Global governance, currency and trade: implications of one on the other, common problems and how to address cooperation through law at the international level

How to deal with the impacts of the exchange rate on the trade balance of Brazil? There is not a single answer to such question. In order to find out some legal approaches for this matter, this paper aims to describe and analyze the role of the IMF, WTO and the governments of Brazil and the United States on the currency misalignments, especially the extraterritorial effects of such misalignment on the Brazil’s bilateral trade with the United States. The article concludes that the Currency Swap Agreements and other bilateral solutions may minimize the distortions that the Brazilian balance of payment against the USA is carrying, due to the lack of legal solutions for the problem of the exchange rate misalignments that Brazil is facing.

Domestic violence in Brazil: social problems and legislative interventions

Recent statistical data confirms that domestic violence is a structural problem of exceptional gravity. We analyze the frequent legislative changes in Brazil since 2000 as a result of social pressure for protection of abused women. Only the Law 11.340 of 2006 was well received by lawyers, judges and the public opinion. We present the innovations and peculiarities of this statute and the allegations on unconstitutionality. We discuss cases of judicial review of this law and reject the arguments of unconstitutionality. That notwithstanding, we argue that penalization decisions is the wrong way from a criminological point of view because they do not take into consideration the desires and needs of the victims.

Main problems with the taxation of civil society organizations in Brazil: certifications and impact on payroll

The objective of this paper is to identify and analyze the main problems in the taxation—regarding both taxes themselves and compliance costs of taxation—of civil society organizations in Brazil. This study is qualitative descriptive research. A multiple case study with 26 organizations was performed. The results show that the problems mainly affect organizations with lower revenue and that do not work in the areas of education, health or social care. The main problems involve the taxation of the payroll and the difficulties related to obtaining and maintaining certifications. The study concludes with suggestions for the improvement of the regulatory framework.

Limited liability and non-responsiveness in moral hazard and adverse selection problems

This work analyses the optimal menu of contracts offered by a risk neutral principal to a risk averse agent under moral hazard, adverse selection and limited liability. There are two output levels, whose probability of occurrence are given by agent’s private information choice of effort. The agent’s cost of effort is also private information. First, we show that without assumptions on the cost function, it is not possible to guarantee that the optimal contract menu is simple, when the agent is strictly risk averse. Then, we provide sufficient conditions over the cost function under which it is optimal to offer a single contract, independently of agent’s risk aversion. Our full-pooling cases are caused by non-responsiveness, which is induced by the high cost of enforcing higher effort levels. Also, we show that limited liability generates non-responsiveness.

The combination of neural estimates in prediction and decision problems

In this dissertation, different ways of combining neural predictive models or neural-based forecasts are discussed. The proposed approaches consider mostly Gaussian radial basis function networks, which can be efficiently identified and estimated through recursive/adaptive methods. Two different ways of combining are explored to get a final estimate – model mixing and model synthesis –, with the aim of obtaining improvements both in terms of efficiency and effectiveness. In the context of model mixing, the usual framework for linearly combining estimates from different models is extended, to deal with the case where the forecast errors from those models are correlated. In the context of model synthesis, and to address the problems raised by heavily nonstationary time series, we propose hybrid dynamic models for more advanced time series forecasting, composed of a dynamic trend regressive model (or, even, a dynamic harmonic regressive model), and a Gaussian radial basis function network. Additionally, using the model mixing procedure, two approaches for decision-making from forecasting models are discussed and compared: either inferring decisions from combined predictive estimates, or combining prescriptive solutions derived from different forecasting models. Finally, the application of some of the models and methods proposed previously is illustrated with two case studies, based on time series from finance and from tourism.

Graphical constraints: a graphical user interface for constraint problems

A constraint satisfaction problem is a classical artificial intelligence paradigm characterized by a set of variables (each variable with an associated domain of possible values), and a set of constraints that specify relations among subsets of these variables. Solutions are assignments of values to all variables that satisfy all the constraints. Many real world problems may be modelled by means of constraints. The range of problems that can use this representation is very diverse and embraces areas like resource allocation, scheduling, timetabling or vehicle routing. Constraint programming is a form of declarative programming in the sense that instead of specifying a sequence of steps to execute, it relies on properties of the solutions to be found, which are explicitly defined by constraints. The idea of constraint programming is to solve problems by stating constraints which must be satisfied by the solutions. Constraint programming is based on specialized constraint solvers that take advantage of constraints to search for solutions. The success and popularity of complex problem solving tools can be greatly enhanced by the availability of friendly user interfaces. User interfaces cover two fundamental areas: receiving information from the user and communicating it to the system; and getting information from the system and deliver it to the user. Despite its potential impact, adequate user interfaces are uncommon in constraint programming in general. The main goal of this project is to develop a graphical user interface that allows to, intuitively, represent constraint satisfaction problems. The idea is to visually represent the variables of the problem, their domains and the problem constraints and enable the user to interact with an adequate constraint solver to process the constraints and compute the solutions. Moreover, the graphical interface should be capable of configure the solver’s parameters and present solutions in an appealing interactive way. As a proof of concept, the developed application – GraphicalConstraints – focus on continuous constraint programming, which deals with real valued variables and numerical constraints (equations and inequalities). RealPaver, a state-of-the-art solver in continuous domains, was used in the application. The graphical interface supports all stages of constraint processing, from the design of the constraint network to the presentation of the end feasible space solutions as 2D or 3D boxes.

Sistemas de gerenciamento de bibliotecas: riscos decorrentes do processo de migração de dados

This work aims to analyze risks related to information technology (IT) in procedures related to data migration. This is done considering ALEPH, Integrated Libray System (ILS) that migrated data to the Library Module present in the software called Sistema Integrado de Gestão de Atividades Acadêmicas (SIGAA) at the Zila Mamede Central Library at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN) in Natal/Brazil. The methodological procedure used was of a qualitative exploratory research with the realization of case study at the referred library in order to better understand this phenomenon. Data collection was able once there was use of a semi-structured interview that was applied with (11) subjects that are employed at the library as well as in the Technology Superintendence at UFRN. In order to examine data Content analysis as well as thematic review process was performed. After data migration the results of the interview were then linked to both analysis units and their system register with category correspondence. The main risks detected were: data destruction; data loss; data bank communication failure; user response delay; data inconsistency and duplicity. These elements point out implication and generate disorders that affect external and internal system users and lead to stress, work duplicity and hassles. Thus, some measures were taken related to risk management such as adequate planning, central management support, and pilot test simulations. For the advantages it has reduced of: risk, occurrence of problems and possible unforeseen costs, and allows achieving organizational objectives, among other. It is inferred therefore that the risks present in data bank conversion in libraries exist and some are predictable, however, it is seen that librarians do not know or ignore and are not very worried in the identification risks in data bank conversion, their acknowledge would minimize or even extinguish them. Another important aspect to consider is the existence of few empirical research that deal specifically with this subject and thus presenting the new of new approaches in order to promote better understanding of the matter in the corporate environment of the information units

A bounded upwinding scheme for computing convection-dominated transport problems

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Numerical simulation of drop impact and jet buckling problems using the eXtended Pom-Pom model

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

O Aleph e seus duplos: mimesis e auto-reflexividade na obra de Jorge Luis Borges

This study approach the Jorge Luis Borges s prose of fiction under the perspective of mimesis and the self-reflexivity. The hypothesis is that the Aleph is a central symbol of the Borges s fictional universe. The rewriting and the retake of this symbol along of his work entail to a reflection about the possibilities and the limits of mimesis. This study is divided in three parts which contain two chapters. The first part Bibliographic revision and conceptual fundaments of inquiry discuss the critical fortune of author (Chapter 1) and the concepts that will give sustentation to the inquiry (Chapter 2). The second part About the Borges s aesthetic project sketch out the literary project defended by Borges that is his conception of the literature and his ideological matrix (Chapter 3) beside his anti-psychologism and his nostalgia of epos (Chapter 4). The third and last part is entitled The Aleph and his doubles. In the chapter 5 this study analyses the short story El Aleph and consider its centrality on the Borges s work. The argument that is on this short story Borges elaborates a reflection about mimesis. In the chapter 6, on the same hand, four short stories will be analysed: Funes el memorioso ; El Libro de Arena ; El evangelio según Marcos and Del rigor en la ciencia . The conclusion that is the Borges s literature is self-awake of its process as such demonstrate its parodic sense and its bookish origin. Hence, the Borges s literature overlapping the mimetic crisis of language and challenge the limits between fiction and reality. However, it doesn t surrender to the nihilist perspective that is closing of literature to the world

Mathematical tests about the existence and applications of PPS-wavelets in function approximation problems

Neural networks and wavelet transform have been recently seen as attractive tools for developing eficient solutions for many real world problems in function approximation. Function approximation is a very important task in environments where computation has to be based on extracting information from data samples in real world processes. So, mathematical model is a very important tool to guarantee the development of the neural network area. In this article we will introduce one series of mathematical demonstrations that guarantee the wavelets properties for the PPS functions. As application, we will show the use of PPS-wavelets in pattern recognition problems of handwritten digit through function approximation techniques.

A continuously differentiable upwinding scheme for the simulation of fluid flow problems

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Assessment of a high-order finite difference upwind scheme for the simulation of convection-diffusion problems

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Predictor-Corrector Primal-Dual Interior Point Method for Solving Economic Dispatch Problems: A Postoptimization Analysis

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Modeling of interfaces in two-dimensional problems using solid finite elements with high aspect ratio

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)