INTERNET COMO PLATAFORMA PARA LIVRE CIRCULAÇÃO DE INFORMAÇÃO DE RELEVÂNCIA SOCIAL E NOVAS POSSIBILIDADES DE COMUNICAÇÃO

O estudo aponta como a internet ampliou as possibilidades de comunicação dos cidadãos de uma forma que não era possível no período do controle e concentração dos meios broadcasting sobre a informação social, assim, oferecendo espaço para a livre circulação de informação e novas possibilidades de comunicação. Entretanto, ressalta que ainda há assimetrias tanto do ponto de vista do acesso quanto do uso da rede em todas as suas potencialidades. Verifica que o atual momento ainda é de disputas em relação à legislação que diz respeito aos direitos e deveres dos que utilizam a rede. O trabalho foi realizado por meio de pesquisa bibliográfica e documental, tendo com base autores que pesquisam sobre as áreas da Comunicação, Tecnologias Digitais, Direito à Informação Social Livre e Legislação de internet, como Cicília Peruzzo, Manuel Castells, Rousiley Maia, Sérgio Amadeu da Silveira, Tim Wu, Tim Berners-Lee, Walter Lima Junior, Wilson Gomes e Yochai Benkler. O resultado da pesquisa demonstra que no cenário brasileiro, as desigualdades socioeconômicas são fator de desigualdade tanto em relação ao acesso quanto aos usos da internet, sendo dificultador para quem desejar se apropriar com liberdade deste desenvolvimento tecnológico. Portanto, cabe ao setor público interferir com vistas à diminuição das assimetrias informativas para garantir o direito de comunicação dos brasileiros no espaço de comunicação digital conectada.

A PROPAGANDA NA ERA DA CONVERGÊNCIA Um estudo comparativo da linguagem publicitária audiovisual nos meios internet e televisão.

Desde sua criação a internet tem recebido por parte dos anunciantes réplicas propagandas desenvolvidas para outras mídias, porém com o passar dos anos a internet ganhou espaço e recebeu a atenção dos anunciantes desejosos por utilizar suas forças à favor da venda de seus produtos. Contudo conhece-se muito pouco a respeito das características de linguagem específicas da internet, e a literatura existente e pouca e inconclusiva. Com base nesse quadro o trabalho comparou vídeos publicitários desenvolvidos especificamente para a internet com outros desenvolvidos originalmente para a televisão e publicados na internet a fim de identificar pontos de paridade e convergência entre eles no que se refere à linguagem. O trabalho baseou-se nas teorias da Cibercultura e da Sociedade em Rede e nos estudos de Marshall McLuhan e em uma análise comparativa dos vídeos a fim de entender a linguagem técnica, discursiva e visual dos mesmos. A pesquisa apontou diferenças entre os dois grupos de investigados, sobretudo no que se refere à interatividade, potencial de viralização e maximização de visualização. O estudo identificou também que no que se refere à linguagem técnico-discursiva os vídeos apresentaram pouca diferenciação embora tenha-se comprovado que os vídeos desenvolvidos para a internet são mais recentes o que evidencia um início do processo de adaptação da linguagem publicitária ao meio internet.

GOD SAVE THE QUEEN O IMAGINÁRIO DA REALEZA BRITÂNICA NAS NARRATIVAS TELEJORNALÍSTICAS CONTEMPORÂNEAS

Esta pesquisa busca evidenciar e analisar a construção das representações simbólicas, imaginárias e midiáticas da monarquia britânica contemporânea nas narrativas do telejornalismo brasileiro, presentes na exibição de seus eventos rituais e cerimoniais, tornando-os acontecimentos midiáticos relevantes na programação das emissoras de maior audiência do país e tema recorrente na pauta dos meios de comunicação pesquisados. Analisa a dimensão mítica e simbólica da construção de suas representações, as quais, ao serem reproduzidas e exibidas pela televisão, ganham maior alcance comunicacional e midiático junto às diferentes culturas locais, no amplo espectro global. Para tanto, combina uma pesquisa bibliográfica e histórica com uma pesquisa empírica voltada à análise de narrativas telejornalísticas, presentes nas emissoras Globo e Record entre 2010 e 2013. Definiu-se nas imagens e narrativas telejornalísticas o corpus dessa pesquisa, por seu alcance e distribuição, além de referência, audiência e preferência popular entre os diversos veículos de comunicação no Brasil e no mundo.

COORDENADORES PEDAGÓGICOS: FORMADORES DE PROFESSORES OU SUPERVISORES DE AÇÕES POLÍTICO-PEDAGÓGICAS DA ESCOLA?

