Characterization of the portuguese SSS into the Europe: a contribution

Nowadays, Short Sea Shipping (SSS) is an essential part in European multi-modal transport system, representing approximately thirty-seven per cent of intra-Community transactions in tonnes per kilometre (tkm). Since 2001, the European Shortsea Network (ESN) in partnership with the short-sea Promotion Centres (SPC) of each Member State of the European Union (EU) have managed to make significant progress in the promotion and development of this mode of transport. This paper aims to assess and analyse the SSS of containerised goods in Portugal and its articulation with other EU routes and also other transport modes. The current SSS infrastructure, how the sector is organized, as well as the future perspectives for the sector are also analysed for the case of Portugal. The analyses are based on a survey that was carried out on the logistics operators, navigation agents, freight forwarders, and the leading imports and exports manufacturers in Portugal.

Immediate effects of Tuina techniques on working-related musculoskeletal disorder of professional orchestra musicians

BACKGROUND: Musicians are a prone group to suffer from working-related musculoskeletal disorder (WRMD). Conventional solutions to control musculoskeletal pain include pharmacological treatment and rehabilitation programs but their efficiency is sometimes disappointing. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this research is to study the immediate effects of Tuina techniques on WRMD of professional orchestra musicians from the north of Portugal. DESIGN, SETTING, PARTICIPANTS AND INTERVENTIONS: We performed a prospective, controlled, single-blinded, randomized study. Professional orchestra musicians with a diagnosis of WRMD were randomly distributed into the experimental group (n=39) and the control group (n=30). During an individual interview, Chinese diagnosis took place and treatment points were chosen. Real acupoints were treated by Tuina techniques into the experimental group and non-specific skin points were treated into the control group. Pain was measured by verbal numerical scale before and immediately after intervention. RESULTS: After one treatment session, pain was reduced in 91.8% of the cases for the experimental group and 7.9% for the control group. CONCLUSION: Although results showed that Tuina techniques are effectively reducing WRMD in professional orchestra musicians of the north of Portugal, further investigations with stronger measurements, double-blinding designs and bigger simple sizes are needed.

Epidemiological studies of Streptococcus pneumoniae carriage in the post-vaccination era among two risk groups: children and the elderly

Dissertation presented to obtain the Ph.D. degree in Biology/ Molecular Biology

The Visual Culture of Human Rights. Observations on Amnesty International

Trabalho de project de Mestrado em Antropologia de Direitos Humanos e Movimentos Sociais

Landscape composition and climatic parameters significant in the spread of an invasive species (Pine wood Nematode)

Dissertação para obtenção do Grau de Mestre em Engenharia do Ambiente

Res Publica: Citizenship and Political Representation in Portugal, 1820-1926

The term res publica (literally “thing of the people”) was coined by the Romans to translate the Greek word politeia, which, as we know, referred to a political community organised in accordance with certain principles, amongst which the notion of the “good life” (as against exclusively private interests) was paramount. This ideal also came to be known as political virtue. To achieve it, it was necessary to combine the best of each “constitutional” type and avoid their worst aspects (tyranny, oligarchy and ochlocracy). Hence, the term acquired from the Greeks a sense of being a “mixed” and “balanced” system. Anyone that was entitled to citizenship could participate in the governance of the “public thing”. This implied the institutionalization of open debate and confrontation between interested parties as a way of achieving the consensus necessary to ensure that man the political animal, who fought with words and reason, prevailed over his “natural” counterpart. These premises lie at the heart of the project which is now being presented under the title of Res Publica: Citizenship and Political Representation in Portugal, 1820-1926. The fact that it is integrated into the centenary commemorations of the establishment of the Republic in Portugal is significant, as it was the idea of revolution – with its promise of rupture and change – that inspired it. However, it has also sought to explore events that could be considered the precursor of democratization in the history of Portugal, namely the vintista, setembrista and patuleia revolutions. It is true that the republican regime was opposed to the monarchic. However, although the thesis that monarchy would inevitably lead to tyranny had held sway for centuries, it had also been long believed that the monarchic system could be as “politically virtuous” as a republic (in the strict sense of the word) provided that power was not concentrated in the hands of a single individual. Moreover, various historical experiments had shown that republics could also degenerate into Caesarism and different kinds of despotism. Thus, when absolutism began to be overturned in continental Europe in the name of the natural rights of man and the new social pact theories, initiating the difficult process of (written) constitutionalization, the monarchic principle began to be qualified as a “monarchy hedged by republican institutions”, a situation in which not even the king was exempt from isonomy. This context justifies the time frame chosen here, as it captures the various changes and continuities that run through it. Having rejected the imperative mandate and the reinstatement of the model of corporative representation (which did not mean that, in new contexts, this might not be revived, or that the second chamber established by the Constitutional Charter of 1826 might not be given another lease of life), a new power base was convened: national sovereignty, a precept that would be shared by the monarchic constitutions of 1822 and 1838, and by the republican one of 1911. This followed the French example (manifested in the monarchic constitution of 1791 and in the Spanish constitution of 1812), as not even republicans entertained a tradition of republicanism based upon popular sovereignty. This enables us to better understand the rejection of direct democracy and universal suffrage, and also the long incapacitation (concerning voting and standing for office) of the vast body of “passive” citizens, justified by “enlightened”, property- and gender-based criteria. Although the republicans had promised in the propaganda phase to alter this situation, they ultimately failed to do so. Indeed, throughout the whole period under analysis, the realisation of the potential of national sovereignty was mediated above all by the individual citizen through his choice of representatives. However, this representation was indirect and took place at national level, in the hope that action would be motivated not by particular local interests but by the common good, as dictated by reason. This was considered the only way for the law to be virtuous, a requirement that was also manifested in the separation and balance of powers. As sovereignty was postulated as single and indivisible, so would be the nation that gave it soul and the State that embodied it. Although these characteristics were common to foreign paradigms of reference, in Portugal, the constitutionalization process also sought to nationalise the idea of Empire. Indeed, this had been the overriding purpose of the 1822 Constitution, and it persisted, even after the loss of Brazil, until decolonization. Then, the dream of a single nation stretching from the Minho to Timor finally came to an end.

