Development of a simple and fast “DNA extraction kit” for sea food identification and marine species

Seafood products fraud, the misrepresentation of them, have been discovered all around the world in different forms as false labeling, species substitution, short-weighting or over glazing in order to hide the correct identity, origin or weight of the seafood products. Due to the value of seafood products such as canned tuna, swordfish or grouper, these species are the subject of the commercial fraud is mainly there placement of valuable species with other little or no value species. A similar situation occurs with the shelled shrimp or shellfish that are reduced into pieces for the commercialization. Food fraud by species substitution is an emerging risk given the increasingly global food supply chain and the potential food safety issues. Economic food fraud is committed when food is deliberately placed on the market, for financial gain deceiving consumers (Woolfe, M. & Primrose, S. 2004). As a result of the increased demand and the globalization of the seafood supply, more fish species are encountered in the market. In this scenary, it becomes essential to unequivocally identify the species. The traditional taxonomy, based primarily on identification keys of species, has shown a number of limitations in the use of the distinctive features in many animal taxa, amplified when fish, crustacean or shellfish are commercially transformed. Many fish species show a similar texture, thus the certification of fish products is particularly important when fishes have undergone procedures which affect the overall anatomical structure, such as heading, slicing or filleting (Marko et al., 2004). The absence of morphological traits, a main characteristic usually used to identify animal species, represents a challenge and molecular identification methods are required. Among them, DNA-based methods are more frequently employed for food authentication (Lockley & Bardsley, 2000). In addition to food authentication and traceability, studies of taxonomy, population and conservation genetics as well as analysis of dietary habits and prey selection, also rely on genetic analyses including the DNA barcoding technology (Arroyave & Stiassny, 2014; Galimberti et al., 2013; Mafra, Ferreira, & Oliveira, 2008; Nicolé et al., 2012; Rasmussen & Morrissey, 2008), consisting in PCR amplification and sequencing of a COI mitochondrial gene specific region. The system proposed by P. Hebert et al. (2003) locates inside the mitochondrial COI gene (cytochrome oxidase subunit I) the bioidentification system useful in taxonomic identification of species (Lo Brutto et al., 2007). The COI region, used for genetic identification - DNA barcode - is short enough to allow, with the current technology, to decode sequence (the pairs of nucleotide bases) in a single step. Despite, this region only represents a tiny fraction of the mitochondrial DNA content in each cell, the COI region has sufficient variability to distinguish the majority of species among them (Biondo et al. 2016). This technique has been already employed to address the demand of assessing the actual identity and/or provenance of marketed products, as well as to unmask mislabelling and fraudulent substitutions, difficult to detect especially in manufactured seafood (Barbuto et al., 2010; Galimberti et al., 2013; Filonzi, Chiesa, Vaghi, & Nonnis Marzano, 2010). Nowadays,the research concerns the use of genetic markers to identify not only the species and/or varieties of fish, but also to identify molecular characters able to trace the origin and to provide an effective control tool forproducers and consumers as a supply chain in agreementwith local regulations.

Planeamento Fiscal nas operações relativas a instrumentos financeiros derivados e a sua tributação

Mestrado em Fiscalidade

Caraterização e identificação de esquemas Ponzi: Casos Chales Ponzi, Bernard Madoff e Dona Branca

Mestrado em Auditoria

A auditoria contínua como resposta ao risco de fraude

Mestrado em Auditoria

O sistema de controlo interno e a qualidade da auditoria

A qualidade da auditoria é uma preocupação crescente no sentido de credibilizar as demonstrações financeiras, pelo que muitos estudos têm sido desenvolvido nos últimos tempos com vista a avaliar quais serão os fatores que maior influência poderão ter na qualidade de uma auditoria. Sendo o Sistema de Controlo Interno (SCI) um elemento fundamental no aumento da fiabilidade da informação importa analisar o contributo do SCI para a qualidade da auditoria. Com base em questionários e entrevistas a Revisores Oficiais de Contas (ROC) procuramos perceber o que é um bom SCI numa entidade e quais os fatores de que depende, bem como o seu contributo para a qualidade da auditoria. Os nossos resultados mostram que os ROC dão grande importância ao SCI ao longo de todo o processo de auditoria, e em particular para a avaliação do risco de distorções relevantes e avaliação do risco de fraude. Mostram ainda que consideram o SCI entre os três fatores mais determinantes da qualidade da auditoria, considerando que o ambiente de controlo e a monitorização dos controlos são os componentes do SCI que mais contribuem para esse facto. Assim, os resultados obtidos evidenciam um contributo positivo do SCI para a qualidade da auditoria.

