Inhibition, encoding specificity, and response availability revisited

In the think/no-think paradigm people practice “suppressing” a learned response to a cue. Practice at suppression appears to produce a long-lasting inhibition of the suppressed response, as evidenced by a subsequent failure to recall the response to an extralist (associatively related, non-studied) cue. Critical to this interpretation is the assumption that suppression practice is necessary. A series of interference paradigms, which do not involve suppression practice and which are structurally similar to the think/no-think paradigm, provide evidence against the inhibition interpretation. Additional evidence against inhibition derives from our demonstrations herewith that the findings from the think/no-think paradigm can be replicated without any apparent suppression requirement. Furthermore, the results from all of these paradigms can be explained by the same simple principle. Namely, that when an item exists in an extended associative network, strengthening the item makes it interfere with the recall of other items in the network.

GOVERNANÇA CORPORATIVA E ÍNDICE DE SUSTENTABILIDADE EMPRESARIAL: UMA ANÁLISE DO VALOR DAS AÇÕES

A Governança Corporativa, que surge com uma superação ao conflito de agência, exige dentre seus princípios que as organizações adotem uma estrutura que proteja os direitos dos acionistas e assegure a divulgação e a transparência de fatos relevantes e suas demonstrações contábeis. No Brasil, em 2000, a BM&FBOVESPA criou níveis diferenciados de Governança Corporativa a fim de estimular o interesse de investidores e auxiliar na valorização das empresas que podem aderir voluntariamente a um dos segmentos. Juntamente à preocupação quanto às boas práticas de governança, existe outra questão altamente importante e preocupante que se refere à sustentabilidade. Cada vez mais investidores buscam empresas que atuam sob os princípios do Triple Bottom Line, o qual abrange elementos das esferas ambientais, sociais e econômicas, como uma forma de segurança para seus investimentos. Em 2005, foi criado o Índice de Sustentabilidade Empresarial (ISE), pela BM&FBOVESPA, como uma referência nas boas práticas de sustentabilidade e comprometimento das empresas com a sustentabilidade empresarial. Neste contexto, este estudo visa verificar se existem diferenças entre as médias dos retornos mensais das ações, no período de cinco anos antes e após a sua adesão à Governança Corporativa e ao Índice de Sustentabilidade Empresarial. O método utilizado para testar as hipóteses das três amostras selecionadas foi o Paired-Samples T Test, por meio do software SPSS, versão 18.0. Os resultados obtidos demonstraram que, no caso das amostras do ISE (p= 0,006 < 0,05) e GC_ISE (p= 0,030 < 0,05) a hipótese nula é rejeitada, pois existe diferença significativa entre as médias dos retornos mensais e no caso da amostra de GC (p= 0,081 > 0,05) a hipótese nula não é rejeitada, pois não existe diferença significativa entre estas médias. Analisando os valores das médias é possível perceber que a maioria delas sofre queda no segundo momento de análise, apesar disso não é possível generalizar afirmando que a Governança Corporativa e o Índice de Sustentabilidade Empresarial não agregam valor às empresas e aos acionistas. Isto porque o momento econômico analisado coincide com a crise financeira do subprime, que atingiu as principais bolsas de valores do mundo e influenciou fortemente as ações na BM&FBovespa, principalmente em 2008.

Quantum Information Processing with spin systems: from modeling to possible implementations

