Construction of the transcomplex numbers from the complex numbers

A geometrical construction of the transcomplex numbers was given elsewhere. Here we simplify the transcomplex plane and construct the set of transcomplex numbers from the set of complex numbers. Thus transcomplex numbers and their arithmetic arise as consequences of their construction, not by an axiomatic development. This simplifes transcom- plex arithmetic, compared to the previous treatment, but retains totality so that every arithmetical operation can be applied to any transcomplex number(s) such that the result is a transcomplex number. Our proof establishes the consistency of transcomplex and transreal arithmetic and establishes the expected containment relationships amongst transcomplex, complex, transreal and real numbers. We discuss some of the advantages the transarithmetics have over their partial counterparts.

Transdifferential and transintegral calculus

The set of transreal numbers is a superset of the real numbers. It totalises real arithmetic by defining division by zero in terms of three def- inite, non-finite numbers: positive infinity, negative infinity and nullity. Elsewhere, in this proceedings, we extended continuity and limits from the real domain to the transreal domain, here we extended the real derivative to the transreal derivative. This continues to demonstrate that transreal analysis contains real analysis and operates at singularities where real analysis fails. Hence computer programs that rely on computing deriva- tives { such as those used in scientific, engineering and financial applica- tions { are extended to operate at singularities where they currently fail. This promises to make software, that computes derivatives, both more competent and more reliable. We also extended the integration of absolutely convergent functions from the real domain to the transreal domain.

Transreal arithmetic as a consistent basis for paraconsistent logics

Paraconsistent logics are non-classical logics which allow non-trivial and consistent reasoning about inconsistent axioms. They have been pro- posed as a formal basis for handling inconsistent data, as commonly arise in human enterprises, and as methods for fuzzy reasoning, with applica- tions in Artificial Intelligence and the control of complex systems. Formalisations of paraconsistent logics usually require heroic mathe- matical efforts to provide a consistent axiomatisation of an inconsistent system. Here we use transreal arithmetic, which is known to be consis- tent, to arithmetise a paraconsistent logic. This is theoretically simple and should lead to efficient computer implementations. We introduce the metalogical principle of monotonicity which is a very simple way of making logics paraconsistent. Our logic has dialetheaic truth values which are both False and True. It allows contradictory propositions, allows variable contradictions, but blocks literal contradictions. Thus literal reasoning, in this logic, forms an on-the- y, syntactic partition of the propositions into internally consistent sets. We show how the set of all paraconsistent, possible worlds can be represented in a transreal space. During the development of our logic we discuss how other paraconsistent logics could be arithmetised in transreal arithmetic.

Transreal limits expose category errors in IEEE 754 floating-point arithmetic and in mathematics

The IEEE 754 standard for oating-point arithmetic is widely used in computing. It is based on real arithmetic and is made total by adding both a positive and a negative infinity, a negative zero, and many Not-a-Number (NaN) states. The IEEE infinities are said to have the behaviour of limits. Transreal arithmetic is total. It also has a positive and a negative infinity but no negative zero, and it has a single, unordered number, nullity. We elucidate the transreal tangent and extend real limits to transreal limits. Arguing from this firm foundation, we maintain that there are three category errors in the IEEE 754 standard. Firstly the claim that IEEE infinities are limits of real arithmetic confuses limiting processes with arithmetic. Secondly a defence of IEEE negative zero confuses the limit of a function with the value of a function. Thirdly the definition of IEEE NaNs confuses undefined with unordered. Furthermore we prove that the tangent function, with the infinities given by geometrical con- struction, has a period of an entire rotation, not half a rotation as is commonly understood. This illustrates a category error, confusing the limit with the value of a function, in an important area of applied mathe- matics { trigonometry. We brie y consider the wider implications of this category error. Another paper proposes transreal arithmetic as a basis for floating- point arithmetic; here we take the profound step of proposing transreal arithmetic as a replacement for real arithmetic to remove the possibility of certain category errors in mathematics. Thus we propose both theo- retical and practical advantages of transmathematics. In particular we argue that implementing transreal analysis in trans- floating-point arith- metic would extend the coverage, accuracy and reliability of almost all computer programs that exploit real analysis { essentially all programs in science and engineering and many in finance, medicine and other socially beneficial applications.

