“It came from outer space”: jogos de computador invadem programação e serviços de televisão digital

A convergência da televisão digital com os jogos de computador é cada vez mais uma realidade. Neste artigo serão apresentadas três vertentes desta convergência: – a oferta de jogos pelos operadores de televisão digital e pelos canais de televisão; – a oferta de programação baseada em jogos de computador pelos canais de televisão; – a oferta de jogos com interacção via SMS pelo operadores de televisão digital e pelos canais de televisão, Em conclusão, são apresentadas duas linhas de evolução desta convergência no curto-médio prazo: 1) o lançamento de novos formatos de entretenimento, que conjugam diferentes meios (TV, Telemóvel, PC, PDA, etc) na definição de uma experiência de jogo acessível a qualquer hora e em qualquer lugar, 2) o lançamento de novos aparelhos que aliam as funcionalidades de uma consola de jogos à de uma set-top box avançada de televisão digital.

Vacina inativada contra gripe trivalente: estudo comparativo da resposta imunitária pelos métodos de inibição de hemaglutinação e da hemólise radial simples

A vacina inativada contra gripe, trivalente, preparada no Instituto Butantan, contendo 200 unidades hemaglutinantes de cada uma das cepas de virus Influenza A/SP/1/80 (H3N2), A/SP/1/78 (H1N1) e B/England/847/73, foi administrada em 110 voluntários humanos adultos, sendo que 62 receberam uma dose de vacina e 48 duas doses, com intervalo de 21 dias. A resposta de anticorpos específicos para influenza foi analisada comparativamente pelos testes de Inibição da Hemaglutinação (IH) e Hemólise Radial Simples (HRS). Ocorreu aumento significativo do teor de anticorpos nos indivíduos vacinados, correspondente a um aumento de 4 vezes ou mais nos títulos obtidos pelo teste IH e a um aumento de 3,0 mm ou maior no diâmetro das zonas de hemólise pelo teste HRS. Os métodos demonstraram correlação satisfatória entre si.

Dynamical behaviour on the parameter space: new populational growth models proportional to beta densities

We present new populational growth models, generalized logistic models which are proportional to beta densities with shape parameters p and 2, where p > 1, with Malthusian parameter r. The complex dynamical behaviour of these models is investigated in the parameter space (r, p), in terms of topological entropy, using explicit methods, when the Malthusian parameter r increases. This parameter space is split into different regions, according to the chaotic behaviour of the models.

Comparação entre coronariografia efectuada via artéria radial e via artéria femoral

Mestrado em Tecnologia de Diagnóstico e Intervenção Cardiovascular. Área de especialização: Intervenção Cardiovascular.

IOPT Petri Net State Space Generation Algorithm with Maximal-Step Execution Semantics

This paper presents an algorithm to efficiently generate the state-space of systems specified using the IOPT Petri-net modeling formalism. IOPT nets are a non-autonomous Petri-net class, based on Place-Transition nets with an extended set of features designed to allow the rapid prototyping and synthesis of system controllers through an existing hardware-software co-design framework. To obtain coherent and deterministic operation, IOPT nets use a maximal-step execution semantics where, in a single execution step, all enabled transitions will fire simultaneously. This fact increases the resulting state-space complexity and can cause an arc "explosion" effect. Real-world applications, with several million states, will reach a higher order of magnitude number of arcs, leading to the need for high performance state-space generator algorithms. The proposed algorithm applies a compilation approach to read a PNML file containing one IOPT model and automatically generate an optimized C program to calculate the corresponding state-space.

Short-term Feature Space and Music Genre Classification

In music genre classification, most approaches rely on statistical characteristics of low-level features computed on short audio frames. In these methods, it is implicitly considered that frames carry equally relevant information loads and that either individual frames, or distributions thereof, somehow capture the specificities of each genre. In this paper we study the representation space defined by short-term audio features with respect to class boundaries, and compare different processing techniques to partition this space. These partitions are evaluated in terms of accuracy on two genre classification tasks, with several types of classifiers. Experiments show that a randomized and unsupervised partition of the space, used in conjunction with a Markov Model classifier lead to accuracies comparable to the state of the art. We also show that unsupervised partitions of the space tend to create less hubs.

FMRI 3D registration based on Fourier space subsets using neural networks

In this work, we present a neural network (NN) based method designed for 3D rigid-body registration of FMRI time series, which relies on a limited number of Fourier coefficients of the images to be aligned. These coefficients, which are comprised in a small cubic neighborhood located at the first octant of a 3D Fourier space (including the DC component), are then fed into six NN during the learning stage. Each NN yields the estimates of a registration parameter. The proposed method was assessed for 3D rigid-body transformations, using DC neighborhoods of different sizes. The mean absolute registration errors are of approximately 0.030 mm in translations and 0.030 deg in rotations, for the typical motion amplitudes encountered in FMRI studies. The construction of the training set and the learning stage are fast requiring, respectively, 90 s and 1 to 12 s, depending on the number of input and hidden units of the NN. We believe that NN-based approaches to the problem of FMRI registration can be of great interest in the future. For instance, NN relying on limited K-space data (possibly in navigation echoes) can be a valid solution to the problem of prospective (in frame) FMRI registration.