O sistema educacional vem sofrendo influência direta das modificações ocorridas na sociedade, que está cada vez mais exposta a uma gama de informações que nem sempre são transformadas em conhecimento. Essas transformações vão desde uma nova postura do professor em sala de aula até a própria função social da escola, que ainda não responde às necessidades da sociedade. Nesse novo cenário faz-se imprescindível um professor mais preparado para orientar o aluno, ajudando-o a interagir com o outro, a selecionar as informações a que está exposto e a transformá-las em conhecimento, bem como a interagir com seus semelhantes. É importante considerar que aprendizagem do aluno está diretamente relacionada aos métodos de ensino aos quais está submetido. E, para garantir tal aprendizagem é necessário haver uma equipe mais preparada, mais coesa, ciente do trabalho que está desenvolvendo. Por isso a parceria do trabalho entre a coordenação pedagógica e os professores se torna indispensável. Mas será que o coordenador tem esse olhar? Para saber como o coordenador pedagógico atua na formação continuada dos professores, a pesquisa foi desenvolvida com uma parte teórica e uma parte prática. No referencial teórico estão Álvaro Marchesi, Vitor Henrique Paro e José Carlos Libâneo, por sua grande contribuição na área da gestão; Antônio Nóvoa, Cleide Terzi, Laurinda Almeida e Vera Placco, por seus trabalhos sobre formação de professores e de coordenadores pedagógicos, além de dissertações de mestrado e teses de doutorado sobre o tema. Na parte prática a pesquisa se organiza na perspectiva da metodologia quali/quantitativa, com entrevistas com nove coordenadores pedagógicos. Como a ênfase da dissertação está na construção do perfil desse profissional, foram entrevistados coordenadores de diversos segmentos (Educação Infantil, Ensino Fundamental e Ensino Médio) de diferentes escolas (rede particular e pública). No aspecto quantitativo da pesquisa, foi aplicado um questionário a dezesseis professores, para saber da atuação do coordenador pedagógico no aspecto formador. Os resultados mostraram que o coordenador pedagógico também precisa de formação. Ele desempenha tarefas específicas e que não são tratadas nem nas universidades nem nos cursos de especialização; precisa haver a parceria entre o coordenador pedagógico e o diretor pedagógico, para juntos decidirem os caminhos a serem seguidos dentro da escola; precisa haver um olhar mais direcionado para a formação da equipe, com reuniões, encontros, leituras e atividades planejadas, intencionais; há necessidade de devolutivas aos professores com mais frequência, estar mais perto, mais atuante; o coordenador pedagógico precisa repensar o trabalho coletivo, dar a seus professores autonomia para atuarem, dentro do que for possível. Mesmo os coordenadores pedagógicos que não têm autonomia dentro da escola podem fazer algo para deixar o trabalho com a marca do seu direcionamento; somente com um trabalho de parceria será possível resolver os conflitos e as tensões existentes e fortalecer a liderança, a confiança de seus pares, o trabalho em equipe. Dessa forma, as limitações do trabalho pedagógico com certeza diminuirão.

Supplier competitive advantage in inter-firm business relationships:is Keiretsu really a source of competitive advantage for Japanese automotive suppliers?

This paper explores how firms create and sustain competitive advantage in the inter-firm business relationships from a supplier’s perspective. Ultimately, this paper draws its attention to keiretsu partnerships and how it is perceived by Japanese automotive suppliers. Four main theoretical perspectives (resource based view, industrial organisation, transaction cost economics, and relational network) were considered when developing a conceptual framework based on competitive capability, market diversification, and level of engagement. The framework was examined against two best-practice automotive component suppliers. Later, primary data was also gathered through an interview with a CEO and a survey questionnaire with 11 Japanese companies. As a result, this paper classified these 11 companies into four supplier groups based on tier level (1 and 2) and affiliation condition. Findings propose that there may be little benefit in being an affiliated tier 1 supplier, and that independent tier 2 suppliers may be more competitive than affiliated ones.

The effect of interocular phase difference on perceived contrast

Binocular vision is traditionally treated as two processes: the fusion of similar images, and the interocular suppression of dissimilar images (e.g. binocular rivalry). Recent work has demonstrated that interocular suppression is phase-insensitive, whereas binocular summation occurs only when stimuli are in phase. But how do these processes affect our perception of binocular contrast? We measured perceived contrast using a matching paradigm for a wide range of interocular phase offsets (0–180°) and matching contrasts (2–32%). Our results revealed a complex interaction between contrast and interocular phase. At low contrasts, perceived contrast reduced monotonically with increasing phase offset, by up to a factor of 1.6. At higher contrasts the pattern was non-monotonic: perceived contrast was veridical for in-phase and antiphase conditions, and monocular presentation, but increased a little at intermediate phase angles. These findings challenge a recent model in which contrast perception is phase-invariant. The results were predicted by a binocular contrast gain control model. The model involves monocular gain controls with interocular suppression from positive and negative phase channels, followed by summation across eyes and then across space. Importantly, this model—applied to conditions with vertical disparity—has only a single (zero) disparity channel and embodies both fusion and suppression processes within a single framework.

