The Metaphysics of Information: the Power and the Glory of Machinehood

Res-Publica : Revista Lusófona de Ciência Política e Relações InternacionaisNão há disciplina em qualquer ramo da ciência, seja esta natural, social, humana, descritiva, experimental ou teórica, qualitativa ou quantitativa, que não tenha sido afectada a vários níveis da instrumentalidade, conceptualização, construção de modelos, escolha de metáforas heurísticas ou ontológicas, e sentidO da investigação, em alguns casos muito profunda e decisivamente, pela influência crescente da constelação informacional computacional. A investigação baseada em simulações por computador é uma “terceira espécie de ciência”, que se soma aos tipos teórico e físico-experimental de trabalho científico. A ciber-ciência é um lugar natural para simular ciência, ou meta-ciberciência, mas todo o conhecimento científico cai no domínio da meta-ciberciência ou da filosofia da ciência computacional. A meta-ciência simula a ciência(o estudo computacional da produção do conhecimento científico); a ciber-ciência é por definição simulatória; a ciber-ciência simula a Natureza; a Natureza, segundo alguns físicos, é ela mesma uma simulação. Receber a categoria da informação nas ciências da vida e nas ciências humanas e sociais, da maneira específica como tem vindo a ocorrer, traz um considerável lastro metafísico: os humanos como máquinas, ultrapassáveis por máquinas inteligentes ou “espirituais”. A informação emerge como a alavanca de Arquimedes para as nossas intervenções n o domínio da vida e do espírito, de máquinas informacionais naturais, com evidentes implicações para a ciência política.There is no discipline in any branch of science, natural science, social science, human science, descriptive, experimental or theoretical, qualitative or quantitative, that has not been affected at various levels of instrumentality, conceptualization, model-building, in the choice of heuristic or ontological metaphors, and the direction of research, in some cases quite profoundly and decisively, by the ascent of the informational computational constellation. Computer simulation research is a “third kind of science”, in addition to theoretical and physical-experimental types of scientific work . Cyber-science is a natural topic for simulating science, or meta-cyberscience, but all scientific knowledge falls within the domain of meta-cyberscience or the computational philosophy of science. Metascience simulates science (the computational study of scientific knowledge production); cyber-science is by definition simulational; cyberscience simulates nature; nature, according to some physicists, is itself a simulation. To receive the category of information in the life-sciences, the human and social sciences, in the specific way that has been taking place, carries quite a metaphysical baggage: humans as machines, surpassable by intelligent or “spiritual” machines. Information emerges as the Archimedean lever for our interventions in the realm of life and mind, of natural information machines, with evident implications for political science

O ethos da ciência e suas transformações contemporâneas, com especial atenção à biotecnologia

Since the 1980s, we have witnessed the strengthening of the ties between science, the industrial world and also political power and private economical interests. At the core of this process are the changes in the means of production of knowledge, in the nature of its institutions, in the epistemology and its relation to the world. The modern relation between scientific knowledge and the industrial sphere has been reversed and, more than assisting technology and the industry, science is today determined by them. It is in this elective affinity that the change in knowledge, university labs and other organisations is revealed. As a result of the transformation of science into a large-scale bureaucratic organisation devoted to the production sphere, during and after World War II, the new corporate technoscience arises. In the present paper some of the modifications in the production of science are discussed, based on the emblematic example of the new biotechnologies, which simultaneously indicate and promote the new scientific ethos.Sensivelmente a partir da década de 1980, assiste-se à intensificação da conexão entre a ciência, a indústria, os interesses econômicos privados e o poder político. No cerne desse processo, encontram-se alterações profundas nos modos de produção dos conhecimentos e dos resultados científicos, na natureza das suas instituições, nas epistemologias e na sua relação com o mundo social e natural. A relação moderna entre o conhecimento científico e a esfera da indústria foi revolvida e, mais do que estar a serviço da tecnologia e da indústria, a ciência encontra-se hoje determinada por elas. É nessa afinidade eletiva que se revela a mudança dos saberes, em laboratórios universitários e de outras organizações. Na sequência da transformação da ciência em organização burocrática de grande escala devotada à produção, durante e após a Segunda Guerra Mundial, entra em cena a nova tecnociência empresarializada. No presente artigo, são discutidas algumas das modificações no modo de produção das ciências, com base no exemplo emblemático das novas biotecnologias, simultaneamente indicadoras e promotoras de um novo ethos científico

A hegemonia cibertecnológica em curso: uma perspetiva crítica

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Air Depleted and Solvent Impregnated Cork Powder as a New Natural and Sustainable Wine Fining Agent

