A internação forçada do toxicodependente : uma perspectiva brasileira, sob um contraste lusitano, acerca da proporcionalidade da medida em face da dignidade da pessoa humana

A presente dissertação busca abordar a questão da restrição ao direito fundamental de liberdade da pessoa toxicodependente no Brasil, consistente, precisamente, na internação forçada para o tratamento de sua saúde e/ou para a segurança pública, sob o olhar do princípio constitucional da dignidade da pessoa humana em suas dimensões positiva, que exige uma obrigação de fazer por parte do Estado, e negativa, que cobra deste uma postura omissiva de proteção, em torno de um mesmo indivíduo; sem se olvidar do interesse público na execução da medida. Para tanto, ao longo do trabalho, a legislação brasileira atinente ao tema é posta em comparação com a sua correspondente portuguesa e, à luz, basicamente, das doutrinas desses países, são examinados direitos afetos à liberdade individual e ao direito social à saúde, sob a costura do apontado princípio estruturante das respectivas Constituições, de modo a permitir a visualização do amparo da medida restritiva no texto maior brasileiro e, ao final, uma análise crítica à ponderação de bens (direitos) realizada pelo legislador ordinário, com possíveis soluções para a sua aplicação em concreto, quando da análise da proporcionalidade da intervenção da liberdade pelo Poder Judiciário.

Choosing how to choose: self-stable majority rules and constitutions

Constitutional arrangements affect the decisions made by a society. We study how this effect leads to preferences of citizens over constitutions; and ultimately how this has a feedback that determines which constitutions can survive in a given society. Constitutions are stylized here, to consist of a voting rule for ordinary business and possibly different voting rule for making changes to the constitution. We deffine an equilibrium notion for constitutions, called self-stability, whereby under the rules of a self-stable constitution, the society would not vote to change the constitution. We argue that only self-stable constitutions will endure. We prove that self-stable constitutions always exist, but that most constitutions (even very prominent ones) may not be self-stable for some societies. We show that constitutions where the voting rule used to amend the constitution is the same as the voting rule used for ordinary business are dangerously simplistic, and there are (many) societies for which no such constitution is self-stable rule. We conclude with a characterization of the set of self-stable constitutions that use majority rule for ordinary business.

El control electrònic com a pena

El control electrònic s'ha aplicat a l'àmbit comparat, principalment, com a instrument de control de l'arrest domiciliari com a mesura cautelar i com a pena, i també en l'àmbit penitenciari junt a formes de compliment de la pena de presó en semillibertat. Des d'una justificació retribucionista de la pena es pot acceptar el control electrònic perquè té suficiència punitiva, pot aplicar-se de forma proporcional i no es degradant. D'altra banda, una justificació utilitarista de la pena accepta el control electrònic perquè redueix la delinqüència. Tot i que la seva aplicació a l'àmbit comparat no ha estat majoritàriament com a alternativa a la presó, es tracta d'un instrument que pot conferir credibilitat i potencial reduccionista a un sistema de penes alternatives. A l'ordenament espanyol pot considerar-se una mesura susceptible de ser aplicada dins el marc constitucional, malgrat afecti a determinats drets fonamentals. La seva previsió normativa com a pena i a l'àmbit penitenciari es molt escassa i presenta diversos problemes interpretatius. Quant a la seva aplicació a España, es reduïda a l'àmbit penitenciari i pràcticament inexistent com a pena. La credibilitat i potencial reduccionista que pot aportar el control electrònic a un sistema de penes alternatives permet defensar l'ampliació del seu ús al nostre ordenament en els supòsits ja previstos normativament i en d'altres de nous.