The physical implementation of quantum information processing is one of the major challenges of current research. In the last few years, several theoretical proposals and experimental demonstrations on a small number of qubits have been carried out, but a quantum computing architecture that is straightforwardly scalable, universal, and realizable with state-of-the-art technology is still lacking. In particular, a major ultimate objective is the construction of quantum simulators, yielding massively increased computational power in simulating quantum systems. Here we investigate promising routes towards the actual realization of a quantum computer, based on spin systems. The first one employs molecular nanomagnets with a doublet ground state to encode each qubit and exploits the wide chemical tunability of these systems to obtain the proper topology of inter-qubit interactions. Indeed, recent advances in coordination chemistry allow us to arrange these qubits in chains, with tailored interactions mediated by magnetic linkers. These act as switches of the effective qubit-qubit coupling, thus enabling the implementation of one- and two-qubit gates. Molecular qubits can be controlled either by uniform magnetic pulses, either by local electric fields. We introduce here two different schemes for quantum information processing with either global or local control of the inter-qubit interaction and demonstrate the high performance of these platforms by simulating the system time evolution with state-of-the-art parameters. The second architecture we propose is based on a hybrid spin-photon qubit encoding, which exploits the best characteristic of photons, whose mobility is exploited to efficiently establish long-range entanglement, and spin systems, which ensure long coherence times. The setup consists of spin ensembles coherently coupled to single photons within superconducting coplanar waveguide resonators. The tunability of the resonators frequency is exploited as the only manipulation tool to implement a universal set of quantum gates, by bringing the photons into/out of resonance with the spin transition. The time evolution of the system subject to the pulse sequence used to implement complex quantum algorithms has been simulated by numerically integrating the master equation for the system density matrix, thus including the harmful effects of decoherence. Finally a scheme to overcome the leakage of information due to inhomogeneous broadening of the spin ensemble is pointed out. Both the proposed setups are based on state-of-the-art technological achievements. By extensive numerical experiments we show that their performance is remarkably good, even for the implementation of long sequences of gates used to simulate interesting physical models. Therefore, the here examined systems are really promising buildingblocks of future scalable architectures and can be used for proof-of-principle experiments of quantum information processing and quantum simulation.

MIDIATIZAÇÃO E CIRCULAÇÃO DE SENTIDOS NAS MANIFESTAÇÕES DE JUNHO DE 2013

Os sistemas comunicacionais têm presenciado alterações expressivas desde a chegada da internet, onde os dispositivos participativos crescem a cada dia, fruto do processo cada vez mais evidente de uma sociedade midiatizada. O trabalho aborda o tema das Manifestações de Junho, ocorridas no Brasil, busca evidenciar os tensionamentos do discurso da grande imprensa frente a cobertura da mídia alternativa, reflete quais foram os desdobramentos de uma das principais manifestações que o país já presenciou e analisa a circulação de sentidos nos eventos ocorridos em 2013. Para tanto, combina uma pesquisa bibliográfica e histórica com pesquisa empírica voltada à análise de narrativas das colunas do jornalista Arnaldo Jabor para a Rádio CBN, durante as manifestações, como também de dois comentários em vídeo de Jabor, para o Jornal da Globo, da TV Globo. E para evidenciar o referencial teórico da presente pesquisa, analisou-se um terceiro vídeo, que tem como título La Hipocresia de los Medios, fruto da edição do programa Bajada de Línea, da TV Argentina, que repercute as falas de Arnaldo Jabor, transforma-se literalmente em uma terceira fala, evidenciando a mudança de opinião e confirmando que a midiatização afeta o modelo clássico de comunicação.

