An investigation of Hebbian phase sequences as assembly graphs

Hebb proposed that synapses between neurons that fire synchronously are strengthened, forming cell assemblies and phase sequences. The former, on a shorter scale, are ensembles of synchronized cells that function transiently as a closed processing system; the latter, on a larger scale, correspond to the sequential activation of cell assemblies able to represent percepts and behaviors. Nowadays, the recording of large neuronal populations allows for the detection of multiple cell assemblies. Within Hebb's theory, the next logical step is the analysis of phase sequences. Here we detected phase sequences as consecutive assembly activation patterns, and then analyzed their graph attributes in relation to behavior. We investigated action potentials recorded from the adult rat hippocampus and neocortex before, during and after novel object exploration (experimental periods). Within assembly graphs, each assembly corresponded to a node, and each edge corresponded to the temporal sequence of consecutive node activations. The sum of all assembly activations was proportional to firing rates, but the activity of individual assemblies was not. Assembly repertoire was stable across experimental periods, suggesting that novel experience does not create new assemblies in the adult rat. Assembly graph attributes, on the other hand, varied significantly across behavioral states and experimental periods, and were separable enough to correctly classify experimental periods (Naïve Bayes classifier; maximum AUROCs ranging from 0.55 to 0.99) and behavioral states (waking, slow wave sleep, and rapid eye movement sleep; maximum AUROCs ranging from 0.64 to 0.98). Our findings agree with Hebb's view that assemblies correspond to primitive building blocks of representation, nearly unchanged in the adult, while phase sequences are labile across behavioral states and change after novel experience. The results are compatible with a role for phase sequences in behavior and cognition.

Arquitetura residencial em João Pessoa-PB a experiência moderna nos anos 1970

In the mid-1980s, the magazine Projeto published the Actual Brazilian Architecture catalogue presenting texts by Hugo Segawa and Ruth Verde Zein with a corpus of works and engaged architects of the 1960s and 1970s. To comprehend the Brazilian architectural production post-1964, in those years of the 1980s, became a significant mission to reactivate the Brazilian architectural debate weakened by the military dictatorship. In his doctoral thesis Spadoni (2003) deals with the different ways which characterizes the Brazilian architectural production of the 1970s. Marked by inventiveness, this production was in tune with the modern thinking and in the transition period between the 1970s and the 1980s it synchronized with the international debate about post-modern architecture. Considering Spadoni s doctoral thesis, this work deals with the modern experience observed in the one-family-houses built in the seventies in João Pessoa. Some modern experiences were not clear outside, to observe it, it was necessary to search for the type of experience into the spatial disposition and of the know-how constructive, because into the appearance some houses not make explicit the use of the modern language. Other observed experiences allude to the repertoire of the Brazilian period in the years 1940s-1960s, to the experience of the modern architecture in São Paulo of the 1960s, to the experiences in which the climate of the Northeastern region strongly influenced the architectural conception. We can also find in a reduced number of houses a particular experience: it refers to experiences that expose the constructive doing, which leave the material apparent and apply to the residential type the experience of the industrial pre-fabricated buildings

