Celebrating John Rawls: 100 years since his birth; 50 years after the publication of a theory of justice. Introduction: On celebrating Rawls

Celebrating John Rawls: 100 years since his birth; 50 years after the publication of a theory of justiceIntroduction: on celebrating Rawl

Introduction: on celebrating Rawls

[Excerpt] The year 2021 marked the centenary of John Rawls' birth and the fiftieth anniversary of the first edition of his opus magnum, A Theory of Justice. The Centre for Ethics, Politics and Society of the University of Minho decided to mark these events by organising a special tribute to Rawls in the framework of the Braga Meetings on Ethics and Political Philosophy, which it organises every year in June. In this context, it was possible to count on the participation —online, due to the Covid-19 pandemic—of Professors Samuel Scheffler (New York University) and Samuel Freeman (University of Pennsylvania), as well as on some dozens of original papers on our author. It is from this collection that we have selected the contributions in this dossier, which we believe illustrate the quality and the main focuses of the debates that took place over the two days of the event

Desenvolvimento de estratégias de intervenção psicológica para a cessação tabágica

O risco de doenças associado ao consumo de tabaco é actualmente um dos problemas mais importantes de saúde pública. Para além da dependência fisiológica provocada pela nicotina, o consumo de tabaco também está relacionado com variáveis psicossociais que reforçam e mantém o comportamento de fumar, tornando-o repetitivo e automático nas mais diversas situações e contextos. Da maioria dos fumadores que desejam deixar de fumar sozinhos, só 5% tem êxito. Nos últimos tempos, têm-se verificado um aumento do número de estratégias, farmacológicas, de substituição e psicológicas, para fazer face a este problema. Dentro da última abordagem apresentam-se os primeiros dados de um programa de intervenção psicológica segundo o modelo proposto por E. Becoña (1993) numa perspectiva cognitivo-comportamental. O protocolo de tratamento para deixar de fumar, inserido na Consulta de Psicologia Clínica do Hospital Pedro Hispano, compreende 3 fases (avaliação, intervenção e seguimento) sendo composto por 6 sessões de intervenção individual, ou em grupo, e 4 sessões de acompanhamento. Os dados apresentados correspondem a uma amostra de 107 doentes. Dos doentes que completaram o tratamento, 43% ficou abstinente e os restantes 57% reduziram o consumo de cigarros por dia e os níveis de nicotina de forma significativa. Estes dados apontam para a eficácia deste tipo de intervenção multicomponencial, que abrange não só os aspectos fisiológicos do acto de fumar, mas também os seus aspectos comportamentais e psicossociais, pelo que se alerta para a pertinência da divulgação e expansão destes métodos de tratamento em serviços de saúde na comunidade.The risk of diseases associated to tobacco consume is nowadays one of the most important problems of public health. Beyond physiological dependence caused by nicotine, smoking is also related with psychosocial variables that reinforce and sustain the smoking act, making it repetitive and automatic in the most different contexts and situations. Most of the smokers who want to quit smoking by themselves, have only 5% of exit. Lately, it has been noticed, a diversified number of intervention strategies, whether pharmacological or psychological to face this problem. On this last perspective we present the first data of a psychological intervention program that follows the model proposed by E. Becoña (1993) in a cognitive-comportamental approach. The treatment protocol follows three steps (evaluation, intervention and follow-up), being composed by 6 sessions of individual or group treatment and 4 sessions of follow-up. This treatment program was conduced by the Psychological Service in Pedro Hispano Hospital, in Matosinhos, Portugal. The preliminary data presented here correspond to a sample of 107 persons. The ones who completed the treatment, 43% were abstinent at the end of the treatment and the others 57% reduced the cigarettes consume per day and the nicotine levels in a significative way. The present data reveals the efficacy of this kind of multimodal intervention, that includes not only the physiological aspects of the smoking act, but also the behaviour and psychosocial dimensions of it. So, we consider important the spread and implementation of this kind of treatment facilities on community health services.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Desenvolvimento de estratégias de intervenção psicológica para a cessação tabágica

