Molecular phylogeny analysis of fiddler crabs: test of the hypothesis of increasing behavioral complexity in evolution.

The current phylogenetic hypothesis for the evolution and biogeography of fiddler crabs relies on the assumption that complex behavioral traits are assumed to also be evolutionary derived. Indo-west Pacific fiddler crabs have simpler reproductive social behavior and are more marine and were thought to be ancestral to the more behaviorally complex and more terrestrial American species. It was also hypothesized that the evolution of more complex social and reproductive behavior was associated with the colonization of the higher intertidal zones. Our phylogenetic analysis, based upon a set of independent molecular characters, however, demonstrates how widely entrenched ideas about evolution and biogeography led to a reasonable, but apparently incorrect, conclusion about the evolutionary trends within this pantropical group of crustaceans. Species bearing the set of "derived traits" are phylogenetically ancestral, suggesting an alternative evolutionary scenario: the evolution of reproductive behavioral complexity in fiddler crabs may have arisen multiple times during their evolution. The evolution of behavioral complexity may have arisen by coopting of a series of other adaptations for high intertidal living and antipredator escape. A calibration of rates of molecular evolution from populations on either side of the Isthmus of Panama suggest a sequence divergence rate for 16S rRNA of 0.9% per million years. The divergence between the ancestral clade and derived forms is estimated to be approximately 22 million years ago, whereas the divergence between the American and Indo-west Pacific is estimated to be approximately 17 million years ago.

Igualdades e diferenças nas políticas educacionais: a agenda das diversidades nos governos Lula e Dilma

Esta pesquisa aborda as chamadas políticas de diversidade na educação e sua contribuição para o reconhecimento e a promoção dos direitos humanos e a superação do racismo, do sexismo, da homofobia e das demais desigualdades e discriminações que marcam profundamente a sociedade e a educação brasileiras. Com base nas vozes de gestores/as públicos/as e ativistas da sociedade civil, na análise documental e da execução orçamentária e na experiência política da pesquisadora, é apresentado um balanço sobre os dez anos de existência da Secretaria de Educação Continuada, Alfabetização e Diversidade (Secad), órgão do Ministério da Educação criado no primeiro governo do Presidente Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Em especial, buscou-se identificar as provocações e os tensionamentos gerados pelas agendas das diversidades para o atual desenho, funcionamento e institucionalidade das políticas educacionais e sua influência nas concepções de qualidade educacional em disputa nas políticas federais. Essas disputas estiveram presentes nas Conferências Nacionais de Educação e no processo conflitivo de tramitação do novo Plano Nacional de Educação (Lei Federal n. 13.005/2014), analisados neste trabalho. Respaldado por convenções e pelas resoluções internacionais das Conferências da ONU e por normativas nacionais, o debate sobre diferenças ganhou espaço na agenda das políticas educacionais brasileiras. Essa discussão foi impulsionada por movimentos sociais negros, indígenas, LGBTs, feministas, de trabalhadores do campo, de pessoas com deficiências, de quilombolas, ambientalistas e por agendas de fronteira na efetividade do direito humano à educação, como a educação de jovens e adultos, a educação em territórios de alta vulnerabilidade social e a educação de pessoas privadas de liberdade, entre outras. Apresenta-se, neste trabalho, uma contribuição teórica ao debate sobre a relação entre qualidade educacional, diferenças e igualdades, com base nas teorias críticas de justiça social. Discutem-se as possibilidades de a noção da diversidade constituir uma resposta interseccional às múltiplas discriminações e desigualdades que atingem os sujeitos concretos no cotidiano da vida e, especificamente, nas instituições educacionais. Ao final da tese, embasadas na definição do contexto de estratégia política de Stephen Ball e nas contribuições para o aperfeiçoamento das políticas 14 previstas na metodologia de análise das políticas públicas, são apresentadas reflexões comprometidas com a ampliação da capacidade das políticas educacionais no sentido de dar respostas a essas agendas, em uma perspectiva de promoção da justiça na educação no marco dos direitos humanos.

