Most women stabilize any water retention weight within a few months. However, if weight gain is excessive, check with your doctor to make sure hormone and blood sugar levels are normal, as excessive abdominal fat increases the risk of heart disease and high blood pressure.
Semiotics is the study of signs. In language, signs are part of the existing structure that we use to communicate. That structure is called la langue. Each sign is made up of the signifier (the word) and the signified (the concept).
The Factor Analysis is an explorative analysis. Much like the cluster analysis grouping similar cases, the factor analysis groups similar variables into dimensions. This process is also called identifying latent variables. Since factor analysis is an explorative analysis it does not distinguish between independent and dependent variables.