The impact of Bolsa Família Program in the beneficiary fertility

The Bolsa Família Program is a Conditional Cash Transfer Program that was implemented in Brazil in 2003. Since the implementation of the program some of its effects were studied, but its effects on fertility decision has drawn a little attention. The objective of this paper is to evaluate if there is an impact of Bolsa Família Program in the fertility of beneficiaries. We use the Household Sample National Survey (PNAD) for the years 2004 and 2006 and estimate the first-differences for each year, to find the average treatment effect on treated (ATT). To find comparable groups of treatment and control, we use Propensity Score Matching methods. We compared the ATT outcomes for the two years and its estimated confidence intervals and found that there are no statistical differences between the ATT results in 2004 and 2006.fertility, conditional cash transfer, propensity score, Brazi.

f(Q)f(Q)-gravity and neutrino physics

Within the $f(Q)$-gravity framework we perform a phenomenological study of the cosmological observables in light of the degeneracy between neutrinos physics and the modified gravity parameter and we identify specific patterns which allow to break such degeneracy. We also provide separately constraints on the total mass of the neutrinos, $\Sigma m_{\nu}$, and on the effective number of neutrino species, $N_{\rm eff}$, using cosmic microwave background (CMB), baryon acoustic oscillation (BAO), redshift space distortion (RSD), supernovae (SNIa), galaxy clustering (GC) and weak gravitational lensing (WL) measurements. The strongest upper bound on the total mass of the neutrinos is found for the combination of CMB+BAO+RSD+SNIa and it is $\Sigma m_\nu<0.277$ eV at 95\% C.L. For the same combination of data we find $N_{\rm eff}=2.93^{+0.31}_{-0.34}$ at 95\% C.L. We also find that all combinations of data we consider, prefer a stronger gravitational interaction than $\Lambda$CDM. Finally, we consider the $\chi^2$ and deviance information criterion statistics and find the $f(Q)+\Sigma m_\nu$ model to be statistically supported by data over the standard scenario. On the contrary $f(Q)+N_{\rm eff}$ is supported by CMB+BAO+RSD+SNIa but a moderate evidence against it is found with GC and WL data.Comment: 11 pages; 5 figures; 4 tables, accepted for publication in PR

British Projects and Activities in the Philippines: 1759-1805.

British projects and activities in the Philippines during the period 1759 - 1805 coincided with important politico-economic developments in Europe, and particularly with those within the British and Spanish empires. European and imperial developments, indeed, provide the background and starting point of the events covered by this study. To the English, the importance of the Philippine area, in fact, of the whole Malaysian Archipelago, lay in its bullion resources which the expanding China trade was chronically in need of. The Eastern islands were a source of products for which there was a demand in the China market, besides being a consumers' depot for British trade goods, in particular, Indian piece-goods and opium. The islands were also a potential market for British manufactures. Strategically, they constituted a vital link not only in the defense of the Indian settlements but also in the security of the English commerce between India and China. An English settlement established amongst the islands would thus create a vast network of exchange of Malaysian, Indian, Chinese, and European goods. A period of sustained British interest in the Philippines commenced with Dalrymple's voyage from India to the lands further east, bringing him, amongst other places, to the Sulu islands which the Spaniards had been hard put to annex to their Eastern possessions, and which now form part of the Republic of the Philippines. Almost simultaneously with this voyage, an expedition was planned and launched against Manila, the capital of the Spanish Philippines. The outcome of the first event was the establishment of the first English settlement in Balambangan, an island belonging to the Sulus. The expedition to Manila was a military success, but on balance proved fruitless to either the English King who sanctioned it or the East India Company which aided it. Other projects followed, calculated to tap the bullion resources of the Spanish-American trade converging in Manila and also the possibilities of trade and cultivation amongst the Philippine islands. The fruits of these projects were not immediately enjoyed, but British interests in the Manila trade were firmly established before the end of our period. In fact, toward the end of the Spanish rule, the Philippine export and import trade had become concentrated in English hands. Meanwhile, Dalrymple's exertions with the Sulus had also paid off with the cession to a British company of the Sulu Sultan's territories in Borneo

