A relação entre o governo e das sociedades e a responsabilidade social: estudo de caso das empresas cotadas no PSI20

Dissertação de Mestrado apresentada ao Instituto Superior de Contabilidade e Administração do Porto para a obtenção do grau de Mestre em Auditoria sob orientação de Mestre Helena Maria Santos de Oliveira

Paleontologia e evolução a problemática da espécie em Paleozoologia

The concept of species in Paleontology is of paramount importance since the correct taxonomic determinations are essential to establish the age of the beds where fossils are collected. Particularly since 1940, the concept of species from a biological context, corresponding to the variability of a set of interpopulation compatibility, led us to a new approach, in which a typological conception has been replaced by a populationist one. If the notion of species is not necessarily identical for all living organisms, the greater the difficulties of interpretation in the private world of cephalopod fossils. The latter, lend themselves well to population systematics, and where this concept of species rests primarily on the morphological similarities. Thus, the introduction of general ideas analyse "typological species", "biological species", the problem of the definition of a "population" in Paleontology, and also the importance of the biometric analysis of fossil associations. The classic examples of polymorphism amd polytypism, in existing or extinct organisms, show that the concept of fossil species, observed in a well-defined period of its lifetime, is no different from that of biological species. The study of the evolution of fossil organisms allow us to understand the modelities of evolution and the mechanisms of speciation here synthesized and fully documented, namely the anagenesis or sequential evolution and the cladogenesis or divergent evoltuion; these mechanisms are the basis of the synthetic or gradualist theory of evolution developed by Dobzhansky, Mayr, Huxley, Rensch and impson. This summary ends with a reference to the theory of punctuated (or intermittent) equilibria proposed by Gould and Eldredge, who presented a more objective interpretation of morphological gaps, considered as elements of evolution itself. The interdisciplinary collaboration between zoologists, geneticists and paleontologists, is compulsory in this domain. Paleozoology has a key role since it conveys the dynamism and depth to the dimension of space-time duality.

A importância do contrato de compra e venda internacional de mercadorias pelo empresariado de Cabinda em Angola

Dissertação de Mestrado apresentado ao Instituto Superior de Contabilidade e Administração do Porto para obtenção de grau de Mestre em Empreendedorismo e Internacionalização, sob a orientação da Professora Doutora Manuela Maria Ribeiro da Silva Patrício

B-learning quality: dimensions, criteria and pedagogical approach

Measuring the quality of a b-learning environment is critical to determine the success of a b-learning course. Several initiatives have been recently conducted on benchmarking and quality in e-learning. Despite these efforts in defining and examining quality issues concerning online courses, a defining instrument to evaluate quality is one of the key challenges for blended learning, since it incorporates both traditional and online instruction methods. For this paper, six frameworks for quality assessment of technological enhanced learning were examined and compared regarding similarities and differences. These frameworks aim at the same global objective: the quality of e-learning environment/products. They present different perspectives but also many common issues. Some of them are more specific and related to the course and other are more global and related to institutional aspects. In this work we collected and arrange all the quality criteria identified in order to get a more complete framework and determine if it fits our b-learning environment. We also included elements related to our own b-learning research and experience, acquired during more than 10 years of experience. As a result we have create a new quality reference with a set of dimensions and criteria that should be taken into account when you are analyzing, designing, developing, implementing and evaluating a b-learning environment. Besides these perspectives on what to do when you are developing a b-learning environment we have also included pedagogical issues in order to give directions on how to do it to reach the success of the learning. The information, concepts and procedures here presented give support to teachers and instructors, which intend to validate the quality of their blended learning courses.

Vertex component analysis: a geometric-based approach to unmix hyperspectral data

