Search results for: Paolo Gabriel P. Casas

Authors: Joseph Christopher R. Ragasa, Paolo Gabriel P. Casas, Nemesio S. Mangila, Maria Emma C. Villamin, Myra G. Bungag

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A procedure in measuring the thermal protrusion profiles of magnetic recording heads was developed using a Wyko HD-8100 optical interference-based instrument. The protrusions in the heads were made by the application of a constant power through the thermal flying height controller pads. It was found that the thermally-induced bubble is confined to form in the same head locations, primarily in the reader and writer regions, regardless of the direction of approach of temperature. An application of power to the thermal flying height control pads ranging from 0 to 50 milliWatts showed that the protrusions demonstrate a linear dependence with the supplied power. The efficiencies calculated using this method were compared to that obtained through Guzik and found to be 19.57% greater due to the static testing environment used in the testing.

Keywords: thermal protrusion profile, magnetic recording heads, wyko interferometry, thermal flying height control

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Authors: Georgi Kalandadze

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For studying the development of world civilizations, textual sources that have undergone textological and worldview changes are of great importance. The conference will discuss the collection of the XVIII century "The Golden Spring", compiled by Gabriel Mtsire, which includes texts of John Chrysostom. John Chrysostom lived in the 4th century and his writings correspond to the culture of readers of that time. In the 10th-11th centuries, the works of John Chrysostom were translated into Georgian by Euthymius of Athos. These texts correspond to the requirements of the Georgian society of the 10th-11th centuries. In the 18th century, Gabriel Mtsire collected and edited these texts to make them more understandable to his modern readers. In the 20th century, these texts were again adapted. Thus, the present study provides an opportunity to evaluate and outline the linguistic and content transformation process of the same work over 16 centuries.

Keywords: gabriel mtsire, john chrysostom, euthymius the athonite, the golden spring

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Authors: Paolo Scolari

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Nietzschean thought flows like a current throughout Marcel’s philosophy. Marcel is in constant dialogue with him. He wants to give homage to him, making him one of the most eminent representatives of existential thought. His enthusiasm is triggered by Nietzsche’s phrase: ‘God is dead,’ the fil rouge that ties all of the Nietzschean references scattered through marcelian texts. The death of God is the theme which emphasises both the greatness and simultaneously the tragedy of Nietzsche. Marcel wants to substitute the idea ‘God is dead’ with its original meaning: a tragic existential characteristic that imitators of Nietzsche seemed to have blurred. An interpretation that Marcel achieves aiming at double target. On the one hand he removes the heavy metaphysical suit from Nietzsche’s aphorisms on the death of God, that his interpreters have made them wear – Heidegger especially. On the other hand, he removes a stratus of trivialisation which takes the aphorisms out of context and transforms them into advertising slogans – here Sartre becomes the target. In the lecture: Nietzsche: l'homme devant la mort de dieu, Marcel hurls himself against the metaphysical Heidegger interpretation of the death of God. A hermeneutical proposal definitely original, but also a bit too abstract. An interpretation without bite, that does not grasp the tragic existential weight of the original Nietzschean idea. ‘We are probably on the wrong road,’ announces, ‘when at all costs, like Heidegger, we want to make a metaphysic out of Nietzsche.’ Marcel also criticizes Sartre. He lands in Geneva and reacts to the journalists, by saying: ‘Gentlemen, God is dead’. Marcel only needs this impromptu exclamation to understand how Sartre misinterprets the meaning of the death of God. Sartre mistakes and loses the existential sense of this idea in favour of the sensational and trivialisation of it. Marcel then wipes the slate clean from these two limited interpretations of the declaration of the death of God. This is much more than a metaphysical quarrel and not at all comparable to any advertising slogan. Behind the cry ‘God is dead’ there is the existence of an anguished man who experiences in his solitude the actual death of God. A man who has killed God with his own hands, haunted by the chill that from now on he will have to live in a completely different way. The death of God, however, is not the end. Marcel spots a new beginning at the point in which nihilism is overcome and the Übermensch is born. Dialoguing with Nietzsche he notices to being in the presence of a great spirit that has contributed to the renewal of a spiritual horizon. He descends to the most profound depths of his thought, aware that the way out is really far below, in the remotest areas of existence. The ambivalence of Nietzsche does not scare him. Rather such a thought, characterised by contradiction, will simultaneously be infinitely dangerous and infinitely healthy.