Caregiver's interpret infants' early gestures based on shared knowledge about referents

Gestures are the first forms of conventional communication that young children develop in order to intentionally convey a specific message. However, at first, infants rarely communicate successfully with their gestures, prompting caregivers to interpret them. Although the role of caregivers in early communication development has been examined, little is known about how caregivers attribute a specific communicative function to infants' gestures. In this study, we argue that caregivers rely on the knowledge about the referent that is shared with infants in order to interpret what communicative function infants wish to convey with their gestures. We videotaped interactions from six caregiver-infant dyads playing with toys when infants were 8, 10, 12, 14, and 16 months old. We coded infants' gesture production and we determined whether caregivers interpreted those gestures as conveying a clear communicative function or not; we also coded whether infants used objects according to their conventions of use as a measure of shared knowledge about the referent. Results revealed an association between infants' increasing knowledge of object use and maternal interpretations of infants' gestures as conveying a clear communicative function. Our findings emphasize the importance of shared knowledge in shaping infants' emergent communicative skills.

El Sistema de financiación de las comunidades autónomas de régimen común: un análisis crítico y algunas propuestas de reforma

We identify a number of elements of the current Spanish system of regional financing that do not conform satisfactorily to the principles of equity, autonomy and efficiency that should inspire its design. Our main conclusion is that although the system presents a series of shortcomings that would require an in-depth reform, its basic focus on the equalization of the service provision capacity of all regional governments should be preserved because it is in accordance with the constitutional guarantee of equal rights for all citizens and with notions of horizontal equity that are widely shared in our country. In fact, the main shortcoming of the system is, in our opinion, that it does not fully guarantee such equality in practice. Additional weaknesses of the system are its lack of transparency, the absence of mechanisms to maintain vertical equilibrium across the different levels of the administration and a significant deficit of fiscal autonomy and responsibility on the pa

Why the EU does not Have an Independent Competition Agency: French Interests and Transaction Costs in Early European Integration

A major achievement of new institutionalism in economics and political science is the formalisation of the idea that certain policies are more efficient when administered by a politically independent organisation. Based on this insight, several policy actors and scholars criticise the European Community for relying too much on a multi-task, collegial, and politicised organisation, the European Commission. This raises important questions, some constitutional (who should be able to change the corresponding procedural rules?) and some political-economic (is Europe truly committed to free and competitive markets?). Though acknowledging the relevance of legal and normative arguments, this paper contributes to the debate with a positive political-scientific perspective. Based on the view that institutional equilibria raise the question of equilibrium institutions, it shows that collegiality was (a) an equilibrium institution during the Paris negotiations of 1950-51; and (b) an institutional equilibrium for the following 50 years. The conclusion points to some recent changes in the way that European competition policy is implemented, and discusses how these affect the “constitutional” principle of collegial European governance.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation: Pawn or Global Player?,

This contribution aims at exploring the significance of the new generation of UNESCO conventions for the recognition of higher education qualifications. It discusses three possible scenarios and links them to the empirical findings of a study that compares the enabling conditions of the first generation of recognition conventions established in the 1970s and 1980s with the ones establishing the second generation today. Taking an interdisciplinary approach, the paper argues that the changes illustrate a more general shift in the architecture of the global order and highlights a new role of UNESCO.

Definition and nomenclature of the chromosome races of Sorex araneus

A definition of a chromosome race of the common shrew (Sorex araneus) is proposed, and supplemented by rules and conventions to name, group and describe the races.

The Enigma of the Silent Closing of Acts (28,16-31)

(Résumé de l'ouvrage) In the first volume of this long-anticipated collection by Moessner and Tiede, seventeen leading scholars of antiquity present an amazing "sea change" of opinion that Luke is indeed the interpreter of Israel. The book represents an unprecedented international consensus that the Hellenistic author Luke composed a carefully crafted narrative in two parts to claim Jesus of Nazareth as Israel's true heritage and enduring legacy to the world. Part One explores the nature of Luke's prologues and his intention to write a narrative of "events brought to fruition," using the narrative conventions and audience expectations of the Greco-Roman milieu. Part Two illuminates the relation of Luke's second "volume" to the first by inquiring about the consistency and coherence of his narrative-thematic strategies in retelling the story of Israel's legacy of "the Christ." Whether Luke completed Acts, the larger role of Paul and, most significantly, the meaning of Israel by the end of Acts are approached from new perspectives and charged with provocative insights. In addition to the volume editors, the contributors include L. Alexander, D. Schmidt, V. Robbins, C. Thornton, R. Pervo, W. Kurz, C. Holladay, G. Sterling, D. Balch, E. Plmacher, Charles H. Talbert, J.H. Hayes, D. Marguerat, M. Wolter, R. Tannehill, and I. H. Marshall.