Active Data Collection Techniques to Understand Online Scammers and Cybercriminals

Nigerian scam, also known as advance fee fraud or 419 scam, is a prevalent form of online fraudulent activity that causes financial loss to individuals and businesses. Nigerian scam has evolved from simple non-targeted email messages to more sophisticated scams targeted at users of classifieds, dating and other websites. Even though such scams are observed and reported by users frequently, the community’s understanding of Nigerian scams is limited since the scammers operate “underground”. To better understand the underground Nigerian scam ecosystem and seek effective methods to deter Nigerian scam and cybercrime in general, we conduct a series of active and passive measurement studies. Relying upon the analysis and insight gained from the measurement studies, we make four contributions: (1) we analyze the taxonomy of Nigerian scam and derive long-term trends in scams; (2) we provide an insight on Nigerian scam and cybercrime ecosystems and their underground operation; (3) we propose a payment intervention as a potential deterrent to cybercrime operation in general and evaluate its effectiveness; and (4) we offer active and passive measurement tools and techniques that enable in-depth analysis of cybercrime ecosystems and deterrence on them. We first created and analyze a repository of more than two hundred thousand user-reported scam emails, stretching from 2006 to 2014, from four major scam reporting websites. We select ten most commonly observed scam categories and tag 2,000 scam emails randomly selected from our repository. Based upon the manually tagged dataset, we train a machine learning classifier and cluster all scam emails in the repository. From the clustering result, we find a strong and sustained upward trend for targeted scams and downward trend for non-targeted scams. We then focus on two types of targeted scams: sales scams and rental scams targeted users on Craigslist. We built an automated scam data collection system and gathered large-scale sales scam emails. Using the system we posted honeypot ads on Craigslist and conversed automatically with the scammers. Through the email conversation, the system obtained additional confirmation of likely scam activities and collected additional information such as IP addresses and shipping addresses. Our analysis revealed that around 10 groups were responsible for nearly half of the over 13,000 total scam attempts we received. These groups used IP addresses and shipping addresses in both Nigeria and the U.S. We also crawled rental ads on Craigslist, identified rental scam ads amongst the large number of benign ads and conversed with the potential scammers. Through in-depth analysis of the rental scams, we found seven major scam campaigns employing various operations and monetization methods. We also found that unlike sales scammers, most rental scammers were in the U.S. The large-scale scam data and in-depth analysis provide useful insights on how to design effective deterrence techniques against cybercrime in general. We study underground DDoS-for-hire services, also known as booters, and measure the effectiveness of undermining a payment system of DDoS Services. Our analysis shows that the payment intervention can have the desired effect of limiting cybercriminals’ ability and increasing the risk of accepting payments.

Recetas castellanas medievales sobre el trabajo de la cera

El fin del presente trabajo es dar a conocer una serie de recetas, localizadas, en los fondos españoles. Temáticamente, pertenecen al mundo de la candelería y de la cerería. Nos describen, de una parte como se hace la cera de color (blanca, roja y verde) y su utilidad, y, de otra, como se fabrican las velas, tanto de sebo como de cera. Se caracterizan por su brevedad, enumeran las sustancias a la vez que describen el proceso. Se asemejan entre ellas en la metodología empleada y se diferencian en las materias. La brevedad se rompe en el Libro de los Oficios de Guadalupe, se trata de una ordenanza, y no de una receta. Aprovechando la ocasión, hemos hablado de las materias primas (cera y sebo), de los métodos que se usan para elaborar los distintos sistemas de iluminación y de las ordenanzas; dentro de estas destacamos el fraude. Por último, estudiamos el pabilo o torcida, concretamente: la materia prima y el grosor que debe presentar.

