Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'M-Space'

This thesis provides a comprehensive critical analysis of Iain M. Banks’s Culture series, ten science fiction (SF) texts concerned with the Culture, Banks’s vision of his “personal utopia”: Consider Phlebas (1987), The Player of Games (1988), Use of Weapons (1990), The State of the Art (1991), Excession (1996), Inversions (1998), Look to Windward (2000), Matter (2008), Surface Detail (2010), and The Hydrogen Sonata (2012). I place this series within the context of the space opera sub-genre, and – drawing upon a critical toolkit developed by Istvan Csicsery-Ronay Jr. in The Seven Beauties of Science Fiction (2008) – I explore the extent to which Banks achieved his goal of reshaping the sub-genre for the political Left. Due to the complexity and ambiguity of Banks’s creation, this research addresses the central question: what is the Culture? I argue that the Culture constitutes a utopian variation of Csicsery- Ronay’s technologiade, challenging the notion that Banks’s creation represents an empire or imperialist project. I consider the Culture as a culture: peoples linked by a shared value system and way of life; a method of development and nurturing; a system of utopian processes. Drawing on Archaeologies of the Future (2005), I argue that the Culture series demonstrates Frederic Jameson’s notion of ‘thinking the break’, with Banks’s writing constantly affirming the possibility and desirability of radical sociopolitical change. I identify six key radical moves away from the nonutopian present – characterised as shifts, breaks or apocalypses – which form the Culture’s utopianprocesses, with each chapter exploring the extent to which the Culture has overcome a fundamental obstacle impeding the path to utopia. The Culture has moved beyond material scarcity, alienated labour, capitalism, and the class-system, maintaining State functions. Culture citizens are notable for significantly adapting their own bodies and minds – controlling senescence and ultimately death itself – but motivated by the desire to improve rather than transcend their humanity. The Culture has achieved a form of equality between the sexes and removed patriarchy, yet is still coping with the implications of sex and gender fluidity. Despite relying upon seemingly quasi-religious innovations, the Culture is entirely secular, having moved beyond any kind of religious or faith-based worldview. Finally, the Culture is perhaps an example of what Jameson has called ‘the death of art’, as creative and artistic practice seems to have become part of everyday life, which contrasts with the numerous artworks produced on its margins.

A Work Project, presented as part of the requirements for the Award of a Masters Degree in Finance from the NOVA – School of Business and Economics<br>Mergers and Acquisitions’ cycles have been, over the past decades, an extremely interesting field of research, raising numerous questions concerning its length, triggers or even its relationship with the economic cycle. In this Work Project I intent to contribute with new evidence, mainly for European merger waves, but also to support previous studies in what regards to merger waves. I have chosen nonlinear models, such as the Markov Switching and the State Space models, to characterize the merger data, due to the advantage of identifying structural changes. I have concluded that there is evidence of merger waves, both in the U.S. and in Europe, and the possible surge of a new merger wave in Europe.

Written in different time periods but set in the time of imperial expansion, E. M. Forster’s Howards End (1910) and Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart (1958) offer a critical exploration of British imperialism and its aftermath. What similarities and what differences do these novels have in portraying imperialism? More specifically, do they portray modern imperialism in radically different and mutually exclusive ways since one is set in the center of the British Empire and the other in a peripheral colony? The essay draws on Frederic Jameson’s argument about modernism, and Howards End in particular, that the center representatively excludes the periphery in its literary works. By comparing the two novels, the essay explores these issues and asks whether the British Empire is structurally incomplete in its representation in early twentieth century canonical modernist novels? Moreover, does this theory of exclusivity extend to include modern canonical African novels written a few decades later? By analyzing Howards End and Things Fall Apart, the essay examines the hypothesis that the center and the periphery are indeed mutually exclusive in their literary productions. The conclusions reached require some significant modifications to Jameson’s theory. It was found that Howards End does indeed structurally exclude the periphery. However, the same cannot be said for Things Fall Apart, which structurally incorporates the center. Thus, Jameson’s theory does not extend beyond early twentieth century modernist novels. Moreover, Forster’s novel, although it does suffer from Jameson’s criticism, shows critical awareness of this disabling disconnection from the periphery.

Space and time are fundamental dimensions that contribute to make human minds grounded in the physical world. Researchers across the cognitive sciences have recently addressed some key questions about the role of the sensorimotor system in spatial and temporal processing (Chapter 1). The present thesis adds to this debate by exploring the hypothesis that prior directional sensorimotor experience contributes to the human sense of space and time. The first part of the thesis investigates whether sensorimotor experience influences visuospatial attention. A first study shows that humans have a manual and ocular leftward bias in bisection task in near but not in far space (Chapter 2). This leftward bias, for long mainly explained in terms of a right hemispheric dominance in visuospatial processing, is modulated by directional routines. For instance, individuals from different cultures show visuospatial asymmetries that can predicted by their reading habits (Chapter 3). Similarly, exposure to formal education exerts a strong influence on children’s visuospatial attention (Chapter 4). Nonetheless, the impact of cultural routines is further constrained by situational requirements. In fact, bidirectional readers reorient their visual scanning depending on the language of the task at hand (Chapter 5). In line with this, visuospatial biases can be rapidly induced by learned contingent odor-object associations (Chapter 6). On these grounds, it is therefore suggested that biological factors (i.e., hemispheric specialization) interplay with both cultural (i.e., directional scanning associated with language processing) and situational factors (i.e., current constraints imposed by task demands) in modulating visuospatial attention, likely under a hierarchical relationship (Chapter 7). Since space and time are supposed to be tightly coupled in the human mind by motor actions, the second part of the thesis investigates whether sensorimotor experience influences the spatial representation of time. A first study shows that both finger counting and reading habits are flexibly exploited to map ordered information on the bodily space (Chapter 8). The sensorimotor involvement in representational processes was confirmed in a study showing that eye movements mediate the search and the retrieval of temporally ordered information (Chapter 9). In addition, the view that the egocentric representation of time originates from our walking experience was empirically supported by showing that temporal processing affects step movements along the sagittal space (Chapter 10). Finally, the systematic tendency to experience the future as psychologically closer than the past, derived from our experiential movement through time, was found to be altered in people with slower walking speed and distorted motion perception, i.e., anxious and depressed individuals. (Chapter 11). These studies, therefore, suggest that the processing of time is governed by the same mechanisms that orient our attention in the physical space (Chapter 12). Overall, this thesis indicates that prior sensorimotor experience affects the way humans attend to space and time (Chapter 13).

This study addresses two works of fiction--Samuel Beckett's Malone Dies and J. M. Coetzee's Foe--and is separated into two chapters. The first chapter analyzes the indeterminate nature of postmodern space within the two novels as related to M. M. Bakhtin's idea of the chronotope found in his work The Dialogic Imagination. The second chapter addresses the self-reflexive creation of this postmodern space within each novel's hypodiegetic narratives and discussions of narrative creation within each respective diegetic narratives. In each novel, characters as authors create or discuss "inner" narratives that reflect upon the way chronotopes are created in fiction and reveal problematic aspects of those chronotopes. This narrative creation produces what I call a "postmodern creative chronotope" that self-reflexively embraces indeterminacy at the same time that it critiques the elements that produce this indefinite relationship between time and space, a strategy that is especially postmodern. I contextualize the discussion by introducing theories of postmodernism, specifically those of Jean-François Lyotard and Linda Hutcheon. Lyotard's claim that postmodernism resists totalizing structures and Hutcheon's contention that it engages in a simultaneous complicity and critique inform the relationships between time and space in both Beckett's and Coetzee's text. Additionally, theories of postmodern space contribute to the more specific discussion of the postmodern chronotopes in both novels. Spatial theorists like Edward Soja and Henri Lefebvre, among others, have attempted to reassert issues of space in what has been an ontological and epistemological framework that has prioritized time. Their reassertion of spatiality reconnects the two halves of the spatio-temporal framework of the chronotope in narrative. Beckett and Coetzee employ similar indeterminate and self-reflexive chronotopal strategies in their novels. Coetzee, however, inserts a number of global/political issues into his self-reflexive discussion of chronotopal creation and definition.

O projeto literário de Gonçalo M. Tavares apresenta-se como uma cartografia performativa em que as Séries demarcam territórios de implementação do pensamento por sua vez materializados nos Cadernos. O propósito do estudo é a análise desse espaço literário, primeiramente, na sua totalidade, num segundo tempo, da Série O Reino e, por último, destacar-se-á o quarto romance da tetralogia, Aprender a Rezar na Era da Técnica. Do fragmento ao romance, passando pela poesia, a epopeia a micro-narrativa e o ensaio, desta escrita ressalva-se a heterogeneidade e hibridez dos registos como marcas distintivas do autor, por isso damos conta da inespecificidade das formas e da aproximação a uma performance da escrita. Os romances, objeto principal da tese, veiculam um discurso de reiteração temática com acento na premissa contemporânea da legibilidade do mal e na racionalidade cujo modelo pós-Auschwitz se pretende questionar. As personagens, na sua caracterização e nas relações com o outro, servem o estrangulamento que esse tempo histórico e o espaço claustrofóbico de uma cidade como cenário transversal delimitam, confrontando-se, a todo o momento, com o medo da morte. Estes elementos, em conjunto com a linguagem, também um instrumento de poder, serão considerados para a reflexão sobre a criação literária, uma zona de compromisso ideológico e estético; ABSTRACT: The literary project of Gonçalo M. Tavares presents itself as a performative mapping in the Series demarcate territories of implementing the thought that, in turn, the Notebooks materialize. The purpose of the study is the analysis of this literary space, first, in its entirety, a second time, series The Kingdom and, lastly, will highlight it fourth novel of the tetralogy, Learning to Pray in the Era of Technology. Fragment of the novel, through poetry, epic micro-narrative and the test of this writing it is emphasized the heterogeneity and hybridity of records as distinguishing the author marks, so we realize the specificity of the forms and the approach to a performance writing. The novels, the main object of the thesis, convey a speech thematic reiteration accented in contemporary premise of readability of evil and rationality whose post- Auschwitz model intended question. The characters in his characterization and relationships with each other, serve the bottleneck that historical time and the claustrophobic space of a city like cross scenario, delimit, clashing, at all times, with the fear of death. These elements, together with language, also an instrument of power, will be considered for reflection on the literary creation, a zone of ideological and aesthetic commitment.

The latest wireless communication techniques such as highspeed wireless internet application demand higher data rates and better quality of service (QoS). However, transmission reliability is still degraded by harsh propagation channels. Multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) systems can increase the system capacity and improve transmission reliability. By transmitting multiple copies of data, a MIMO system can effectively combat the effects of fading. Due to the high hardware cost of a MIMO system, antenna selection techniques have been applied in MIMO system design to reduce the system complexity and cost. The Nakagami-m distribution has been considered for MIMO channel modeling since a wide range of fading channels, from severe to moderate, can be modeled by using Nakagami-m distribution. The Rayleigh distribution is a special case of the Nakagami-m distribution. In this thesis, we analyze the error performance of two MIMO schemes: maximal-ratio combining with transmit antenna selection (the TAS/MRC scheme) and space-time block codes with transmit antenna selection (the TAS/STBC scheme) over Nakagami-m fading channels. In the TAS/MRC scheme, one of multiple transmit antennas, which maximizes the total received signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), is selected for uncoded data transmission. First we use a moment generating function based (MGF-based) approach to derive the bit error rate (BER) expressions for binary phase shift keying (BPSK), the symbol error rate (SER) expressions for M-ray phase shift keying (MPSK) and M-ray quadrature amplitude modulation (MQAM) of the TAS/MRC scheme over Nakagami-m fading channels with arbitrary and integer fading parameters m. The asymptotic performance is also investigated. It is revealed that the asymptotic diversity order is equal to the product of the Nakagami fading parameter m, the number of transmit antenna Lt and the number of receive antenna Lr as if all transmit antenna were used. Then a Gaussian Q-functions approach is used to investigate the error performance of the TAS/STBC scheme over Nakagami-m fading channels. In the TAS/STBC scheme, two transmit antennas, which maximize the output SNR, are selected for transmission. The exact and asymptotic BER expressions for BPSK are obtained for the TAS/STBC schemes with three and four transmit antennas. It is shown that the TAS/STBC scheme can provide a full diversity order of mLtLr.