Hyperspectral remote sensing exploits the electromagnetic scattering patterns of the different materials at specific wavelengths [2, 3]. Hyperspectral sensors have been developed to sample the scattered portion of the electromagnetic spectrum extending from the visible region through the near-infrared and mid-infrared, in hundreds of narrow contiguous bands [4, 5]. The number and variety of potential civilian and military applications of hyperspectral remote sensing is enormous [6, 7]. Very often, the resolution cell corresponding to a single pixel in an image contains several substances (endmembers) [4]. In this situation, the scattered energy is a mixing of the endmember spectra. A challenging task underlying many hyperspectral imagery applications is then decomposing a mixed pixel into a collection of reflectance spectra, called endmember signatures, and the corresponding abundance fractions [8–10]. Depending on the mixing scales at each pixel, the observed mixture is either linear or nonlinear [11, 12]. Linear mixing model holds approximately when the mixing scale is macroscopic [13] and there is negligible interaction among distinct endmembers [3, 14]. If, however, the mixing scale is microscopic (or intimate mixtures) [15, 16] and the incident solar radiation is scattered by the scene through multiple bounces involving several endmembers [17], the linear model is no longer accurate. Linear spectral unmixing has been intensively researched in the last years [9, 10, 12, 18–21]. It considers that a mixed pixel is a linear combination of endmember signatures weighted by the correspondent abundance fractions. Under this model, and assuming that the number of substances and their reflectance spectra are known, hyperspectral unmixing is a linear problem for which many solutions have been proposed (e.g., maximum likelihood estimation [8], spectral signature matching [22], spectral angle mapper [23], subspace projection methods [24,25], and constrained least squares [26]). In most cases, the number of substances and their reflectances are not known and, then, hyperspectral unmixing falls into the class of blind source separation problems [27]. Independent component analysis (ICA) has recently been proposed as a tool to blindly unmix hyperspectral data [28–31]. ICA is based on the assumption of mutually independent sources (abundance fractions), which is not the case of hyperspectral data, since the sum of abundance fractions is constant, implying statistical dependence among them. This dependence compromises ICA applicability to hyperspectral images as shown in Refs. [21, 32]. In fact, ICA finds the endmember signatures by multiplying the spectral vectors with an unmixing matrix, which minimizes the mutual information among sources. If sources are independent, ICA provides the correct unmixing, since the minimum of the mutual information is obtained only when sources are independent. This is no longer true for dependent abundance fractions. Nevertheless, some endmembers may be approximately unmixed. These aspects are addressed in Ref. [33]. Under the linear mixing model, the observations from a scene are in a simplex whose vertices correspond to the endmembers. Several approaches [34–36] have exploited this geometric feature of hyperspectral mixtures [35]. Minimum volume transform (MVT) algorithm [36] determines the simplex of minimum volume containing the data. The method presented in Ref. [37] is also of MVT type but, by introducing the notion of bundles, it takes into account the endmember variability usually present in hyperspectral mixtures. The MVT type approaches are complex from the computational point of view. Usually, these algorithms find in the first place the convex hull defined by the observed data and then fit a minimum volume simplex to it. For example, the gift wrapping algorithm [38] computes the convex hull of n data points in a d-dimensional space with a computational complexity of O(nbd=2cþ1), where bxc is the highest integer lower or equal than x and n is the number of samples. The complexity of the method presented in Ref. [37] is even higher, since the temperature of the simulated annealing algorithm used shall follow a log( ) law [39] to assure convergence (in probability) to the desired solution. Aiming at a lower computational complexity, some algorithms such as the pixel purity index (PPI) [35] and the N-FINDR [40] still find the minimum volume simplex containing the data cloud, but they assume the presence of at least one pure pixel of each endmember in the data. This is a strong requisite that may not hold in some data sets. In any case, these algorithms find the set of most pure pixels in the data. PPI algorithm uses the minimum noise fraction (MNF) [41] as a preprocessing step to reduce dimensionality and to improve the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). The algorithm then projects every spectral vector onto skewers (large number of random vectors) [35, 42,43]. The points corresponding to extremes, for each skewer direction, are stored. A cumulative account records the number of times each pixel (i.e., a given spectral vector) is found to be an extreme. The pixels with the highest scores are the purest ones. N-FINDR algorithm [40] is based on the fact that in p spectral dimensions, the p-volume defined by a simplex formed by the purest pixels is larger than any other volume defined by any other combination of pixels. This algorithm finds the set of pixels defining the largest volume by inflating a simplex inside the data. ORA SIS [44, 45] is a hyperspectral framework developed by the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory consisting of several algorithms organized in six modules: exemplar selector, adaptative learner, demixer, knowledge base or spectral library, and spatial postrocessor. The first step consists in flat-fielding the spectra. Next, the exemplar selection module is used to select spectral vectors that best represent the smaller convex cone containing the data. The other pixels are rejected when the spectral angle distance (SAD) is less than a given thresh old. The procedure finds the basis for a subspace of a lower dimension using a modified Gram–Schmidt orthogonalizati on. The selected vectors are then projected onto this subspace and a simplex is found by an MV T pro cess. ORA SIS is oriented to real-time target detection from uncrewed air vehicles using hyperspectral data [46]. In this chapter we develop a new algorithm to unmix linear mixtures of endmember spectra. First, the algorithm determines the number of endmembers and the signal subspace using a newly developed concept [47, 48]. Second, the algorithm extracts the most pure pixels present in the data. Unlike other methods, this algorithm is completely automatic and unsupervised. To estimate the number of endmembers and the signal subspace in hyperspectral linear mixtures, the proposed scheme begins by estimating sign al and noise correlation matrices. The latter is based on multiple regression theory. The signal subspace is then identified by selectin g the set of signal eigenvalue s that best represents the data, in the least-square sense [48,49 ], we note, however, that VCA works with projected and with unprojected data. The extraction of the end members exploits two facts: (1) the endmembers are the vertices of a simplex and (2) the affine transformation of a simplex is also a simplex. As PPI and N-FIND R algorithms, VCA also assumes the presence of pure pixels in the data. The algorithm iteratively projects data on to a direction orthogonal to the subspace spanned by the endmembers already determined. The new end member signature corresponds to the extreme of the projection. The algorithm iterates until all end members are exhausted. VCA performs much better than PPI and better than or comparable to N-FI NDR; yet it has a computational complexity between on e and two orders of magnitude lower than N-FINDR. The chapter is structure d as follows. Section 19.2 describes the fundamentals of the proposed method. Section 19.3 and Section 19.4 evaluate the proposed algorithm using simulated and real data, respectively. Section 19.5 presents some concluding remarks.

