AGENDA- SETTING NO TWITTER: A CAMPANHA ELEITORAL NO MUNICÍPIO DE SÃO PAULO EM 2012

O objetivo desse trabalho é identificar uma hipótese analisada há 40 anos em uma nova forma de comunicação. A proposta é buscar a comprovação do agenda-setting, ou agendamento, no Twitter durante a eleição para a Prefeitura de São Paulo no ano de 2012. Para isso, recorremos a três portais de notícias que nos serviram como laboratório de fontes , que nos pautavam na busca pela repercussão dessas notícias na Internet. A partir da definição de alguns termos que acompanharam os três principais candidatos à prefeitura de SP, partimos para uma procura por esses termos no Twitter, através da ferramenta The Archivist . Os termos foram divididos em positivos , negativos e neutros , para identificarmos qual o tipo de conteúdo era mais repercutido. Os resultados da pesquisa identificaram uma maior repercussão de termos que representavam atributos negativos dos candidatos, analisando o agendamento dos portais de notícias como uma forma de reforço desses atributos negativos, comprovando a agenda da contrapropaganda política no Twitter.

Further studies of the visually evoked subcortical potential in man

The Visually Evoked Subcortical Potential, a far-field signal, was originally defined to flash stimulation as a triphasic positive-negative-positive complex with mean latencies of P21 N26.2 P33.6 (Harding and Rubinstein 1980). Inconsistent with its subcortical source however, the signal was found to be tightly localised to the mastoid. This thesis re-examines the earlier protocols using flash stimulation and with auditory masking establishes by topographic studies that the VESP has a widespread scalp distribution, consistent with a far-field source of the signal, and is not a volume-conducted electroretinogram (ERG). Furthermore, mastoid localisation indicates auditory contamination from the click, on discharge of the photostimulator. The use of flash stimulation could not precisely identify the origin of the response. Possible sources of the VESP are the lateral geniculate body (LGB) and the superior colliculus. The LGB received 80% of the nerve fibres from the retina, and responds to high contrast achromatic stimulation in the form of drifting gratings of high spatial frequencies. At low spatial frequencies, it is more sensitive to colour. The superior colliculus is insensitive to colour and suppressed by contrast and responds to transitory rapid movements, and receives about 20% of the optic nerve fibres. A pattern VESP was obtained to black and white checks as a P23.5 N29.2 P34 complex in 93% of normal subjects at an optimal check size of 12'. It was also present as a P23.0 N28.29 P32.23 complex to red and green luminance balanced checks at 2o check size in 73% of subjects. These results were not volume-conducted pattern electroretinogram responses. These findings are consistent with the spatial frequency properties of the lateral geniculate body which is the considered source of the signal. With further work, the VESP may supplement electrodiagnosis of post-chiasmal lesions.

Executive function and emotional focus in autobiographical memory specificity in older adults

The current study examined the role of executive function in retrieval of specific autobiographical memories in older adults with regard to control of emotion during retrieval. Older and younger adults retrieved memories of specific events in response to emotionally positive, negative and neutral word cues. Contributions of inhibitory and updating elements of executive function to variance in autobiographical specificity were assessed to determine processes involved in the commonly found age-related reduction in specificity. A negative relationship between age and specificity was only found in retrieval to neutral cues. Alternative explanations of this age preservation of specificity of emotional recall are explored, within the context of control of emotion in the self-memory system and preserved emotional processing and positivity effect in older adults. The pattern of relationships suggests updating, rather than inhibition as the source of age-related reduction in specificity, but that emotional processing (particularly of positively valenced memories) is not influenced by age-related variance in executive control. The tendency of older adults to focus on positive material may thus act as a buffer against detrimental effects of reduced executive function capacity on autobiographical retrieval, representing a possible target for interventions to improve specificity of autobiographical memory retrieval in older adults.

Biofuel subsidies and international trade

This paper explores optimal biofuel subsidies in a general equilibrium trade model. The focus is on the production of biofuels such as corn-based ethanol, which diverts corn from use as food. In the small-country case, when the tax on crude is not available as a policy option, a second-best biofuel subsidy may or may not be positive. In the large-country case, the twin objectives of pollution reduction and terms-of-trade improvement justify a combination of crude tax and biofuel subsidy for the food exporter. Finally, we show that when both nations engage in biofuel policies, the terms-of-trade effects encourage the Nash equilibrium subsidy to be positive (negative) for the food exporting (importing) nation. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

The effects of ingroup-outgroup membership on minority influence when group membership is determined by a trivial categorisation

Two experiments are reported which investigate the influence of ingroup and outgroup minority influence where group membership was determined according to a trivial dimension. The results of the first experiment replicate an earlier study and show that an ingroup minority has significantly more influence than an outgroup minority. In the second study the connotations associated with membership of the ingroup and outgroup (positive/negative) were experimentally manipulated. When ingroup/outgroup membership was associated with a positive/negative image respectively, the ingroup minority had the most influence. However, when ingroup/outgroup membership was associated with a negative/positive image, as predicted, an outgroup minority had more influence than an ingroup minority. These results are interpreted as supporting an intergroup analysis of minority influence processes.