Keywords: Nietzsche's Death of God, Gabriel Marcel, Heidegger, Sartre

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Authors: Paolo Pietro Biancone

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The spread of Islamic financial instruments is an opportunity to offer integration for the immigrant population and to attract, through the specific products, the richness of sovereign funds from the "Arab" countries. However, it is important to consider the possibility of comparing a traditional finance model, which in recent times has given rise to many doubts, with an "alternative" finance model, where the ethical aspect arising from religious principles is very important.

Keywords: banks, Europe, Islamic finance, Italy

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Authors: Paolo Sassi, Jorge Freiria, Gabriel Usera

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In this work, a finite volume fluid flow solver is coupled with a discrete element method module for the simulation of the dynamics of free and elastic bodies in interaction with the fluid and between themselves. The open source fluid flow solver, caffa3d.MBRi, includes the capability to work with nested overlapping grids in order to easily refine the grid in the region where the bodies are moving. To do so, it is necessary to implement a recognition function able to identify the specific mesh block in which the device is moving in. The set of overlapping finer grids might be displaced along with the set of bodies being simulated. The interaction between the bodies and the fluid is computed through a two-way coupling. The velocity field of the fluid is first interpolated to determine the drag force on each object. After solving the objects displacements, subject to the elastic bonding among them, the force is applied back onto the fluid through a Gaussian smoothing considering the cells near the position of each object. The fishnet is represented as lumped masses connected by elastic lines. The internal forces are derived from the elasticity of these lines, and the external forces are due to drag, gravity, buoyancy and the load acting on each element of the system. When solving the ordinary differential equations system, that represents the motion of the elastic and flexible bodies, it was found that the Runge Kutta solver of fourth order is the best tool in terms of performance, but requires a finer grid than the fluid solver to make the system converge, which demands greater computing power. The coupled solver is demonstrated by simulating the interaction between the fluid, an elastic fishnet and a set of free bodies being captured by the net as they are dragged by the fluid. The deformation of the net, as well as the wake produced in the fluid stream are well captured by the method, without requiring the fluid solver mesh to adapt for the evolving geometry. Application of the same strategy to the simulation of elastic structures subject to the action of wind is also possible with the method presented, and one such application is currently under development.

Keywords: computational fluid dynamics, discrete element method, fishnets, nested overlapping grids

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Authors: Benedetta Caglioti

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The ecclesiastical complex of San Paolo in Ferrara represents a monument of great historical, religious and architectural importance. Its long and articulated story, over time, is already manifested by the mere reading of its planimetric and altimetric configuration, apparently unitary but, in reality, marked by modifications and repeated additions, even of high quality. It follows, in terms of protection, restoration and enhancement, a commitment of due respect for how the ancient building was built and enriched over its centuries of life. Hence a rigorous methodological approach, while being aware of the fact that every monument, in order to live and make use of the indispensable maintenance, must always be enjoyed and visited, therefore it must enjoy, in the right measure and compatibly with its nature, the possibility of improvements and functional, distributive, technological adjustments and related to the safety of people and things. The methodological approach substantiates the different elements of the project (such as distribution functionality, safety, structural solidity, environmental comfort, the character of the site, building and urban planning regulations, financial resources and materials, the same organization methods of the construction site) through the guiding principles of restoration, defined for a long time: the 'minimum intervention,' the 'recognisability' or 'distinguishability' of old and new, the Physico-chemical and figurative 'compatibility,' the 'durability' and the, at least potential, 'reversibility' of what is done, leading to the definition of appropriate "critical choices." The project tackles, together with the strictly functional ones, also the directly conservative and restoration issues, of a static, structural and material technology nature, with special attention to precious architectural surfaces, In order to ensure the best architectural quality through conscious enhancement, the project involves a redistribution of the interior and service spaces, an accurate lighting system inside and outside the church and a reorganization of the adjacent urban space. The reorganization of the interior is designed with particular attention to the issue of accessibility for people with disabilities. To accompany the community to regain possession of the use of the church's own space, already in its construction phase, the project proposal has hypothesized a permeability and flexibility in the management of the works such as to allow the perception of the found Monument to gradually become more and more familiar at the citizenship. Once the interventions have been completed, it is expected that the Church of San Paolo, second in importance only to the Cathedral, from which it is a few steps away, will be inserted in an already existing circuit of use of the city which over the years has systematized the different aspects of culture, the environment and tourism for the creation of greater awareness in the perception of what Ferrara can offer in cultural terms.