Estudo comparativo entre o sistema convencional de arrefecimento e o arrefecedor evaporativo para os edifícios industriais portugueses

Em Portugal existem muitos espaços comerciais e industriais em que as necessidades térmicas de arrefecimento são muito superiores às necessidades de aquecimento devido aos ganhos internos que advêm da existência de equipamentos e da iluminação dos edifícios, assim como, da presença das pessoas. A instalação de sistemas convencionais de ar condicionado para espaços comerciais e industriais de grande dimensão está geralmente associada ao transporte de grandes caudais de ar, e consequentemente, a elevados consumos de energia primária, e também, elevados custos de investimento, de manutenção e de operação. O arrefecedor evaporativo é uma solução de climatização com elevada eficiência energética, cujo princípio de funcionamento promove a redução do consumo de energia primária nos edifícios. A metodologia utilizada baseou-se na criação de uma ferramenta informática de simulação do funcionamento de um protótipo de um arrefecedor evaporativo. Foi efetuada a modelação matemática das variáveis dinâmicas envolvidas, dos processos de transferência de calor e de massa, assim como dos balanços de energia que ocorrem no arrefecedor evaporativo. A ferramenta informática desenvolvida permite o dimensionamento do protótipo do arrefecedor evaporativo, sendo determinadas as caraterísticas técnicas (potência térmica, caudal, eficiência energética, consumo energético e consumo e água) de acordo com o tipo de edifício e com as condições climatéricas do ar exterior. Foram selecionados três dimensionamentos de arrefecedores evaporativos, representativos de condições reais de uma gama baixa, média e elevada de caudais de ar. Os resultados obtidos nas simulações mostram que a potência de arrefecimento (5,6 kW, 16,0 kW e 32,8 kW) e o consumo de água (8 l/h, 23,9 l/h e 48,96 l/h) aumentam com o caudal de ar do arrefecedor, 5.000 m3/h, 15.000 m3/h e 30.000 m3/h, respetivamente. A eficácia de permuta destes arrefecedores evaporativos, foi de 69%, 66% e 67%, respetivamente. Verificou-se que a alteração de zona climática de V1 para V2 implicou um aumento de 39% na potência de arrefecimento e de 20% no consumo de água, e que, a alteração de zona climática de V2 para V3 implicou um aumento de 39% na potência de arrefecimento e de 39% no consumo de água. O arrefecedor evaporativo apresenta valores de consumo de energia elétrica entre 40% a 80% inferiores aos dos sistemas de arrefecimento convencionais, sendo este efeito mais intenso quando a zona climática de verão se torna mais severa.

