An Assessment of Pharmacological Properties of Schinus Essential Oils: A Soft Computing Approach

Plants of genus Schinus are native South America and introduced in Mediterranean countries, a long time ago. Some Schinus species have been used in folk medicine, and Essential Oils of Schinus spp. (EOs) have been reported as having antimicrobial, anti-tumoural and anti-inflammatory properties. Such assets are related with the EOs chemical composition that depends largely on the species, the geographic and climatic region, and on the part of the plants used. Considering the difficulty to infer the pharmacological properties of EOs of Schinus species without a hard experimental setting, this work will focus on the development of an Artificial Intelligence grounded Decision Support System to predict pharmacological properties of Schinus EOs. The computational framework was built on top of a Logic Programming Case Base approach to knowledge representation and reasoning, which caters to the handling of incomplete, unknown, or even self-contradictory information. New clustering methods centered on an analysis of attribute’s similarities were used to distinguish and aggregate historical data according to the context under which it was added to the Case Base, therefore enhancing the prediction process.

Castilian and Portuguese merchants in collaboration (1580-1590). Has the Hispanic Monarchy favored Iberian commercial partnerships?

The Iberian Union allowed the existence of formal mechanisms of government authority in Portugal. In what concerns the Iberian trade dynamics, including the colonial circuits, the Habsburgs legislated according to those that would be the most politically convenient circumstances, making an impact on Iberian affairs. Over the last decade, historical literature has highlighted the transnational nature of Early Modern business partnerships. On the other hand, Iberian scholars have put forward many case studies that show formal or informal Portuguese participations in the Spanish Indies affairs. However, the inverse situation as not been considered yet. What was the role played by Castilian merchants in the Portuguese colonial trade? This paper aims to present data about the collaboration between Portuguese and Castilian merchants within the European and the overseas trade dynamics, approaching the Iberian Union as an event that favored these business partnerships. It also debates the formal or informal nature of these relationships. Were they promoted by the State’s policies or, alternatively, were they devised as a means to bypass the Crown’s monopolistic policies? For this propose, we will analyze Portuguese notarial records from the period between 1580 and 1590.

Relatório da prática de ensino supervisionada realizada no Conservatório Regional de Évora: abandono do estudo da guitarra no final do 3.º ciclo: principais fatores

Resumo I (Prática de Ensino Supervisionada) O presente relatório tem como objetivo dar a conhecer o trabalho pedagógico realizado no Conservatório regional de Évora Eborae Mvsica, no âmbito do Mestrado em Ensino da Universidade de Évora, no qual serão abordados diversos temas: caracterização da escola e do meio envolvente, aulas assistidas e aulas lecionadas, metas de aprendizagem, tipos de avaliação, repertórios, finalizando com uma conclusão que espelha as várias reflexões sobre a prática letiva. Resumo II (Investigação) A Investigação apresenta inicialmente uma contextualização e definição dos agentes envolvidos no processo ensino-aprendizagem bem como a sua devida caracterização. Na investigação propriamente dita, são descritas as várias etapas do projeto de investigação, dentro de um determinado contexto, expondo igualmente várias abordagens e fatores que possam contextualizar o abandono da aprendizagem de guitarra no final do 3.º ciclo e as consequentes ilações. Como possível solução para esta problemática, elaborei um modeloguia para o professor; Abstract I (Teaching) The following report aims to let know the pedagogical work carried out at the regional conservatory of Évora Eborae Mvsica within the Master in Teaching at the University of Évora, in which various topics will be addressed: characterization of the school and the surrounding environment, assisted lessons and lessons taught, learning goals, types of evaluation, repertoires, ending with a conclusion that considerate the various reflections on teaching practice . Abstract II (Research) The investigation presents, initially, a context and definition of the agents involved in the teaching-learning process and their proper characterization. In the investigation itself, the various stages are described of the research project, within a given context, also exposing various approaches and factors that may contextualize the guitar learning abandonment at the end of the 3rd cycle and the resulting conclusions. As a possible solution to this problem, I prepared a guide model for the teacher.