The Bergsonian intuition of duration : the time of science is space

According to Bergson, the philosophical tradition had been unanimous in declaring the question of time essential. However, it had neglected its correct framing which, for the author, lies in the metaphysical approach of an immediate and inner experience of concrete duration. In the current paper, we shall present Henri Bergson's concept of time, particularly the author's critique to the scope scientific discourse has of this concept. Simultaneously, we shall explore the central role of time in the Bergsonian thought, metaphorically understood as the very stuff of reality. We shall not, therefore, explore Bergson's ideas on Physics, but some of the metaphysical consequences that he withdraws from certain physics' concepts or theories.

East of Suez and the imaginary tangles of space and self

Drawing on postcolonial studies and the theorization on imperial gothic, this paper centres on three texts: The Hosts of the Lord (1900) by Flora Annie Steel; East of Suez (1901) by Alice Perrin, and The Way of an Eagle (1912)by Ethel Dell. These three texts highlight in different ways the discursive mediation of the Other and its destabilizing effects on the identity of the European-minded colonizer, thus foregrounding the multifarious nature of the British imaginative engagement with India. In this context, it is particularly relevant to examine the political and ideological implications of representing anywhere East of Suez as a locus of primitivism and chaos vis-à-vis the colonizer’s ambivalent reactions. Thus we seek to demonstrate the power of two distinct practices or modes of representation – namely, the power of a metaphorical discourse versus metonymic discourse- within the proces of constructing the East for a vast Western readership.

Fractional dynamics of genetic algorithms using hexagonal space tessellation

The paper formulates a genetic algorithm that evolves two types of objects in a plane. The fitness function promotes a relationship between the objects that is optimal when some kind of interface between them occurs. Furthermore, the algorithm adopts an hexagonal tessellation of the two-dimensional space for promoting an efficient method of the neighbour modelling. The genetic algorithm produces special patterns with resemblances to those revealed in percolation phenomena or in the symbiosis found in lichens. Besides the analysis of the spacial layout, a modelling of the time evolution is performed by adopting a distance measure and the modelling in the Fourier domain in the perspective of fractional calculus. The results reveal a consistent, and easy to interpret, set of model parameters for distinct operating conditions.

A preliminary idea for an 8-competitive, log2 DMAX + log2 log2 1/U asymptotic-space, interface generation algorithm for two-level hierarchical scheduling of constrained-deadline sporadic tasks on a uniprocessor

Consider a single processor and a software system. The software system comprises components and interfaces where each component has an associated interface and each component comprises a set of constrained-deadline sporadic tasks. A scheduling algorithm (called global scheduler) determines at each instant which component is active. The active component uses another scheduling algorithm (called local scheduler) to determine which task is selected for execution on the processor. The interface of a component makes certain information about a component visible to other components; the interfaces of all components are used for schedulability analysis. We address the problem of generating an interface for a component based on the tasks inside the component. We desire to (i) incur only a small loss in schedulability analysis due to the interface and (ii) ensure that the amount of space (counted in bits) of the interface is small; this is because such an interface hides as much details of the component as possible. We present an algorithm for generating such an interface.

A complex protocol layer as a linux user-space process

With the current complexity of communication protocols, implementing its layers totally in the kernel of the operating system is too cumbersome, and it does not allow use of the capabilities only available in user space processes. However, building protocols as user space processes must not impair the responsiveness of the communication. Therefore, in this paper we present a layer of a communication protocol, which, due to its complexity, was implemented in a user space process. Lower layers of the protocol are, for responsiveness issues, implemented in the kernel. This protocol was developed to support large-scale power-line communication (PLC) with timing requirements.

Children, space, and the urban street: an ethnomathematics posture

Dissertation presented for the PhD Degree in Education Science – Curricular Theory and Science Teaching, by Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia

Node adaptation for global collocation with radial basis functions using direct multisearch for multiobjective optimization

Meshless methods are used for their capability of producing excellent solutions without requiring a mesh, avoiding mesh related problems encountered in other numerical methods, such as finite elements. However, node placement is still an open question, specially in strong form collocation meshless methods. The number of used nodes can have a big influence on matrix size and therefore produce ill-conditioned matrices. In order to optimize node position and number, a direct multisearch technique for multiobjective optimization is used to optimize node distribution in the global collocation method using radial basis functions. The optimization method is applied to the bending of isotropic simply supported plates. Using as a starting condition a uniformly distributed grid, results show that the method is capable of reducing the number of nodes in the grid without compromising the accuracy of the solution. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Positive radial solutions of the Dirichlet problem for the Minkowski-Curvature equation in a ball

We study the existence and multiplicity of positive radial solutions of the Dirichlet problem for the Minkowski-curvature equation { -div(del upsilon/root 1-vertical bar del upsilon vertical bar(2)) in B-R, upsilon=0 on partial derivative B-R,B- where B-R is a ball in R-N (N >= 2). According to the behaviour off = f (r, s) near s = 0, we prove the existence of either one, two or three positive solutions. All results are obtained by reduction to an equivalent non-singular one-dimensional problem, to which variational methods can be applied in a standard way.