O risco de doenças associado ao consumo de tabaco é actualmente um dos problemas mais importantes de saúde pública. Para além da dependência fisiológica provocada pela nicotina, o consumo de tabaco também está relacionado com variáveis psicossociais que reforçam e mantêm o comportamento de fumar, tornando-o repetitivo e automático nas mais diversas situações e contextos. Da maioria dos fumadores que desejam deixar de fumar sozinhos, só 5% tem êxito. Nos últimos tempos, têm-se verificado um aumento do número de estratégias, farmacológicas, de substituição e psicológicas, para fazer face a este problema. Dentro da última abordagem apresentam-se os primeiros dados deum programa de intervenção psicológica segundo o modelo proposto por E. Becoña (1993) numa perspectiva cognitivo-comportamental.O protocolo de tratamento para deixar de fumar, inserido na Consulta de Psicologia Clínica do Hospital Pedro Hispano, compreende 3 fases (avaliação, intervenção e seguimento) sendo composto por 6 sessões de intervenção individual, ou em grupo, e 4 sessões de acompanhamento. Os dados apresentados correspondem a uma amostra de 107 doentes. Dos doentes que completaram o tratamento,43% ficou abstinente e os restantes 57% reduziram o consumo de cigarros por dia e os níveis de nicotina de forma significativa. Estes dados apontam para a eficácia deste tipo de intervenção multicomponencial, que abrange não só os aspectos fisiológicos do acto de fumar, mas também os seus aspectos comportamentais e psicossociais, pelo que se alerta para a pertinência da divulgação e expansão destes métodos de tratamento em serviços de saúde na comunidade

Energy efficiency in olive oil mills

The paper presents some statistical data from olive oil mills in Portugal and Spain, presents the TESLA project and gives some information about energy consumption in olive oil mills

The not-so-Dark Ages: Ecology for human growth in medieval and early Twentieth Century Portugal as inferred from skeletal growth profiles

This study attempts to address the issue of relative living standards in Portuguese medieval and early 20th century periods. Since the growth of children provides a good measure of environmental quality for the overall population, the skeletal growth profiles of medieval Leiria and early 20th century Lisbon were compared. Results show that growth in femur length of medieval children did not differ significantly from that of early 20th century children, but after puberty medieval adolescents seem to have recovered, as they have significantly longer femora as adults. This is suggestive of greater potential for catch-up growth in medieval adolescents. We suggest that this results from distinct child labor practices, which impact differentially on the growth of Leiria and Lisbon adolescents. Work for medieval children and adolescents were related to family activities, and care and attention were provided by family members. Conversely, in early 20th century Lisbon children were more often sent to factories at around 12 years of age as an extra source of family income, where they were exploited for their labor. Since medieval and early 20th century children were stunted at an early age, greater potential for catch-up growth in medieval adolescents results from exhausting work being added to modern adolescent's burdens of disease and poor diet, when they entered the labor market. Although early 20th century Lisbon did not differ in overall unfavorable living conditions from medieval Leiria, after puberty different child labor practices may have placed modern adolescents at greater risk of undernutrition and poor growth. Am J Phys Anthropol, 2008. © 2008 Wiley-Liss, Inc

Temas de investigação em direitos humanos para o século XXI

Edição comemorativa do 10.º aniversário do Mestrado em Direitos Humanos da Universidade do Minho.Este livro é uma celebração do ensino e da investigação em direitos humanos que têm vindo a ser desenvolvidos, na Escola de Direito da Universidade do Minho, há já mais de uma década. A sua publicação num momento em que se avolumam os riscos para valores fundamentais subjacentes à proteção dos direitos humanos – como a igualdade e a não discriminação, a proibição da escravatura e de tratamentos cruéis, desumanos e degradantes, a liberdade de religião ou crença, entre muitos outros –, torna-o especialmente oportuno. Os sinais de aparente retrocesso no consenso das nossas sociedades a respeito desses valores – visíveis no triunfo político de discursos abertamente racistas, xenófobos, sexistas, etc. – recordam-nos que, também no mundo ocidental, os direitos humanos são um work in progress, não um dado adquirido. Os novos riscos para a dignidade da pessoa humana associados aos avanços tecnológicos andam de par com velhas formas de subalternização e de opressão. O campo para a reflexão crítica é muito vasto. Os temas que hoje (pre)ocupam académicos, decisores políticos e ativistas de direitos humanos são também aqueles que estruturam o plano de estudos do Mestrado em Direitos Humanos da Universidade do Minho. Todos estes temas surgem ao longo do presente livro, que reúne contributos de muitos dos membros da comunidade científica e académica que o Mestrado em Direitos Humanos mobilizou e ajudou a dinamizar ao longo da última década, entre docentes do Mestrado, colaboradores em júris de provas públicas e/ou na orientação de mestrandos, oradores convidados e estudantes. Os textos aqui reunidos refletem bem as sinergias interdisciplinares, interinstitucionais e inter-nacionais que o Mestrado em Direitos Humanos foi capaz de criar, não apenas pela variedade de campos disciplinares representados – Direito, Filosofia, Relações Internacionais, Antropologia –, mas também pela participação de autores que são docentes e/ou investigadores em diversas instituições nacionais e estrangeiras, como a Faculdade de Direito da Universidade do Porto, a Faculdade de Economia da Universidade de Coimbra, a Universidade Federal da Paraíba e a Pontifícia Universidade Católica de São Paulo.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Neotectonics of the SW Iberia margin, Gulf of Cadiz and Alboran Sea: a reassessment including recent structural, seismic and geodetic data