Help-seeking for medically unexplained hearing difficulties:a qualitative study

Aims - Up to 10% of audiology patients report diffi culties hearing speech in noise even though clinical investigation reveals normal hearing thresholds, in other words, no evidence of physical pathology. The diagnostic category applied to these patients is known as King-Kopetzky Syndrome (KKS). This study aimed to gather descriptions of patients' experiences of the clinical encounter involving their KKS diagnosis and analyse the themes of help-seeking, as part of a larger study into the process of coping with medically unexplained hearing diffi culties. Method - A qualitative approach was employed, comprising unstructured interviews in the homes of 25 patients who had attended audiology services (and received a diagnosis of KKS) in Bath and Cardiff. Thematic analysis of transcripts was undertaken, infl uenced by grounded theory techniques. Findings - Informants characterized the clinical encounter as either negative or positive. Negative consultations were those in which patients' illness claims were dismissed and as such not validated. Positive encounters were typifi ed by the provision of meaningful information that reconciled clinical information with the patients' experiences of hearing loss. Conclusion - Successful management of medically unexplained illnesses requires the adoption of a patient-centred approach, rather than focusing on the absence of observable pathology

Closing the productivity gap and trade *policy

The relationship between trade policy and productivity growth is regarded as ambiguous in the literature. This dissertation examines under what condition the relationship would be positive (or negative). Through the use of static and dynamic analysis, we find two conflicting effects (the pro-protection effect and the pro-competitive effect) that cause the relationship to be ambiguous. If there exists a productivity gap between the import-competing and foreign industries, and if the level of protection is low (high), the relationship is positive (negative). We also show that the import-competing firm responds to a change in the protection level by choosing a level of investment in innovation which yields a different rate of productivity growth. The policy implication, therefore, is that a trade-policy maker should set the trade protection at a level which induces the firm to choose the highest rate of productivity growth, and, as a result, leading the firm to close the initial productivity gap in the most efficient way. ^

The effects of therapeutic ultrasound on open wounds

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the evidence for the effectiveness of therapeutic ultrasound (US) therapy in the treatment of open wounds as an adjunct to the usual and customary treatment provided by physical therapists. An exhaustive search of all published studies on the effects of therapeutic ultrasound on open wounds was performed. Every article, which met certain criteria, was reviewed in detail. Criteria included the use of human subjects, animal subjects, or human cells in vitro, publication in referred journals indexed by MEDLINE, CINAHL and availability of full text in the English language. Fourteen studies met the selection criteria. A total of 31 possible outcomes were available from these studies. Outcomes were categorized as positive, negative or non-significant. The results indicated a total of seventeen positives, eight negatives and six non-significant outcomes. The results of the analysis indicate that there is evidence in the literature to suggest that therapeutic US is beneficial in the treatment of open wounds.

Avaliação de usabilidade em materiais interativos de ensino a distância da UFRN-SEDIS

This study aims to assess the usability of Interactive Materials developed for the courses offered by UFRN SEDIS the modality of distance education (DE), using the techniques of focus group cooperative evaluation and assessment of satisfaction. The Interactive Materials are intended to serve as an avenue where the course content reaches the student in an educational, stimulating and self-instructive enough for the student to engage and find no difficulty in using it so. After the survey data in this context were selected four Interactive Materials ("Introduction to Applied Calculus", "Science, Technology and Society", "studies the Semi-Arid" and "Cultural Geography") that adopt the framework established by UFRN for SEDIS be evaluated for their usability. Initially, a preliminary test was conducted from cooperative assessment with a student interacting with the four learning objects in order to reveal and map the major failures of usability, supporting deeper questions later. The recordings of this preliminary test were analyzed by a focus group composed of two graphic designers and two multimedia designers, and developers responsible for these objects, which helped to analyze the gap between "what was designed" and "as was used "structuring and supplementing the roadmap for cooperative evaluation and assessment of subsequent satisfaction. The cooperative evaluation was applied individually to ten students of undergraduate UFRN that tested each of the four materials. At the end, every student completed a questionnaire assessing satisfaction form adapted Wanted (Questionnaire for User Interaction Satisfaction). The analysis of the data collected in this study revealed positive, negative and notes to be considered to guide the future development of Interactive Materials, in the context of UFRN SEDIS, feedback to the process of design and evaluation with user participation

