Processament de la informació en nens de pre-escolar de les comarques gironines. Implicacions pedagògiques

La nostra investigació s'inscriu en la concepció dinàmica de la intel·ligència, i concretament en el processos que configuren el processament cerebral en el Model d'integració de la informació descrit per Das, Kirby i Jarman (1979). Els dos processos cerebrals que constitueixen la base de la conducta intel·ligent són el processament simultani i el processament seqüencial; són les dues estratègies principals del processament de la informació. Tota classe d'estímul és susceptible d'ésser processat o bé seqüencialment (seriació, verbal, anàlisi), o be simultàniament (global, visual, síntesi). Basant-nos en el recull bibliogràfic i amb la convicció de que apropant-nos al coneixement de les peculiaritats del processament de la informació, ens endinsem en la comprensió del procés que mena a la conducta intel·ligent, i per tant, a l'aprenentatge, formulem la següent hipòtesi de treball: en els nens de preescolar (d'entre els 3 i els sis anys) es donaran aquest dos tipus de processament i variaran en funció de l'edat, el sexe, l'atenció, les dificultats d'aprenentatge, els problemes de llenguatge, el bilingüisme, el nivell sociocultural, la dominància manual, el nivell mental i de la presència de patologia. Les diferències que s'esdevinguin ens permetran de formular criteris i pautes per a la intervenció educativa. Els nostres objectius es refonen en mesurar el processament en nens de preescolar de les comarques gironines, verificar la relació de cada tipus de processament amb les variables esmentades, comprovar si s'estableix un paral·lelisme entre el processament i les aportacions de concepció localitzacionista de les funcions cerebrals en base als nostres resultats, i pautes per a la intervenció pedagògica. Quant al mètode, hem seleccionat una mostra representativa dels nens i nenes matriculats a les escoles publiques de les comarques gironines durant el curs 92/93, mitjançant un mostreig aleatori estratificat i per conglomerats. El tamany real de la mostra és de dos-cents seixanta un subjectes. Els instruments emprats han estat els següents: el Test K-ABC de Kaufman & Kaufman (1983) per a la avaluació del processament; un formulari dirigit als pares per a la recollida de la informació pertinent; entrevistes amb les mestres, i el Test de la Figura Humana de Goodenough. Pel que fa referència als resultats de la nostra recerca i en funció dels objectius proposats, constatem els fets següents. En els nens de preescolar, amb edats d'entre els tres i els sis anys, es constata l'existència dels dos tipus de processament cerebral, sense que es doni un predomini d'un sobre de l'altre; ambdós processaments actuen interrelacionadament. Ambdós tipus de processament milloren a mesura que augmenta l'edat, però es constaten diferències derivades del nivell mental: amb un nivell mental normal s'hi associa una millora d'ambdós processaments, mentre que amb un nivell mental deficient només millora fonamentalment el processament seqüencial. Tanmateix, el processament simultani està més relacionat amb les funcions cognitives complexes i és més nivell mental dependent que el processament seqüencial. Tant les dificultats d'aprenentatge com els problemes de llenguatge predominen en els nens i nenes amb un desequilibri significatiu entre ambdós tipus de processament; les dificultats d'aprenentatge estan més relacionades amb una deficiència del processament simultani, mentre que els problemes de llenguatge es relacionen més amb una deficiència en el processament seqüencial. Els nivells socioculturals baixos es relacionen amb resultats inferiors en ambdós tipus de processament. Per altra part, entre els nens bilingües és més freqüent el processament seqüencial significatiu. El test de la Figura Humana es comporta com un marcador de processament simultani i el nivell atencional com un marcador de la gravetat del problema que afecta al processament i en el següent ordre: nivell mental deficient, dificultats, d'aprenentatge i problemes de llenguatge . Les deficiències atencionals van lligades a deficiències en el processament simultani i a la presencia de patologia. Quant a la dominància manual no es constaten diferències en el processament. Finalment, respecte del sexe només podem aportar que quan un dels dos tipus de processament és deficitari,i es dóna per tant, un desequilibri en el processament, predomina significativament el nombre de nens afectats per sobre del de nenes.

Food webs of Mediterranean coastal wetlands

En aquesta tesi doctoral s'han estudiat els efectes directes i indirectes de dos tipus d'espècies claus de la comunitat aquàtica dels aiguamolls de l'Empordà (aiguamolls costaners mediterranis amb una xarxa tròfica senzilla). S'han realitzat experiments al camp utilitzant microcosmos i mesocosmos i els resultats han estat analitzats mitjançant tres aproximacions: la taxonòmica, la funcional i la de mides. S'ha comprovat que en situacions amb absència de predadors i dominància d'una única espècie en el zooplàncton (en aquest cas Calanipeda aquaedulcis i Daphnia magna), la segregació del recurs entre els diferents estadis de desenvolupament de la mateixa espècie zooplanctònica és una estratègia per evitar la competència intraespecífica en condicions de limitació de recurs. Per altra banda, la presència de diferents top-predators a la comunitat aquàtica (en aquest cas la medusa Odessia maeotica i el peix Aphanius iberus) desencadena una cascada tròfica en el plàncton però amb efectes top-down diferents segons el top-predator.

Studies of dynamics of physical agent ecosystems

This thesis addresses the problem of learning in physical heterogeneous multi-agent systems (MAS) and the analysis of the benefits of using heterogeneous MAS with respect to homogeneous ones. An algorithm is developed for this task; building on a previous work on stability in distributed systems by Tad Hogg and Bernardo Huberman, and combining two phenomena observed in natural systems, task partition and hierarchical dominance. This algorithm is devised for allowing agents to learn which are the best tasks to perform on the basis of each agent's skills and the contribution to the team global performance. Agents learn by interacting with the environment and other teammates, and get rewards from the result of the actions they perform. This algorithm is specially designed for problems where all robots have to co-operate and work simultaneously towards the same goal. One example of such a problem is role distribution in a team of heterogeneous robots that form a soccer team, where all members take decisions and co-operate simultaneously. Soccer offers the possibility of conducting research in MAS, where co-operation plays a very important role in a dynamical and changing environment. For these reasons and the experience of the University of Girona in this domain, soccer has been selected as the test-bed for this research. In the case of soccer, tasks are grouped by means of roles. One of the most interesting features of this algorithm is that it endows MAS with a high adaptability to changes in the environment. It allows the team to perform their tasks, while adapting to the environment. This is studied in several cases, for changes in the environment and in the robot's body. Other features are also analysed, especially a parameter that defines the fitness (biological concept) of each agent in the system, which contributes to performance and team adaptability. The algorithm is applied later to allow agents to learn in teams of homogeneous and heterogeneous robots which roles they have to select, in order to maximise team performance. The teams are compared and the performance is evaluated in the games against three hand-coded teams and against the different homogeneous and heterogeneous teams built in this thesis. This section focuses on the analysis of performance and task partition, in order to study the benefits of heterogeneity in physical MAS. In order to study heterogeneity from a rigorous point of view, a diversity measure is developed building on the hierarchic social entropy defined by Tucker Balch. This is adapted to quantify physical diversity in robot teams. This tool presents very interesting features, as it can be used in the future to design heterogeneous teams on the basis of the knowledge on other teams.

Women on March in Goa : the gender transition in Higher Education after the Statehood

This paper attempts to address the interesting phenomenon of dominance of women in higher educational sector of Goa-a remarkable postcolonial event which occurred after Goa attained statehood in 1987. The Indian state of Goa has been experiencing a rapid socio-economic and cultural transformation. At present it enjoys many of the highest human development indicators in India, matching some of the developed countries. Its’ projected population at present is 1.45 million (Indian decennial census 2001 reported 1.348 million). When the Portuguese rule ended, the literacy was just 31 % whereas it stood at 82 % in 2001. Goa is a highly urbanized state in India. In 1960 there were just five towns and 15 % urban population. In 2001 the figures were, 44 towns and 50 % urban population. On economic front Goa has made tremendous progress mainly on account of the growth of mining, tourism and the service sector. Tourist arrivals in Goa have exceeded the state’s population from 2001. The Gross state domestic product (GSDP) at current prices in 2003-04 was Indian Rupees (Rs.) 96570 million, up from Rs. 3930 million when Goa became a full-fledged state. The banks are flush with funds indicating a booming economy. Goa has lowest birth and death rates and a life expectancy of 68 years for the males and 72 for females. The sex ratio however has shown a declining trend since 1960, from 1066 to 960 in 2001 (Table 1).The sex ratio for 0-6 years age group was 933. On this background we intend to examine the changing pattern of female education in Goa.

Aprender inglês como segunda língua : a importância do domínio de outras línguas num mundo globalizado

“Aprender inglês como segunda língua – A importância do Domínio de outras línguas num mundo globalizado” é um trabalho de investigação que visa abordar a importância da aprendizagem da língua inglesa na perspetiva dos alunos no final do 3º Ciclo do Ensino Básico e tendo em conta o mundo globalizado em que vivemos. A metodologia a aplicar é do tipo descritivo. Os sujeitos são 101 alunos do 9º ano de escolaridade do Ensino Básico, pertencentes ao Colégio Vasco da Gama, perfazendo cinco turmas. Para ter acesso às opiniões dos alunos, recorremos à elaboração de questionários estruturados de acordo com os objetivos da investigação. Os questionários foram aplicados em aula com a devida autorização da Direção do Colégio. Procuramos apurar se, de acordo com a legislação europeia que valoriza a aprendizagem de várias línguas como forma de aproximar os vários países da comunidade, nomeadamente de uma língua franca que possa ser o meio de comunicação preferencial no mundo político, económico, social e cultural, os alunos valorizam a aquisição da língua estrangeira e em caso afirmativo, quais as funções e com que objetivos pretendem os alunos atingir a fluência na língua inglesa. No que diz respeito aos resultados obtidos, podemos afirmar que os alunos valorizam o domínio de outras línguas num mundo globalizado, em especial o domínio da língua inglesa visto ser considerada a língua franca internacional que permite a comunicação entre povos de diferentes línguas maternas. Também o enriquecimento cultural e o desenvolvimento da criatividade são fatores apontados pelos alunos como importantes consequências da aquisição de outras línguas.

Las independencias: [respuesta al cuestionario de Manuel Chust] (Dossier: Bicentenario, rastros y revelaciones de la Independencia)

Enrique Ayala es entrevistado por el historiador catalán Manuel Chust sobre la independencia de Hispanoamérica. Ayala plantea que la crisis de 1808 afectó la economía de la metrópoli, pero también posibilitó cambios en las relaciones de poder en las colonias: fue instalándose el control de los señores criollos sobre la tierra y de los comerciantes sobre las economías locales y regionales, la burocracia española debilitada conservó solo el manejo político, lo cual favoreció a las clases dominantes locales. Insiste en que las independencias deben ser vistas como procesos, cuyo éxito fue posible al convocarse a los actores populares e integrarse los esfuerzos de diversas colonias. Visualizar eso, afirma, fue uno de los mayores aportes de Simón Bolívar. Finalmente, no se llega a la Independencia por actos de personalidades determinantes, sino por el peso de protagonistas colectivos: notables criollos, grandes latifundistas y comerciantes de los puertos de primer orden, jefes de los ejércitos e intelectuales, la jerarquía de la Iglesia, y el apoyo británico a los insurgentes.

Suburban immigrants to wildlands disrupt honest signaling in ultra-violet plumage

Urbanization changes habitat in a multitude of ways, including altering food availability. Access to human-provided food can change the relationship between body condition and honest advertisements of fitness, which may result in changes to behavior, demography, and metapopulation dynamics. We compared plumage color, its relationship with body condition and feather growth, and use as signal of dominance between a suburban and a wildland population of Florida Scrub-Jay (Aphelocoma coerulescens). Although plumage color was not related to body condition at either site, suburban birds had plumage with a greater proportion of total reflectance in the ultra-violet (UV) and peak reflectance at shorter wavelengths. Despite the use of plumage reflectance as a signal of dominance among individuals in the wildlands, we found no evidence of status signaling at the suburban site. However, birds emigrating from the suburban site to the wildland site tended to be more successful at acquiring breeder status but less successful at reproducing than were immigrants from an adjacent wildland site, suggesting that signaled and realized quality differ. These differences in signaling content among populations could have demographic effects at metapopulation scales and may represent an evolutionary trap whereby suburban immigrants are preferred as mates even though their reproductive success relative to effort is lower.

Shifts in resident bird communities associated with cloud forest patch size in Central Veracruz, Mexico

Avian communities in cloud forests have high levels of endemism and are at major risk given the accelerated rate of habitat fragmentation. Nevertheless, the response of these communities to changes in fragment size remains poorly understood. We evaluated species richness, bird community density, community composition, and dominance as indicators of the response to fragment size in a fragmented cloud forest landscape in central Veracruz, Mexico. Medium-sized fragments had statistically higher than expected species richness and more even communities, which may be a reflection of the intermediate disturbance hypothesis, in which medium-sized fragments are exploited by both forest and disturbance-associated species. Bird density also reached higher values in medium-sized fragments, which may indicate a carrying capacity in this habitat. However, large cloud forest fragments had a distinct taxonomic and functional composition, attributable to an increased number of understory insectivore species and canopy frugivores. By comparison, omnivorous species associated with human-altered habitats were more abundant in smaller fragments. Hence, although medium-sized cloud forest fragments had higher species richness and high bird density, large forest tracts maintained a distinct avian community composition, particularly of insectivorous and frugivorous species. Furthermore, the underlying response to fragmentation can only be properly addressed when contrasting several community attributes, such as richness, density, composition, and species dominance. Therefore, cloud forest conservation should aim to preserve the remaining large forest fragments to maintain comprehensive avian communities and avoid local extinctions.

Global observations and forecast skill

The impact of selected observing systems on forecast skill is explored using the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) 40-yr reanalysis (ERA-40) system. Analyses have been produced for a surface-based observing system typical of the period prior to 1945/1950, a terrestrial-based observing system typical of the period 1950-1979 and a satellite-based observing system consisting of surface pressure and satellite observations. Global prediction experiments have been undertaken using these analyses as initial states, and which are available every 6 h, for the boreal winters of 1990/1991 and 2000/2001 and the summer of 2000, using a more recent version of the ECMWF model. The results show that for 500-hPa geopotential height, as a representative field, the terrestrial system in the Northern Hemisphere extratropics is only slightly inferior to the control system, which makes use of all observations for the analysis, and is also more accurate than the satellite system. There are indications that the skill of the terrestrial system worsens slightly and the satellite system improves somewhat between 1990/1991 and 2000/2001. The forecast skill in the Southern Hemisphere is dominated by the satellite information and this dominance is larger in the latter period. The overall skill is only slightly worse than that of the Northern Hemisphere. In the tropics (20 degrees S-20 degrees N), using the wind at 850 and 250 hPa as representative fields, the information content in the terrestrial and satellite systems is almost equal and complementary. The surface-based system has very limited skill restricted to the lower troposphere of the Northern Hemisphere. Predictability calculations show a potential for a further increase in predictive skill of 1-2 d in the extratropics of both hemispheres, but a potential for a major improvement of many days in the tropics. As well as the Eulerian perspective of predictability, the storm tracks have been calculated from all experiments and validated for the extratropics to provide a Lagrangian perspective.

