A citação no facebook: uma análise dialógica

This study analyses the quotations from a specific Facebook page called Brasileiríssimos, which presents itself as a project aiming to publicize and value the Brazilian culture. For this analysis one can observe the use of concepts of traditional quotations, to highlight, when comparing to these formats, the different ways of quoting that can be found on this means of communication: Facebook. The research aims to reflect about how the image of the page is built from the dialogue between the I and the other. More specifically, we look at the dialogue of the author of the page with the quoted text and the reader. In order to analyze that, concepts of quotation from authors belonging to Bakhtin's Circle are going to be used, amongst others. These concepts constitute the analysis criteria of the quoted texts, especially on how the quotation is made. The chosen methodological approach is a qualitative analysis from the quotations made on Facebook, as well as texts that help to visualize the dialogue between the traditional forms of quotation and the forms found on the abovementioned page. On the proposed dialogue about the concepts of quotation it is possible to notice the production of meaning caused by the way in which the quotation is made, by how the author of the page inserts herself in relation to the quoted text and, finally, by the relation of the text with the reader. Because this research bases itself on the dialogical discourse analysis, it be turned to the concept of dialogism, analyzing discourses in contact. Departing from there, one of the main goals is to understand which discourses dialogue when the production of the quotation and in what manner the quotation is made on the chosen means of communication

The Importance of Vocabulary Instruction in Everyday Mathematics

In this action research study of my 6th grade math students I try to answer the question of how mathematical vocabulary plays an integral role in the understanding and learning of middle level mathematics. It is my belief that mathematics is a language, and to be fluent in that language one must be able to use and understand vocabulary. With the use of vocabulary quizzes and mathematically-centered vocabulary activities, student scores and understanding of math concepts can be increased. I discovered that many of the students had never been exposed to consistent mathematical terminology in their elementary education, which led many to an unfavorable impression of math. As a result of my research, I plan to incorporate vocabulary as a regular part of my mathematical teaching. As the students understood the language of math, their confidence, attitudes, and scores all began to improve.

Analyzing the ACRE Program

The new farm bill enacted by Congress in June 2008 includes a new revenue-based safety-net, the Average Crop Revenue Election (ACRE) Program, that will be available to producers beginning with the 2009 crop year. This analysis of the mechanics of ACRE and the relevant yields and prices to include in ACRE can help producers assess whether ACRE will be a good choice for this crop year and beyond.

Analyzing ACRE: Results for 2009 and Decisions for 2010

In 2009, agricultural producers participating in federal farm programs had to decide between staying in the existing Direct and Counter-Cyclical Program (DCP), and the new Average Crop Revenue Election Program (ACRE). If producers chose to keep the DCP, their farm income safety net is strictly tied to crop prices, with a combination of marketing loans, counter-cyclical payments and direct payments. If producers chose the new ACRE program, they changed their farm income safety net to a combination of price and revenue. The new ACRE component is based on revenue and replaces the counter-cyclical payment. The other parts of the safety net for ACRE participants remain tied to price, albeit at lower levels (direct payments reduced 20 percent, marketing loan rates reduced 30 percent).

Analyzing the ACRE Program

The new farm bill enacted by Congress in June 2008 includes a new revenue-based safety net, the Average Crop Revenue Election (ACRE) Program, that is available to producers beginning with the 2009 crop year. While final details and implementation of the program is yet to be announced by the USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA), an analysis of the mechanics of ACRE and the relevant yields and prices to include in ACRE can help producers assess whether ACRE will be a good choice for this crop year and beyond.

