Searching for a new model of governance in the high seas: Game theory applied to international commons management

In the last decade, the United Nations took important steps for the creation of a new instrument for biodiversity protection in areas beyond national jurisdiction. This put under discussion the central issues of international commons management and of the governance model for the High Seas. The aim of this paper is to discuss and evaluate critically the political negotiations already made and yet to come, as well as their rationale. For this purpose, the paper applies game theory to fisheries management to get insights. This research aims to contribute toward more qualified and grounded decisions. The key role of cooperation in the sustainable use of common resources is stressed.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Seismic strengthening of beam-column joints with multidirectional CFRP laminates

An experimental program was carried out to analyse the potentialities of a technique based on the use of multidirectional CFRP laminates (MDL-CFRP) for the seismic repair and strengthening of reinforced concrete (RC) beam-column joints. This experimental program comprises cyclic tests on three full-scale RC joints, representative of interior beam-column connections in buildings. The joints were initially submitted to a cyclic test inducing a damage pattern representative of a seismic event. Subsequently, they were repaired and strengthened with MDL-CFRP. The strengthened joints were then tested for the same loading history of the original ones up to their failure. The adopted strengthening technique uses the MDL-CFRP that are simultaneously glued and anchored to the concrete surfaces. This technique is called Mechanically Fastened and Externally Bonded Reinforcement (MF-EBR). In the present study, the effectiveness of two different strengthening configurations was investigated. The tests are described and the main results are presented and analyzed

<i>Schistosoma mansoni</i> cercariae experience influx of macromolecules during skin penetration

We have observed that when cercariae penetrate the skin of mice, there is influx into their tissues of Lucifer Yellow and certain labelled molecules of up to 20 kDa molecular weight. This observation was made using a variety of fluorescent membrane-impermeant compounds injected into the skin before the application of cercariae. This unexpected phenomenon was investigated further by transforming cercariae in vitro in the presence of the membrane-impermeant compounds and examining the distribution by microscopy. In schistosomula derived from this procedure, the nephridiopore and surface membrane were labelled while the pre- and post-acetabular glands were not labelled. The region associated with the oesophagus within the pharyngeal muscle clearly contained the fluorescent molecules, as did the region adjacent to the excretory tubules and the germinal mass. We used cercariae stained with carmine to aid identification of regions labelled with Lucifer Yellow. Although the mechanism of this influx is unclear, the observation is significant. From it, we can suggest an hypothesis that, during skin penetration, exposure of internal tissues of the parasite to external macromolecules represents a novel host-parasite interfac

Applications of game theory to natural resources management: the case of High Seas fisheries

Property rights are in the center of fisheries management difficulties. The problem becomes more complex when fisheries are transboundary by nature. Extended Fisheries Jurisdiction gave the coastal states property rights and the potential of a sustainable management of fisheries resources. But, the High Seas remain with a statute where the principle of the “freedom of the seas” is in force. The imprecise definition of use rights in the areas of High Seas adjacent to the EEZs and the consequent difficulties in the management of the straddling stocks, made the origins of a lot of “fish wars”, in the 90s. The U. N. Agreement (1995) on Transboundary Stocks and Highly Migratory Species pretended to be a formula of cooperation among interested states. The purpose of this paper is to survey the important contribution of Game Theory to study this problem of fisheries management and to highlight the possible routes for further research

The fisheries dissipative effect modelling through dynamical systems and chaos theory

It is presented a very simple mathematical model to study the dissipative effect in fisheries, based in dynamical systems and in its approach through chaos theory. Actually, due to constant misconducts, forgetting their consequences and only prosecuting easy profits, the risk of extinction is very real for fisheries resources. From it results the importance of this kind of models.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Environmental sustainability as a dimension of corporate social responsibility: the case of CGD - Caixa Geral de Depósitos / Portugal

According to the 2001 European Commission Green Paper, Social Responsibility conceptualization is associated with the idea of companies deciding, in a voluntary base, to contribute for a fair society and a cleaner environment. The tradition of social intervention in Portugal remounts to the century XV and the foundation of the Mercies. However, environmental goals were never proposed as fundamental objectives in the positioning of corporate social responsibility, given the delay of the industrial development. In spite of the tradition of practice, in informal way, of social protection by the companies of larger dimension, the appearance of “social responsibility” as an autonomous management theme, took, to some enterprises, the interest in environmental subjects, crossing a paternalist vision that put the accent in the relationships with the workers. The CGD is an example of this posture. In 2009, adhered to the Environmental Program of the United Nations for the Finance Sector (UNEP FI) becoming the first Portuguese bank to do part of this program. UNEP FI reflects the recognition of the role of this sector in the promotion of Sustainable Development: market intermediation processes have effects on investment programs and, in indirect way, impacts in the allocation of natural resources and on social tissue evolution. Scientific evidence of climatic change suggests a group of environmental, economic and social impacts, affecting CGD collaborators and customers, all over the world. An economy of smaller emissions of GEE must be built. This reality alters the logic of the economic decision, imposing new models of investment and risk management, at the same time it motivates new markets (renewable energies) and new financial solutions. CGD recognizes this situation as an opportunity and promotes, since 2007, the “Zero Carbon” Program to contribute for the reduction of the environmental impact of their activities and induce good practices to their collaborators, customers and society in general. The purpose of this communication consists of evidencing the perspective of the environmental sustainability that shapes the most general concept of the corporate social responsibility and, through the CGD case, to evaluate the potentialities and fragilities of social responsibility in this domain, in Portugal