Keywords: conservation, accessibility, regeneration, urban space

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Authors: Rebecca Heron, Julie Karsten, Lena Schweikert

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Adverse consequences of stigma towards pedophilia can, among other things, increase dynamic risk factors for sexual offending. Decreasing stigma, therefore, is a plausible approach in the attempt to prevent child sexual abuse. Stigma research suggests that providing direct contact to a stigmatized individual is the most efficient way of reducing stigma. The present study involved an educational intervention, followed by direct contact to a pedophile, to maximize effectiveness. It aimed at finding out whether a dichotomous anti-stigma intervention can change psychology students' attitudes towards pedophiles regarding perceived dangerousness, intentionality, deviance, and punitive attitudes. In a one sample pre-post design, 162 students of the University of Groningen attended a lecture about pedophilia, which was held by a psychology master’s student. Participants learned about child sex offending and pedophilia in addition to the importance of distinguishing between pedophiles and child sex offenders (CSOs). The guest lecturer Gabriel, shared his experiences about growing up, coping, and living with pedophilia. Results of the Wilcoxon signed-rank test revealed significantly diminished negative attitudes towards pedophiles after the intervention. Students perceived pedophiles as less dangerous, having less intent, and being less psychologically deviant. Additionally, students' punitive attitudes towards pedophiles diminished significantly. Also, a thematic analysis revealed that students were highly interested in the topic of pedophilia and greatly appreciative of Gabriel sharing his story. This study was the first to provide direct contact with a pedophile within an anti-stigma intervention.

Keywords: pedophilia, anti-stigma intervention, punitive attitudes, attitude change

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Authors: Ricardo A. Martins, Matheus S. da Silva, Gabriel H. F. Iarossi, Helen C. M. Senefonte, Cinthyan R. S. C. de Barbosa

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This paper is the development of a concept of the man/robot interaction. More accurately in developing of an autistic child that have more troubles with interaction, here offers an efficient solution, even though simple; however, less studied for this public. This concept is based on code applied thought out the Lego NXT kit, built for the interpretation of the robot, thereby can create this interaction in a constructive way for children suffering with Autism.

Keywords: lego NXT, interaction, BricX, autismo, ANN (Artificial Neural Network), MLP back propagation, hidden layers

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Authors: Mary Booth

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Biophotovoltaics is a method of green energy generation derived from exposing plants to lights. Its vast potential is hampered by the public’s relative ignorance of its existence. This work aims to formalize the principles of the physical processes of biophotovoltaics into a comprehensible visual software model, thus amplifying the human thought process. The methods used involve initially crafting a scale model of a working biophotovoltaic system from household materials inspired by the work of Paolo Bombelli. The scale model is then programmed into a system-level simulation, wherein a 3D animation dissects the system and its general energy generation process. The completed 3D system-level simulation ultimately creates a simplified visual understanding of the complex principles of the biophotovoltaic system.

Keywords: 3D, biophotovoltaics, render

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Authors: Ricardo Avila, Gabriel Lopes, Vania Vidal, Jose Macedo

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This article offers a approach to the automatic discovery of semantic concepts and links in the domain of Oil Exploration and Production (E&P). Machine learning methods combined with textual pre-processing techniques were used to detect local patterns in texts and, thus, generate new concepts and new semantic links. Even using more specific vocabularies within the oil domain, our approach has achieved satisfactory results, suggesting that the proposal can be applied in other domains and languages, requiring only minor adjustments.