We recently proposed a simple methodology to improve cork powder waste adsorption properties through vacuum degassing and solvent impregnation, to use this abundant and cheap material as a new wine fining agent. Its applicability was first shown for red wine 4-ethylphenol (4-EP) and 4-ethylguaiacol (4-EG) reduction. Nowadays, the presence of 4-EP and 4-EG is a serious problem in the wine industry, known as “Brett character”, by the negative aroma imparted by these volatile phenols (VPs) to red wine. There are only some curative treatments to remove these compounds without impacting negatively on wine quality. Optimised cork powder was used successfully as a new treatment for the reduction of these negative VPs (41?75% for 4-EP and 40?69% for 4-EG) increasing at the same time wine sensory performance. Wine treated with cork powder reduced 6.9% phenolic acids and catechin and 2.3% monomeric anthocyanins without any significant change in colour intensity. In this chapter, the cork complex structure is discussed, besides the impact of its use in wine containing VPs on physicochemical composition and quality. This new application of this natural, abundant and cheap material has the potential of being a new wine fining agent with low environmental impact

Editorial note

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Translucency and color differences of polycrystalline ceramic materials before and after layering

Objective: To evaluate the transmittance (%T) and color difference (∆E*) of six zirconia core materials compared to alumina, over eight colored substrates before and after ceramic application. Methods: Experimental groups (n=5) of standardized disk-shaped cores of alumina, white zirconia, medium-colored zirconia, Ice Translucent, and Prettau (white and D3 colored) were veneered to a uniform thickness to convenient color by layering. Their %T and ∆E* over eight different substrates were determined before and after glazing. Data were analyzed with Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney tests (α<0.05). Results: %T and ∆E* values were significantly different (p<0.001) before and after ceramic application for all materials. Regarding %T, Prettau white zirconia was the most affected, overpassing alumina. Colored zirconia cores decreased %T equally. In terms of ∆E*, zirconia materials initially performed high above the clinically acceptable threshold but were under it after ceramics application. White zirconia was the only material to perform below the clinical perceptibility threshold. Alumina initially performed under the clinically acceptable threshold for two substrates, but after ceramic application, only performed under the clinical perceptibility threshold over four. Substrates influenced ∆E* values of all core materials but were only evident on three of them. Conclusions: Core materials influenced %T and ∆E* values. Colored zirconia cores showed less %T than white cores and both less than alumina before and after ceramic application. After ceramic application, all materials performed under the clinically acceptable threshold over all the substrates. Substrates have more influence on ∆E* values before ceramic application

Eficiência e desempenho no ensino superior: uma análise da fronteira de produção educacional das IFES brasileiras

Este trabalho tem como objetivo mensurar a eficiência educacional do ensino superior no Brasil, no período de 2004 a 2008, com ênfase nas Instituições Federais de Ensino Superior (IFES). Para tal propósito, mensuraram-se os escores da eficiência educacional por meio da análise de dados DEA-SBM. Procurou-se considerar os indicadores de gestão educacional das próprias instituições observando-as em dois subconjuntos: o grupo A, contendo 28 instituições; e um grupo B, com 21. Os resultados apontaram, em todos os períodos avaliados, níveis elevados de eficiência educacional. As causas da ineficiência da produção educacional das IFES variaram de acordo com os grupos analisados; por exemplo, para a maioria das IFES do grupo A, o elevado número de alunos por professores e o aumento do custo por aluno foram causas de ineficiência. Já para as IFES do grupo B, os fatores que mais comprometeram a eficiência foram o elevado número de alunos por professores e por funcionários, e o índice de qualificação do corpo docente. Ademais, a baixa taxa de sucesso nos cursos de graduação e do conceito CAPES-MEC, dos cursos de pós-graduação, representaram fatores de ineficiência das IFES

TeleMeios as a Virtual Environment and their possibilities in Hybrid Education

The discussion contemplates the construction and development of collaborative digital tools to support distance teaching, with its origins still in the 2000s, within the scope of the Multimeios Research Laboratory, linked to the Faculty of Education (FACED) of UFC, located at city of Fortaleza / Ceará / Brazil. Thus, it aims to analyze the experiences of construction and (re) structuring of the TeleMeios Virtual Teaching Environment (VTE) and its adaptive possibilities in a hybrid context, with a view to subsidizing formative actions in which learners and teachers can have access to virtual experiences in the learning environment which play the role of protagonists. As theoretical reference, there are the studies of Borges (2009), Jucá (2011), Moran (2015), Bacich; Tanzi Neto; Trevisani (2015) among others, which discuss about teaching and hybrid education, digital information and communication technologies, as well as other themes involving teaching and virtual and classroom learning. The research is bibliographical, of a qualitative nature, anchored in Lakatos and Marconi (2002), which makes use of publications such as textbooks, scientific articles, reviews, which deal with the subject. Among the findings, it can be highlighted that the TeleMeios environment has a formative potential to be explored and investigated, focusing on the structural and pedagogical design of virtual environments that surpass the concept of content repository and the idea of students as receptacles of knowledge. and teachers, as sole holders of knowledge

