Book reviews

Ken Auletta, Three Blind Mice (New York: Random House, 1991) 642 pp.

Marc Raboy. Missed Opportunities: The Story of Canada's Broadcasting Policy (Montreal: McGill‐Queen's University Press, 1990) 471 pp.     

Cognitive and language correlates of hyperlexia: evidence from children with autism spectrum disorders

Two studies were conducted to investigate the correlates of hyperlexia in Brazilian Portuguese-speaking children with the diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Study 1 involved 3 groups of school age children individually matched for word reading ability: 6 ASD hyperlexic children, 6 ASD non-hyperlexic children, and 6 typically developing children. Study 2 involved 2 ASD preschool hyperlexic boys, and a group of 21 typical children of similar word reading ability. In both studies, participants were administered several reading measures as well as measures of cognitive and linguistic abilities that have been associated with variations in typical and dyslexic reading, namely, vocabulary, phonological processes, and rapid naming. Results suggest that ASD hyperlexic reading differs from both typical and ASD non-hyperlexic reading. In particular, they suggest that hyperlexics learn to compute letter-sound relations implicitly, on the basis of statistical learning. Although the hyperlexic children could read nonwords as well as the typical and the ASD non-hyperlexic children, they performed significantly worse than these groups of children on a letter-sound knowledge task. They also performed relatively poorly on a phonological awareness task. It is suggested that hyperlexics’ indifference to language as a meaningful, communicative device may be the key to their exceptionally good and precocious development of word reading ability.     

Activity optimization method in SPECT： A comparison with ROC analysisActivity optimization method in SPECT： A comparison with ROC analysis

A discriminant method for optimizing activity in nuclear medicine studies is validated by comparison with ROC （received operating characteristic）-curves. The method is tested in 21 single photon emission computerized tomography （SPECT）, performed with a cardiac phantom. Three different lesions （Lb L2 and L3） were placed in the myocardium-wall by pairs fbr each SPECT. Three activities （84, 37 or 18.5 MBq） of 99mTc were used as background. Linear discriminant analysis was used to select the parameters that characterize image quality among the measured variables in the images [（Background-to-Lesion （B/Li） and Signal-to-Noise （S/N） ratios）]. Two clusters with different image quality （P=0.021 ） were obtained. The ratios B/Lj, B/L2 and B/L3 are the parameters used to construct the function with 100% of cases correctly classified into the clusters. The value of 37 MBq was the lowest tested activity for which good results for the B/Li ratios were obtained. The result coincides with the applied ROC-analysis （r=0.89）.     

Analysis of the interplay between knowledge and performance management in industrial clusters

The concept of industrial clustering has been studied in-depth by policy makers and researchers from many fields, mainly due to the competitive advantages it may bring to regional economies. Companies often take part in collaborative initiatives with local partners while also taking advantage of knowledge spillovers to benefit from locating in a cluster. Thus, Knowledge Management (KM) and Performance Management (PM) have become relevant topics for policy makers and cluster associations when undertaking collaborative initiatives. Taking this into account, this paper aims to explore the interplay between both topics using a case study conducted in a collaborative network formed within a cluster. The results show that KM should be acknowledged as a formal area of cluster management so that PM practices can support knowledge-oriented initiatives and therefore make better use of the new knowledge created. Furthermore, tacit and explicit knowledge resulting from PM practices needs to be stored and disseminated throughout the cluster as a way of improving managerial practices and regional strategic direction.     

Improved similarity-based modeling for the classification of rotating-machine failures

Similarity-based modeling (SBM) is a technique whereby the normal operation of a system is modeled in order to detect faults by analyzing their similarity to the normal system states. First proposed around two decades ago, SBM has been successfully used for fault detection in varied systems. In spite of this success, there is not much study performed in the literature regarding its design, that encompasses both similarity metrics and model training. This work aims at contributing with an in-depth study of SBM for fault detection considering these two design aspects. This is done in the context of proposing a novel system to identify rotating-machinery faults based on SBM, that is employed either as a standalone classifier or to generate features for a random forest classifier. New approaches for training the model and new similarity metrics are investigated. Experimental results are shown for the recently developed Machinery Fault Database (MaFaulDa) that has an extensive set of sequences and fault types, and for the Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) bearing database. Results for both databases indicate that the proposed techniques increase the generalization power of the similarity model and of the associated classifier, achieving accuracies of 98.5% on MaFaulDa and 98.9% on CWRU database.     

Structure reconsidered: Towards new foundations of explanatory transitions theory

The most prominent framework for studying socio-technical transitions to date is the multi-level perspective (MLP). While appreciated for its flexibility and usefulness for studying socio-technical transitions it has not been without its critics. In this paper we focus on the ontological foundations of the MLP and its (in)ability to explain transitions and how they come about. The purpose is to initiate development of an explanatory theory for socio-technical transitions, by carrying out an immanent critique of the ontological foundations of the MLP together with a methodological critique. We show that the ontological foundations of the MLP to a large extent inhibits explanatory capacity. The argument is fourfold: since structure and agency are understood as inseparable, (i) the causal influence of material properties are undervalued, and (ii) different degrees of structural constraint and freedom of actors are ignored. As a consequence (iii) transitions are reduced to shifts in the maturity and spread of socio-cognitive rules, without analysis of systemic change. Moreover, (iv) mechanisms are reduced to recurring patterns of events which cannot explain why some transitions fail while others succeed. To remedy these limitations we outline alternative critical realist foundations for transitions theory.     

Ranking scholars: A measure representation

A scholar can be identified with his citation list and a scholar ranking is a complete order on the set of scholars. We characterize those scholar rankings that admit a measure representation.     

Homeschooling in Brazil: A Matter of Rights or a Political Debate?

ABSTRACT

This article presents an analysis of the right to education in Brazil in light of the growing number of Brazilian families practicing homeschooling. The debate is recent in Brazil. Here we present an analysis of international literature on homeschooling, Brazilian literature on the right to education, and an appraisal of lawsuits against Brazilian families for teaching their children at home. In light of truancy regulations and the evolution of a right to education in Brazil, homeschooling creates legal and political challenges.