigmentos naturais e vitaminas, compostos fenólicos, ácidos gordos polinsaturados e fibras alimentares. Este trabalho teve como objetivo realizar uma revisão bibliográfica fundamentada que sustente a importância dos alimentos funcionais como géneros alimentícios integrantes da dieta alimentar, apresentando as diferentes classes de compostos bioativos que os integram e divulgando os seus efeitos benéficos à saúde. A pesquisa de informação para a realização deste trabalho foi efetuada recorrendo aos motores de busca PubMed, Science Direct, Google Scholar e Scielo. As palavras-chave utilizadas foram, maioritariamente, alimento funcional, ingrediente funcional, componentes bioativos, prebióticos, consumo. A pesquisa bibliográfica teve por base artigos de revisão e estudos experimentais publicados, relacionados com o tema deste trabalho, limitando-se a procura a textos escritos em inglês, espanhol e português. Uma vez que esta revisão pretendeu abranger a evolução dos alimentos funcionais, desde o aparecimento do conceito dos mesmos, no Japão, na década de 80, até aos dias de hoje, a pesquisa realizada teve como limites temporais os anos de 1995 até à atualidade.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio