Overcoming the “European Paradox”: The role of Regional Innovation Systems (RIS) in translating R&D investments into economic and employment growth

The emergence of the so-called “European Paradox” shows that R&D investment is not maximally effective and that increasing the scale of public R&D expenditures is not sufficient to generate employment and sustained economic growth. Increasing Governmental R&D Investment is far from being a “panacea” for stagnant growth. It is worth noting that Government R&D Investment does not have a statistically significant impact on employment, indicating the need to assess the trade-offs of policies that could lead to significant increases in government expenditure. Surprisingly, Governmental R&D Employment does not contribute to “mass-market” employment, despite its quite important role in reducing Youth-Unemployment. Despite the negative side-effects of Governmental R&D Employment on both GVA and GDP, University R&D Employment appears to have a quite important role in reducing Unemployment, especially Youth-Unemployment, while it also does not have a downside in terms of economic growth. Technological Capacity enhancement is the most effective instrument for reducing Unemployment and is a policy without any downside regarding sustainable economical development. In terms of wider policy implications, the results reinforce the idea that European Commission Research and Innovation policies must be restructured, shifting from a transnational framework to a more localised, measurable and operational approach.

Temporal, spatial and spatiotemporal analysis of the occurrence of visceral leishmaniasis in humans in the City of Birigui, State of São Paulo, from 1999 to 2012

Introduction In 1999, Birigui and Araçatuba were the first municipalities in the State of São Paulo to present autochthonous cases of visceral leishmaniasis in humans (VLH). The aim of this study was to describe the temporal, spatial and spatiotemporal behaviors of VLH in Birigui. Methods Secondary data were obtained from the Notifiable Diseases Information System from 1999 to 2012. The incidence, mortality and case fatality rates by sex and age were calculated. The cases of VLH were geocoded and grouped according to census tracts. Local empirical Bayesian incidence rates were calculated. The existence of spatial and spatiotemporal clusters was investigated using SaTScan software. Results There were 156 confirmed cases of autochthonous VLH. The incidence rate was higher in the 0-4-year-old children, and the mortality and case fatality rates were higher in people aged 60 years and older. The peaks of incidence occurred in 2006 and 2011. The Bayesian rates identified the presence of VLH in all of the census tracts in the municipality; however, spatial and spatiotemporal clusters were found in the central area of the municipality. Conclusions Birigui, located in the Araçatuba region, has recently experienced increasing numbers of VLH cases; this increase is contrary to the behavior observed over the entire region, which has shown a decreasing trend in the number of VLH cases. The observations that the highest incidence is in children 0-4 years old and the highest mortality is in people 60 years and older are in agreement with the expected patterns of VLH.

A prestação de contas e o regime especial da invalidade das deliberações

The obligation of accountability, or the need to make known the economic and financial state of the companies, ceased to be a purely internal activity, becoming a necessity of a general nature. The knowledge of the financial state of the companies, wich is provided by accountability documents, reveals more and more elementary for all interested in the results obtained, whether in terms of profitability, either with a view to assessing the economic and financial health of the companies. This essay aims to a deeper analysis to matters of accountability, in particular, to the special invalidity scheme of corporate resolutions, wich is enshrined in art. 69º of Portuguese Companies Code. We chose to reference the accrual basis accounts approval, through the analysis of financial statements, laying down a set of principles and criteria applicable to different entities. After consideration of the special scheme versed in art. 69º, we conclude there is a certain ambiguity in the adoption of the criteria do delimit each of the hypotheses of the precept, since the legislator uses indeterminate concepts. Nevertheless, if there is a rule, this will be the annulment, and only exceptionally will apply the nullity scheme, where there is injury to the public interest and the interests of the creditors.