Casas modernas na orla marítima de João Pessoa 1960 a 1974

This paper studies modern houses built in the neighborhoods of Cabo Branco, Tambaú and Manaíra by the seafront in Joao Pessoa, built between 1960 and 1974. We start from the already widespread notion that Brazilian Modern Architecture was inspired by foreign ways, mainly European but also American here recast, adapted, often innovating repertoire and ideas received (Y. BRUAND, 2005; H. SEGAWA, 2002; C. E. COMAS, 2002; C. E. COMAS, 2002; M. M. ACAYABA e S. FICHER, 1982; M. B. C. ARANHA, 2008; F. C. L. LARA, 2001; R. V. ZEIN, 2005; L. E. AMORIM, 1999, C. V. STINCO, 2010). With this look, after a field study, we collected 61 specimens in the collection of the Central Archive of João Pessoa City Hall, in order to identify which reformulations, adaptations or innovations would exist in modern houses built along the coast in João Pessoa. As we try to analyze the houses by what the bibliography had suggested (G. C. ARGAN, 1992; L. CORBUSIER, 2002; C.E.D. e M. ADRIÀ, 2007; K. FRAMPTON, 1997; H. H. HITCHCOCK, 1976; L. BENEVOLO, 2004; R. DE FUSCO, 1992, N . PEVSNER, 2002; M. RAGON, 1986; B. RISEBERO, 1982; E. ROBBINS, 1997; W. J. R. CURTIS, 1982; V. SCULLY, 2003; B. ZEVI, 1984; D. DUNST, 1999; A. COLQUHOUN, 2002; R. WESTON, 2005; A. IÑAKI, 2006; J. PETER, 1994) the starting idea seemed to us not sufficiently developed. So we decided, first, to undertake a literature review comparing speech and image of modern houses most often cited by international and national literature, following a script freely inspired the Vitruvian triad: the functional and spatial (sectorization, guidance, spatiality, movement); constructive aspects (structural elements, modulation, deck, sealing), and aesthetic aspects (composition, apertures, ornaments) (Cap.1), then cast a look under this same route in 61 specimens obtained initially, trying to verify any specificities they would have (Cap.2). Failing to deepen the analysis of all these examples, we chose 10 projects which were redesigned and described in more detail to which we supplement with the aspects of place - location / lot location, access, axiality. (E. C. MAHFUZ, 2002; J. C. MIGUEL, 2000; E. C. CHEREGATI, 2007; M. COTRIM, 2007). (Cap. 3). The documentation and description resulting allowed us to approach some related questions about the canonical transcripts hybridizing, adoptions and any vernacular innovations of modern houses along the coast, We conclude that the appellants and anachronistic elements isolates found in each of the studied bind to the Brazilian Modern Architecture

A experiência no Tai Chi: possibilidades para pensar o corpo sem órgãos e a preparação do ator

Although research in the field of performing arts has substantially advanced over the last century, the actor, in general, still needs a repertoire of specific references to guide or support his practice. But how the actor must work the material foundation of his art that is his own body? Starting from a prerogative of a idiosyncrasy that is part of theater, this study intend, from the description and reflection about one physical experience with the Tai Chi, to weave relations between this experience and the possible developments of acting preparation. This research is also aimed to highlight the elements of connection between the principles that rules Tai Chi and the body without organs, idealized by Artaud, with the perspective of pointing possible contributions for actors work. The work presented here refers to a qualitative study that considers the body experience in practice of Tai Chi as a reference to dialogue and reflect about the acting preparation. The process of acting preparation presupposes a constant redoing of the body by certain practices. My experience with Tai Chi within this research allowed me verify that the work from established body techniques could be a way of technical preparation for the actor. As the body conscience expands, Tai Chi promotes a greater freedom of creation and expression, giving the actor the possibility of experience the body without organs, the artistic equivalent of the daily body, present, conscious, the organic foundation of emotions, in wich it is possible the materiality of ideas

Análise do transcriptoma das glândulas venenosas do escorpião Tityus stigmurus

In Brazil, accidents with scorpions are considered of medical importance, not only by the high incidence, but also for the potentiality of the venom from some species in determining severe clinical conditions. Tityus stigmurus is a widely distributed scorpion species in Northeastern Brazil and known to cause severe human envenomations, inducing pain, hyposthesia, edema, erythema, paresthesia, headaches and vomiting. The present study uses a transcriptomic approach to characterize the molecular repertoire from the non-stimulated venom gland of Tityus stigmurus scorpion. A cDNA library was constructed and 540 clones were sequenced and grouped into 37 clusters, with more than one EST (expressed sequence tag) and 116 singlets. Forty-one percent of ESTs belong to recognized toxin-coding sequences, with antimicrobial toxins (AMP-like) the most abundant transcripts, followed by alfa KTx- like, beta KTx-like, beta NaTx-like and alfa NaTx-like. Our analysis indicated that 34% include other possible venom molecules , whose transcripts correspond to anionic peptides, hypothetical secreted peptides, metalloproteinases, cystein-rich peptides and lectins. Fifteen percent of ESTs are similar to cellular transcripts. Sequences without good matches corresponded to 11%. This investigation provides the first global view of cDNAs from Tityus stigmurus. This approach enables characterization of a large number of venom gland component molecules, which belong either to known or atypical types of venom peptides and proteins from the Buthidae family

Família e TV: mais que dominação e subordinação.