Master of Engineering (Research)<br>The latest wireless communication techniques such as highspeed wireless internet application demand higher data rates and better quality of service (QoS). However, transmission reliability is still degraded by harsh propagation channels. Multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) systems can increase the system capacity and improve transmission reliability. By transmitting multiple copies of data, a MIMO system can effectively combat the effects of fading. Due to the high hardware cost of a MIMO system, antenna selection techniques have been applied in MIMO system design to reduce the system complexity and cost. The Nakagami-m distribution has been considered for MIMO channel modeling since a wide range of fading channels, from severe to moderate, can be modeled by using Nakagami-m distribution. The Rayleigh distribution is a special case of the Nakagami-m distribution. In this thesis, we analyze the error performance of two MIMO schemes: maximal-ratio combining with transmit antenna selection (the TAS/MRC scheme) and space-time block codes with transmit antenna selection (the TAS/STBC scheme) over Nakagami-m fading channels. In the TAS/MRC scheme, one of multiple transmit antennas, which maximizes the total received signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), is selected for uncoded data transmission. First we use a moment generating function based (MGF-based) approach to derive the bit error rate (BER) expressions for binary phase shift keying (BPSK), the symbol error rate (SER) expressions for M-ray phase shift keying (MPSK) and M-ray quadrature amplitude modulation (MQAM) of the TAS/MRC scheme over Nakagami-m fading channels with arbitrary and integer fading parameters m. The asymptotic performance is also investigated. It is revealed that the asymptotic diversity order is equal to the product of the Nakagami fading parameter m, the number of transmit antenna Lt and the number of receive antenna Lr as if all transmit antenna were used. Then a Gaussian Q-functions approach is used to investigate the error performance of the TAS/STBC scheme over Nakagami-m fading channels. In the TAS/STBC scheme, two transmit antennas, which maximize the output SNR, are selected for transmission. The exact and asymptotic BER expressions for BPSK are obtained for the TAS/STBC schemes with three and four transmit antennas. It is shown that the TAS/STBC scheme can provide a full diversity order of mLtLr.

The thesis investigates the LGBTIA spaces indoors in Milan, public spaces occupied by gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, intersex (hermaphrodite) and asexual (those who feel affection towards people, but they do not prove sexual libido) people. These LGBTIA spaces are "mapped" by GIS (Geographic Information Systems) cartographies – a census of LGBTIA cultural and commercial activities –, and by narratives of "privileged witnesses" who carry out their activities LGBTIA in Milan.<br>La tesi indaga gli spazi LGBTIA di Milano al chiuso, spazi pubblici destinati alla fruizione di persone gay, lesbiche, bisessuali, transessuali, intersessuali (ermafroditi) e Asessuali (coloro che provano affettività verso le persone, senza desiderarle sessualmente). Questi spazi sono stati “mappati” sia attraverso l'elaborazione di cartografie GIS (Geographic Information Systems) che hanno censito le attività culturali e commerciali LGBTIA sul territorio, sia attraverso la raccolta di narrazioni a “testimoni privilegiati” che si occupano di attività LGBTIA a Milano.

Made available in DSpace on 2017-07-21T20:49:35Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Robson Jose Custodio.pdf: 6297141 bytes, checksum: ab95a65d74badcd15802c7df8bd64398 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-03-29<br>This dissertation aims to analyze the paths that refers to space and singular language absorbed in the writing of the contemporary Portuguese author Gonçalo M. Tavares within the series The neighbourhood, that currently contains 10 books, and interstice for 29 more, where the author pictures the everyday and together life of different senhores, in a space created by Tavares himself in order to inhabit some intellectuals, as a way of refuge from a world they do not belong to. Therefore, I go through the ideas presented by Foucault, mainly, about heterotopia, the places without place that recover that rebuilding of reality. The neighborhood is a place, so to speak, typically urban, that can put us before relations between the neighbors and make us rediscover our own conceptions about the everyday life, based on a map that projects all the residents and their houses, even those we did not effectively met yet in one of the books. Besides, it is important to emphasize that that space will be set as interminable, also in the presence of and in relation to an “other”, especially from the theoretical discussions by Maurice Blanchot, that enable us to put in an open position each narrative that intertwines gentlemen to gentlemen; looking, still, to the empty houses that are waiting for someone to move in. We start, in the first sections of this discussion, from another Tavares work, Biblioteca, to perceive the notion of infinite, consequential in so many other works of him, where we travel and create possibilities of going beyond and short. Gonçalo, lastly, creates a very close relation in the proposition of rescuing the past before the present, and so walk towards the future of the stories, many times with the resource of intertextuality.<br>A proposta desta dissertação de mestrado é analisar os caminhos referentes ao espaço e à linguagem singular absorvidos na escrita do autor português contemporâneo Gonçalo M. Tavares dentro da série O Bairro, que atualmente conta com 10 obras, e interstício para mais 29, nas quais o autor retrata o cotidiano e os convívios de diferentes senhores, em um espaço criado pelo próprio Tavares a fim de habitar alguns intelectuais, como uma forma de refúgio de um mundo que não lhes cabe. Para tanto, percorro as ideias apresentadas, sobretudo, por Michel Foucault, a respeito da heterotopia, dos lugares sem lugares, que encobrem essa reconstrução de realidade. O bairro é uma região, por assim dizer, tipicamente urbana, capaz de nos colocar diante de relações entre a vizinhança e redescobrirmos nossos próprios conceitos sobre o cotidiano, tendo como base um mapa que projeta todos os habitantes e suas moradias, mesmo aqueles que ainda não nos foram apresentados efetivamente em uma obra. Além disso, é importante salientar que este espaço será determinado como interminável, também numa presença e relação com o “outro”, a partir principalmente das discussões teóricas de Maurice Blanchot, que nos capacita a colocar em uma posição de abertura cada narrativa que se entrecruza de senhor para senhor. Olhando, ainda, para as moradias vazias aguardando as mudanças para lá. Parte-se, nas primeiras seções desta discussão, de outra obra de Tavares, Biblioteca, para perceber a noção de infinito consequencial em tantos outros trabalhos do autor, na qual viajamos e criamos possibilidades de ir além e aquém. Gonçalo, por fim, cria uma relação muito próxima na proposta de resgatar o passado diante do presente, e assim caminhar para o futuro das histórias, sendo muitas vezes com o recurso da intertextualidade.

M-matrices are extensively employed in numerical analysis. These matrices can be generalized by corresponding operators on a partially ordered normed space. We extend results which are well-known for M-matrices to this more general setting. We investigate two different notions of an M-operator, where we focus on two questions: 1. For which types of partially ordered normed spaces do the both notions coincide? This leads to the study of positive-off-diagonal operators. 2. Which conditions on an M-operator ensure that its (positive) inverse satisfies certain maximum principles? We deal with generalizations of the &amp;quot;maximum principle for inverse column entries&amp;quot<br>M-Matrizen werden in der numerischen Mathematik vielfältig angewandt. Eine Verallgemeinerung dieser Matrizen sind entsprechende Operatoren auf halbgeordneten normierten Räumen. Bekannte Aussagen aus der Theorie der M-Matrizen werden auf diese Situation übertragen. Für zwei verschiedene Typen von M-Operatoren werden die folgenden Fragen behandelt: 1. Für welche geordneten normierten Räume sind die beiden Typen gleich? Dies führt zur Untersuchung außerdiagonal-positiver Operatoren. 2. Welche Bedingungen an einen M-Operator sichern, dass seine (positive) Inverse gewissen Maximumprinzipien genügt? Es werden Verallgemeinerungen des &amp;quot;Maximumprinzips für inverse Spalteneinträge&amp;quot; angegeben und untersucht

Made available in DSpace on 2014-12-17T14:16:22Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 TeresaCEDR.pdf: 519764 bytes, checksum: 16c1c0bd407e1a2f0c58712123711127 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2008-09-23<br>The ethanol is the most overused psychoactive drug over the world; this fact makes it one of the main substances required in toxicological exams nowadays. The development of an analytical method, adaptation or implementation of a method known, involves a process of validation that estimates its efficiency in the laboratory routine and credibility of the method. The stability is defined as the ability of the sample of material to keep the initial value of a quantitative measure for a defined period within specific limits when stored under defined conditions. This study aimed to evaluate the method of Gas chromatography and study the stability of ethanol in blood samples, considering the variables time and temperature of storage, and the presence of preservative and, with that check if the conditions of conservation and storage used in this study maintain the quality of the sample and preserve the originally amount of analyte present. Blood samples were collected from 10 volunteers to evaluate the method and to study the stability of ethanol. For the evaluation of the method, part of the samples was added to known concentrations of ethanol. In the study of stability, the other side of the pool of blood was placed in two containers: one containing the preservative sodium fluoride 1% and the anticoagulant heparin and the other only heparin, was added ethanol at a concentration of 0.6 g/L, fractionated in two bottles, one being stored at 4?C (refrigerator) and another at -20?C (freezer), the tests were performed on the same day (time zero) and after 1, 3, 7, 14, 30 and 60 days of storage. The assessment found the difference in results during storage in relation to time zero. It used the technique of headspace associated with gas chromatography with the FID and capillary column with stationary phase of polyethylene. The best analysis of chromatographic conditions were: temperature of 50?C (column), 150?C (jet) and 250?C (detector), with retention time for ethanol from 9.107 ? 0.026 and the tercbutanol (internal standard) of 8.170 ? 0.081 minutes, the ethanol being separated properly from acetaldehyde, acetone, methanol and 2-propanol, which are potential interfering in the determination of ethanol. The technique showed linearity in the concentration range of 0.01 and 3.2 g/L (0.8051 x + y = 0.6196; r2 = 0.999). The calibration curve showed the following equation of the line: y = x 0.7542 + 0.6545, with a linear correlation coefficient equal to 0.996. The average recovery was 100.2%, the coefficients of variation of accuracy and inter intra test showed values of up to 7.3%, the limit of detection and quantification was 0.01 g/L and showed coefficient of variation within the allowed. The analytical method evaluated in this study proved to be fast, efficient and practical, given the objective of this work satisfactorily. The study of stability has less than 20% difference in the response obtained under the conditions of storage and stipulated period, compared with the response obtained at time zero and at the significance level of 5%, no statistical difference in the concentration of ethanol was observed between analysis. The results reinforce the reliability of the method of gas chromatography and blood samples in search of ethanol, either in the toxicological, forensic, social or clinic<br>O etanol ? a droga psicoativa mais utilizada de forma abusiva em todo o mundo, isso faz dele uma das principais subst?ncias requisitadas em exames toxicol?gicos na atualidade. O desenvolvimento de um m?todo anal?tico, a adapta??o ou implementa??o de um m?todo conhecido, envolve um processo de valida??o que estima sua efici?ncia na rotina do laborat?rio e a credibilidade do m?todo. A estabilidade ? definida como a capacidade da amostra do material manter o valor inicial de uma medida quantitativa por um per?odo definido dentro de limites espec?ficos quando armazenados sob condi??es definidas. Este trabalho teve como objetivo avaliar o m?todo de Cromatografia em fase gasosa e estudar a estabilidade do etanol em amostras de sangue, considerando as vari?veis tempo e temperatura de armazenamento, bem como a presen?a de conservante e, com isso verificar se as condi??es de conserva??o e armazenamento utilizadas neste estudo mant?m a qualidade da amostra e preservam a quantidade inicialmente presente do analito. Foram coletadas amostras de sangue de 10 volunt?rios para avalia??o do m?todo e para o estudo da estabilidade do etanol. Para a avalia??o do m?todo, parte das amostras foi adicionada de concentra??es conhecidas de etanol. No estudo da estabilidade, a outra parte do pool de sangue foi colocada em dois recipientes: um contendo o conservante fluoreto de s?dio 1% e o anticoagulante heparina e no outro somente heparina, foi adicionado etanol na concentra??o de 0,6 g/L, fracionado em dois frascos, sendo um armazenado a 4?C (geladeira) e outro a -20?C (freezer). As an?lises foram realizadas no mesmo dia (tempo zero) e ap?s 1, 3, 7, 14, 30 e 60 dias de armazenamento. A avalia??o considerou a diferen?a dos resultados durante o armazenamento em rela??o ao tempo zero. Foi utilizada a t?cnica de head space associada ? cromatografia em fase gasosa com detector de ioniza??o de chama e coluna capilar com fase estacion?ria de polietilenoglicol. As melhores condi??es cromatogr?ficas de an?lise obtidas foram: temperatura de 50?C (coluna), 150?C (injetor) e 250?C (detector), com tempo de reten??o para o etanol de 9,107 ? 0,026 e para o t-butanol (padr?o interno) de 8,170 ? 0,081 minutos, sendo o etanol separado adequadamente do acetalde?do, acetona, metanol e isopropanol, que s?o potenciais interferentes na determina??o do etanol. A t?cnica mostrou linearidade no intervalo de concentra??o de 0,01 e 3,2 g/L (y = 0,8051x + 0,6196; r2 = 0,999). A curva de calibra??o apresentou a seguinte equa??o da reta: y = 0,7542x + 0,6545, com um coeficiente de correla??o linear igual a 0,996. A recupera??o m?dia foi de 100,2%, os coeficientes de varia??o da precis?o intraensaio e interensaio apresentaram valores de no m?ximo 7,3%, o limite de detec??o e quantifica??o foi de 0,01 g/L e apresentou coeficiente de varia??o dentro do permitido. O m?todo anal?tico avaliado no presente trabalho demonstrou ser r?pido, pr?tico e eficiente, atendendo satisfatoriamente aos objetivos do trabalho. O estudo da estabilidade demonstrou diferen?a menor que 20% na resposta obtida nas condi??es de armazenamento e per?odo estipulados, comparada com a resposta obtida no tempo zero e, ao n?vel de signific?ncia de 5%, nenhuma diferen?a estat?stica na concentra??o de etanol foi observada entre as an?lises. Os resultados obtidos refor?am a confiabilidade do m?todo de cromatografia em fase gasosa e das amostras de sangue na pesquisa de etanol, seja na ?rea toxicol?gica, Forense, social ou cl?nica

