The construction of a juridical ontology

The need for the representation of both semantics and common sense and its organization in a lexical database or knowledge base has motivated the development of large projects, such as Wordnets, CYC and Mikrokosmos. Besides the generic bases, another approach is the construction of ontologies for specific domains. Among the advantages of such approach there is the possibility of a greater and more detailed coverage of a specific domain and its terminology. Domain ontologies are important resources in several tasks related to the language processing, especially in those related to information retrieval and extraction in textual bases. Information retrieval or even question and answer systems can benefit from the domain knowledge represented in an ontology. Besides embracing the terminology of the field, the ontology makes the relationships among the terms explicit. Copyright 2007 ACM.

Recent advances in brain physiology and cognitive processing

The discovery of participation of astrocytes as active elements in glutamatergic tripartite synapses (composed by functional units of two neurons and one astrocyte) has led to the construction of models of cognitive functioning in the human brain, focusing on associative learning, sensory integration, conscious processing and memory formation/retrieval. We have modelled human cognitive functions by means of an ensemble of functional units (tripartite synapses) connected by gap junctions that link distributed astrocytes, allowing the formation of intra- and intercellular calcium waves that putatively mediate large-scale cognitive information processing. The model contains a diagram of molecular mechanisms present in tripartite synapses and contributes to explain the physiological bases of cognitive functions. It can be potentially expanded to explain emotional functions and psychiatric phenomena. © MSM 2011.

Conceptual spaces and consciousness: Integrating cognitive and affective processes

In the book Conceptual Spaces: the Geometry of Thought [2000] Peter Gärdenfors proposes a new framework for cognitive science. Complementary to symbolic and subsymbolic [connectionist] descriptions, conceptual spaces are semantic structures constructed from empirical data representing the universe of mental states. We argue that Gärdenfors' modeling can be used in consciousness research to describe the phenomenal conscious world, its elements and their intrinsic relations. The conceptual space approach affords the construction of a universal state space of human consciousness, where all possible kinds of human conscious states could be mapped. Starting from this approach, we discuss the inclusion of feelings and emotions in conceptual spaces, and their relation to perceptual and cognitive states. Current debate on integration of affect/emotion and perception/cognition allows three possible descriptive alternatives: emotion resulting from basic cognition; cognition resulting from basic emotion, and both as relatively independent functions integrated by brain mechanisms. Finding a solution for this issue is an important step in any attempt of successful modeling of natural or artificial consciousness. After making a brief review of proposals in this area, we summarize the essentials of a new model of consciousness based on neuro-astroglial interactions. © 2011 World Scientific Publishing Company.

Construction of perfect space-time codes

In this work, we propose an innovative methodology to extend the construction of minimum and non-minimum delay perfect codes as a subset of cyclic division algebras over ℚ(ζ3), where the signal constellations are isomorphic to the hexagonal An 2 -rotated lattice, for any channel of any dimension n such that gcd{n, 3) = 1.

Rate of cognitive decline in relation to sex after 60 years-of-age: A systematic review

Some studies have shown differences in specific cognitive ability domains between the sexes at 60 years-of-age. However is important to analyze whether the rate of cognitive decline is also similar between the sexes after this age. The present study examined previously published literature to investigate whether cognitive decline is distinct between men and women after the age of 60 years. A systematic review was carried out with the PubMed, LILACS and PsycINFO databases (2001-2011) using the following search terms: aging, aged, cognitive function, mild cognitive impairment, mental health and cognition. We analyzed longitudinal research that used neuropsychological tests for evaluating cognitive function, showed results separated by sex and that excluded participants with dementia. Elderly women showed better performance in tests of episodic memory, whereas elderly men had a better visuospatial ability. Only one study detected distinct rates of cognitive decline in specific tests between the sexes. Despite differences observed in some domains, most of the studies showed that this rate is similar between the sexes until the age of 80 years. It is unclear whether sex influences the rate of cognitive decline after the age of 80 years. The present review observed that sex does not determine the rate of cognitive decline between 60 and 80 years-of-age. The contextual and cultural factors that involve men and women might determine a distinct decline between them, rather than sex alone. © 2013 Japan Geriatrics Society.

O processo de construção referencial nas crônicas de temas políticos escritas por Carlos Heitor Cony

Pós-graduação em Estudos Linguísticos - IBILCE

O telejornal como ato de presença: um estudo da dimensão sensível no Jornal Nacional

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Intencionalidade e indeterminação interpretativa no design de produto

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Educação ambiental e valores: diálogos e sentidos construídos nas práticas de professores de ensino fundamental

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Construção exploratória de uma prepnet para o português do Brasil: uma incursão linguistico-computacional no universo das preposições indicativas de espaço

Pós-graduação em Linguística e Língua Portuguesa - FCLAR

A preposição para e o processo de contrução referencial

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Discurso crítico e posicionamento lírico em Orides Fontela e Natália Correia

Pós-graduação em Letras - IBILCE

Estigmas e estereótipos sobre as lesbianidades e suas influências nas narrativas de histórias de vida de lésbicas residentes em uma cidade do interior paulista

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Indivisíveis, intangíveis, impossíveis: mundos ficcionais em I nostri antenati, de Italo Calvino

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Os componentes visuais no ensino-aprendizagem da leitura em inglês: um estudo dos aspectos semiótico-discursivos em manuais de informática, no contexto do ensino superior

Esta pesquisa teve por objetivo refletir sobre o ensino instrumental da leitura em inglês, através da utilização de componentes visuais para auxiliar leitores na construção do significado. Com pressupostos teóricos baseados principalmente em Swales (1990); Soares (1993); Bronckart (1999); Joly (2002); Santaella (1983, 2000); Magno e Silva (2002, 2004); e Field (2004), efetuamos um estudo descritivo das características semiótico-discursivas presentes em manuais de instalação de softwares com enfoque nos recursos visuais. Além disso, coletamos dados e descrevemos os procedimentos pedagógicos observados em uma turma de Inglês Instrumental do Curso Superior de Tecnologia em Redes de Computadores, da Faculdade de Tecnologia da Amazônia (FAZ), em Belém. Nossa pesquisa-ação objetivou também investigar em que medida os componentes visuais podem influenciar o leitor nas suas escolhas de leitura; de que forma os componentes visuais podem ser utilizados em atividades de pré-leitura, leitura e pós-leitura para conduzir o leitor à compreensão do sentido do texto; e qual a importância dos componentes visuais na leitura de manuais de instalação de softwares. Os resultados da análise foram sucessivamente alterando a coleta seqüencial dos dados e mostraram que os componentes visuais são excelentes ferramentas que, quando bem utilizadas e associadas às palavras, podem incentivar e simplificar o processamento da leitura, especialmente num contexto em que os participantes não possuem pleno domínio lingüístico na língua-alvo.