448 research outputs found

    Minimal Projections : evidence from defective constructions in European Portuguese

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    This article discusses some of the problems generated by the proliferation of functional categories. Empirical evidence is presented favoring approaches according to which functional categories are only projected if necessary either to create hosts for lexical nuclei or to satisfy subcategorization properties of specific verb classes. The empirical arguments come from the following defective constructions in European Portuguese: adverbs in simple declarative sentences; complements of causative verbs in clause-union contexts; and topicalization constructions.Aquest article discuteix alguns dels problemes generats per la proliferació de categories funcionals. Es presenta evidència empírica en favor d'anàlisis segons les quals les categories funcionals només es projecten quan són necessàries, sigui per crear hostes per als nuclis lèxics o per satisfer les propietats de subcategorització de classes específiques de verbs. Els argumens empírics provenen de les següents construccions defectives del portuguès europeu: adverbis en oracions declaratives simples; complements de verbs causatius en contextos d'unió de clàusula; i construccions de topicalització

    The Role of Translation in the Construction of Nordic Noir and Nordic Culture in Portugal and Brazil

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    This thesis contains some material that has already been published in an article “Scandi Noir in Portuguese: in pursuit of textual transits” published in Translation Matters vol. 3 nº 1 Spring 2021, with the publisher’s full consent.O objetivo deste trabalho de investigação é examinar a disseminação da cultura nórdica e da literatura Nordic noir em Portugal e no Brasil no período de 1965-2019, para assim determinar o papel que a tradução pode ter desempenhado neste processo. Desta forma, esta tese identifica as trajetórias de circulação das traduções dos romances policiais escandinavos para português europeu e português brasileiro, bem como o possível envolvimento de línguas intermediarias e da influência dos diferentes agentes envolvidos neste processo. A primeira parte da tese descreve a literatura académica existente, na qual foi possível identificar várias lacunas sobre o tema de pesquisa. Com base na literatura relevante e no posicionamento de Portugal e do Brasil no sistema mundial de tradução, segundo o modelo de Heilbron (1999), conseguiu-se recolher conhecimentos sobre a dinâmica do sistema de tradução, com base na análise do fluxo internacional de tradução de obras literárias. Desta forma, foi demonstrado que este processo, inevitavelmente, envolvia traduções diretas e indiretas. Seguiu-se então uma pesquisa empírica que permitiu mapear e analisar os fluxos de tradução entre as línguas escolhidas para este trabalho de pesquisa. Os métodos de investigação usados foram quantitativos e qualitativos e permitiram compreender o significado da tradução indireta no processo de tradução, assim como o papel de outros agentes. Estes métodos, também, forneceram mais informações sobre o tempo que uma tradução de romances Nordic noir demora a ser publicada e como isto pode ter sido afetado pelo “efeito de Stieg Larsson” (Kärrholm, 2013). A análise comparativa de textos de dois estudos de caso demonstrou, também, até que ponto a língua intermediária pode afetar o texto alvo, confirmando assim o importante papel que a tradução indireta tem no processo de tradução. Os resultados obtidos a partir da investigação empírica contribuíram para uma compreensão mais abrangente sobre como as práticas de tradução influenciam a disseminação de romances policiais escandinavos, principalmente nestes dois países de língua portuguesa.The purpose of this thesis is to examine the dissemination of Nordic culture and Nordic noir literature in Portugal and Brazil in the period 1965-2019 in order to determine the role translation may have played in this process. Therefore, this thesis traces the interlingual transit routes taken by Scandinavian crime fiction as it made its way into European and Brazilian Portuguese, as well as the possible involvement of intermediary languages and the influence of different agents involved in this process. The first part of the thesis describes the scholarship that already exists on this subject, which reveals several significant lacunae. Drawing on these background sources and Portugal and Brazil’s positioning in the world-system of translation according to Heilbron’s model (1999), relevant insights were gathered with regards to the dynamics of the translation system by analysing the international flow of translated work. This demonstrated that this process inevitably involved direct and indirect translations. The second part involved mapping and analysing the translation flows between the language combinations of this study. The qualitative and quantitative research methods used provided an understanding of the significance of indirect translation in the translation process, and of the role of other agents in this. The research methods also provided more insights on delay in the translation of these Nordic noir novels and how this may have been affected by the so-called “Stieg Larsson effect” (Kärrholm, 2013). The contrastive textual analysis of two case studies also demonstrated the extent to which the intermediary language can affect the target text thus confirming the important role of indirect translation. The results obtained from the empirical research provided a more comprehensive understanding of the manner in which translation practices influence the dissemination of Scandinavian crime fiction in these two Portuguese speaking countries

    Influence of umbrella pine (Pinus pinea L.) stand type and tree characteristics on cone production

