O quinto elemento da política externa portuguesa e o conceito de soft power

Dissertação apresentada para cumprimento dos requisitos necessários à obtenção do grau de Mestre em Ciência Política e Relações Internacionais, na área de especialização em Globalização e Ambiente

Testing the Freeze/Thaw Cycles in Lime Mortar

2nd Historic Mortars Conference - HMC 2010 and RILEM TC 203-RHM Final Workshop, Prague, September 2010

Exploring the predictive power of Google searches over the US stock market

A Work Project, presented as part of the requirements for the Award of a Masters Degree in Finance from the NOVA – School of Business and Economics

Portuguese Ministers, 1851-1999: Social Background and Paths to Power

Disponível em: http://193.136.113.6/Opac/Pages/Search/Results.aspx?SearchText=UID=bb8aa8d5-c6b6-466a-81bb-fe8a67693cee&DataBase=10449_UNLFCSH

Design of a Continuous-Time (CT) Sigma-Delta modulator for class D audio power amplifiers

Dissertação apresentada na Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia da Universidade Nova de Lisboa para obtenção do Grau de Mestre em Engenharia Electrotécnica e de Computadores

Chagas disease as a mechanistic model for testing a novel hypothesis

The association between depression and cardiovascular disease is well documented. Nevertheless, the process through which they are linked remains unknown, as does the direction of this relationship. Studies have suggested both that depression is a risk factor for heart disease and that heart disease is a risk factor for depression. A number of studies have established that a relationship exists between depression and inflammation, with alterations in the levels of inflammatory markers (IL-1, IL-6, TNF-alpha and others). Depressive symptoms have also been identified in many diseases characterized by inflammatory processes e.g. rheumatoid arthritis, bronchial asthma, diabetes, tuberculosis and cardiovascular diseases. In this brief viewpoint, we explain and propose how to use Chagas disease, a disorder characterized by inflammatory processes and leading to cardiovascular and autonomic problems, as a model for studying the directionality of the relationship between heart disease and depression.

E-Health individual adoption - empirical model based on UTAUT 2.

The future of health care delivery is becoming more citizen-centred, as today’s user is more active, better informed and more demanding. The European Commission is promoting online health services and, therefore, member states will need to boost deployment and use of online services. This makes e-health adoption an important field to be studied and understood. This study applied the extended unified theory of acceptance and usage technology (UTAUT2) to explain patients’ individual adoption of e-health. An online questionnaire was administrated Portugal using mostly the same instrument used in UTAUT2 adapted to e-health context. We collected 386 valid answers. Performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence, and habit had the most significant explanatory power over behavioural intention and habit and behavioural intention over technology use. The model explained 52% of the variance in behavioural intention and 32% of the variance in technology use. Our research helps to understand the desired technology characteristics of ehealth. By testing an information technology acceptance model, we are able to determine what is more valued by patients when it comes to deciding whether to adopt e-health systems or not.

From Consciousness to Knowledge – The Explanatory Power of Revelation

Epistemology in philosophy of mind is a difficult endeavor. Those who believe that our phenomenal life is different from other domains suggest that self-knowledge about phenomenal properties is certain and therefore privileged. Usually, this so called privileged access is explained by the idea that we have direct access to our phenomenal life. This means, in contrast to perceptual knowledge, self-knowledge is non-inferential. It is widely believed that, this kind of directness involves two different senses: an epistemic sense and a metaphysical sense. Proponents of this view often claim that this is due to the fact that we are acquainted with our current experiences. The acquaintance thesis, therefore, is the backbone in justifying privileged access. Unfortunately the whole approach has a profound flaw. For the thesis to work, acquaintance has to be a genuine explanation. Since it is usually assumed that any knowledge relation between judgments and the corresponding objects are merely causal and contingent (e.g. in perception), the proponent of the privileged access view needs to show that acquaintance can do the job. In this thesis, however, I claim that the latter cannot be done. Based on considerations introduced by Levine, I conclude that this approach involves either the introduction of ontologically independent properties or a rather obscure knowledge relation. A proper explanation, however, cannot employ either of the two options. The acquaintance thesis is, therefore, bound to fail. Since the privileged access intuition seems to be vital to epistemology within the philosophy of mind, I will explore alternative justifications. After discussing a number of options, I will focus on the so called revelation thesis. This approach states that by simply having an experience with phenomenal properties, one is in the position to know the essence of those phenomenal properties. I will argue that, after finding a solution for the controversial essence claim, this thesis is a successful replacement explanation which maintains all the virtues of the acquaintance account without necessarily introducing ontologically independent properties or an obscure knowledge relation. The overall solution consists in qualifying the essence claim in the relevant sense, leaving us with an appropriate ontology for phenomenal properties. On the one hand, this avoids employing mysterious independent properties, since this ontological view is physicalist in nature. On the other hand, this approach has the right kind of structure to explain privileged self-knowledge of our phenomenal life. My final conclusion consists in the claim that the privileged access intuition is in fact veridical. It cannot, however, be justified by the popular acquaintance approach, but rather, is explainable by the controversial revelation thesis.