The Role of Enjoyment and Motivational Climate in Relation to the Personal Development of Team Sport Athletes

Sport has been identified as a context in which youth encounter positive and negative experiences. However, relatively little is known about the factors that lead to positive and negative personal development among sport participants. The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of enjoyment and motivational climate on positive and negative personal development of team sport participants. A sample of 510 athletes between the ages of 9 and 19 completed questionnaires on positive and negative personal development, enjoyment, and motivational climate. Stepwise multiple regression analyses examined the effects of enjoyment and motivational climate on the personal development of the athletes. Results demonstrated that positive experiences in sport were most strongly predicted by affiliation with peers, self-referenced competency, effort expenditure, and a task climate. Negative experiences were most strongly predicted by an ego climate and other-referenced competency. Results suggest that creating an environment that encourages peer affiliation and personal achievement can result in the positive personal development of youth sport participants.

Effective end wall profiling rules for a highly loaded compressor cascade

This paper presents a numerical study of a linear compressor cascade to investigate the effective end wall profiling rules for highly-loaded axial compressors. The first step in the research applies a correlation analysis for the different flow field parameters by a data mining over 600 profiling samples to quantify how variations of loss, secondary flow and passage vortex interact with each other under the influence of a profiled end wall. The result identifies the dominant role of corner separation for control of total pressure loss, providing a principle that only in the flow field with serious corner separation does the does the profiled end wall change total pressure loss, secondary flow and passage vortex in the same direction. Then in the second step, a multi-objective optimization of a profiled end wall is performed to reduce loss at design point and near stall point. The development of effective end wall profiling rules is based on the manner of secondary flow control rather than the geometry features of the end wall. Using the optimum end wall cases from the Pareto front, a quantitative tool for analyzing secondary flow control is employed. The driving force induced by a profiled end wall on different regions of end wall flow are subjected to a detailed analysis and identified for their positive/negative influences in relieving corner separation, from which the effective profiling rules are further confirmed. It is found that the profiling rules on a cascade show distinct differences at design point and near stall point, thus loss control of different operating points is generally independent.

Sentiment classification with case-base approach

L’augmentation de la croissance des réseaux, des blogs et des utilisateurs des sites d’examen sociaux font d’Internet une énorme source de données, en particulier sur la façon dont les gens pensent, sentent et agissent envers différentes questions. Ces jours-ci, les opinions des gens jouent un rôle important dans la politique, l’industrie, l’éducation, etc. Alors, les gouvernements, les grandes et petites industries, les instituts universitaires, les entreprises et les individus cherchent à étudier des techniques automatiques fin d’extraire les informations dont ils ont besoin dans les larges volumes de données. L’analyse des sentiments est une véritable réponse à ce besoin. Elle est une application de traitement du langage naturel et linguistique informatique qui se compose de techniques de pointe telles que l’apprentissage machine et les modèles de langue pour capturer les évaluations positives, négatives ou neutre, avec ou sans leur force, dans des texte brut. Dans ce mémoire, nous étudions une approche basée sur les cas pour l’analyse des sentiments au niveau des documents. Notre approche basée sur les cas génère un classificateur binaire qui utilise un ensemble de documents classifies, et cinq lexiques de sentiments différents pour extraire la polarité sur les scores correspondants aux commentaires. Puisque l’analyse des sentiments est en soi une tâche dépendante du domaine qui rend le travail difficile et coûteux, nous appliquons une approche «cross domain» en basant notre classificateur sur les six différents domaines au lieu de le limiter à un seul domaine. Pour améliorer la précision de la classification, nous ajoutons la détection de la négation comme une partie de notre algorithme. En outre, pour améliorer la performance de notre approche, quelques modifications innovantes sont appliquées. Il est intéressant de mentionner que notre approche ouvre la voie à nouveaux développements en ajoutant plus de lexiques de sentiment et ensembles de données à l’avenir.