RI MELHOR QUEM RI NA SALA DE AULA? UM ESTUDO SOBRE A PERCEPÇÃO DO RISO POR ALUNOS E PROFESSORES

Pouco discutido no âmbito pedagógico, o riso tem sido historicamente dissociado da escola, motivo pelo qual este trabalho tem como objetivo identificar como ele é percebido em sala de aula. A proposta é entender como o riso e sua função social são vistos por professores e alunos. Para isso, foi selecionada uma escola pública estadual na cidade de São Bernardo do Campo, SP. Lá são atendidos adolescentes que frequentam as aulas no Ensino Fundamental II e Médio. A pesquisa foi realizada com estudantes que estão terminando o Ensino Fundamental. Cem alunos responderam a questionários estruturados, compostos por itens de perfil e questões abertas. O mesmo foi feito com dezenove professores da referida escola, entretanto as questões para cada público sofreram variações. Como categoria analítica, foi utilizado o conceito de representação da Teoria de Representações Sociais, de forma instrumental. Os resultados obtidos indicam que os sujeitos observam um conceito híbrido presente na composição do objeto em análise, de forma que o avaliam ora como um elemento nocivo, ora como um recurso estimulante a aulas mais agradáveis. Foi constatado que os alunos riem na escola, mas é expressivo o fato de não associar essa ação ao contexto escolar. Os estudantes reforçam que o riso na sala de aula atrapalha a concentração, embora sejam conscientes de que essa constatação é circunstancial. Em contrapartida, mais de 60 alunos afirmaram já terem aprendido algo com a interferência do riso, sendo o professor o principal protagonista nesses momentos. Com relação aos docentes, a maioria afirmou que o riso pode ajudar o aluno a aprender algo, mas compreendem que a maior contribuição desse elemento na sala de aula é a de proporcionar um ambiente mais agradável. As duas desvantagens mais listadas pelos professores sobre o riso na sala de aula é a de que ele pode provocar a falta de atenção do aluno e também momentos de bullying entre os colegas de sala. Acredita-se que a associação do ambiente escolar com manifestações de seriedade justifique as frequentes referências feitas ao seu aspecto negativo, retratado na pesquisa pelos sujeitos. Mais da metade dos docentes analisa que o riso pode servir como instrumento pedagógico, entretanto os alunos afirmam que isso depende do professor e do momento. A pesquisa deixou evidente que o aspecto negativo do riso impede que este objeto seja mais bem aceito na escola, de forma que a percepção que os sujeitos fazem sobre o riso passa a interferir na relação que estabelecem com ele em sala de aula.

Vínculos afetivos na Educação a Distância: possibilidades e impossibilidades

Esta pesquisa analisou como estão sendo estabelecidos os vínculos afetivos nas relações de ensino-aprendizagem na modalidade de educação a distância. O trabalho foi desenvolvido dentro da perspectiva sócio-histórico-cultural que considera as emoções como constitutivas do pensamento, participantes do processo de significação e produção de sentidos. Durante a realização da pesquisa procuramos compreender a trajetória da EAD no Brasil, bem como verificar como está essa modalidade educativa hoje. Buscamos, ainda, explicitar as implicações da afetividade sobre o processo de ensino-aprendizagem, investigando manifestações de afetividade na modalidade de educação a distância. Para isso, nos baseamos em alguns autores, em especial, na teoria de Henri Wallon sobre o desenvolvimento humano. Para alcançar os objetivos deste trabalho fizemos uma retomada do processo histórico da EAD no Brasil, refletindo sobre a formação dos educadores e como essa modalidade tem sido desenvolvida no nosso país. Em um segundo momento, aprofundamos a discussão sobre afetividade e a criação de vínculos na EAD. Após essas etapas, partimos para a pesquisa de campo que consistiu em investigar 10 (dez) sujeitos envolvidos na modalidade: 2 (dois) professores temáticos, 2 (dois) professores-tutores e 6 (seis) alunos que estudam na modalidade de três instituições diferentes, sendo uma pública e duas privadas. Utilizamos como instrumentos de pesquisa questionários e roteiros semi-estruturados de entrevistas para aprofundar algumas questões. As análises demonstram que os vínculos afetivos entre professor-aluno são primordiais para a aprendizagem, definindo-se como condição imprescindível para o desenvolvimento cognitivo dentro do espaço escolar e na sociedade, e estes são estabelecidos tanto na modalidade presencial quanto na modalidade a distância, sendo fundamentais para que ocorra uma aprendizagem significativa.