Astros no rock: uma perspectiva sociocultural no uso da canção na educação em ciências

A incorporação de elementos da cultura primeira do estudante no processo de ensino-aprendizagem foi defendida pelo pedagogo francês Georges Snyders (1988) em sua obra \"A Alegria na Escola\". Esta pesquisa contribuiu com essa interface, identificando, no discurso de canções do rock n\' roll, elementos textuais que possibilitem reflexões no âmbito conceitual, epistemológico e sociopolítico sobre a exploração do espaço. O objeto de estudo neste trabalho são canções do período entre as décadas de 1960 e 1970 que possuem representações sobre a astronomia e as missões espaciais. O uso do rock justificou-se pelo fato de temas sobre exploração espacial aparecerem no trabalho de diversos artistas desse gênero musical, permitindo reflexões em nível conceitual, epistemológico e sociopolítico sobre a ciência, a tecnologia e suas relações com a sociedade e o ambiente. Além disso, identificamos que tanto o rock quanto as missões espaciais foram fenômenos culturais que dependeram em sua gênese dos avanços da tecnologia e da ciência e tiveram sua repercussão na sociedade através de processos midiáticos. Essas canções foram selecionadas entre os diversos gêneros de rock, e analisadas a partir de referenciais semiodiscursivos. As atividades foram aplicadas em situações formais de ensino - ensino médio e ensino superior -, em formação continuada de professores e projetos de ensino não formal na escola. No processo de ensinoaprendizagem, foram desenvolvidas atividades que envolviam leitura-comentada da canção, identificando na letra, melodia e harmonia, aspectos que evidenciavam um discurso crítico sobre a ciência e sua relação com a sociedade e o ambiente. Essas atividades envolveram três instâncias: Elaboração, Aplicação e Análise. Como referencial norteador dessas etapas, nos valemos das teorias socioculturais de Vigotski (2001), Snyders (1988) e Freire (2013).

Obesity, knee osteoarthritis, and polypathology: factors favoring weight loss in older people

Aim: We aimed to explore the meaning of obesity in elderly persons with knee osteoarthritis (KO) and to determine the factors that encourage or discourage weight loss. Background: Various studies have demonstrated that body mass index is related to KO and that weight loss improves symptoms and functional capacity. However, dietary habits are difficult to modify and most education programs are ineffective. Design: A phenomenological qualitative study was conducted. Intentional sampling was performed in ten older persons with KO who had lost weight and improved their health-related quality of life after participating in a health education program. A thematic content analysis was conducted following the stages proposed by Miles and Huberman. Findings: Participants understood obesity as a risk factor for health problems and stigma. They believed that the cause of obesity was multifactorial and criticized health professionals for labeling them as “obese” and for assigning a moral value to slimness and diet. The factors identified as contributing to the effectiveness of the program were a tolerant attitude among health professionals, group education that encouraged motivation, quantitative dietary recommendations, and a meaningful learning model based on social learning theories. Conclusion: Dietary self-management without prohibitions helped participants to make changes in the quantity and timing of some food intake and to lose weight without sacrificing some foods that were deeply rooted in their culture and preferences. Dietary education programs should focus on health-related quality of life and include scientific knowledge but should also consider affective factors and the problems perceived as priorities by patients.

On Incentives in Technology Policymaking: What the EU Can Learn from U.S. Developments. CES Germany & Europe Working Papers, No. 07.7, 1997

This paper explores the incentives political and bureaucratic actors face in the institutional setting of EU technology policy. In examining the implications and assumptions of neoclassical and evolutionary theories of technological change, it tries to answer why certain theories do not obtain importance in the political wor1d. By focusing on the positive approach to policymaking, the paper examines why policy learning does not occur m certain institutional settings. In referring to EU technology programs, I show which conceptual and functional shortcomings limit the policies in question. As evaluation and oversight mechanisms have not been sufficiently developed and accepted within the institutional setting, there is much room for inefficiency. I discuss this setting within a simple agency model using two political actors and two firms performing R&D. It is easy to show that when asymmetric information applies, the firms receive positive rents and the political agent gains reputation. The outcome suggests changing the evaluation practices and embedding results in political decision making. Regarding this point, recent U.S. developments seem to have led to more efficiency. Moreover, the paper suggests delegating technology policy to other actors and discussing the empowerment of different principals on the political plane.