The normative dimension of social life from a second-person perspective

This thesis argues that insofar as we want to account for the normative dimension of social life, we must be careful to avoid construing that normative dimension in such a way as to exclude that which the second-person perspective reveals is important to social life and our ability to participate in it.¦The second-person perspective reveals that social life ought to be understood as a mix or balance of the regular and the irregular, where, in addition, those one interacts with are always to some extent experienced as other in a way that is neither immediately, nor perhaps ultimately, understandable. For persons to be able to participate in social life, conceived of in this way, they must have abilities that allow them to be, to some extent, hesitant and tentative in their relations with others, and thus tolerant of ambiguity, uncertainty and unpredictability, and responsive to and capable of learning from the otherness of others in the course of interacting with them.¦Incorporating the second-person perspective means we have to make some changes to the way we think about the normative in general, and the normative dimension of social life in particular. It does not mean giving up on the distinction between the normative and the regular - that continues to be fundamentally important but it does mean not excluding, as part of social life and as worthy of explanation, all that which is irregular. A radical way of putting it would be to say that there must be a sense in which the irregular is part of the normative. A less radical way, and the way adopted by this thesis, is to say that any account of the normative dimension of social life must not be such as to exclude the importance of irregularity from social life. This will mean 1) not characterising conventions, norms and rules as determinants of appropriateness and inappropriateness; 2) not thinking of them as necessary; 3) not thinking of them as necessarily governing minds; and 4) not thinking of them as necessarily shared.¦-¦L'argument principal de la thèse est que, pour rendre compte de la dimension normative de la vie sociale, il faut veiller à ne pas exclure la perspective de la deuxième personne - une perspective importante pour comprendre la vie sociale et la capacité requise pour y participer.¦Cette perspective nous permet d'imaginer la vie sociale comme un mélange ou un équilibre entre le régulier et l'irrégulier, l'interaction entre des individus pouvant être appréhendée comme l'expérience de chaque personne avec «l'autre» d'une manière qui n'est pas immédiatement compréhensible, et qui ne peut pas, peut-être, être ultimement comprise. Pour participer à la vie sociale, l'on doit avoir la capacité de rester hésitant et «réactif» dans ses relations avec les autres, de rester ouvert à leur altérité et de tolérer l'ambiguïté, l'incertitude et l'imprévisibilité des interactions sociales.¦Adopter une perspective «à la deuxième personne» conduit à une autre manière de penser la normativité en général, et la dimension normative de la vie sociale en particulier. Cela ne veut pas dire qu'il faut abandonner la distinction entre le normatif et le régulier - une distinction qui garde une importance fondamentale - mais qu'il faut reconnaître l'irrégulier comme faisant partie de la vie sociale et comme étant digne, en tant que tel, d'être expliqué. Une conception radicale pourrait même concevoir l'irrégulier comme faisant partie intégrante de la normativité. Une approche moins radicale, qui est celle adoptée dans cette thèse, est de dire que tout compte-rendu de la dimension normative de la vie sociale doit prendre en considération l'importance de l'irrégularité dans la vie sociale. Une telle approche implique que les conventions, normes et règles (1) ne déterminent pas ce qui est approprié ou inapproprié; (2) ne sont pas toujours nécessaires ; (3) ne gouvernent pas le fonctionnement de l'esprit ; et (4) ne sont pas nécessairement partagées.

Indigenous people's mobilization and their struggle for rights in Colombia

This text aims at showing the history of indigenous peoples’ mobilization in Colombia, the effects that it has brought about on Colombian democracy and political system, and the state’s reactions to their claims and actions. It will show how they have moved from class-based claims to a politics where identity claims have been central in their agenda and part of their strategies to negotiate with the state. It will also show the existing constitutional and legal framework that recognizes the rights of indigenous peoples, despite the context of persecution, murder, and forced displacement.

