Beyond the straight path: obstacles and progress for atheism in Turkey

Having long inspired Middle Eastern countries attempting to pursue a secular government while maintaining Islam as a reference, Turkey is often described as a bridge between civilizations; a functional blend of East and West, preserving the best of both worlds. However, a closer look will reveal a contemporary struggle for women’s rights, freedom of speech and freedom of belief – or, more specifically in the case of belief, the freedom to express a lack thereof. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, representing the conservative Justice and Development Party (AKP) in power since 2002, has been internationally criticized for allegedly attempting to build a Neo-Ottoman Era, in which international human rights standards would suffer in favor of Islamic principles. However, despite President Erdoğan’s pledge in 2002 to raise generations of devout Muslims, academic author Volkan Ertit claims Turks are walking away from religion: “The prohibition of selling alcoholic beverages on high-speed trains in Turkey, the desire to ban extramarital sex, the discussion of boys and girls living under the same roof, the statements that the Justice and Development Party is raising a ‘pious generation’…all these are about the relation between the state and religion. But I am talking about the relation between religion and society. Society is not becoming more pious, the political arena is. The two are separate things.” One thus realizes government policy and social behavior are not necessarily interchangeable. In Turkey, they often collide

Pasts returned: archaeological heritage repatriation policy in Turkey and the plans for a future nation

Archaeological heritage repatriation remains a critical topic in international media and raises complex questions surrounding national identity and notions of rightful ownership. Repatriation is defined as the return of an artefact to its country of origin after having been kept under the stewardship of a foreign museum. Over the last decade, Turkey played a central role due to its high number of requests for museums to return artefacts found in the Turkish soil. The case of the request for a Hittite sphinx from the Pergamon Museum in Berlin caused particular distress among European museums, largely because the strategy of the Turkish government to recover the artefact was based on threatening measures, rather than a predisposition for cooperation. This dissertation extends prior work written about the Hittite sphinx case, by shedding light on one particular aspect: the dream for a future Turkey rather than past conflict with Europe. I argue that Turkish archaeological heritage repatriation policy is a crucial tool for the construction of a future nation, and that the Hittite sphinx case is particularly useful for understanding the Turkish dream of acquiring autonomy in the international arena.A repatriação de património arqueológico representa um tema crítico nos media internacionais e levanta questões complexas sobre identidades nacionais e a noção de legítima propriedade. Repatriação define-se como a devolução de um artefacto ao seu país de origem após ter estado sob o cuidado de um museu estrangeiro. Ao longo da última década, a Turquia ocupou o núcleo da discussão devido ao seu elevado número de pedidos de restituição de artefactos de origem turca, actualmente expostos em museus de todo o mundo. O caso da devolução de uma esfinge Hitita pelo Museu Pergamon em Berlim causou particular agitação entre os museus europeus, uma vez que a estratégia por parte do governo turco foi largamente baseada em medidas ameaçadoras, não numa predisposição para cooperação. Este estudo dá continuidade a investigação anterior sobre o caso da esfinge Hitita, focando um aspecto particular: o sonho de uma futura Turquia, não de um passado conflituoso com a Europa. Esta dissertação argumenta que as políticas turcas de repatriação de património arqueológico são uma ferramenta crucial para a construção de uma futura nação, e que o caso da esfinge Hitita é particularmente útil para entender o sonho turco de adquirir autonomia na arena internaciona

Organizational Characteristics and Performance of Export Promotion Agencies: Portugal and Ireland compared

Export Promotion Agencies (EPAs) have been in operation in developed countries since the beginning of the 20th century to improve the competitiveness of firms by increasing knowledge and competences applied to export market development. Some studies exists on the influence of organizational characteristics on EPAs’ performance, but, to the best of our knowledge, no studies have yet been conducted that analyze, detail and explain which of the EPAs’ organizational characteristics are associated to their differing levels of success. In the present paper we compare a laggard (Portuguese) and a highly efficient (Irish) EPA in terms of export promotion. A questionnaire was applied to the employees of the two EPAs who deal directly with firms in terms of exports promotion. Using the non-parametric test of Kruskal Wallis and factor analysis we found that there are clear differences between the agencies regarding organizational dimensions. In particular, Agência para o Investimento e Comércio Externo de Portugal (AICEP) emerges as an organization without any clear component of intentionality, being more concerned with internal matters rather than with actions directed at the market. In contrast, Enterprise Ireland (EI)’s philosophy is more market-oriented and taking the clients’ needs into consideration is a priority.Export Promotion Agencies; Organizational Performance; Portugal; Ireland