Parental Ethnotheories of Child Development: Looking Beyond Independence and Individualism in American Belief Systems

Over the past several decades, the topic of child development in a cultural context has received a great deal of theoretical and empirical investigation. Investigators from the fields of indigenous and cultural psychology have argued that childhood is socially and historically constructed, rather than a universal process with a standard sequence of developmental stages or descriptions. As a result, many psychologists have become doubtful that any stage theory of cognitive or socialemotional development can be found to be valid for all times and places. In placing more theoretical emphasis on contextual processes, they define culture as a complex system of common symbolic action patterns (or scripts) built up through everyday human social interaction by means of which individuals create common meanings and in terms of which they organize experience. Researchers understand culture to be organized and coherent, but not homogenous or static, and realize that the complex dynamic system of culture constantly undergoes transformation as participants (adults and children) negotiate and re-negotiate meanings through social interaction. These negotiations and transactions give rise to unceasing heterogeneity and variability in how different individuals and groups of individuals interpret values and meanings. However, while many psychologists—both inside and outside the fields of indigenous and cultural psychology–are now willing to give up the idea of a universal path of child development and a universal story of parenting, they have not necessarily foreclosed on the possibility of discovering and describing some universal processes that underlie socialization and development-in-context. The roots of such universalities would lie in the biological aspects of child development, in the evolutionary processes of adaptation, and in the unique symbolic and problem-solving capacities of the human organism as a culture-bearing species. For instance, according to functionalist psychological anthropologists, shared (cultural) processes surround the developing child and promote in the long view the survival of families and groups if they are to demonstrate continuity in the face of ecological change and resource competition, (e.g. Edwards & Whiting, 2004; Gallimore, Goldenberg, & Weisner, 1993; LeVine, Dixon, LeVine, Richman, Leiderman, Keefer, & Brazelton, 1994; LeVine, Miller, & West, 1988; Weisner, 1996, 2002; Whiting & Edwards, 1988; Whiting & Whiting, 1980). As LeVine and colleagues (1994) state: A population tends to share an environment, symbol systems for encoding it, and organizations and codes of conduct for adapting to it (emphasis added). It is through the enactment of these population-specific codes of conduct in locally organized practices that human adaptation occurs. Human adaptation, in other words, is largely attributable to the operation of specific social organizations (e.g. families, communities, empires) following culturally prescribed scripts (normative models) in subsistence, reproduction, and other domains [communication and social regulation]. (p. 12) It follows, then, that in seeking to understand child development in a cultural context, psychologists need to support collaborative and interdisciplinary developmental science that crosses international borders. Such research can advance cross-cultural psychology, cultural psychology, and indigenous psychology, understood as three sub-disciplines composed of scientists who frequently communicate and debate with one another and mutually inform one another’s research programs. For example, to turn to parental belief systems, the particular topic of this chapter, it is clear that collaborative international studies are needed to support the goal of crosscultural psychologists for findings that go beyond simply describing cultural differences in parental beliefs. Comparative researchers need to shed light on whether parental beliefs are (or are not) systematically related to differences in child outcomes; and they need meta-analyses and reviews to explore between- and within-culture variations in parental beliefs, with a focus on issues of social change (Saraswathi, 2000). Likewise, collaborative research programs can foster the goals of indigenous psychology and cultural psychology and lay out valid descriptions of individual development in their particular cultural contexts and the processes, principles, and critical concepts needed for defining, analyzing, and predicting outcomes of child development-in-context. The project described in this chapter is based on an approach that integrates elements of comparative methodology to serve the aim of describing particular scenarios of child development in unique contexts. The research team of cultural insiders and outsiders allows for a look at American belief systems based on a dialogue of multiple perspectives.

A citação no facebook: uma análise dialógica

This study analyses the quotations from a specific Facebook page called Brasileiríssimos, which presents itself as a project aiming to publicize and value the Brazilian culture. For this analysis one can observe the use of concepts of traditional quotations, to highlight, when comparing to these formats, the different ways of quoting that can be found on this means of communication: Facebook. The research aims to reflect about how the image of the page is built from the dialogue between the I and the other. More specifically, we look at the dialogue of the author of the page with the quoted text and the reader. In order to analyze that, concepts of quotation from authors belonging to Bakhtin's Circle are going to be used, amongst others. These concepts constitute the analysis criteria of the quoted texts, especially on how the quotation is made. The chosen methodological approach is a qualitative analysis from the quotations made on Facebook, as well as texts that help to visualize the dialogue between the traditional forms of quotation and the forms found on the abovementioned page. On the proposed dialogue about the concepts of quotation it is possible to notice the production of meaning caused by the way in which the quotation is made, by how the author of the page inserts herself in relation to the quoted text and, finally, by the relation of the text with the reader. Because this research bases itself on the dialogical discourse analysis, it be turned to the concept of dialogism, analyzing discourses in contact. Departing from there, one of the main goals is to understand which discourses dialogue when the production of the quotation and in what manner the quotation is made on the chosen means of communication