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    Most umbrella pine (Pinus pinea L.) stands are managed as agroforestry systems, whose main production is fruit, due to the edible and highly nutritious kernels, and are frequently associated to natural or seeded pastures and grazing. The stands have low density, in order to enhance crown growth and fruit production. Nevertheless, cone production, both with regard to number and weight, varies greatly between stands, trees and years. In this study were selected three agroforestry systems, representative of umbrella pine stands whose main production is fruit, and one stand representative of the timber production system, where fruit is the secondary production. It was evaluated the variability in cone production as a function of the tree’s diameter at breast height and crown diameter and the individual tree’s competition status. The results indicate that stands managed in agroforestry systems with lower competition and individuals with larger diameter at breast height and crown diameter tend to produce more and heavier cones per tree. The first two principal components of the principal component analysis explain 84 % of the variance in cone production, trees’ dimensions and competition index. Tree competition status has a negative impact on production per tree

    Inhibitory Properties of Phenolic Compounds Against Enzymes Linked with Human Diseases

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    Some drugs currently used are inhibitors of enzymes involved in mediating many disease processes. Concerns over the toxicity and side effects of synthetic enzyme inhibitors have led to a search for new safe and effective inhibitors particularly from natural sources. Owing to their wide range of biological effects, plant phenolic compounds are one of the most studied families of natural products. This chapter aims to provide an overview of the potential of phenolic compounds as enzyme inhibitors. Extensive research has been conducted to study the enzyme inhibitory capacity of many phenolic compounds against several enzymes linked with important human conditions. Investigations conducted are mainly focused on the inhibition of angiotensin I-converting enzyme, α-amylase and α-glucosidase, lipase, cholinesterases, proinflammatory enzymes (cyclooxygenases and 5-lipoxygenase) and tyrosinase, which are related with hypertension, type II diabetes, obesity, Alzheimer’s diseases, inflammation and skin hyperpigmentation, respectively. Overall, among phenolics, flavonoids are probably those with great capacity to inhibit the activity of the enzymes revised. Several studies demonstrated the potent antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties of flavonoids, which highlight the therapeutic potential of these compounds. Although our literature survey showed that a huge number of phenolic compounds have been studied and there are some promising compounds depending on the enzyme, more in vivo tests and subsequent steps to be a drug candidate are required before therapeutic application

    Production of Plant Secondary Metabolites by Using Biotechnological Tools

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    Plants are a remarkable source of high-value secondary metabolites with applications in various domains. Plant cell and tissue culture techniques appear as environmentally friendly alternatives for the production of secondary metabolites when natural supply is limited or chemical synthesis is unviable. In this chapter, the main advantages of using plant cell and tissue culture techniques for the production of plant secondary metabolites are presented as well as the different biotechnological approaches available to improve their production. In addition, the production of anticancer compounds (camptothecin, podophyllotoxin, taxol, vinblastibe, and vincristine) and metabolites from Lamiaceae spp. (phenolics as rosmarinic acid) were selected as examples to be highlighted. The study reviewed shows that undifferentiated cells are the preferred culture system used for the production of high-value secondary metabolites in vitro although there are many examples reporting the production in differentiated tissues particularly in hairy roots. Efforts have been made to scale up the production, and several strategies have been successfully applied to increase the production yields at the laboratorial scale. Nevertheless, there are only few examples of plant secondary metabolites production at commercial level, and further in-depth studies are still required

    Aplicação de análise térmica (DSC) na identificação e caracterização de materiais têxteis

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    A identificação de fibras é uma necessidade constante quer a nível de investigação quer industrial e é feita através de um conjunto de ensaios que implicam grande consumo de tempo e recursos e que incluem tais como a observação microscópica, comportamento ao calor e à chama, ponto de fusão, solubilidade, testes de coloração, índice de refração e massa volúmica. O presente trabalho pretende analisar a utilização da calorimetria diferencial de varrimento (DSC) na identificação e caracterização de fibras têxteis. As características dos materiais que podem ser identificadas usando análises térmicas, incluem a temperatura de transição vítrea; cristalinidade; temperatura de fusão; temperatura de cristalização a frio; processos térmicos associados à libertação de água e degradação térmica [1,2,3]. Neste trabalho, serão apresentados vários casos práticos, sobre a aplicação desta técnica analítica nas fibras naturais e sintéticas. Um dos estudos realizados refere-se à identificação de fibras naturais, como o algodão e sintéticas, como a poliamida. É também descrita a caracterização de polímeros modificados, em que um dos exemplos se refere à caracterização do poli (álcool de vinilo) (PVA) modificado por indução fotoquímica na presença de um iniciador (Fig 1).This work is also funded by FEDER funds through the Competivity Factors Operational Programme - COMPETE and by national funds through FCT – Foundation for Science and Technology within the scope of the project POCI-01-0145-FEDER-00713

    Reliability, measurement error and construct validity of four proprioceptive tests in patients with chronic idiopathic neck pain