This work analises the social relationship between Television and the Family though the resignification of individuals about Television messages and the speeches that they make about Family. Firstly, the objective is to understand if the principles, values and beliefs constructed and communicated (repassed) inside the Family filter the messages from the Mass Media. Secondly, if there still exists a family culture able to forge identity against so many cultural exchanges. Thirdly, what the function of this identity in the production of senses is. In session 1 and 2, a general approach about the dissemination of Mass Media in Society and the pertinence of the work is presented. Session 3 is about the method used: a qualitative research, with thirteen families from Natal-RN, situated in the Middle Class. The theorical base is considered in the fourth session where the reference to the evolution of the Family is made, with enphasis on the Middle Class and some theories that analyze the pheomenom of the Mass Media , specially in the second half of twentieth century. In session 5 and 6, the research data is presented and analyzed. Finally, in the last session, as a conclusion it can be said that the value of the Family as emotional support is reforced by the speeches and practices that interfere in the signification procces, singular aspects, as well as the social repertoire constructed per si and by institutions (including the family) moreover, mediative message is assimilated by the receiver and becomes understood inside the learned speeches during the receiver‟s history of life, although these messsages are also components in the construction of these repertoire.

Família e TV: mais que dominação e subordinação

This work analises the social relationship between Television and the Family though the resignification of individuals about Television messages and the speeches that they make about Family. Firstly, the objective is to understand if the principles, values and beliefs constructed and communicated (repassed) inside the Family filter the messages from the Mass Media. Secondly, if there still exists a family culture able to forge identity against so many cultural exchanges. Thirdly, what the function of this identity in the production of senses is. In session 1 and 2, a general approach about the dissemination of Mass Media in Society and the pertinence of the work is presented. Session 3 is about the method used: a qualitative research, with thirteen families from Natal-RN, situated in the Middle Class. The theorical base is considered in the fourth session where the reference to the evolution of the Family is made, with enphasis on the Middle Class and some theories that analyze the pheomenom of the Mass Media , specially in the second half of twentieth century. In session 5 and 6, the research data is presented and analyzed. Finally, in the last session, as a conclusion it can be said that the value of the Family as emotional support is reforced by the speeches and practices that interfere in the signification procces, singular aspects, as well as the social repertoire constructed per si and by institutions (including the family) moreover, mediative message is assimilated by the receiver and becomes understood inside the learned speeches during the receiver s history of life, although these messsages are also components in the construction of these repertoire

Interações comunicativas entre uma professora e um aluno com transtorno invasivo do desenvolvimento na escola regular

Inclusion of students with autism in regular education settings is a topic that has not been much explored by the national scientific literature. This matter is complex and, due to the extent of various aspects involved, it is essential to delimitate a focus of investigation. The direction taken by this study was to evaluate the effects of an intervention program in the communicative interactions between a student with autism and his teacher in a regular classroom. Data were collected in an elementary private school, located in the city of Natal, Rio Grande do Norte during the 2010 academic school year. The study included a teacher and a non-vocal, 10-year-old student diagnosed with autism. A quasi-experimental A-B research design was employed. During the intervention program the teacher was trained to use Naturalistic Teaching Strategies and Alternative and Augmentative Communication (AAC) resources to increase the frequency of interactions with the student during three classroom routines (entry time, snack and pedagogical activity). The results indicated qualitative and quantitative changes in the interactions of the dyad after the implementation of the intervention program. The student began to use pictograms to communicate with the teacher in two of the three routines investigated. The frequency of AAC use was also observed in the teacher‟s repertoire, especially when the student failed to understand gestures and words. The teacher positively evaluated the intervention program

