The present thesis deals with the determinants of good memory performance. A more specific objective of the thesis was to examine prerequisites for successful recall performance from the point of view of cue effectiveness. The concept of cue effectiveness was proposed as a superordinate construct underlying the act of remembering in general as well as,exceptional memory performance. It was argued that to the extent that effective cues are provided when retrieval is attempted, good recall would be obtained even without use of specific mnemonic systems. Two characteristics of cue effectiveness were assumed to determine the level of recall performance. First, a retrieval cue has to provide a compatible description of the information encoded, and second, an optimal cue is the one that also represents a distinctive description of that information. Provided that these two characteristics of cue effectiveness are fullfilled, successful recall was expected to occur. In order to optimize cue efficiency an experimental paradigm was introduced. The main feature of the self-generation paradigm is that, in contrast to traditional cued-recall experiments, subjects are provided with cues, which according to the individual's own conceptualization constitute an appropriate description of the previously encoded information. The four studies composing the empirical section of the thesis, demonstrated, first, that self-generated cues serve as extremely powerful retrieval aids. Secondly, it was demonstrated that compatibility and distinctiveness may be the cardinal concepts underlying the empirical phenomenon per se and the essence of the notion of cue effectiveness. Finally, it was proposed that the methodological contribution is of such a nature that it may apply successifully to more practical situations. / <p>Diss. (sammanfattning) Umeå : Univ. 1986, härtill 4 uppsatser</p> / digitalisering@umu

Subarctic and alpine areas are sensitive to climatic change when they lie at the margin of permafrost occurrence. Patterned ground in such areas is generated from an interplay among different mechanisms such as temperature, hydrology, soil texture, snow cower and vegetation. The aim of this study is to describe the connection between patterned ground characteristics and altitude and to evaluate the impact different variables have on the appearance of patterned ground. To understand these interactions is a discussion of self-organization processes, threshold effects and feedback mechanisms essential.  In this investigation, characteristics of patterned ground are examined along an elevation gradient in the Abisko area in Northern Sweden. The study is limited to formations that are categorized into non-sorted circles on flat ground. To detect significant correlations between the characteristics of patterned ground and altitude nine places between 400 and 1400 m above sea level with at least 100 m difference in altitudes were investigated. These sites were categorized into six ridges and three sinks to evaluate the importance of topography. Non-sorted circles have less dwarf shrub, more moss-lichen cover and more cryptogam crust than surrounding ground. Outside the formations the amount of dwarf shrub decreases and the moss-lichen cover increases above 1000 m above sea level. At the highest altitude also a cryptogam crust is occurring around non sorted circles. Significant correlations exist between declining ground temperature and altitude, declining distance between non-sorted circles and altitude, and less dwarf shrub vegetation on non-sorted circles and altitude. These relationships are expected and can be connected to cryoturbation and abiotic stress. Shorter distance between formations can be linked to increased abiotic stress and less coverage soil stabilizing dwarf shrub vegetation. Formations are larger in sinks than ridges and surrounded by less dwarf shrub and more moss-lichen vegetation. This difference can be explained by longer snow duration, humid soil conditions and prolonged freezing processes in ground. Non-sorted circles on an east aspect slope ridge at about 900 meters altitude is characterized by low soil temperatures, high soil moisture, low height and low coverage plants. Around these formations is a well-developed ground cover consisting primarily of dwarf shrub vegetation. These observations are a sign of positive interaction resulting in strong self-generating soil movements that have exceeded a threshold when breaking through vegetation cover. Low soil temperature and high moisture at the time of measurement might be explained by existing ice-front and free water convection. These patterned ground characteristics can be linked to permafrost, the inflow of water from higher leeward slopes and thin snow cower.