Keywords: semantic links, data mining, linked data, SKOS

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Authors: Eduardo Álvarez, Gerardo Quiroga, Jorge Orozco, Gabriel Chavira

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AmI proposes a new way of thinking about computers, which follows the ideas of the Ubiquitous Computing vision of Mark Weiser. In these, there is what is known as a Disappearing Computer Initiative, with users immersed in intelligent environments. Hence, technologies need to be adapted so that they are capable of replacing the traditional inputs to the system by embedding these in every-day artifacts. In this work, we present an approach, which uses Radiofrequency Identification (RFID) and Near Field Communication (NFC) technologies. In the latter, a new form of interaction appears by contact. We compare both technologies by analyzing their requirements and advantages. In addition, we propose using a combination of RFID and NFC.

Keywords: touching interaction, ambient intelligence, ubiquitous computing, interaction, NFC and RFID

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Authors: Ana B. Carrera-Aguilar , Rodrigo T. Sepulveda-Hirose, Diego A. Bernal-Gurrusquieta, Francisco A. Ramirez Casas

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In recent years, Mexico City has presented high levels of atmospheric pollution; the city is also an example of inequality and poverty that impact metropolitan areas around the world. This combination of social and economic exclusion, coupled with high levels of pollution evidence the loss of well-being among the population. The effect of air pollution on quality of life is an area of study that has been overlooked. The purpose of this study is to find relations between air quality and quality of life in Mexico City through statistical analysis of a regression model and principal component analysis of several atmospheric contaminants (CO, NO₂, ozone, particulate matter, SO₂) and well-being indexes (HDI, poverty, inequality, life expectancy and health care index). The data correspond to official information (INEGI, SEDEMA, and CEPAL) for 2000-2018. Preliminary results show that the Human Development Index (HDI) is affected by the impacts of pollution, and its indicators are reduced in the presence of contaminants. It is necessary to promote a strong interest in this issue in Mexico City. Otherwise, the problem will not only remain but will worsen affecting those who have less and the population well-being in a generalized way.

Keywords: air quality, Mexico City, quality of life, statistics

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Authors: Ramón Cruzat, Sergio F. Ochoa, Ignacio Casas, Luis A. Guerrero, José Bravo

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Patients under health treatments that involve long stays at a hospital or health centre (e.g. cancer, organ transplants and severe burns), tend to get bored or depressed because of the lack of social interaction with family and friends. Such a situation also affects the evolution and effectiveness of their treatments. In many cases, the solution to this problem involves extra challenges, since many patients need to rest quietly (or remain in bed) to their being contagious. Considering the weak health condition in which usually are these kinds, keeping them motivated and quiet represents an important challenge for nurses and caregivers. This article presents a mobile ubiquitous game called MagicRace, which allows hospitalized kinds to interact socially with one another without putting to risk their sensitive health conditions. The game does not require a communication infrastructure at the hospital, but instead, it uses a mobile ad hoc network composed of the handheld devices used by the kids to play. The usability and performance of this application was tested in two different sessions. The preliminary results show that users experienced positive feelings from this experience.

Keywords: ubiquitous game, children's emotional support, social isolation, mobile collaborative interactions

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Authors: Gabriel Quintero

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This paper presents the result of the implementation of a series of algorithms intended to be used for representing in most of the 3D geographic software, even Google Earth, the subsurface formations properties combining 2D charts or 3D plots over a 3D background, allowing everyone to use them, no matter the economic size of the company for which they work. Besides the existence of complex and expensive specialized software for modeling subsurface formations based on the same information provided to this one, the use of this open source development shows a higher and easier usability and good results, limiting the rendered properties and polygons to a basic set of charts and tubes.

Keywords: chart, earth, formations, subsurface, visualization

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Authors: Ángel O. Aldape, José M. Bustos, José G. Guízar

