Social gender stereotypes and their implications in Hindi

This essay looks at the subtle ways in which gender identities are constructed and reinforced in India through social norms of language use. Language itself becomes a medium for perpetuating gender stereotypes, forcing its speakers to confirm to socially defined gender roles. Using examples from a classroom discussion about a film, this essay will highlight the underlying rigid male-female stereotypes in Indian society with their more obvious expressions in language. For the urban woman in India globalisation meant increased economic equality and exposure to changed lifestyles. On an individual level it also meant redefining gender relations and changing the hierarchy in man-woman relationships. With the economic independence there is a heightened sense of liberation in all spheres of social life, a confidence to fuzz the rigid boundaries of gender roles. With the new films and media celebrating this liberated woman, who is ready to assert her sexual needs, who is ready to explode those long held notions of morality, one would expect that the changes are not just superficial. But as it soon became obvious in the course of a classroom discussion about relationships and stereotypes related to age, the surface changes can not become part of the common vocabulary, for the obvious reason that there is still a vast gap between the screen image of this new woman and the ground reality. Social considerations define the limits of this assertiveness of women, whereas men are happy to be liberal within the larger frame of social sanctions. The educated urban woman in India speaks in favour of change and the educated urban male supports her, but one just needs to scratch the surface to see the time tested formulae of gender roles firmly in place. The way the urban woman happily balances this emerging promise of independence with her gendered social identity, makes it necessary to rethink some aspects of looking at gender in a gradually changing, traditional society like India.

Estudo sobre o efeito de contágio nos mercados financeiros de acções: aplicação aos índices de acções europeus, americanos, asiáticos e brasileiro no período de Janeiro de 1996 a Junho de 2009 e no sub-período da crise subprime

Mestrado em Contabilidade

Estudo do impacte da aplicação do SNC nos clubes/SAD do futebol português licenciados pela UEFA

Mestrado em Contabilidade

Uma análise das diferenças em termos da cultura e dos interesses profissionais a partir do projeto de substituiçao das IAS 39: Financial Instruments - Recognition and Measurement

Mestrado em Contabilidade

The impact of the 2008 and 2010 financial crises on international stock markets : contagion and long memory

Nesta tese estudamos os efeitos de contágio financeiro e de memória longa causados pelas crises financeiras de 2008 e 2010 em alguns mercados acionistas internacionais. A tese é composta por três ensaios interligados. No Ensaio 1, recorremos à teoria das cópulas para testar a existência de contágio e revelar os canais “investor induced” de transmissão da crise de 2008 aos mercados da Bélgica, França, Holanda e Portugal (grupo NYSE Euronext). Concluímos que existe contágio nestes mercados, que o canal “portfolio rebalancing” é o mecanismo mais importante de transmissão da crise, e que o fenómeno “flight to quality” está presente nos mercados. No Ensaio 2, usando novamente modelos de cópulas, avaliamos os efeitos de contágio provocados pelo mercado acionista grego nos mercados do grupo NYSE Euronext, no contexto da crise de 2010. Os resultados obtidos sugerem que durante a crise de 2010 apenas o mercado português foi objeto de contágio; além disso, conclui-se que os efeitos de contágio provocados pela crise de 2008 são claramente superiores aos efeitos provocados pela crise de 2010. No Ensaio 3, abordamos o tema da memória longa através do estudo do expoente de Hurst dos mercados acionistas da Bélgica, E.U.A., França, Grécia, Holanda, Japão, Reino Unido e Portugal. Verificamos que as propriedades de memória longa dos mercados foram afetadas pelas crises, especialmente a de 2008 – que aumentou a memória longa dos mercados e tornou-os mais persistentes. Finalmente, usando cópulas mais uma vez, verificamos que as crises provocaram, em geral, um aumento na correlação entre os expoentes de Hurst locais dos mercados foco das crises (E.U.A. e Grécia) e os expoentes de Hurst locais dos outros mercados da amostra, sugerindo que o expoente de Hurst pode ser utilizado para detetar efeitos de contágio financeiro. Em síntese, os resultados desta tese sugerem que comparativamente com períodos de acalmia, os períodos de crises financeiras tendem a provocar ineficiência nos mercados acionistas e a conduzi-los na direção da persistência e do contágio financeiro.