M-matrices are extensively employed in numerical analysis. These matrices can be generalized by corresponding operators on a partially ordered normed space. We extend results which are well-known for M-matrices to this more general setting. We investigate two different notions of an M-operator, where we focus on two questions: 1. For which types of partially ordered normed spaces do the both notions coincide? This leads to the study of positive-off-diagonal operators. 2. Which conditions on an M-operator ensure that its (positive) inverse satisfies certain maximum principles? We deal with generalizations of the &amp;quot;maximum principle for inverse column entries&amp;quot;.<br>M-Matrizen werden in der numerischen Mathematik vielfältig angewandt. Eine Verallgemeinerung dieser Matrizen sind entsprechende Operatoren auf halbgeordneten normierten Räumen. Bekannte Aussagen aus der Theorie der M-Matrizen werden auf diese Situation übertragen. Für zwei verschiedene Typen von M-Operatoren werden die folgenden Fragen behandelt: 1. Für welche geordneten normierten Räume sind die beiden Typen gleich? Dies führt zur Untersuchung außerdiagonal-positiver Operatoren. 2. Welche Bedingungen an einen M-Operator sichern, dass seine (positive) Inverse gewissen Maximumprinzipien genügt? Es werden Verallgemeinerungen des &amp;quot;Maximumprinzips für inverse Spalteneinträge&amp;quot; angegeben und untersucht.

Negli ultimi anni si è assistito ad una crescente politicizzazione del turismo urbano. La critica all’industria turistica, entrata ormai nell’agenda delle azioni di diversi gruppi cittadini, si è dimostrata tanto articolata quanto diversificata. Spesso, molte di queste proteste condividono la proliferazione di tattiche creative che rendono evidente il rapporto tra mediazione simbolica e risignificazione dello spazio pubblico. Attraverso un lavoro etnografico che si snoda tra i centri urbani di Barcellona e Venezia, la ricerca si inserisce all’interno di questa crescente dinamicità dell’attuale critica alla turistificazione della città ed analizza diverse forme di protesta che emergono direttamente da progetti dal basso ed aspirano ad un cambiamento socio- politico. L’obiettivo è quello di contribuire e problematizzare in maniera complessa il dibattito sulle forme contemporanee di rivendicazione all’interno della città turistica. Nel complesso, la tesi si presenta come un’incursione delle scienze sociali nel dibattito sull’overtourism con il proposito di integrare focus spaziali, culturali e riflessivi sia dei collettivi urbani, sia dello stesso ricercatore che si avvicina a queste pratiche.

È noto che la mente umana spesso crea una rappresentazione del tempo attraverso dimensioni più concrete, come lo spazio. Abitualmente, parliamo del passato riferendoci allo spazio dietro di noi e al futuro allo spazio di fronte a noi. Questa tesi di dottorato esplora l'origine e lo sviluppo dell'associazione tra tempo e spazio nell'infanzia e nell'età adulta. La prima sezione fornisce una panoramica del background teorico e discute gli studi precedenti che si sono focalizzati su questo argomento. Descriviamo gli elementi mancanti e individuiamo che il tipo di informazioni elaborate (cioè gli eventi che si riferiscono alla memoria personale e non personale) possano influenzare la costruzione della linea del tempo mentale e i relativi fotogrammi spaziali di riferimento coinvolti. Il secondo capitolo sperimentale indaga direttamente se eventi personali e non personali sono mappati in modo diverso nello spazio in età adulta, coinvolgendo madrelingua italiana. I risultati descritti mostrano che mentre gli eventi personali sono mappati preferenzialmente lungo lo spazio sagittale, gli eventi non personali sono più probabilmente mappati sullo spazio orizzontale. Questi risultati sono stati replicati in un campione di madrelingua adulti inglesi utilizzando una procedura simile e indicano che il tipo di contenuto elaborato in memoria influisce sul modo in cui l'individuo rappresenta il tempo nello spazio. Il terzo capitolo è incentrato sull'ontogenesi della linea temporale mentale. Un primo studio ha esplorato la rappresentazione di eventi personali e non personali lungo lo spazio sagittale in bambini madrelingua inglese della scuola elementare, estendendo così la principale domanda teorica alla base di questa tesi a livello dello sviluppo. In un secondo studio, i bambini della scuola elementare italiana sono stati coinvolti in due compiti che esploravano le origini linguistiche e sensomotorie della linea mentale del tempo sagittale. I risultati indicano che la rappresentazione del tempo lungo lo spazio sagittale si basa fortemente su processi sensorimotori già in giovane età. Insieme, questo corpus di prove fornisce nuove intuizioni sui meccanismi cognitivi e sensomotori che guiderebbero gli umani a rappresentare il tempo lungo le coordinate spaziali.<br>It is well known that the human mind often creates a representation of time through more concrete dimensions, such as space. Habitually, we talk about past referring to the space behind us and about future referring to the space in front of us. This doctoral thesis explores the origin and development of the association between time and space in childhood and adulthood. The first section provides an overview of the theoretical background and discuss previous studies that have been focused on this topic. We outline the missing pieces of evidence and pinpoint that the type of information processed at hand (i.e., events referring to personal and non-personal memory) may impact on how the mental time line is constructed and on the relative spatial frames of reference involved. The second, empirical chapter investigates directly whether personal and non-personal events are differently mapped on space in adulthood, by involving native Italian speakers. The results described show that whereas personal events are preferentially mapped along the sagittal space, non-personal events are more likely mapped on the horizontal space. These findings were replicated in a sample of English adult speakers using a similar procedure and indicate that the type of content processed in memory affects how the individual represents time in space. The third chapter is focused on the ontogeny of the mental time line. A first study explored the representation of personal and non-personal events along the sagittal space in native English primary school children, thus extending the main theoretical question underlying this thesis at the developmental level. In a second study, Italian primary school children were involved in two tasks probing the linguistic and sensorimotor origins of the sagittal mental time line. Results indicate that the representation of time along the sagittal space strongly relies on sensorimotor processes already from a young age. Together, this body of evidence provides new insights on the cognitive and sensorimotor mechanisms that would drive humans to represent time along spatial coordinates.

Gli esseri umani sono animali sociali. Altruismo e comportamenti cooperativi migliorano le relazioni tra conspecifici aiutando nel contempo la sopravvivenza della specie. In questo quadro, l'empatia e lo spazio interpersonale (IPS) sono due fattori cruciali per le interazioni tra conspecifici. Da un lato, gli individui con capacità empatiche migliori avranno relazioni durature e una predisposizione per cooperazione e comportamenti altruistici che sono abilità fondamentali per gli animali sociali. Dall’altro, lo sviluppo di tratti di personalità disfunzionali può ostacolare questi processi, portando ad una compromissione delle relazioni. Recentemente, le neuroscienze cognitive hanno dimostrato che l'empatia, lo spazio sociale e la psicopatia sembrano condividere, almeno in parte, una rete neurale comune. Lo scopo generale del presente lavoro è di investigare la relazione tra questi costrutti, indagando come personalità e tratti psicopatici nella popolazione generale modulano lo spazio interpersonale e le abilità empatiche. Inoltre, questo contributo presenta un'esplorazione degli effetti di lesioni cerebrali sulla cognizione sociale, sull’empatia e sullo spazio sociale. In particolare, lo Studio 1 indaga in una grande popolazione non clinica (N = 309), la relazione tra Teoria della Mente, empatia, tratti di personalità psicopatici e disadattivi. I risultati mostrano un’associazione tra empatia, psicopatia e tratti della personalità, evidenziando la relazione tra dimensioni diverse della psicopatia e tratti della personalità disadattivi (in particolare quelli legati a disinibizione, impulsività e aggressività), e tra questi ultimi e e la teoria della mente. Dati i risultati dello Studio 1, lo Studio 2 esplora ulteriormente la relazione tra abilità empatiche, personalità e tratti psicopatici, prendendo in considerazione la loro influenza sullo spazio sociale. Questo studio mette in luce il ruolo di impulsività e aggressività, insieme alle caratteristiche psicopatiche e alla dimensione cognitiva dell’empatia, nel plasmare lo spazio sociale. In particolare, è fornita una prima prova che l'IPS sia principalmente influenzato dalla disinibizione e dalla capacità di assumere il punto di vista degli altri. Entrambi questi fattori sono associati ad una riduzione dell’IPS. Infine, lo Studio 3 ha lo scopo di esplorare come danni cerebrali che causano una sindrome frontale associata a sindrome disesecutiva, influenzino l'IPS e l'empatia, alla luce del fatto che la disregolazione comportamentale è stata proposta come determinante cruciale dei cambiamenti dello spazio interpersonale. Lo Studio 3 valuta anche possibili collegamenti tra IPS ed empatia, dati i loro comuni substrati neurali. I risultati non mostrano un’alterazione dello spazio sociale nei pazienti con disfunzioni del comportamento, rispetto ai controlli neurologicamente sani. Tuttavia, l'esplorazione della performance di ciascun paziente evidenzia la presenza di due profili diversi: un quadro caratterizzato da sintomatologia positiva comporta una riduzione dell'estensione IPS, mentre un profilo caratterizzato da sintomi negativi sembra allargare l'IPS. Infine, lo Studio 3 rivela una compromissione selettiva dell'empatia affettiva nei pazienti con danni cerebrali. In conclusione, il presente progetto di ricerca offre nuove evidenze sulle complesse relazioni tra tratti di personalità, psicopatia e dimensioni (cognitiva e affettiva) dell’empatia, e come queste incidono sulla regolazione dell'IPS in individui sani. Questa evidenza estende la comprensione attuale delle condizioni psicopatologiche caratterizzate da mancanza di empatia e disregolazione comportamentale. Inoltre, l'ultimo studio sui pazienti cerebrolesi suggerisce che la distanza interpersonale e la dimensione affettiva dell’empatia possono essere influenzati, in modo non lineare, da danni cerebrali che provocano contemporaneamente disfunzioni comportamentali.<br>Human beings are social animals. It is important for our species to engage in healthy and fruitful relationships. Altruism and cooperative behaviors help us to improve these bonding relationships and are helpful for the survival of the species. In this framework, empathy and interpersonal space (IPS) are two crucial factors for social interactions. On the one hand, individuals with better empathic abilities will have lasting relationships and a predisposition for cooperativeness and altruistic behaviors that are fundamental skills to develop in large groups. On the other hand, the development of maladaptive or dysfunctional personality traits can hinder these processes, leading to impairment in relationships. Evidence from cognitive neuroscience demonstrate that empathy, social space, and psychopathy seem to rely – at least partially – on a common neural network, in turn being intrinsically linked and potentially influencing each other. The general aim of the present work is to disentangle the relationship between these constructs, investigating how personality and psychopathic traits in the general population shape and modulate interpersonal space and empathic abilities. Furthermore, this contribution presents an exploration of the effects of brain damage on social cognition, emotional response, and social space. In particular, Study 1, investigates the relationship between mentalizing abilities, empathy, psychopathic and maladaptive personality traits in a large (N=309) healthy population. Results show the relation between empathic abilities, personality traits and psychopathy, highlighting the relationship between primary and secondary psychopathic dimensions and maladaptive personality traits (specifically those related to disinhibition, impulsivity, and aggression), and between the latter and social sensitivity (as assessed by a complex emotions recognition task). Given the results of Study 1, Study 2 further explores the relationship between empathic abilities, personality, and psychopathic traits, taking into consideration their influence of IPS extension. This study sheds light on the role of impulsivity, aggressivity, along with psychopathic features and cognitive empathy in shaping social space. In particular, I provide a first novel evidence that IPS is primarily influenced by disinhibition and the ability to assume the others point of view (i.e., perspective taking ability). Both of these factors are associated with a shorter comfort distance. Finally, Study 3 is aimed at exploring how brain damages causing frontal behavioral symptoms affect IPS and empathy, in light of the fact that behavioral dysregulation has been proposed as a crucial determinant of interpersonal space changes. Study 3 also takes into account possible links between IPS and empathy, given their common neural substrates. The results do not confirm that IPS size is altered in patients with frontal behavioral dysfunctions, as compared to neurologically healthy controls. However, the exploration of the performance on an individual base highlights the presence of two different profiles: a portray of positive symptomatology entails a reduction of IPS extension, while a profile characterized by negative symptoms seem to enlarge IPS. Finally, Study 3 reveals a selective impairment of affective empathy in brain-damaged patients. In conclusion, the present research project offers novel insights on the complex relations between psychopathic and personality traits, the cognitive and affect sides of empathy, and their impact on the regulation of the IPS size in healthy individuals. This evidence extends current understanding of psychopathological conditions characterized by lack of empathy and behavioral dysregulation. Additionally, the last study on brain-damaged patients suggests that the interpersonal distance and the affective side of empathy may be affected, in a non-linear way, by brain damages concurrently causing behavioral dysfunctions.