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Building companies providing public housing in Mexico, such as INFONAVIT, Casas GEO, Casas ARA, among others, provide low-interest home loans for thousands of Mexican families and individuals to buy a home. However, once this goal is achieved, these companies are not responsible for the care and maintenance of green areas and waste collection services because, technically, it is the local municipalities’ responsibility to provide these services to the community. However, this does not always occur with local municipalities. To study this problem, the San Buenaventura public housing complex was selected. This housing complex is located in the municipality of Ixtapaluca, State of Mexico (Estado de Mexico), Mexico. To our best knowledge, there are currently no formal studies about San Buenaventura that can offer effective options and/or better ways of sorting and disposing households’ wastes, as well as improving local green areas (community gardens and parks). Only a few web-blogs and periodical reports have addressed these serious problems that directly affect the social and psychological well-being of residents. The main goal of this research project aims to improve our understanding towards the existing ontological elements that emerge from residents’ discourses (in the form of informal talks and gossip) and discover the socio-physical elements that they use to assign moral positions onto others or onto themselves. The theoretical framework used in this study is based on two constructionist theories: positioning theory and site ontology. The first theory offered the opportunity to explore the rights, duties, and obligations assigned to a social role (or moral position) of the participants. The second theory provided a constructionist philosophical base that includes various socio-physical elements that are considered to assign personal or community meanings to particular contexts. Both theories contributed to defining personal dispositions and/or attitudes to carry out concrete social action or practice. The theoretical framework was guided by a relativistic ontology that allowed the researcher to better interpret the reality of the participants of this study. A descriptive-interpretative methodology was used, and two qualitative methods were arranged based on the theoretical framework proposed as follows: a semi-structured focus group interview, and direct observations. The semi-structured focus group was carried out with four residents of San Buenaventura and covert observations of public spaces and houses were carried out. These were analysed and interpreted by the researcher and assisted by NVivo software. The results suggest that the participants assigned moral traits of responsibility to other residents regarding the problem of the neglect of the green areas and waste pollution. The results suggest that all participants agreed to assign moral traits to other residents making them liable for the environmental degradation and the decay of green areas. They neither assigned any moral duty nor responsible moral traits onto themselves towards environmental protection or destruction. Overall, the participants in this study pointed out that external ontological elements such as the local government, infrastructure or cleaning services were not main cause of these environmental problems but rather the general lack of moral duty and disposition of other residents.

Keywords: conversation, environment, housing, moral, ontology, position, public, site, talks

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Authors: Cristiana Ortigão, Antonio Couto, Thiago Gabriel

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In the wake of Samarco Fundão’s failure in 2015 followed by Vale’s Brumadinho disaster in 2019, the Brazilian National Mining Agency started a comprehensive dam safety programmed to rank dam safety risks and establish monitoring and analysis procedures. This paper focuses on the use of accelerometers for static and dynamic applications. Static applications may employ tiltmeters, as an example shown later in this paper. Dynamic monitoring of a structure with accelerometers yields its dynamic signature and this technique has also been successfully used in Brazil and this paper gives an example of tailings dam.

Keywords: instrumentation, dynamic, monitoring, tailings, dams, tiltmeters, automation

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Authors: Gabriel A. Orozco

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The purpose of this article is to make an approach to the Security Studies, exposing their theories and concepts to understand the role that have had in the interpretation of the changes and continuities of the world order and their impact on policies or decision-making facing the problems of the 21st century. The aim is to build a bridge between the security studies as a subfield and the meaning that has been given to the world order. The idea of epistemic communities serves as a methodological proposal about the different programs of research in security studies, showing their influence in the realities of States, intergovernmental organizations and transnational forces, moving to implement, perpetuate and project a vision of the world order.

Keywords: security studies, epistemic communities, international, relations

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Authors: Rodrigo T. Sepulveda-Hirose, Ana B. Carrera-Aguilar, Francisco Andree Ramirez-Casas, Alondra Orozco-Gomez, Miguel Angel Sanchez-Caro, Carlos Herrera-Ventosa

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High concentrations of particulate matter in the atmosphere pose a threat to human health, especially over areas with high concentrations of population; however, field air pollution monitoring is expensive and time-consuming. In order to achieve reduced costs and global coverage of the whole urban area, remote sensing can be used. This study evaluates PM2.5 concentrations, over the Mexico City´s metropolitan area, are estimated using atmospheric reflectance from LANDSAT 8, satellite imagery and historical PM2.5 measurements of the Automatic Environmental Monitoring Network of Mexico City (RAMA). Through the processing of the available satellite images, a preliminary model was generated to evaluate the optimal bands for the generation of the final model for Mexico City. Work on the final model continues with the results of the preliminary model. It was found that infrared bands have helped to model in other cities, but the effectiveness that these bands could provide for the geographic and climatic conditions of Mexico City is still being evaluated.