Corporate governance practices in Portugal

Corporate governance is not a new topic but has become more relevant in the last years due to the financial crisis of 2008, when diverse companies went to bankruptcy, and investor’s protection was weakened. Thus, diverse countries have revised corporate governance mechanisms and recommendations to restore the confidence of investors and the transparency of companies’ financial reports. This work aims to explain the evolution of corporate governance practices in Portugal. We provide information on corporate governance’ legal framework. Then we explain ownership structures and board of directors’ and directors’ remuneration practices. Shareholders’ rights and activism are also explained. Finally, we linked the topic of corporate governance and companies’ performance and social responsibility. This work contributes to increasing literature review on corporate governance practices, by presenting the evolution of corporate governance practices in a specific country, Portugal.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Operacionalização de Técnicas de Mudança Comportamental em Agentes Conversacionais

Trabalho de projeto do mestrado, Informática, Universidade de Lisboa, Faculdade de Ciências, 2022As intervenções no âmbito de mudança comportamental concretizadas através de aplicações de saúde eletrónica e móvel (eHealth e mHealth) estão a revolucionar as maneiras pelas quais os indivíduos podem monitorizar e melhorar os seus comportamentos e cuidados de saúde, melhorando os resultados, a experiência do paciente, e reduzindo custos. Partindo do trabalho realizado no âmbito do projeto VASelfCare, focado no uso de técnicas de mudança comportamental bem estabelecidas numa intervenção mHealth baseada num agente conversacional, este trabalho propõe uma nova arquitetura para o design de agentes conversacionais no âmbito de uma intervenção de mudança comportamental. Esta nova abordagem procura ultrapassar algumas das limitações apresentadas pelo agente precedente, combinando o uso de uma plataforma de linguagem natural avançada (Dialogflow) com a representação explícita, numa ontologia, de como as técnicas de mudança comportamental podem ser operacionalizadas. E exposto o modo de conceção e integração destes dois componentes no sistema, bem como o aspeto mais desafiador de utilizar os recursos avançados da plataforma de forma que permita ao agente conduzir o fluxo do diálogo e recorrer ao módulo de conhecimento externo, quando necessário. Foi construída uma prova de conceito bem-sucedida, que pretende servir de base para o desenvolvimento de agentes conversacionais avançados, combinando ferramentas de linguagem natural com representação de conhecimento baseado numa ontologia.Behavior change interventions delivered through eHealth and mHealth applications are revolutionizing the ways in which individuals can monitor and improve their behaviors and health care, improving outcomes, the overall patient experience, and reducing costs. Based on the work carried out within the scope of the VASelfCare project, focused on the use of well-established behavior change techniques in an mHealth intervention based on a conversational agent, this work proposes a new architecture for the design of conversational agents within the scope of a behavior change intervention. This new approach seeks to overcome some of the limitations presented by the previous agent, combining the use of an advanced natural language platform (Dialogflow) with the explicit representation, in an ontology, of how behavior change techniques can be operationalized. It’s exposed the process of designing and integrating these two components into the system, as well as the most challenging aspect of using the advanced features of the platform in a way that would allow the agent to conduct the dialogue flow and use the external knowledge module, when necessary. A successful proof of concept was built, which aims to serve as base for the development of advanced conversational agents, combining natural language tools with ontology based knowledge representation

Presenças góticas na literatura infantil norte-americana contemporânea

A Literatura Gótica tem por função representar o lado mais negro do ser humano, e por esse motivo é considerada inapropriada para a criança, que simboliza o lado bom da sociedade. Propor que a Literatura Infantil Contemporânea, escrita na América do Norte, seja influenciada pela Literatura Gótica pode, por esse motivo, surgir como um empreendimento ilógico. No entanto, durante as últimas décadas, um número cada vez maior de críticos literários tem-se dedicado a explorar as conexões entre estes dois géneros, supostamente espetros opostos da literatura. O Gótico, na verdade, complementa a Literatura Infantil, criando um lugar único para a criança explorar o mundo de um modo seguro e enriquecedor - ao mesmo tempo descobrindo mais, não só sobre o que reside lá fora, mas também sobre o que reside dentro de si; ABSTRACT: Gothic Presences in Contemporary North American Children’s Literature - Gothic Literature deals with the dark side of the human being, and for that reason it is considered inappropriate for the child, who represents the good side of society. To propose that Contemporary Children’s Literature, written in North America, is influenced by Gothic Literature may, for such reason, appear as a foolish endeavor. However, over the last decades, a growing number of literary critics has devoted itself to explore the connections between these two genres, supposedly opposing spectra of literature. The Gothic actually complements Children’s Literature, providing a unique space for the child to explore the world in a safe and enriching way – at the same time discovering more about not only what lies out there, but what lies within