We use a thin-shell approximation for the lithosphere to model the neotectonics of the Gulf of Cadiz, SW Iberia margin and the westernmost Mediterranean, in the eastern segment of the Azores-Gibraltar plate boundary. In relation to previous neotectonic models in the region, we utilize a better constrained structural map offshore, and the recent GPS measurements over NW Africa and Iberia have been taken into account, together with the seismic strain rate and stress data, to evaluate alternative geodynamic settings proposed for the region. We show that by assuming a relatively simple, two-plate tectonic framework, where Nubia and Eurasia converge NW-SE to WNW-ESE at a rate of 4.5-6 mm yr-1, the models correctly predict the amount of shortening and wrenching between northern Algeria-Morocco and southern Spain and between NW Morocco and SW Iberia, as estimated from both GPS data and geological constraints. The consistency between modelled and observed velocities in the vicinity of Gibraltar and NW Morocco indicates that forcing by slab sinking beneath Gibraltar is not required to reproduce current horizontal deformation in these areas. In the Gulf of Cadiz and SW Iberia, the modelling results support a diffuse Nubia-Eurasia Plate boundary, where the convergence is accommodated along NNE-SSW to NE-SW and ENE-WSW thrust faults and WNW-ESE right-lateral strike-slip faults, over an area >200 km wide, in good general agreement with the distribution of the seismic strain rate and associated faulting mechanisms. The modelling results are robust to regional uncertainties in the structure of the lithosphere and have important implications for the earthquake and tsunami hazard of Portugal, SW Spain and Morocco. We predict maximum, long-term average fault slip rates between 1-2 mm yr-1, that is, less than 50 per cent the average plate relative movement, suggesting very long return periods for high-magnitude (Mw > 8) earthquakes on individual structures.publishe

AFLP analysis reveals high genetic diversity but low population structure in Coccidioides posadasiiisolates from Mexico and Argentina

BACKGROUND: Coccidioides immitis and C. posadasii cause coccidioidomycosis, a disease that is endemic to North and South America, but for Central America, the incidence of coccidioidomycosis has not been clearly established. Several studies suggest genetic variability in these fungi; however, little definitive information has been discovered about the variability of Coccidioides fungi in Mexico (MX) and Argentina (AR). Thus, the goals for this work were to study 32 Coccidioides spp. isolates from MX and AR, identify the species of these Coccidioides spp. isolates, analyse their phenotypic variability, examine their genetic variability and investigate the Coccidioides reproductive system and its level of genetic differentiation. METHODS: Coccidioides spp. isolates from MX and AR were taxonomically identified by phylogenetic inference analysis using partial sequences of the Ag2/PRA gene and their phenotypic characteristics analysed. The genetic variability, reproductive system and level of differentiation were estimated using AFLP markers. The level of genetic variability was assessed measuring the percentage of polymorphic loci, number of effective allele, expected heterocygosity and Index of Association (I(A)). The degree of genetic differentiation was determined by AMOVA. Genetic similarities among isolates were estimated using Jaccard index. The UPGMA was used to contsruct the corresponding dendrogram. Finally, a network of haplotypes was built to evaluate the genealogical relationships among AFLP haplotypes. RESULTS: All isolates of Coccidioides spp. from MX and AR were identified as C. posadasii. No phenotypic variability was observed among the C. posadasii isolates from MX and AR. Analyses of genetic diversity and population structure were conducted using AFLP markers. Different estimators of genetic variability indicated that the C. posadasii isolates from MX and AR had high genetic variability. Furthermore, AMOVA, dendrogram and haplotype network showed a small genetic differentiation among the C. posadasii populations analysed from MX and AR. Additionally, the I(A) calculated for the isolates suggested that the species has a recombinant reproductive system. CONCLUSIONS: No phenotypic variability was observed among the C. posadasii isolates from MX and AR. The high genetic variability observed in the isolates from MX and AR and the small genetic differentiation observed among the C. posadasii isolates analysed, suggest that this species could be distributed as a single genetic population in Latin America