Keywords: air pollution modeling, Landsat 8, PM2.5, remote sensing

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Authors: Alfonsina Buoniconto

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The aim of this study is to investigate the degree of cross-linguistic and intra-linguistic variation in the encoding of motion events (MEs) in English and Italian, these being typologically different languages both showing signs of disobedience to their respective types. As a matter of fact, the traditional typological classification of MEs encoding distributes languages into two macro-types, based on the preferred locus for the expression of Path, the main ME component (other components being Figure, Ground and Manner) characterized by conceptual and structural prominence. According to this model, Satellite-framed (SF) languages typically express Path information in verb-dependent items called satellites (e.g. preverbs and verb particles) with main verbs encoding Manner of motion; whereas Verb-framed languages (VF) tend to include Path information within the verbal locus, leaving Manner to adjuncts. Although this dichotomy is valid altogether, languages do not always behave according to their typical classification patterns. English, for example, is usually ascribed to the SF type due to the rich inventory of postverbal particles and phrasal verbs used to express spatial relations (i.e. the cat climbed down the tree); nevertheless, it is not uncommon to find constructions such as the fog descended slowly, which is typical of the VF type. Conversely, Italian is usually described as being VF (cf. Paolo uscì di corsa ‘Paolo went out running’), yet SF constructions like corse via in lacrime ‘She ran away in tears’ are also frequent. This paper will try to demonstrate that such a typological overlapping is due to the fact that the semantic units making up MEs are distributed within several loci of the sentence –not only verbs and satellites– thus determining a number of different constructions stemming from convergent factors. Indeed, the linguistic expression of motion events depends not only on the typological nature of languages in a traditional sense, but also on a series morphological, lexical, and syntactic resources, as well as on inferential, discursive, usage-related, and cultural factors that make semantic information more or less accessible, frequent, and easy to process. Hence, rather than describe English and Italian in dichotomic terms, this study focuses on the investigation of cross-linguistic and intra-linguistic variation in the use of all the strategies made available by each linguistic system to express motion. Evidence for these assumptions is provided by parallel corpora analysis. The sample texts are taken from two contemporary Italian novels and their respective English translations. The 400 motion occurrences selected (200 in English and 200 in Italian) were scanned according to the MODEG (an acronym for Motion Decoding Grid) methodology, which grants data comparability through the indexation and retrieval of combined morphosyntactic and semantic information at different levels of detail.

Keywords: construction typology, motion event encoding, parallel corpora, satellite-framed vs. verb-framed type

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Authors: Valentina Colonnello, Paolo Maria Russo

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Studies indicate a link between individual differences in affective disposition and depression, as well as between emotion dysregulation and depression. However, the specific role of emotion dysregulation domains in mediating the relationship between affective disposition and depression remains largely unexplored. In three cross-sectional quantitative studies (total n = 1350), we explored the extent to which specific emotion regulation difficulties mediate the relationship between personal distress disposition (Study 1), separation distress as a primary emotional trait (Study 2), and an insecure, anxious attachment style (Study 3) and depression. Across all studies, we found that the relationship between affective disposition and depression was mediated by difficulties in accessing adaptive emotion regulation strategies. These findings underscore the potential for modifiable abilities that could be targeted through preventive interventions.

Keywords: emotions, mental health, individual traits, personality

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Authors: Adheesh Budree, Olaf Jacob, Louis CH Fourie, James Njenga, Gabriel D Hoffman

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Business Intelligence (BI) is implemented by organisations for many reasons and chief among these is improved data support, decision support and savings. The main purpose of this study is to determine BI requirements and availability within South African organisations. The study addresses the following areas as identified as part of a literature review; assessing BI practices in businesses over a range of industries, sectors and managerial functions, determining the functionality of BI (technologies, architecture and methods). It was found that the overall satisfaction with BI in larger organisations is low due to lack of ability to meet user requirements.