Phenomenology and cosmological constraints on f(Q) gravity

Tese de Mestrado, Física (Astrofísica e Cosmologia), 2022, Universidade de Lisboa, Faculdade de CiênciasThe late-time accelerated expansion of the Universe has been a challenge for modern Cosmology since its detection. General Relativity explains this phenomenon via the introduction of the cosmological constant, Λ. This what is known as the standard cosmological model or ΛCDM. However, the cosmological constant solution brings a series of shortcomings that have guided cosmologists to explore and propose alternative models to describe the late-time cosmic acceler ation. These proposed alternatives have ranged from models of a dynamical dark fluid, known as Dark Energy, to long-scale modifications of the gravitational interaction, known as Modified Gravity models. Inside the Modified Gravity approach, one can construct theories of gravity built from the scalars associated with non-metricity (Q). The latter is the symmetric teleparallel description which has been shown to be equivalent to General Relativity. Nonetheless, its gener alisation with a general function of the non-metricity, f(Q), has generated symmetric teleparallel theories of gravity with exciting properties beyond the standard cosmological scenario. This dissertation aims to analyse the viability of f(Q) gravity theories as a challenging model for ΛCDM. We focus on the analysis of two forms of the f(Q) function: one which only changes the cosmological perturbations at large linear scale compared to ΛCDM and a second one which introduces a modification in both the background expansion history and in linear perturbations. We explore both the background phenomenology of the models and their impact on the cosmological observables. To this purpose, we adapt an Einstein-Boltzmann code, dubbed MGCAMB, by implementing these models. We then provide for the first time cosmological constraints by using Markov chain Monte Carlo methods and large sets of data spanning from measurements of the background expansion of the Universe to those of gravitational potentials, matter density and temperature fluctuations of the Cosmic Microwave Background radiation. We conclude our investigation with a model selection analysis using χ 2 statistics and deviance information criteria. They will inform us whether the f(Q) models analysed are supported by data over the ΛCDM scenario. In this analysis we identify specific features in the temperature-temperature power spectrum, matter power spectrum and lensing power spectrum which make the f(Q) model distinguishable from the ΛCDM scenario. Finally from the model selection analysis, we find that the f(Q) gravity models can show, in some cases, a better fit to current data than the standard model. The capability of suppressing large-scale temperature anisotropies is the main sources of a better agreement with data

Wood anatomical and technological properties of three species of Hymenaea L. (jatobá) on plantation and naturally grown trees.

Comparisons between north x south direction and DBH height x top position of trees from three species of genus Hymenaea sp. (eight years) were collected in plantation and Hymenaea intermedia (not determined) was collecte from natural sites. We conclude that in spite of the plantation grown tree show tendency of adult wood characteristics, there is still a large variation of those characteristics, as inside as between trees of the same specie. The variation will decrease with the change from juvenile to adult growth of constituents elements of the wood. We suggest to do more studies not only with species Hymenaea but with others woody Amazonian species, as well

Cosmological study of a symmetric teleparallel gravity model

We study a symmetric teleparallel gravity with a Lagrangian of logarithmic form. The full model leads to an accelerated universe and for specific values of the free parameters the Hubble rate reduces to the well-known Dvali-Gabadadze-Porrati model, though the evolution of the gravitational potentials are different. We consider different branches of the logarithmic model, among which are self-accelerated branch and normal branch. The phenomenology of both the background and linear perturbations is discussed, including all the relevant effects on cosmic microwave background radiation (CMB) angular power spectrum, lensing and matter power spectra. To this purpose, we modified the Einstein-Boltzmann code mgcamb. Finally, we derive bounds on the free parameters which are in agreement with early dark energy constraint from CMB and big bang nucleosynthesis constraint on the helium abundance.Comment: 24 pages, 14 figure

Phenomenology of the generalized cubic covariant Galileon model and cosmological bounds