Relação entre regulação das ordens profissionais e gestão jurisdicional dos profissionais de contabilidade: estudo comparado entre Portugal e o Brasil

Tese de Doutoramento em Ciência da Administração

Reflexão crítica sobre a redução das pensões no âmbito da convergência dos regimes da Caixa Geral de Aposentações e da Segurança Social

Dissertação de mestrado em Direito Tributário e Fiscal

Bioactive dihydroxyfuranonaphthoquinones from the bark of Tabebuia incana A.H. Gentry (Bignoniaceae) and HPLC analysis of commercial pau d'arco and certified T.incana bark infusions

Tabebuia incana A.H. Gentry (Bignoniaceae) is a tree from the Brazilian Amazon having medicinal uses and is one several Tabebuia spp. known as pau d'arco or palo de arco in this region. Fractionation of the bark ethanolic extract afforded a mixture of 5 and 8-hydroxy-2-(1-hydroxyethyl)naphtho[2,3-b]furan-4,9-diones (1 and 2, respectively) identified on the basis of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), infrared (IR) and mass (MS) spectra, whose in vitro antimalarial and antitumor activity have been shown previously. This is the first study on T. incana bark, and 2 are described in this species for the first time. Also, high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) analysis of T. incana bark tea revealed the presence of the 1 + 2 mixture peak corresponding to a concentration in the range 10-6-10-5 M. The chromatograms of teas prepared from commercial pau d' arco and T. incana bark were also studied and the presence of the 1 + 2 peak has potential for quality control of commercial plant materials.

Autoimmune diseases and pregnancy: analysis of a series of cases

BACKGROUND: An autoimmune disease is characterized by tissue damage, caused by self-reactivity of different effector mechanisms of the immune system, namely antibodies and T cells. All autoimmune diseases, to some extent, have implications for fertility and obstetrics. Currently, due to available treatments and specialised care for pregnant women with autoimmune disease, the prognosis for both mother and child has improved significantly. However these pregnancies are always high risk. The purpose of this study is to analyse the fertility/pregnancy process of women with systemic and organ-specific autoimmune diseases and assess pathological and treatment implications. METHODS: The authors performed an analysis of the clinical records and relevant obstetric history of five patients representing five distinct autoimmune pathological scenarios, selected from Autoimmune Disease Consultation at the Hospital of Braga, and reviewed the literature. RESULTS: The five clinical cases are the following: Case 1-28 years old with systemic lupus erythematosus, and clinical remission of the disease, under medication with hydroxychloroquine, prednisolone and acetylsalicylic acid, with incomplete miscarriage at 7 weeks of gestation without signs of thrombosis. Case 2-44 years old with history of two late miscarriages, a single preterm delivery (33 weeks) and multiple thrombotic events over the years, was diagnosed with antiphospholipid syndrome after acute myocardial infarction. Case 3-31 years old with polymyositis, treated with azathioprine for 3 years with complete remission of the disease, took the informed decision to get pregnant after medical consultation and full weaning from azathioprine, and gave birth to a healthy term new-born. Case 4-38 years old pregnant woman developed Behcet's syndrome during the final 15 weeks of gestation and with disease exacerbation after delivery. Case 5-36 years old with autoimmune thyroiditis diagnosed during her first pregnancy, with difficult control over the thyroid function over the years and first trimester miscarriage, suffered a second miscarriage despite clinical stability and antibody regression. CONCLUSIONS: As described in literature, the authors found a strong association between autoimmune disease and obstetric complications, especially with systemic lupus erythematosus, antiphospholipid syndrome and autoimmune thyroiditis.

Numerical and experimental analysis of full scale arches reinforced with GFRP materials

In this contribution, original limit analysis numerical results are presented dealing with some reinforced masonry arches tested at the University of Minho-UMinho, PT. Twelve in-scale circular masonry arches were considered, reinforced in various ways at the intrados or at the extrados. GFRP reinforcements were applied either on undamaged or on previously damaged elements, in order to assess the role of external reinforcements even in repairing interventions. The experimental results were critically discussed at the light of limit analysis predictions, based on a 3D FE heterogeneous upper bound approach. Satisfactory agreement was found between experimental evidences and the numerical results, in terms of failure mechanisms and peak load.

The influence of kaolin application on key metabolic pathways associated with grape berry quality: a molecular and biochemical analysis

Dissertação de mestrado em Biologia Molecular, Biotecnologia e Bioempreendedorismo em Plantas

External and internal dynamics in the EU's counter-terrorism policy: a political and legal analysis

Tese de Doutoramento em Ciência Política e Relações Internacionais

Cholinergic stimulation with pyridostigmine, hemodynamic and echocardiographic analysis in healthy subjects