Keywords: business intelligence, business value, data management, South Africa

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Authors: Paolo Russu

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The purpose of the present paper is to highlight some features of an economic growth model with environmental negative externalities, giving rise to a three-dimensional dynamic system. In particular, we show that the economy, which is based on a Perfect-Substitution Technologies function of production, has no neither indeterminacy nor poverty trap. This implies that equilibrium select by economy depends on the history (initial values of state variable) of the economy rather than on expectations of economies agents. Moreover, by contrast, we prove that the basin of attraction of locally equilibrium points may be very large, as they can extend up to the boundary of the system phase space. The infinite-horizon optimal control problem has the purpose of maximizing the representative agent’s instantaneous utility function depending on leisure and consumption.

Keywords: Hopf bifurcation, open-access natural resources, optimal control, perfect-substitution technologies, Poincarè compactification

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Authors: Ajayi Olusola Olajide, O. Ojeyinka Taiwo, Adeolara Oluwawemimo Janet, Isheyemi Olufemi Gabriel, Lawal Muideen Adekunle

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In an academic world where research work is the tool for promotion and elevation to higher cadres, the quest for a system that secure researchers’ work, monitor as well as alert researchers of pending academic research work, cannot be over-emphasized. This study describes how a research repository system for academics is designed. The invention further relates to a system for archiving any paperwork and journal that comprises of a database for storing all researches. It relates to a method for users to communicate through messages which will also allow reviewing all the messages. To create this research repository system, PHP and MySQL were married together for the system implementation.

Keywords: research, repository, academic, archiving, secure, system, implementation

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Authors: Kirk Johnson, Gabriel Rubin

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The January 6th Insurrection on the United States Capitol Building has been one of the most disturbing expressions of violence in American history. While there are numerous reasons that led to such aggression, there are destructive politico-religious ideologies and understandings, known as Christian Nationalism, White Christian Nationalism, and Christian Dominionism that influenced the actions of the January 6th insurrectionists. Such ideas are deeply rooted in the unification of church and state, a theocracy, embedded within the understanding that Biblical scripture is the blueprint on which the functioning of the American government should follow. In addition, the concept of racial hierarchy is embedded in politico-religious principles of White Christian Nationalism. This paper will examine how Christian Dominionism is one factor that influenced the January 6th Insurrection.

Keywords: January 6th insurrection, dominionism, Christian nationalism, polygenism

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Authors: Paolo Castaldo, Bruno Palazzo, Laura Lodato

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This study deals with the seizure effects of friction pendulum (FP) bearings on the seismic reliability of a 3D base-isolated nonlinear structural system, designed according to Italian seismic code (NTC08). The isolated system consists in a 3D reinforced concrete superstructure, a r.c. substructure and the FP devices, described by employing a velocity dependent model. The seismic input uncertainty is considered as a random variable relevant to the problem, by employing a set of natural seismic records selected in compliance with L’Aquila (Italy) seismic hazard as provided from NTC08. Several non-linear dynamic analyses considering the three components of each ground motion have been performed with the aim to evaluate the seismic reliability of the superstructure, substructure, and isolation level, also taking into account the seizure event of the isolation devices. Finally, a design solution aimed at increasing the seismic robustness of the base-isolated systems with FPS is analyzed.

Keywords: FP devices, seismic reliability, seismic robustness, seizure

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Authors: Tyrus C. Torres, Michael Harris

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In a coastal town of Ecuador, the role of women is commonly defined as an ama de casa, a woman who works in the house, raises children, and contributes to the community. This project, under the guidance of Dr. Michael Harris from the Florida Atlantic University, seeks to understand how the role of an ama de casa provides a secure environment for men and women, coexists with economic and environmental constraints that explain the origins of how this environment has been formed. The coastal community aspects of familia (family), trabajo (work), relación (relationships), machismo (masculinity), feminista (femininity), and the culture of Ecuador define the ways of life in a coastal setting. This ethnographic research project included the following methodologies: environment mapping, conducting interviews, surveys, participant observation, direct and indirect observations, and integration into daily life. Immersion into the daily life and building relationships with the local people allowed the documentation of intricacies of both the cultural and social spheres. The findings of this research offer insight on how culture, economics, and environment can form female and male agency. Our investigation shows that occupations such as fishermen, laborers, ama de casas, and even students utilize occupational routes to create social agency in the face of economic and environmental constraints in Ecuador.