[pt] Em um Centro de Recuperação (CR) pentecostal para usuários de drogas, hóspedes e dirigentes promovem e agenciam um diálogo entre drogas, crime e fé. A metodologia é etnográfica e se atém ao que o CR nos revela, a trama de descobertas ancoradas nos rituais e ligada através do fio condutor da autogestão. Trata-se de um Centro de Recuperação masculino, de linhagem pentecostal, que recebe e acomoda cerca de 400 homens, todos ex usuários de drogas e provenientes do tráfico. Todos possuem trajetórias diferentes e demarcam a busca por destinos convergentes, pois têm ali um lugar compartilhado para a procura, passiva ou ativa, de tratamento. Ex usuários e ex traficantes se encontram no mesmo lugar, engajados na mesma crença, e gerem suas condutas e a dos outros por meio dos ritos, dogmas e doutrinas a que devem se converter. Assim, apresentam uma vida transformada frente ao status de recuperado a partir do prefixo de ex: ex usuário de drogas, exbandido, ex criminoso. Tal transformação ocorre por meio da chamada conversão, que deve ser comprovada por meio da aceitação e vivência de um código de moralidades e linguagens específico. Dentro desse cenário, a tese apresenta os objetivos de refletir acerca da condição e da função de tais CRs frente à realidade de uma área gerida pela milícia e com seus múltiplos desdobramentos. Tendo como problema central a resposta das perguntas norteadoras: do que eles se recuperam e que sujeitos são produzidos nesse espaço, a pesquisa busca compreender de que modo o CR tenta transformar seu trabalho em relevante e como se reinventa diante de outros modelos de tratamento já estabelecidos. Analisa, também, qual o lugar do Centro de Recuperação nos novos ordenamentos daquelas vidas; como se internaliza e se expressa a conversão em sua prática, principalmente nos momentos ritualísticos, demonstrativos maiores não só de recuperação, mas de fé e transformação. / [en] At a pentecostal Recovery Center (RC) for drug users, guests and leaders promote and agencies a dialogue among drugs, crime, and faith. The methodology is ethnographic and it is restricted to what the RC reveals, to a plot of discoveries anchored in rituals and linked through the common thread of self-management. It is a male Recovery Center, from Pentecostal lineage, which receives and accommodates about 400 men, all former drug users and deriving from drug trafficking. All of them have different trajectories and demarcate the search for convergent destinies, because they have a shared place on their search, passive or active, of treatment. Ex users and ex drug traffickers find themselves in the same place, engaged in the same belief, and manage their conduct and of others through the rites, dogmas, and doctrines to which they must convert. Thus, they present a transformed life against the status of recovered from the prefix of ex: ex drug user, ex thug, ex-criminal. Such transformation takes place through the so-called conversion, which must be proved through the acceptance and the experience of a specific code of moralities and languages. Within this scenario, the thesis presents the aims of reflecting on the condition and function of such RCs in relation to Brazilian institutions, their dialogue on the social scene, how they try to make their work relevant to civil society and how they reinvent themselves in the face of other models of treatment already established. Having as central problem the answer of questions: from what they recover and what subjects are produced in that space, the research analyzes the place of the Recovery Center in the new order of these lives; how conversion is internalized and expressed in its practice, especially in ritualistic moments, greater demonstrations of faith and transformation.

[pt] O objetivo desse trabalho é avaliar o potencial técnico- econômico nacional da autogeração de energia elétrica. O levantamento desse potencial é realizado a partir do desenvolvimento de uma metodologia determinística para os clientes de alta tensão da concessionária LIGHT no estado do Rio de Janeiro, extrapolando-a para a estimativa do potencial brasileiro, através dos dados de consumo nacional. A geração distribuída é analisada a partir do atual estado da arte da tecnologia disponível para motores alternativos de combustão interna, ciclos Diesel e Otto. Os motores alternativos possuem tecnologia amplamente difundida, alta escala de produção, alta eficiência e baixo custo de investimento de aquisição, principalmente quando comparado a outras tecnologias de geração elétrica de pequeno e médio porte. Dessa forma, optou-se pela tecnologia dos motores alternativos como o mais adequado para a autogeração. Os motores alternativos têm grande potencial para servir de base para expansão da geração distribuída nacional. São considerados como alternativas de