Ana Ferreira

Large coupled networks of individual entities arise in multiple contexts in nature and engineered systems to produce rich dynamics and achieve complex behaviors. As the state-space dimension increases, the certification of stability and performance properties of these nonlinear dynamical systems becomes an intractable problem. In this thesis we develop decomposition methods that break up such convoluted systems into components of smaller dynamics whose behavior is dependent on the state of the neighboring components. These methods explore useful input-output properties of the subsystems in conjunction with the topology of their interconnections, providing results that scale well to large-scale networks.We begin by developing a mathematical approach to analyze spatial pattern formation in developmental biology that combines graph-theoretical and dynamical systems methods to systematically predict the emergence of patterns. This approach models the contact between cells by a graph and exploits its symmetries to create partitions of cells into classes of equal fate. Using monotone systems theory, we derive verifiable conditions that determine whether patterns consistent with such partitions exist and are stable. Then, we propose an engineered synthetic circuit that mimics contact inhibition by using diffusible molecules to spontaneously generate sharply contrasting patterns. Using a compartmental model, we determine a condition that serves as a parameter tuning guide for patterning.We next focus on exploring the symmetric topology of the interconnection to provide efficient certification of performance properties of large networks. Performance certification can be cast as a distributed optimization problem for which the existence of a solution is equivalent to the existence of a solution with repeated variables. We demonstrate that fast certification of stability and performance is possible by searching over solutions in a reduced order domain.Finally, motivated by the stochastic behavior of biological networks, we provide stochastic stability results for systems modeled by stochastic differential equations. We use stochastic passivity properties of the subsystems and a diagonal stability condition of the interconnection matrix together with the passivity gains to guarantee stochastic stability and noise-to-state stability.

El presente estudio analiza, por un lado el Humanismo renacentista fuera del campo de las "belles lettres" en sentido estricto, al centrarnos en la producción científica escrita por médicos filólogos y humanistas del siglo XVI, y por otro lado aborda por primera vez el estudio filológico de unos textos a los que tradicionalmente sólo se les ha prestado atención desde el punto de vista de los historiadores de la ciencia en general y de la medicina en particular. Sobre todo se ocupa de los grandes catedráticos de Prima de la centuria, médicos formadores de médicos desde la cátedra y desde sus textos; una élite importante en la historia también por su proximidad a la Corona. El campo de actuación se centra en las obras impresas por su trascendencia social, médica y literaria, por la difusión que tuvieron las mismas en la decimosexta centuria e incluso en las siguientes, dentro y fuera de nuestras fronteras, hasta el siglo XIX, sin olvidar las fructíferas relaciones entre el propio Humanismo alcalaíno y la floreciente industria tipográfica del momento.

Neste artigo apresenta-se a proposta de estudos humanísticos da informação, particularmente a partir das observações do filósofo holandês Harry Kunneman. Esse trabalho se inicia com a investigação e a discussão da noção hegemônica do que é Informação dentro da Ciência da Informação, vinculada a sua origem funcionalista. Nesta discussão cabe destacar na demarcação do conceito de informação a teoria matemática da comunicação e das teorias de sistemas. As limitações das abordagens funcionalistas da Informação tem como resposta a busca e o desenvolvimento de teorias críticas. Discute a origem funcionalista do conceito de informação. Nas seções seguintes aborda os artigos de Kunneman, começando pelas perspectivas de uma abordagem humanista da Informação, com destaque aos modos de produção do conhecimento. O item a seguir trata sobre a profissionalização normativa visando o exercício das profissões privilegiando os valores humanísticos. A profissionalização normativa e seu caráter interdisciplinar se liga aos modos de produção do conhecimento. Conclui-se que há a necessidade de inserção dos conceitos abordados na pesquisa no dia a dia do profissional da informação, alinhando as preocupações éticas incorporadas às questões de vida.

Objective:A growing body of evidence supports the effectiveness of body-oriented interventions in educational contexts, showing positive influences on social-emotional competence. Nevertheless, there is a lack of systematization of the evidence regarding preschool years. This is a two-part systematic review. In this first part, we aim to examine the effects of BOI on preschoolers' social-emotional competence outcomes.Data Sources:Searches were conducted in Pubmed, Scopus, PsycInfo, ERIC, Web of Science, Portal Regional da BVS and CINAHL.Eligibility Criteria:English, French and Portuguese language articles published between January 2000 and October 2020, that evaluated the effects of BOI implemented in educational contexts on social-emotional competence of preschool children. Only randomized controlled trials or quasi-RCT were included.Data Extraction and Synthesis:Two reviewers independently completed data extraction and risk-of-bias assessment. The level of scientific evidence was measured through the Best Evidence Synthesis.Results:Nineteen studies were included. There was strong evidence that BOI do not improve anger/aggression, delay of gratification and altruism. Nevertheless, there was moderate evidence that BOI effectively improve other social-emotional outcomes, such as empathy, social interaction, social independence, general internalizing behaviors, and general externalizing behaviors. The lack of scientific evidence was compromised by the methodological quality of the studies.Conclusion:BOI effectively improve specific social-emotional competences of preschool children.Systematic Review Registration:PROSPERO, identifier CRD42020172248.

O Estado Novo, apesar de ser uma ditadura, consagrou, na Constituição, a realização de eleições presidenciais, legislativas e para as Juntas de Freguesia, uma vez que só o voto popular podia fornecer a legitimação interna e externa de que necessitava. Todavia, os resultados eleitorais sempre foram controlados de modo a garantir a vitória do candidato ou da lista da União Nacional e todas as eleições foram fraudulentas. As eleições presidenciais de 1949 e 1958 foram dois desses momentos importantes para Portugal, em que o povo teria podido votar e decidir o futuro do país mas em que a opressão, a censura, a violência e a fraude marcaram a campanha eleitoral e determinaram a votação, garantindo a vitória dos candidatos da Situação e a derrota dos da Oposição, apesar destes terem, inequivocamente, o apoio da maioria da população. Notwithstanding the fact that it was a dictatorship, the Estado Novo consecrated in the Constitution the realisation of presidential and legislative elections and also elections to the Juntas de Freguesia , given that only the popular vote could provide it with the internal and external legitimisation it needed. However, the electoral results were always controlled in order to guarantee the victory of União Nacional's candidate or list and all the elections were fraudulent. The presidential elections of 1949 and 1958 were two of these important moments to Portugal, in which the people could have voted and decided the country's future, but instead oppression, censorship, violence and fraud marked the electoral campaign and determined the voting, guaranteeing the victory of the Situation candidates and the defeat of the Opposition ones, despite the fact that the latter had, unequivocally, the support of the majority of the population