Analysis, testing and development of safe cleaning methods of rusted stone material

Three different treatments were applied on several specimens of dolomitic and calcitic marble, properly stained with rust to mimic real situations (the stone specimens were exposed to the natural environment for about six months in contact with rusted iron). Thirty six marble specimens, eighteen calcitic and eighteen dolomitic, were characterized before and after treatment and monitored throughout the cleaning tests. The specimens were characterized by SEM-EDS (Scanning Electron Microscopy coupled with Energy Dispersion System), XRD (XRay Diffraction), XRF (X-Ray Fluorescence), FTIR (Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy) and color measurements. It was also made a microscopic and macroscopic analysis of the stone surface along with the tests of short and long term capillary absorption. A series of test trials were conducted in order to understand which concentrations and contact times best suits to this purpose, to confirm what had been written to date in the literature. We sought to develop new methods of treatment application, skipping the usual methods of applying chemical treatments on stone substrates, with the use of cellulose poultice, resorting to the agar, a gel already used in many other areas, being something new in this area, which possesses great applicability in the field of conservation of stone materials. After the application of the best methodology for cleaning, specimens were characterized again in order to understand which treatment was more effective and less harmful, both for the operator and the stone material. Very briefly conclusions were that for a very intense and deep penetration into the stone, a solution of 3.5% of SDT buffered with ammonium carbonate to pH around 7 applied with agar support would be indicated. For rust stains in its initial state, the use of Ammonium citrate at a concentration of 5% buffered with ammonium to pH 7 could be applied more than once until satisfactory results appear.

Wind Power in the Portuguese Landscape: Global Concerns and Local Costs

Wind turbines and solar panels are becoming second nature in Portugal, as its occurrence in the country becomes ubiquitous. Somehow, one could argue that renewable energy in Portugal is in the process of ‘naturalisation’ as part of a new – mechanised, but environmentally benign – landscape. Portuguese Institute for the Conservation of Nature and Biodiversity (ICNB) has shown an ambiguous stance on this issue, defending global concerns towards renewable energy, while at the same time attempting to engage locals in the preservation of extensive ‘classified areas’. In the course of this research, we tried to focus on these incongruities and to analyse how they are impacting local communities during the process of wind power installation.

Is low worker mobility evidence for monopsony power?

Major in Competition and Regulation

Effects of an exercise program on the functional capacity of patients with chronic Chagas' heart disease, evaluated by cardiopulmonary testing

INTRODUCTION: Despite all efforts to restrict its transmission, Chagas' disease remains a severe public health problem in Latin America, affecting 8-12 million individuals. Chronic Chagas' heart disease, the chief factor in the high mortality rate associated with the illness, affects more than half a million Brazilians. Its evolution may result in severe heart failure associated with loss of functional capacity and quality of life, with important social and medical/labor consequences. Many studies have shown the beneficial effect of regular exercise on cardiac patients, but few of them have focused on chronic Chagas' heart disease. METHODS: This study evaluated the effects of an exercise program on the functional capacity of patients with chronic Chagas' disease who were treated in outpatient clinics at the Evandro Chagas Institute of Clinical Research and the National Institute of Cardiology, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The exercises were performed 3 times a week for 1 h (30 min of aerobic activity and 30 min of resistance exercises and extension) over 6 months in 2010. Functional capacity was evaluated by comparing the direct measurement of the O2 uptake volume (VO2) obtained by a cardiopulmonary exercise test before and after the program (p < 0.05). RESULTS: Eighteen patients (13 females) were followed, with minimum and maximum ages of 30 and 72 years, respectively. We observed an average increase of VO2peak > 10% (p = 0.01949). CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest a statistically significant improvement in functional capacity with regular exercise of the right intensity.

Brazilian equity risk premium analysis: A macroeconomic approach

Double Degree Masters in Economics Program from Insper and NOVA School of Business and Economics

PV systems linked to the grid: parameter identification with a heuristic procedure

This paper focuses on a PV system linked to the electric grid by power electronic converters, identification of the five parameters modeling for photovoltaic systems and the assessment of the shading effect. Normally, the technical information for photovoltaic panels is too restricted to identify the five parameters. An undemanding heuristic method is used to find the five parameters for photovoltaic systems, requiring only the open circuit, maximum power, and short circuit data. The I–V and the P–V curves for a monocrystalline, polycrystalline and amorphous photovoltaic systems are computed from the parameters identification and validated by comparison with experimental ones. Also, the I–V and the P–V curves under the effect of partial shading are obtained from those parameters. The modeling for the converters emulates the association of a DC–DC boost with a two-level power inverter in order to follow the performance of a testing commercial inverter employed on an experimental system.