Immigration, security and the public debate on US language policy : a critical discourse analysis of language attitudes in the United States of America

The narrative of the United States is of a "nation of immigrants" in which the language shift patterns of earlier ethnolinguistic groups have tended towards linguistic assimilation through English. In recent years, however, changes in the demographic landscape and language maintenance by non-English speaking immigrants, particularly Hispanics, have been perceived as threats and have led to calls for an official English language policy.This thesis aims to contribute to the study of language policy making from a societal security perspective as expressed in attitudes regarding language and identity originating in the daily interaction between language groups. The focus is on the role of language and American identity in relation to immigration. The study takes an interdisciplinary approach combining language policy studies, security theory, and critical discourse analysis. The material consists of articles collected from four newspapers, namely USA Today, The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, and San Francisco Chronicle between April 2006 and December 2007.Two discourse types are evident from the analysis namely Loyalty and Efficiency. The former is mainly marked by concerns of national identity and contains speech acts of security related to language shift, choice and English for unity. Immigrants are represented as dehumanised, and harmful. Immigration is given as sovereignty-related, racial, and as war. The discourse type of Efficiency is mainly instrumental and contains speech acts of security related to cost, provision of services, health and safety, and social mobility. Immigrants are further represented as a labour resource. These discourse types reflect how the construction of the linguistic 'we' is expected to be maintained. Loyalty is triggered by arguments that the collective identity is threatened and is itself used in reproducing the collective 'we' through hegemonic expressions of monolingualism in the public space and semi-public space. The denigration of immigrants is used as a tool for enhancing societal security through solidarity and as a possible justification for the denial of minority rights. Also, although language acquisition patterns still follow the historical trend of language shift, factors indicating cultural separateness such as the appearance of speech communities or the use of minority languages in the public space and semi-public space have led to manifestations of intolerance. Examples of discrimination and prejudice towards minority groups indicate that the perception of worth of a shared language differs from the actual worth of dominant language acquisition for integration purposes. The study further indicates that the efficient working of the free market by using minority languages to sell services or buy labour is perceived as conflicting with nation-building notions since it may create separately functioning sub-communities with a new cultural capital recognised as legitimate competence. The discourse types mainly represent securitising moves constructing existential threats. The perception of threat and ideas of national belonging are primarily based on a zero-sum notion favouring monolingualism. Further, the identity of the immigrant individual is seen as dynamic and adaptable to assimilationist measures whereas the identity of the state and its members are perceived as static. Also, the study shows that debates concerning language status are linked to extra-linguistic matters. To conclude, policy makers in the US need to consider the relationship between four factors, namely societal security based on collective identity, individual/human security, human rights, and a changing linguistic demography, for proposed language intervention measures to be successful.

Biomarkers of extracellular matrix metabolism (MMP-9 and TIMP-1) and risk of stroke, myocardial infarction and cause-specific mortality : cohort study

Objective: Turnover of the extracellular matrix in all solid organs is governed mainly by a balance between the degrading matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) and their tissue inhibitors (TIMPs). An altered extracellular matrix metabolism has been implicated in a variety of diseases. We investigated relations of serum levels of MMP-9 and TIMP-1 to mortality risk from an etiological perspective. Design: The prospective Uppsala Longitudinal Study of Adult Men (ULSAM) cohort, followed from 1991–1995 for up to 18.1 years. A random population-based sample of 1,082 71-year-old men, no loss to follow-up. Endpoints were all-cause (n = 628), cardiovascular (n = 230), non-cardiovascular (n = 398) and cancer mortality (n = 178), and fatal or non-fatal myocardial infarction (n = 138) or stroke (n = 163). Results: Serum MMP-9 and TIMP-1 levels were associated with risk of all-cause mortality (Cox proportional hazard ratio [HR] per standard deviation 1.10, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.03–1.19; and 1.11, 1.02–1.20; respectively). TIMP-1 levels were mainly related to risks of cardiovascular mortality and stroke (HR per standard deviation 1.22, 95% CI 1.09–1.37; and 1.18, 1.04–1.35; respectively). All relations except those of TIMP-1 to stroke risk were attenuated by adjustment for cardiovascular disease risk factors. Relations in a subsample without cardiovascular disease or cancer were similar to those in the total sample. Conclusion: In this community-based cohort of elderly men, serum MMP-9 and TIMP-1 levels were related to mortality risk. An altered extracellular matrix metabolism may be involved in several detrimental pathways, and circulating MMP-9 or TIMP-1 levels may be relevant markers thereof.