THERE GOES THE ELECTORAL NEIGHBORHOOD: LOCAL NETWORKS, ATTRIBUTION OF RESPONSIBILITY, AND THE (UN) FAIRNESS OF ELECTIONS

During the last two decades there have been but a handful of recorded cases of electoral fraud in Latin America. However, survey research consistently shows that often citizens do not trust the integrity of the electoral process. This dissertation addresses the puzzle by explaining the mismatch between how elections are conducted and how the process is perceived. My theoretical contribution provides a double-folded argument. First, voters’ trust in their community members (“the local experience”) impacts their level of confidence in the electoral process. Since voters often find their peers working at polling stations, negative opinions about them translate into negative opinions about the election. Second, perceptions of unfairness of the system (“the global effect”) negatively impact the way people perceive the transparency of the electoral process. When the political system fails to account for social injustice, citizens lose faith in the mechanism designed to elect representatives -and ultimately a set of policies. The fact that certain groups are systematically disregarded by the system triggers the notion that the electoral process is flawed. This is motivated by either egotropic or sociotropic considerations. To test these hypotheses, I employ a survey conducted in Costa Rica, El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala during May/June 2014, which includes a population-based experiment. I show that Voters who trust their peers consistently have higher confidence in the electoral process. Whereas respondents who were primed about social unfairness (treatment) expressed less confidence in the quality of the election. Finally, I find that the local experience is predominant over the global effect. The treatment has a statistically significant effect only for respondents who trust their community. Attribution of responsibility for voters who are skeptics of their peers is clear and simple, leaving no room for a more diffuse mechanism, the unfairness of the political system. Finally, now I extend analysis to the Latin America region. Using data from LAPOP that comprises four waves of surveys in 22 countries, I confirm the influence of the “local experience” and the “global effect” as determinants of the level of confidence in the electoral process.

Challenges and Opportunities in Transforming Laser System Industry to Deliver Integrated Product and Service Offers

Part 4: Transition Towards Product-Service Systems

A psicologia económica associada ao cumprimento fiscal em IVA

Mestrado em Contabilidade, Fiscalidade e Finanças Empresariais

Criação do espaço de habitar como um processo colaborativo

A criação do espaço de habitar está na origem do Homem. Através do seu entendimento da paisagem, o Homem foi ao longo dos tempos adaptando o seu espaço segundo as suas atividades e necessidades específicas. Desde o abrigo até à casa contemporânea, novas formas foram sendo criadas e adaptadas, acompanhando a evolução humana, baseada nas novas formas, atividades e requisitos definidos na realização pessoal. Numa época onde os requisitos habitacionais são cada vez mais estritos na garantia de um conforto e segurança padronizada, verificamos a existência de díspares formas de habitar. Juntamente com a valorização contemporânea dos direitos humanos podemos entender grande parte da população não tem o devido acesso a espaços verdadeiramente adaptados aos seus requisitos de habitar. Socialmente encerrados em torno de uma civilização globalizada, vivemos cúmplices de uma desigualdade social, que não consegue garantir o direito a uma habitação adequada para todos. Desta forma procura-se perceber as causas das falhas no cumprimento dos direitos humanos fundamentais e das desigualdades no sector habitacional. Entendendo o papel fundamental das populações e do sector da construção na criação dos seus habitares e tentando esclarecer o papel fundamental da arquitetura na requalificação dos espaços de habitar, oferecendo soluções e formas práticas acessíveis a todos os habitantes para a construção de um futuro sustentável, adaptado e dignificante da vida humana; ABSTRACT: The creation of the space of inhabiting is in the Man’s origin, through his under- standing of the landscape, the Man was along the times adapting his space second their activities and specific needs. From the shelter to the contemporary house, new forms were being created and adapted, accompanying the human evolution, based on the new forms, activities and defined requirements in the personal accomplishment. In a time where the habitational requirements are more and more strict in the warranty of a comfort and standardized safety, we verified the existence of disparate ways of inhabiting. Together with the contemporary valorization of the human rights we can understand great part of the population doesn’t have the access to spaces truly adapted to their requirements of inhabiting. This way we try to notice the causes of the flaws in the execution of the fundamental human rights and of the inequalities in the habitational sector. Understanding the fundamental paper of the populations and of the construction sector in the creation of our inhabit and trying to explain the fundamental paper of the architecture in the qualification of the spaces of inhabiting, offering solutions and accessible practical forms to all of the inhabitants for the construction of a maintainable future, adapted and dignifying the human life

Reputational risk of banks : a study on the effects of regulatory sanctions for major european banks

Mestrado em Finanças

El derecho a recibir resoluciones motivadas desarrolladas por la Corte Constitucional, mediante resoluciones de acciones extraordinarias de protección