CORPOREIDADE E A MELODIA DA EXPERIÊNCIA ESTÉTICA NA FORMAÇÃO HUMANESCENTE DE CANTORES-EDUCADORES

In order for this study to be developed, the central goal on our investigation was defined as analyzing and interpreting the aesthetical experiences meanings lived by singers-educators in the human formation. The interest for the aesthetical experience theme was built from my own experience for the last twelve years as a member of the School of Music Madrigal, the oldest group in the State Federal University, created for research and cultural extension with structural perspective which brings closer teachers, students and the outer community that comes from different social realities to face the challenge of combining the ability of singing, the corporeity involvement and the aesthetical experiences meanings. This paper points out the understanding of art as perceptive expression of human emotions, such as the creation of existential demand, the restructuring of oneself and the constructions which shape beauty. We seek a dense contribution of new challenges to the peculiar demand of human potential in terms of sensibility repertoire, of involvement, of expectation in magnifying the possibilities and the human and social competences. In the formation human process, we find a living field blooming with natural artistical possibilities, experimenting emotions and feelings shared in collective life, and bringing out impulses to unexpected ludic creation, establishing a powerful aesthetical ambience which highlights the symbolic and imaginary with the deepening of rich ludopoiese properties in several meanings. From the guiding principles of etnophenomenology we find structural and indispensable perspectives which contemplate values, desires, archtype images and ideas that impress originality and fertility to the study. On this path we understand the abundance of living moments of intense commitment, acquaintance, challenges, reunions and connections that stand out from fundamental aspects to freedom, autonomy, creativity and new discontinuities. This acknowledgement brings us closer to the enlighted fullness which makes us humans

A Escola sob o olhar da família: relações que se compreendem e se praticam no cotidiano

This study approaches the relations of family and school, from the perspective of the family. It aims to analyze the meanings attributed by family to the school as a space for plural relationships, and understand the relations that these mothers constitute culturally with schools and their everyday pedagogical practices. When we seek to understand this problematic, it was established as guiding principles of the search in/from/with everyday life. Accordingly, we focused on, as main interlocutors, mothers and authors such as Certeau (1994), Morin (2000) and Freire (1978), among others, on the understanding that cultural diversity is an essential element of the complex relationship between family and public school, because they come from different cultural contexts. In the course of the research it was made the use of the procedure of dialogic conversation as a production process and information analysis. The current analysis highlights that families observe the difference between cultural and report that they are from different socio-political context set by the school, they came from rural areas and their lives were marked by the struggle for survival, and the work activity has been present since their childhood. For the families that participated in this research the school is/was not part of the cultural repertoire significance in their lives and it feels that they attribute to them, are in negotiations with their symbolic universe. The mothers hold a speech of a schoolar binding and pertencing, but the school has the time as possible in their daily lives. Thus, the dynamics of family and school relationships, is configured as complex, and the ambiguity in maternal speech marks a thinking/doing about the school in which they demonstrate ways of making the common man, involving the art of duplicity of the saying and doing, gimmnicks and antidiscipline

Cosmoeducação: uma abordagem transdisciplinar no ensino de astronomia

This work proposes a transdisciplinary approach that integrates transpersonal psychology exercises with astronomy teaching, seeking to allow one to reintegrate the sky in his/her daily life, expand his/her environmental awareness and eventually experiment the unity between human and cosmos. This proposal intends to collaborate with the supplying of education, which lacks initiatives of this kind, with the promotion of an integration of the scientific knowledge with the human experience that transcends the materialistic and fragmentary objectives of the current educational system. As a result of that lack, the teachers formation is also poor as for an integral and transdisciplinary approach. Besides, we also approached in this research the necessity to propose alternatives so that the educators may work in a more assertive way with the environmental and anthropological crisis in which we are living. Our working hypothesis is that the contents of astronomy, when they are dealt in a holisticanthropological focus and are related with transpersonal psychology practices, can come to be an efficient cultural-academic vehicle, capable of propitiating an expansion of consciousness and changes in the way one conceives the world. Such changes are necessary so that a more solidary, fair and ecologically balanced life may come to exist and prevail in the planet. Part of the collection of data was done through the ethnographic method, once an anthropological interpretation is inextricably associated with this kind of educational intervention, which will naturally include ethno-visions of the universe as well as specific cultural elements. In the beginning the scope of this research was a group of students attending the Astronomy assignment in an undergraduate Geography course (UFRN), in which we accomplished participant observation, half-open interviews and the first experimental practices mentioned. After the evaluation of the first data collected from that initial group, we elaborated an academic extension course, Laboratory in Cosmoeducation, and we offered it to teachers of the 1st and 2nd cycles of the fundamental level of the Alceu Amoroso Lima State School, located in the North Zone of Natal. We prized self-experimentation in that course, so that the teachers could enrich their repertoire of personal experiences, stimulating meditative reflections and eventual changes in the ways of conceiving the world and in their pedagogical practice. The transdisciplinary attitude permeated all our educational action, because this approach transcends the boundaries of disciplines, seeking essentially the integral development of the human being. The process has made us realize that the practice of looking at the sky , as a way of reintegrating it into daily life, provokes a process of expansion of the consciousness and of reintegration of the self in a wider level of environmental interrelation. According to the results, the occurrence of conceptual and existential changes of the world vision of the participant teachers was evident, reassuring ourselves of the idea that the interface between astronomy teaching and the practices of transpersonal psychology can contribute to the recovery of a holistic relationship between the human being and the cosmos and to inspire the arising of a more wide-ranging ethics, based on universal, impartial and sustainable values