Cost models for engineering services

This thesis describes the procedure and results from four years research undertaken through the IHD (Interdisciplinary Higher Degrees) Scheme at Aston University in Birmingham, sponsored by the SERC (Science and Engineering Research Council) and Monk Dunstone Associates, Chartered Quantity Surveyors. A stochastic networking technique VERT (Venture Evaluation and Review Technique) was used to model the pre-tender costs of public health, heating ventilating, air-conditioning, fire protection, lifts and electrical installations within office developments. The model enabled the quantity surveyor to analyse, manipulate and explore complex scenarios which previously had defied ready mathematical analysis. The process involved the examination of historical material costs, labour factors and design performance data. Components and installation types were defined and formatted. Data was updated and adjusted using mechanical and electrical pre-tender cost indices and location, selection of contractor, contract sum, height and site condition factors. Ranges of cost, time and performance data were represented by probability density functions and defined by constant, uniform, normal and beta distributions. These variables and a network of the interrelationships between services components provided the framework for analysis. The VERT program, in this particular study, relied upon Monte Carlo simulation to model the uncertainties associated with pre-tender estimates of all possible installations. The computer generated output in the form of relative and cumulative frequency distributions of current element and total services costs, critical path analyses and details of statistical parameters. From this data alternative design solutions were compared, the degree of risk associated with estimates was determined, heuristics were tested and redeveloped, and cost significant items were isolated for closer examination. The resultant models successfully combined cost, time and performance factors and provided the quantity surveyor with an appreciation of the cost ranges associated with the various engineering services design options.

Early cognitive profiles of emergent readers:a longitudinal study

This longitudinal study examined the contribution of phonological awareness, phonological memory, and visuospatial ability to reading development in 142 English-speaking children from the start of kindergarten to the middle of Grade 2. Partial cross-lagged analyses revealed significant relationships between early performance on block design and matching letter-like forms tasks and later reading ability. Rhyme awareness correlated with later reading ability during the earliest stages, but onset awareness did not emerge as important until after the children had started reading. Digit span correlated significantly with future reading ability at every stage. These findings indicate that although phonological awareness, phonological memory, and visuospatial ability are all necessary for emergent reading, their relative importance varies across the first 2 years of reading development.

Service differentiation for the bandwidth request scheme in fixed IEEE 802.16 networks

IEEE 802.16 standards have been developed as one of the technical solutions for broadband wireless access systems. It has high data rate, large network coverage, flexible QoS schemes and cheap network deployment. Various flexible mechanisms related to QoS provisioning have been specified for uplink traffic at the medium access control (MAC) layer in the standards. Among the mechanisms, contention based bandwidth request scheme can be used to indicate bandwidth demands to the base station for the non-real-time polling and besteffort services. These two services are used for most application with unknown traffic characteristics. Due to the diverse QoS requirements of those applications, service differentiation (SD) is anticipated over the contention based bandwidth request scheme. In this paper we investigate the SD with the bandwidth request scheme by means of assigning different channel access parameters and bandwidth allocation priorities. The effectiveness of the differentiation schemes are evaluated by simulations. It is observed that the initial backoff window can be efficient in SD, and if combined with the bandwidth allocation priority, the SD performances will be better. ©2008 IEEE.

How do public private partnerships influence business school performance in English-speaking Caribbean?

This thesis addresses the question of how business schoolsestablished as public privatepartnerships (PPPs) within a regional university in the English-speaking Caribbean survived for over twenty-one years and achieved legitimacy in their environment. The aim of the study was to examine how public and private sector actors contributed to the evolution of the PPPs. A social network perspective provided a broad relational focus from which to explore the phenomenon and engage disciplinary and middle-rangetheories to develop explanations. Legitimacy theory provided an appropriate performance dimension from which to assess PPP success. An embedded multiple-case research design, with three case sites analysed at three levels including the country and university environment, the PPP as a firm and the subgroup level constituted the methodological framing of the research process. The analysis techniques included four methods but relied primarily on discourse and social network analysis of interview data from 40 respondents across the three sites. A staged analysis of the evolution of the firm provided the ‘time and effects’ antecedents which formed the basis for sense-making to arrive at explanations of the public-private relationship-influenced change. A conceptual model guided the study and explanations from the cross-case analysis were used to refine the process model and develop a dynamic framework and set of theoretical propositions that would underpin explanations of PPP success and legitimacy in matched contexts through analytical generalisation. The study found that PPP success was based on different models of collaboration and partner resource contribution that arose from a confluence of variables including the development of shared purpose, private voluntary control in corporate governance mechanisms and boundary spanning leadership. The study contributes a contextual theory that explains how PPPs work and a research agenda of ‘corporate governance as inspiration’ from a sociological perspective of ‘liquid modernity’. Recommendations for policy and management practice were developed.

