Utopia III or an Ambiguous Humanist Utopia for the Second Millenium

Portuguese literature does not have many examples of successful and renowned utopias, though the considerable amount of published utopias written in foreign languages and translated to Portuguese language being quite relevant. However, in the last quarter of the twentieth century, almost at the eve of the second millennium an important Portuguese utopia was published: Utopia III, written by Pina Martins (1998). This long novel is structured as being the sequel of More’s Utopia, presenting the history and actual status of the mother of all literary utopias. The question at the basis of the whole novel is, “What would More’s Utopia be like today?” The main goal of this text will be to presente a literary analysis of Utopia III, focusing on the humanist principles and their adaptation to contemporary society, the search for a harmonious relationship between city and nature, the defence of a Portuguese identity and the appeal to a humanist renewal.

Portuguese business groups at the beginning of the 21st century: Trends, characteristics and configurations

This study considers the literature on the persistence of business groups in developed economies and analyzes the Portuguese case. The reconstruction of the largest business groups assembles information relevant to define characteristics that enable them to thrive. Increasing internationalization, more specialization in core activities and family control define these types of big businesses. New sectors also emerge as a characteristic of these business groups when compared to the ones existing 40 years ago.

A Cidade do Trabalho: usos do património industrial (S. João da Madeira)

S. João da Madeira é uma localidade que desde cedo construiu os seus discursos em torno da identidade local sob o epíteto de Cidade do Trabalho. Mais recentemente, desde a última década do século XX, a cidade começou a olhar para a sua dimensão industrial do ponto de vista do seu cunho patrimonial, dentro do quadro emergente das políticas culturais e de identidade, no qual as identidades particulares – como à escala local – se querem afirmar no plano global. Partindo de uma primeira análise dos processos contemporâneos de patrimonialização do industrial no contexto de S. João da Madeira, concretizados pela via dos museus e do turismo, num trabalho de projeto que se apresenta como fase de investigação preliminar de um futuro trabalho de doutoramento, questiona-se como a antropologia poderá pensar o conceito de cultura popular fora dos contextos normalmente a estes atribuídos e como, consequentemente, poderá problematizar as fronteiras daquilo que poderá ser considerado ou não Património Cultural Imaterial (PCI), categoria com a qual a disciplina está historicamente comprometida.

Archaeological Remains Accounting for the Presence and Exploitation of the North Atlantic Right Whale Eubalaena glacialis on the Portuguese Coast (Peniche, West Iberia), 16th to 17th Century

The former occurrence of the North Atlantic right whale Eubalaena glacialis on the Portuguese coast may be inferred from the historical range of that species in Europe and in NW Africa. It is generally accepted that it was the main prey of coastal whaling in the Middle Ages and in the pre-modern period, but this assumption still needs firming up based on biological and archaeological evidence. We describe the skeletal remains of right whales excavated at Peniche in 2001-2002, in association with archaeological artefacts. The whale bones were covered by sandy sediments on the old seashore and they have been tentatively dated around the 16th to 17th centuries. This study contributes material evidence to the former occurrence of E. glacialis in Portugal (West Iberia). Some whale bones show unequivocal man-made scars. These are associated to wounds from instruments with a sharp-cutting blade. This evidence for past human interaction may suggest that whaling for that species was active at Peniche around the early 17th century.

Distribution of hepatitis B infection in Brazil: the epidemiological situation at the beginning of the 21 st century

Abstract Brazil was formerly considered a country with intermediate hepatitis B endemicity, with large heterogeneity between Brazilian regions and areas of high prevalence, especially in the Amazon basin. Systematic vaccination of children was initiated in 1998. Between 2004 and 2009, a large population-based study reported decreased prevalence in all regions of Brazil. This review analyzed the current hepatitis B epidemiological situation in Brazil through a systematic search of the scientific literature in MEDLINE, LILACS, and CAPES thesis database, as well as disease notifications to the Information System for Notifiable Diseases. The search strategy identified 87 articles and 13 theses, resulting in 100 total publications. The most recent results indicate reduced hepatitis B prevalence nationwide, classifying Brazil as having low endemicity. Most studies showed HBV carrier prevalence less than 1%. However, there are still isolated regions with increased prevalence, particularly the Amazon, as well as specific groups, such as homeless people in large cities and isolated Afro-descendant communities in the center of the country. This review alsao detected successful vaccination coverage reported in a few studies around the country. The prevalence of anti-HBs alone ranged from 50% to 90%. However, isolated and distant localities still have low coverage rates. This review reinforces the downward trend of hepatitis B prevalence in Brazil and the need to intensify vaccination strategies for young people and adults in specific regions with persisting higher HBV infection prevalence.