XII Iberian-Italian Congress of Financial and Actuarial Mathematics

"The purpose of the XII Iberian-Italian Congress of Financial and Actuarial Mathematics is to provide a meeting point for researchers in Financial Economics from different countries and research backgrounds in universities, government or financial institutions. In fact, the Congress which is currently taking place in Lisbon has been organized to encourage communication and debate among the participants as well as to reinforce the bonds between us.The current edition of the Congress is characterized by the quality and diversity of the papers that have been submitted with special attention to the International Financial Crisis and measures of risk in different financial markets. However, as the Congress Program indicates, there are also parallel sessions about traditional topics in finance such as asset pricing, insurance, corporate finance, etc.Although this Congress has always been organized alternately between Spain and Italy, this year we have the great pleasure of celebrating it in Portugal which will be included as a permanent partner." [prefácio]

Multidimensional Frailty and Pain in Community Dwelling Elderly

Artigo científico disponível actualmente em Early View (Online Version of Record published before inclusion in an issue)

Detection of parvovirus B19 infection in formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded placenta and fetal tissues

Parvovirus B19 infection was first discovered in 1975 and it is implicated in fetal death from hydrops fetalis the world over. Diagnosis is usually made through histological identification of the intranuclear inclusion in placenta and fetal organs. However, these cells may be scarce or uncharacteristic, making definitive diagnosis difficult. We analyzed histologically placentas and fetal organs from 34 cases of non-immune hydrops fetalis, stained with Hematoxylin and Eosin (HE) and submitted to immunohistochemistry and polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Of 34 tissue samples, two (5.9%) presented typical intranuclear inclusion in circulating normoblasts seen in Hematoxylin and Eosin stained sections, confirmed by immunohistochemistry and PCR. However, PCR of fetal organs was negative in one case in which the placenta PCR was positive. We concluded that parvovirus B19 infection frequency is similar to the literature and that immunohistochemistry was the best detection method. It is highly specific and sensitive, preserves the morphology and reveals a larger number of positive cells than does HE with the advantage of showing cytoplasmic and nuclear positivity, making it more reliable. Although PCR is more specific and sensitive in fresh or ideally fixed material it is not so in formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissues, frequently the only one available in such cases.

N-acetyl-β -d-glucosaminidase activity in feral Carcinus maenasexposed to cadmium

Cadmium is a priority hazardous substance, persistent in the aquatic environment, with the capacity to interfere with crustacean moulting. Moulting is a vital process dictating crustacean growth, reproduction and metamorphosis. However, for many organisms, moult disruption is difficult to evaluate in the short term, what limits its inclusion in monitoring programmes. N-acetyl-β-d-glucosaminidase (NAGase) is an enzyme acting in the final steps of the endocrine-regulated moulting cascade, allowing for the cast off of the old exoskeleton, with potential interest as a biomarker of moult disruption. This study investigated responses to waterborne cadmium of NAGase activity of Carcinus maenas originating from estuaries with different histories of anthropogenic contamination: a low impacted and a moderately polluted one. Crabs from both sites were individually exposed for seven days to cadmium concentrations ranging from 1.3 to 2000 μg/L. At the end of the assays, NAGase activity was assessed in the epidermis and digestive gland. Detoxification, antioxidant, energy production, and oxidative stress biomarkers implicated in cadmium metabolism and tolerance were also assessed to better understand differential NAGase responses: activity of glutathione S-transferases (GST), glutathione peroxidase (GPx) glutathione reductase (GR), levels of total glutathiones (TG), lipid peroxidation (LPO), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), and NADP+-dependent isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH). Animals from the moderately polluted estuary had lower NAGase activity both in the epidermis and digestive gland than in the low impacted site. NAGase activity in the epidermis and digestive gland of C. maenas from both estuaries was sensitive to cadmium exposure suggesting its usefulness for inclusion in monitoring programmes. However, in the digestive gland NAGase inhibition was found in crabs from the less impacted site but not in those from the moderately contaminated one. Altered glutathione levels were observed in cadmium-treated crabs from the contaminated site possibly conferring enhanced tolerance to these animals through its chelator action. Investigation of enhanced tolerance should thus be accounted for in monitoring programmes employing NAGase as biomarker to avoid data misinterpretation.

New approach for vitamin E extraction in rainbow trout flesh: Application in fish fed commercial and red seaweed-supplemented diets

A vitamin E extraction method for rainbow trout flesh was optimized, validated, and applied in fish fed commercial and Gracilaria vermiculophylla-supplemented diets. Five extraction methods were compared. Vitamers were analyzed by HPLC/DAD/fluorescence. A solid-liquid extraction with n-hexane, which showed the best performance, was optimized and validated. Among the eight vitamers, only α- and γ-tocopherol were detected in muscle samples. The final method showed good linearity (>0.999), intra- (<3.1%) and inter-day precision (<2.6%), and recoveries (>96%). Detection and quantification limits were 39.9 and 121.0 ng/g of muscle, for α-tocopherol, and 111.4 ng/g and 337.6 ng/g, for γ-tocopherol, respectively. Compared to the control group, the dietary inclusion of 5% G. vermiculophylla resulted in a slight reduction of lipids in muscle and, consequently, of α- and γ-tocopherol. Nevertheless, vitamin E profile in lipids was maintained. In general, the results may be explained by the lower vitamin E level in seaweed-containing diet. Practical Applications: Based on the validation results and the low solvent consumption, the developed method can be used to analyze vitamin E in rainbow trout. The results of this work are also a valuable information source for fish feed industries and aquaculture producers, which can focus on improving seaweed inclusion in feeds as a source of vitamin E in fish muscle and, therefore, take full advantage of all bioactive components with an important role in fish health and flesh quality.