Lo spazio peripersonale (SPP) rappresenta una regione privilegiata di spazio immediatamente circostante il nostro corpo in cui stimoli visivi e tattili vengono integrati nelle aree cerebrali fronto-parietali (Hunley & Lourenco, 2018). L’ampiezza di SPP non è fissa ma può essere regolata da diversi fattori (Fogassi et al., 1996). Il presente lavoro di tesi si propone di indagare come l’integrazione visuo-tattile possa essere modulata dalla valenza intrinseca e acquisita degli stimoli visivi e da stati emotivi legati all’ansia. Negli Studi 1 e 3 è stato utilizzato il paradigma di interazione visuo-tattile (Canzoneri et al., 2012) in cui stimoli tattili venivano somministrati mentre stimoli visivi in avvicinamento a valenza intrinseca (Studio 1) e acquisita (Studio 3) si trovavano a specifiche distanze dal corpo dei partecipanti. I risultati dei due studi sono analoghi: a brevi distanze, tutti gli stimoli visivi comportano una facilitazione dell’elaborazione del tattile, a lunghe distanze dal corpo, invece, solo gli stimoli connotati da valenza modulano le interazioni visuo-tattili. Lo studio 2 è stato condotto per escludere che possibili effetti di aspettativa tattile potessero spiegare i risultati ottenuti nei due precedenti studi. Utilizzando lo stesso paradigma di interazione visuo-tattile, ora gli stimoli visivi si allontanano dal corpo anziché avvicinarsi ad esso. Contrariamente ai due studi summenzionati, si è qui riscontrato che la valenza degli stimoli non esercita nessun effetto sulla percezione spaziale, confermando dunque la validità degli Studi 1 e 3. Lo Studio 4 si propone di indagare le oscillazioni neurali sottostanti le interazioni visuo-tattili. Nello specifico, si vorrebbe replicare il risultato ottenuto da Wamain et al. (2016) il quale ha riportato un gradiente di attivazione della corteccia sensorimotoria dallo spazio peripersonale a quello extrapersonale, soltanto quando il compito richiedeva al soggetto una chiara intenzione motoria. Utilizzando un compito di discriminazione tattile, i partecipanti venivano invitati a rispondere ad una vibrazione consegnata sulla mano destra mentre osservavano stimoli visivi a valenza positiva e negativa, posizionati a varie distanze dal corpo. I risultati mostrano una chiara attivazione motoria quando tutti gli stimoli sono posizionati nello spazio peripersonale ma non in quello extrapersonale, portando prove a sostegno dell’esistenza di un sistema di codifica di SPP sottostante l’integrazione visuo-tattile (Maravita et al., 2003, Làdavas & Farnè, 2004). Nessun effetto legato alla valenza è stato registrato, avvalorando dunque i dati ottenuti nei precedenti esperimenti. Lo studio 5 è volto ad indagare come la congruenza tra stimoli visivi e tattili nello spazio sia modellata da stati emotivi legati ad ansia di stato e di tratto (Spielberger, 1983). Adottando una versione rivisitata del paradigma di Ordine di Giudizio Temporale (Filbrich et al., 2017), i partecipanti venivano invitati a riportare l’ordine di presentazione di stimoli visivi posizionati vicino o lontano dal proprio corpo, ignorando degli stimoli tattili consegnati 200 ms prima degli stimoli bersaglio. Tale procedura è stata somministrata prima e dopo il compito di induzione dell’ansia. Nonostante non sia stato replicato il generale effetto di facilitazione di congruenza visuo-tattile nello spazio vicino, è stato riscontrato che i soggetti con alta ansia di stato e di tratto mostrano rispettivamente un effetto inibitorio e facilitatorio dello stimolo tattile sull’elaborazione del visivo. Questo risultato è compatibile con studi già presenti in letteratura indicanti un ridotto controllo top-down per stimoli minacciosi nei soggetti ad alta ansia di stato (Bishop et al., 2004) e un compromesso controllo esecutivo nei soggetti ad alta ansia di tratto (Pacheco-Unguetti et al., 2010).<br>Peripersonal Space (PPS) is a privileged region of space, immediately surrounding our body, in which visual and bodily signals are promptly integrated in fronto-parietal areas of the brain (Hunley & Lourenco, 2018). PPS amplitude is not fixed, but it can be dynamically shaped by specific experimental manipulations (Fogassi et al., 1996). In Study 1 and 3, we tried to disentangle how visuo-tactile integration in space can be shaped by intrinsic and learned valence of objects. By using a visuo-tactile interaction paradigm, participants were asked to respond to a tactile stimulus while an approaching visual one (with intrinsic and learned valence in Study 1 and 3, respectively) was located at specific distances from their body (Canzoneri et al., 2012). The results of Study 1 and 3 seem aligned to each other: positive and negative stimuli entail larger visuo-tactile interactions in space than neutral ones. Indeed, at longer distances from the body, visuo-tactile interactions are dynamically modulated by valence-connoted looming visual stimuli. At shorter distances, instead, all stimuli acquire saliency regardless of their intrinsic or acquired valence, due to their proximity to the body. Study 3 aims to exclude that the above-mentioned results might be due to tactile expectancy (Kandula et al., 2017). Indeed, the more the visual stimulus approaches the body without tactile input, the more the bodily stimulus expectancy increases (Umbach et al. 2012). By using the same visual stimuli – that now recede away from participants’ body - and spatial distances as in Study 1, it was shown that the different valence of the stimuli is not able to produce any kind of effect in space, thus stressing the validity of the findings reported in Studies 1 and 3. Study 4 investigates the neuronal oscillations related to visuo-tactile coupling in near and far space for both positive and negative visual stimuli. In particular, we would like to replicate Wamain et al. (2016) results, which state that objects in near space are coded in motor terms, but only when the goal of the perceiver is to interact with them. By using a tactile discrimination task while valence-connoted visual stimuli were presented in near or far space, we found beta power desynchronization in near space over sensorimotor cortex, thus revealing a motor activation for valence-connoted visual stimuli close to the body but not when they were located far from it. This result corroborates the presence of such a multisensory system in the human brain (Maravita et al., 2003, Làdavas & Farnè, 2004). However, no effect of valence was found in the present EEG task, thus confirming Study 1 and 3 results. Study 5 explores how state and trait anxiety (Spielberger, 1983) can alter the prioritizing effect of congruent visuo-tactile stimulation in space. By adopting a revised version of the Temporal Order Judgment task as in Filbrich et al. (2017), participants were asked to report the order of near or far visual stimulus presentation before and after doing an anxiety provoking task, trying to ignore a tactile cue. Despite we were unable to report an overall prioritizing effect of congruent visuo-tactile interaction in near space, it has been found that participants who experienced a higher temporary state of anxiety showed an inhibitory effect of the congruent tactile cue on the near visual stimulus processing. On the other side, high trait anxiety participants’ response to the congruent multisensory stimulation seems to be more facilitated in near than in far space. This finding seems to be compatible with the reduced top-down control over threat-related distractors showed by high state anxiety individuals (Bishop et al., 2004) and with a reduced executive control in trait anxious subjects (Pacheco-Unguetti et al., 2010). Taken together, these five studies stress the privileged integration of visual and tactile stimuli inside PPS and its permeability to emotional related states.

Una grande varietà di input sensoriali dal mondo e dal corpo, sono continuamente integrati nel cervello al fine di creare rappresentazioni mentali sovramodali e coerenti del nostro stesso corpo. La plasticità è una caratteristica fondamentale di tali rappresentazioni, che consente costanti cambiamenti adattativi nelle funzioni mentali e nel comportamento. Anche le rappresentazioni corporee possono cambiare in base all'esperienza e, soprattutto, possono essere temporaneamente modificate mediante protocolli sperimentali. Nel presente lavoro, eravamo interessati a valutare la plasticità della percezione metrica del corpo e l'effetto di cambiamenti temporanei in essa sull'elaborazione delle informazioni corporee e spaziali. A tale scopo, sono stati utilizzati due illusioni corporee: la Mirror Box Illusion (MB) e la Full-Body Illusion (FBI). Il meccanismo principale che spiega l'efficacia di queste procedure sperimentali è il processo di incorporazione di una parte del corpo aliena. Nell'esperimento 1 abbiamo usato un paradigma visuo-tattile di FBI per valutarne la fattibilità e la replicabilità con corpi di dimensioni diverse. Abbiamo confermato che è possibile indurre e replicare nello stesso partecipante l'incorporazione verso manichini di dimensioni standard o più grandi. Nell'esperimento 2 e 3 abbiamo studiato la rappresentazione metrica della gamba e la sua malleabilità. Abbiamo quindi misurato l'effetto dell'FBI indotto da diverse dimensioni corporee, su un compito di valutazione della distanza percepita tra due tocchi applicati alla gamba del partecipante. Abbiamo scoperto che l'esperienza soggettiva di incorporazione è accompagnata da un cambiamento nella percezione della metrica del corpo che va di pari passo con la dimensione delle gambe incarnate. Poiché abbiamo confermato che, in soggetti sani, la rappresentazione metrica del corpo può essere modulata, abbiamo affrontato una domanda simile in pazienti con emiplegia. Nell'esperimento 4, usando un compito di bisezione del corpo abbiamo osservato che pazienti emiparetici mostrano una distorsione prossimale nella rappresentazione metrica dell'arto interessato. Abbiamo, inoltre, scoperto che la bisezione si sposta verso il punto medio reale dopo una sessione di trattamento con MB, rispetto a un trattamento di controllo senza specchio. Nell'esperimento 5 abbiamo trovato una modulazione simile della metrica corporea che, in un gruppo di pazienti affetti da aprassia ideomotoria trattati con una versione modificata della MB, era accompagnata da un miglioramento della programmazione dei piani motori. Negli esperimenti 6 e 7 ci siamo concentrati maggiormente sulla relazione tra metrica del corpo e rappresentazione dello spazio. In primo luogo, abbiamo testato l'ipotesi che una rappresentazione del corpo alterata influenzasse la percezione delle proprie attività motorie immaginate. I risultati hanno mostrato che i partecipanti immaginavano di camminare più velocemente dopo essere stati esposti a una FBI con gambe più lunghe. Inoltre, abbiamo scoperto che l'incorporazione illusoria di gambe più lunghe può influenzare la stima delle distanze allocentriche nello spazio extra-personale. L'incorporazione di gambe più lunghe, da un lato, ha, infatti, ridotto la distanza percepita in metri, dall'altro, ha prodotto un aumento del numero di passi che i partecipanti immaginavano di dover percorrere tra gli stessi punti di riferimento. In conclusione, abbiamo confermato che è possibile manipolare la rappresentazione metrica del corpo, mediante illusioni corporee e che ciò influenza la nostra capacità di stimare le distanze nel mondo esterno sia in termini di raggiungibilità che di stima allocentrica della distanza. Tale plasticità della rappresentazione corporea e dell'interazione spazio-corpo fornisce importanti indizi per la comprensione della rappresentazione corporea e della sua riabilitazione nei pazienti neurologici.<br>A large variety of sensory input from the world and the body, are continuously integrated in the brain in order to create supra-modal and coherent mental representations of our own body. Plasticity is a fundamental characteristic of the nervous systems, allowing constant adaptive changes in mental functions and behaviour. Thanks to this, even body representations can change according to experience and, crucially, they can be temporarily altered by means of experimental protocols. In the present work, we were interested in assessing the plasticity of the subjective metric of the body, and the effect of temporary changes in it on the processing of corporeal and spatial information. To this aim, two types of bodily illusion were used, i.e. the Mirror Box Illusion (MB) and the Full-Body Illusion (FBI), due to their known effects inducing strong modulations of body representation. The core mechanism accounting for the efficacy of these experimental procedures is likely to be the process of embodiment of an alien body part. In experiment 1 we used a visuotactile FBI-like paradigm to assess the feasibility and the replicability of the FBI for bodies of different sizes. Using this paradigm, we confirmed that it is possible to induce and replicate in the same participant, the embodiment towards mannequins of standard or bigger sizes. In experiment 2 and 3 we investigated body metric representation of the leg, and whether it can be plastically modulated by embodying mannequins of different sizes. To address this issue, we measured the effect of FBI induced by different body sizes, over a Body Distance Task (BDT), i.e. the assessment of the perceived distance between two touches applied to the participant’s leg. We found that the subjective experience of embodiment is also accompanied by a change in the perception of body metric that goes hand-in-hand with the current size of the embodied legs. Since we confirmed that, in healthy subjects, the metric representation of the body can be modulated, we addressed a similar question in patients with hemiplegia. In experiment 4, using a body bisection task we first observed that hemiparetic post-stroke patients show a proximal bias in the metric representation of their affected upper limb. Critically, we found that this bias shifts distally, towards the objective midpoint after a MB training session, compared to a control training without the mirror. In Experiment 5 we found a similar modulation of subjective body metric in a group of patients suffering from Ideomotor Apraxia, treated with a modified version of the MB setup, which was accompanied by an improvement in the programming of motor plans. In experiments 6 and 7 we focused more on the relationship between body metric and space representations. First, we tested the hypothesis that an altered body representation could modify the way in which individuals estimate their body affordances during a Motor Imagery Task. Our results showed that participants imagined walking faster after having been exposed to an illusion of longer legs. Furthermore, we found that the illusory embodiment of longer legs can affect the estimation of allocentric distances in extra-personal space. The embodiment of longer legs, on the one hand, reduced the perceived distance in meters, on the other hand, produced an enhancement of the number of steps that participants imagined they would have needed to walk between the same landmarks. In conclusion, we confirmed that it is possible to induce provisional modifications of the metric representation of the body, by means of body illusions. We showed that body representation is malleable to the point to shape our ability to estimate distances in the external world both in terms of reachability and allocentric distance estimation. Such plasticity of body representation and body-space interaction gives important clues for the understanding of body representation and its rehabilitation in neurological patients.

