Existe um Interesse Comum aos Países Ibéricos?

Nas últimas quatro décadas, Portugal experimentou tais mudanças que vale a pena reflectir sobre as condições de manutenção das bases da nossa identidade singular, como País simultaneamente europeu, mas também de vocação extrovertida e atlântica. Após a adesão europeia conjunta, em 1986, é a crescente implicação económica da nossa relação com Espanha que maior perturbação lança sobre a capacidade de continuarmos a ter uma afirmação social e cultural autónoma como Estado. Este texto defende a relação entre o processo de construção da nossa identidade com o papel de actor global que soubemos jogar, em períodos específicos da nossa história, e que foi também razão para um certo isolamento que Portugal foi construindo em relação a Espanha. Trata das implicações da integração conjunta dos dois países numa Europa em mutação e com crescentes compromissos comuns. Caracteriza as mudanças radicais, no quadro das relações comerciais entre Portugal e Espanha e defende políticas públicas activas e tendentes a criar espaço negocial para a criação de um mercado ibérico, vantajoso para ambas as partes. Reconhece que, nesta relação, tanto há interesses comuns como há interesses específicos de cada um dos dois países e discorre sobre a forma de os reconhecer, salvaguardando o direito e a vantagem de manter as diferenças

The hypersensitive response of Olea europaea L. elicitates by Pseudomonas savastanoi

Poster apresentado no 14th Federation of European Societies for Plant Biology Congress, Cracóvia, Polónia.In plants, the Hypersensitive Response (HR) is an early defense mechanism that is elicited by the recognition of an incompatible pathogen, with the objective of restricting its spread. One of the earliest events in the HR is the rapid and significant increase in Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) levels in the cells. This Oxidative Burst has various consequences, in particular the induction of the synthesis of secondary metabolites like phythoalexins (compounds with anti-microbial activity) and lignin (to reinforce the cell wall), and the triggering of a programmed cell death. We used a previously established in vitro elicitation system to study the interaction between Olea europaea L. and its pathogen Pseudomonas savastanoi, responsible for the olive knot, a disease that drastically affects olive oil production in Portugal. Material and Methods: The in vitro elicitation system used in this work was composed of suspension cell cultures of the resistant Olea europaea variety Galega Vulgar and by an avirulent strain of the pathogen Pseudomonas savastanoi. ROS detection was performed using a modification of the method described by Parsons et al. (1999), lipid peroxidation was measured using the TBA test and phenylalanine ammonia lyase (PAL) activity was evaluated by the quantification of trans-cinnamic acid determined spectrophotometrically at 290 nm. Results and Conclusions: Evaluation of ROS levels show a significant increase in production by the elicitated O. europaea cells, with a pattern typical of incompatible interactions, indicating that the Galega Vulgar variety is in fact resistant to the pathogen. This OB leads to significant cellular damage, illustrated by increased levels of lipid peroxidation. PAL activity also increased in elicitated cells, pointing toward changes in the phenylpropanoid pathway and, therefore, in the production of secondary metabolites. Quantification of lignin and of the total soluble phenolics allowed us to assess these changes. In order to evaluate the programmed cell death of the challenged cells, the T.U.N.E.L. assay was carried out during the time course of elicitation. References: Parsons HL, Yip YHJ, Vanlerberghe GC. 1999. Increased Respiratory Restriction during Phosphate Limited Growth in Transgenic Tobacco Cells Lacking Alternative Oxidase. Plant Physiol 121; 1309-1320. Since the ROS produced in the OB function mainly as an intracellular signal, we studied the effect of Hydrogen peroxide as a signal molecule. Various concentrations of H2O2 were added to suspension cell cultures of O. europaea and PAL activity was measured. The increase in PAL activity when the added concentrations were low indicates that hydrogen peroxide may in fact function as a transduction signal during the HR. Heath RL, Packer L. 1968. Photoperoxidation in isolated chloroplasts. I. Kinetics and stoichiometry of fatty acid peroxidation. Arch Biochem Biophys 125(1); 189-98.Projecto Olea - ref. POCTI/AGR/36239.Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) - grant ref. SFRH/BD/6654/2001

Development of tools for studying Olea europaea: Pseudomonas savastanoi interaction