fontes energéticas para a autogeração, o óleo diesel e o gás natural. Para a operação dos motores ciclo Diesel foi considerada, além da hipótese de funcionamento pelo modo tradicional a óleo diesel, sua operação com um kit de conversão para combustível dual. Este permite uma substituição do óleo diesel pelo gás natural em torno de 80 por cento. Já para os motores alternativos ciclo Otto foi apenas considerada a utilização do energético gás natural. A viabilidade econômica do investimento em centrais de geração distribuída, é obtida quando traçado um paralelo entre o atual custo da energia elétrica que é fornecida pela concessionária e o custo da aquisição e operação do sistema de autogeração. O cálculo de viabilidade será dado por uma ótica estritamente econômica. Considerando-se que a atratividade do empreendimento seja dada por uma taxa interna de retorno do investimento mínima de 15 por cento a.a para um horizonte de 15 anos, é estimado que a geração distribuída possa representar 2,6 por cento da energia elétrica gerada nacionalmente ou cerca de 7.173 GWh/ano, concentrada principalmente para geração de horário de ponta. Os geradores a diesel representam 44,6 por cento desse total, os geradores dieselgás 55,2 por cento e os geradores a gás cerca de 0,2 por cento. Isto significa um consumo diário de 2,2 MMm3 de gás natural e 2.800 m3 de óleo diesel. De uma maneira geral a autogeração não se viabiliza economicamente para geração fora de ponta, em virtude do baixo custo da energia elétrica neste período. Em função da penetração do gás natural no mercado nacional, é realizada uma análise de sensibilidade entre custo desse energético e o aumento do potencial de geração distribuída nacional. Conclui-se, que a queda do preço do gás natural pode aumentar ainda mais o potencial de geração distribuída baseado nos geradores diesel-gás, além de também viabilizar os geradores gás. Finalmente são abordados e analisados os impactos e benefícios trazidos pela geração distribuída ao sistema atual de geração e transmissão nacional. / [en] The objective of this work is to evaluate the technical- economic potential of electric energy self-generation in Brazil. A deterministic methodology will be built for market evaluation. It will be based on a developed model for high voltage customers from LIGHT, located in state of Rio de Janeiro and extrapolated to establish the national market. The extrapolation will be made through the national consumption data. The distributed generation is analyzed from the state of the art of reciprocating internal combustion engines, Diesel and Otto cycles. These engines have widespread technology, high efficiency and offer low acquisition cost when compared with other small and medium scale gensets technologies. In that way, they were chosen, to be the alternatives for the distributed generation. The reciprocating engines have great potential to support the expansion of the distributed generation in Brazil. Diesel oil and natural gas are considered as the fuel alternatives for the gensets. Besides the usual diesel oil, used as fuel for diesel engines, it was considered the mix between diesel oil and natural gas. The mix is handled with an auxiliary conversion kit. It allows diesel oil being substituted around 80% by natural gas. It was only considered natural gas fuel for the gas engines. The economic feasibility of the investment in distributed generation is achieved when a comparison is made between the current cost of the electric energy, which is supplied by the local utility company, and the cost of acquisition and operation of the self generation system. The feasibility will be given by a strict economic aspect. Considering the attractiveness for the enterprise, it is given by a minimum internal rate of return of 15 percent per year in a horizon of 15 years. It is estimated that the national distributed generation can represent 2.6 percent of all national electric generation or 7,173 GWh/year. Mainly for generation at peak hours. The diesel oil gensets represents 44.6 percent of that total, the diesel-gas gensets 55.2 percent and the gas gensets around 0.2 percent. Meaning a daily consumption of 2.2 MMm3 of natural gas and 2,800 m3 of oil diesel. Self generation isn`t economic feasible at off-peak hours, because the low tariff value. For the perspective of expansion of the natural gas net distribution in Brazil, a sensibility analysis was accomplished between the natural gas cost and increase of the national distributed generation market. It is concluded that if the natural gas cost less, the national distributed generation market would grow, based mainly in diesel-gas and gas gensets. Finally, the impacts and benefits brought by distributed generation in the current scenery of national generation and transmission systems were analyzed.