Responsabilidade social corporativa : a memória do Programa de Reassentamento dos Atingidos pela Barragem da Usina Hidrelétrica Luiz Gonzaga (ex-Itaparica)

No Brasil, água e energia têm uma forte e histórica nterdependência, de forma que a contribuição da energia hidráulica ao desenvolvimento econômico do País tem sido expressiva, seja no atendimento às diversas demandas da economia, ou da própria sociedade, melhorando o conforto das habitações e a qualidade de vida das pessoas. Também desempenha papel importante na integração e desenvolvimento de regiões distantes dos grandes centros urbanos e industriais. A década de 70 registrou um crescimento elevado da demanda por energia elétrica no Brasil; reflexo de políticas desenvolvimentistas de governos anteriores que promoveram o crescimento industrial do País atraindo e criando indústrias de uso alto intensivo da letricidade. No caso da região Nordeste, o crescimento econômico trouxe consigo o risco de um grave racionamento de energia. Para eliminar tal risco, o Estado por intermédio do Sistema Eletrobras realizou a construção de grandes usinas hidrelétricas interligando-as ao sistema nacional. Não há como negar que esta solução provocou um grande benefício para grande parte da população brasileira, mas trouxe, para uma parcela do povo brasileiro, um custo social bastante elevado. Essas pessoas ficaram então conhecidas como os “atingidos por barragens”. Para eles, a construção das barragens de usinas como Itaipu, Tucuruí, Sobradinho e Itaparica significou o deslocamento compulsório dos locais aonde viviam e tinham suas tradições e referência culturais e afetivas. Esta pesquisa objetiva resgatar a memória deste período de grandes obras, promessas de desenvolvimento e marcas deixadas em milhares de famílias brasileiras. O estudo em questão é também uma tentativa de mostrar como o Programa de Reassentamento de Itaparica, projeto conduzido pela Companhia Hidro Elétrica do São Francisco – CHESF foi o marco de uma nova dinâmica para tratamento das questões sociais envolvendo a reparação de danos causados aos atingidos por barragens e se constitui talvez, no primeiro caso de Responsabilidade Social Corporativa do setor elétrico brasileiro.

A festa do bom Jesus dos navegantes em propriá-se: história de fé, espaço das relações sociais e laços culturais

The study is a survey conducted for the Master of Social Sciences carried out in partnership between the Universidade Tiradentes-UNIT/SE and the Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN). Being a religious event, we seek to show that the religious parties generally have particular meanings for each nation or region. Amaral (1998) informs that the Brazilian parties regardless of where they occur are popular demonstrations that, as the context in which they present themselves, can dilute to crystallize, to celebrate, to ritualize or sacralize the particular social experience of the groups that do. They happen as a way to thank victories or important religious passages as Christmas, the June saints celebration, patron saints and patron saints considered. Thus, The Bom Jesus dos Navegantes party in Propriá-SE: story of faith, a space of social relations and cultural ties, is presented as our field of study because it is one of those celebrations that while celebrated in Sergipe, always on Sundays in January, by some municipalities situated along the river San Francisco, has the characteristic of overlap any others placed in town, including the one of the city's patron saint, Saint Anthony, held on June 13. Concerning the materials and methods, we opted for qualitative research and participant direct observation, using the techniques of personal notes, interviews, newspapers, websites, photos, videos and testimonials from participants and organizers, as well as references offered by experts of the area. With this research answers were sought to questions about what could keep alive the celebration of Bom Jesus dos Navegantes each year in order that this is a patron saint, not saint; the way as the investment of local government with more resources in this period, during the organization of arts festivals, has created a thread of tension with the Catholic Church promoting the religious rituals was reviewed. It was also analyzed how the sacred and profane spaces present themselves inseparable from the celebration and, finally, it was revealed that the party retains its value by preserving its tradition and making room for modernity, not weakening but suffering metamorphoses of time and space and can be seen in the social and cultural bonds wrapped by the time of religious faith