Satisfação profissional e vínculo laboral : prestadores de cuidados directos num hospital distrital

RESUMO - A flexibilidade dos contratos de trabalho é cada vez mais uma realidade. Em 2009, cerca de 18% da população activa em Portugal tinha um vínculo instável. Na instituição onde se realizou o estudo, 38,8% dos profissionais de saúde têm este tipo de vínculo. Este estudo foi realizado num hospital distrital com a participação de 103 prestadores de cuidados directos – assistentes operacionais, enfermeiros, médicos e técnicos de diagnóstico e terapêutica - aos quais foi dado um questionário de auto-resposta. Através deste, fez-se a comparação dos níveis de satisfação dos profissionais com diferentes tipos de vínculo. Concluiu-se que as dimensões mais valorizadas são as relacionais e condições de trabalho e saúde. A dimensão da Segurança no Emprego surge no meio da tabela. Ao contrário do que dizem os estudos, a autonomia e poder foi das menos valorizadas. Os profissionais com vínculo laboral instável dão maior importância à segurança. As dimensões relacionais são as que apresentam maiores níveis de satisfação. As que apresentam menores níveis são a Remuneração, Condições de Trabalho e Saúde e Segurança no Emprego, sendo que nesta ultima se registam diferenças significativas entre profissionais com diferentes tipos de vínculo. Verifica-se com 95% de confiança que existem diferenças significativas na dimensão da Segurança no Emprego, onde os profissionais com vínculo instável apresentam menores níveis de satisfação. Os profissionais com vínculo instável demonstram que este facto lhes trouxe consequências negativas ao nível pessoal e social. Não existe significância na diferença entre os níveis da satisfação dos profissionais de saúde com diferentes vínculos. -----------------------------------ABSTRACT - Employment contract flexibility is becoming a reality with each passing day. In 2009, around 18% of the active population in Portugal had an unstable bond. In the institution where this study was conducted, 38.8% of the health professionals have this kind of arrangement. This study was conducted in a district hospital with the participation of 103 direct care providers - operating assistants, nurses, doctors and technical diagnostic and therapeutic - that were given a self-response questionnaire. Through this questionnaire, the levels of satisfaction of the professionals with different types of employment bond were compared. It was concluded that the most valued dimensions are relational and work and health conditions. Work security appears in the middle of the table. Contrary to what studies say, autonomy and power were less valued. Professionals with an unstable bond give greater importance to safety. The relational dimensions are those with higher levels of satisfaction. Those with lower levels are the wages, working conditions and health and safety in employment, where in health and safety in employment show significant differences between professionals with different types of employment bond. We can verify with a 95% confidence interval that there are significant differences in the work safety dimension, where professionals with unstable employment bonds present lower levels of satisfaction. Professionals with an unstable employment bond show that this fact brought them negative consequences at the personal and social level. There is no significant difference between the levels of satisfaction of health professionals with different types of employment bond.

Os determinantes da estrutura de capital das empresas exportadoras portuguesas

Este trabalho tem como objetivo verificar os determinantes da estrutura de capital das empresas exportadoras portuguesas, comparando, sempre que possível, os resultados obtidos com outros trabalhos já desenvolvidos sobre o tema. Aplicando o Modelo dos Efeitos Fixos (MEF) a uma amostra de 7.001 empresas no período 2007-2013, concluiu-se que os determinantes com maior significância no nível de endividamento empresarial são: a rendibilidade, a dimensão, o crescimento e ainda os outros benefícos fiscais. Em relação às exportações, verificou-se através da variável dummy “exportar”, que o facto de as empresas terem exportações superiores a 10% das vendas totais, têm uma relação positiva com o endividamento de médio e longo prazo mas negativa com o endividamento de curto prazo. Perante estes resultados admitimos que as empresas exportadoras ao diversificarem (na fase inicial) o seu portfólio de clientes conseguem maiores níveis de cash-flows, o que as dispensa de algum endividamento de curto prazo, mas no médio e longo prazo as necessidades de investimento para fazer face a mercados muito competitivos está associada a um maior nível de endividamento. Relativamente à importância explicativa das variáveis “peso das vendas para o mercado comunitário” e “peso das vendas para o mercado extra comunitário”, curiosamente, apresentam resultados diferentes; o peso das vendas para o mercado extra comunitário não revela relação significativa com o endividamento mas já o peso das vendas para o mercado comunitário tem uma relação positiva com endividamento a curto prazo e negativa com o endividamento de médio e longo prazo.

