The Allocation of Resources by Interest Groups: Lobbying, Litigation and Administrative Regulation

One of the central concerns about American policy making institutions is the degree to which political outcomes can be influenced by interested parties. While the literature on interest group strategies in particular institutions - legislative, administrative, and legal - is extensive, there is very little scholarship which examines how the interdependencies between institutions affects the strategies of groups. In this paper we examine in a formal theoretical model how the opportunity to litigate administrative rulemaking in the courts affects the lobbying strategies of competing interest groups at the rulemaking stage. Using a resource-based view of group activity, we develop a number of important insights about each stage that cannot be observed by examining each one in isolation. We demonstrate that lobbying effort responds to the ideology of the court, and the responsiveness of the court to resources. In particular, (1) as courts become more biased toward the status quo, interest group lobbying investments become smaller, and may be eliminated all together, (2) as interest groups become wealthier, they spend more on lobbying, and (3) as the responsiveness of courts to resources decreases, the effect it has on lobbying investments depends on the underlying ideology of the court

The Allocation of Resources by Interest Groups: Lobbying, Litigation and Administrative Regulation

One of the central concerns about American policy-making institutions is the degree to which political outcomes can be influenced by interested parties. While the literature on interest group strategies in particular institutions - legislative, administrative, and legal is extensive, there is very little scholarship which examines how the interdependencies between institutions affects the strategies of groups. In this paper we examine in a formal theoretical model, how the opportunity to litigate administrative rulemaking in the courts affects the lobbying strategies of competing interest groups at the rulemaking stage. Using a resource-based view of group activity, we develop a number of important insights about each stage - which cannot be observed by examining each one in isolation. We demonstrate that lobbying effort responds to the ideology of the court, and the responsiveness of the court to resources. In particular, 1) as courts become more biased toward the status quo, interest group lobbying investments become smaller, and may be eliminated all together, 2) as interest groups become wealthier, they spend more on lobbying, and 3) as the responsiveness of courts to resources decreases, the effect it has on lobbying investments depends on the underlying ideology of the court.

Turing - Inter School Programming Contest: Pedagogical Innovation in Programming Teaching for Middle Schools

Turing is an interscholastic tournament that aims at promoting the teaching of informatics, particularly the learning of programming through gamification. It is a competition between secondary schools, organized by teachers of informatics, for their own students. Turing was developed due to the lack of tournaments and competitions organized by teachers in this level of education. By contrast, universities and polytechnic institutes regularly organize programming tournaments, aimed at students of both secondary schools and universities. Given that its Turing is a pilot project, the first edition of the tournament will take place in March 2020 and it will occur simultaneously in three secondary schools. The students who are (voluntarily) enrolled in Turing will have an hour and thirty minutes to solve a set of problems in C programming language via Web, through the E-Learning platform Moodle while using the plugin CodeRunner

From Concept to Policy: Building Regional Innovation Systems in Follower Regions

In the spirit of “The Lisbon strategy”, public policies are redirecting support from investment-driven policies to knowledge building as the main driver for competitiveness and innovation. This re-orientation poses different challenges to regions and RIS concept may be the central element, simultaneously goal and toolbox, for devising innovation promotion policies. The RIS framework stresses the need to combine a systemic and inclusive view of innovation along with territorially embedded specificities. In this paper we explore how to operationalize the concept of RIS in terms of innovation policy, arguing against a “one size fits all” approach. Concentrating our analysis on follower regions, we bridge the concept of RIS with the structural deficiencies and challenges posing to this kind of regions, for which innovation policy should seek an adequate combination between science push and demand pull perspectives. We also address the importance of taking advantage of the catching-up status, building upon R&D cost-advantages and clustering around external initiatives as well as the correction of important constraints to the construction of a RIS.Innovation, Regional Innovation Systems, Innovation Policy, Follower Regions

Manipulação de interações entre proteínas com tratamentos enzimáticos e alta pressão para alterar as propriedades dos alimentos