Sensitivity of the ERA40 reanalysis to the observing system: determination of the global atmospheric circulation from reduced observations

The impact of selected observing systems on the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) 40-yr reanalysis (ERA40) is explored by mimicking observational networks of the past. This is accomplished by systematically removing observations from the present observational data base used by ERA40. The observing systems considered are a surface-based system typical of the period prior to 1945/50, obtained by only retaining the surface observations, a terrestrial-based system typical of the period 1950-1979, obtained by removing all space-based observations, and finally a space-based system, obtained by removing all terrestrial observations except those for surface pressure. Experiments using these different observing systems have been limited to seasonal periods selected from the last 10 yr of ERA40. The results show that the surface-based system has severe limitations in reconstructing the atmospheric state of the upper troposphere and stratosphere. The terrestrial system has major limitations in generating the circulation of the Southern Hemisphere with considerable errors in the position and intensity of individual weather systems. The space-based system is able to analyse the larger-scale aspects of the global atmosphere almost as well as the present observing system but performs less well in analysing the smaller-scale aspects as represented by the vorticity field. Here, terrestrial data such as radiosondes and aircraft observations are of paramount importance. The terrestrial system in the form of a limited number of radiosondes in the tropics is also required to analyse the quasi-biennial oscillation phenomenon in a proper way. The results also show the dominance of the satellite observing system in the Southern Hemisphere. These results all indicate that care is required in using current reanalyses in climate studies due to the large inhomogeneity of the available observations, in particular in time.

The predictability of extratropical storm tracks and the sensitivity of their prediction to the observing system

A new method for assessing forecast skill and predictability that involves the identification and tracking of extratropical cyclones has been developed and implemented to obtain detailed information about the prediction of cyclones that cannot be obtained from more conventional analysis methodologies. The cyclones were identified and tracked along the forecast trajectories, and statistics were generated to determine the rate at which the position and intensity of the forecasted storms diverge from the analyzed tracks as a function of forecast lead time. The results show a higher level of skill in predicting the position of extratropical cyclones than the intensity. They also show that there is potential to improve the skill in predicting the position by 1 - 1.5 days and the intensity by 2 - 3 days, via improvements to the forecast model. Further analysis shows that forecasted storms move at a slower speed than analyzed storms on average and that there is a larger error in the predicted amplitudes of intense storms than the weaker storms. The results also show that some storms can be predicted up to 3 days before they are identified as an 850-hPa vorticity center in the analyses. In general, the results show a higher level of skill in the Northern Hemisphere (NH) than the Southern Hemisphere (SH); however, the rapid growth of NH winter storms is not very well predicted. The impact that observations of different types have on the prediction of the extratropical cyclones has also been explored, using forecasts integrated from analyses that were constructed from reduced observing systems. A terrestrial, satellite, and surface-based system were investigated and the results showed that the predictive skill of the terrestrial system was superior to the satellite system in the NH. Further analysis showed that the satellite system was not very good at predicting the growth of the storms. In the SH the terrestrial system has significantly less skill than the satellite system, highlighting the dominance of satellite observations in this hemisphere. The surface system has very poor predictive skill in both hemispheres.

Northern hemisphere winter atmospheric climate: modes of natural variability and climate change

Under anthropogenic climate change it is possible that the increased radiative forcing and associated changes in mean climate may affect the “dynamical equilibrium” of the climate system; leading to a change in the relative dominance of different modes of natural variability, the characteristics of their patterns or their behavior in the time domain. Here we use multi-century integrations of version three of the Hadley Centre atmosphere model coupled to a mixed layer ocean to examine potential changes in atmosphere-surface ocean modes of variability. After first evaluating the simulated modes of Northern Hemisphere winter surface temperature and geopotential height against observations, we examine their behavior under an idealized equilibrium doubling of atmospheric CO2. We find no significant changes in the order of dominance, the spatial patterns or the associated time series of the modes. Having established that the dynamic equilibrium is preserved in the model on doubling of CO2, we go on to examine the temperature pattern of mean climate change in terms of the modes of variability; the motivation being that the pattern of change might be explicable in terms of changes in the amount of time the system resides in a particular mode. In addition, if the two are closely related, we might be able to assess the relative credibility of different spatial patterns of climate change from different models (or model versions) by assessing their representation of variability. Significant shifts do appear to occur in the mean position of residence when examining a truncated set of the leading order modes. However, on examining the complete spectrum of modes, it is found that the mean climate change pattern is close to orthogonal to all of the modes and the large shifts are a manifestation of this orthogonality. The results suggest that care should be exercised in using a truncated set of variability EOFs to evaluate climate change signals.