Macroeconomic effects of monetary policy in the Eurozone

To study the macroeconomic effects of unconventional monetary policy across the different countries of the eurozone, I develop an identification scheme to disentangle conventional from non-conventional policy shocks, using futures contracts on overnight interest rates and the size of the European Central Bank balance sheet. Setting these shocks as endogenous variables in a structural vector autoregressive (SVAR) model, along with the CPI and the employment rate, estimated impulse response functions of policy to macroeconomic variables are studied. I find that unconventional policy shocks generated mixed effects in inflation but had a positive impact on employment, with the exception of Portugal, Spain, Greece and Italy where the employment response is close to zero or negative. The heterogeneity that characterizes the responses shows that the monetary policy measures taken in recent years were not sufficient to stabilize the economies of the eurozone countries under more severe economic conditions.

Why and how projects in organizations differ? The example of Portuguese profit and non-profit organizations

This research has as a goal to give an overview of what Project Management is in Portugal. The purpose is not to focus on a small picture, but to understand the broad concept and perception of Project Management in Portugal in two very important sectors: Profit- and Non-Profit Sector. Both Profit- and Non-Profit project managers have been interviewed, giving an insight of how different projects are in both sectors and why. This paper will be especially helpful comparing the Project Management maturity of Portugal to other countries regarding these two different point of views.

Characterization of earth-based mortars for rammed earth repair

All over the world, many earth buildings are deteriorating due to lack of maintenance and repair. Repairs on rammed earth walls are mainly done with mortars, by rendering application; however, often the repair is inadequate, resorting to the use of incompatible materials, including cement-based mortars. It has been observed that such interventions, in walls that until that day only had presented natural ageing issues, created new problems, much more dangerous for the building than the previous ones, causing serious deficiencies in this type of construction. One of the problems is that the detachment of the new cement-based mortar rendering only occurs after some time but, until that occurrence, degradations develop in the wall itself. When the render detaches, instead of needing only a new render, the surface has to be repaired in depth, with a repair mortar. Consequently, it has been stablished that the renders, and particularly repair mortars, should have physical, mechanical and chemical properties similar to those of the rammed earth walls. This article intends to contribute to a better knowledge of earth-based mortars used to repair the surface of rammed earth walls. The studied mortars are based on four types of earth: three of them were collected from non-deteriorated parts of walls of unstabilized rammed earth buildings located in Alentejo region, south of Portugal; the fourth is a commercial earth, consisting mainly of clay. Other components were also used, particularly: sand to control shrinkage; binders stabilizers such as dry hydrated air-lime, natural hydraulic lime, Portland cement and natural cement; as well as natural vegetal fibers (hemp fibers). The experimental analysis of the mortars in the fresh state consisted in determining the consistency by flow table and the bulk density. In the hardened state, the tests made it possible to evaluate the following properties: linear and volumetric shrinkage; capillary water absorption; drying capacity; dynamic modulus of elasticity; flexural and compressive strength.

Does the existing Corporate Governance structure and strict Legal Framework, affect the strategic decisionmaking of CEOs?

This thesis is a case study on Corporate Governance and Business Ethics, using the Portuguese Corporate Law as a general setting. The thesis was conducted in Portugal with illustrations on past cases under the Business Judgment Rule of the State of Delaware, U.SA along with illustrations on current cases in Portugal under the Portuguese Judicial setting, along with a comparative analysis between both. A debate is being considered among scholars and executives; a debate on best practices within corporate governance and corporate law, associated with recent discoveries of unlawful investments that lead to the bankruptcy of leading institutions and an aggravation of the crisis in Portugal. The study aimed at learning possible reasons and causes for the current situation of the country’s corporations along with attempts to discover the best way to move forward. From the interviews and analysis conducted, this paper concluded that the corporate governance structure and legal frameworks in Portugal were not the sole influencers behind the actions and decisions of Corporate Executives, nor were they the main triggers for the recent corporate mishaps. But it is rather a combination of different factors that played a significant role, such as cultural and ethical aspects, individual personalities, and others all of which created gray areas beyond the legal structure, which in turn accelerated and aggravated the corporate governance crisis in the country.