Resistência e performance na arte de João Cota

Researching about the art of tell and the tales told by João Cota is somehow revisiting the oral tradition and social practice in the story-telling art. It takes into consideration the resistance this art still exerts, mainly by using the performance of oral transmission and receptiveness to tales. The study of this practice contributes to the vivacious and dynamcis permanence of this authentic and traditional storyteller of his repertory and of his form to tellin our culture. Story-telling is part of the humankind living heritage communicated by means of popular wisdom. Despite the risk of vanishing into thin air, along with their narrators, the tales still manage to resist the contemporary mass culture model. How long further will stories like the ones narrated by João Cota be able to resist to strong and stronger structures dictated by writing and other communication means? João Cota s practice in story-telling will be studied not only as a proposal to identify the presence of this practice and the oral cultural resistance but also, through the performance prospective, to identify the oral transmission and receptiveness to the tales that are part of this storyteller s repertoire. In other words: what he tells, how he tells it, and why he tells it. The advent of new technologies such as internet, through which people can easily communicate with others in different parts of the world, and the greater and greater expansion in the writing skill concept interfere the maintenance of the oral tradition elements present in João Cota s narratives and inserted in the Brazilian culture. This has become more visible in the latest decades although we still notice the living tradition and permanence of the story-telling practice in several parts of the country through their wise storytellers. Our research target will require - in each of its study stages reference to works by several theoreticians namely Paul Zumthor, Mikhail Bakhtin, Câmara Cascudo, theoreticians from the receptiveness aesthetic, from the written culture history, from oral cultures and reading practices, from tradition and the Brazilian Culture of oral story-telling. In order to get to know and draw a profile of this storyteller, we ve chosen to use the comprehensive interview method by French Sociologist Jean Claude Kaufmann. The originality in the method consists of the qualitative data put together in situ , concentrated on the storyteller s narratives/speeches recorded on tape, which will be the focal point of this study. Our analysis method is based on tireless sessions of listening to interviews out of which we gathered information related to the storyteller, his practice in telling the tales, and his repertoire

Processos cognitivos que operam na configuração de narrativas: uma pesquisa exploratória dos fenômenos que subjazem à compreensão de textos

This paper investigates the cognitive processes that operate in understanding narratives in this case, the novel Macunaíma, by Mário de Andrade. Our work belongs to the field of Embodied-based Cognitive Linguistics and, due to its interdisciplinary nature, it dialogues with theoretical and methodological frameworks of Psycholinguistics, Cognitive Psychology and Neurosciences. Therefore, we adopt an exploratory research design, recall and cloze tests, adapted, with postgraduation students, all native speakers of Brazilian Portuguese. The choice of Macunaíma as the novel and initial motivation for this proposal is due to the fact it is a fantastic narrative, which consists of events, circumstances and characters that are clearly distant types from what is experienced in everyday life. Thus, the novel provides adequate data to investigate the configuration of meaning, within an understanding-based model. We, therefore, seek, to answer questions that are still, generally, scarcely explored in the field of Cognitive Linguistics, such as to what extent is the activation of mental models (schemas and frames) related to the process of understanding narratives? How are we able to build sense even when words or phrases are not part of our linguistic repertoire? Why do we get emotionally involved when reading a text, even though it is fiction? To answer them, we assume the theoretical stance that meaning is not in the text, it is constructed through language, conceived as a result of the integration between the biological (which results in creating abstract imagery schemes) and the sociocultural (resulting in creating frames) apparatus. In this sense, perception, cognitive processing, reception and transmission of the information described are directly related to how language comprehension occurs. We believe that the results found in our study may contribute to the cognitive studies of language and to the development of language learning and teaching methodologies