This research was designed to investigate the fundamental nature in which blind people utilize audible cues to attend to their surroundings. Knowledge on how blind people respond to external spatial stimuli is expected to assist in development of better tools for helping people with visual disabilities navigate their environment. There was also interest in determining how blind people compare to sighted people in auditory localization tasks. The ability of sighted individuals, blindfolded individuals, and blind individuals in localizing spatial auditory targets was assessed. An acoustic display board allowed the researcher to provide multiple sound presentations to the subjects. The subjects’ responses in localization tasks were measured using a combination of kinematic head tracking and eye tracking hardware. Data was collected and analyzed to determine the ability of the groups in localizing spatial auditory targets. Significant differences were found among the three groups in spatial localization error and temporal patterns.

The aim of this research is to introduce an interpretation of the concept of consciousness that is metaphysically compatible with most contemporary theories of consciousness, insofar as it is intended to fix the conceptual level to which the study of consciousness belongs. In the first chapter, I analyze different uses of the terms ‘awareness’ and ‘consciousness’ and three approaches to the concept of consciousness that can be drawn from three popular kinds of theories of consciousness. My goal is to show that those approaches are based on the identification of three discernible features of conscious states, namely, intentionality, reflexivity and phenomenality. In the second chapter, I introduce an interpretation of the concept of consciousness where the above features are characterized as components of the concept, unifying them into a single conceptual space. Such interpretation allows me to explore how the conceptual space can be adjusted to build models of consciousness. In the third chapter, I argue that conscious states are internal states that are described in terms of the components of the concept of consciousness and their relations. In the fourth chapter, I show how my view can be implemented to theorize about non-human consciousness by analyzing two kinds of non-human systems, namely, dolphins and bees.

La tesi si propone di riflettere, con sguardo antropologico, sull’importanza che ricopre lo spazio nell’affermazione dell’identità politica dei gruppi svantaggiati che vivono nelle città. Il caso di studio preso in esame riguarda Harbor, una piccola comunità galleggiante sorta tra le acque di un canale nel centro della città di Copenaghen. Il lavoro è il frutto di un periodo di ricerca di campo della durata di un anno. Il periodo di ricerca è stato condotto nella capitale danese, dal giugno del 2016 al giugno del 2017. L’obiettivo principale della tesi è quello di analizzare le pratiche di produzione dello spazio e indagando il conflitto tra progettazione urbana e occupazione dello spazio della città da parte dei cittadini. A partire da alcune linee teoriche vicine alle recenti prospettive degli studi urbani in antropologia, la tesi di propone di analizzare la capacità umana di produrre significazione attraverso l’uso e la gestione delle risorse spaziali, concentrandosi sui modi di produzione semiotica degli spazi e sulla capacità di questi di veicolare significati. Lo spazio, considerato come vero e proprio linguaggio, risulta essere un mezzo attraverso cui instaurare nuove forme di dialogo tra cittadini e istituzioni che controllano il territorio. Il lavoro etnografico cerca di fare leva l’importanza che certe pratiche di occupazione e gestione del territorio hanno per migliorare le condizioni di riconoscimento dei gruppi in condizioni svantaggiate che vivono e occupano lo spazio della città. Verrà utilizzata l’espressione farsi spazio per indicare tutte quelle azioni politiche in cui lo spazio unico linguaggio attraverso il quale poter migliorare le condizioni di dialogo tra istituzioni e abitanti della città. Infine, la tesi cercherà, inoltre, di contribuire al dibattito, interno alla disciplina antropologica, sull’importanza dello studio dello spazio per un rinnovamento dell’antropologia urbana. Lo studio delle pratiche di produzione semiotica dello spazio verrà ritenuto l’oggetto principale degli studi urbani in antropologia.<br>This work wants to reflect on the importance given to the concept of space within the formation of political identity among marginal groups living in the city. The case study is a small “floating community” called Harbor located in the city center of Copenhagen. The research is based on a year-long fieldwork conducted in the Danish capital from June 2016 to June 2017. The main aim of this work is to analyze the practices of space creation within the tension between urban planning and citizen autonomous dwelling the urban space. Drawing upon the latest theoretical frameworks in urban anthropology and urban studies this work will look into Harbor settler’s capacity to use spatial resources and spatial practices for identity and political affirmations. We consider space as a language used by Harbor’s settlers to communicate with institutions, when performing political actions. In this regard we use the emic concept of “Take up space” to indicate those practices in which space is used as a language to communicate the instances and identities of marginal groups living in urban environments. Focusing on the importance of space analysis, we argue that our ethnographic case would enrich the discussion within the theoretical framework of urban studies in anthropology.

In my PhD research project, I wanted to investigate infants’ representation of the peripersonal space, which is the portion of environment between the self and the others. In the last three decades research provided evidence on newborns’ and infants’ perception of their own bodies and of other individuals, whereas not many studies investigated infants’ perception of the portion of space where they can interact with both others and objects, namely the peripersonal space. Considering the importance of the peripersonal space, especially in light of its defensive and interactive functions, I decided to investigate the development of its representation focusing on two aspects. On one side, I wanted to study how newborns and infants processed the space around them, if they differentiated between near and far space, possibly perceiving and integrating depth cues across sensory modalities and when and how they started to respond to different movements occurring in the space surrounding their bodies. On the other side, I was interested in understanding whether already at birth the peripersonal space could be considered as a delimited portion of space with special characteristics and, relatedly, if its boundaries could be determined. In order to respond to my first question, I investigated newborns’ and infants’ looking behaviour in response to visual and audio-visual stimuli depicting different trajectories taking place in the space immediately surrounding their body. Taken together, the results of these studies demonstrated that humans show, since the earliest stages of their development, a rudimentary processing of the space surrounding them. Newborns seemed, in fact, to already differentiate the space around them, through an efficient discrimination of different moving trajectories and a visual preference for those directed towards their own body, possibly due to their higher adaptive relevance. They also seemed to integrate multimodal, audio-visual information about stimuli moving in the near space, showing a facilitated processing of congruent audio-visual approaching stimuli. Furthermore, the results of these studies could help understand the development of the integration of multimodal stimuli with an adaptive valence during infancy. When newborns’ and infants were presented with unimodal, visual stimuli, they all directed their visual preferences to the stimuli moving towards their bodies. Conversely, their pattern of looking times was more complex when they were presented with congruent and incongruent audiovisual stimuli. Right after birth infants showed a spontaneous visual preference for congruent audio-visual stimuli, which was challenged by a similarly strong visual preference for adaptively important visual stimuli moving towards their bodies. The looking behaviours of 5-month-old infants, instead, seemed to be driven only by a spontaneous preference for multimodal congruent stimuli, i.e. depicting motion along the same trajectory, irrespective of the adaptive value of the information conveyed by either of the two sensory components of the stimulus. Nine-month-old infants, finally, seemed to flexibly integrate multisensory integration principles with the necessity of directing their attention to ethologically salient stimuli, as shown by the fact that their visual preference for unexpected, incongruent audio-visual stimuli was challenged by the simultaneous presence of adaptively relevant stimuli. Similarly to what happened with newborns, presenting 9-month-old infants with the two categories of preferred stimuli simultaneously led to the absence of a visual preference. Within my project I also investigated the electroencephalographic correlates of the processing of unimodal, visual and auditory, stimuli depicting different trajectories in a sample of 5-month-old infants. The results seemed to provide evidence in support of the role of the primary sensory cortices in the processing of crossmodal stimuli. Furthermore, they seemed to support the possibility that infants’ brain could allocate, already during the earliest stages of processing, different amounts of attention to stimuli with different adaptive valence. Two further studies addressed my second question, namely whether already at birth the peripersonal space could be considered as a delimited portion of space with special characteristics and if its boundaries could be determined. In these studies I measured newborns’ saccadic reaction times (RTs) to tactile stimuli presented simultaneously to a sound perceived at different distances from their body. The results showed that newborns’ RTs were modulated by the perceived position of the sound and that their modulation was very similar to that shown by adults, suggesting that the boundary of newborns’ peripersonal space could be identified in the perceived sound position in whose correspondence the drop of RTs happened. This suggested that at birth the space immediately surrounding the body seems to be already invested of a special salience and characterised by a more efficient integration of multimodal stimuli. As a consequence, it might be considered as a rudimentary representation of the peripersonal space, possibly serving, as a working space representation, early interactions between newly born humans and their environment. Overall, these findings provide a first understanding of how humans start to process the space surrounding them, which, importantly, is the space linking them with others and the space where their first interactions will take place.<br>Il mio progetto di Dottorato è nato con l’obiettivo di investigare la rappresentazione dello spazio peripersonale, cioè la porzione di spazio tra noi stessi e gli altri, durante l’infanzia. Nel corso degli ultimi trent’anni diversi studi hanno dimostrato la capacità di neonati ed infanti di percepire il proprio corpo, così come gli altri individui. Al contrario, non molti studi si sono interessati alla loro percezione della porzione di spazio dove essi possono interagire con gli oggetti e con gli altri, definita “spazio peripersonale”. Vista l’importanza dello spazio peripersonale, specialmente alla luce delle sue funzioni difensiva da un lato ed interattiva dall’altro, ho deciso di investigarne la rappresentazione concentrandomi su due aspetti. Da un lato, ho studiato come i neonati e gli infanti elaborino lo spazio intorno a loro, se differenzino tra spazio vicino e lontano, se percepiscano ed integrino gli indicatori di profondità provenienti da diverse modalità sensoriali, nonché come e quando inizino a rispondere ai diversi movimenti che hanno luogo nello spazio che circonda il loro corpo. Dall’altro lato, ero interessata a capire se già alla nascita lo spazio peripersonale potesse essere considerato come una porzione delimitata di spazio, contraddistinta da caratteristiche specifiche, e se i suoi confini potessero già essere stimati. Per rispondere alla mia prima domanda, ho analizzato il comportamento visivo di neonati ed infanti in risposta a stimoli visivi e audio-visivi raffiguranti diverse traiettorie che avevano luogo nello spazio immediatamente circostante il corpo. I risultati di questi studi, complessivamente, dimostrano che gli esseri umani mostrano, fin dai primi stadi dello sviluppo, una rudimentale capacità di elaborare lo spazio che circonda il loro corpo. I neonati sembrano, infatti, poter già differenziare lo spazio che li circonda, attraverso un’efficiente discriminazione di diverse traiettorie di movimento ed una preferenza visiva per quelle dirette verso il loro corpo, forse a causa della loro maggiore importanza adattiva. Inoltre, essi sembrano capaci di integrare informazioni multimodali rispetto al movimento di stimoli nello spazio circostante, mostrando un’elaborazione facilitata di stimoli in avvicinamento segnalati, al tempo stesso, da componenti visive ed uditive congruenti. Inoltre, i risultati di questi studi hanno permesso di aumentare la comprensione dello sviluppo della capacità di integrare stimoli multimodali caratterizzati da un’alta valenza adattiva durante l’infanzia. Quando ai neonati ed agli infanti sono stati presentati stimoli visivi (unimodali), essi hanno sempre rivolto la loro preferenza visiva agli stimoli che mostravano un movimento diretto verso il loro corpo. Diversamente, il loro comportamento visivo si è dimostrato più complesso quando sono stati presentati loro stimoli audiovisivi congruenti o incongruenti. Subito dopo la nascita, i neonati hanno mostrato una spontanea preferenza visiva per gli stimoli multimodali caratterizzati da una direzione di movimento congruente, a sua volta contrastata da un’altrettanta forte preferenza visiva per quegli stimoli che, muovendosi verso il loro corpo, erano caratterizzati da una grande salienza adattiva. Il comportamento visivo degli infanti di cinque mesi di età, invece, è sembrato essere guidato solamente da una spontanea preferenza per gli stimoli multimodali congruenti, cioè quelli che rappresentavano movimenti lungo la stessa traiettoria, indipendentemente dal valore adattivo delle informazioni trasmesse da ognuna delle due componenti sensoriali degli stimoli. Gli infanti di nove mesi di età, infine, sono sembrati capaci di integrare con flessibilità i principi dell’integrazione multisensoriale con la necessità di dirigere la loro attenzione verso gli stimoli etologicamente rilevanti, come dimostrato dal fatto che la loro preferenza visiva per gli stimoli audiovisivi incongruenti ed inaspettati è stata contrastata dalla simultanea presenza di stimoli importanti a livello adattivo. Come successo per i neonati, quando agli infanti di questa età venivano presentati contemporaneamente stimoli facenti parte delle due categorie preferite, essi non hanno mostrato alcuna preferenza visiva. All’interno del mio progetto ho anche investigato i correlati elettroencefalografici dell’elaborazione di stimoli unimodali, visivi ed uditivi, raffiguranti diverse traiettorie in un campione di infanti di cinque mesi di età. I risultati sembrano supportare il ruolo delle cortecce sensoriali primarie nell’elaborazione di stimoli provenienti da diverse modalità sensoriali, così come la possibilità che il cervello degli infanti possa assegnare diversi quantitativi di attenzione a stimoli di diversa importanza adattiva, già durante i primissimi stadi dell’elaborazione. Due ulteriori studi hanno indirizzato la mia seconda domanda, ovvero se già alla nascita lo spazio peripersonale possa essere considerato quale una porzione delimitata di spazio contraddistinta da particolari caratteristiche e se i suoi confini possano essere determinati. In questi studi ho misurato i tempi di reazione saccadici ad una stimolazione tattile accompagnata da un suono percepito a diverse distanze dal corpo. I risultati hanno mostrato che i tempi di reazione dei neonati sono stati modulati dalla distanza percepita del suono dal corpo. Inoltre, la modulazione dei tempi di reazione nei neonati è risultata molto simile a quella mostrata dagli adulti, suggerendo che i confini dello spazio peripersonale dei neonati possono essere identificati nella posizione in corrispondenza della quale i tempi di reazione sono drasticamente diminuiti. Questo dato suggerisce che alla nascita lo spazio immediatamente circostante il corpo sembra possedere già un’importanza particolare e sembra essere caratterizzato da una più efficace integrazione di stimoli multimodali. Di conseguenza, potrebbe essere considerato come una rudimentale rappresentazione dello spazio peripersonale, che può essere considerata al servizio delle interazioni precoci tra i neonati ed il loro ambiente. Complessivamente, questi risultati forniscono una prima comprensione di come gli esseri umani inizino a processare lo spazio che li circonda, cioè è lo spazio che li unisce agli altri, nonché lo spazio nel quale le loro prime interazioni avranno luogo.