The demand for proteins is rising and alternatives to animal-based proteins are necessary, either for nutritional or environmental reasons. Plant-based proteins appear as an alternative, however, their techno-functional properties need improvement. High-pressure processing (HPP) is a non-thermal technology that allows modifying proteins’ structure hence allowing to change several of their properties. Enzymes, such as microbial transglutaminase (MTG), can also modify the techno-functional properties of proteins, however, many globular proteins show low susceptibility to the action of this enzyme. HPP, being able to change protein conformation, may be a useful tool to increase the accessibility of proteins to the action of MTG. Nevertheless, HPP conditions need to be carefully optimized to avoid the expected decrease in enzymatic activity when subjected to pressure. Pressure inactivation of MTG under different HPP conditions (200 – 600 MPa; 20 – 40 °C; 10 – 30 min) was evaluated at different pH values. At least 20 % of MTG was inactivated when low pressures (< 300 MPa) were used at pH 4 and 5, whereas a higher pressure (above 400 MPa) was needed to obtain a similar inactivation at pH 6 or 7. MTG pressure-inactivation followed first-order kinetics under all tested conditions. Inactivation rate constants decreased with increasing pressure at constant temperature and pH 4, with a positive activation volume, while the opposite was verified for the other pH values. Both activation energy and volume were dependent on pH. Overall, MTG can be considered relatively resistant to pressure, particularly near its optimal pH. The influence of HPP (200 – 600 MPa; 5 – 15 min) was also evaluated, applied individually or in combination with MTG (up to 30 U·g-1 ), on selected properties of pea (PPI) and soy (SPI) protein isolates with concentrations between 1 and 9 % (w/v). For a protein concentration of 1 % (w/v), HPP increased the protein solubility of both isolates when applied individually. This effect was more pronounced for SPI, particularly at pH 7 and 8. Similarly, the protein surface hydrophobicity also increased with HPP for proteins from both sources, increasing, in general, with increasing pressure and holding time. On the contrary, the content of free sulfhydryl groups decreased with HPP for proteins from both sources. The effects of HPP on the emulsifying properties of the protein isolates, considering both the whole and soluble protein fractions, were dependent on pH and HPP conditions (pressure, holding time). HPP appeared to have minimal effects on the surface tension of both proteins and the general absence of negative effects on emulsifying activity results from HPPinduced protein aggregation effects. On the other hand, MTG individual treatments had no significant effects on the studied properties. For the other protein concentrations studied, HPP increased the solubility of proteins when there were at low initial concentrations, decreasing it when they were in the higher concentration range analysed. Regardless of the concentration, HPP decreased the content of free sulfhydryl groups for pea proteins, however, had the contrary effect on soy proteins. Comparably to the solubility, the surface hydrophobicity increased in low protein concentrations and the contrary was verified in high protein concentrations. MTG decreased solubility and increased the content of free sulfhydryl groups of both proteins. The enzyme decreased the surface hydrophobicity of soy proteins and of the pea proteins, but only when these were within the higher concentration range analysed. When combined, HPP and MTG appear to have antagonistic effects on the solubility and content of free sulfhydryl groups and synergistic effects on viscosity. The obtained results indicate that simultaneous HPP and MTG treatments can be used to modify the proteins’ structure and consequently tailor their techno-functional properties.Verifica-se um crescente aumento da procura por proteínas para satisfazer as necessidades nutricionais da população a nível global, em particular de proteínas vegetais devido a preocupações nutricionais e ambientais. As proteínas de origem vegetal aparecem assim como uma alternativa vantajosa às proteínas de origem animal, no entanto, as suas propriedades tecno-funcionais precisam ser melhor conhecidas e otimizadas. O processamento de alta pressão (AP) é uma tecnologia não térmica que permite modificar a estrutura das proteínas, permitindo alterar várias das suas propriedades. Enzimas, como a transglutaminase microbiana (MTG), também podem modificar as propriedades tecno-funcionais das proteínas, no entanto, muitas proteínas globulares mostram baixa suscetibilidade à ação desta enzima. A AP, capaz de alterar a conformação de proteínas, pode ser uma ferramenta útil para aumentar a acessibilidade das proteínas à ação da MTG. No entanto, as condições de processamento precisam ser adequadamente otimizadas para evitar a diminuição da atividade enzimática quando sujeita a pressão. A inativação da MTG sob diferentes condições de pressão (200 – 600 MPa; 20 – 40 °C; 10 – 30 min) foi avaliada em diferentes valores de pH. Pelo menos 20% da MTG foi inativada quando foram usadas baixas pressões (< 300 MPa) a pH 4 e 5, enquanto foi necessária uma pressão acima de 400 MPa para obter uma inativação semelhante a pH 6 ou 7. A inativação por pressão da MTG seguiu uma cinética de primeira ordem em todas as condições testadas. As constantes cinéticas de inativação diminuíram com o aumento da pressão a uma temperatura constante a pH 4, com um volume de ativação positivo, enquanto o contrário foi verificado para os demais valores de pH. Tanto a energia de ativação quanto o volume de ativação foram dependentes do pH. No geral, a MTG pode ser considerada relativamente resistente à pressão, particularmente próximo do seu pH óptimo. Foi avaliada a influência da pressão (200 – 600 MPa; 5 – 15 min), aplicada individualmente ou em combinação com MTG (até 30 U·g-1 ), sobre propriedades selecionadas de proteínas de ervilha e soja com concentrações entre 1 e 9% (m/v). Para uma concentração de proteína de 1 % (m/v), a AP aumentou a solubilidade da proteína de ambos os isolados quando aplicada individualmente. Da mesma forma, a hidrofobicidade de superfície também aumentou com a AP nas proteínas de ambas as fontes, aumentando, em geral, com o aumento da pressão e do tempo. Pelo contrário, o conteúdo de grupos sulfidrilo livres diminuiu com a pressão nas proteínas de ambas as fontes. O efeito da AP nas propriedades emulsificantes das proteínas, considerando quer a fração total de proteína no isolado, quer a fração solúvel, foi dependente do pH e das condições de AP (pressão, tempo). A AP parece ter efeitos mínimos na tensão superficial de ambas as proteínas e a ausência geral de efeitos negativos na atividade emulsificante resulta dos efeitos de agregação de proteínas induzidas pela AP. Por outro lado, os tratamentos individuais de MTG não produziram efeitos sobre as propriedades estudadas. Para as demais concentrações de proteínas utilizadas, a AP aumentou a solubilidade de dispersões de baixa concentração, diminuindo-a nas mais altas. Independentemente da concentração, a AP diminuiu o conteúdo de grupos sulfidrilo livres para as proteínas de ervilha, no entanto, teve o efeito contrário para as proteínas de soja. Comparativamente à solubilidade, a hidrofobicidade de superfície aumentou para concentrações baixas de proteína e o contrário foi verificado para concentrações altas. A MTG diminuiu a solubilidade e aumentou o conteúdo de grupos sulfidrilo livres de ambas as as proteinas. A enzima diminuiu a hidrofobicidade de superfície de ambas as proteínas quando estas se encontravam em concentração relativamente elevada. Quando combinados, AP e MTG parecem ter efeitos antagonisticos na solubilidade e no conteúdo de grupos sulfidrilo livres e efeitos sinergisticos na viscosidade. Os resultados obtidos indicam que tratamentos simultâneos de AP e MTG podem ser usados para modificar a estrutura das proteínas e consequentemente adaptar suas propriedades tecno-funcionais.Programa Doutoral em Ciência e Tecnologia Alimentar e Nutriçã