OBJECTIVE: Growing evidence suggests that sudden death after an acute myocardial infarction (AMI) correlates with autonomic nervous system imbalance. Parasympathomimetic drugs have been tested to reverse these changes. However, their effects on ventricular function need specific evaluation. Our objective was to analyze pyridostigmine's (PYR) effect on hemodynamic and echocardiographic variables of ventricular function. METHODS: Twenty healthy volunteers underwent Doppler echocardiographic evaluations, blood pressure (BP), and heart rate (HR) assessment at rest, before and 120 min after ingestion of 30 mg PYR or placebo, according to a double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossed and randomized protocol, on different days. RESULTS: PYR was well tolerated and did not cause alterations in BP or in ventricular systolic function. A reduction in HR of 10.9±1.3% occurred (p<0,00001). There was an A wave reduction in the mitral flow (p<0.01) and an E/A ratio increase (p<0.001) without changes in the other diastolic function parameters (p>0.05). CONCLUSION: PYR reduces HR and increases E/A ratio, without hemodynamic impairment or ventricular function change.

Epidemiological study of congenital heart defects in children and adolescents: analysis of 4,538 cases

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the frequency and prevalence of congenital heart defects in a tertiary care center for children with heart diseases. METHODS: We carried out an epidemiological assessment of the first medical visit of 4,538 children in a pediatric hospital from January 1995 to December 1997. All patients with congenital heart defects had their diagnoses confirmed at least on echocardiography. The frequency and prevalence of the anomalies were computed according to the classification of sequential analysis. Age, weight, and sex were compared between the groups of healthy individuals and those with congenital heart defects after distribution according to the age group. RESULTS: Of all the children assessed, 2,017 (44.4%) were diagnosed with congenital heart disease, 201 (4.4%) with acquired heart disease, 52 (1.2%) with arrhythmias, and 2,268 (50%) were healthy children. Congenital heart diseases predominated in neonates and infants, corresponding to 71.5% of the cases. Weight and age were significantly lower in children with congenital heart defects. Ventricular septal defect was the most frequent acyanotic anomaly, and tetralogy of Fallot was the most frequent cyanotic anomaly. CONCLUSION: Children with congenital heart defects are mainly referred during the neonatal period and infancy with impairment in gaining weight. Ventricular septal defect is the most frequent heart defect.

O crescimento do sector bancário e a concessão de crédito às empresas : o caso de Angola

Mestrado em Ciências Empresariais

Energy from waste (EfW): a feasibility study on the economic and the environmental co-benefits of biogas production within rural communities

Energy from waste (E/W) technologies in the form o f biogas plants, CHP plants and other municipal solid waste (MSW) conversion technologies, have been gaining steady ground in the provision o f energy throughout Europe and the UK. Urban Waste Water Treatment Plants (UWWTP) are utilising much o f the same biochemical processes common to these E/W plants. Previous studies on Centralised Anaerobic Digestion (CAD) within Ireland found that the legislative and economic conditions were not conducive to such an operation on the grounds o f low energy price for electric and heat energy, and due to the restrictive nature o f the allowable feedstocks. Recent changes to the Irish REFIT tariff on energy produced from Anaerobic digestion; alterations to the regulation o f the allowable use o f animal by products(ABP); the recent enactment o f the Renewable Energy D irective (09/28/EC) and a subsequent review o f the draft Biowaste Directive (2001) required that the issue o f decentralised energy production in Ireland be reassessed. In this instance the feasibility study is based on a extant rural community, centred around the village o f Woodford Co Galway. The review found that the prevailing conditions were now such that it was technically and economically feasible for this biochemical process to provide energy and waste treatment facilities at the above location. The review also outlines the last item which is preventing this process from becoming achievable, specifically the lack o f a digestate regulation on land spreading which deals specifically with biowaste. The study finds that the implementation o f the draft EU biowaste regulations, with amendments for Cr and Hg levels to match the proposed Irish regulation for compost, would ensure that Ireland has some o f the most restrictive regulations in Europe for this application. The delay in completing this piece o f legislation is preventing national energy and waste issues from being resolved in a planned and stepwise fashion. A proposed lay out for the new Integrated Waste from Energy Plant (IW/EP) is presented. Budget economic projections and alternative revenue streams are outlined. Finally a review o f the national policies regarding the Rural Development Plan (RDP), the Rural Planning Guidelines (RPG) and the National Renewable Energy Action Plan (NREAP) are examined against the relevant EU directives.