USO DO ULTRASSOM TERAPÊUTICO E CRIOLIPÓLISE ALIADOS A OUTRAS TERAPIAS ESTÉTICAS COMBINADAS NO TRATAMENTO DA LIPODISTROFIA LOCALIZADA

A lipodistrofia localizada é provocada pelo acúmulo de tecido adiposo subcutâneo ocasionando desenvolvimento tecidual irregular, afetando ambos os gêneros. Em virtude da grande variedade em protocolos estéticos que auxiliam o processo da lipólise, esta revisão bibliográfica teve por objetivo elucidar a segurança e eficácia da criolipólise e do ultrassom terapêutico no tratamento da lipodistrofia localizada, destacando-se os benefícios da aplicação de terapias combinadas para se potencializar os efeitos no tratamento estético desta disfunção inestética. Os resultados alcançados com estas duas terapias ressaltam poucas alterações no níveis de lipídios séricos e função hepática e perda de gordura subcutânea na área corporal tratada. No ultrassom terapêutico a perda de circunferência variou de 2 a 4 cm em até 3 meses. Na criolipólise, verificou-se uma redução que varia em média de 20 a 30% da camada de gordura local, após uma única sessão. Além disto, o ultrassom terapêutico combinado com a radiofrequência ou corrente elétrica, pode alcançar resultados &nbsp;de até 6,5 cm na redução de gordura abdominal. A terapia combinada da criolipólise em virtude da reperfusão tecidual pode alcançar resultados de até 44% de perda de gordura subcutânea após o tratamento. Observou-se que a eficácia e segurança dos resultados obtidos foram confirmados através de vários estudos apresentando resultados satisfatórios, e quando associados a técnicas combinadas obtém-se perdas mais significativas de medidas de circunferência. Todavia, estudos adicionais são necessários para se padronizar métodos de análise de tais tratamentos e de associações com outras técnicas, corrigindo-se falhas metodológicas, essenciais para que tenham análises experimentais fidedignas e protocolos de tratamento mais padronizados

Xenogeneic Mesenchymal Stem Cells in the Formation of Hyaline Cartilage in Osteochondral Goat Failure

Background: Osteochondral knee failures are among the most common causes of disability among the elderly human population and animal athletes. The xenogeneic transplantation of mesenchymal stem cells is a questionable therapeutic alternative that, despite the low expression of Major Histocompatibility Complex type II by these cells, still has relevantuncertainties about the safety and clinical efficacy. The main objective of the present study was to investigate whether the xenogeneic transplantation of mesenchymal stem cells induces hyaline cartilage formation, without histopathological evidence of rejection, in osteochondralfailures of goats.Materials, Methods & Results: Five female goats were used, submitted to three surgical osteocondral failures in the right knee, treated with xenogenic mesenchymal stem cells of dental pulp, xenogenic platelet-rich plasma and hemostatic sponge of hydrolyzed collagen, respectively. The lesions were evaluated after 60 days of treatment, aiming to identify thepresence of hyaline cartilage or fibrocartilage and the subchondral bone pattern (regenerated or disorganized). Transplantation of xenogenic mesenchymal stem cells induced predominant formation of hyaline cartilage (P 0.05). Macroscopically, the lesions of the stem cell treated group showed formation of firm repair tissue, opaque staining, integrated with adjacent cartilage and with the failure filling almost completely. The groups treated with PRP and hemostatic sponge of hydrolyzed collagen presented, on average, partial filling of the lesion, with irregular shape and darkened coloration.Discussion. The absence of macroscopic and histopathological evidences of an inflammatory process on the surface and in the internal portion of the osteochondral lesions treated with xenogeneic stem cells, probably due to the low expression of Major Histocompatibility Complex type II by these cells, which would theoretically induce low rejection response. Such observations are of great importance, since graft-versus- host disease syndrome is a serious condition, responsible for the low therapeutic efficacy with transplantation of cells or grafts in humans. The formation of fibrocartilage, although without macro and microscopic evidence of degeneration or necrosis, in the osteochondral failures treated with PRP and hemostatic collagen sponge suggest that paracrine factors of the local microenvironment of the osteochondral failure are possibly responsible for the formation of fibrocartilaginous tissue or by inhibition of normal cartilage formation. The fibrocartilage formed in the Plasmaand Control groups, contributed to the commitment in the filling of the lesion, contrasting with the almost complete fill of the lesions treated with stem cells. The xenotransplantation of mesenchymal stem cells induced formation of hyaline cartilage and did not promote histopathological evidence of rejection in osteochondral lesions of goat knees. The treatments with PRP and hemostatic sponge of hydrolyzed collagen induced greater formation of fibrocartilaginous cartilaginous surface in the osteochondral failures