Pla de millora de la docència del Departament de Matemàtica Econòmica, Financera i Actuarial

La finalitat del projecte (bianual 2007-09) era aconseguir una millora de la docència que imparteix el Departament de Matemàtica Econòmica, Financera i Actuarial. La nostra tasca principal ha consistit en obtenir uns indicadors que ens permetessin conèixer millor el nostre alumnat, per tal de tenir la màxima informació a l'hora de plantejar la revisió global que representa la implantació dels nous graus d’acord amb les directrius del procés de Convergència Europea. En aquest projecte han participat tots els coordinadors de les assignatures obligatòries del Departament i els tres Grups d’Innovació Docent formats per membres del Departament. S’han analitzat les dades de les assignatures des del curs 2000-01 fins 2006-07 per tal de tenir informació sobre l’eficàcia de cursar les assignatures d’Introducció a les Matemàtiques i la seva incidència en els aprovats a Matemàtiques I i II . També s’han estudiat dades sobre el col·lectiu de repetidors. Com a resultat d’aquest estudi i de les enquestes que s’han fet, s’han redactat dos articles: “Propuesta de mejora de la actuación docente a partir de las características del alumnado de primer curso de Matemáticas en la Facultad de Economía y Empresa de la Universidad de Barcelona” y “Estudio del perfil del alumnado de primer curso en la Facultad de Economía y Empresa de la Universidad de Barcelona” que s’han presentat a dos congressos d’Innovació Docent (Burgos, setembre-2009 i Vigo, juliol-2009).

Giant cell arteritis with spontaneous remission.

BACKGROUND: Clinical manifestations of giant cell arteritis (GCA) are variable. Whether signs and symptoms present in an explosive fashion or insidiously, once manifest the course is usually progressive unless treatment is initiated. METHODS: A retrospective review of patients with GCA seen in an outpatient neuro-ophthalmology clinic. RESULTS: We report four patients with biopsy-proven GCA who experienced spontaneous remission. Clinical manifestations consisted of headache and diplopia in two patients, constitutional symptoms in one patient and facial pain in another. CONCLUSIONS: Clinicians should be aware of this aspect of the disease in order to avoid a delay in diagnosis and treatment.

Narrative Diagrammatik. Mit einer Modellanalyse: Die Diagrammatik des "Decameron"

Taking as a starting point the seeming inconsistency of late-medieval romances notoriously 'run wild' (verwildert), this article is concerned with the description of an abstract form of narrative coherence that is based on the notion of the diagrammatic. In a first section, this concept is illustrated in a simplified manner by an analysis of Boccaccio's Decameron based on two levels of spatial structure: that of the autograph Berlin manuscript (Codex Hamilton 90) and that of the recipient's mental visualisation of the relations between the frame and the tales of the work. It is argued that the connectivity of the work as a whole depends on the perception of those two spatial representations of the plot. A second section develops this concept in a more theoretical fashion, drawing on Charles Sanders Peirce's notion of diagrammatic reasoning as a way of perceiving relations through mental and material topological representations. Correspondingly, a view of narrative is proposed that does not depend on the traditional perspective of temporal sequence but emphasizes the spatial structure of literary narrative. It is argued that these conditions form the primary ontological mode of narrative, whereas the temporal development of a story is an aesthetic illusion that has been specifically stimulated by the narrative conventions of approximately the past three centuries and must thus be considered a secondary effect. To conclude, an interpretation in miniature of an aspect of Heinrich von Neustadt's Apollonius von Tyrland that seems to have 'run wild' is undertaken from a diagrammatic perspective.

Militarism and Melodrama: The Cultural Work of Combat Death

This essay examines the role of melodrama in the American war film, focusing on three post-WWII examples. The main argument centers on the natural alliance between melodrama and militarism based on a shared intolerance for the notion of death as meaningless and in vain. Both melodrama and military ideology employ elaborate rhetorical and narrative strategies to enfold deaths into larger systems of meaning, such as the nation, or in more personal terms, as a rite of passage. One of the most common narrative devices present in the military melodrama is the death that converts survivors to the values of the virtuous victim. The essay examines the shared conventions and different strategies of the following three films: Sands of Iwo Jima (1949), Platoon (1986), and Top Gun (1986).