Will Cameron get what he wants? Anticipating reactions to Britain’s EU reform proposals. CEPS Commentary, 29 October 2015

After months of speculation about the British Prime Minister’s specific demands in terms of the “renegotiation” of the UK’s relationship with the EU, David Cameron has bowed to pressure from the heads of state or government of the other EU member states and committed himself to setting out the UK’s specific “concerns” in writing by early November. While we cannot be certain of the contents of David Cameron’s missive to the EU, his recent pronouncements before Parliament set out an agenda whose contours have become quite clear. In this Commentary the authors consider how far the other EU member states might be willing to accommodate Cameron’s demands and provide him with the political capital he seeks to lead the ‘in’ campaign. They distinguish four different attitudes among EU countries, and advocate a constructive approach that sets the scene for a Convention after 2017 – one that opens the treaty for a revision that could accommodate both the British demands for an ‘opt-out’ from ever closer union and gives leeway to those who wish to integrate further. Putting emphasis on strengthening the single market in the more immediate term would allow the Prime Minister to show his home audience that he is a leading reformer and that the EU gives oxygen to the British economy.This is an obvious area where he might be able to seal deals during the UK’s Presidency of the Council of the EU in the second half of 2017. The authors also consider what the European Council Conclusions on the UK’s wish list for EU reform might look like, given that any treaty revision before the time set for the UK referendum is unattainable. They present the results of a two-day simulation exercise involving a cross-section of national experts and present mock European Council Conclusions on the areas of ever closer union; the role of national parliaments; competitiveness; economic and monetary integration; and the free movement of labour.

Existence of complementary pairs of proportionally balanced designs

Proportionally balanced designs (pi BDs) were introduced by Gray and Matters in response to a need for the allocation of markers of the Queensland Core Skills Test to have a certain property. Subsequent papers extended the theoretical results relating to such designs and provided further instances and general constructions. This work focused on designs comprising blocks of precisely two sizes, and when each variety occurs with one of precisely two possible frequencies. Two designs based on the set V of varieties are complementary if, whenever B is a block of one, then its complement with regard to the set V is a block of the other. Here we present necessary conditions for the existence of complementary pairs of such pi BDs and provide lists of some restricted parameter sets satisfying these necessary conditions. The lists are arranged according to the number of blocks. We demonstrate that not all of these parameter sets give rise to designs. However we establish by construction of the sets of blocks that, for every feasible number of blocks less than or equal to 100, with the possible exception of 63, there exists at least one pair of complementary pi BDs. We also investigate the conditions under which the complementary design can be isomorphic to the original design, and again provide a list of feasible parameters for pairs of such designs with at most 400 blocks.

Structure and dynamics of the Shapley Supercluster - Velocity catalogue, general morphology and mass

We present results of our wide-field redshift survey of galaxies in a 285 square degree region of the Shapley Supercluster (SSC), based on a set of 10 529 velocity measurements (including 1201 new ones) on 8632 galaxies obtained from various telescopes and from the literature. Our data reveal that the main plane of the SSC (v approximate to 14 500 km s(-1)) extends further than previous estimates, filling the whole extent of our survey region of 12 degrees by 30 degrees on the sky (30 x 75 h(-1) Mpc). There is also a connecting structure associated with the slightly nearer Abell 3571 cluster complex (v approximate to 12 000 km s(-1)). These galaxies seem to link two previously identified sheets of galaxies and establish a connection with a third one at v = 15 000 km s(-1) near RA = 13(h). They also tend to fill the gap of galaxies between the foreground Hydra-Centaurus region and the more distant SSC. In the velocity range of the Shapley Supercluster (9000 km s(-1) < cz < 18 000 km s(-1)), we found redshift-space overdensities with b(j) < 17.5 of similar or equal to 5.4 over the 225 square degree central region and similar or equal to 3.8 in a 192 square degree region excluding rich clusters. Over the large region of our survey, we find that the intercluster galaxies make up 48 per cent of the observed galaxies in the SSC region and, accounting for the different completeness, may contribute nearly twice as much mass as the cluster galaxies. In this paper, we discuss the completeness of the velocity catalogue, the morphology of the supercluster, the global overdensity, and some properties of the individual galaxy clusters in the Supercluster.