Media-Independent Multicast Signalling for Enhanced Video Performance in the MEDIEVAL Project

With the foreseen major increase in video traffic over the coming years, the current Internet’s design is being perceived as inefficient for handling the demanding flow of video over wireless access networks, populated by an ever increasing number of mobile terminals. The MEDIEVAL project aims to evolve the current Internet architecture to provide an optimized video support in all layers of the protocol stack. With its cross-layer approach, abstraction mechanisms such as IEEE802.21 will work as enablers between the different architecture modules. With the widespread diffusion of video being realized over multicast and broadcast channels for resource optimization, using 802.21 signalling to optimize handovers affecting groups of users will generate multiple messages to each individual terminal. In this article, we extend 802.21 to support multicast transport of its signalling, enabling more efficient group handover scenarios.Não há na obra de Eduardo Lourenço propriamente um tópico anticlerical,embora tenha publicado longos e profundos ensaios sobre a Igreja e o Cristianismo,nos quais aborda a situação histórico-cultural destas realidades, e muito especificamente a questão do poder temporal da Igreja nas suas complexas relações históricas com o poder político.(...

Ancient tin production: Slags from the Iron Age Carvalhelhos hillfort (NW Iberian Peninsula)

Provenance and production of tin in the Ancient World has since long been a major topic of discussion among archaeologists. In Western Europe, where significant tin ore (cassiterite) deposits are known, only a few remains of ancient tin production, such as tin slags, have been detected. In the present work, elemental and microstructural analyses by WDXRF, SEM-EDS and XRD were performed on recently recognised tin slags from the Iron Age Carvalhelhos hillfort located in NW Iberia, a territory that represents the largest extension with tin mineralisation in Western Europe. Elemental and microstructural characterisation of cassiterite collected in a pilot field survey in the region of the hillfort are presented and discussed, as well as two ceramic fragments that could be part of a smelting structure and an iron slag from the settlement. Results show that the tin slags have variable but high contents in Sn, similarly to Pre-Medieval tin slags found in other Western European areas, but also high contents of Ta and Nb, which specifically distinguish them from other tin slags, such as those found in SW Britain. Tin ores from the hillfort region frequently have Ta and Nb in cassiterite solid solution or as inclusions of columbite group minerals, relating well with the Carvalhelhos tin slags. Up to present, the Carvalhelhos slags are amongst the very few ancient tin slags known in Western Europe, and their study can contribute to a better knowledge on ancient tin sources and trade routes