How are public spaces regulated in tourist cities? In this doctoral dissertation I seek to answer this question by exploring the intersections between urban tourism and public space regulation. I argue that public space regulation substantially differs from the tourist to the non-tourist zone. This thesis contradicts the common belief that public space regulation may vary from city to city, but remains basically the same across the interior space of the city. It also makes possible to appreciate the extent to which the normative dimension of the production of space is related to patterns of uneven development and spatial injustices. Three main assertions corroborate this central proposition. First, I argue that there is a divide between the tourist zone and the rest of the city, which is closely related to the ways in which norms regulating public spaces are spatialized. Second, I suggest that the differences in terms of public space regulation exist because the public in the tourist zone is controlled by the state by means of mechanisms that discourage particular social groups’ actions and discourses. The third assertion is that the differences in terms of regulation are also due to the priority given by the state to the tourist zone when allocating resources to the promotion of public uses. The present study is designed as a multiple case study analysis. The evidence comes from the case studies of Acapulco (Mexico), San Sebastian (Spain), and Florianopolis (Brazil). The theoretical framework combines the theory of the production of space, the theory of property relations, the theory of norms, and the theory of tourist attractions. Part of the empirical data was assembled through extensive fieldwork, which included sessions of direct observation, semi-structured interviews, and collection of tourist materials. This was supplemented by data gathered from documents, newspaper reports, and contextual literature. The case studies were designed to have four thematic examples of conflict over public spaces embedded. Street vending and political activism are the themes that demonstrate the state’s repressive role in controlling the public, while street maintenance and square redevelopment projects are themes discussed to point to the state’s promotional role in allocating resources to the promotion of public uses. This doctoral dissertation is divided into three parts. In Part I, I review the literature on public spaces showing the shortcomings of legal dogmatics and urban sociology approaches, and positioning my study within the discipline of sociology of law. I also discuss the main debates in the field of legal geography and elaborate on the theoretical framework of the present investigation. Finally, I justify the selection of cases and embedded themes to be studied, as well as explaining the methodological design. Part II presents the case studies of public space regulation in the cities of Acapulco, San Sebastian, and Florianopolis. In Part III, through a cross-case analysis, I show how norms regulating public spaces in tourist cities can be spatialized in terms of jurisdictional spaces, spatial zoning, and territorial spaces. In addition, I demonstrate that differences of regulation between the tourist zone and the non-tourist zone are constitutive of spaces that are described metaphorically as ‘postcards of exclusion’ and ‘places off the map’.

