Complex networks analysis of language complexity

Methods from statistical physics, such as those involving complex networks, have been increasingly used in the quantitative analysis of linguistic phenomena. In this paper, we represented pieces of text with different levels of simplification in co-occurrence networks and found that topological regularity correlated negatively with textual complexity. Furthermore, in less complex texts the distance between concepts, represented as nodes, tended to decrease. The complex networks metrics were treated with multivariate pattern recognition techniques, which allowed us to distinguish between original texts and their simplified versions. For each original text, two simplified versions were generated manually with increasing number of simplification operations. As expected, distinction was easier for the strongly simplified versions, where the most relevant metrics were node strength, shortest paths and diversity. Also, the discrimination of complex texts was improved with higher hierarchical network metrics, thus pointing to the usefulness of considering wider contexts around the concepts. Though the accuracy rate in the distinction was not as high as in methods using deep linguistic knowledge, the complex network approach is still useful for a rapid screening of texts whenever assessing complexity is essential to guarantee accessibility to readers with limited reading ability. Copyright (c) EPLA, 2012

Primary healthcare and the construction of meanings of oral health: a social constructionist interpretation of discourses of the elderly

Dentistry currently reveals itself to be open to new ideas about the construction of meanings for oral health. This openness leads to the social production of health revealing the contextualization of the social and historical aspects of the sundry knowledge in the development of oral health for different communities. With this research, we seek to build meanings for oral health with a group of elderly people. With this objective in mind, we propose an approximation between discourses on oral health mentioned by the elderly and the Social Constructionist discourse. We interviewed 14 elderly people enrolled in a Family Health Unit in Ribeirao Preto, State of Sao Paulo, in the first semester of 2010, and identified two interpretative repertoires through Discourse Analysis, which showed the relationship between 1 Lack of information and dental assistance in childhood, and 2 - Primary Health Care building the meaning of oral health. We concluded that Social Constructionism works epistemologically for the construction of meanings for oral health and that primary health is essential for appreciation and health care that enables the construction of meanings in oral health by the elderly that create conditions for self-care and healthy attitudes.

An ecological economic interpretation of the Jevons effect

This article develops an ecological economic interpretation of the Jevons effect. Moreover, it is argued that under the neoclassical paradigm there are no elements with which to foresee the long-term existence of this phenomenon. The objective of these arguments is to demonstrate that the Jevons effect can be used to compare the ability of neoclassical and ecological economics describing the social appropriation of nature. This is elaborated in two steps. First, we show the importance of the thesis that the economy cannot be cut off from the biophysical materiality of what is produced to give consistency to the so-called Khazzoom-Brookes postulate. It is made clear that this supposition is exogenous to the neoclassical paradigm. Second, the supposition of the biophysical materiality of what is produced is utilized to make an ecological economic interpretation of the Jevons effect. Afterwards, a comparison is made between the neoclassical and the ecological economic perspectives. This comparison leads to the following conclusions: (i) the persistent presence of the Jevons effect in the long run is an anomaly in the neoclassical paradigm; (ii) the observation of the non-existence of the Jevons effect is a refutation of the supposition that economic growth and biophysical materiality are not separable, a central thesis defended by ecological economists. This situation makes possible to use the Jevons effect as a 'laboratory test' to compare the ability of neoclassical and ecological economic paradigms to describe the social appropriation of nature. (C) 20111 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Interpretation of the depths of maximum of extensive air showers measured by the Pierre Auger Observatory

To interpret the mean depth of cosmic ray air shower maximum and its dispersion, we parametrize those two observables as functions of the rst two moments of the lnA distribution. We examine the goodness of this simple method through simulations of test mass distributions. The application of the parameterization to Pierre Auger Observatory data allows one to study the energy dependence of the mean lnA and of its variance under the assumption of selected hadronic interaction models. We discuss possible implications of these dependences in term of interaction models and astrophysical cosmic ray sources.

DELAY IN THE DIAGNOSIS OF TUBERCULOSIS IN PRISONS: THE EXPERIENCE OF INCARCERATED PATIENTS

This study analyzed the causes of delay in the diagnosis of tuberculosis in the prison system, according to the experience of incarcerated patients. The theoretical and methodological framework of the French school of discourse analysis was used, which seeks to comprehend the processes of meaning production, in the relationship of language with ideology and the development of subjects in their positions. Semi-directed interviews were conducted with seven incarcerated tuberculosis patients in a hospital of Joao Pessoa, Paraiba, Brazil, between August and October 2009. The delay in the diagnosis of tuberculosis was related to the naturalization of the lack of care for the prisoner, to the interpretation of the prison as a place of death and suffering and to the deprivation of the right to health for the detainees as a result of their position in the asymmetric power relationships and ideological effects.

Insights into the morphology of the Serra da Cangalha impact structure from geophysical modeling

Forward modeling is commonly applied to gravity field data of impact structures to determine the main gravity anomaly sources. In this context, we have developed 2.5-D gravity models of the Serra da Cangalha impact structure for the purpose of investigating geological bodies/structures underneath the crater. Interpretation of the models was supported by ground magnetic data acquired along profiles, as well as by high resolution aeromagnetic data. Ground magnetic data reveal the presence of short-wavelength anomalies probably related to shallow magnetic sources that could have been emplaced during the cratering process. Aeromagnetic data show that the basement underneath the crater occurs at an average depth of about 1.9 km, whereas in the region beneath the central uplift it is raised to 0.51 km below the current surface. These depths are also supported by 2.5-D gravity models showing a gentle relief for the basement beneath the central uplift area. Geophysical data were used to provide further constraints for numeral modeling of crater formation that provided important information on the structural modification that affected the rocks underneath the crater, as well as on shock-induced modifications of target rocks. The results showed that the morphology is consistent with the current observations of the crater and that Serra da Cangalha was formed by a meteorite of approximately 1.4 km diameter striking at 12 km s-1.

The place of (explicit) grammar within the methods and approaches of foreign language teaching: in the north, in the centre or on the margins?

This article analyzes the role that has been attributed to grammar throughout the history of foreign language teaching, with special emphasis on methods and approaches of the twentieth century. In order to support our argument, we discuss the notion of grammar by proposing a conceptual continuum that includes the main meanings of the term which are relevant to our research. We address as well the issue of "pedagogical grammar" and consider the position of grammar in the different approaches of the "era of the methods" and the current "post-method condition" in the field of language teaching and learning. The findings presented at the end of the text consist of recognizing the central role that grammar has played throughout the history of the methods and approaches, where grammar has always been present by the definition of the contents' progression. The rationale that we propose for this is the recognition of the fact that the dissociation between what is said and how it is said can not be more than theoretical and, thus, artificial.