Poster apresentado no 13th Congress of the Federation of European Societies of Plant Physiology, em 2002, Hersonissos, Creta, GréciaPortugal is one of the main world olive oil producers. Consequently, the culture of olive trees is of considerable importance for our country. In order to maintain and improve our varieties, responses to environmental stresses and pests, which can seriously affect productivity, must be studied, and clones more adapted to challenge stress conditions must be found. One problem that seriously affects Portuguese olive orchards' is olive knot, a disease caused by Pseudomonas savastanoi (Pseudomonas syringae pv savastanoi) which, causing tumours in the stems and leaves of the trees, drastically reduces the production of fruits. Some varieties, like Galega Vulgar, are know to be resistant to the disease, while others, like Cordovil de Serpa, variety are know to be susceptible. With the objective of developing an in vitro system of eliciation of Olea europaea with an avirulent strain of Pseudomonas savastanoi, we have initiated suspension cell cultures of from calli of the variety Galega Vulgar. Cells in middle exponential growth phase were incubated with a suspension of P. savastanoi.Hypersensitive response was studied using XTT (sodium,3’-(1-[phenylamino-carbonyl]-3,4-tetrazolium)-bis(4-methoxy-6-nitro) benzene-sulfonic acid) by the quantification of the perhydroxyl / superoxide (H2O./O2-) radical acid-base pair associated to the oxidative burst, during the time course of elicitation. The results showed the existence of two bursts (100 and 300 min after eliciation), which are characteristic of the HR that occurs in the incompatible interactions). By screening an elicited O. europaea cDNA library a clone encoding phenylalanine ammonia lyase (PAL) was obtained. The coding region was used as probe for evaluate Pal expression levels. The results will be discussed by comparing to variation of PAL activity, during the time course of elicitation.Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) – grant ref. SFRH/BD/6654/2001, Programa Operacional “Ciência, Tecnologia, Inovação” (POCTI) - POCTI / AGR / 36239 / 99-00

Facebook-Twitter acquisition proposal

Social networks have revolutionized the world by reshaping the way people communicate, interact and live. Facebook was the main propeller of this transformation and is still the undisputed market leader. Twitter also presents a wide (even though smaller) user base, which has been experiencing a slow down during the past year, affecting the company’s financials and its stability. Inspired in news and market rumors, this dissertation aims to extensively analyze the potential acquisition of Twitter, Inc. by Facebook, Inc., focusing on (but not limited to) the perspective of the latter. Taking into account the operational specificities of each company and the industry landscape, I valued both companies on a standalone basis and reached a per share DCF (Discounted Cash Flow) value of $104.98 for Facebook and$17.49 for Twitter. The main argument of the dissertation – the viability of this deal – is supported by potential estimated synergies up to $14,133 million (optimistic scenario) to be derived from a combination of both companies. I suggest a bid premium of 51a mixed payment structure composed by 86.6an exchange ratio of 0.23) and 13.4totaling an offer of$27.65 per share. According to my assumptions and the conducted analysis, both parties should seriously consider such deal since it benefits their shareholders

Quantitative study about Portuguese consumers- behaviours and concerns relatively to fast fashion and sustainability

The awareness of the fashion industry's negative impact and concern for the environment have been increasing in the last few years. The complete study aims to understand why Portuguese consumers buy fast fashion if they have environmental sustainability concerns. This specific document includes important group common parts and a specific individual quantitative study about Portuguese consumers’ behaviours and concerns relatively to fast fashion and sustainability. The hypothesis “Portuguese consumers buy fast fashion and have sustainability concerns” was confirmed. Some reasons were raised to answer the question “why”

A igreja e a ordem democrática

A relação da Igreja com a democracia é um percurso histórico, que se inicia com a desconfiança motivada pela incompatibilidade ideológica com os fundamentos com que alguns a quiseram identificar, para mais tarde se aceitar na sua acepção meramente social e recusar como formação partidária. Só depois da I Guerra Mundial, o Vaticano autorizou a existência de católicos deputados, e só depois da II Guerra Mundial surgiram, autorizados por Roma, partidos católicos democráticos ou democratas-cristãos, cuja confessionalidade seria desencorajada pelo Vaticano II que, por sua vez, admite o pluralismo partidário e eleitoral dos católicos, cujas opções política devem pressupor porém um discernimento com base em critérios que resultam da Doutrina Social da Igreja

O Padroado Português no Oriente

1. Origens do Padroado Português2. O Conflito com a Congregação Romana e a Propaganda Fide3. O Cisma de Goa e as Concordatas de 1857 e 18864. A Separação Republicana do Estado e da Igreja e os Acordos de 1928 e 19295. O Acordo Missionário de 19406. Os Problemas do Pós-Guerra7. O fim do Padroad