Giving Out But Not Giving Up: The Port of Lisbon Authority (1907-2005)

This article explores the way government has been managing the antagonism between institutional forces towards efficiency and those towards control in the international seaport of Lisbon. We conclude that the antagonism emerges in the presence of certain institutional forces, like economic downturns and political changes, that stimulate the adoption of new adequate templates. Governments have come to manage this antagonism through the separation between the strategic and operational structures, and by controlling strategic issues while giving operational autonomy. As such, organizational transformations have reflected this way to manage the antagonism. Given the emergence of new institutional templates (e.g. corporate governance) we also identify major challenges governments will face to integrate contradictory institutional forces

Genetic diversity and population structure in the iberian endangered Iberochondrostoma lemmingii (Steindachner, 1866)

Tese de mestrado, Biologia (Biologia da Conservação), 2009, Universidade de Lisboa, Faculdade de CiênciasResumo alargado em português disponível no documentoThe Mediterranean region is considered one of the 25 global hotspots for biodiversity. The south, of the Iberian Peninsula, is part of this hotspot and holds a great number of endemic species, most of which are currently threatened. The genus Iberochondrostoma belonging to the Cyprinidae family is currently represented by four species, all of them threatened. Of these, I. lemmingii is the only one with any type of genetic study for conservation purposes. This species occurs in the Tagus, Guadiana and Guadalquivir large Iberian drainages as well as in the smaller basins of Quarteira, Gilão, Almargem and Odiel. The mitochondrial citochrome b gene and seven microsatellite loci were used to investigate the genetic variability and differentiation of samples from Aravil (Tagus drainage), Caia and Foupana (Guadiana drainage), Almargem and Quarteira (both small Mediterranean type drainages). The obtained results revealed higher levels of genetic variation in I. lemingii than those previously described for other cyprinid species in the south region of Portugal. The Foupana population from the Guadiana basin revealed the higher levels of haplotype diversity and allelic richness and the Quarteira population, presented only one mitochondrial haplotype despite high allelic diversity for microsatellites. Despite a high degree of differentiation between all samples, the population structure for I. lemmingii revealed a strong intra-drainage differentiation as well as some inter-drainage similarities, with the samples from Caia (northern Guadiana drainage) being more similar to the samples from Aravil (Tagus drainage) than to the samples of Foupana (southern Guadiana drainage). Although the differentiation within the Guadiana drainage was expected as it had already been reported for A. hispanica, the seemingly week inter-drainage differentiation contrasts with what has been reported for other cyprinids species in the southern region of Portugal. Although all pairwise FST values were significant, the ΦST values for the comparison between Quarteira and Almargem were non significant, which might be indicative of a common origin. No evidences of bottlenecks were detected and the expansion events that were detected seem to correspond to inter-glacial periods. With the obtained results it was suggested that all populations should be considered different MUs (Management Units)