Accounting accruals and information asymmetry in Europe

We investigate whether the positive relation between accounting accruals and information asymmetry documented for U.S. stock markets also holds for European markets, considered as a whole and at the country level. This research is relevant because this relation is likely to be affected by differences in accounting standards used by companies for financial reporting, in the traditional use of the banking system or capital markets for firm financing, in legal systems and cultural environment. We find that in European stock markets discretionary accruals are positively related with the Corwin and Schultz high-low spread estimator used as a proxy for information asymmetry. Our results suggest that the earnings management component of accruals outweighs the informational component, but the significance of the relation varies across countries. Further, such association tends to be stronger for firms with the highest levels of positive discretionary accruals. Consistent with the evidence provided by the authors, our results also suggest that the high-low spread estimator is more efficient than the closing bid-ask spread when analysing the impact of information quality on information asymmetry.

Attitudes towards mentally ill in professionals working in Ndera neuropsychiatric hospital in Rwanda

ABSTRACT: This quantitative study investigated the attitudes toward the mentally ill in professionals working in Ndera neuropsychiatric hospital. The research questions explored were centered on the attitudes of directly involved and supportive professionals toward mentally ill clients and also on the difference between the attitudes of directly involved and supportive professionals toward mentally ill clients and demographic variables. The purpose of this study was to determine whether there are differences in attitude between direct care providers and supportive professionals toward the mentally ill clients. The Community Attitudes towards Mentally Ill (CAMI) scale (Dear & Taylor, 1982; Taylor, Dear & Hall, 1979; Taylor & Dear, 1981) was used. A total of 72 members of the staff, including 55 directly involved staff and 17 supportive staff members, participated in the survey. A summary interpretation of the main findings in this thesis reinforces the assumption that negative attitudes towards people with mental illness received in Ndera neuropsychiatric hospital are in existence, even though the majority have favorable attitudes towards the mentally ill. This suggests that persons with mental illness may encounter stigmatizing attitudes from mental health professionals. This study represents one of the first to explore professionals’ attitudes towards the mentally ill. It is hoped that this work will highlight the need to explore the influence of attitudes in the delivery of high quality healthcare. The provider–patient relationship is at the heart of effective treatment and the detrimental impact of prejudicial judgments on this relationship should not be ignored. This study also demonstrates that professionals with different roles report different attitudes and this suggest that they would behave differently towards patients with mental illness. The directly involved professionals have been found to have more positive attitudes than the supportive professional and this seems to show that as individuals improve their ability to interact with persons with mental illness, they become more tolerant. The present study demonstrates that the sociodemographic variables tested have no impact on the attitudes of the professionals working in Ndera neuropsychiatric hospital. The extent of mental health training (as part of general health training) and duration of experience of working in mental health settings did not influence attitudes. Finally, this study demonstrates that there is no correlation between the attitudes towards mentally ill patients and their inclusion in the process of decision-making.

Diagnosing visceral leishmaniasis and HIV/AIDS co-infection: a case series study in Pernambuco, Brazil

HIV/AIDS-associated visceral leishmaniasis may display the characteristics of an aggressive disease or without specific symptoms at all, thus making diagnosis difficult. The present study describes the results of diagnostic tests applied to a series of suspected VL cases in HIV-infected/AIDS patients admitted in referral hospitals in Pernambuco, Brazil. From a total of 14 eligible patients with cytopenias and/or fever of an unknown etiology, and indication of bone marrow aspirate, 10 patients were selected for inclusion in the study. Diagnosis was confirmed by the following examinations: Leishmania detection in bone marrow aspirate, direct agglutination test, indirect immunofluorescence, rK39 dipstick test, polymerase chain reaction and latex agglutination test. Five out of the ten patients were diagnosed with co-infection. A positive direct agglutination test was recorded for all five co-infected patients, the Leishmania detection and latex agglutination tests were positive in four patients, the rK39 dipstick test in three, the indirect immunofluorescence in two and a positive polymerase chain reaction was recorded for one patient. This series of cases was the first to be conducted in Brazil using this set of tests in order to detect co-infection. However, no consensus has thus far been reached regarding the most appropriate examination for the screening and monitoring of this group of patients.

Financial crisis spillovers to the corporate sector: Bank-dependent borrowers versus bond market paticipants

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

The impact of banks dimension on profitability, sustainability and efficiency: An analysis for the Iberian financial system

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