Lovers and Madmen: The Μανία-Φρονεῖν Opposition in Plato’s Phaedrus

In this thesis we propose to examine the first half of the Phaedrus (sc. until the end of the palinode) in light of the opposition between the notions of μανία and φρονεῖν, as they are explicitly and implicitly presented in the erotic speeches. These are read in dialogue with what we have designated as the “implicit speech” or “speeches”, i.e., the plurality of conceptions regarding ἔρως, μανία and φρονεῖν that were part of Ancient Greek culture. Our reading of the two speeches against ἔρως, Lysias’ and Socrates’ first speech, engages with this cultural background, and extracts a conception of μανία and φρονεῖν with which the palinode will primarily confront. Our reading of the palinode divides it into two sections: the first, the presentation of the first three kinds of beneficial μανία; the second, the mythical narrative that deals with erotic μανία. We emphasise the existence of a wide gulf between these two moments in terms of their ontological, theological and anthropological conceptions. The second section of the palinode is revolutionary not only in contrast with the “implicit speech” and the speeches against ἔρως, but also in contrast with the very beginning of the palinode – which preserves many of the conceptions and assumptions found in the previous speeches and in the cultural tradition. It is in order to explain the foundation, meaning and significance of this gulf that we explore and discuss the notion of ὑπόθεσις and its role as an implicit operator in the Phaedrus. From our reading of the second part of the palinode, it is clear how the introduction of the ὑπερουράνιος τόπος brings about a radical revision of the perspectives on the nature of reality and on human nature and condition that were implicit in the previous speeches and in the first part of the palinode. We show that the ὑπερουράνιος τόπος corresponds to the projection of a multiplicity of cognitive and desiderative requirements that our normal perspective demands, but cannot possibly satisfy. In other words, our perspective is shown to be living beyond its means, yearning for something that by far exceeds what it can get in its de facto condition: the superlative. This results in a major revision of the understanding of φρονεῖν and μανία – a revision that challenges the traditional understanding of these two notions as binary opposites, thereby revealing a much more complex landscape.

Historical reconstructions of raw materials based on a blue smalt coating applied to a seventeenth-century altarpiece

Based on samples cross-sections from the Main Altarpiece of the Coimbra Old Cathedral, where a blue coating performed in 1685 is observed (that was partly covered with a Prussian blue-containing overpaint), the raw materials present in this coating were reproduced and studied. Blue areas were painted with smalt in oil, according to the contract signed by Manoel da Costa Pereira in 1684 and the analysis by Le Gac in 2009. Based on these, three batches of cobalt-based glasses (S1, S2 and S3) were heated and melted in alumina crucibles in the kiln. S1 contained 6.03 % of cobalt oxide, S2 contained 2.10 %, with the addition of 1.49 % of magnesium oxide, and S3 contained 6.82 % of cobalt oxide, with the addition of 4.63% of antimony trioxide. These batches were ground mechanically with water and manually with different vehicles stated in recipes. The results were studied by means of OM, SEM-EDS, X-Ray CT, Colorimetry and Vickers HT. Different binders were also produced and analyzed by means of μ-FTIR, in order to perform their characterization and obtain Standard Spectra. Since anhydrite was identified in the ground layers, gypsum from Óbidos was also characterized by XRD. The main goal of this thesis was to study all the raw materials present in the 1685-blue coating, in order to allow the historically accurate reconstruction of the layers build-up in the next future.