Strengthening the roots of POB: An introduction to the special issue

Inexistent

Contrato de trabalho a termo – Da conversão e outras questões

O mercado de trabalho português apresenta níveis de segmentação consideravelmente elevados, registando-se cerca de 21,5% de trabalhadores com contratos de trabalho a termo no ano de 2018. O recurso, em demasia, a estes contratos, traduz-se em instabilidade laboral, insegurança profissional, familiar e económica, baixas perspetivas de progressão de carreira e, ainda, baixos rendimentos. O contrato de trabalho a termo encontra-se previsto e regulado no Código do Trabalho (CT), em especial, nos artigos 139.º a 149.º. O Código do Trabalho, especificamente o artigo 147.º, vem estabelecer um mecanismo sancionatório para os casos em que exista uma violação das normas relativas à contratação a termo. O artigo suprarreferido pode ser dividido em dois grupos, no primeiro grupo (n.º1), o legislador veio elencar as várias situações em que o contrato de trabalho a termo se considera sem termo e, no segundo grupo (n.º2), o legislador estabeleceu os casos em que o contrato de trabalho a termo se converte em contrato sem termo. O artigo 147.º constitui, assim, um mecanismo preventivo e sancionatório de relevo, uma vez que visa punir as entidades empregadoras que violem as disposições referentes à contratação a termo e, consequentemente, funciona como tutela dos interesses e direitos dos trabalhadores. Através deste mecanismo, o trabalhador, ora contratado a termo (vínculo precário), vê o seu vínculo precário passar a um vínculo estável, uma vez que o seu contrato a termo se considera ou converte-se (consoante as situações) num contrato de trabalho sem termo (vínculo estável).The Portuguese labour market shows considerably high levels of segmentation, with around 21.5% of workers on fixed-term contracts of employment in 2018. The excessive use of these type of contracts translates into job instability, professional, family and economic insecurity, low prospects for career progression and also low income. The fixed-term employment contract is foreseen and regulated in the Labour Code, in particular, in articles 139.º to 149.º. The Labour Code, specifically article 147.º, establishes a sanctioning mechanism for cases in which there is a violation of the rules on fixed-term contracts. The above-mentioned article can be divided into two groups: in the first group (n.º 1), the legislator has listed the various situations in which a fixed-term employment contract is deemed to be permanent and, in the second group (n.º 2), the legislator has laid down the cases in which a fixed-term employment contract is to be converted into a permanent employment contract. Article 147.º constitutes, thus, an important preventive and punitive mechanism, since it aims to punish employers who violate the provisions relating to fixed-term contracts and, consequently, acts as a safeguard for the interests and rights of employees. Through this mechanism, the employee, now hired on a fixed-term basis (precarious bond), sees his precarious bond become a stable bond, since his fixed-term contract is considered or converted (depending on the situations) into a permanent employment contract (stable bond)

Hypertension: protective effects of physical exercise on cognition function, arterial function and brain health

Systemic Arterial Hypertension (SAH) is a chronic condition that requires clinical treatment and is associated with increased risk of cognitive impairment and dementia. Therefore, strategies with fewer side effects and less invasive procedures are required. Evidence supports that Physical Exercise (PE) has antihypertensive effects and has proven to be an efficient and complementary tool for managing hypertension, reducing cardiovascular disease risk factors, and improving cerebral perfusion in the majority of healthy populations. Much of this cardiovascular-protective effect of PE is probably due to pluripotent effects on the vasculature, including regulation of vascular tone, energy metabolism, microvascular recruitment, and endothelial function (reducing oxidative stress and preserving NO availability). These factors are speculated to work synergistically, thereby reducing systolic and diastolic blood pressure and are directly related to improved cerebrovascular function. However, few studies have specifically examined the potential positive effects of PE on the brain in hypertensive individuals. In this brief review, we discuss the potential effect of different PE modalities (aerobic, resistance, and combined) that may act as an effective preventive or therapeutic strategy for reducing blood pressure in hypertensives and, consequently, mitigate the association between hypertension, cognitive impairment and risk of dementia

Marketing de ideias e construção de redes: As duas vias de atracção de recursos para novos empreendimentos

Este artigo apresenta uma abordagem para explicar o modo como os empreendedores atraem os recursos que são críticos para a criação e desenvolvimento de um novo empreendimento. Nessa abordagem, o empreendedor é concebido como um magnetizador que estabelece relações com os detentores de recursos relevantes através de duas vias possíveis: uma via directa, referente ao modo como o empreendedor procura envolver outros para o empreendimento e tenta persuadi-los a apoiar os seus esforços empreendedores; e uma via indirecta, que diz respeito aos efeitos de atracção que derivam da sua posição nas redes sociais e da legitimidade do empreendimento. A abordagem que propomos constitui um avanço nas teorias sobre empreendedorismo, na medida em que adopta uma posição de nível meso, não privilegiando nem os traços individuais de personalidade nem os constrangimentos socio-económico-culturais. No final, são ainda discutidas as contribuições práticas da abordagem apresentada