Analyzing the Complexity and Reliability of Switch-Frequency-Reconfigurable Antennas Using Graph Models

This paper addresses the functional reliability and the complexity of reconfigurable antennas using graph models. The correlation between complexity and reliability for any given reconfigurable antenna is defined. Two methods are proposed to reduce failures and improve the reliability of reconfigurable antennas. The failures are caused by the reconfiguration technique or by the surrounding environment. These failure reduction methods proposed are tested and examples are given which verify these methods.

THE IMPLICATIONS OF A PSYCHOEDUCATION GROUP ON THE EVERYDAY LIVES OF INDIVIDUALS WITH BIPOLAR AFFECTIVE DISORDER

There is growing evidence that the course of Bipolar Affective Disorder (BAD) can be altered by psychotherapeutic approaches, such as Psychoeducation. Therefore, this study was performed with the objective of identifying the implications of a Psychoeducation group on the everyday lives of individuals with BAD. To do this, the authors chose to perform a qualitative case study. Participants included twelve individuals with BAD who had attended at least six meetings of the Psychoeducation Group held at the Sao Jose do Rio Preto Faculty of Medicine (FAMERP). Semi-structured interviews were performed, which were recorded and then transcribed and subjected to Thematic Analysis. The present study showed that the referred group experience promoted the individuals' knowledge acquisition; their awareness regarding the disease and adherence to treatment; their making positive changes in life; the possibility of helping other patients to benefit from the knowledge learned in the group; and their awareness regarding other realities and coping strategies, obtained by exchanging experiences with other participants.

Discriminating Different Classes of Biological Networks by Analyzing the Graphs Spectra Distribution

The brain's structural and functional systems, protein-protein interaction, and gene networks are examples of biological systems that share some features of complex networks, such as highly connected nodes, modularity, and small-world topology. Recent studies indicate that some pathologies present topological network alterations relative to norms seen in the general population. Therefore, methods to discriminate the processes that generate the different classes of networks (e. g., normal and disease) might be crucial for the diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment of the disease. It is known that several topological properties of a network (graph) can be described by the distribution of the spectrum of its adjacency matrix. Moreover, large networks generated by the same random process have the same spectrum distribution, allowing us to use it as a "fingerprint". Based on this relationship, we introduce and propose the entropy of a graph spectrum to measure the "uncertainty" of a random graph and the Kullback-Leibler and Jensen-Shannon divergences between graph spectra to compare networks. We also introduce general methods for model selection and network model parameter estimation, as well as a statistical procedure to test the nullity of divergence between two classes of complex networks. Finally, we demonstrate the usefulness of the proposed methods by applying them to (1) protein-protein interaction networks of different species and (2) on networks derived from children diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and typically developing children. We conclude that scale-free networks best describe all the protein-protein interactions. Also, we show that our proposed measures succeeded in the identification of topological changes in the network while other commonly used measures (number of edges, clustering coefficient, average path length) failed.