Analysis and treatment of a nineteenth century portrait, study of Artsorb® and a proposal for a microclimate frame

The present work is divided in two parts: Part 1 is focused on the analysis and treatment of a 19th century portrait of Domingos Affonso, which belongs to the Ecomuseu Municipal do Seixal; and Part 2, which is entitled “The Microclimate Frame Project” is focused on the study of Artsorb® and on the planning of a microclimate frame for the painting. In Part 1, a study of the painting’s materials was performed using complementary analytical techniques and the painting’s condition was carefully evaluated. The painting exhibited signs of mould growth, and a more detailed investigation was made of this topic to understand if the fungal community was active and if it represented a real danger to the painting. A treatment was proposed, appropriate to the painting’s condition. A description of the treatment carried out, comprising the treatment options, is also present in this section. Within the study of the microclimate frame, in Part 2, the study of the potential corrosiveness of Artsorb® was a central subject. Artsorb® sheets are one of the most widely used materials for buffering relative humidity fluctuations in microclimate frames and its reported excellent performance is enhanced by its availability in lightweight sheets that can be easily placed inside microclimate frames. However, concerns have arisen regarding the presence of the corrosive salt lithium chloride in the composition of this buffer. Consequently, the present work also aimed to understand the potential risks of using Artsorb® and the possibility of avoiding exposure of lithium chloride to the artworks through the use of Tyvek®. Results from the preliminary tests seem to indicate that Artsorb® releases lithium chloride into air. This study also showed that a Tyvek® cover over Artsorb® reduces but does not eliminate evidence of chlorine contamination, and it significantly reduces the effectiveness of the buffering material. Considering that Artsorb® appears to be unsuitable due to the release of the corrosive salt, that Tyvek® was not efficient as a barrier for lithium chloride or as a permeable material to enable the proper functioning of Artsorb®, the buffering material proposed for the use in the microclimate frames is silica gel without indicator. Based on the choice of buffering material, as a result of this study, a microclimate frame is proposed.

The perfect paint in modern art conservation: a comparative study of 21st century vinyl emulsions

Contemporary painting places, and will continue to place, several questions about its meaning, its chemical nature, its durability and the best way to preserve it. This research aims at putting together comprehensive data on vinyl based paints, including their components, their properties, their aging behavior and their response to selected cleaning products. In this project degradation mechanisms of vinyl binders and formulations used in the 20th and 21st century were studied. Stability over time of selected vinyl polymers was assessed through natural indoor and artificially aging. The objective was to enhance knowledge and understanding of vinyl emulsion formulations and their performance over time. Overall conservation state of pictorial layers namely, adhesion, cohesion and discoloration of selected case studies from the Portuguese artist Julião Sarmento (b.1948) was correlated with the observed molecular level changes studied in laboratory experiments. Sarmento’s paintings were chosen due to conservation concerns (discoloration) on some of his works from the 90’s. Besides, research was carried out to start increasing the knowledge of what can be expected of PVAc based paints in terms of response to conservation treatments namely, surface cleaning. Artificial aging showed that the most recent formulations which are based on a poly(vinyl acetate), poly(vinyl chloride) and polyethylene terpolymer are less stable when compared to some homopolymer formulations. From the four pigments studied, titanium dioxide rutile and a carbon based black proved to be stabilizers for both types of polymer. The mixture lithopone plus calcium carbonate has showed to have a photocatalytic effect on the binders. The studied paintings showed to be in an overall good state of conservation except for the paintings created in the 90’s with white glue and a mixture of white lithoponeand calcium carbonate. Discoloration of this white paint seems to be irreversible and ongoing and is still a major concern. The disapearance of the plasticizer was the only change detected. The current works created by Sarmento are expected to be more stable as they were painted using the rutile titanium dioxide. Immersion/cleaning tests showed that vinyl based paints can be susceptible to water and organic solvents like ethanol as some evidences point to the removal/diffusion of additives from the paint. The observations made point to the need to further proceed in this research field.

What Fidelidade group should do to convey its human centric brand identity values to millennial insurance consumers

Companies are concerned in attracting and retaining Millennial consumers, especially if their relation with this target audience is weak. This happens in the insurance industry in Portugal and in Fidelidade group specifically. The aim of this study is to recommend a strategy for the insurance group to improve its relationship with these consumers, by conveying its human centric values. In order to address this goal, we developed a qualitative research. The main insight is that Millennials may perceive those values in the industry but do not associate them with insurance brands.