Sentido de coerência : ligação materno-fetal e estilo de vida da mulher durante a gravidez

RESUMO - Um dos grandes desafios actuais enfrentados pela Saúde Pública diz respeito ao fardo representado pelas doenças crónicas não transmissíveis enquanto co-responsáveis pela maioria das mortes que ocorrem no mundo, pela significativa e progressiva redução da qualidade de vida e aumento das incapacidades dos indivíduos afectados e por uma fasquia bastante elevada das despesas em saúde. Entretanto, a complexa dinâmica genética, biológica, psicológica, afectiva, sócio-cultural e ambiental que envolve o comportamento humano, tão amplamente relacionado com algumas destas doenças – doenças cardiovasculares, alguns tipos de cancro, obesidade, hipertensão, diabetes e doenças osteo-articulares – impõe o desafio constante da busca de novas e efectivas intervenções em promoção da saúde que influenciem positivamente os estilos de vida dos indivíduos, dos grupos e das comunidades. Sendo o sentido de coerência um traço da personalidade do indivíduo desenvolvido sob a influência directa ou indirecta dos mesmo factores acima referidos, o estabelecimento de uma relação entre este constructo e os comportamentos humanos pode revelar-se promissor para a elaboração de novas intervenções em promoção da saúde. Por sua vez, a gravidez, talvez por influência da ligação materno-fetal, pode representar um ponto de viragem na vida da mulher no que respeita ao sentido de coerência e aos comportamentos de saúde e um bom começo na vida do bebé que irá nascer sob a influência dos mesmos. Com a finalidade de contribuir para a construção de intervenções efectivas em promoção da saúde, através da descoberta de prováveis potencialidades salutogénicas dos constructos referidos – sentido de coerência e ligação materno-fetal –, foi desenvolvido um estudo quantitativo, observacional que teve por objectivos: ampliar o conhecimento sobre as mudanças do sentido de coerência no decorrer da vida, especificamente durante a gravidez; ampliar o conhecimento acerca das relações de alguns factores de natureza sócio-demográfica, psico-afectiva e obstétrica com o sentido de coerência das mulheres grávidas e com a ligação materno-fetal; e identificar possíveis relações entre o sentido de coerência, a ligação materno-fetal e o estilo de vida das mulheres grávidas, este último representado pelos hábitos alimentares, consumo de cafeína, consumo de álcool, hábitos tabágicos, prática regular de actividade física e ganho de peso durante a gravidez. O presente relatório descreve a concepção e os resultados deste estudo, que envolveu a uma amostra de 61 mulheres grávidas que estavam a ser acompanhadas nos serviços de saúde materna dos Centros de Saúde de Carnaxide extensão Linda-a-Velha e de Oeiras, no Distrito de Lisboa, Portugal, entre os meses de Fevereiro e Julho de 2005. Os resultados demonstram que, para a amostra de 61 mulheres grávidas que responderam ao inquérito por questionário de auto-resposta, foram encontradas associações estatisticamente significativas entre o sentido de coerência e a escolaridade e entre o sentido de coerência e a percepção do próprio estado de saúde. Além disso, foi encontrada alguma evidência das associações entre o sentido de coerência e a faixa etária, estado civil e rendimento mensal familiar e foi observada alguma tendência para que as mulheres grávidas com níveis de sentido de coerência mais elevados consumissem menos álcool do que as mulheres grávidas com níveis de sentido de coerência inferiores. Entretanto, as demais associações testadas não foram confirmadas. Relativamente à ligação materno-fetal, foram encontradas, para a amostra de 41 mulheres grávidas que participaram do segundo momento de colheita de dados do estudo, entre a 20ª e a 24ª semanas de gravidez, associações estatisticamente significativas com a escolaridade e o nível de rendimento familiar das mulheres grávidas, não tendo sido confirmadas as demais associações testadas. Embora não tenham sido estatisticamente evidenciadas as relações entre o sentido de coerência e a ligação materno-fetal e entre estes e os comportamentos de saúde, o carácter preliminar destes resultados, devido à subjectividade do processo de selecção não probabilístico da amostra estudada e à reduzida dimensão desta amostra, e a escassez de estudos descritos na literatura fazem com que seja prudente a realização de estudos de follow-up, com amostras de maiores dimensões, aleatórias e representativas da população, para que sejam estabelecidas quaisquer conclusões acerca destas questões.-----------------------------ABSTRACT - One of the greatest challenges faced by Public Health in nowadays is the burden represented by chronic diseases as co-responsible for the majority of deaths that occurs in the world, for the meaningful and progressive reduction of quality of life and increase of disabilities in affected individuals and for an important part of health expenses. However, the complexity of the genetic, biological, psychological, emotional, social, cultural and environmental dynamics that involves human behaviours related to some of these diseases – cardiovascular diseases, some kind of cancers, obesity, hypertension, diabetes and joint and bone diseases – poses the continuous challenge of searching for new and effective interventions of health promotion that positively influence individuals, groups and community lifestyles. Due to the fact that sense of coherence is an individual personality trace directly or indirectly influenced by the same factors listed above, the discovery of a relationship between this construct and human behaviours might be promising to the creation of new health promotion interventions. On the other hand, pregnancy may represent a turn point to the mother’s life and a good start in the baby’s life in relation to sense of coherence and health behaviours and It might occur because of the influence of maternal-fetal attachment. With the purpose of contributing with the creation of effective health promotion interventions through the discovery of probable salutogenic potentials in the referred constructs – sense of coherence and maternal-fetal attachment – , it was developed a quantitative observational study with the following objectives: to increase knowledge about changes in sense of coherence throughout life, specifically during pregnancy; to increase knowledge about the relationship between sense of coherence and maternal-fetal attachment and some social, demographical, psychological, emotional and obstetric factors of pregnant women; to identify probable relationships between sense of coherence, maternal-fetal attachment and pregnant women’s lifestyles, represented by diet habits, caffeine consumption, alcohol consumption, smoking habits, physical activity habits and weigh gain during pregnancy. This report describes the structure and the findings of this study involving a sample of 61 pregnant women who had been followed by health professionals in the mother health services of Carnaxide (Linda-a-Velha unity) and Oeiras Health Centres, in Lisbon, Portugal, between February and July of 2005. The results show that, for the 61 pregnant women who filled the self-reported questionnaire, it was found a statistically significant association between sense of coherence and education level. It was also found some evidence of the associations between sense of coherence and age, marital status and mensal household income and a trend toward pregnant women with higher levels of sense of coherence to drink less alcoholic beverages than pregnant women with lower levels of sense of coherence. However, the others associations tested were not confirmed. Regarding maternal-fetal attachment, it was found, for the sample of 41 women who participated in the second moment of data collection, between the 20th and the 24th week of pregnancy, statistically significant associations with education level and mensal household income. The others associations tested were not confirmed. Although the associations between sense of coherence and maternal-fetal attachment and between these constructs and health behaviours were not confirmed, all findings presented here are considered preliminary because of small dimension of sample and non-probabilistic criteria used for sample selection. What’s more, there are almost no studies described in the literature which could confirm or contradict these findings. Therefore, it is better to be careful and develop follow-up studies, with bigger and representative of population samples, before draw any conclusions about these theme.