A severe aphasia following a cerebral vascular accident is characterised by generalised deficits in most speech-language domains. The clinical dilemma remains focused on the extensive verbal speech impairment and in most cases little possibility of regaining verbal speech production. Many individuals living with severe aphasia use augmentative and alternative communication strategies to assist them in getting their communication needs met in their everyday lives. The Blissymbol system is one of the graphic symbol systems that can be used to supplement existing communication and speech strategies of the individual with little or no speech. Although the use of AAC strategies is gaining momentum in its application to severe aphasia, however, there still remain questions on how best to help these individuals learn and retain such strategies. Not only are individuals with severe aphasia faced with a memory task when learning AAC strategies such as Blissymbols, additional complexity to AAC interventions is derived from clinical presentation of severe aphasia. The presence of extensive damage to the neural centers responsible for linguistic processing and semantic retrieval makes learning of new AAC strategies all the more complicated. Research studies have looked at whether individuals with severe aphasia can learn to recognise and retain Blissymbols. Although these studies have successfully shown that individuals with severe aphasia can learn Blissymbols, there is little information available regarding how these symbols can best be taught and retained over time individuals with severe aphasia. Recently the research that has looked at the application of symbol learning with persons presenting with severe aphasia using computer technology and sophisticated application software has highlighted the importance of therapeutic methods that may enhance the learning of such software. This study looks at the application of the self-generation effect as a viable method for enhancing the recognition of Blissymbols in persons presenting with severe aphasia. The self-generation effect is the finding of superior retention and recall for stimuli constructed or generated by an individual. Memory for stimuli such as words, numbers and pictures were found to be enhanced by the extent to which the individual was involved in its construction. Using a 2X2X3 factorial design, this study compared the recognition levels for Blissymbols taught using two treatment approaches which was the self-generation condition and the non self-generation condition. During three experimental sessions which included two withdrawal periods participants were taught using both treatments to recognise a set of Blissymbols. Recognition levels were tested during recognition probes and retention probes. The results from these probes were compared in order to identify which treatment produced superior recognition levels. The data analysis conducted showed that although there was no recognition advantage for the self-generation effect seen during the three recognition probes some advantage for the self-generation effect was seen during the retention probes conducted. The self-generation effect began to emerge by the final retention probe following a withdrawal period of seven days. The self-generation treatment showed better retention of symbol recognition over time. Previous studies have shown that the self-generation effect failed to emerge with stimuli that were new or unfamiliar. This trend was also seen in this study. The results provide support for a semantic-association theory for the self-generation effect. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Centre for Augmentative and Alternative Communication (CAAC) / unrestricted

Submitted by Renata Lopes (renatasil82@gmail.com) on 2017-04-24T19:36:29Z No. of bitstreams: 1 lucascorreanettomachado.pdf: 1851458 bytes, checksum: 2a8b67f0adf8343c28d4e1121a757f6d (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Adriana Oliveira (adriana.oliveira@ufjf.edu.br) on 2017-04-25T15:23:10Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 lucascorreanettomachado.pdf: 1851458 bytes, checksum: 2a8b67f0adf8343c28d4e1121a757f6d (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-04-25T15:23:10Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 lucascorreanettomachado.pdf: 1851458 bytes, checksum: 2a8b67f0adf8343c28d4e1121a757f6d (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013-11-22 / CAPES - Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / Este trabalho apresenta uma técnica para treinamento de Redes Neurais Artificiais (RNA), capaz de obter os parâmetros da rede através dos dados disponíveis para treinamento, sem necessidade de estabelecer a arquitetura da rede a priori, denominado Método de Segmentações Geométricas Sucessivas (MSGS). O MSGS agrupa os dados de cada classe em Hipercaixa (HC) onde cada caixa é alinhada de acordo com os eixos de maior distribuição de seu conjunto de pontos. Sendo as caixas linearmente separáveis, um hiperplano de separação é identificado originando um neurônio. Caso não seja possível a separação por um único hiperplano, uma técnica de quebra é aplicada para dividir os dados em classes menores para obter novas HCs. Para cada subdivisão novos neurônios são adicionados à rede. Os resultados dos testes realizados apontam para um método rápido e com alta taxa de sucesso. / This work presents a technique for Artificial Neural Network (ANN) training, able to get the network parameters from the available data for training, without establishing the network architecture a priori, called Successive Geometric Segmentation Method (SGSM). The SGSM groups the data of each class into hyperboxes (HB) aligned in accordance with the largest axis of its points distribution. If the HB are linearly separable, a separating hyperplane may be identified resulting a neuron. If it is not, a segmentation technique is applied to divide the data into smaller classes for new HB. For each subdivision new neurons are added to the network. The tests show a rapid method with high success rate.