Dual citizenship or dual identity? Does 'transnationalism' supplant 'nationalism' among returning Trinidadians?

In this article we focus on the dual identities of relatively young Trinidadians who have decided to return to the island of their birth, or of their parents, while still in their thirties and forties. Highly-educated professional transnational migrants mostly make tip our sample of 36; 26 possess dual citizenship. We focus on our informants' narratives about their transnational experiences, self-appraisals of their dual identities and how they value dual citizenship. More generally, we ask does transnationalism supplant nationalism among our returning informants? Unsurprisingly, the diverse responses we document do not support the commonly held explanatory relationship between return adaptations, 'national belonging' and the expected dominance of 'transnational belonging'. Family, relations intervene significantly, both to encourage transnationalism and to strengthen nationalism. Feelings of notional belonging often accompany transnationalism. Notably, we view dual citizenship strategically and pragmatically as advantageous to the continuation of transnational practices.

Recent habitat degradation in karstic Lake Uluabat, western Turkey: A coupled limnological-palaeolimnological approach

The Ramsar site of Lake Uluabat, western Turkey, suffers from eutrophication, urban and industrial pollution and water abstraction, and its water levels are managed artificially. Here we combine monitoring and palaeolimnological. techniques to investigate spatial and temporal limnological variability and ecosystem impact, using an ostracod and mollusc survey to strengthen interpretation of the fossil record. A combination of low invertebrate Biological Monitoring Working Party scores (<10) and the dominance of eutrophic diatoms in the modern lake confirms its poor ecological status. Palaeolimnological analysis of recent (last >200 yr) changes in organic and carbonate content, diatoms, stable isotopes, ostracods and molluscs in a lake sediment core (UL20A) indicates a 20th century trend towards increased sediment accumulation rates and eutrophication which was probably initiated by deforestation and agriculture. The most marked ecological shift occurs in the early 1960s, however. A subtle rise in diatom-inferred total phosphorus and an inferred reduction in submerged aquatic macrophyte cover accompanies a major increase in sediment accumulation rate. An associated marked shift in ostracod stable isotope data indicative of reduced seasonality and a change in hydrological input suggests major impact from artificial water management practices, all of which appears to have culminated in the sustained loss of submerged macrophytes since 2000. The study indicates it is vital to take both land-use and water management practices into account in devising restoration strategies. in a wider context, the results have important implications for the conservation of shallow karstic lakes, the functioning of which is still poorly understood. (c) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Feminist geography, prehistory of

The article traces the beginnings and early history of feminist geography in the United Kingdom through the memories and personal narratives of two women who were heavily involved in this field of geographical research, in the 1970s, and were founder members of the Women and Geography Study Group of the Institute of British Geographers. The article begins by considering the context (both political and academic) within which feminist geography was born. Second-wave feminism and the rise of the women’s movement, initially in the United States, is seen as a major influence on the development of feminist geography. In the academic world, it was the dominance of quantitative geography in the 1960s, and the related opposition to this positivist paradigm by humanistic and socialist geographers, which led to calls for a recognition of the inequalities faced by women in society and an understanding of the differences in men’s and women’s lives. Through personal narratives, the authors seek to illustrate the obstacles and disagreements, as well as the encouragements and opportunities, which led to the birth of UK-feminist geography. Many individual geographers, influential to the story, are referred to, seen through the eyes of the authors at that time.