Seropositivity for anti-Trypanosoma cruzi antibodies among blood donors of the "Hospital Universitário Regional do Norte do Paraná", Londrina, Brazil

The most frequent form of acquisition of Chagas' disease in endemic areas was the transmission through the feces of contaminated triatominae. However, special attention should be paid in urban areas to transmission by blood transfusion, justifying the compulsory screening of blood donors. Early investigations at blood banks in the town of Londrina, Brazil, demonstrated that the seroprevalence of anti-Trypanosoma cruzi antibodies among blood donors was approximately 7.0% in the fifties9,34. Further studies demonstrated pratically the same seroprevalence until the eighties4,32,41. In an attempt to obtain data about the real dimension of the seropositivity for anti-Trypasonoma cruzi antibodies in the region, the authors carried out a large-scale study on 45,774 serum samples from blood donors of the Hemocentro of Hospital Universitário Regional do Norte do Paraná (HURNP), Universidade Estadual de Londrina. The immunological tests were done at the Division of Clinical Immunology of HURNP from May 1990 to December 1994. The serum samples were studied by the indirect hemagglutination assay (IHA, using kits commercially obtained from EBRAM) and by indirect immunofluorescence (IFI, using kits from LIO SERUM) with anti-human IgG conjugate (LABORCLIN). The results demonstrated that 643 serum samples were positive in both assay corresponding to a seroprevalence of 1.4%, i.e., a significant decrease in anti-Trypanosoma cruzi antibodies in the region in comparison with the previously mentioned rates. Data correlating sex and age of seropositive blood donors are presented, as well as the possible factors that may have contributed to the results observed.