Operation modes of battery chargers for electric vehicles in the future smart grids

This paper presents an on-board bidirectional battery charger for Electric Vehicles (EVs), which operates in three different modes: Grid-to- Vehicle (G2V), Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G), and Vehicle-to-Home (V2H). Through these three operation modes, using bidirectional communications based on Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), it will be possible to exchange data between the EV driver and the future smart grids. This collaboration with the smart grids will strengthen the collective awareness systems, contributing to solve and organize issues related with energy resources and power grids. This paper presents the preliminary studies that results from a PhD work related with bidirectional battery chargers for EVs. Thus, in this paper is described the topology of the on-board bidirectional battery charger and the control algorithms for the three operation modes. To validate the topology it was developed a laboratory prototype, and were obtained experimental results for the three operation modes.

The impact of poor power quality in solar photovoltaic microgeneration: technical problems and losses of revenue

This paper presents a critical and quantitative analysis of the influence of the Power Quality in grid connected solar photovoltaic microgeneration installations. First are introduced the main regulations and legislation related with the solar photovoltaic microgeneration, in Portugal and Europe. Next are presented Power Quality monitoring results obtained from two residential solar photovoltaic installations located in the north of Portugal, and is explained how the Power Quality events affect the operation of these installations. Afterwards, it is described a methodology to estimate the energy production losses and the impact in the revenue caused by the abnormal operation of the electrical installation. This is done by comparing the amount of energy that was injected into the power grid with the theoretical value of energy that could be injected in normal conditions. The performed analysis shows that Power Quality severally affects the solar photovoltaic installations operation. The losses of revenue in the two monitored installations M1 and M2 are estimated in about 27% and 22%, respectively.

Mitigating the impact of occupational noise exposure for elderly workers: Setting the functional requirements for an ANC system

Noise affects people in very different aspects and in almost every aspect of our daily life. The most prominent impact of noise exposure is hearing loss. However, it can also impair people at their work settings due to other effects rather than hearing loss. Older works tend to be more susceptible to noise exposure effects at work, firstly because most of them already have some ‘natural’ hearing loss, as a results of the ageing process, and secondly because they also tend to be more susceptible at an psychological level. The current study is an attempt to describe the potential problem and to make a survey to identify the available active noise cancelation systems, as well as to specific the main requirements of this type of systems to be applied in such contexts. Several aspects of characteristics of the ANC systems were identified and are presented in this study. From the obtained results it was possible to have a clearer idea about the potential of this technology, and to confirm that this type of solution can be extremely important as a component of an active ageing program, as the preservation of hearing will also impact on the social life of the exposed workers.

Updating of the hierarchical rock mass rating (HRMR) system and a new subsystem developed for weathered granite formations

The RMR system is still very much applied in rock mechanics engineering context. It is based on the evaluation of six weights to obtain a final rating. To obtain the final rating a considerable amount of information is needed concerning the rock mass which can be difficult to obtain in some projects or project stages at least with accuracy. In 2007 an alternative classification scheme based on the RMR, the Hierarchical Rock Mass Rating (HRMR) was presented. The main feature of this system was the adaptation to the level of knowledge existent about the rock mass to obtain the classification of the rock mass since it followed a decision tree approach. However, the HRMR was only valid for hard rock granites with low fracturing degrees. In this work, the database was enlarged with approximately 40% more cases considering other types of granite rock masses including weathered granites and based on this increased database the system was updated. Granite formations existent in the north of Portugal including Porto city are predominantly granites. Some years ago a light rail infrastructure was built in the city of Porto and surrounding municipalities whi h involved considerable challenges due to the high heterogeneity levels of the granite formations and the difficulties involved in their geomechanical characterization. In this work it is intended to provide also a contribution to improve the characterization of these formations with special emphasis to the weathered horizons. A specific subsystem applicable to the weathered formations was developed. The results of the validation of these systems are presented and show acceptable performances in identifying the correct class using less information than with the RMR system.

School governance and academic excellence: the representations of distinguished students in an annual award of excellence

Within a research project on «academic excellence in the state school», this paper is a contribution to the sociological reflection on the cultural and organisational characteristics of the school and its relationship with the academic success of students. The data we present stem from a case study underway at a secondary school in the north of Portugal, referring to the universe of students that since 2003 have distinguished themselves for achieving grades equal to or greater than 18 (on a scale of 0 to 20) and have thus been included in the school’s Framework of Excellence. From a contextual approach to this educational practice, we focused on the cultural characteristics of the school/subject as analytical support for the study of school and non-school dimensions in their mutual connections. To this end, we used the information from document analysis and data collected from a questionnaire survey administered to more than two-thirds of the students included in the above-mentioned Framework of Excellence. Subsequently, we will use the data from this survey to understand the extent to which academic excellence is perceived as an indivisible social construction of the school’s political and organisational matrix, particularly in terms of the educational and teaching guidelines adopted by the management body. We will conclude by questioning the meaning of the school’s management policies regarding the emphasis on educational outcomes, with particular focus on the representations of excellent students in the processes of school leadership, teaching organisation, school merit and justice.