The large peculiar velocity of the cD galaxy in Abell 3653

We present a catalogue of galaxies in Abell 3653 from observations made with the 2-degree field (2dF) spectrograph at the Anglo-Australian Telescope. Of the 391 objects observed, we find 111 are bona fide members of Abell 3653. We show that the cluster has a velocity of cz= 32 214 +/- 83 km s(-1) (z= 0.10 738 +/- 0.00 027), with a velocity dispersion typical of rich, massive clusters of sigma(cz)= 880(-54)(+66). We find that the cD galaxy has a peculiar velocity of 683 +/- 96 km s(-1) in the cluster rest frame - some 7 sigma away from the mean cluster velocity, making it one of the largest and most significant peculiar velocities found for a cD galaxy to date. We investigate the cluster for signs of substructure, but do not find any significant groupings on any length scale. We consider the implications of our findings on cD formation theories.

CARTEIRAS DE INVESTIMENTOS UMA APLICAÇÃO A PARTIR DO MODELO ELTON-GRUBER

Atualmente, nota-se uma intensa movimentação de capitais financeiros, seja por conta de fusões e incorporações de empresas, seja pela expansão natural do próprio capitalismo, levando então as organizações a buscarem alternativas de financiamento com menores custos, isso quando consideradas as taxas de juros praticadas por instituições financeiras. Concomitantemente a isso, autoridades monetárias, circunstancialmente buscam a redução das taxas de juros que norteiam a economia, no intuito de se atrair novos investimentos produtivos e ainda preservar aqueles existentes. De maneira até paradoxal, a redução das taxas de juros promulgada por autoridades, não exibe a mesma proporção de redução daquelas praticadas pelo mercado. Este aspecto leva os indivíduos, sejam eles gestores de investimentos ou não, a buscarem alternativas de investimentos que proporcionem ganhos monetários superiores àqueles que são fundamentados nas taxas estabelecidas pelas autoridades monetárias. Conciliando a busca de recursos por organizações e a busca por maiores ganhos monetários por parte dos investidores, o mercado de capitais se torna uma alternativa relevante. De modo a conseguir os melhores resultados nesse ambiente, há necessidade de se utilizar modelos e outros instrumentos que propiciem a melhor relação entre risco e retorno, haja vista que todo investidor emite ao menos alguma aversão ao risco. Vários são os instrumentos disponíveis para realizar essas relações, entretanto, muitos deles não acessíveis ao investidor na condição de pessoa física. E mediante esse aspecto, o modelo desenvolvido por Edwin Elton e Martin Gruber surge como alternativa a qualquer investidor, seja por suas características construtivas, seja por sua operacionalidade.

A CAPOEIRA DE BRAÇOS PARA O AR Um Estudo da Capoeira Gospel no ABC Paulista

Esta pesquisa estuda o processo de mudança corrente na capoeira gerada pela capoeira gospel no ABC paulista e suas regiões periféricas. Discute o viés pelo qual os evangélicos a utilizam como ferramenta de evangelização e como assimilam as suas técnicas corporais, enquanto ramificação da cultura afro-brasileira. A pesquisa de campo foi realizada por meio de entrevistas semi-estruturadas com pastores evangélicos, mestres de capoeira pastores e adeptos da capoeira em igrejas pentecostais, neopentecostais e em academias seculares da região. O movimento da capoeira gospel é um fenômeno recente e em crescimento. Com princípios baseados na Bíblia, desestruturam os alicerces da capoeira secular que tem sua base nas tradições culturais de origem africana, que funde mitos, ritos e esporte.(AU)

Optimizing PCB assembly for family setup strategy

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the optimization for a placement machine in printed circuit board (PCB) assembly when family setup strategy is adopted. Design/methodology/approach – A complete mathematical model is developed for the integrated problem to optimize feeder arrangement and component placement sequences so as to minimize the makespan for a set of PCB batches. Owing to the complexity of the problem, a specific genetic algorithm (GA) is proposed. Findings – The established model is able to find the minimal makespan for a set of PCB batches through determining the feeder arrangement and placement sequences. However, exact solutions to the problem are not practical due to the complexity. Experimental tests show that the proposed GA can solve the problem both effectively and efficiently. Research limitations/implications – When a placement machine is set up for production of a set of PCB batches, the feeder arrangement of the machine together with the component placement sequencing for each PCB type should be solved simultaneously so as to minimize the overall makespan. Practical implications – The paper investigates the optimization for PCB assembly with family setup strategy, which is adopted by many PCB manufacturers for reducing both setup costs and human errors. Originality/value – The paper investigates the feeder arrangement and placement sequencing problems when family setup strategy is adopted, which has not been studied in the literature.