Pré-fabricados lingüísticos: estrutura e funcionamento de sintagmas verbais idiomatizados - por uma abordagem cognitivo-funcional em sala de aula

This work aims at under the cognitive-functional perspective describing, inside the vast domain of the linguistic prefabs, the structure and the functioning of the Idiomatic Verb Phrases (SVIs), produced by speakers of the Portuguese from Brazil, located in Natal (RN). From the functionalist presupposition that the language is used essentially to assist to communicative demands, it is observed that its morphologic-syntactic structure is conditioned to the inherent pragmatic vicissitudes to the verbal interaction of subjects, socially heterogeneous and historically established. It is focalized, in the composition of SVIs, the relationships VT + OD (transitive verb + direct object), characterizing the syntactic-semantic nature of the verb and of the respective verbal complement. Those verb combinations + complement can be interpreted as lexical structures, reflexes of the idiomaticity inherent to conventional constructions already systematized in the users' of the language cultural repertoire. It is sought, still, to glimpse the cognitive and discursive motivations pertinent to that linguistic phenomenon. In the investigative process, are analyzed exclusive data of speech collected in Corpus Discurso & Gramática a lingua falada e escrita na cidade do Natal, organized by Furtado da Cunha (1998). The adopted methodological procedures configure as methods of empiric analysis and use of the intuition, being emphasized the qualitative approach (explanatory) of the data with quantitative support of statistical indicators. It shows, finally, a grating of didactic suggestions on SVIs, for Portuguese's classes, as subsidies to the educational practice in the Medium Teaching and in the course of Letters.

Boto cinza (Sotalia guianensis, Van Benédén, 1864) (Cetacea, Delphinidae): Atividade aérea, forrageio e interações inter-específicas, na Praia de Pipa (Tibau do Sul RN) e estudo comparativo entre duas populações do Nordeste do Brasil

Sotalia guianensis is a small cetacean of the Delphinidae family, with coastal habits and whose area of distribution ranges from Florianópolis (27º35'S, 48º34'W), in Brazil, to Honduras (15º58'N, 85º42'W). At Pipa beach, on the south coast of RN state, in Brazil, the species occur throughout the year. The present study was carried out in two bays, which are bordered by cliffs. The animals were monitored from vantage points, using the "Ad libitum" and "all the occurrences" methods; during the years of 1999 and 2004. The study was divided in 4 chapters: Behavioral standards of two populations of gray dolphin, (Sotalia guianensis, Van Benédén, 1864) in the northeast of Brazil; Aerial activity of the gray dolphin: its possible function and the influence of environmental and behavioral factors; The influence of daily and monthly variation of the tides, of the period of the day and group size on the gray dolphin forage activity; kleptoparasitism interactions of frigatebird (Fregata magnificens, Mattheus, 1914) during the gray dolphin forage activity. The results have shown that the gray dolphin has a varied and complex behavioral repertoire. The leap is the most frequent behavior; the aerial activity is diffuse during daylight and is influenced by some factors, such as the level of the tide and social factors. The gray dolphin, when in the bay, most frequently feeds isolate or in small groups. The forage is diffuse during daylight; however, being more frequent in the morning and is influenced by the daily and monthly variation of the tide. At Pipa beach, kleptoparasitarian interactions were registered between the gray dolphin and the frigatebird (Fregata magnificens). The frigatebird forage strategy consists basically of two ways: to fly over great extensions searching for dead fish and to steal food (kleptoparasitism). These interactions were predominantly carried out between immature and female adult birds and adult and immature dolphins, and occurred during daylight. The present study can be considered an initial landmark to a better knowledge on the gray dolphin surface behavior, especially regarding the aerial behavioral repertoire and forage strategy of this species. However, it is necessary to continue these studies, so that we can understand better the complex social life of these animals and thus create effective measures for its conservation