In Search of the Origins of Modernism: Venice and the Crisis of Classical Architecture in the mid-eighteenth century

This paper attempts to prove that in the years 1735 to 1755 Venice was the birthplace and cradle of Modern architectural theory, generating a major crisis in classical architecture traditionally based on the Vitruvian assumption that it imitates early wooden structures in stone or in marble. According to its rationalist critics such as the Venetian Observant Franciscan friar and architectural theorist Carlo Lodoli (1690-1761) and his nineteenth-century followers, classical architecture is singularly deceptive and not true to the nature of materials, in other words, dishonest and fallacious. This questioning did not emanate from practising architects, but from Lodoli himself– a philosopher and educator of the Venetian patriciate – who had not been trained as an architect. The roots of this crisis lay in a new approach to architecture stemming from the new rationalist philosophy of the Enlightenment age with its emphasis on reason and universal criticism.

Organização da clandestinidade política do PCP: da Ditadura militar ao 25 de Abril de 1974

A presente dissertação demonstra a evolução da organização clandestina do PCP ao longo do período ditatorial português do Século XX (1926-1974). Tendo em conta o período de clandestinidade de um partido de oposição à ditadura como foi o PCP, importa verificar como ao longo dos anos o partido adaptou a sua organização à conjuntura política interna e externa. Estudar o PCP na clandestinidade é certamente abordar a capacidade de recuperação de uma organização política sujeita à frequente repressão e violência política. A organização clandestina do PCP, apesar de passar por períodos de maior ou menor crescimento orgânico, teve uma estratégia de organização das suas casas clandestinas que foi variando ao longo do período de tempo abordado nesta dissertação.

As Comissões Parlamentares de Inquérito no Portugal democrático, 1976-2015

As transformações operadas no mundo contemporâneo, em especial no que respeita às estruturas do poder, à sua maior autonomização e diferenciação, tiveram particulares reflexos ao nível dos Parlamentos e das funções que prosseguem. Desde a sua origem, no passado século XIII, à atualidade, grandes acontecimentos, clivagens e factos históricos estão presentes na sua linha evolutiva. A democratização do regime parlamentar e a legitimidade outorgada através de eleições democráticas e concorrenciais são um marco ímpar na sua história. A complexidade das sociedades hodiernas catapultou o Poder Executivo em detrimento do Parlamento, enquanto órgão legislativo por excelência. Tal circunstancialismo levou, não ao proclamado declínio dos Parlamentos, mas a reformas estruturantes. Outras e mais importantes funções seriam prosseguidas. Se as iniciativas legislativas e a definição das políticas públicas passaram a ser quase um exclusivo do Governo, havia que desenvolver e ampliar, por parte dos Parlamentos, os instrumentos de controlo, fiscalização e escrutínio da ação governativa. Entre os clássicos instrumentos de controlo avulta o Inquérito Parlamentar, materializado em Comissões Parlamentares de Inquérito, dotadas de poderes especiais para recolha de informação e para investigação. No seu percurso parlamentar, também as Comissões de Inquérito foram sendo alvo de constantes aperfeiçoamentos, de ordem constitucional, legal e regimental. A excessiva partidarização da atividade parlamentar de outrora e sobretudo a confusão entre o governo e o partido que o sustentava a nível parlamentar, o confronto desequilibrado de meios entre as maiorias e as minorias, levaram a um reposicionamento do inquérito parlamentar enquanto garante do direito das minorias. Não sendo expectável que as grandes iniciativas de controlo sejam tomadas pelo partido maioritário, cabe à oposição esse papel. Em Portugal, diminuta era a tradição do instituto do inquérito parlamentar, razão porque foi efémera e sem resultado a sua utilização no tempo da monarquia constitucional. O regime democrático, abraçado com o 25 de abril de 1974, relançou o órgão de soberania Parlamento e estabeleceu prioridades. Até ao amadurecimento da democracia viveram-se tempos mais conturbados mas de grande aprendizagem. O inquérito Parlamentar, a partir da revisão constitucional de 1982, passou conceptualmente a integrar um dos meios mais relevantes da fiscalização política. É, pois, o levantamento exaustivo e a análise das Comissões Parlamentares de Inquérito no Portugal democrático, período de 1976-2015, o objetivo a que nos propomos neste estudo.

Portugal (1928-1968) : Um Filme de J. Leitão de Barros

Apoio financeiro da FCT e do FSE no âmbito do III Quadro Comunitário de Apoio