Os reais hospitais militares em Portugal administrados e fundados pelos Irmãos Hospitaleiros de S. João de Deus 1640-1834

RESUMO: Desde 1640 até data extrema de 1834, os Irmãos Hospitaleiros de S. João de Deus foram os responsáveis, directa e indirectamente, pela administração e corpo de enfermagem dos Reais Hospitais Militares em Portugal, actividades que analisamos ao longo dos séculos, desenvolvendo pressupostos temáticos relativamente a sua actuação no tempo e no espaço. É durante o séc. XVII até ao séc. XIX, que vemos os cuidados da corte para com a assistência aos soldados enfermos e doentes, ao publicar inúmera legislação relativamente à complexidade assistencial na área militar, a qual foi por nós compilada para melhor contextualização da importância dos Hospitais Militares em Portugal. Os Regimentos, os Alvarás, os Regulamentos e as Ordens do Dia, constituem um objecto fundamental de pesquisa e análise para caracterizar o quotidiano nesses mesmos locais. Os Hospitais Militares desde a sua fundação, dos primórdios das Guerras da Aclamação em 1640, até ao advento do liberalismo em 1834, eram centros de conhecimento técnico e científico com um corpo assistencial especializado, onde um conjunto pluridisciplinar de profissionais zelava qualitativamente pelos assistidos, e onde os Irmãos Hospitaleiros de S. João de Deus desempenhavam funções de administradores, enfermeiros e capelães. Nesse sentido elaboramos uma listagem cronológica para inter relacionar os Irmãos Hospitaleiros e os Hospitais Militares, pois é impossível separar a Ordem de S. João de Deus da componente assistencial aos enfermos e doentes militares em Portugal. A importância urbana e arquitectónica, que os Reais Hospitais Militares tiveram no contexto orgânico e defensivo nas Praças de Guerra, é realçado pela forma como estes se encontravam implantados e construídos, demarcando-se esteticamente da globalidade edificada, pois constituíam parte integrante dos equipamentos militares, como era teorizado pelos técnicos militares. Assim analisamos a localização dos imóveis, para além do próprio edifício hospitalar, com o meio, ou seja com a urbanidade das Praças de guerra. A sobriedade arquitectónica dos Hospitais Militares, integrada nos grandes ciclos das correntes culturais europeia e nacional, associada à riqueza decorativa e iconoclasta desenvolvida nesses locais, dá-nos uma dimensão da importância científica que esses núcleos assistenciais tiveram, contribuindo para a difusão do culto e circulação da imaginária de S. João de Deus em Portugal e dos Santos venerados nos Hospitais Militares. Desta forma compreendemos o alicerçar devocional que o reino tinha por este Santo, como o fundador do conceito assistencial do hospital moderno. Estando intrinsecamente ligado a este facto vemos o proliferar do culto e da imaginária de S. João de Deus em Portugal, centrando-se a iconografia artística do Santo em torno das localidades onde se enraizaram os Hospitais Militares. Hoje, nos imóveis hospitalares, não é difícil analisar uma lenta evolução da funcionalidade dos seus espaços, gravitando o desenvolvimento estrutural assistencial em torno das enfermarias e salas de cirurgia, mantendo-se perene este arquétipo arquitectónico desde o séc. XVII até meados do séc. XIX, as quais foram levantadas, comparadas e analisadas. Foi com a exclaustração das Ordens Religiosas, pelo Decreto de 29 de Maio de 1834, que acabou a extraordinária e valorosa acção administrativa, tutelar e corpo de enfermagem dos Irmãos Hospitaleiros de S. João de Deus, na área específica da assistência militar em Portugal, extinguindo-se, nalguns casos, os Hospitais Militares, pois o reino não estava preparado para substituir esses profissionais de saúde. O nosso estudo desenvolve-se por cerca de 295 anos, espaço temporal em que os Hospitais Militares foram administrados e fundados pelos Irmãos de S. João de Deus em Portugal.---------ABSTRACT: Since 1640 until 1834 the Hospitaller Brothers of S. John of God were the responsibles, direct and indirectly, for the administration and nursing body of the Royal Military Hospitals in Portugal, activities that we analyse throughout the centuries, developing thematic presuppositions regarding its performance in time and in space. It is during the 17th century until the 19th century, that we see the court’s care with the assistance of the wounded and sick by the publishing of much legislation regarding the assistance complexity in the military area, which was compiled by us in order to achieve a better comprehension of the importance of the Military Hospitals in Portugal. The Regiments, Charters, Regulations and Orders of Day constitute a fundamental object of research and analysis to characterise the quotidian of these locations. The Military Hospitals, since its foundation, in the beginning of the Wars of Acclamation in 1640, until the advent of liberalism in 1834, were centres of technical and scientific knowledge with a specialized assistance body, were a multidisciplinary set of professionals took qualitatively care of the attended, and where the Hospitaller Brothers of S. John of God performed the tasks of administrators, nurses and chaplains. In this perspective, we created a chronological listing in order to relate the Hospitaller Brothers with the Military Hospitals, since it is impossible to separate the Hospitaller Order of S. John of God from the component of assistance to the military sick and wounded in Portugal. The urban and architectural importance that the Royal Military Hospitals had in the organic and defensive context of the War Fortifications is emphasized by the way these were implanted and built and by its architectural demarcation of the edified whole, since they constituted an integrant part of the military equipments, as it was theorized for the military architecture. Therefore we analyse the location of the real estate, analysing not only the hospital building itself, but also its relation with the environment, i. e. with the urbanism of the war fortifications. The architectural sobriety of Military Hospitals, integrated in the big cycles of cultural streams in Europe and Portugal, associated to the decorative and iconoclastic wealth developed in these locations, give us a dimension of the scientific importance that these hospitals had, contributing to the diffusion of the cult and circulation of sculptures and paintings of S. John of God in Portugal and of the Saints revered in the Hospitals. In this way, we understand the consolidation of the devotion that the kingdom had for this Saint, the founder of the assistance concept of the modern hospital. The proliferation of the cult and iconography of S. John of God is intrinsically connected to this fact, the artistic iconography concentrating itself around the localities were the Military Hospitals were built. Today, in the assistance buildings, it is not difficult to analyse a slow evolution of the functionality of its spaces, gravitating the structural assistance development around the infirmaries and surgery rooms, this architectural archetype being perennial from the 17th century until the middle of the 19th century. These infirmaries were pointed out, compared and analysed. It was the expulsion of the Religious Orders, by the Decree of May 29th 1834, that ended with the extraordinary and valorous administrative and tutelary action and nursing body of the Hospitaller Brothers of S. John of God, in the specific area of military assistance in Portugal, extinguishing, in some cases, the Military Hospitals, since the kingdom wasn’t prepared to substitute these health professionals. Our study is developed in a timeframe of 295 years, period in which the Military Hospitals were administrated and founded by the Brothers of S. John of God in Portugal.