A strategy-as-practice approach to strategy research and education

This conclusion to the Dialog proposes a strategy-as-practice based approach to bringing strategy research and education closer to practice. Strategy-as-practice rejects the choice, proposed in the previous articles, between theory and practice. The authors argue for strategy research based rigorously on sociological theories of practice. Such research complements the parsimony and generalizability of economics-driven theory, extending strategy research to incorporate the messy realities of doing strategy in practice, with a view to developing theory that is high in accuracy. The authors suggest that practice-based research can also inform strategy teaching by providing students with rich case studies of strategy work as actually practiced, analyzed through such sociological lenses as ethnomethodology, dramaturgy, and institutional theory. Strategy-as-practice research does not aim to give students parsimonious models for analysis or expose them to cases of best practice but rather to help them develop practical wisdom through a better understanding of strategy in practice.

Signal processing in a loudspeaking telephone

One of the major problems associated with communication via a loudspeaking telephone (LST) is that, using analogue processing, duplex transmission is limited to low-loss lines and produces a low acoustic output. An architectural for an instrument has been developed and tested, which uses digital signal processing to provide duplex transmission between a LST and a telopnone handset over most of the B.T. network. Digital adaptive-filters are used in the duplex LST to cancel coupling between the loudspeaker and microphone, and across the transmit to receive paths of the 2-to-4-wire converter. Normal movement of a person in the acoustic path causes a loss of stability by increasing the level of coupling from the loudspeaker to the microphone, since there is a lag associated the adaptive filters learning about a non-stationary path, Control of the loop stability and the level of sidetone heard by the hadset user is by a microprocessoe, which continually monitors the system and regulates the gain. The result is a system which offers the best compromise available based on a set of measured parameters.A theory has been developed which gives the loop stability requirements based on the error between the parameters of the filter and those of the unknown path. The programme to develope a low-cost adaptive filter in LST produced a low-cost adaptive filter in LST produced a unique architecture which has a number of features not available in any similar system. These include automatic compensation for the rate of adaptation over a 36 dB range of output level, , 4 rates of adaptation (with a maximum of 465 dB/s), plus the ability to cascade up to 4 filters without loss o performance. A complex story has been developed to determine the adptation which can be achieved using finite-precision arithmatic. This enabled the development of an architecture which distributed the normalisation required to achieve optimum rate of adaptation over the useful input range. Comparison of theory and measurement for the adaptive filter show very close agreement. A single experimental LST was built and tested on connections to hanset telephones over the BT network. The LST demonstrated that duplex transmission was feasible using signal processing and produced a more comfortable means of communication beween people than methods emplying deep voice-switching to regulate the local-loop gain. Although, with the current level of processing power, it is not a panacea and attention must be directed toward the physical acoustic isolation between loudspeaker and microphone.

An applied linguistic analysis of the simplification of narrative texts

Simplification of texts has traditionally been carried out by replacing words and structures with appropriate semantic equivalents in the learner's interlanguage, omitting whichever items prove intractable, and thereby bringing the language of the original within the scope of the learner's transitional linguistic competence. This kind of simplification focuses mainly on the formal features of language. The simplifier can, on the other hand, concentrate on making explicit the propositional content and its presentation in the original in order to bring what is communicated in the original within the scope of the learner's transitional communicative competence. In this case, simplification focuses on the communicative function of the language. Up to now, however, approaches to the problem of simplification have been mainly concerned with the first kind, using the simplifier’s intuition as to what constitutes difficulty for the learner. There appear to be few objective principles underlying this process. The main aim of this study is to investigate the effect of simplification on the communicative aspects of narrative texts, which includes the manner in which narrative units at higher levels of organisation are structured and presented and also the temporal and logical relationships between lower level structures such as sentences/clauses, with the intention of establishing an objective approach to the problem of simplification based on a set of principled procedures which could be used as a guideline in the simplification of material for foreign students at an advanced level.