Entodas las sociedades ha sido una necesidad importante que las personas obtengan decisiones debidamente motivadas por parte de las personas que las representan o que están en el poder. En la actualidad se denota claramente la imperfección en la técnica y en la formación de los jueces y tribunales al momento de dictar una infinidad de resoluciones judiciales, las cuales pueden estar bien o mal motivadas, afectando por tanto a un sin número de personas, ya sea en sus patrimonios o hasta su honor. A raíz de la vigencia de la Constitución de la Repúblicaen el año 2008, se incorporó una nueva garantía de derechos denominada Acción Extraordinaria de Protección, orientada a tutelar el debido proceso y los derechos constitucionales que resulten vulnerados en resoluciones judiciales emitidas por los jueces y tribunales en su actividad jurisdiccional, siendo la motivación uno de estos derechos que frecuentemente es vulnerado. En el presente trabajo se establece cual es la tesis que la Corte Constitucional ha desarrollado sobre la motivación y se explica los tres requisitos que la integran los cuales son: la razonabilidad, lógica, y la comprensibilidad; para que de esta manera la sociedad conozca esta garantía a plenitud y pueda ejercer su derecho a la defensa en el momento oportuno.

Branqueamento de Capitais, Fraude Fiscal e Corrupção Internacional

Resumo: a fraude fiscal é um dos crimes que pode dar origem a um outro crime, o crime de branqueamento de capitais e/ou lavagem de dinheiro, como é mais conhecido por exemplo no Brasil. O branqueamento de capitais é apenas um dos exemplos do branqueamento de vantagens. Toda esta actividade pode ser incluída, em sentido amplo, na chamada corrupção internacional. Quanto mais internacionais forem estas actividades – fraude fiscal e branqueamento de capitais -, mais eficazes serão os seus proveitos. A fraude fiscal é um crime que pode atingir montantes mais elevados no caso de poder ser praticado em cenários internacionais. O branqueamento de capitais é também um crime que pode atingir montantes mais elevados no caso de poder ser praticado em cenários internacionais. Assim, a corrupção internacional em sentido amplo pode ser apelidada como mercado ideal para a criminalidade. Estamos também a falar de multinacionais do crime. § Abstract: tax fraud is a crime that can lead to another crime, the crime of money laundering. Money laundering is just one example of the whitening benefits. All this activity can be included in a broad sense, the international corruption. The more international are these activities - tax evasion and money laundering - the more effective will be the income. Tax fraud is a crime that can achieve higher amounts if it can be practiced in international scenarios. Money laundering is also a crime that can achieve higher amounts if it can be practiced in international scenarios. Thus, the international corruption in the broad sense can be dubbed as ideal market for the crime. We are talking also about transnational crime.

Fraude Fiscal: parte III

O que é a Fraude Fiscal? Perguntámos nas duas semanas anteriores. Fomos respondendo assim que as ciências jurídicas e a Constituição o permitem. Pois hoje vamos continuar. Na passada 6ª Feira tivemos uma aula magnífica ao vivo do Sr. Prof. Catedrático Doutor Costa Andrade que nos falou sobre “Crimes Tributários na Lei Vigente e Jurisprudência”. Sobre a mesma falaremos nos próximos episódios. É que o Mestre superou as expectativas mais optimistas e que já eram elevadas ao mais alto nível técnico. Cada palavra dava uma tese de mestrado e fartou-se de dar bofetadas científicas naqueles que julgam que as contraordenações são um fenómeno de somenos que pode ser tratado como se as mesmas pudessem ser desnecessárias, desadequadas, desproporcionais e de intervenção máxima, violando direitos fundamentais dos cidadãos. § What is Tax Fraud? We asked in the previous two weeks. We have responded as soon as the legal sciences and the Constitution permit. For today we will continue. Last Friday we had a magnificent live lesson from Mr. Prof. Professor Costa Andrade, who told us about "Tax Crimes in the Current Law and Jurisprudence". About the same we will speak in the next episodes. It is that the Master surpassed the most optimistic expectations and that they were already elevated to the highest technical level. Each word gave a master's thesis and was satisfied to give scientific slaps to those who think that the misconduct is a phenomenon of the same that can be treated as if they could be unnecessary, inadequate, disproportionate and of maximum intervention, violating fundamental rights of the Citizens.