In vivo vitamin C supplementation increases phosphoinositol transfer protein expression in peripheral blood mononuclear cells from healthy individuals

Ascorbate can act as both a reducing and oxidising agent in vitro depending on its environment. It can modulate the intracellular redox environment of cells and therefore is predicted to modulate thiol-dependent cell signalling and gene expression pathways. Using proteomic analysis of vitamin C-treated T cells in vitro, we have previously reported changes in expression of five functional protein groups associated with signalling, carbohydrate metabolism, apoptosis, transcription and immune function. The increased expression of the signalling molecule phosphatidylinositol transfer protein (PITP) was also confirmed using Western blotting. Herein, we have compared protein changes elicited by ascorbate in vitro, with the effect of ascorbate on plasma potassium levels, on peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) apoptosis and PITP expression, in patients supplemented with vitamin C (0-2 g/d) for up to 10 weeks to investigate whether in vitro model systems are predictive of in vivo effects. PITP varied in expression widely between subjects at all time-points analysed but was increased by supplementation with 2 g ascorbate/d after 5 and 10 weeks. No effects on plasma potassium levels were observed in supplemented subjects despite a reduction of K+ channel proteins in ascorbate-treated T cells in vitro. Similarly, no effect of vitamin C supplementation on PBMC apoptosis was observed, whilst ascorbate decreased expression of caspase 3 recruitment domain protein in vitro. These data provide one of the first demonstrations that proteomics may be valuable in developing predictive markers of nutrient effects in vivo and may identify novel pathways for studying mechanisms of action in vivo.

Two Bayesian treatments of the n-tuple recognition method

Two probabilistic interpretations of the n-tuple recognition method are put forward in order to allow this technique to be analysed with the same Bayesian methods used in connection with other neural network models. Elementary demonstrations are then given of the use of maximum likelihood and maximum entropy methods for tuning the model parameters and assisting their interpretation. One of the models can be used to illustrate the significance of overlapping n-tuple samples with respect to correlations in the patterns.

Introduction to organisational behaviour

Introduction to Organisational Behaviour is the first truly integrated multimedia package for introductory OB modules. It provides a rigorous critique of the essential organisational behaviour topics in a creative, interactive and visual way. Key features include: - Practitioner case studies presenting real organisational dilemmas accompanied by video interviews online where the practitioners talk about approaches and solutions - Tailored tutor resources online, recognising that you have different needs - one area is designed for new OB lecturers; the other contains materials for more experienced OB lecturers - An underpinning focus on employability skills, with tips in the book on how each topic could be linked to different skills and professionally produced video demonstrations online - A global perspective reflecting today's market-place, integrated through global examples and theories including those from developing countries - Innovative learning features including ethical dilemmas, best and worst practice examples, taking your learning further, review and discussion questions, applying theory to practice and a glossary - Written by a team of experts at prestigious UK-based and international institutions - A foreword by Richard Atfield of the Higher Education Academy. Online resources For tutors: - Interviews with practitioners - Demonstrations of employability skills - Additional short and long case study per chapter with questions - Additional discussion and assignment questions - Tutorial activities - PowerPoint slides - Guidance notes - Figures and tables from the book For students: - Web links including YouTube links and links to seminal articles