The importance of power dynamics in the development of asynchronous online learning communities

This research explored how a more student-directed learning design can support the creation of togetherness and belonging in a community of distance learners in formal higher education. Postgraduate students in a New Zealand School of Education experienced two different learning tasks as part of their online distance learning studies. The tasks centered around two online asynchronous discussions each for the same period of time and with the same group of students, but following two different learning design principles. All messages were analyzed using a twostep analysis process, content analysis and social network analysis. Although the findings showed a balance of power between the tutor and the students in the first high e-moderated activity, a better pattern of group interaction and community feeling was found in the low e-moderated activity. The paper will discuss the findings in terms of the implications for learning design and the role of the tutor.

A multimodal perspective on the composition of cortical oscillations:frontiers in human neuroscience

An expanding corpus of research details the relationship between functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) measures and neuronal network oscillations. Typically, integratedelectroencephalography(EEG) and fMRI,orparallel magnetoencephalography (MEG) and fMRI are used to draw inference about the consanguinity of BOLD and electrical measurements. However, there is a relative dearth of information about the relationship between E/MEG and the focal networks from which these signals emanate. Consequently, the genesis and composition of E/MEG oscillations requires further clarification. Here we aim to contribute to understanding through a series of parallel measurements of primary motor cortex (M1) oscillations, using human MEG and in-vitro rodent local field potentials. We compare spontaneous activity in the ~10Hz mu and 15-30Hz beta frequency ranges and compare MEG signals with independent and integrated layers III and V(LIII/LV) from in vitro recordings. We explore the mechanisms of oscillatory generation, using specific pharmacological modulation with the GABA-A alpha-1 subunit modulator zolpidem. Finally, to determine the contribution of cortico-cortical connectivity, we recorded in-vitro M1, during an incision to sever lateral connections between M1 and S1 cortices. We demonstrate that frequency distribution of MEG signals appear have closer statistically similarity with signals from integrated rather than independent LIII/LV laminae. GABAergic modulation in both modalities elicited comparable changes in the power of the beta band. Finally, cortico-cortical connectivity in sensorimotor cortex (SMC) appears to directly influence the power of the mu rhythm in LIII. These findings suggest that the MEG signal is an amalgam of outputs from LIII and LV, that multiple frequencies can arise from the same cortical area and that in vitro and MEG M1 oscillations are driven by comparable mechanisms. Finally, corticocortical connectivity is reflected in the power of the SMC mu rhythm. © 2013 Ronnqvist, Mcallister, Woodhall, Stanford and Hall.

Throughput-based rate adaptation algorithm for IEEE 802.11 vehicle networks

A key problem with IEEE 802.11 technology is adaptation of the transmission rates to the changing channel conditions, which is more challenging in vehicular networks. Although rate adaptation problem has been extensively studied for static residential and enterprise network scenarios, there is little work dedicated to the IEEE 802.11 rate adaptation in vehicular networks. Here, the authors are motivated to study the IEEE 802.11 rate adaptation problem in infrastructure-based vehicular networks. First of all, the performances of several existing rate adaptation algorithms under vehicle network scenarios, which have been widely used for static network scenarios, are evaluated. Then, a new rate adaptation algorithm is proposed to improve the network performance. In the new rate adaptation algorithm, the technique of sampling candidate transmission modes is used, and the effective throughput associated with a transmission mode is the metric used to choose among the possible transmission modes. The proposed algorithm is compared to several existing rate adaptation algorithms by simulations, which shows significant performance improvement under various system and channel configurations. An ideal signal-to-noise ratio (SNR)-based rate adaptation algorithm in which accurate channel SNR is assumed to be always available is also implemented for benchmark performance comparison.

Evaluating the performance of a EuroDivisia index using artificial intelligence techniques

We compare two methods in order to predict inflation rates in Europe. One method uses a standard back propagation neural network and the other uses an evolutionary approach, where the network weights and the network architecture is evolved. Results indicate that back propagation produces superior results. However, the evolving network still produces reasonable results with the advantage that the experimental set-up is minimal. Also of interest is the fact that the Divisia measure of money is superior as a predictive tool over simple sum.

Evaluating the performance of a EuroDivisia index using artificial intelligence techniques

This paper compares two methods to predict in°ation rates in Europe. One method uses a standard back propagation neural network and the other uses an evolutionary approach, where the network weights and the network architecture are evolved. Results indicate that back propagation produces superior results. However, the evolving network still produces reasonable results with the advantage that the experimental set-up is minimal. Also of interest is the fact that the Divisia measure of money is superior as a predictive tool over simple sum.