A produção social do espaço urbano em Londrina - PR: a valorização imobiliária e a reestruturação urbana

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Dinâmica populacional e comportamento predatório individual da aranha social Parawixia bistriata (Rengger) (Araneae: Araneidae)

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Novas perspectivas no trabalho do agente educacional na educação da criança: uma visão bio-psico-social

Pós-graduação em Serviço Social - FCHS

Dynamics of Space Particles and Spacecrafts Passing by the Atmosphere of the Earth

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Effect of external fields in Axelrod's model of social dynamics

The study of the effects of spatially uniform fields on the steady-state properties of Axelrod's model has yielded plenty of counterintuitive results. Here, we reexamine the impact of this type of field for a selection of parameters such that the field-free steady state of the model is heterogeneous or multicultural. Analyses of both one- and two-dimensional versions of Axelrod's model indicate that the steady state remains heterogeneous regardless of the value of the field strength. Turning on the field leads to a discontinuous decrease on the number of cultural domains, which we argue is due to the instability of zero-field heterogeneous absorbing configurations. We find, however, that spatially nonuniform fields that implement a consensus rule among the neighborhood of the agents enforce homogenization. Although the overall effects of the fields are essentially the same irrespective of the dimensionality of the model, we argue that the dimensionality has a significant impact on the stability of the field-free homogeneous steady state.

The school environment as a teacher. The role of space and place in enhancing ecological literacy and social competence development in children and young people

Can space and place foster child development, and in particular social competence and ecological literacy? If yes, how can space and place do that? This study shows that the answer to the first question is positive and then tries to explain the way space and place can make a difference. The thesis begins with the review of literature from different disciplines – child development and child psychology, education, environmental psychology, architecture and landscape architecture. Some bridges among such disciplines are created and in some cases the ideas from the different areas of research merge: thus, this is an interdisciplinary study. The interdisciplinary knowledge from these disciplines is translated into a range of design suggestions that can foster the development of social competence and ecological literacy. Using scientific knowledge from different disciplines is a way of introducing forms of evidence into the development of design criteria. However, the definition of design criteria also has to pass through the study of a series of school buildings and un-built projects: case studies can give a positive contribution to the criteria because examples and good practices can help “translating” the theoretical knowledge into design ideas and illustrations. To do that, the different case studies have to be assessed in relation to the various themes that emerged in the literature review. Finally, research by design can be used to help define the illustrated design criteria: based on all the background knowledge that has been built, the role of the architect is to provide a series of different design solutions that can give answers to the different “questions” emerged in the literature review.

Novel investigation methods in Computational Social Dynamics and Complex Systems

In this thesis the evolution of the techno-social systems analysis methods will be reported, through the explanation of the various research experience directly faced. The first case presented is a research based on data mining of a dataset of words association named Human Brain Cloud: validation will be faced and, also through a non-trivial modeling, a better understanding of language properties will be presented. Then, a real complex system experiment will be introduced: the WideNoise experiment in the context of the EveryAware european project. The project and the experiment course will be illustrated and data analysis will be displayed. Then the Experimental Tribe platform for social computation will be introduced . It has been conceived to help researchers in the implementation of web experiments, and aims also to catalyze the cumulative growth of experimental methodologies and the standardization of tools cited above. In the last part, three other research experience which already took place on the Experimental Tribe platform will be discussed in detail, from the design of the experiment to the analysis of the results and, eventually, to the modeling of the systems involved. The experiments are: CityRace, about the measurement of human traffic-facing strategies; laPENSOcosì, aiming to unveil the political opinion structure; AirProbe, implemented again in the EveryAware project framework, which consisted in monitoring air quality opinion shift of a community informed about local air pollution. At the end, the evolution of the technosocial systems investigation methods shall emerge together with the opportunities and the threats offered by this new scientific path.

The Social Dynamics of Communal Violence in India

Contrasting strands of explanation of the motives underlying collective action, as either culturally determined, as an attempt at compensation, point towards an understanding of identity politics as a reaction to given conditions. They pay little attention to the social dynamics that evolve in relation to the conflict within a group, and the possible motivation that can ensue from these. This article analyses the mobilisation among Hindu-nationalist organisations. Rather than seeking their attraction in their discursive outputs and the possible answers they might give in times of change, the contention is that they are to be sought in the specific internal dynamics and the possibilities they create within their historical context. These specific opportunities for action are inherent firstly in the mode of operation relying on participation and involvement, on their direct intervention, their localness and accessibility. Moreover, the dichotomisation inherent in violence makes possible the integration of different interests and different discontents under one banner and therefore contributes to the project of unification undertaken by Hindu-nationalism.