Keywords: Ecuador, ethnography, gender division of labor, gender roles

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Authors: F. Javier Benitez, Francisco J. Real, Juan Luis Acero, Francisco Casas

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Three emerging contaminants (amitriptyline hydrochloride, methyl salicylate and 2-phenoxyethanol) frequently found in waste-waters were selected to be individually degraded in ultra-pure water by the combined advanced oxidation process constituted by UV radiation and chlorine. The influence of pH, initial chlorine concentration and nature of the contaminants was firstly explored. The trend for the reactivity of the selected compounds was deduced: amitriptyline hydrochloride > methyl salicylate > 2-phenoxyethanol. A later kinetic study was carried out and focused on the specific evaluation of the first-order rate constants and the determination of the partial contribution to the global reaction of the direct photochemical pathway and the radical pathway. A comparison between the rate constant values among photochemical experiments without and with the presence of Cl₂ reveals a clear increase in the oxidation efficiency of the combined process with respect to the photochemical reaction alone. In a second stage, the simultaneous oxidation of mixtures of the selected contaminants in several types of water (ultrapure water, surface water from a reservoir, and two secondary effluents) was also performed by the same combination UV/Cl₂ under more realistic operating conditions. The efficiency of this combined system UV/Cl₂ was compared to other oxidants such as the UV/S₂O₈^2- and UV/H₂O₂ AOPs. Results confirmed that the UV/Cl₂ system provides higher elimination efficiencies among the AOPs tested.

Keywords: emerging contaminants, UV/chlorine advanced oxidation process, amitriptyline, methyl salicylate, 2-phenoxyethanol, chlorination, photolysis

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Authors: Jamileh Ahmed, Helena Hernandez, Gabriel De Erausquin

Abstract:

H1N1 virus susceptibility of iPSC-derived DA neurons from schizophrenia patients and controls will compared. C57/BL-6 fibroblasts were reprogrammed into iPSCs using a lenti-viral vector containing SOKM genes. Pluripotency verification with the AP assay and immunocytochemistry ensured iPSC presence. The experimental outcome of ISPCs from DA neuron differentiation will be discussed in the Results section. Fibroblasts from patients and controls will be reprogrammed into iPSCs using a sendai-virus vector containing SOKM. IPSCs will be characterized using the AP assay, immunocytochemistry and RT-PCR. IPSCs will then be differentiated into DA neurons. Gene methylation will be compared for both groups with custom-designed microarrays.

Keywords: schizophrenia, iPSCs, stem cells, neuroscience

Procedia PDF Downloads 406

Authors: Ricardo Avila, Gabriel Lopes, Vania Vidal, Jose Macedo

Abstract:

This proposal aims for semantic enrichment between glossaries using the Simple Knowledge Organization System (SKOS) vocabulary to discover synonyms, hyponyms and hyperonyms semiautomatically, in Brazilian Portuguese, generating new semantic relationships based on WordNet. To evaluate the quality of this proposed model, experiments were performed by the use of two sets containing new relations, being one generated automatically and the other manually mapped by the domain expert. The applied evaluation metrics were precision, recall, f-score, and confidence interval. The results obtained demonstrate that the applied method in the field of Oil Production and Extraction (E&P) is effective, which suggests that it can be used to improve the quality of terminological mappings. The procedure, although adding complexity in its elaboration, can be reproduced in others domains.

Keywords: ontology matching, mapping enrichment, semantic web, linked data, SKOS

Procedia PDF Downloads 190

Authors: Gabriel Chenevert, Abhilash Arora, Zeljko Pantic

Abstract:

The major problem underwater acoustic communication faces is the low data rate due to low signal frequency. By contrast, the Wi-Fi communication protocol offers high throughput but limited operating range due to the attenuation effect of the sea and ocean medium. However, short-range near-field underwater wireless power transfer systems offer an environment where Wi-Fi communication can be effectively integrated to collect data and deliver instructions to sensors in underwater sensor networks. In this paper, low-power, low-cost off-the-shelf Wi-Fi modules are explored experimentally for four selected parameters for different distances between units and water salinities. The results reveal a shorter operating range and stronger dependence on water salinity than reported so far for high-end Wi-Fi modules.

Keywords: Wi-Fi, wireless power transfer, underwater communications, ESP

Procedia PDF Downloads 97