The human interest on understanding how the surrounding space is perceived and processed has stimulated the scientific and experimental research in this field for several decades. Moreover, from the earliest human interaction with computer-generated virtual environments, interest in this subject has received increasing attention, in order to verify whether the observed behavior in virtual environments is similar to that seen in real environments. Virtual reality technologies are currently used in different fields, from the implementation in medicine to the rehabilitation of neuropsychological and psychological disorders, from the use in the military to the exploitation in industry. The positive results obtained through the use of virtual reality continue to support this new technology and its evolution. Research on the human brain mechanisms involved during interactions with these synthetic environments plays an important role from a neuropsychological point of view, and in terms of reliability and credibility of the instrument. Of particular importance in the study of spatial perception is the question of its representation that distinguishes the surrounding environment in peripersonal space, or near space, the space within arm reach, and extrapersonal space, or far space, defined the space beyond the arm reach. Neuropsychological evidences confirm the existence of different neural mechanisms involved in peripersonal and extrapersonal space representation. Moreover, it is known that the use of standard tools results in a modulation of the perceptual space, expanding the representation of peripersonal space to include the part of extrapersonal space occupied by the end of the tools manipulated. The aim of the present study is to analyze and understand some unclear aspects of this area of research, and to add information to the basic theory. To this end, several experiments were conducted to investigate the following aspects: • peripersonal and extrapersonal space limits during tool-use; • neural circuits involved in representation of peripersonal and extrapersonal space; • body and arm position influence in the perception of peripersonal and extrapersonal space; • the mechanism involved in extrapersonal space perception. The first chapter is an overview of peripersonal and extrapersonal space theories, and of the brain areas involved in their representation, through the analysis of researches and experiments with animal subjects; next, further studies are examined with human participants, in different situations and methods, in order to define the characteristics of this perceptual phenomenon. The second chapter presents the literature concerning the applications in the virtual reality field in the study of artificial environments spatial perception. The first part of the chapter introduces the basic concepts of the technology. Then, empirical evidences that support the utility and potential of this new technology are exposed Finally, an analysis of the researches concerning the phenomenon of peripersonal space perception in virtual environments is provided. The third chapter presents the research, and particularly explains the, methodology, experimental procedures and materials used for the experiments. The experimental paradigm used in the present work was the line bisection task. It is a widely used experimental paradigm since relatively easy for participants to perform, but provides valid results in terms of perception and visuospatial attention. The first study aimed to understand how far up tool-use can expand peripersonal space. The results showed an expansion of perceived peripersonal space when handling a tool up to a distance of 240 cm. The second study explored which brain areas are involved in a visuospatial attention task performed in a virtual environment, by using the neuroimaging technique functional Near Infrared Spectroscopy (i.e., fNIRS). The experiment represents one of the first attempts to investigate the neural correlates by using the fNIRS during an immersive virtual reality experience. Body position can influence the perception of the surrounding space and the space beyond arm reaching distance. Based on previous results, the third experiment investigated if the feeling of having the body blocked or free to move during a visuospatial attention task has implications in the attentional shift that modulates peripersonal and extrapersonal space perception. The results showed that both for the first and the second case, an abrupt attentional shift, not gradual, during the transition from peripersonal to extrapersonal space was observed. Arm position can influence the perception of the surrounding space and the space beyond arm reaching distance. Based on previous results, the fourth experiment investigated whether having the arm stretched or bent during a visuospatial attention task, has implications in the modulation of peripersonal and extrapersonal space perception. The results confirmed that the position of the arm affects visuospatial attention. The last experiment has specifically investigated the underlying causes of peripersonal space expansion when using a tool. It is believed that is the ability to actively manipulate the space the essential feature to induce the peripersonal space expansion. But, as noted in previous studies, it is possible that the visual continuity from the hand toward the manipulated region of space represents the key feature in modulating peripersonal space expansion. The results confirm the hypothesis that the essential feature in order to induce peripersonal space expansion is represented by the active manipulation of the observed region of space. The studies reported in the present study explored several issues relating to the understanding of the perception of the surrounding space and its implications on the attentional processes related. In the fourth chapter the results are discussed and evaluated.<br>L’interesse da parte dell’uomo di comprendere come lo spazio che lo circonda sia percepito ed elaborato stimola la ricerca scientifica e sperimentale ormai da diversi decenni. Inoltre, fin dalle prime interazioni umane con ambienti virtuali generati al computer, l'interesse per questo argomento ha ottenuto sempre maggiore attenzione, anche allo scopo di verificare se il comportamento osservato negli ambienti virtuali è simile a quello osservato negli ambienti reali. Le tecnologie di realtà virtuale sono attualmente impiegate in diversi settori, dall’implementazione in campo medico alla riabilitazione di disturbi psicologici e neuropsicologici, dall’utilizzo in campo militare allo sfruttamento in ambito industriale. I risultati positivi ottenuti attraverso l’utilizzo della realtà virtuale continuano a supportare questa nuova tecnologia e la sua evoluzione. La ricerca sulle reazioni del cervello umano durante le interazioni con tali ambienti sintetici svolge un ruolo importante da un punto di vista neuropsicologico, nonché in termini di affidabilità e credibilità dello strumento. Di particolare importanza nell’ambito dello studio della percezione spaziale è la questione riguardante la sua diversa rappresentazione che distingue l’ambiente circostante in spazio peripersonale, o spazio vicino, definito lo spazio di raggiungimento dei nostri arti, e spazio extrapersonale, o spazio lontano, definito lo spazio oltre il raggiungimento dei nostri arti. Evidenze neuropsicologiche confermano l'esistenza di differenti meccanismi neurali coinvolti nella rappresentazione dello spazio peripersonale ed extrapersonale. Inoltre, è noto che l’utilizzo di normali strumenti provochi una rielaborazione percettiva dello spazio, espandendo la rappresentazione dello spazio peripersonale ad includere la parte di spazio extrapersonale occupata dalle estremità degli strumenti manipolati. Lo scopo del presente elaborato è di analizzare e comprendere alcuni degli aspetti ancora inesplorati in questo ambito di ricerca, nonché di aggiungere informazioni alla teoria di base. A tal fine, sono stati condotti diversi esperimenti al fine di indagare i seguanti aspetti: • il limite di espansione dello spazio peripersonale attraverso l’utilizzo di uno strumento; • le aree cerebrali coinvolte nella percezione dello spazio peripersonale ed extrapersonale; • l’influenza della posizione del corpo e delle braccia nella percezione dello spazio peripersonale ed extrapersonale; • infine, il meccanismo coinvolto nella modulazione della percezione dello spazio extrapersonale. Nel primo capitolo è esposta una rassegna teorica sullo spazio peripersonale ed extrapersonale, sulle aree cerebrali coinvolte nella loro rappresentazione, attraverso l’analisi di ricerche ed esperimenti condotti con soggetti animali; in seguito, sono esaminati ulteriori studi realizzati con partecipanti umani, in diverse situazioni e modalità, al fine di delineare il funzionamento di questo particolare fenomeno percettivo. Nel secondo capitolo è presentata la letteratura riguardante le applicazioni in ambito virtuale inerenti allo studio della percezione spaziale all’interno di ambienti artificiali. Nella prima parte del capitolo sono introdotti i concetti di base sul funzionamento di questa particolare tecnologia; in seguito sono esposte evidenze empiriche a sostegno dell’utilità e delle potenzialità che questa nuova tecnologia fornisce. Infine viene analizzata una serie di ricerche inerenti al fenomeno di percezione dello spazio peripersonale all’interno di ambienti virtuali. Nel terzo capitolo è presentata la ricerca, ed in particolare sono illustrati gli scopi, la metodologia, le procedure sperimentali e gli strumenti utilizzati per gli esperimenti condotti. Il paradigma sperimentale utilizzato all’interno del presente lavoro è stato il compito di bisezione di linea. Si tratta di un paradigma sperimentale ampiamente utilizzato poiché relativamente semplice per i partecipanti da svolgere, tuttavia valido in termini di risultati riguardo attenzione visuospaziale e percezione. Il primo studio ha avuto come obiettivo principale quello di capire fino a che distanza l’utilizzo di uno strumento possa espandere lo spazio peripersonale. I risultati hanno mostrato un ampliamento dello spazio percepito peripersonale, durante la manipolazione dello strumento fino alla distanza di 240 cm. L'obiettivo del secondo studio è stato di identificare le aree cerebrali coinvolte durante un compito di attenzione visuospaziale in ambiente virtuale, tramite l’utilizzo della tecnica di neuroimmagine Spettroscopia Funzionale del Vicino Infrarosso (i.e., functional Near Infrared Spectroscopy; fNIRS). L’esperimento rappresenta uno dei primi tentativi di indagare i correlati neurali tramite l’utilizzo della fNIRS durante un’esperienza di realtà virtuale immersiva. La posizione del corpo può modificare il modo di percepire lo spazio circostante e lo spazio oltre la distanza di raggiungimento delle braccia. Sulla base di risultati ottenuti in studi precedenti, il terzo esperimento è volto a verificare se la sensazione di avere il corpo bloccato o libero di muoversi durante un compito di attenzione visuospaziale, abbia implicazioni sulla modulazione percettiva nello spostamento attentivo dallo spazio peripersonale a quello extrapersonale. I risultati hanno mostrato che sia nel primo sia nel secondo caso, si assiste ad uno spostamento attentivo netto, è non graduale, durante la transizione dallo spazio peripersonale a quello extrapersonale. La posizione del braccio può influenzare il modo di percepire lo spazio circostante e lo spazio oltre la distanza di raggiungimento del braccio. Sulla base di risultati ottenuti in studi precedenti, il quarto esperimento è volto a verificare se la distensione del braccio davanti al corpo o il suo posizionamento lungo un fianco durante un compito di attenzione visuospaziale, abbia implicazioni sulla modulazione percettiva dello spazio peripersonale ed extrapersonale. I risultati hanno confermato che la posizione del braccio influenza l’attenzione visuospaziale. Infine, l’ultimo esperimento ha indagato nello specifico le cause alla base dell’espansione dello spazio peripersonale durante l’utilizzo di uno strumento. Si ritiene che sia la capacità di manipolare attivamente lo spazio l'elemento essenziale per indurre l'espansione dello spazio peripersonale. Tuttavia, come osservato in studi precedenti, è possibile che anche la continuità visiva dalla mano verso la regione di spazio manipolato sia una caratteristica fondamentale per modulare l'espansione dello spazio peripersonale. I risultati confermano l’ipotesi che la caratteristica essenziale per indurre l'espansione dello spazio peripersonale è rappresentata dalla manipolazione attiva della regione di spazio osservata. Gli studi riportati nel presente elaborato hanno esplorato diverse questioni riguardanti la comprensione della percezione dello spazio circostante e le sue implicazioni sui processi di attenzione ad essa collegati. Nel quarto capitolo sono discussi e valutati i risultati alla luce della letteratura di riferimento.

Modeling complex cognitive phenomena is a challenging task, especially when it is required to account for the functioning of a cognitive system interacting with an uncertain and changing environment. Psychometrics offers a heterogeneous corpus of computational tools to infer latent cognitive constructs from the observation of behavioral outcomes. However, there is not an explicit consensus regarding the optimal way to properly take into account the intrinsic dynamic properties of the environment, as well as the dynamic nature of cognitive states. In the present dissertation, we explore the potentials of relying on discrete state dynamic models to formally account for the unfolding of cognitive sub-processes in changing task environments. In particular, we propose Probabilistic Graphical Models (PGMs) as an ideal and unifying mathematical language to represent cognitive dynamics as structured graphs codifying (causal) relationships between cognitive sub-components which unfolds in discrete time. We propose several works demonstrating the advantage and the representational power of such a modeling framework, by providing dynamic models of cognition specified according to different levels of abstraction.

Modeling complex cognitive phenomena is a challenging task, especially when it is required to account for the functioning of a cognitive system interacting with an uncertain and changing environment. Psychometrics offers a heterogeneous corpus of computational tools to infer latent cognitive constructs from the observation of behavioral outcomes. However, there is not an explicit consensus regarding the optimal way to properly take into account the intrinsic dynamic properties of the environment, as well as the dynamic nature of cognitive states. In the present dissertation, we explore the potentials of relying on discrete state dynamic models to formally account for the unfolding of cognitive sub-processes in changing task environments. In particular, we propose Probabilistic Graphical Models (PGMs) as an ideal and unifying mathematical language to represent cognitive dynamics as structured graphs codifying (causal) relationships between cognitive sub-components which unfolds in discrete time. We propose several works demonstrating the advantage and the representational power of such a modeling framework, by providing dynamic models of cognition specified according to different levels of abstraction.

Modeling complex cognitive phenomena is a challenging task, especially when it is required to account for the functioning of a cognitive system interacting with an uncertain and changing environment. Psychometrics offers a heterogeneous corpus of computational tools to infer latent cognitive constructs from the observation of behavioral outcomes. However, there is not an explicit consensus regarding the optimal way to properly take into account the intrinsic dynamic properties of the environment, as well as the dynamic nature of cognitive states. In the present dissertation, we explore the potentials of relying on discrete state dynamic models to formally account for the unfolding of cognitive sub-processes in changing task environments. In particular, we propose Probabilistic Graphical Models (PGMs) as an ideal and unifying mathematical language to represent cognitive dynamics as structured graphs codifying (causal) relationships between cognitive sub-components which unfolds in discrete time. We propose several works demonstrating the advantage and the representational power of such a modeling framework, by providing dynamic models of cognition specified according to different levels of abstraction.

In this thesis we treat the first singular perturbation problem of a stochastic model with unbounded and controlled fast variables with success. Our methods are based on the theory of viscosity solutions, homogenisation of fully nonlinear PDEs and a careful analysis of the associated ergodic stochastic control problem in the whole space R^m. The text is divided in two parts. In the first chapter, we investigate the existence and uniqueness as well as a suitable stability of the solution to the associated ergodic problem that are crucial to characterize the effective Hamiltonian of the limit (effective) Cauchy problem in Chapter II of this thesis. The main achievement obtained in this part is a purely analytical proof for the uniqueness of solution to such ergodic problem. Since the state space of the problem is not compact, in general there are infinitely many solutions to the ergodic problem. However, if one restrict the class of solutions to the set of bounded-below functions, then it is known that uniqueness holds up to an additive constant. The existing proof relies on some probabilistic techniques employing the invariant probability measure for the associated stochastic process. Here we give a new proof, purely analytic, based on the strong maximum principle. We believe that our results can be interesting and useful for researchers in the PDE community. In the second chapter, we introduce our singular perturbation model of a stochastic control problem and we prove our main result: the convergence of the value function $V^\epsilon$ associated to the problem to the solution of the limiting equation. More precisely, we prove that the functions \underline{V} (t,x):=\liminf_{(\epsilon,t',x') \to (0,t,x)} \inf_{y \in \mathbb{R}^m} V^\epsilon (t',x',y) and \bar{V} (t,x) :=(\sup_{R} \bar{V}_R)^* (t,x) \text{ (upper semi-continuous envelope of $\sup_{R} \bar{V}_R$ )} where $\bar{V}_{R} (t,x):=\limsup_{(\epsilon, t',x') \to (0,t,x)} \sup_{y \in B_R (0)} V^\epsilon (t',x',y)$, are, respectively, a super and a subsolution of the effective Cauchy problem. As a corollary of this result, $V^\epsilon$ converges to the unique solution $V$ of the effective equation provided the equation admits the comparison principle for discontinuous viscosity solutions. The justification of this convergence is not trivial at all. It especially involves some regularity issues and a careful treatment of viscosity techniques and stochastic analysis. This result has never been obtained before.<br>In questa tesi viene trattato con successo il primo problema di perturbazione singolare di un modello stocastico con variabili veloci controllate e non limitate. I metodi si basano sulla teoria delle soluzioni di viscosità, omogeinizzazione dei PDE completamente non lineari, e su un'attenta analisi del problema stocastico ergodico associato, valido nell'intero spazio R^m. Il testo è diviso in due parti. Nel primo capitolo, saranno studiate l'esistenza, l'unicità e alcune proprietà di stabilità della soluzione del problema ergodico, riferito sopra, che sono essenziali per caratterizzare il Hamiltoniano effettivo che appare in un Problema di Cauchy "limite", che sarà descritto nel capitolo II di questa tesi. Il principale contributo, presentato in questa parte, è una prova puramente analitica dell'unicità della soluzione di questo problema ergodico. Siccome lo stato dello spazio del problema non è compatto, in generale ci sono un numero infinito di soluzioni a questo problema. Tuttavia, se uno limitasse la classe di soluzioni all'insieme di funzioni limitate inferiormente, allora è noto che l'unicità sarà mantenuta a meno di una costante. La prova esistente si basa su alcune tecniche probabilistiche che impiegano la misura di probabilità invariante per l'associato processo stocastico. Qua verrà data una nuova prova, puramente analitica, basata sul principio del massimo. Si ritiene che il risultato potrà essere interessante ed utile per i ricercatori che lavorano all'interno della comunità di ricerca delle Equazioni Differenziali alle derivate Parziali (PDE). Nel secondo capitolo, sarà introdotto un modello di perturbazione singolare di un problema di controllo stocastico, e provato il risultato principale: la convergenza della funzione valore $V^\epsilon$, associata al nostro problema, per soluzione dell'equazione limite. Più precisamente, sarà provato che le funzioni: \underline{V} (t,x):=\liminf_{(\epsilon,t',x') \to (0,t,x)} \inf_{y \in \mathbb{R}^m} V^\epsilon (t',x',y) e \bar{V} (t,x) :=(\sup_{R} \bar{V}_R)^* (t,x) \text{ (upper semi-continuous envelope of $\sup_{R} \bar{V}_R$ )} dove $\bar{V}_{R} (t,x):=\limsup_{(\epsilon, t',x') \to (0,t,x)} \sup_{y \in B_R (0)} V^\epsilon (t',x',y)$, sono, rispettivamente, una super soluzione e una sottosoluzione del problema effettivo di Cauchy. Come corollario di questo risultato, $V^\epsilon$ converge all'unica soluzione V della equazione effettiva se l'equazione limite permette il principio di comparazione per le soluzioni di viscosità discontinue. La motivazione di questa convergenza non è ovvia del tutto. Coinvolge specialmente alcuni problemi di regolarità e un trattamento attento delle tecniche di viscosità e di analisi stocastica. Questo risultato è nuovo e non è mai stato ottenuto, prima d'ora, nella letteratura Matematica.