Advanced fibre gratings and their applications

This thesis describes a detailed study of advanced fibre grating devices using Bragg (FBG) and long-period (LPG) structures and their applications in optical communications and sensing. The major contributions presented in this thesis are summarised below. One of the most important contributions from the research work presented in this thesis is a systematic theoretical study of many distinguishing structures of fibre gratings. Starting from the Maxwell equations, the coupled-mode equations for both FBG and LPG were derived and the mode-overlap factor was analytically discussed. Computing simulation programmes utilising matrix transform method based on the models built upon the coupled-mode equations were developed, enabling simulations of spectral response in terms of reflectivity, bandwidth, sidelobes and dispersion of gratings of different structures including uniform and chirped, phase-shifted, Moiré, sampled Bragg gratings, phase-shifted and cascaded long-period gratings. Although the majority of these structures were modelled numerically, analytical expressions for some complex structures were developed with a clear physical picture. Several apodisation functions were proposed to improve sidelobe suppression, which guided effective production of practical devices for demanding applications. Fibre grating fabrication is the other major part involved in the Ph.D. programme. Both the holographic and scan-phase-mask methods were employed to fabricate Bragg and long-period gratings of standard and novel structures. Significant improvements were particularly made in the scan-phase-mask method to enable the arbitrarily tailoring of the spectral response of grating devices. Two specific techniques - slow-shifting and fast-dithering the phase-mask implemented by a computer controlled piezo - were developed to write high quality phase-shifted, sampled and apodised gratings. A large number of LabVIEW programmes were constructed to implement standard and novel fabrication techniques. In addition, some fundamental studies of grating growth in relating to the UV exposure and hydrogenation induced index were carried out. In particular, Type IIa gratings in non-hydrogenated B/Ge co-doped fibres and a re-generated grating in hydrogenated B/Ge fibre were investigated, showing a significant observation of thermal coefficient reduction. Optical sensing applications utilising fibre grating devices form the third major part of the research work presented in this thesis. Several experiments of novel sensing and sensing-demodulating were implemented. For the first time, an intensity and wavelength dual-coding interrogation technique was demonstrated showing significantly enhanced capacity of grating sensor multiplexing. Based on the mode-splitting measurement, instead of using conventional wavelength-shifting detection technique, successful demonstrations were also made for optical load and bend sensing of ultra-high sensitivity employing LPG structures. In addition, edge-filters and low-loss high-rejection bandpass filters of 50nm stop-band were fabricated for application in optical sensing and high-speed telecommunication systems

'Animal electricity' in the long eighteenth century with special reference to the Edinburgh medical school

Coleridge, looking back at the end of the ‘long eighteenth century’, remarked that the whole of natural philosophy had been ‘electrified’ by advances in the understanding of electrical phenomena. In this paper I trace the way in which these advances affected contemporary ‘neurophysiology.’ At the beginning of the long eighteenth century, neurophysiology (in spite of Swammerdam’s and Glisson’s demonstrations to the contrary) was still understood largely in terms of hollow nerves and animal spirits. At the end of that period the researches of microscopists and electricians had convinced most medical men that the old understanding had to be replaced. Walsh, Patterson, John Hunter and others had described the electric organs of electric fish. Gray and Nollet had demonstrated that electricity was not merely static, but flowed. Franklin had alerted the world to atmospheric electricity. Galvani’s frog experiments were widely known. Volta had invented his ‘pile.’ But did ‘animal electricity’ exist and was it identical to the electricity physicists studied in the inanimate world? Was the brain a gland, as Malpighi’s researches seemed to confirm., and did it secrete electricity into the nervous system? The Monros (primus and secundus), William Cullen, Luigi Galvani, Alessandro Volta, Erasmus Darwin, Luigi Rolando and François Baillarger all had their own ideas. This paper reviews these ‘long-eighteenth century’ controversies with special reference to the Edinburgh medical school and the interaction between neurophysiology and physics.

Queer enough? Contested terrains of identity deployment in the context of gay and lesbian public activism in Poland

Gay and lesbian prides and marches are of crucial relevance to the way in which non-heterosexual lives are imagined internationally despite regional and national differences. Quite often, these events are connected not only with increased activist mobilisation, but also with great controversy, which is the case of Poland, where gay and lesbian marches have been attacked by right-wing protesters and cancelled by right-wing city authorities on a number of occasions. Overall, the scholars analysing these events have largely focused on the macro-context of the marches, paying less attention to the movement actors behind these events. The contribution of this thesis lies not only in filling a gap when it comes to research on sexual minorities in Eastern Europe/Poland, but also in its focus on micro-level movement processes and engagement with theories of collective identity and citizenship. Furthermore, this thesis challenges the inscription of Eastern European/Polish movements into the narrative of victimhood and delayed development when compared to LGBT movements in the Global North. This thesis is grounded in qualitative research including participant observation of public activist events as well as forty semi-structured interviews with the key organisers of gay and lesbian marches in Warsaw, Poznan and Krakow between 2001 and 2007, and five of these interviews were further accompanied by photo-elicitation (self-directed photography) methods. Starting from the processes whereby from 2001 onwards, marches, pride parades and demonstrations became the most visible and contested activity of the Polish lesbian and gay movement, this thesis examines how the activists redefined the meanings of citizenship in the post-transformation context, by incorporating the theme of sexual minorities' rights. Using Bernstein's (1997, 2002, 2005, 2008) concept of identity deployment, I show how and when movement actors use identity tactically, depending on their goals. Specifically, in the context of movement-media interactions, I examine the ways in which the activists use marches to challenge the negative representations of sexual minorities in Poland. I also broaden Bernstein's framework to include the discussion of emotion work as relevant to public LGBT activism in Poland. Later, I discuss how the emotions of protests allowed the activists to inscribe their efforts into the "revolutionary" narrative of the Polish Solidarity movement and by extension, the frame of citizenship. Finally, this thesis engages with the dilemmas of identity deployment strategies, and seeks to problematise the dichotomy between identity-based gay and lesbian assimilationist strategies and the anti-identity queer politics.