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    Background: There are different neck proprioceptive tests that are believed to be targeting different sources of proprioceptive information. Objective: To assess the reliability, measurement error, discriminative validity and convergent validity of four proprioceptive tests (head repositioning to neutral – HRNT, torsion test - TT, head repositioning to 30° rotation – HR30T and figure of eight relocation test – F8T) in individuals with chronic idiopathic neck pain and asymp- tomatic individuals. A secondary aim was to assess the divergent validity of these tests by correlating them against measures of disability, pain catastrophizing and fear of movement. Design: – Reliability and validity study. Methods: – 66 participants (33 with chronic neck pain and 33 asymptomatic) were assessed using four pro- prioceptive tests, pain catastrophizing scale, neck disability index, tampa scale of kinesiophobia and visual analogue scale. Results: Proprioceptive tests showed moderate to good reliability (ICC: 0.55 to 0.85), but high measurement error. All tests but the HR30T were significantly different between participants with and without neck pain (p < 0.05). Only the HRNT showed an area under the curve above 0.5 (AUC95% CI = 0.51; 0.78, p ≤ 0.042). Between test correlations ranged between 0.35 and 0.61 and correlations between proprioceptive tests and catastrophizing, fear of movement and disability were, in general, lower than 0.3. Conclusion: The four proprioceptive tests showed reliability and measurement errors good enough for group comparisons but of limited utility for individual comparisons. They seem to measure related but dissimilar constructs and the HRNT seemed better at discriminating individuals with and without NP and easier to perform in clinical practice.publishe

    International Jurisdiction in Cross-Border Infringement of Personality Rights

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    The legal provision applicable to determine the jurisdiction to decide claims regarding the cross-border infringement of personality rights is Article 7, Section 2, of Regulation (EU) No 1215/2012 on jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters (Brussels Ia). Article 7, Section 2, gives jurisdiction in non-contractual matters to the court of the place where the harmful event occurred or may occur. Called to interpret the concept of place where the harmful event occurred, the ECJ was forced to make an interpretative effort in case of online infringement of personality rights. It was so, because the information that is placed online can be accessed in any country. The offenses that occur on the Internet can have a global reach and cause damage with greater geographical extension and repercussions in the legal sphere of the victim, especially due to the geographical wide location of its users. The aim of this study is to highlight the latest trends of the Court of Justice of the European Union regarding this topic.&nbsp

    Antioxidant activity and inhibitory effect of L. viridis extract on Fe2+-induced lipid peroxidation in brain homogenates

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    The brain is particularly susceptible to oxidative stress damaging effects due such events as the high consumption of oxygen, limited concentration of antioxidants and a relatively high degree of polyunsaturated fatty acids that are particularly good substrates for peroxidation reactions [1–3]. Oxidative stress could lead to damage biological target molecules, affecting the cellular function and integrity [4]. The ability of natural antioxidants, mainly phenolic compounds, to protect cells from oxidative stress has been previously demonstrated [5]. In this work, the methanol extract from Lavandula viridis L'Hér. (Lamiaceae), a xerophytic aromatic shrub endemic to the south-west Iberian Peninsula [6], was investigated for its effect on deoxyribose degradation, its reducing properties, Fe2+-chelating ability and total phenol content. The capacity of this extract to prevent Fe2+-induced lipid peroxidation in mouse brain (in vitro) was also evaluated. L. viridis extract showed Fe2+ chelating activity, reducing power and the ability to prevent Fe2+/H2O2-induced decomposition of deoxyribose in a dose-dependent manner. This extract also revealed a high phenol content (893.01±17.09µmol gallic acid equivalents/g extract) evaluated by Folin-Ciocalteu method. Moreover, in brain homogenates, the methanol extract of L. viridis caused a high decrease in the MDA production in both the basal and the Fe2+-induced lipid peroxidation. The effective protective properties of L. viridis could be attributed to its higher phenol content, Fe2+ chelating ability, reducing properties and HO· radical scavenging ability. The findings suggest that methanol extract from L. viridis could be a potential source of natural antioxidants

    Impacto do Projeto “Turmas Mais Sucesso” ao nível da Instrução, da Estimulação e da Socialização dos Alunos

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    Este artigo sintetiza um estudo de caso realizado na Escola Secundária do Castêlo da Maia (ESCM), que investigou o impacto que o projeto de combate ao insucesso escolar denominado “Turmas Mais Sucesso” (TSM) teve sobre a instrução, a estimulação e a socialização dos alunos de baixo rendimento. O projeto, desenvolvido no terreno desde 2006-07, tem por base uma metodologia de constituição de turmas do ensino básico assente na análise cuidada do historial escolar do aluno, agrupando na mesma turma os alunos com difi culdades anteriores a três disciplinas fundamentais: Português, Matemática e Inglês. Esta opção de constituir turmas relativamente “homogéneas” traduz uma aposta nem sempre consensual na investigação educacional. Mas, como os resultados do estudo o evidenciam, o sucesso nestas turmas foi potenciado por um conjunto de fatores conjugados de ordem pedagógico-didática, administrativa e de recursos humanos. No que respeita ao impacto do projeto sobre os resultados da instrução dos alunos, é forçoso concluir que o mesmo foi um sucesso, uma vez que nenhum aluno fi cou retido no fi nal do ciclo, tendo esta dimensão sido avaliada positivamente por todos os intervenientes. Em relação à estimulação, embora o resultado global seja positivo, há menor convergência de opiniões concordantes e são os professores quem avalia menos positivamente este aspeto. O impacto do projeto na socialização dos alunos é avaliado positivamente por todos os intervenientes, exceto pelos professores que avaliam menos favoravelmente alguns dos indicadores desta dimensão
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