Contraexemplos e raciocínio dedutivo

Tese de Doutoramento apresentada ao ISPA - Instituto Universitário

O Inventário Artístico do Patriarcado de Lisboa: história e análise de uma ferramenta museológica precursora

Artigo inserido no âmbito da realização da tese de doutoramento em História da Arte, financiada por bolsa FCT (SFRH/BD/63763/2009).

Southern Modernisms. Critical Stances through Regional Appropriations. Conference proceedings

The hegemonic definition of Modernism has been subjected to an intense critical revision process that began several decades ago. This process has contributed to the significant broadening of the modernist canon by challenging its primal essentialist assumptions and formalist interpretations in the fields of both the visual arts and architecture. This conference aims to further expand this revision, as it seeks to discuss the notion of “Southern Modernisms” by considering the hypothesis that regional appropriations, both in Southern Europe and the Southern hemisphere, entailed important critical stances that have remained unseen or poorly explored by art and architectural historians. In association with the Southern Modernisms research project (FCT – EXPL/CPC-HAT/0191/2013), we want to consider the entrenchment of southern modernisms in popular culture (folk art and vernacular architecture) as anticipating some of the premises of what would later become known as critical regionalism. It is therefore our purpose to explore a research path that runs parallel to key claims on modernism’s intertwinement with bourgeois society and mass culture, by questioning the idea that an aesthetically significant regionalism – one that resists to the colonization of international styles and is supported by critical awareness – occurred only in the field of architecture, and can only be represented as a postmodernist turn. (...)

Southern modernisms from A to Z and back again

The book now being published results from a research project entitled Southern Modernisms that ran from March 2014 to May 2015 with FCT funding. The aim of the project was to explore the possibility of constructing a more inclusive, plural notion of modernism through the revision of Modernism’s prevailing definition – its stylistic focus, its formalist and anti-representative bias, as well as its autonomic assumptions, or, as far as architecture is concerned, its functionalist credo. This critical undertaking was grounded on the hypothesis that southern European modernisms featured a strong entrenchment in popular culture (folk art and vernacular architecture), and that this characteristic could be understood as anticipating some of the premises of, what would later become known as, critical regionalismo. (...)

Appreciating the power of words and imaginative organizing: A triadic model of ethics practiced in everyday conversations

This thesis provides an alternative framework to analyze power and ethics practiced in everyday conversations, which constitute processes of organizing. Drawing upon narrative frameworks, the analyses of messages posted on an online message board demonstrate people’s imaginative capacity to create relevant stories, in respect of their precise grasp of factual understandings, contextual relevance and evaluative/moral appropriateness, by appropriating others’ words. Based on the empirical analyses, the thesis indicates that studies on power and ethics in organizations can be re-oriented towards appreciating irremediable power imbalances by offering alternative ways of member’s denoting experiences of power.

The determinants of mutual fund performance: A cross-country study

We use a new data set to study the determinants of the performance of open–end actively managed equity mutual funds in 27 countries. We find that mutual funds underperform the market overall. The results show important differences in the determinants of fund performance in the USA and elsewhere in the world. The US evidence of diminishing returns to scale is not a universal truth as the performance of funds located outside the USA and funds that invest overseas is not negatively affected by scale. Our findings suggest that the adverse scale effects in the USA are related to liquidity constraints faced by funds that, by virtue of their style, have to invest in small and domestic stocks. Country characteristics also explain fund performance. Funds located in countries with liquid stock markets and strong legal institutions display better performance.

The flow-performance relationship around the world

We use a new dataset to study how mutual fund flows depend on past performance across 28 countries. We show that there are marked differences in the flow-performance relationship across countries, suggesting that US findings concerning its shape do not apply universally. We find that mutual fund investors sell losers more and buy winners less in more developed countries. This is because investors in more developed countries are more sophisticated and face lower costs of participating in the mutual fund industry. Higher country-level convexity is positively associated with higher levels of risk taking by fund managers.