ICTM: an interval tessellation-based model for reliable topographic segmentation

This work introduces a tessellation-based model for the declivity analysis of geographic regions. The analysis of the relief declivity, which is embedded in the rules of the model, categorizes each tessellation cell, with respect to the whole considered region, according to the (positive, negative, null) sign of the declivity of the cell. Such information is represented in the states assumed by the cells of the model. The overall configuration of such cells allows the division of the region into subregions of cells belonging to a same category, that is, presenting the same declivity sign. In order to control the errors coming from the discretization of the region into tessellation cells, or resulting from numerical computations, interval techniques are used. The implementation of the model is naturally parallel since the analysis is performed on the basis of local rules. An immediate application is in geophysics, where an adequate subdivision of geographic areas into segments presenting similar topographic characteristics is often convenient.

Ecological stoichiometry controls the transformation and retention of plant-derived organic matter to humus in response to nitrogen fertilisation

Carbon (C) sequestration in soils is a means for increasing soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks and is a potential tool for climate change mitigation. One recommended management practice to increase SOC stocks is nitrogen (N) fertilisation, however examples of positive, negative or null SOC effects in response to N addition exist. We evaluated the relative importance of plant molecular structure, soil physical properties and soil ecological stoichiometry in explaining the retention of SOC with and without N addition. We tracked the transformation of 13C pulse-labelled buffel grass (Cenchrus ciliaris L.), wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) and lucerne (Medicago sativa L.) material to the <53 μm silt + clay soil organic C fraction, hereafter named “humus”, over 365-days of incubation in four contrasting agricultural soils, with and without urea-N addition. We hypothesised that: a) humus retention would be soil and litter dependent; b) humus retention would be litter independent once litter C:N ratios were standardised with urea-N addition; and c) humus retention would be improved by urea-N addition. Two and three-way factorial analysis of variance indicated that 13C humus was consistently soil and litter dependent, even when litter C:N ratios were standardised, and that the effect of urea-N addition on 13C humus was also soil and litter dependent. A boosted regression analysis of the effect of 44 plant and soil explanatory variables demonstrated that soil biological and chemical properties had the greatest relative influence on 13C humus. Regression tree analyses demonstrated that the greatest gains in 13C humus occurred in soils of relatively low total organic C, dissolved organic C and microbial biomass C (MBC), or with a combination of relatively high MBC and low C:N ratio. The greatest losses in 13C humus occurred in soils with a combination of relatively high MBC and low total N or increasing C:N ratio. We conclude that soil variables involved in soil ecological stoichiometry exert a greater relative influence on incorporating organic matter as humus compared to plant molecular structure and soil physical properties. Furthermore, we conclude that the effect of N fertilisation on humus retention is dependent upon soil ecological stoichiometry.

Swimming training repercussion on metabolic and structural bone development: benefits of the incorporation of whole body vibration or pilometric training; the RENACIMIENTO project

Introduction: Enviromental factors such as exercise participation and nutrition have often been linked to bone improvements. However, not all sports have the same effects, being non-osteogenic sports such as swimming defined as negative or neutral sports to practice regarding bone mass by some authors, similarly exercise-diet interaction in especific groups is still not clear. Objective: To present the methodology of the RENACIMENTO project that aims to evaluate body composition and more specifically bone mass by several techniques in adolescent swimmers and to observe the effects and perdurability of whole body vibration (WBV) and jumping intervention (JIN) on body composition and fitness on this population and explore posible diet interactions. Design: Randomized controlled trial. Methods: 78 swimmers (12-17 y) and 26 sex- and age-matched controls will participate in this study. Dual energy X-ray, peripheral Quantitative Computed Tomography, Quantitative Ultrasound, Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis, and anthropometry measurements will be performed in order to evaluate body composition. Physical activity, nutrition, pubertal development and socio-economical status may act as confounders of body composition and therefore will also be registered. Several fitness factors regarding strength, endurance, performance and others will also be registered to evaluate differences with controls and act as confounders. A 7-month WBV therapy will be performed by 26 swimmers consisting of a training of 15 minutes 3 times per week. An 8 month JIM will also be performed by 26 swimmers 3 times per week. The remaining 26 swimmers will continue their normal swimming training. Four evaluations will be performed, the first one in order to describe differences between swimmers and controls. The second one to describe the effects of the interventions and the third and fourth evaluations to describe the perdurability of the effects of the WBV and JIN. Conclusion: The RENACIMIENTO project will allow to answer several questions regarding body composition, fitness, bone mass and interaction with diet of adolescent swimmers, describe swimming as a positive, negative or neutral sport to practice regarding these parameters and elucidate the effects and perdurability of WBV and JIM on body composition.