Talk on water ecological economics and participatory watershed governance

Dissertação apresentada para obtenção do Grau de Doutor em Ambiente pela Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia

Procedimentos contabilísticos e a sua imprtância no controlo interno

Dissertação de Mestrado apresentado ao Instituto de Contabilidade e Administração do Porto para a obtenção do grau de Mestre em Contabilidade e Finanças, sob orientação do Doutor Carlos Quelhas Martins

Engineering Temporal and Spatial Aspects in OWL using Patterns

WWW is a huge, open, heterogeneous system, however its contents data is mainly human oriented. The Semantic Web needs to assure that data is readable and “understandable” to intelligent software agents, though the use of explicit and formal semantics. Ontologies constitute a privileged artifact for capturing the semantic of the WWW data. Temporal and spatial dimensions are transversal to the generality of knowledge domains and therefore are fundamental for the reasoning process of software agents. Representing temporal/spatial evolution of concepts and their relations in OWL (W3C standard for ontologies) it is not straightforward. Although proposed several strategies to tackle this problem but there is still no formal and standard approach. This work main goal consists of development of methods/tools to support the engineering of temporal and spatial aspects in intelligent systems through the use of OWL ontologies. An existing method for ontology engineering, Fonte was used as framework for the development of this work. As main contributions of this work Fonte was re-engineered in order to: i) support the spatial dimension; ii) work with OWL Ontologies; iii) and support the application of Ontology Design Patterns. Finally, the capabilities of the proposed approach were demonstrated by engineering time and space in a demo ontology about football.

Efeitos do emprego público na produção privada

Recentemente tem existido a preocupação em diminuir o emprego público e aumentar a eficiência das administrações públicas, como forma de promover o crescimento económico. No presente artigo analisa-se a relação entre o emprego público e produção do sector privado, para um conjunto de 19[1] países da OCDE no período de 1960-2008. Seguindo a especificação de Koskela e Virén (2000) os resultados sugerem que aquela relação não é linear, mas depende da dimensão do sector público. Da mesma forma, nas economias onde o sector público apresenta uma dimensão inferior à crítica (maximizadora da produção privada) o aumento do emprego público estimula o crescimento da produção privada. Pelo contrário, quando a dimensão do sector público é excessiva, o aumento do emprego neste sector tem um impacto negativo no output privado.