Development and application of NMR techniques to study water-in-CO2 microemulsions

Self-assembly is a phenomenon that occurs frequently throughout the universe. In this work, two self-assembling systems were studied: the formation of reverse micelles in isooctane and in supercritical CO2 (scCO2), and the formation of gels in organic solvents. The goal was the physicochemical study of these systems and the development of an NMR methodology to study them. In this work, AOT was used as a model molecule both to comprehensively study a widely researched system water/AOT/isooctane at different water concentrations and to assess its aggregation in supercritical carbon dioxide at different pressures. In order to do so an NMR methodology was devised, in which it was possible to accurately determine hydrodynamic radius of the micelle (in agreement with DLS measurements) using diffusion ordered spectroscopy (DOSY), the micellar stability and its dynamics. This was mostly assessed by 1H NMR relaxation studies, which allowed to determine correlation times and size of correlating water molecules, which are in agreement with the size of the shell that interacts with the micellar layer. The encapsulation of differently-sized carbohydrates was also studied and allowed to understand the dynamics and stability of the aggregates in such conditions. A W/CO2 microemulsion was prepared using AOT and water in scCO2, with ethanol as cosurfactant. The behaviour of the components of the system at different pressures was assessed and it is likely that above 130 bar reverse microemulsions were achieved. The homogeneity of the system was also determined by NMR. The formation of the gel network by two small molecular organogelators in toluene-d8 was studied by DOSY. A methodology using One-shot DOSY to perform the spectra was designed and applied with success. This yielded an understanding about the role of the solvent and gelator in the aggregation process, as an estimation of the time of gelation.

A Casa Senhorial: Em Lisboa e no Rio de Janeiro (séculos XVII, XVIII e XIX). Anatomia dos Interiores

Livro de Resumos - O colóquio A Casa Senhorial em Lisboa e no Rio de Janeiro (séculos XVII, XVIII e XIX). Anatomia dos Interiorespretende chamar a atenção para um dos aspectos menos conhecidos do património artístico luso-brasileiro: a Casa Senhorial em contexto urbano e rural, escrutinada através da organização e da articulação dos espaços e da decoração dos seus interiores, testemunho do dia-a-dia das famílias que a habitaram.

Universal banks and corporate control: Evidence from the global syndicated loan market

We investigate the effects of bank control over borrower firms whether by representation on boards of directors or by the holding of shares through bank asset management divisions. Using a large sample of syndicated loans, we find that banks are more likely to act as lead arrangers in loans when they exert some control over the borrower firm. Bank-firm governance links are associated with higher loan spreads during the 2003-2006 credit boom, but lower spreads during the 2007-2008 financial crisis. Additionally, these links mitigate credit rationing effects during the crisis. The results are robust to several methods to correct for the endogeneity of the bank- firm governance link. Our evidence, consistent with intertemporal smoothing of loan rates, suggests there are costs and benefits from banks’ involvement in firm governance.

eVentos 3 – Desenvolvimento de controlador difuso para navegação autónoma de veleiro

Controlar a navegação de uma embarcação, neste caso de um veleiro, pode ser fácil quando controlada por um humano. Mas, quando falamos em embarcação autónoma, existem algumas dificuldades relativas à programação da rota a que a embarcação deve seguir. Nesta dissertação foram feitas diversas análises referentes às técnicas de velejar, bem como a caracterização de um controlador utilizando lógica difusa, com a colaboração de sensores e atuadores. Para este estudo foi necessário equipar um veleiro com diversos sensores, atuadores e controladores. Por fim, foram realizados testes e análises que possibilitaram o aperfeiçoamento das técnicas de controlo. O objetivo é transformar um veleiro telecomandado num capaz de navegar autonomamente, por forma a ser introduzido posteriormente num de maior escala.

Alergia alimentar em crianças em idade pré-escolar

RESUMO:Os dados acerca da prevalência de alergia alimentar (AA) em lactentes e crianças em idade pré-escolar e factores de risco associados são escassos. Neste estudo, 19 infantários de Lisboa e Porto foram seleccionados após estratificação e análise de clusters. Foi aplicado um questionário adaptado do estudo ISAAC a uma amostra de crianças que frequentavam esses infantários. Os outcomes avaliados foram AA reportada e anafilaxia. Foi utilizada uma análise de regressão logística para explorar quais os potenciais factores de risco para AA reportada. Dos 2228 questionários distribuídos, 1217 foram incluídos na análise (54,6%). A idade mediana das crianças foi de 3,5 anos e 10,8% foram descritas como alguma vez tendo tido AA. Em 5,7% das crianças foi reportada AA actualmente. Três (0,2%) das crianças tiveram quadros clínicos compatíveis com anafilaxia. História parental de AA reportada, história pessoal de dermatite atópica e parto pré-termo foram factores descritos como aumentando a possibilidade de AA actual reportada. Identificou-se uma elevada prevalência de AA percepcionada pelos pais em crianças de idade pré-escolar. A identificação de factores de risco pode contribuir para a melhoria da prevenção de AA.