CONTEXT TREE SELECTION AND LINGUISTIC RHYTHM RETRIEVAL FROM WRITTEN TEXTS

The starting point of this article is the question "How to retrieve fingerprints of rhythm in written texts?" We address this problem in the case of Brazilian and European Portuguese. These two dialects of Modern Portuguese share the same lexicon and most of the sentences they produce are superficially identical. Yet they are conjectured, on linguistic grounds, to implement different rhythms. We show that this linguistic question can be formulated as a problem of model selection in the class of variable length Markov chains. To carry on this approach, we compare texts from European and Brazilian Portuguese. These texts are previously encoded according to some basic rhythmic features of the sentences which can be automatically retrieved. This is an entirely new approach from the linguistic point of view. Our statistical contribution is the introduction of the smallest maximizer criterion which is a constant free procedure for model selection. As a by-product, this provides a solution for the problem of optimal choice of the penalty constant when using the BIC to select a variable length Markov chain. Besides proving the consistency of the smallest maximizer criterion when the sample size diverges, we also make a simulation study comparing our approach with both the standard BIC selection and the Peres-Shields order estimation. Applied to the linguistic sample constituted for our case study, the smallest maximizer criterion assigns different context-tree models to the two dialects of Portuguese. The features of the selected models are compatible with current conjectures discussed in the linguistic literature.

Structure-semantics interplay in complex networks and its effects on the predictability of similarity in texts

The classification of texts has become a major endeavor with so much electronic material available, for it is an essential task in several applications, including search engines and information retrieval. There are different ways to define similarity for grouping similar texts into clusters, as the concept of similarity may depend on the purpose of the task. For instance, in topic extraction similar texts mean those within the same semantic field, whereas in author recognition stylistic features should be considered. In this study, we introduce ways to classify texts employing concepts of complex networks, which may be able to capture syntactic, semantic and even pragmatic features. The interplay between various metrics of the complex networks is analyzed with three applications, namely identification of machine translation (MT) systems, evaluation of quality of machine translated texts and authorship recognition. We shall show that topological features of the networks representing texts can enhance the ability to identify MT systems in particular cases. For evaluating the quality of MT texts, on the other hand, high correlation was obtained with methods capable of capturing the semantics. This was expected because the golden standards used are themselves based on word co-occurrence. Notwithstanding, the Katz similarity, which involves semantic and structure in the comparison of texts, achieved the highest correlation with the NIST measurement, indicating that in some cases the combination of both approaches can improve the ability to quantify quality in MT. In authorship recognition, again the topological features were relevant in some contexts, though for the books and authors analyzed good results were obtained with semantic features as well. Because hybrid approaches encompassing semantic and topological features have not been extensively used, we believe that the methodology proposed here may be useful to enhance text classification considerably, as it combines well-established strategies. (c) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

SCIENTIFIC LANGUAGE RHETORIC: FROM THE THEORETICAL BASIS TO THE PRODUCTION OF DIDACTIC MATERIAL FOR UNDERGRADUATE CHEMISTRY TEACHING

This work is part of a study that focused on analyzing the contributions of didactic activities related to scientific language rhetoric characteristics aimed at developing students' abilities to identify such characteristics in chemistry scientific texts and critical reading of those texts. In this study, we present the theoretical basis adopted to determine the scientific discourse characteristics and for the production of the didactic material used in those activities. Latour, Coracini and Campanario studies on persuasive rhetorical strategies present in scientific articles aided the production of such material.

Identification of literary movements using complex networks to represent texts

The use of statistical methods to analyze large databases of text has been useful in unveiling patterns of human behavior and establishing historical links between cultures and languages. In this study, we identified literary movements by treating books published from 1590 to 1922 as complex networks, whose metrics were analyzed with multivariate techniques to generate six clusters of books. The latter correspond to time periods coinciding with relevant literary movements over the last five centuries. The most important factor contributing to the distinctions between different literary styles was the average shortest path length, in particular the asymmetry of its distribution. Furthermore, over time there has emerged a trend toward larger average shortest path lengths, which is correlated with increased syntactic complexity, and a more uniform use of the words reflected in a smaller power-law coefficient for the distribution of word frequency. Changes in literary style were also found to be driven by opposition to earlier writing styles, as revealed by the analysis performed with geometrical concepts. The approaches adopted here are generic and may be extended to analyze a number of features of languages and cultures.