We investigate the generalized cubic covariant Galileon model, a kinetically driven dark energy model within the Horndeski class of theories. The model extends the cubic covariant Galileon by including power laws of the field derivatives in the K-essence and cubic terms which still allow for tracker solutions. We study the shape of the viable parameter space by enforcing stability conditions which include the absence of ghost, gradient and tachyon instabilities and the avoidance of strong coupling at early time. We study here the relevant effects of the modifications induced by the model on some cosmological observables such as the cosmic microwave background (CMB), the lensing potential auto-correlation and the matter power spectrum. For this goal, we perform parameter estimation using data of CMB temperature and polarization, baryonic acoustic oscillations (BAO), redshift-space distortions (RSD), supernovae type Ia (SNIa) and Cepheids. Data analysis with CMB alone finds that the today's Hubble parameter $H_0$ is consistent with its determination from Cepheids at $1\sigma$, resolving the famous tension of the cosmological standard models. The joint analysis of CMB, BAO, RSD and SNIa sets a lower bound for the sum of neutrino masses which is $\Sigma m_\nu >0.11$ eV at 1$\sigma$, in addition to the usual upper limit. The model selection analysis based on the effective $\chi_\text{eff}^2$ and Deviance Information Criterion is not able to clearly identify the statistically favored model between $\Lambda$CDM and the generalized cubic covariant Galileon, from which we conclude that the latter model deserves further studies.Comment: 13 pages, 10 figures, 3 table

Historical and religion interpretations on Alexandre Herculano’s romantic medievalism

The present study aims to show the existing dialogue between fictional prose and historiographical of Alexandre Herculano, taking as an example the religious theme. Before that questioning were chosen some writings produced by the author in the decades of the nineteenth century spans 40 and 50 as Cartas sobre a História de Portugal, the fictional narrative "O Alcaide de Santarém" and excerpts from "Introduction" in the História de Portugal.  O presente estudo tem como objetivo mostrar o diálogo existente entre a prosa ficcional e historiográfica de Alexandre Herculano, tomando como exemplo a temática religosa. Diante dessa problematização foram escolhidos alguns escritos produzidos pelo autor nas décadas de 40 e 50 do perídodo oitocentista como as Cartas sobre a História de Portugal, a narrativa ficcional “O Alcaide de Santarém” e trechos da “Introdução” da História de Portugal.

Necromantes e profecias: o gótico em Herculano e Schiller

Alexandre Herculano (1810-1877), through his literary and historiographic production helped make popular the romanticism ideals in Portugal and contributed to the emergence of new aesthetic values and of a particular view of the world in the eighteenth-century in Portugal. His interest in the Middle Ages and in the literary production from the late eighteenth-century made him establish relations with authors from the so-called european Pre-Romanticism. Specifically concerning Friedrich Schiller, his novel Der Geisterseher (O Aparicionista), from 1787-1789, was the target of a highlighted interest coming from Herculano, as it’s ascertained through a more strictcomparative analysis among some of his writings, for example when comparing O Alcaide de Santarém with the german author’s paradigmatic work. Based on this analytical proposal, it’s possible to notice in the highlighted writings from both authors a  ulsating gothic imaginary, full of a necromancer-dominated atmosphere, prophecies and the supernatural, aesthetic elements present not only in the posterior german and portuguese romantic literary production, but also determining for the development of a new relation with reality and historic studies.Alexandre Herculano (1810 – 1877), através de sua produção literária e historiográfica, ajudou a  popularizar as ideias do Romantismo em Portugal e contribuiu para a entrada de novos valores estéticos e de uma particular visão de mundo no oitocentismo português. Seu interesse pela Idade Média e pelo tipo de produção literária do final do século XVIII fez com que ele dialogasse com autores do chamadoPré-Romantismo europeu. No caso específico de Friedrich Schiller (1759 – 1805), o seu romance Der Geisterseher, O Aparicionista, de 1787-89, foi alvo de destacado interesse por parte de Herculano, como podemos averiguar por meio de uma análise comparativa mais rigorosa entre alguns de seus escritos, como O Alcaide de Santarém, com a paradigmática obra do autor alemão. Com base nessa proposta analítica, podemos notar nos escritosdestacados de ambos os autores um pulsante imaginário gótico, repleto de uma atmosferadominada por necromantes, profecias e o sobrenatural, elementos presentes não só na posterior produção literária romântica alemã e portuguesa, mas também determinante para a formação de uma nova relação com a realidade e com os estudos históricos