Comportamento Organizacional Positivo

Na última década tem vindo a ganhar proeminência o movimento dos estudos organizacionais positivos. É uma corrente de investigação orientada para melhorar as organizações usando as respetivas forças – em vez de colmatar as suas falhas. Através desta lente positiva, seguimos, neste artigo, quatro níveis de análise: (1) consideramos o capital psicológico como atributo de indivíduos positivos; (2)discutimos as características das interações positivas; (3) exploramos o papel da segurança psicológica na criação de equipas positivas; (4) traçamos o perfil das organizações positivas. Discutimos, também, que (a) a positividade e a negatividade são parte de uma mesma dualidade, (b) a positividade pode gerar ou facilitar a negatividade e (c) a negatividade pode gerar ou facilitar a positividade

A Cloud Service Integration Architecture for the Hospitality Sector

We describe the design and implementation of an innovative software platform that enables hoteliers to configure custom solutions to manage their business, by building on multiple existing Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solutions. A flexible cloud integration mechanism uses “drivers” to communicate with various SaaS via their existing APIs. Selection of the solutions is made easy by the inclusion of a Marketplace, and the user experience is made seamless by an homogenous user interface (UI) that orchestrates the calls to the heterogenous underlying logic provided by multiple vendors. The resulting platform is, itself, offered as a SaaS, whose functionality is highly adaptable depending on the chosen integrations. These can be reconfigured at any time, thus avoiding lock-in to any particular one, and without incurring in the costs associated with retraining and learning curves of end-users. The core cloud integration architecture of the platform is generic, so it can be adapted for other domains. We describe the design and implementation of an innovative software platform that enables hoteliers to configure custom solutions to manage their business, by building on multiple existing Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solutions. A flexible cloud integration mechanism uses “drivers” to communicate with various SaaS via their existing APIs. Selection of the solutions is made easy by the inclusion of a Marketplace, and the user experience is made seamless by an homogenous user interface (UI) that orchestrates the calls to the heterogenous underlying logic provided by multiple vendors. The resulting platform is, itself, offered as a SaaS, whose functionality is highly adaptable depending on the chosen integrations. These can be reconfigured at any time, thus avoiding lock-in to any particular one, and without incurring in the costs associated with retraining and learning curves of end-users. The core cloud integration architecture of the platform is generic, so it can be adapted for other domains

Long-term effects of psychotherapy on moderate depression: a comparative study of narrative therapy and cognitive-behavioral therapy

Background: In a previous clinical controlled trial (Lopes et al., 2014), narrative therapy (NT) showed promising results in ameliorating depressive symptoms with comparable outcomes to cognitivebehavioral therapy (CBT) when patients completed treatment. This paper aims to assess depressive symptoms and interpersonal problems in this clinical sample at follow-up. Methods: Using the Beck Depression Inventory-II and Outcome Questionnaire-45.2 Interpersonal Relations Scale, naturalistic prospective follow-up assessment was conducted at 21 and 31 months after the last treatment session. Results: At follow-up, patients kept improving in terms of depressive symptoms and interpersonal problems. The odds that a patient maintained recovery from depressive symptoms at follow-up were five times higher than the odds that a patient maintained recovery from interpersonal problems. In the same way, the odds of a patient never recovering from interpersonal problems were five times higher than the odds of never recovering from depressive symptoms. Limitations: The study did not control for the natural course of depression or treatment continuation. Conclusions: For depressed patients with greater interpersonal disabilities, longer treatment plans and alternative continuation treatments should be considered.The Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) supported this article through the Research Project "Ambivalence and Unsuccessful Psychotherapy" [PTDC/PSI-PCL/121525/2010], coordinated by M. Goncalves, and through a doctoral grant to R. Lopes [SFRH/BD/47343/2008].The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript

Tolerance is not enough: The moderating role of optimism on perceptions of regional economic performance

Current theories on economic growth are stressing the important role of creativity and innovation as a main driver of regional development. Some perspectives, like Richard Florida’s ‘creative class theory’, have elected tolerance and diversity as a core concept in explaining differential development between different places, but his assumptions are challenged by other empirical and theoretical studies. In this article, we raise the possibility that tolerance is a necessary yet not a sufficient ingredient to trigger economic development in regions, and explore the role of subjective well-being (life-satisfaction, happiness, and optimism) as a moderator. Using a nationwide survey of 3,757 respondents from 21 different municipalities, the results show that optimism played the role of moderator, thus evidencing that psychological variables should be taken into account when trying to understand regional economic development