Orientador: Roxane Helena Rodrigues Rojo<br>Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Estudos da Linguagem<br>Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-22T18:17:16Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Marsaro_FabianaPanhosi_M.pdf: 9593735 bytes, checksum: 0e7880010dace5dd3a3e4c95bc7054cc (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013<br>Resumo: Esta dissertação de Mestrado, situada no campo da Linguística Aplicada, teve como objetivo analisar, sob uma perspectiva enunciativo-discursiva, o projeto gráfico-editorial de duas coleções de livros didáticos de Língua Portuguesa, recomendadas pelo Programa Nacional do Livro Didático, na edição de 2011, a saber, "Diálogo - Edição Renovada", da editora FTD, e "Tudo é Linguagem", da editora Ática. Na análise, procuramos entender de que forma o projeto gráfico-editorial e o projeto pedagógico do livro didático de língua portuguesa se inter-relacionam. Embasadas pela Teoria Bakhtiniana, defendemos a perspectiva que considera o livro didático de Língua Portuguesa como um enunciado em um gênero do discurso. Coerentes com essa Teoria, em nossa análise, respeitando os procedimentos metodológicos formulados por Bakhtin, partimos das situações concretas de enunciação para compreender de que modo se organizam, no gênero livro didático de Língua Portuguesa, seus temas, estilo e forma composicional. O projeto gráfico-editorial, nesse sentido, foi considerado parte fundamental da estruturação do discurso didático materializado nesse gênero. Para chegar a esse entendimento, baseamo-nos, principalmente, no conceito de forma arquitetônica, formulado pelo Círculo. Na análise, em comparação à coleção "Tudo é Linguagem", o projeto pedagógico de "Diálogo - Edição Renovada" nos pareceu mais propício ao desenvolvimento de um projeto gráfico-editorial consistente, integrado à concepção da coleção. As duas coleções, porém, cumprem igualmente os critérios do Programa Nacional do Livro Didático quanto ao projeto gráfico-editorial, ou seja, são legíveis, estabelecem hierarquia entre as informações e trazem ilustrações de qualidade. Acreditamos que o Programa Nacional do Livro Didático poderia oferecer critérios mais consistentes quanto ao projeto gráfico-editorial, para além dos requisitos mínimos para elaboração de um livro legível. Concluímos que o projeto gráfico-editorial é adequado na medida em que se relaciona produtivamente ao projeto pedagógico do livro didático, priorizando estratégias que valorizem e ampliem a proposta de ensino aprendizagem dos autores e não apenas soluções estéticas<br>Abstract: This Master's thesis, situated within the area of Applied Linguistics, has aimed at analyzing, from an enunciative-discursive perspective, the editorial-graphic project of two textbook collections for the teaching of Brazilian Portuguese language, recommended by the 2011 National Program for the Textbook, named "Diálogo - Edição Renovada", (FTD eds.), and "Tudo é Linguagem", (Ática eds.). Throughout the analysis, we have tried to understand how both the editorial-graphic and the pedagogical projects relate in the Brazilian Portuguese language textbook. Grounded on the Bakhtinian Theory, the theoretical perspective which considers the Brazilian Portuguese language textbook as a speech genre enunciation is taken. In accordance with that theory, in our analysis, and respecting the methodological procedures stated by Bakhtin, we departed from concrete enunciative situations to understand how themes, style and the composing structure are organized in the Brazilian Portuguese language textbook genre. According to this perspective, the editorial-graphic project has been considered as a key element for basis of the didactic discourse materialized in this genre. We came to grips with such an understanding of the matter by basing our analysis mostly in the architectural concept of form as conceived by the Circle. In the analysis, by comparing to the "Tudo é Linguagem" book collection, the pedagogical project of "Diálogo - Edição Renovada" proved us to be better suitable to the development of a consistent editorial-graphic project, integrating the concept established in the collection. Nevertheless, both didactic collections meet the criteria established by the National Program for the Textbook in terms of editorial-graphic project, i.e., they prove to be legible; there is a established hierarchy amongst information and they both present quality illustrations. We strongly believe that the National Program for the Textbook could have offered better consistent criteria regarding the editorial graphic project, beyond the minimum required items for the elaboration of a readable book. All in all, we come to terms to the adequacy of the editorial-graphic project as it not only focus on aesthetic solutions but also interacts productively with the pedagogical project of the textbook, prioritizing strategies that enhance and value the teaching-learning approach offered by the authors<br>Mestrado<br>Lingua Materna<br>Mestra em Linguística Aplicada

Made available in DSpace on 2014-12-17T15:25:19Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 RodrigoOS_DISSERT.pdf: 3356802 bytes, checksum: 039b783a36874c8dd5c91b44a7d031f1 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012-08-27<br>This work has as object of study the Hospital de Caridade Juvino Barreto, nosocomial institution located in the city of Natal (RN), between the Praia de Areia Preta and the Monte Petr?polis, focusing on the period from 1909, the year in which the new hospital building was constructed and opened, and 1927, the date of the transfer of administration of the public domain to the newly created Sociedade de Assist?ncia Hospitalar (SAH). We study the conditions of possibility of the emergence of this hospital space in the urban environment of the capital of Rio Grande do Norte, seeking to understand the different tactics and strategies implemented by the historical subjects involved in the formation of this institution nosocomial. Starting from a corpus of documents consisting of medical memories (with Dr. Janu?rio Cicco as privileged observer), information present in newspapers (the Republic and the Christmas Journa l), photo collection and extensive administrative and legal material (Speeches, Exhibitions, Reports, Laws and Resolutions), we analyzed in detail the medical geography of HCJB, relating the discourses of medicine and geography in choosing the spatial location of the hospital as we examine the architecture of the hospital, its inner spat iality, divisions, forms of space control, and, finally, we discuss the medical practices that took place within it, leading us in this regard, from the experiences of clinical hospital chief, Dr. Janu?rio Cicco, especially the discussion on "ethics" in hospital work. The perception of HCJB as medical nosoespaciality always on the move, incorporated under taxonomic principles based on difference and dispersion forces, led us to articulate it theoretically from the conceptual-methodological arsenal of philosopher Michel Foucault, particularly his reflections of genealogical phase, focusing on the phenomenon of power, a position that allows us to enhance our space-hospital construction, invention, product of power relations, which give the unfinished aspect nosoc?mio, apparent, always at stake, perpetual non-modeling possibility has previously defined array, establishing it at the field of possible, of virtuality, of power: hospital that could have been and that it was not. Indeed, the investigation of various aspects/elements of hospital space Juvino Barreto revealed us new dimensions of hospital space, far more complex than the simple and the current idea of a place to shelter patients: plasticity and fluidity of space, which is not made to circumscribe the limits of empeiria, engraving up to strength relations fought between different subject; its Constitution as a transitional space, Heterotopic, doing live inside modern elements with premoderns (professional doctors working with religious thought, skeptical of positivist medicine living with the religious faith of the nuns of Santana); the impossibility of thinking hospital space of HCJB while homogeneous unit, static, transistoric, making the spatiality, without considering the profound differences, fractures and dislocations that animated his own existence, multiplying their expressions of identity<br>Este trabalho tem por objeto de estudo o Hospital de Caridade Juvino Barreto, institui??o nosocomial localizada na cidade do Natal (RN), entre a Praia de Areia Preta e o Monte Petr?polis, focalizando-o no per?odo compreendido entre 1909, ano em que o novo edif?cio hospitalar fora constru?do e inaugurado, e 1927, data da transfer?ncia de sua administra??o de dom?nio p?blico para a rec?m-criada associa??o m?dica da Sociedade de Assist?ncia Hospitalar (SAH). Estudamos as condi??es de possibilidade da emerg?ncia desse espa?o hospitalar no ambiente urbano da capital do Rio Grande do Norte, buscando compreender as diferentes t?ticas e estrat?gias implementadas pelos sujeitos hist?ricos envolvidos na constitui??o desse nosoc?mio. Partindo de um corpus documental constitu?do de mem?rias m?dicas (tendo o Doutor Janu?rio Cicco como observador privilegiado), informa??es presentes em jornais (A Rep?blica e O Di?rio do Natal), acervo fotogr?fico e extenso material de natureza administrativa e legal (Discursos, Exposi??es, Falas, Leis, Relat?rios e Resolu??es), analisamos detalhadamente a geografia m?dica do HCJB, relacionando os discursos da Geografia e da Medicina na escolha da localiza??o espacial do referido nosoc?mio hospitalar, bem como examinamos a arquitetura do hospital, sua espacialidade interna, divis?es, formas de controle do espa?o, e, por fim, abordamos as pr?ticas m?dicas que se desenrolaram no seu interior, conduzindo-nos, a esse respeito, a partir das experi?ncias do chefe de cl?nicas do hospital, o Dr. Janu?rio Cicco, destacando-se a? a discuss?o sobre a ?tica no trabalho m?dico-hospitalar. A percep??o do HCJB como nosoespacialidade m?dica sempre em movimento, constitu?da segundo princ?pios taxon?micos baseados na diferen?a e na dispers?o de for?as, levou-nos a articul?- lo teoricamente a partir do arsenal conceitual-metodol?gico do fil?sofo Michel Foucault, em especial suas reflex?es da fase geneal?gica, centradas no fen?meno do poder, posi??o que nos permite valorizar o espa?o noso-hospitalar como constru??o, inven??o, produto de rela??es de for?a, que conferem ao nosoc?mio aspecto inacabado, aparente, sempre em jogo, possibilidade perp?tua de modelagem que n?o tem matriz previamente definida, instaurando-o no campo do poss?vel, da virtualidade, da pot?ncia: hospital que poderia ter sido e que n?o foi. Com efeito, a investiga??o dos diversos aspectos/elementos do espa?o hospitalar do Juvino Barreto revelou-nos novas dimens?es da espacialidade m?dico-hospitalar, muito mais complexa do que a simples e corrente id?ia de um lugar para abrigo de doentes: a plasticidade e fluidez do espa?o, que n?o se deixava circunscrever aos limites da empeiria, plasmando-se ao sabor das rela??es de for?a travadas entre os diferentes sujeitos; sua constitui??o como espa?o de transi??o, heterot?pico, fazendo conviver no seu interior elementos modernos com pr?modernos (m?dicos profissionais trabalhando com religiosas, pensamento c?tico da medicina positivista convivendo com a f? religiosa das freiras de Santana); a impossibilidade de se pensar o espa?o noso-hospitalar do HCJB enquanto unidade homog?nea, est?tica, transist?rica, naturalizando essa espacialidade, sem se considerar as profundas diferen?as, fraturas e deslocamentos que animavam sua pr?pria exist?ncia, multiplicando as suas express?es identit?rias

This thesis concerns space as an essential element of expression and communication in electroacoustic music. It shows that musical space is a complex term which refers to many different aspects of composition, performance and perception of electroacoustic music. It is argued that space is a compound musical element which can be integrated into the compositional structure to a degree where space becomes the primary canier of meaning in the work, and that the creation and interpretation of this meaning is a result of learned cultural aspects of interpersonal communication in terms of personal space and territoriality. Furthermore, the close relationship between electroacoustic music composition and technology is acknowledged, and the influence of available technology on aesthetic choices and decision making with regard to spatial composition and performance is taken into consideration. The structure for the investigation is based on a model of musical space comprising three basic levels: 1) spatial properties of individual sounds in terms of intrinsic space, extrinsic space and spectral space, 2) the spatial arrangement of individual sounds and events into a composed space which is played in, and becomes affected by, the listening space, and 3) the perceived space, which constitutes the listening experience of the combination of composed space and listening space. A framework for describing and analysing spatial elements in electroacoustic composition is proposed. The discussion and findings are largely based on my experience as a listener, composer and performer of electroacoustic music, and in addition finds support in research on auditory perception, particularly Jens Blauert's work on spatial hearing and Albert Bregman's auditory scene theory, as well as Denis Smalley's spectromorphological theory, James Tenney's writings on perception-based music listening and analysis, and Edward T. Hall's investigations into space as an element of non-verbal communication.