Cycles in Politics: Wavelet Analysis of Political Time-Series

Spectral analysis and ARMA models have been the most common weapons of choice for the detection of cycles in political time-series. Controversies about cycles, however, tend to revolve about an issue that both techniques are badly equipped to address: the possibility of irregular cycles without fixed periodicity throughout the entire time-series. This has led to two main consequences. On the one hand, proponents of cyclical theories have often dismissed established statistical techniques. On the other hand, proponents of established techniques have dismissed the possibility of cycles without fixed periodicity. Wavelets allow the detection of transient and coexisting cycles and structural breaks in periodicity. In this paper, we present the tools of wavelet analysis and apply them to the study to two lingering puzzles in the political science literature: the existence to cycles in election returns in the United States and in the severity of major power wars.

Synchronism in Electoral Cycles: How United are the United States?

The role of national, sectional, state, and local forces in driving electoral outcomes in the United States has remained a matter of considerable indeterminacy in the American politics literature. In what concerns House elections, different approaches and methods have yielded widely divergent results. In what concerns presidential elections, considerable doubts remain about the timing and the plausible causes of a long-term trend towards homogeneity. In this paper, we take a new look at the nationalization of politics in the United States. We are particularly interested in the dynamic nationalization in presidential elections, i.e., the extent to which swings and shifts from one election to the next have been similar across states and whether or not that similarity has increased through time. We treat this problem as one of similarity or dissimilarity — and convergence or divergence of — electoral cycles, and use wavelets analysis in order to ascertain the degree to which the national and state election cycles have been synchronized and the degree to which that synchronization has increased or decreased. We determine, first, the states where electoral change has been more in sync with the national cycle and clusters of states defined in terms of the mutual synchronization of their own electoral cycles. Second, we analyze how the degree of synchronization of electoral cycles in the states has changed through time, answering questions as to when, to what extent, and where has the tendency towards a “universality of political trends” in presidential elections been more strongly felt. We present evidence strongly in favor of an increase in the dynamic nationalization of presidential elections taking place in the 1950s, showing that alternative interpretations concerning the historical turning point in this respect are not supported by empirical evidence.

A spider's bit(e): how far are we from becoming spidermen?

I am a biotechnologist who recently earned a Ph.D. degree in molecular biology and genetics. Although I have always worked with bacteria, I believe knowledge is transversal to the life sciences, through every level of complexity with the due scalability, never underestimating the power of learning from the small things. My research has always been focused on finding new alternatives to overcome current health challenges. Every day, I get the chance to observe that fiction and science are more alike than we might think. It is often only a matter of time.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

Xanthomonas campestris pv. campestris race 1 is the main causal agent of black rot of Brassicas in Southern Mozambique

Severe outbreaks of bacterial black rot caused by Xanthomonas campestris pv. campestris (Xcc) were observed in Brassica production fields of Southern Mozambique. The causal agent of the disease in the Mahotas and Chòkwé districts was identified and characterised. In total, 83 Xanthomonas-like strains were isolated from seed samples and leaves of cabbage and tronchuda cole with typical symptoms of the disease. Forty-six out of the 83 strains were found to be putative Xcc in at least one of the tests used: Classical biochemical assays, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) with monoclonal antibodies, Biolog identification system, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) with specific primers and pathogenicity tests. The ELISA tests were positive for 43 strains. Biolog identified 43 strains as Xanthomonas, but only 32 as Xcc. PCR tests with primers targeting a fragment of the hrpF gene were positive for all 46 strains tested. Three strains were not pathogenic or weakly pathogenic and all other strains caused typical black rot symptoms in brassicas. Race type differentiation tests revealed the Xcc strains from Mozambique as members of race 1. The prevalence of this pathogenic race of the Xcc pathogen in Mozambique should be considered when black rot resistant cultivars are evaluated or introduced into the production regions of this country

O diálogo intercultural como fonte de inspiração de vestuário de moda : uma experiência académica

Sendo 2008 o Ano Europeu do Diálogo Intercultural, entenderam-se criadas as condições para um desafio de design de moda. Desafio que se traduz na proposta aos alunos de Design de Vestuário de desenvolvimento de uma mini-colecção de vestuário de moda que explorasse o tema, visando conjugar os diversos aspectos culturais presentes numa Europa cada vez mais global através da música como linguagem universal. Este projecto, procurou dar aos alunos ferramentas que lhes permitam conjugar outros elementos estéticos inspiradores, além das tendências de moda, no desenvolvimento de produtos diferenciados e de potencial sucesso no mercado.Being 2008 the European Year of the Intercultural Dialogue, the conditions for a great challenge of fashion design had been created. This challenge is translated in a proposal to the students of Clothing Design to develop a mini-collection of fashion clothes that explores the above subject, integrating of the diverse cultural aspects present in an increasingly global Europe, using music as a universal communication language. This project aimed at providing tools that allow pupils to integrate other inspirational aesthetic elements, besides fashion trends, in the development of differentiated products with potential success in the fashion market

Designing multifunctional textile fashion products

In ours days we are watching an increasing demand for highly differentiated products with a significant added value, that simultaneously consider issues such as easy to use, comfort, flexibility in wearing and fashionable look. In this group of products are the multifunctional fashion clothing’s. These products allow different uses in different scenarios, such as adaptation to diverse social situations, weather conditions, etc. The present paper looks at the key elements in the development of multifunctional concepts, proposing their integration in a design methodology for the development of multifunctional textile fashion products. We also present a couple of academic projects that support the proposed methodology

The relationship between responsible leadership and organizational citizenship behavior in the hospitality industry

The purpose of this study is to explore the mediating role of the perception of social responsibility, and organizational identification, in the relationship between responsible leadership and organizational citizenship behavior in the hospitality industry. A questionnaire was answered by 214 frontline employees of four and five-star hotels, in the north of Portugal. Results indicate that there is a mediation model, which uses the effect of the perception of social responsibility and organizational identification in the relationship between responsible leadership and organizational citizenship behaviors. This study is a first attempt to propose a parallel multiple mediator model that explores the effect of hotel frontline employees’ perceptions of the importance of social responsibility, as well as the effect of employees’ identification with the organization, both of which act as mediators in the relationship between responsible leadership and OCB in the hospitality industry

Determinants of Portuguese Exports to Spain: An analysis at the enterprise level

This study examines the evolution of Portuguese exports to Spain and its determinants in the period 2004-2008, based on a sample of the 97 largest exporters to Spain. The study uses various economic and financial indicators to characterize these companies and comparison is made between the sample's five largest companies and five of the small and medium enterprises (SMEs). The analysis highlights the geographic concentration of companies in the districts of Porto and Aveiro and the better performance of large enterprises in terms of productivity, return on equity and average salary compared to SMEs. The econometric study, using panel data, considers as theoretically relevant explanatory variables the gross added value, net income, equity, the size of the company, the remuneration and expenditure onresearch and development (R&D). The results of the estimated model confirm the positive influence of these variables on the variation of exports, although the expenditure on R&D proved to be statistically insignificant.enterprises, exports, panel data, economic and financial indicators, Portugal, Spain.