O sindicato como espaço de construção da profissão docente

This work examines the connection Syndicate/teachers profession trying to unveil the important role taken over by the Syndical movement in the process of professionalization of the militant teachers. For that, it describes and analyses the historical course of three Syndicates representatives of the teachers category Associação dos Professores Licenciados da Bahia APLB; Sindicato dos Trabalhadores em Educação de Pernambuco SINTEPE; Sindicato dos Servidores Municipais de Petrolina SINDSEMP acting in the micro-region of the San Francisco Valley, especially, in the municipalities of Juazeiro Bahia , and of Petrolina Pernambuco. It concentrates its interests on the contribution of the Syndicates for the professional development of these teachers in this region analysing the aspects related to emerging conflicts into the Syndical organization, to the attitude of these entities before the educational reality to their reinvindicative struggles to the formative dimension of the group actions. This study tries to answer the following questions: How has this syndical movement of teachers of state school of S. Francisco Valley been characterized? How do their actions reflect in the formation and professionalization of the teachers? Do teachers recognize the syndicate as a constructive space for the teaching profession? The methodological trajectory was directed through a qualitative approach of an etnomethodological character, using instruments for the understanding of this reality, The treatment of the data was based on the interpretative analysis of the speeches present in documents and through answers of the interviwees, having as a reference in this analysis the theoretical studies about syndicalism and the teacher professionalization. For a conceptual construction of this work it was studied these two categories from their genesis, from the social historical evolution of their concepts and the up to date discussions that give explanations about the teachers syndical movement and about the process of teachers professionalization. As thesis of this study it was defended the idea of that the teachers syndicates have contributed expressively in the process of the construction of the teacher profession of the militant teachers of this in the micro-region of the S. Francisco Valley. Once the teachers participate actively in this movement promoted by the syndical entities, the teachers develop the critical sense of the educational realty; improve their formation and reinvindicate from the State this condition as a Right; fight for better conditions in the work; reinvindicate the salary valuation and, try to construct an image of teacher basing on a professional model. The contribution of the Syndicate in the process of teachers profissionalization, is more evident in its external dimension that chacterizes the profissionalism, on the related aspects: to the forms of participation in the definition and the management of the educational politics; to the political struggles for the achievements of the professional status, to the recognition and of his eventual valuation. The syndical actions have repercussions with less intensity in the inside dimension that defines the profissionality, in the related aspects: to the administratation of the pedagogical processes in schools and in the classroom; to the acquisition of branches of knowledges; to the epistemological criticism of the acquirements mobilized in the teaching; the curricular question to the mediation that make possible the learning at school and in the classroom

Immunity of an Alternative Host Can Be Overcome by Higher Densities of Its Parasitoids Palmistichus elaeisis and Trichospilus diatraeae

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

O sindicato como espaço de construção da Profissão Docente

This work examines the connection Syndicate/teachers profession trying to unveil the important role taken over by the Syndical movement in the process of professionalization of the militant teachers. For that, it describes and analyses the historical course of three Syndicates representatives of the teachers category Associação dos Professores Licenciados da Bahia APLB; Sindicato dos Trabalhadores em Educação de Pernambuco SINTEPE; Sindicato dos Servidores Municipais de Petrolina SINDSEMP acting in the micro-region of the San Francisco Valley, especially, in the municipalities of Juazeiro Bahia , and of Petrolina Pernambuco. It concentrates its interests on the contribution of the Syndicates for the professional development of these teachers in this region analysing the aspects related to emerging conflicts into the Syndical organization, to the attitude of these entities before the educational reality to their reinvindicative struggles to the formative dimension of the group actions. This study tries to answer the following questions: How has this syndical movement of teachers of state school of S. Francisco Valley been characterized? How do their actions reflect in the formation and professionalization of the teachers? Do teachers recognize the syndicate as a constructive space for the teaching profession? The methodological trajectory was directed through a qualitative approach of an etnomethodological character, using instruments for the understanding of this reality, The treatment of the data was based on the interpretative analysis of the speeches present in documents and through answers of the interviwees, having as a reference in this analysis the theoretical studies about syndicalism and the teacher professionalization. For a conceptual construction of this work it was studied these two categories from their genesis, from the social historical evolution of their concepts and the up to date discussions that give explanations about the teachers syndical movement and about the process of teachers professionalization. As thesis of this study it was defended the idea of that the teachers syndicates have contributed expressively in the process of the construction of the teacher profession of the militant teachers of this in the micro-region of the S. Francisco Valley. Once the teachers participate actively in this movement promoted by the syndical entities, the teachers develop the critical sense of the educational realty; improve their formation and reinvindicate from the State this condition as a Right; fight for better conditions in the work; reinvindicate the salary valuation and, try to construct an image of teacher basing on a professional model. The contribution of the Syndicate in the process of teachers profissionalization, is more evident in its external dimension that chacterizes the profissionalism, on the related aspects: to the forms of participation in the definition and the management of the educational politics; to the political struggles for the achievements of the professional status, to the recognition and of his eventual valuation. The syndical actions have repercussions with less intensity in the inside dimension that defines the profissionality, in the related aspects: to the administratation of the pedagogical processes in schools and in the classroom; to the acquisition of branches of knowledges; to the epistemological criticism of the acquirements mobilized in the teaching; the curricular question to the mediation that make possible the learning at school and in the classroom