Iron in the substrates and sporophores of Agaricus bisporus (Lange) Pilat during growth and development

The changes of the concentration of iron in the growth substrates and the sporophores of Agaricus bisporus (Lange) Pilat that occurred during culture under standard commercial conditions, were observed using atomic absorption spectrophotometry and iron-59 radiotracing techniques. The routes of translocation and sites of iron accumulation within the sporophore were shovn to alter during development and by the use of novel, pelletised substrates the concentration of iron in the mycelium of the substrates and in developing sporophores was observed during culture. Findings indicated that the compost was the major source of iron and that the concentration of iron in the compost mycelium varied cyclically in relation to the periodic appearance of sporophores. In the casing layer the mycelium is organised into strands which are responsible for the movement of iron from the compost into developing sporophores. A photographic technique for estimating sporophore growth rates showed that the accumulation of iron was not concomitant with sporophore growth and this was attributable to a declining quantity of available iron in the compost mycelium during sporophore growth. Variations in the quantity of iron in sporophores resulted primarily from differences in the quantity of water soluble iron in the compost but, the productivity of the crop, the type of casing layer and differences in watering also influenced sporophore composition. Changes in the concentration of extractable iron in the compost and casing layer throughout culture were related to mycelial activity and to a lesser extent were influenced by watering and the bacterial populations of the casing layer. Thus, the findings of this study give some indication of the relative importance that different cultural conditions exert over sporophore composition together with demonstrations of the movement of a single material within the sporophores and substrates during the cultivation of Agaricus bisporus.

An all-optical grooming switch for interconnecting access and metro ring networks

A regenerative all-optical grooming switch for interconnecting 130 Gbit/s on-off keying (OOK) metro/core ring and 43 Gbit/s-OOK metro/access ring networks with switching functionality in time, space, and wavelength domains is demonstrated. Key functionalities of the switch are traffic aggregation with time-slot interchanging functionality, optical time division multiplexing (OTDM) to wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) demultiplexing, and multi-wavelength 2R regeneration. Laboratory and field demonstrations show the excellent performance of the new concept with error-free signal transmission and Q-factors above 20 dB.

Numerical modeling of holmium-doped fluoride fiber lasers

We combine all the known experimental demonstrations and spectroscopic parameters into a numerical model of the Ho3+ -doped fluoride glass fiber laser system. Core-pumped and cladding-pumped arrangements were simulated for all the population-bottlenecking mitigation schemes that have been tested, and good agreement between the model and the previously reported experimental results was achieved in most but not in all cases. In a similar way to Er3+ -doped fluoride glass fiber lasers, we found that the best match with measurements required scaled-down rate parameters for the energy transfer processes that operate in moderate to highly concentrated systems. The model isolated the dominant processes affecting the performance of each of the bottlenecking mitigation schemes and pump arrangements. It was established that pump excited-state absorption is the main factor affecting the performance of the core-pumped demonstrations of the laser, while energy transfer between rare earth ions is the main factor controlling the performance in cladding-pumped systems.