Buried dislocation networks designed to organize the growth of III-V semiconductor nanostructures

We first report a detailed transmission electron microscopy study of dislocation networks (DNs) formed at shallowly buried interfaces obtained by bonding two GaAs crystals between which we establish in a controlled manner a twist and a tilt around a k110l direction. For large enough twists, the DN consists of a twodimensional network of screw dislocations accommodating mainly the twist and of a one-dimensional network of mixed dislocations accommodating mainly the tilt. We show that in addition the mixed dislocations accommodate part of the twist and we observe and explain slight unexpected disorientations of the screw dislocations with respect to the k110l directions. By performing a quantitative analysis of the whole DN, we propose a coherent interpretation of these observations which also provides data inaccessible by direct experiments. When the twist is small enough, one screw subnetwork vanishes. The surface strain field induced by such DNs has been used to pilot the lateral ordering of GaAs and InGaAs nanostructures during metal-organic vapor phase epitaxy. We prove that the dimensions and orientations of the nanostructures are correlated with those of the cells of the underlying DN and explain how the interface dislocation structure governs the formation of the nanostructures

A model to choose a management team for a tourism company

In Portugal, many tourism companies deal with a management problem regarding their low dimension and productivity. Therefore, an additional concern must be given to the management model, in order to increase their success. An innovating model is given for a situation in which a hotel aims to choose a management team according to a set of competences and skills to give the company the necessary ability to be competitive and to survive in a very competitive market. This paper aims at presenting, through game theory, a way to have the best choice that allows ordering the potential candidates that will constitute the co-leadership team. This requires a successful team with a renewed co-leadership model of co-leaders.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

Gene identification for the cblD defect of vitamin B12 metabolism

Background Vitamin B12 (cobalamin) is an essential cofactor in several metabolic pathways. Intracellular conversion of cobalamin to its two coenzymes, adenosylcobalamin in mitochondria and methylcobalamin in the cytoplasm, is necessary for the homeostasis of methylmalonic acid and homocysteine. Nine defects of intracellular cobalamin metabolism have been defined by means of somatic complementation analysis. One of these defects, the cblD defect, can cause isolated methylmalonic aciduria, isolated homocystinuria, or both. Affected persons present with multisystem clinical abnormalities, including developmental, hematologic, neurologic, and metabolic findings. The gene responsible for the cblD defect has not been identified. Methods We studied seven patients with the cblD defect, and skin fibroblasts from each were investigated in cell culture. Microcell-mediated chromosome transfer and refined genetic mapping were used to localize the responsible gene. This gene was transfected into cblD fibroblasts to test for the rescue of adenosylcobalamin and methylcobalamin synthesis. Results The cblD gene was localized to human chromosome 2q23.2, and a candidate gene, designated MMADHC (methylmalonic aciduria, cblD type, and homocystinuria), was identified in this region. Transfection of wild-type MMADHC rescued the cellular phenotype, and the functional importance of mutant alleles was shown by means of transfection with mutant constructs. The predicted MMADHC protein has sequence homology with a bacterial ATP-binding cassette transporter and contains a putative cobalamin binding motif and a putative mitochondrial targeting sequence. Conclusions Mutations in a gene we designated MMADHC are responsible for the cblD defect in vitamin B12 metabolism. Various mutations are associated with each of the three biochemical phenotypes of the disorder

Inverse analysis procedures for elastoplastic parameter identification using combined optimisation strategies

Ensuring accurate and efficient models for the representation of the elastoplastic behaviour of sheet metals is one of the main issues in manufacturing simulation processes. Nowadays, there are a few solid numerical methodologies for predicting the material parameters from full-field strain measurements using digital image correlation (DIC) techniques. External methods, such as the Finite Element Model Updating (FEMU), search for the parameter set that minimises the gap between the experimental and numerical observations. In these methods, a total separation between the experimental and the numerical data occurs. Equilibrium methods, such as the Virtual Fields Method (VFM), search for the parameter set that balances the internal and external work according to the principle of virtual work, where the internal work is calculated using the constitutive model applied to the experimental strain field [1-5]. Both described methods are still expensive and non-robust, which is closely related with the adopted single-stage optimisation strategies. Such optimisation strategies can undergo problems of initial solution’s dependence, non-uniqueness of solution, local and premature convergence, physical constraints violation, etc. Therefore, the choice of an optimisation algorithm is not straightforward. The aim of this work is to implement and analyse advanced optimisation strategies with sequential, parallel and hybrid approaches in a parameter identification problem using both the VFM and the FEMU methods. The performance of a gradient least-squares (GLS) optimisation algorithm, a metaheuristic (MH) algorithm and their combination is compared. Moreover, the definition of the objective functions of both VFM and FEMU methods is discussed in the framework of optimisation.publishe